Profiles Of Jesus In The Book Of Zechariah
by David T. Battler

The book of Zechariah is a bit of a mysterious maze to most christians; but it really does deserve a lot more attention than what we usually decide to give it.

In this thread, you will be expected to take the dust off this part of your Bible; for the specific purpose of finding Christ in the book of Zecharia: That is, provided that we find Him there!

We all know just one or two familiar verses in Zechariah, which we occassionally quote, such as:

Zech. 4:6 - “Not by might, nor by power; but by my Spirit saith the Lord God of hosts.”

Sadly though; the majority of this exciting book of the Bible is usually passed over unread, and uncared about...It is, for the most part NEGLECTED, because to this day, it remains largely unopened by today’s Christians.

Your participation in this thread is welcome if you are willing to give us positive input that is non-critical; although any questions to clarify are certainly welcome. Anything not pertaining somehow to this study subject, will be moved to a more appropriate thread.

A few preliminaries to take note of:

1/ The book of Zechariah is very relevant to Seventh Day Adventist theology, and mission; and we should study it very carefully.

2/ Zechariah has just 14 short chapters; yet it is one of the most Messianic books of the Old Testament.

3/ The book of Zechariah closely parallels Daniel and Revelation; and it could be said that Zechariah and Daniel are to the Old Testament, what Revelation is to the New Testament. Can’t you just picture it...Old Zechariah standing between the prophet Daniel, and John the revelator, with his arms extended, complementing and reinforcing the inspired message of Daniel and Revelation.

Each posting in this thread will be about as long as this one; and will end with a question or two to uncover more of what God is saying to us through this study.

1/ What were things like in the history of God’s people, as the messages and prophecies of Zechariah came to them?

2/ What are the implications for God’s people today of these messages and prophecies?

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"The joy of the Lord will be your strength." (Neh.8:10).

Your brother in Christ

David T. Battler

[This message has been edited by DavidTBattler (edited August 02, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by DavidTBattler (edited August 18, 2000).]

On the EGW rom disk there are 229-or 279 references to Zechariah. Especially the meaning of the prophetic symbols and to study which chapters that would put the church "onward and upward."

I don't have the newest cd-rom (if it has published & unpublished SOP on it.)

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Edward F. Sutton

Note 2 On Zecharia

The prophecies and messages in the book of Zecharia came at a very crucial time in the history of God’s people.

They were all just returning from their exile in Babylon; and were occupied with discouragement, spiritual apathy, and skepticism about the future.

During this kind of prevailing mood, God called upon Zecharia to restore confidence and direction to His remnant people, through His powerful promises, and through restoration in the Messiah.

Similarly, God is calling upon His remnant people of today to find REVIVAL AND REFORMATION in these well-timed messages of Zecharia originating from Jesus Himself: His love, His life, , and His return as

King Of Kings, and Lord Of Lords!

Bible texts to follow in next post!

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"The joy of the Lord will be your strength." (Neh.8:10).

Your brother in Christ

David T. Battler

Profiles Of Jesus In The Book Of Zecharia: Part 3
by David T. Battler

God’s Great Mercy

“Zecharia”, in Hebrew, means: “Yahweh remembers.” God remembers. His people were in exile for 70 years, (1:12), and God remembered them, as He promised, with mercy. (1:13, 16).

It is exciting to see in an Old Testament book, the same wonderful profiles of Jesus, as what you would see in a New Testament book.

The book of Zecharia contains a lot of prophetic allusions to the person, work, and future glory of Jesus Christ - it is all wrapped in symbolic and figurative language. A survey of all the minor prophets reveals that Zecharia has more to say on Christ than any other of the “minor prophets.” Important Messianic Predictions in this book are as follows:

1) The Branch: chapt. 3 & 6, (compare Isa.4:2, Jer.23:5)
2) Christ As King-Priest: 6:13
3) Christ’s Triumphant Entry Into Jerusalem and His Coming Glory: 9:9-10
4) Christ As Shepherd Betrayed: 11:12-13
5) Christ Crucified: 12:10
6) The Sufferings Of Christ: 13:7
7) The Second Coming Of Christ: chapter 14

God’s theme of “Return to Me,” (1:3), obviously took the priority in Zecharia’s ministry.

Can you see how God would want to restore His covenant relationship with His children, before He went ahead with the restoration of Jerusalem and the temple? Well, OK. So you see that. You’re well on your way to being a great theologian; but what about NOW? What would this have to do with us NOW?

