Zechariah wrote to the Jews in the second year of Darius the Great (520 AD). At this time, 18 years had already passed since Cyrus authorized the return of the Jews to the Promised Land to resettle the cities and rebuild Jerusalem. Many of the Diaspora did not return being that they had comfortable lives in the lands of their exile. Zechariah wanted to encourage them to leave those lands behind and go to the place God designated for them. He indicated that there would be a time when those shepherds that ruled over them would begin oppressing the Jews and God would not prevent them (chapter 11). This fits the context of Jews of modern and postmodern history, would you not agree?
While there is more that can be said about Zechariah’s messages to the exiles, I wanted to focus on the prophecies of the latter passages to see what it says about Jews today.
Chapter 8: Zion will again dwell in Jerusalem (vs 3). Judah and Israel will become a blessing among the nations (vs 13). People will come back and settle in the cities (vs 20).
Chapter 9: Neighboring nations (Damascus, Hamath, Tyre, Sidon, Ashkelon, Gaza, and Earon will be dispossessed (vs 1-7). God will no longer let an oppressor pass over them and will increase their dominion (vs 8-10). Exiles will return and Israel will become unstoppable in military combat, especially against the Philistines (vs 11-15). God will personally save Israel and restore them (vs 16-17).
Chapter 10: God will punish the nations that oppressed the exiles and bless Judah & Israel. Assyria will be brought low and Egypt will lose its influence. Israel will conquer and settle in the lands of Lebanon and Gilead (Southern Lebanon and Golan Heights). Israel will be blessed and unstoppable, encouraging exiles to return from the lands they were raised in.
Chapter 11: The exiles that refuse to return at this point will be oppressed by the “shepherds” that watch over them. This will drive them to return to Jerusalem or perish. An interesting thing about this chapter is it is the last time the words Israel or Ephraim are used in Zechariah’s prophecies. This indicates the northern territories come under the occupation of a worthless leader in Lebanon that cares nothing for the people he governs but will devour them for his own benefit.
Chapter 12: God gathers all the surrounding peoples that hate the Jews to besiege Jerusalem. There God will destroy them after causing a spiritual revival in Jerusalem. The outcome of this revival is forgiveness and repentance.
Chapter 13: This, I believe, is when the temple, the fountain in verse 1, will be rebuilt and opened. The false prophets that worked for the “shepherds” will be purged from the land as a result of the spiritual revival in the land. In keeping with Ezekiel 34 (a prophecy about Israel’s shepherd and sheep), the shepherds of Israel and the sheep will be exposed to tribulation. Two-thirds will be cut off and perish in the land and a third will be refined.
Chapter 14: This prophecy looks forward to the day that Jesus, the good shepherd that is the fulfillment of the Branch prophecy, will return and deliver His afflicted flock, destroying with a plague all those that tried to destroy them.
If you haven’t noticed yet, all these prophecies, up to chapter 12 have been fulfilled. God bought Zion back to Israel in 1948 and restored all of Jerusalem to her in 1967 (chapter 8), taking possession of West Bank (E)/Golan Heights (N), Gaza Strip (W), and
Sinai Peninsula (chapters 9-10). Exiles have since come from all over the world to settle in the land of Israel. This was delayed after the Oslo Accords returned the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank back to Palestine. When Hamas was elected in 2005, the territory was blockaded by Israel in effort to starve the terrorist regime of resources. They decided instead to starve their own people and use the resources to build underground tunnels to conduct military operations against Israel. This came to a head on October 7, 2023 when Hamas invaded Israel and slaughtered innocent civilians at a music festival. This spurred the desolation now occurring in Gaza and the war brewing with Hezbollah. Israel‘s determination to destroy Hamas has brought all the surrounding nations harboring Islamic jihadists armed by Iran and their allies against Israel at Jerusalem for the sake of the Al Aqsa Mosque and Muslim control of the Temple Mount. Hezbollah‘s pride is being brought low as we speak, as they reel from the sabotaged pager attack today.
