Recap

So far in Zechariah, we've read through the introduction, Zechariah's nine visions and dreams, and teaching on fasting vs justice.. Zechariah is a book collecting together visions of the prophet Zechariah around at the same time as Ezra and Nehemiah. It opened with a call to repentance and then described a series of visions that the prophet had had.

There's was the first and eighth visions, each with horsemen patrolling the earth and declaring peace. Then there were the second and seventh visions, both focusing on the exile into Babylon. The second vision had four horns representing Babylon's scattering of the Israelites, and four blacksmiths representing Persia destroying Babylon. The seventh vision had an unclean woman transported to Babylon in a basket.

Visions three and six were focusing on the new kingdom that God was building. The third vision had a man holding a measuring line, planning the new Jerusalem. The sixth had God purifying his city of wickedness.

Finaly, the fourth, fifth, and ninth vision were all about the leader of God's new kingdom. Vision four had the high priest, Joshua, standing in God's courtroom. Satan tried to accuse him of being unworthy, but God took the filthy clothes that Joshua was wearing and replaced them with clean ones, declaring him worthy. Vision five focus on Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel was one of the descendants of king David, and so was part of the royal line. Then, in vision nine, God partnered Zerubbabel and Joshua together, hinting to a future where God's people will be led by a single man who is both priest and king. 

Then some of the people came to Zechariah to ask if they should continue fasting or if God was going to come soon. Zechariah challenges their motives, arguing that they only fast out of ritual habit. It no longer carried any real meaning in their hearts. It would be much better if they did the things that God asked of them, like pursuing justice, helping the poor and having mercy.

With that said, there is a time coming when God will dwell with his people again. Where people will live to old age, and the city will be filled with young children. All that is expected of his people is that they pursue justice, truth, and peace, and stop seeking to do evil to one another. Then God will turn their season of mourning into celebration.

Zechariah 9-14

God pronounces judgement on foreign nations. He starts in the north and marches south to reach Jerusalem. He will attack and destroy them before returning to his temple to watch over it that no one may destroy it again.

Then comes an image of the future king. Zechariah sees him entering the city on a donkey. It will be a time of peace, with God doing away with the military might of his people. They won't need it anymore. God will rescue his people from the pit of death (the waterless pit). God will be their protection.

He will be like a shepherd to them and make them prosper. The people will once again turn to God and seek his blessing. He is the one that will give them rain for their harvest.

No longer will they seek their household gods. God will punish their wicked leaders, who have been like bad shepherds to his people. He will bless and strengthen the people. He will call them back from all the different places they had been exiled.

He will defeat their enemies so that they can return free. The strength of these other nations will be like whole forests of great trees chopped down. The false shepherds will weep.

Then Zechariah is given a vision of what it was like to be a prophet before the exile. He was to be a shepherd to a wicked person who would not listen to them. God would hand them over to be crushed by their enemies.

The people continued to resist the prophet, so he breaks his staff of favour, representing God's blessing over his people, and then he breaks his staff of unity, splitting the nations of Israel and Judah apart. Instead, God is going to put a different leader over his people. One that doesn't care about them and seeks only to destroy them. 

Coming back to his current time, Zechariah gets a vision from God of what he will do in the future. He will use Jerusalem to punish these foreign nations. It will be like a cup of strong wine that causes the foreign nations to stumble around drunk, or a really large stone they struggle to lift. God will strike down the enemies of his people and then give his people strength to overcome them. He will protect and defend his people.

God then mentions one 'whom they have pierced' (Zechariah 12:10). There will come a person who belongs to God, who will be pierced by the people, and the people will mourn. But on that day it will be like a fountain has opened up that will cleanse the people of their sin.

In short, there will come a man who is pierced by the people, but his piercing will cleanse the people of their wickedness. And in that time, God will remove the worship of other gods. Those who claim to be prophets but didn't speak God's word will also be punished.

Drawing again on the imagery of a future shepherd, God says that this person will be struck down and their sheep will scatter. Many of those that claim to be God's people will be cut off and perish, but those that remain will be purified by God. They will be his people, and he will be their God.

Finally, again God paints the image of a future day where he will cause the foreign nations to fight against Jerusalem. Many of God's people will suffer, with some leaving the city. But there will be others who remain. Then God will go out and attack and destroy these foreign nations. It will be a dark and terrible day. God will come with his holy people.

But then waters of life will spring out of Jerusalem, much like Ezekiel's prophecy of a river of life flowing from the temple (Ezekiel 47:1-12). God will be king over all the earth. He will strike down the foreign nations with diseases, destroying their wicked. But those that survive will come to Jerusalem to worship God there. There will be peace on the earth, and everything will be holy.

There's a lot of confusing imagery in Zechariah. Part of this is because it's a very dense summary of all the imagery and prophetic words we've had so far. To try to work out what each bit means exactly would likely tie you up in knots. Often these images only make sense after the thing they are speaking about has happened.

For now, the key focuses are there will still be suffering for God's people, but there is a future king coming who will also serve as a priest and a shepherd, who is going to be struck down and pierced. God is going to destroy all the wickedness and evil in the world, and eventually, Jerusalem will be a holy city where people from all nations will come and worship God.

Psalm 60

This psalm is attributed to king David, though its explanation is a little confusing. It refers to David’s victories over other nations found in (2 Samuel 8:1-14), but the content of the psalm is focused on lamenting over lost battles.

It may be that David and his men faced initial losses against their enemies, they prayed the prayer of this psalm, and then God led them to ultimate victory.

The psalm fits into the category of corporate lament psalm, and as mentioned, was sung after losing a battle.

Psalm 60:1-5 - Complaint to God

Psalm 60:4-5 - Trust that God will make a way

Psalm 60:6-9 - God responds

Psalm 60:10-12 - Request and trust

The psalmist starts complaining that God has rejected them. The psalmist assumes that their loss has been brought about by God.

God is the one who broke their defences. Who shook the land and tore it open. God forced his people to see this difficulty and deal with it.

But despite that, the psalmist is also confident that God has made a way for those who still fear him. And so they request that God provide his people with salvation and answer them.

God responds. He starts by saying he will divide up Shechem and the Vale or Succoth. These are both place that Jacob/Israel visited as entered back into the land of Canaan (Genesis 33:17-19).

He then lists places in Israel from north to south. Gilead, Manasseh, Ephraim, and Judah all belong to him. In short, God is in control over his land.

God then turns to Israel’s enemies and discredits them. Moab, Edom, and Philistia will all submit to his authority. Who could defeat God and lead him to submit to these nations?

The psalm then turns back to the psalmist. They still call out to God. He has still rejected them, refusing to go out with their armies.

And so the psalmist leans into his request, help us defeat our enemies because we can’t do it in our own strength. If God was to go with them, they would see victory and defeat their enemies.

In this lament psalm, the lesson is clear. Victory is found in God. To go without God will lead to defeat, but to go with God is to be victorious.