unsaved – Rev 21:8. Joshua here "Seven eyes" – these may indicate
1237 ZECHARIAH 3:9
joined to the LORD in that day, and will be my people; and I will dwell in your midst, and you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. 12 And the LORD will inherit Judah, his portion in the holy land, and will choose Jerusalem again. 13 Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD; for he has roused himself from his holy habitation."
And to him he said, "See, I have removed your sin from you, and I will put costly garments on you."
5 And I said, "Let them put a clean turban on his head." So they put a clean turban on his head, and put the clothes on him. And the angel of the LORD stood by.
6 And the angel of the LORD solemnly affirmed to Joshua, saying, 7 "Thus says the LORD of hosts: If you walk in my ways, and if you keep my command, then you will also govern my house, and will also have charge of my courts, and I will give you places to walk among these who are standing here.
And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. 2 And the LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand snatched out of the fire?"
8 "Now listen, high priest Joshua, you and your companions who are sitting before you, men who are a symbol. For, see, I will bring my servant the BRANCH. 9 For see the stone that I have laid before Joshua. Seven eyes are on that one stone.
3 Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes, and standing before the angel. 4 And the angel answered and spoke to those who were standing before him, saying, "Take off his filthy clothes."
Isa 2:2-4; 11:10,12; 14:1; 19:23-25.
the fire (Amos 4:11). 3:3 "Filthy clothes" – a symbol of his sinful condition. Spiritually speaking "filthy clothes" is all any of us have by nature – Isa 64:6; Rom 3:23; Eph 2:3. The very best we can do, and all the religious works which people are most proud of (Joshua was a priest), are unclean in the holy eyes of the one true God. 3:4 "Take off. . .put. . .on" – signifies taking away sin and giving righteousness. This was true of Joshua personally and will be true also of the whole land and people he represented (vs 8,9). Believers in Christ now have had a change of "garments" – Col 3:9,10. And their new garment is "costly" indeed, being the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Himself – Phil 3:9; 1 Cor 1:30; 2 Cor 5:21. 3:5 "Turban" – this was a mark of the priesthood in Israel (Ex 28:3,4,36). A clean turban symbolizes their holy dedication to God and the holy service they should accomplish. 3:6,7 Joshua was made righteous and his sin was gone. Now in accordance with that he must live a faithful holy life. Compare Rom 12:1,2; Eph 4:1.
"Has sent me" – v 9. The LORD (Jehovah) speaks and says that the LORD Almighty sent Him. How can Jehovah send Jehovah? Jehovah is God and is revealed in the Bible as a Trinity (Matt 3:16,17; 28:19), and God the Father who is Jehovah sent God the Son who is also Jehovah. 2:12 "Inherit Judah" – the whole nation of Israel is an inheritance for Jehovah God (Deut 4:20; 9:26; Ps 33:12). In the future He (the Messiah) will choose a special part of the "holy land" as His own. It will be the land where Jerusalem is situated. There His temple and His dwelling place will be. This is the only place in the Bible where the land of Israel is called "the holy land."
"Choose" – 1:17. The same Jerusalem He once rejected He will choose again. 2:13 Isa 41:1; Hab 2:20; Zeph 1:7. 3:1 "Joshua" – Hag 1:1; Ezra 2:2. The name means "the LORD saves." Here Joshua represents the nation of Israel (v 8). God is teaching them that before He gives them the blessings He speaks of in chapter 2 He will cleanse and purify them. Compare Ezek 36:24-29. However, we may also take vs 1-5 as a beautiful picture of how God makes individuals righteous in His presence (Rom 3:20-26; Isa 61:10; Ps 132:9).
"Who are standing here" – v 3. Evidently these were angels. Joshua would have a place with them in fulfilling God's plan for Israel. Faithfulness to God and holy living will have a great reward for anyone. 3:8 "Symbol" – compare Deut 28:46; Isa 8:18; Ezek 12:11. As high priest Joshua was a symbol of the coming Messiah, the Lord Jesus, here called "the Branch" (6:12; Isa 4:2; 11:1; Jer 23:5; 33:15). The Messiah is also God's servant (Isa 49:5,6; 50:10; 52:13; 53:11; Rom 15:8). 3:9 "Stone" – this is also a name for the Messiah (Ps 118:22,23; Isa 8:13-15; 28:16; Dan 2:35,45; Matt 21:42; Eph 2:19-22; 1 Pet 2:6-8). "Seven eyes" – these may indicate perfect intelligence and perfect care and
"Angel of the LORD" – 1:11; Gen 16:7. "Satan" – notes at 1 Chron 21:1; Matt 4:1-10; John 8:44; 2 Cor 11:14. The name means "adversary", or, as some think, "accuser." See Rev 12:10. 3:2 Why should the LORD say "the LORD rebuke you?" – note at 2:11. The LORD here is the same as the angel of the LORD and His words mean that God the Father should rebuke Satan.