If my interpretation is correct, I anticipate that Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah will soon be eliminated by Israel. This will cause war with Hezbollah that will bring about the destruction of Damascus, Tyre, and Sidon. I anticipate after this that all the regimes that call for the annihilation of Israel will invade Israel and surround Jerusalem. We could reasonably see this within the year.
While there is more that can be said about Zechariah’s messages to the exiles, I wanted to focus on the prophecies of the latter passages to see what it says about Jews today.
Chapter 8: Zion will again dwell in Jerusalem (vs 3). Judah and Israel will become a blessing among the nations (vs 13). People will come back and settle in the cities (vs 20).
Chapter 9: Neighboring nations (Damascus, Hamath, Tyre, Sidon, Ashkelon, Gaza, and Earon will be dispossessed (vs 1-7). God will no longer let an oppressor pass over them and will increase their dominion (vs 8-10). Exiles will return and Israel will become unstoppable in military combat, especially against the Philistines (vs 11-15). God will personally save Israel and restore them (vs 16-17).
Chapter 10: God will punish the nations that oppressed the exiles and bless Judah & Israel. Assyria will be brought low and Egypt will lose its influence. Israel will conquer and settle in the lands of Lebanon and Gilead (Southern Lebanon and Golan Heights). Israel will be blessed and unstoppable, encouraging exiles to return from the lands they were raised in.
Chapter 11: The exiles that refuse to return at this point will be oppressed by the “shepherds” that watch over them. This will drive them to return to Jerusalem or perish. An interesting thing about this chapter is it is the last time the words Israel or Ephraim are used in Zechariah’s prophecies. This indicates the northern territories come under the occupation of a worthless leader in Lebanon that cares nothing for the people he governs but will devour them for his own benefit.
Chapter 12: God gathers all the surrounding peoples that hate the Jews to besiege Jerusalem. There God will destroy them after causing a spiritual revival in Jerusalem. The outcome of this revival is forgiveness and repentance.
Chapter 13: This, I believe, is when the temple, the fountain in verse 1, will be rebuilt and opened. The false prophets that worked for the “shepherds” will be purged from the land as a result of the spiritual revival in the land. In keeping with Ezekiel 34 (a prophecy about Israel’s shepherd and sheep), the shepherds of Israel and the sheep will be exposed to tribulation. Two-thirds will be cut off and perish in the land and a third will be refined.
Chapter 14: This prophecy looks forward to the day that Jesus, the good shepherd that is the fulfillment of the Branch prophecy, will return and deliver His afflicted flock, destroying with a plague all those that tried to destroy them.
If you haven’t noticed yet, all these prophecies, up to chapter 12 have been fulfilled. God bought Zion back to Israel in 1948 and restored all of Jerusalem to her in 1967 (chapter 8), taking possession of West Bank (E)/Golan Heights (N), Gaza Strip (W), and
Sinai Peninsula (chapters 9-10). Exiles have since come from all over the world to settle in the land of Israel. This was delayed after the Oslo Accords returned the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank back to Palestine. When Hamas was elected in 2005, the territory was blockaded by Israel in effort to starve the terrorist regime of resources. They decided instead to starve their own people and use the resources to build underground tunnels to conduct military operations against Israel. This came to a head on October 7, 2023 when Hamas invaded Israel and slaughtered innocent civilians at a music festival. This spurred the desolation now occurring in Gaza and the war brewing with Hezbollah. Israel‘s determination to destroy Hamas has brought all the surrounding nations harboring Islamic jihadists armed by Iran and their allies against Israel at Jerusalem for the sake of the Al Aqsa Mosque and Muslim control of the Temple Mount. Hezbollah‘s pride is being brought low as we speak, as they reel from the sabotaged pager attack today.
If my interpretation is correct, I anticipate that Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah will soon be eliminated by Israel. This will cause war with Hezbollah that will bring about the destruction of Damascus, Tyre, and Sidon. I anticipate after this that all the regimes that call for the annihilation of Israel will invade Israel and surround Jerusalem. We could reasonably see this within the year.
