Zechariah—really struggling here! (Part 1)
Say it in a whisper, but Zechariah is not the first book that I would turn to when dipping into the Old Testament. Some books are easy to understand, and some books are not. Zechariah is not.
So when Tony Payne tossed me Tim McMahon's studies on Zechariah about a month ago, in order for me to edit them, my feelings were mixed. Yes, I thought it would be exciting to scale Everest and take in the view, but parts of the climb were going to be seriously hairy and, given some of the weirder excesses of apocalyptic interpretation, possibly life-threatening. I didn't want to read Zechariah and end up in present-day Israel fighting angry Palestinians. But some readers of Zechariah in modern times have read it, and clearly then felt compelled to take that path.
What do we do when confronted with the hard, harder and hardest parts of the Bible—especially if (like me) you sometimes feel yourself to be in the ‘dumb and dumber’ category of Bible reader?
First, the best advice of all, in my experience, is to say a quick prayer, and start reading. If God really is God and the Bible really is his word (the ‘Sword of the Spirit’), and he really does want to use it to save us, then, whatever else happens, we mustn't allow ourselves to be put off by the incredulity of our friends and the sneers of unbelievers: “Study the Bible? Study Zechariah? Surely not!” God spoke his word and inspired others to write it down because he intended it to reach an audience. It was an audience greater in scope and extent than the original hearers could possibly have imagined. To pick the book up and read it, to feel confused and disoriented, and then to pick it up and read it again is a great act of faith. And it is a faith that will not be disappointed—if God is true to his own word and if he has given us his Holy Spirit to help us.
Second, however, I'm not saying that we should do this without help. Other Old Testament readers have the potential to be great friends to us. I include and mention especially the writers of the New Testament. For them, as for us, the Old Testament was an ancient text by the time they got to work on interpreting it: it was well over 500 years old for them, and, in some cases, considerably older. Zechariah was a relative new kid on the block, but still further from them than Shakespeare is from us. And the New Testament writers had clearly read him. Jesus quotes or refers to Zechariah in the days and even moments before his arrest, trial and crucifixion. Furthermore, the New Testament writers have this advantage on us: their interpretations are divinely inspired whereas ours are not.
Third, you will want to turn to other friends outside of the New Testament and ask for their help too. Tim McMahon's studies, still in their editing stage (I'm nearly finished, Tony—nearly finished!) have been just brilliant for me in this respect—not least because Tim appears to have followed my first two steps! That is, he has read Zechariah prayerfully and has consulted the New Testament. Tim would not mind me saying that, unlike the New Testament writers, he is not divinely inspired and error-free! But having worked through Tim's studies several times, there is no doubt in my mind that God's Holy Spirit has given him significant understanding of God's prophecy through Zechariah. And now, working through Tim, God has helped me as well.
Oh, just one afterthought: people who struggle with reading may even want to get someone to read the Bible for them. This is not nearly as demanding or embarrassing as it used to be. The Bible can now be downloaded as mp3 audio files (e.g. this). Those of us outside the US may even grow to love an American accent. (US readers will no doubt retort, “What accent? Y'all are the ones who talk funny!”).
Well when you get to chapter 12, notice verse 10… especially the pronouns! I love that verse!
Thanks Gordon, I had a shot at Zechariah once and seem to remember horses and myrtle trees (and little else).
Just wondering, should there be a “not” in the last sentence of the fourth paragraph?
Just wondering, should there be a “not” in the last sentence of the fourth paragraph?
Eek! How did that happen?
OK fixed now. Thanks to our friendly readers who keep reporting glitches.
Yes, those horsies do get a bit of a trot in Zechariah. I’m sure there’s a series to be done on Bible horsies, perhaps not on this blog. You will know we’ve jumped the shark when that happens.
The Zechariah horsies make a reappearance in Revelation, here for example, so it is worth persisting with them. They are better than hobby-horses.
Thanks! NOW I might have another shot at Zechariah!
That’s quite fascinating re the horses. I am not so sure whether I want to see a knight on a white horse or not ...
The commentaries on Zechariah are fairly useless in moving towards the New Testament. I remember about seven years ago stumbling across and idea about the fountain for sin and uncleaness in Jerusalem (13:1). I even preached about it at college chapel. Sin (Hattah) is always treated in the law by blood and uncleanness (Nidah) is treated by the water of cleansing. Therefore the fountain that is needed is one of water and blood - which is exactly what happens in Jerusalem to our Lord on the cross. I couldn’t find this worked out link in any commentary on John or Zechariah. I wrote to Barry Webb about it - but he didn’t include it in his commentary :(. This kind of gives exegetical legs to the song Rock of Ages and shows why it fulfills scripture that Jesus had water and blood pour from his side. I thought it was a profound but not surprising link. See one of my dead blogs.
http://www.biblicalkiteflying2.blogspot.com/
As one who has grown to love an American accent and has been reading the minor prophets recently, may I recommend the sermon of Mark Dever (of Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Washington DC)on Zechariah written in his book ‘The message of the Old Testament’. He helpfully goes through the book in three sections. Chap 1-6, 8 visions describing the second chance God would give through his rule; chap 7-8, 2 sermons describing the second chance God would give through his Word; and chap 9-14, 2 oracles describing the second chance God would offer through his Son. He also points out the structure of the 8 visions and how they form a pinnacle. Visions four and five, at the top of the pinnacle, both point to the Messiah (priest and ruler).Visions one and eight concern the horsies and their reporting of the false peace of self-righteous nations (vision 1) and the true peace that follows the coming of the Messiah (vision 8).
The second and third visions show God winning victory over his people’s enemies, and visions 6&7;show God purging his own people of their sin, so that these four visions picture the defeat of all opposition to God’s rule.
What I like about this sermon is that it is a great overview of the whole book that gives me a handle to approach Zechariah with,and how he points it toward Jesus as the fulfilment of these things.
These 69 talks by Mark Dever are well worth listening to and pondering. I enjoyed hearing his talk on the whole Bible, and the two that gave an overview of the New Testament and Old Testament, and the individual ones on each of the 66 books of the Bible a couple of years ago.
I downloaded them from http://www.chbcaudio.org/audio-archives/
It is a little tricky and time-consuming, but well worth the trouble.
<i>He also points out the structure of the 8 visions and how they form a pinnacle.</i>
That ‘pinnacle’ is great stuff, isn’t it. Tim goes into this as well in the studies I’m editing. And when you reach the top of that pinnacle, you get—quite literally—the glory of the LORD displayed for all to see.
You really are scaling Everest and taking in the view when you read Zechariah!
You are whetting my appetite, Gordon. Our minister is preparing studies in Zechariah for his talks in fourth term.
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