“On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness” (Zechariah 13:1 ESV). Zechariah, writing to the post-exilic community of Judah who had returned from Babylonian exile, spoke words of hope that reached far beyond their immediate circumstances. While
“…Therefore the people wander like sheep; they are afflicted for lack of a shepherd” (Zechariah 10:2b ESV). Zechariah, writing to the post-exilic community of Judah, addressed a people who had returned from exile but were still spiritually disoriented. Though back in the land, they were vulnerable, restless, and afflicted. The prophet explained the root cause
“… And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast…” (Revelation 17:8 ESV). The apostle John wrote Revelation to the persecuted churches in Asia Minor who were pressured to compromise with the idolatrous powers of the
“And as you have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing. Fear not, but let your hands be strong” (Zechariah 8:13 ESV). Zechariah, writing to the post-exilic community of Judah and Israel, assured a discouraged
“Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul” (Psalm 143:8 ESV). David, writing as a suffering servant of the LORD and speaking on behalf of God’s covenant people, prayed for renewed assurance
“Then he said to me, ‘This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts’” (Zechariah 4:6 ESV). Zechariah, writing to the returned Jewish remnant after the Babylonian exile, recorded the LORD’s message of encouragement to Zerubbabel, the governor charged with
“For behold, on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with seven eyes, I will engrave its inscription, declares the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day” (Zechariah 3:9 ESV). Zechariah spoke to a returned, but discouraged, remnant in Judah, assuring
“Therefore say to them, Thus declares the LORD of hosts: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts” (Zechariah 1:3 ESV). Zechariah, a prophet sent by the LORD in the post-exilic period, addressed a people who had already returned from Babylon to Jerusalem and
“On that day, declares the LORD of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, the son of Shealtiel, declares the LORD, and make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the LORD of hosts” (Haggai 2:23 ESV). Haggai, the prophet of Judah’s post-exilic period, wrote to the remnant who
“At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are complacent, those who say in their hearts, ‘The LORD will not do good, nor will he do ill.’” (Zephaniah 1:12 ESV). The prophet Zephaniah wrote to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem during the reign