Zechariah 1-8 • The Pervasive Power and Persistent Purpose of God

Do you have confidence in the pervasive power of God to handle any situation in your life? Does that encourage you to follow His way of living life rather than the world’s way? Do you have confidence in the persistent purpose of God to do His work in His time? Does that help you relax and trust Him to work His plan even if you cannot see the effects right now? Those are the two aspects of trusting God. In the last blog, we learned from Haggai how important it is to spend time in God’s presence and not use substitute activities to satisfy that need. This is post #5 in the Ezra to Malachi blog series. In this post, we will look at the pervasive power and persistent purpose of God revealed in Zechariah chapters 1-8.

Listen to this post as a similar podcast from our Identity: Sticking to Your Faith in a Pull-Apart World Bible Study covering the last 7 written books of the Old Testament.

Finding Treasure in Zechariah

I have never really studied the book of Zechariah. Have you? I knew it was part of the Minor Prophets at the end of my Old Testament. In fact, it is second to last in the list. Although I have read it on my read-through-the-Bible journeys, I have not read it in context of what was going on at the time it was written. Nor have I looked at Zechariah in light of what God teaches me about Himself in it. What about you?

What a joy to discover so much treasure in this relatively unknown book! Did you know that the New Testament writers either quote or refer to verses in Zechariah more than forty-one times? I did not. One historian said that this was one of the favorite books of the early church Christians. I never knew that, either. Do you know why it was so popular then? It contains so many of God’s promises about the coming Messiah. If you did Lesson 4 in our study guide, you saw some of them in Zechariah chapters 1-8. We will see more in Lesson 5 when we cover Zechariah chapters 9-14.

The role of prophet

Zechariah was a priest living in Israel around twenty years after the first group of 50,000 Jews returned from their Babylonian exile. His contemporary was Haggai whose words from God we covered in the last blog. As a priest, Zechariah was already representing the people before God in his priestly duties. God called him to do more—to be a prophet. A prophet was God’s mouthpiece to the people representing God through the words God gave him to share with the Jews then and everyone else who has lived since that time. That includes you and me today.

The use of visions

God chose to deliver His messages through a lot of visions. Some of those visions are like the parables Jesus told—descriptions of recognizable aspects of life that had a truth to grasp and application to your faith walk. God uses colorful examples for us to illustrate what He wants us to know. Sometimes we remember the examples better than just straight teaching. Isn’t that true?

God’s power and purpose give hope

I read this quote that is a great summary of what Zechariah teaches us:

The whole book is a revelation of the pervasive power and the persistent purpose of Yahweh. … People experiencing adversity frequently see only things that are close at hand. Zechariah provided hope from visions that he saw … that encouraged his audience to lift their eyes to behold the larger plans and purposes of their God. (Dr. Constable’s Notes on Zechariah 2023 Edition, p. 13)

Through Zechariah, God revealed things about the future of the Jews that gave his discouraged contemporaries hope. Through Zechariah, God revealed things about Himself and our future that give us hope as well. We are to be confident in the pervasive power of God and the persistent purpose of God.

The Pervasive Power of God

The Lord Almighty

All three of the prophets we are studying—Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi—refer to God as the “Lord Almighty.” It is also translated as the “Lord of armies.” This title for God refers to Him being the sovereign Lord and Master of the entire universe. He was greater than any Persian emperor. He was greater than the local governors and other officials in the province where the Jews lived. He was greater than any opposition they faced. The Jews lived at a time when Israel had lost its army, had no military power, and had little political power. Yet, their God was a powerful and active sovereign who could be trusted to work on their behalf.

“Return to Me”

God’s power was available first for His people as they trusted Him and followed His way more than their own way or the world’s way. God spoke to His people in Zechariah chapter 1 verse 3:

Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty. (Zechariah 1:3)

The people had given up the rebuilding of their temple because of opposition and personal pursuits. Haggai was preaching to the people to desire God’s presence with them and start building again. Zechariah was reinforcing that message and telling them why the rebuilding of the temple was important for their future. God’s promise to return to them included not only what He would do for the current Jewish population but also His plans for the future. God would come to His people in the person of their Messiah who would be His own Son. And God would provide the power for restoration of them as a people through His Spirit.

That phrase “Return to me” reminds me of all the prodigal children on my prayer list. Sons and daughters of my friends who were raised to know the Lord have chosen to follow the world’s way or their own way instead of God’s way. The Lord knows who they are and where they are. I ask Him to bring the consequences of their rebellion to their attention. Stop them in their tracks with something that grabs their attention just like God did with the rebellious Jews. Make them realize how good you are, Lord, compared to their peers, causes, or whatever they are pursuing.

Do you have a prodigal in your family? Are you willing to ask God to hit them with consequences so that they will return to Him?

I prayed for a friend once who was not following Christ. He got in a car wreck and was in the hospital for weeks with a broken hip. While there, a local church singles group visited him often and showed the love of Christ to him. He trusted in Christ, joined that church, and married a wonderful Christian woman. That hip is a constant reminder to me of how I prayed for God to get his attention. I did not want him hurt. But God knew what it would take. His goodness took the action required to bring that family member back to him.

