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Zechariah, Prophet of God's remembrance, Part 1

Babylon fell to the Persians in 537 B.C., and Cyrus replaced Belshazzar with his father-in-law, Darius the Mede (Daniel 5:30, 31). Darius restructured the Babylonian empire and ordained three governors over 120 provinces, installing the prophet Daniel as the chief governor (Daniel 6:2). When Cyrus finished his main conquests, he took the throne personally and Darius returned to his own country of Media.

It was in the first year of Cyrus (534 B.C.) that he issued his famous Edict allowing the captives of Judah (and also other nations) to return to their former lands (Ezra 1:1). No doubt it was through the influence of Daniel, an old man by that point, that he received the revelation of the word “to build Him a house in Jerusalem” (Ezra 1:2). The Judahites returned under the leadership of Zerubbabel in the summer of 534, and so they began to date their Sabbath years from their first new year in September at the Feast of Trumpets.

Hence, their first Sabbath year after returning from Babylon was in 534-533 A.D. Their 53^rd Sabbath year was in 163-162 B.C., at the rededication of the temple after overthrowing the army of Antiochus Epiphanes. This Sabbath year is mentioned in history books. The next Sabbath year mentioned in the histories was in 37-36 B.C. when Herod took Jerusalem and became king. The third Sabbath mentioned in the histories took place in 69-70 A.D. during the Roman siege of Jerusalem wherein that city was destroyed.

The point is that by counting backward by sevens, it is clear that 534-533 B.C. was their Sabbath year, marking Judah’s return from captivity. It also positively dates the Edict of Cyrus.

Darius the Great

The first wave of Judahites then immigrated to the old land, and they built an altar on the site of the destroyed temple of Solomon. But the local opposition from the Samaritans hindered the work of rebuilding the temple itself.

In 530 B.C., Cyrus appointed his son Cambyses as co-ruler and then took his army north to fight the Massagetae. Cyrus was killed in battle, and his son Cambyses then became the sole ruler of the Persian empire.

“Before his accession, Cambyses had briefly served as the governor of northern Babylonia under his father from April to December 538 BC. Afterwards, he resided in the Babylonian cities of Babylon and Sippar, before being appointed by his father as co-ruler in 530 BC. His father then set off on an expedition against the Massagetae of Central Asia, where he met his end. Cambyses thus became the sole ruler of the vast Achaemenid Empire, facing no reported opposition.

“While en route in Syria (Eber-Nari), he received a wound to the thigh, which was soon affected by gangrene. Cambyses died three weeks later at a location called Agbatana, which is most likely the modern city of Hama. He died childless, and was thus succeeded by his younger brother Bardiya, who ruled for a short period before being overthrown by Darius the Great (r. 522–486 BC).”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambyses_II

Haggai and Zechariah

It was in the second year of this Darius—not Darius the Mede, but Darius Hystaspes, called “The Great” that the prophets Haggai and Zechariah began to prophesy. Haggai 1:1 says,

¹ In the second year of Darius the king, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel…

Zechariah 1:1 says,

¹ In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, saying…

These are post-exilic prophets (along with Malachi some decades later). Haggai and Zechariah prophesied about the rebuilding of the temple; Malachi prophesied shortly after the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt (445 B.C.).

In those days both the temple and the city of Jerusalem were prophetic patterns of greater things yet to come via the New Covenant. While there is no doubt that God had instructed them to build those physical structures, it is equally clear from the New Testament writings that these were not the final structures that God had in mind. The true temple was to be constructed with “living stones.” 1 Peter 2:5, 6 says,

⁵ You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ For this is contained in Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, and he who believes in Him [Christ] will not be disappointed.”

