A Call to Repentance// Jeremiah 3:11–25; Hosea 14:1–3
1In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of Yahweh came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, saying:
- ZECH 1:1[ARCHAEOLOGY]A rock cut monument in the Kidron Valley from around the time of Jesus, linked by old tradition to a Zechariah, see The Tomb of Zechariah Field Notes box
- ZECH 1:1[NOTE]THE EIGHTH MONTH. October or November 520 BC, two months after Haggai's first sermon. Zechariah was a priest from the family of Iddo, Nehemiah 12:4 and 16, and his name means Yahweh remembers.
- ZECH 1:1[NOTE]SON OF BERECHIAH. See Which Zechariah Was Murdered? and The Tomb of Zechariah.
2“Yahweh was very angry with your fathers. 3So tell the people that this is what Yahweh of Hosts says: ‘Return to Me, declares Yahweh of Hosts, and I will return to you, says Yahweh of Hosts.’
- ZECH 1:3[ALLUDED TO]The New Testament refers to this → JAS 4:8
- ZECH 1:3[NOTE]RETURN TO ME. James 4:8 sounds the same note: Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.
4Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed that this is what Yahweh of Hosts says: ‘Turn now from your evil ways and deeds.’
But they did not listen or pay attention to Me, declares Yahweh.
5Where are your fathers now? And the prophets, do they live forever? 6But did not My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, overtake your fathers? They repented and said, ‘Just as Yahweh of Hosts purposed to do to us according to our ways and deeds, so He has done to us.’”
The Vision of the Horses
7On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of Yahweh came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo.
- ZECH 1:7[NOTE]THE MONTH OF SHEBAT. February 15, 519 BC. All eight visions came in one night. See The Eight Night Visions.
8I looked out into the night and saw a man riding on a red horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in the hollow, and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses.
- ZECH 1:8[MIRACLE]A man among the myrtle trees and the angel of Yahweh
9“What are these, my lord?” I asked.
And the angel who was speaking with me replied, “I will show you what they are.”
10Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, “They are the ones Yahweh has sent to patrol the earth.”
- ZECH 1:10[NOTE]THE MAN AMONG THE MYRTLES. 1:11 calls him the angel of Yahweh, so his words print red. The other angel, the one speaking with me, prints black.
11And the riders answered the angel of Yahweh who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth is at rest and tranquil.”
12Then the angel of Yahweh said, “How long, O Yahweh of Hosts, will You withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which You have been angry these seventy years?”
- ZECH 1:12[NOTE]SEVENTY YEARS. The years Jeremiah had foretold, Jeremiah 25:11. See The Seventy Years, Jeremiah.
13So Yahweh spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who was speaking with me.
14Then the angel who was speaking with me said, “Proclaim this word: This is what Yahweh of Hosts says: ‘I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion, 15but I am fiercely angry with the nations that are at ease. For I was a little angry, but they have added to the calamity.’
- ZECH 1:14[NOTE]THE ANGEL WHO SPOKE WITH ME. His own words print black. The words he passes on from God print red.
16Therefore this is what Yahweh says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there My house will be rebuilt, declares Yahweh of Hosts, and a measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem.’
- ZECH 1:16[PROPHECY]My house shall be built in Jerusalem; My cities shall again spread through prosperity → EZR 6:14-15
17Proclaim further that this is what Yahweh of Hosts says: ‘My cities will again overflow with prosperity; Yahweh will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.’”
The Vision of the Horns and the Craftsmen
18Then I looked up and saw four horns. 19So I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these?”
- ZECH 1:18[NOTE]FOUR HORNS. Horns stand for strong nations. The craftsmen, 1:20, are the ones God sends to break them.
And he told me, “These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”
20Then Yahweh showed me four craftsmen.
21“What are these coming to do?” I asked.
And He replied, “These are the horns that scattered Judah so that no one could raise his head; but the craftsmen have come to terrify them and throw down these horns of the nations that have lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.”