"Chosen Jerusalem" – 1:17; 2:12. "Out of the fire" – this is true of everyone whom God saves from sin. Compare Jude 23. The lake of fire is the destiny of all the unsaved – Rev 21:8. Joshua here represents Israel whom God snatched from
ZECHARIAH 3:10 1238
See, I will engrave its inscription, says the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
Spirit,' says the LORD of hosts.
7 "Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain. And he will bring out its capstone with shouts, calling out, 'Grace, grace to it.'"
10 "In that day, says the LORD of hosts, each of you will invite his neighbour under his vine and under his fig tree."
8 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 9 "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house. His hands will also finish it, and you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.
And the angel who talked with me came back, and wakened me, as a man that is wakened from his sleep, 2 and said to me, "What do you see?"
10 "For who has despised the day of small things? For those seven will rejoice, and will see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. They are the eyes of the LORD, which range throughout the whole earth."
And I said, "I look and see a lampstand of solid gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and its seven lamps on it, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are on the top of it, 3 and two olive trees beside it, one on the right side of the bowl, and the other on its left."
11 Then I answered and said to him, "What are these two olive trees on the right and on the left of the lampstand?"
4 So I responded and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, "What are these, my lord?"
12 And I responded further and said to him, "What are these two olive branches beside the two gold pipes which empty the golden oil from themselves?"
5 Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, "Do you not know what these are?"
13 And he answered me and said, "Do you not know what these are?"
And I said, "No, my lord." 6 Then he answered and spoke to me, saying, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel, saying, 'Not by might, nor by power, but by my
And I said, "No, my lord." 14 Then said he, "These are the two anointed
watchfulness over Israel, or they may indicate the fullness of God's Spirit which Messiah would have (Rev 5:6; Isa 11:2,3). The Hebrew word translated "eyes" may also be translated "facets".
of the lampstand and olive trees. 4:6 Zerubbabel as one of the "olive trees" must not think he could minister to Israel in a proper way or accomplish God's work in his own strength. He needed the fullness of God's Spirit. This is the "oil" that needed to pour through him to the people (v 12). Compare 2 Cor 12:9,10.
"In one day" – the foundation of the removal of Israel's sin was laid in a single day – the day Christ died on the cross. Israel's repentance and forgiveness will also take place in a single day (12:10 - 13:2). 3:10 "In that day" – 2:11. "Fig tree" – a picture of safety, peace and fellowship (Micah 4:4; 1 Kings 4:25). 4:1 "With me" – 1:9,14; 2:3. This chapter records the fifth vision God gave Zechariah. It contains an encouragement to Zerubbabel and his fellow Jews to build the temple.
"LORD of hosts" – note at 1 Sam 1:3. 4:7 "Mountain" – here speaks of the difficulties in building the temple. But difficulties become as nothing before a Spirit-filled man who knows God's will and is working according to it.
"Capstone" – the completion of the temple. The people would then shout for joy. 4:8,9 "Foundation" – Ezra 3:8-11. "Finish it" – about twenty years later (Ezra 6:14-16). 4:10 "Small things" – this is how the work in the beginning seemed to the Jews (Hag 2:3). Great works of God often seem to begin in small and insignificant ways. Compare Matt 4:18-22; 13:31,32. No worker for Christ should ever be discouraged at the seeming smallness of the task God calls him to do. A mighty tree grows from a small seed.
"Sleep" – Zechariah's visions were not dreams. He saw them when he was awake and in a trance. 4:2,3 "Lampstand" – this is a better translation than "candlestick." One does not put "lamps" on a candlestick. This lampstand differs from that of Ex 25:31-40, and probably symbolizes something different. The two "olive trees" are two individuals through whom "oil" came to the "lamps" (vs 1214). It seems likely that these two were Zerubbabel and Joshua – one the governor from the royal line of David, the other the high priest. Therefore it is probable that the lampstand symbolizes the people of Israel to whom they ministered. Israel was God's light to the world of that day as the Church is now (Matt 5:14). 4:4,5 The angel's question may suggest that Zechariah should have known the meaning
"Plumb line" – speaks of building straight and true.