This agrees fully with the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 2:19-22,

¹⁹ So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, ²⁰ having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, ²¹ in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, ²² in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

This temple-building project has been ongoing since Christ’s first work was completed. This is why the prophecies of a rebuilt temple described in Old Covenant terms in Ezekiel 40-48 can only be fulfilled in a New Covenant context. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:16,

¹⁶ Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

In years past, God dwelt among us in a temple made of wood and stone. But such temples were inadequate, because they could not house the glory of God. Solomon himself bore witness of this when he dedicated the first temple. In 1 Kings 8:27 he prayed,

²⁷ But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built!

Not only a temple made of wood and stone, but also Jerusalem itself was to be replaced by a heavenly (spiritual) city. Paul makes this clear in Galatians 4:25, telling us that the earthly city cannot bring forth the promised seed, “for she is in slavery with her children.” The earthly city has been condemned to utter destruction (Jeremiah 19:10, 11), but the holy city that comes down from heaven will be the capital of the Kingdom (Revelation 21:2).

For this reason, although Haggai’s temple prophecy was uttered within the Old Covenant context and encouraged the people to build the second temple, a greater fulfillment yet lay ahead. That second temple was rebuilt by King Herod and his successors over a period of 46 years (John 2:20), but a few decades later it was destroyed in 70 A.D.

This was the final end of temples made of wood and stone. Once Christ came, and specifically from the day of Pentecost, the Spirit of God has indwelt the true temple constructed with “living stones.” This is the only temple that can possibly contain the glory of God. He has upgraded His residence, and He will never again revert to the old pattern.

Two Temples and Two Cities

With this historical background, we can now turn to Zechariah’s prophecies, which speak mostly about Jerusalem. This background is important to understand, because none of the Old Testament prophets clearly distinguish between the earthly city and the heavenly city. It is left to the apostles in the New Testament to make this clarification—particularly John and Paul.

In John’s description of the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:2), he quotes many passages from the Old Covenant prophets, relying heavily upon Isaiah. Whereas Paul speaks of the two cities as Hagar and Sarah (the wives of Abraham), John focuses on the heavenly Jerusalem, which he calls “the Lamb’s wife” (Revelation 21:9). She is “Sarah,” the heavenly city.

In the Hebrew language, Jerusalem is Ierushalayim, which literally means “two Jerusalems.” The ayim ending is called a duel, meaning precisely two. This contrasts with the im ending, which makes it plural (meaning more than two). Rabbis have debated this for thousands of years, wondering why Jerusalem is a dual. The New Testament apostles answer this question.

In Revelation 21:23 John writes,

²³ And the city [New Jerusalem] has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.

This refers to Isaiah 60 19, 20,

¹⁹ No longer will you have the sun for light by day, nor for brightness will the moon give you light; but you will have the Lord for an everlasting light, and your God for your glory. ²⁰ Your sun will no longer set, nor will your moon wane; for you will have the Lord for an everlasting light, and the days of your mourning will be over.

Note that Isaiah spoke of Jerusalem without telling us which city he was describing. The only hint we have is that he described the restoration of Jerusalem. But John clearly applies it to the New Jerusalem.

Again, John says in Revelation 21:24-26,

²⁴ The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. ²⁵ In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; ²⁶ and they will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.

Once again, John was drawing from Isaiah 60:3 and 11,

³ Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising… ¹¹ Your gates will be open continuously; they will not be closed day or night, so that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations, with their kings led in procession.

Hence, whereas Isaiah spoke about “Jerusalem,” John interprets this as the “New Jerusalem.” The point is that “Jerusalem” can mean either the earthly city or the heavenly city. As a general rule, whenever the prophets speak of Jerusalem in a negative sense, they refer to the earthly city. Whenever the prophets speak of Jerusalem in glowing terms, they refer to the heavenly city. The earthly city is the bondwoman who must be “cast out” (Galatians 4:30) so that the free woman may be recognized as the mother of all Kingdom-minded overcomers.

So when we study the prophecies of Zechariah, let us keep this in mind. The prophet says much about Jerusalem, but he does not distinguish between the two cities. It is left to us to determine which is which, according to the New Testament viewpoint.