I know that many of us struggle with being mistreated in various ways, within the church, as well as without. When I am mistreated, I will often hold a great grudge, or develop an enormous chip on the shoulder! I will often act defensively, and in some cases, even go on the attack, because “I have a right to.” And, after I have done my dirty work, I have the nerve to sit on my “high horse” expecting the guilty party to take the initiative towards me; and make some amends. But, still, as sad experience will bear testimony to; the situation may never be restored completely.

Praise the Lord that His ways are not our ways! Christ Himself has come to us, as one of us, that we might come to Him, and become one of Him, so to speak...He wants to give us faith, repentance, and forgiveness.

The book of Zecharia can teach us about God’s return to His people; and Israel’s return to their God.

Why do you think God would have to, or want to return to us? What does the Bible mean, when it tells us about God “returning” to us?

God’s Return:

1/ “I have returned to Jerusalem” (1:16)
2/ God’s Words of comfort: (1:13)
3/ God’s jealousy: (1:14)
4/ God’s anger: (1:15)
5/ God’s great compassion: (1:16)

Israel’s Return:

1/ God’s earnest appeal: “Return to Me,” (1:3)

2/ God’s concerned exhortation: “Be not like your fathers.” (1:4)

3/ Israel’s spiritual returning: (1:6).

How is it possible that God returns to us? Did He go away some where for a while? Let us see if we can stick to the book of Zecharia for our answers, as much as possible.

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"The joy of the Lord will be your strength." (Neh.8:10).

Your brother in Christ

David T. Battler

Just to let you know David, I am still searching Zechariah to understand it!!

In fact, since it seems so far out of my comprehension, I have engaged the assistance of my dear friends and husband to help me out

I will be back . . . !!

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Sarah Moss
*Prayer Changes Things!*

Try plugging the key words of the texts , text by text into the EGW cd-rom disk search engine & you will get a wealth of explanation. If you don't have it, the two best versions to get from the Adventist Book Center are

1. EGW Library Edition 3.0 & manual from the White Estate. Gerry Buck has one - email & ask him what the system requirements are.

2. Legacy of Light Research Edition

I think my personal favorite is the 3.0 -so far. I upgraded to the Research Edition & it doesn't seem as user friendly to my way of using it as the 3.0 if the 3.0 is still offered for sale.

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Edward F. Sutton

Thanks for the info Ed. I'll have to keep it in mind. However, it won't be for a while unless God provides because with my husband in school we're stetching my pay cheque to the limits already!!

On a positive note, I think I am beginning to understand Zechariah - just by doing cross-referencing in the Bible and applying what I know and am learning about in Daniel/Revelation. Proof positive that when we ask God will open the doors of understanding and lead us where we need to go.

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Sarah Moss
*Prayer Changes Things!*

Well, we're still, technically in chapter 1 with this study. One of the things that I find very interesting here, is this business about the guy in the myrtle trees. (see vs.10-11).

A clue as to who this is in the myrtle trees may be wrapped in the fact that it was a habit or a custom of Zecharia to look up, and see a vision of God. (1:18, 2:1, 5:1, 6:1, etc.).

What is the significance of "looking up" for God's church today? Who is that guy in the myrtle trees, and is he important to Christians in the year 2000?

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"The joy of the Lord will be your strength." (Neh.8:10).

Your brother in Christ

David T. Battler

[This message has been edited by DavidTBattler (edited September 05, 2000).]

Okay, v. 10: "behold a man riding upon a red horse and he stood among the myrtle trees. . .."

Well, my Bible has these wonderful cross-references that sent me back to Joshua 5:13 "a man . . . with his sword drawn" who is later identified as "the captain of the host of the Lord", which fulfilled Exodus 23:23 "For my Angel shall go before thee". Acts 1:10 and Genesis 18:2 show us that angels frequently appeared to be men in the OT, therefore, I concluded that the man on the red horse standing in the myrtle trees must be the angel that goes before the four winds that reek havoc upon the earth(continuing v.10 where I went to Rev. 6:4 for the symbolism of the horses).

Rev. 6:4 speaks of the 2nd seal where power is given to the Red Horse to take peace from the earth. I noted that in Zechariah 1:11 it mentions that there are many white and bay horses following the red horse, but only the red horse has a rider. What, I wonder, is the significance of this?

These conclusions are where my studies have taken me so far, anyway.

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Sarah Moss
*Prayer Changes Things!*

Sarah

I'm short on time & will post more later...but let me answer the question of the red horse with another question.

In what way could Gal.6:14 be connected to the red, and the guy on the horse?

Either tommorrow or Tuesday; I'll have another bit of study to post!

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"The joy of the Lord will be your strength." (Neh.8:10).

Your brother in Christ

David T. Battler