"Eyes" – v 2; 3:9; 2 Chron 16:9; Rev 5:6. 4:12 "Oil" – Ex 25:6; 29:7; Lev 2:1; 1 Sam 10:1; Ps 23:5; 45:7; Mark 6:13; Luke 10:34; Jam 5:14. 4:13 Verse 5. 4:14 "Anointed ones" – the Hebrew has "sons of oil." This phrase may also be translated "two who bring oil." This could mean that God had anointed them or it could mean
1239 ZECHARIAH 6:4
ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth."
the earth."
7 And then a slab of lead was raised, and this woman was sitting in the middle of the ephah. 8 And he said, "This is wickedness." And he shoved her into the middle of the ephah, and pushed the lead weight over its mouth.
Then I turned, and lifted up my eyes, and looked, and saw a flying scroll. 2 And he said to me, "What do you see?" And I answered, "I see a flying scroll. Its length is twenty cubits, and its breadth ten cubits."
9 Then I raised my eyes, looked and saw two women coming with the wind in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork. And they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heavens.
3 Then he said to me, "This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole earth: according to one side of it, everyone who steals will be banished; and according to the other side of it, everyone who commits perjury will be banished. 4 'I will send it out,' says the LORD of hosts, 'and it will enter the house of the thief, and the house of the one who swears falsely by my name, and it will remain inside his house, and consume it along with its wood and its stones.'"
10 Then I said to the angel who talked with me, "Where are they carrying the ephah?"
11 And he said to me, "To build a house for it in the land of Shinar. When it is prepared, it will be placed there on its own base."
And I turned and raised my eyes, looked and saw four chariots coming out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of bronze. 2 The first chariot had red horses, and the second chariot black horses, 3 and the third chariot white horses, and the fourth chariot strong dappled horses. 4 Then I responded and said to
5 Then the angel who talked with me went out, and said to me, "Now raise your eyes, and see what this is that is going out."
6 And I said, "What is it?" And he said, "This is an ephah that is going out." He also said, "This is their appearance throughout
how wickedness can be removed from Israel and transported to Babylon. Israel's great sin was apostasy – forsaking the one true God. Perhaps the meaning of this vision is that Babylon, not Israel, will be the center of apostasy in the end time; and by Babylon is meant the religious and commercial system seen in Revelation chapters 17 and 18. When Zechariah heard these words the literal city of Babylon had fallen to the Medes and Persians (Dan 5:25-31). It never regained power and fell into complete ruin. Some scholars believe it will be rebuilt at the end of this age. This seems unlikely in the light of Isa 13:17-22; Jer 50:39,40; 51:29,37-43,62. 6:1 This last vision concerns the accomplishment of God's purpose in the whole earth. As we know from other portions in Zechariah this purpose involves judgment on the nations that afflict God's people (1:14,15,21; 12:2-4; 14:2,3). Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and other prophets wrote of the same thing.
that the spiritual influences of God's Spirit flowed through them. In that time these two were Zerubbabel and Joshua. For a possible future fulfillment see Rev 11:3,4. 5:1 The meaning of this sixth vision is clearer than that of some of the others. It declares that God's curse comes on sin and emphasizes two sins in particular, sins which must have been common in Judah. 5:3 "Curse" – see Deut 11:26,28; 27:1326; Prov 3:33; Gal 3:10-13. "Steals" – Ex 20:15; Matt 19:18; Rom 13:9; 1 Cor 6:10; Jer 9:3,5; Rev 21:8. "Banished" – at some time in the future God will rid the land of all such sinners. Compare 14:20,21; Isa 13:9; 33:14; Ezek 36:25-29,33; Amos 9:10. 5:4 There will be no possibility of escape for any unrepentant sinner or anything he has. All that belongs to such people is defiled and will perish with them.
"Stones" – compare Lev 14:33-45; Hab 2:9-11. 5:5 This is the seventh vision Zechariah saw. Some of its details are very difficult to interpret. 5:6-11 This verse suggests that the full measure of the sins of the people of Israel is known to God, and that He will remove all of it from the land (compare vs 3,4; 3:9). God will again choose Jerusalem and inherit Judah as His portion and live there (2:11,12). Then wickedness will have no more place in His land. It will be holy in fact as well as in name. 5:6 "Ephah" – a basket. "Earth" – or "land." 5:11 "Shinar" – Babylonia. Babylon will be a proper home for all wickedness. Compare Rev 17:1-5; 18:2-8,23,24. But it is not clear
"Chariots" – Ps 68:17; 2 Kings 6:17. These chariots probably mean war chariots and signify the defense of His people and the defeat of their enemies.
