Minor Prophets · Chapter 1 of 14

Zechariah 1

Zechariah opens with a call to return to the LORD, warning against repeating the fathers' rebellion. Then he sees a night vision of a man on a red horse among myrtle trees, with riders who report the earth at rest. The angel of the LORD asks how long God will withhold mercy from Jerusalem, and God answers with comforting words. A second vision of four horns and four carpenters promises the scattering of Judah's oppressors.

What happens in Zechariah 1

In Darius's second year, the word of the LORD comes to Zechariah with a plea: the LORD was displeased with the fathers, so turn to him and he will turn to you. Do not be like the ancestors who ignored the former prophets and perished. Then Zechariah sees a night vision. A man rides a red horse among myrtle trees, with red, speckled, and white horses behind him. An interpreting angel explains that these are those God sent to patrol the earth. They report the earth at rest.

The angel of the LORD then asks how long God will withhold mercy from Jerusalem after seventy years of indignation. God answers with comforting words. The angel tells Zechariah to proclaim that God is jealous for Jerusalem, angry with the complacent nations, and returned with mercies to rebuild his house and restore the city. Then Zechariah sees four horns that scattered God's people, and four carpenters who come to cast them down.

Zechariah 1 in context

Zechariah prophesied in 520 before Christ, a contemporary of Haggai, encouraging the returned exiles to rebuild the temple. His book is rich in night visions and later messianic prophecy. This opening chapter combines a call to repentance with the first two of eight visions.

The seventy years refers to the length of the Babylonian exile. The myrtle trees in a low place suggest Israel's humble, hidden condition, while the patrolling horsemen and the report of a resting earth raise the question of when God will act for his afflicted people.

Main themes of Zechariah 1

Return and I will returnZechariah's opening appeal, turn to me and I will turn to you, captures the heart of repentance as a restored relationship. God does not want his people to repeat the fathers' deafness to the prophets. The promise is reciprocal and gracious: genuine turning to God is met by God turning toward his people with mercy.

God's watchful concernThe vision of horsemen patrolling the earth shows that God is not detached; he surveys the whole world and knows its condition. When they report the earth at rest while Jerusalem suffers, the angel asks how long. God's answer of comforting words reveals a Lord engaged with his people's affliction and moving to act.

Jealous mercy toward JerusalemGod declares himself jealous for Jerusalem and Zion with a great jealousy, angry at the nations who worsened his people's affliction. This jealousy is protective love that returns to the city with mercies, promising the temple rebuilt. Divine jealousy is not petty but the fierce commitment of God to restore and comfort his own.

This is prophecy, brief and piercing, calling God's people back to justice, mercy, and faithfulness. As you read, ask where He is calling you back today.

Zechariah 1 (KJV)

1In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, 2The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers. 3Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. 4Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the LORD. 5Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever? 6But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned and said, Like as the LORD of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us. 7Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, 8I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white. 9Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will shew thee what these be. 10And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth. 11And they answered the angel of the LORD that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest. 12Then the angel of the LORD answered and said, O LORD of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years? 13And the LORD answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words. 14So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. 15And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction. 16Therefore thus saith the LORD; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the LORD of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem. 17Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the LORD shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem. 18Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns. 19And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What be these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. 20And the LORD shewed me four carpenters. 21Then said I, What come these to do? And he spake, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it.

Verses to carry from Zechariah 1

“Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts.”Zechariah 1:3

“Then the angel of the LORD answered and said, O LORD of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?”Zechariah 1:12

“Therefore thus saith the LORD; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the LORD of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.”Zechariah 1:16

Thematic connection

How Zechariah 1 points to Jesus

Zechariah's opening call, turn to me and I will turn to you, expresses the gospel invitation that Christ embodies, calling sinners to repentance with the promise of a God who runs to meet them. The mysterious angel of the LORD who intercedes, asking how long until God shows mercy to Jerusalem, is a figure many Christians see as a preincarnate appearance of the Son, the eternal intercessor who pleads for God's people, a role Jesus fulfills as the one who ever lives to intercede.

God's return to Jerusalem with mercies, rebuilding his house, anticipates the greater restoration Christ accomplishes, dwelling among his people and building them into God's temple. This is honestly a thematic connection, with the interceding angel and the call to return pointing toward the mediating and restoring work of Christ.

Questions about Zechariah 1

What does turn to me and I will turn to you teach about repentance?

In verse three God frames repentance as mutual movement: when his people turn to him, he turns to them. This shows repentance is not merely regret but a restored relationship, and that God is eager to respond with mercy. He warns against the fathers' refusal to listen. The same open invitation reaches its fullest expression in Christ, who welcomes all who turn to God through him.

Who is the angel of the LORD who intercedes in this vision?

In verse twelve the angel of the LORD asks God how long he will withhold mercy from Jerusalem, taking the role of an intercessor for God's people. Throughout the Old Testament this figure often speaks and acts as God himself. Many Christians understand these appearances as foreshadowing the Son, who is the true and eternal mediator, and who now intercedes for his people at the Father's right hand.

Reflection

God's word to a discouraged people begins with an invitation: turn to me and I will turn to you. Wherever you have drifted, the way back is simply to turn, and God promises to meet you. Remember that he is not distant but watching, jealous for your good, and ready to return with mercies.

A prayer from Zechariah 1

LORD of hosts, I turn to you, trusting your promise to turn to me. Do not let me repeat the fathers' deafness. Thank you for your jealous mercy and for the one who intercedes. Return to me, and build your dwelling in my life.

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