Zechariah
In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet. Zechariah 1:1
Zechariah is one of the twelve minor prophets of the Old Testament. They were called “minor” prophets because of the short length of their books. Zechariah and Haggai were sent to encourage the Jews who returned from the Babylonian captivity to rebuild the temple that had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar.
For hundreds of years God’s people had worshiped in a tent church called the Tabernacle. When King David was not permitted to build a permanent structure, his son, King Solomon, built a magnificent temple on the temple mount. After Solomon died, God’s people departed from the ways of the Lord.
The Southern Kingdom of Judah refused to listen to the Lord’s prophets. So the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple and took the people to Babylon. God had promised that the Messiah-King would come from the tribe of Judah. So after 70 years of captivity, God brought his people back to the land promised to Abraham. In 537 BC, Cyrus King of Persia decreed that the Jews could go back to their land and even gave them the gold and silver and things from Solomon’s Temple to rebuild the Temple.
Only 43,360 people returned. They were to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple. We cannot imagine the sight of the desolation of Jerusalem and the ruins of the Temple that they saw when they came back. However, they got busy building their own houses while facing opposition from the surrounding nations. For twenty years no work was done on rebuilding the temple. So the Lord sent Zechariah and Haggai to call his people to repentance and to rebuild his House. Remarkably, the temple was rebuilt in five years (516 BC).
Zechariah goes on in his book to assure God’s people that the Lord of Armies would protect and bless them. We shall see in the following devotions how Zechariah pointed the people of his day and our day to the coming of the promised Messiah and Redeemer.
Surely in temples made with hands,
God, the Most High, is not dwelling;
High above earth His temple stands,
All earthly temples excelling.
The Lutheran Hymnal 467:2