"Four" – 1:18. "Two mountains" – Zechariah was in Jerusalem and these mountains may be two of the most prominent hills there. The mountains in the vision are of bronze. This may indicate the firmness of God's purpose, the indestructibility of His plans for Jerusalem, or it may speak of judgment (Num 21:9; Ex 27:1,2; Rev 1:15). 6:2,3 Compare 1:8. The different colors may indicate different judgments.
ZECHARIAH 6:5 1240
the angel who talked with me, "What are these, my lord?"
will branch out from his place, and he will build the temple of the LORD. 13 He is the one who will build the temple of the LORD, and he will bear the majesty, and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne; and there will be the counsel of peace between these two offices. 14 And the crowns will belong to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, as a memorial in the temple of the LORD. 15 And those who are far away will come and build the temple of the LORD, and you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. And this will take place, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God."
5 And the angel answered and said to me, "These are the four spirits of the heavens, going out from standing before the Lord of all the earth. 6 The one with the black horses goes out into the north country, and the white ones go out after them; and the dappled ones go out toward the south country."
7 And the strong horses went out with eagerness to range throughout the earth. And he said, "Go and range throughout the earth." So they ranged throughout the earth.
8 Then he cried out to me, speaking to me and saying, "See, those that go toward the north country have given rest to my Spirit in the north country."
And it came about in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, on the fourth day of the ninth month, Kisleu, 2 when they had sent Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men, to the house of God to pray before the LORD, 3 and to speak to the priests who were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, "Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done these many years?"
9 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 10 "Take an offering from those of the captivity, from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have come from Babylon, and come the same day and enter the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah. 11 Then take silver and gold and make crowns, and set them on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, 12 and speak to him, saying, 'The LORD of hosts has spoken, saying, See the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he
4 Then the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying, 5 "Speak to all the people of the land,
Matt 16:19; Eph 2:21,22. 6:13 "Rule on his throne" – Ps 89:35-37; Isa 9:7; Jer 33:19-22; Ezek 43:7; Luke 1:32; Rev 22:3. "A priest" – Heb 4:14; 5:5,6; 10:1921; Ps 110. "The two" – the Lord Jesus combines the two offices of priest and king which were separate in Judah. He does more than rule His people – as their Mediator He intercedes for them to God (Rom 8:34; 1 Tim 2:5; Heb 7:24-27; 1 John 2:1,2). 6:15 "Temple" – this, too, may refer to the spiritual temple now being built – people "far away" coming to Christ and participating in the work (John 10:16; Acts 2:39; Eph 2:13). Or it may refer to the building of the temple described in Ezekiel chapters 40-43. 7:1 "Darius" – 1:1. 7:2 "To the house of God" – or "to Bethel." Bethel means "house of God" – Gen 12:8; 28:19; 35:1. This town was about twenty kilometers north of Jerusalem. Some of the Jews returning from Babylon had settled there again (Neh 11:31). 7:3 This fast had been observed for seventy years (v 5). Evidently this ceremony began as a memorial to the destruction of Jerusalem which took place in the fifth month (2 Kings 25:8,9). 7:5,6 The fast on the seventh month was a memorial to the assassination of Gedaliah the governor of Judah (2 Kings 25:25). The Lord rebukes the people through Zechariah. He says that whether fasting or feasting they thought only of themselves. They were not
6:5 The four "chariots" are four "spirits" (or "winds" – Hebrew uses the same word for both). Here they seem to represent angelic forces or other heavenly powers. Compare Rev 7:1.
"All the earth" – this is mentioned because the vision concerns the whole world. 6:6 It is not said that the one with the red horses went anywhere. Perhaps it stayed in Jerusalem and indicates the great judgment that will take place there at the end of this age – 14:2; Joel 3:9-16. 6:7 "With eagerness" – eager to fulfill God's purposes in the earth. 6:8 Invasions of the land of Israel often came from the north. In the end time it seems that there will be a final great invasion from there (Ezek 38:1-9,15; 39:2). This verse may mean this: God's judgment on those northern armies will release His anger and bring rest to His Spirit which had been provoked. 6:11 "Crowns" – in Israel high priests did not wear crowns, but turbans (3:5; Ex 28:4). Only kings wore crowns. After King David, kings in Judah were always of the tribe of Judah; priests were of the tribe of Levi. Setting a crown on Joshua's head had great prophetic meaning (compare 3:8). The meaning of Joshua's name is significant "The LORD (Jehovah) saves". Jesus is the Greek equivalent of Joshua and means the same thing. 6:12 "Branch" – Joshua was not the "Branch", Jesus is. See 3:8.
"The temple of the Lord" – Jesus builds no material temple but one far greater. See
1241 ZECHARIAH 8:12
and to the priests, saying, When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, those seventy years, did you fast for me, really for me? 6 And when you ate, and when you drank, were you not eating for yourselves, and drinking for yourselves ? 7 Should you not have listened to the words which the LORD cried out through the former prophets, when Jerusalem and its towns around it were inhabited and prosperous, when men inhabited the south and the plain?"
I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury.
3 "Thus says the LORD: I am returning to Zion, and will dwell in the middle of Jerusalem. And Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD of hosts will be called the Holy Mountain.
4 "Thus says the LORD of hosts: Old men and old women will yet sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each one with his cane in his hand because of age. 5 And the streets of the city will be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.
8 And the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, saying, 9 "The LORD of hosts is speaking and saying this: Administer true justice, and each one of you show mercy and compassion to his brother. 10 And do not oppress the widow, or the fatherless, the foreigner, or the poor. And do not plot evil in your heart against his brother.
6 "Thus says the LORD of hosts: If this is marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in my eyes? says the LORD of hosts.
7 "Thus says the LORD of hosts: See, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country, 8 and I will bring them, and they will live in the midst of Jerusalem, and they will be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.
11 "But they refused to listen, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, so that they would not hear. 12 Yes, they made their hearts like flint, so that they would not hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from the LORD of hosts.
9 "Thus says the LORD of hosts: Let your hands be strong, you who have been hearing in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, who were in the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. 10 For before these days there was no wage for man, or any wage for beast. And there was no peace for him who went out or came in, because of the enemy, for I set every one of the people against his neighbour. 11 But now I will not act toward the remnant of this people as in former days, says the LORD of hosts.
13 "Therefore it came about, that as the LORD cried out and they would not hear, so they cried out and I would not hear, says the LORD of hosts. 14 But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they had not known. So the land was desolate behind them, so that no one went there or returned; for they had made the pleasant land desolate."
Again the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying, 2 "Thus says the LORD of hosts:
12 "For the seed will prosper, the vine will give
really concerned with God and His honor and glory. Compare Isa 58:1-9. They cared more for their ceremonies than for God. 7:7 "Former prophets" – 1:4. They had told the people repeatedly that religious forms and ceremonies were not what God delighted in. For example see Isa 1:11-14. 7:9,10 8:16,17; Isa 1:17; Jer 22:3; Ezek 45:9; Micah 6:6-8; Eph 4:32; Ex 22:2224; Lev 25:17; Deut 10:18,19. 7:11 Deut 9:6,13,27; Isa 1:2; Jer 5:3; 8:5; 32:33. 7:12 "By His Spirit" – Neh 9:30; 2 Tim 3:16; 1 Pet 1:11; 2 Pet 1:21. 7:13 Compare Prov 1:24,28; Ps 18:25,26. 7:14 "Scattered them" – Lev 26:33; Deut 4:25-27; 28:64; Ps 44:11. "They had made" – Israel's enemies made the land desolate but Israel was responsible for it. It was their sin which brought ruin. 8:1,2 "Thus says the LORD of hosts" – this phrase appears ten times in this chapter and with it ten promises of blessing for Israel.
"City of Truth" – compare Isaiah 1:26; 65:16; Jer 33:16; Ps 15;2,3; 31:5. "Holy Mountain" – 14:20,21; Isa 2:2-4; 11:9; Obadiah 17. It will be the holy dwelling place of a holy God and a holy people. 8:4,5 Isa 11:6-8; 65:20-25. 8:6 Gen 18:14; Jer 32:17,27. What seems to men to be very difficult to accomplish is not difficult for God. 8:7,8 God had already brought the Jews back to Jerusalem from various places. So this prophecy refers to a regathering of the Jews after that. See Amos 9:14,15; Isa 11:10-16.
"My people" – 13:9; Ex 6:7; Deut 29:13; Ezek 37:27. He means the Jews. See Hos 2:14-23; Rom 11:29. 8:9 "Prophets" – Haggai and Zechariah were two. Perhaps there were others as well.
"Foundation" – Ezra 3:10,11; Hag 2:18. "Built" – Hag 1:7,8; 2:4. 8:10 "Before these days" – before they laid the foundation of the temple, times were difficult and the people in poverty (Hag 1:611; 2:15-18). 8:11,12 "But now" – Hag 2:19. God promised blessings for obedience – Lev 26:3-10; Deut
"Jealous" – 1:14. 8:3 "Jerusalem" – 1:3,16; 2:10; Ezek 48:35.