Visions reveal God’s power

God knew what His people 2500 years ago needed as well. Defeat and living as captives in a foreign land did it. The ones with soft hearts toward God returned to Israel. And God encouraged them through eight visions given to Zechariah.

Each vision revealed an aspect of God’s pervasive power to overcome what Zechariah’s audience faced, and so it gave them hope. Were they in a depressed place? God was watching over them. Were weapons being formed against them? He would break those weapons. Was the city they were rebuilding insecure? He would enlarge it even more and make it secure. Was their adversary going to be successful? God would be their Advocate. Was their responsibility heavy? He would prove to be a sufficient resource for them. Was sin present everywhere? He would give the power to overcome sin. Was evil ever going to end? He would end it. Would order ever come? He would bring it. (Dr. Constable’s Notes on Zechariah 2023 Edition, p. 16)

God does the same for you as His child. His pervasive power on your behalf overcomes whatever you are facing. Romans 8 verse 31 declares this truth:

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31)

The answer is NO ONE! The Lord Almighty is for you.

God led Paul to write in Ephesians these words,

 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being … Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. (Ephesians 3:16, 20)

His power is for us, strengthening us through His Spirit living inside us.

Paul learned that truth from Zechariah 4 verse 6:

“This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty. (Zechariah 4:6)

It is only through the power of His Spirit in us that we can succeed at anything God desires for us to do. It is by trusting the pervasive power of God that we get through the challenges of life and have hope.

And the pervasive power of God works alongside the persistent purpose of God.

The Persistent Purpose of God

God has a plan for human history. He works in the background of life to move history toward His intended goal. His purpose endures over any human or Satanic opposition. Nothing can thwart His purpose.

Most of the treasure I found in Zechariah chapters 1 through 8 were related to God’s persistent purpose.

Purpose to protect

Zechariah 2:8 says this:

For whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye. (Zechariah 2:8)

The apple of His eye. I had heard that phrase before but did not know it came from Zechariah. The Hebrew word translated apple refers to the pupil, which is delicate and needs to be protected. God loves His people. He would defend and protect them.

Purpose to live among us

Zechariah 2:10-11 say this:

“Shout and be glad, Daughter Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,” declares the Lord. “Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become my people.” (Zechariah 2:10-11)

He would come to live among them not just in the temple but as a human—Emmanuel, which means God with us. Jesus Christ fulfilled that promise. And many nations have joined with the Lord through faith in Christ and have become God’s people, way beyond just the Jews. God’s persistent purpose was fulfilled.

Purpose for Messiah as king-priest

The next vision in Zechariah chapter 3 was of the high priest Joshua having his filthy clothes removed and replaced with clean garments. That is followed by these words:

“‘Listen, High Priest Joshua, you and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch. See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day. (Zechariah 3:8-9)

God would send His servant, the Branch, which is another name for the Messiah. God did remove sin in a single day through Jesus’ death on the cross 550 years later. The vision of the high priest Joshua having his filthy clothes removed and replaced with clean garments represents our sin being removed and being replaced with Christ’s rich clothes of righteousness.

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. (Galatians 3:26-27)

Once you are in Christ, God looks on you and sees His Son’s righteousness and not your filthy rags. What a gift!

Zechariah 6:11-13 describe the future Messiah’s role of priest combined with king.

Take the silver and gold and make a crown, and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshua son of Jozadak. Tell him this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord. It is he who will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne. And there will be harmony between the two.’ (Zechariah 6:11-13)

The future Messiah would be a king and priest. In Israel, those two offices came from two different tribes. Priests came from Levi through Aaron; Kings came from Judah through David. The role of the high priest foreshadowed a type of savior because the high priest represented the people before God and God to the people.

Jesus fulfilled God’s persistent purpose in this prophecy. He was a descendent of David, so he could be Israel’s king. He offered himself as a sacrifice to remove our sin and intercedes for us as our high priest. Only one person was needed to do both. One Messiah meets every need. God’s persistent purpose was fulfilled.

Purpose for the temple

Then, the message in Zechariah chapter 8:20-23 gave God’s reasons for them to be strong and finish building the temple.

 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Many peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come, and the inhabitants of one city will go to another and say, ‘Let us go at once to entreat the Lord and seek the Lord Almighty. I myself am going.’ And many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord Almighty and to entreat him.”  This is what the Lord Almighty says: “In those days ten people from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.’” (Zechariah 8:20-23)

The temple would become a draw to worshipers from other parts of the world, not just Jews. God had a future purpose for the temple than just to have it represent His presence to the Jews. For the next 550 years, many people from outside Israel who desired God would head to Jerusalem to worship Him there because the temple represented God to them. After Jesus’ death and resurrection, those many peoples from all languages would hear the gospel message, experience the day of Pentecost, and go back home to share the good news.

And because of Jewish synagogues in their home towns, non-Jews also called Gentiles heard about God and chose to worship God rather than their own idols. The Bible calls them God-fearers. As the apostles spread out from Jerusalem, they went to those synagogues, shared the good news about Jesus, and reaped the harvest of many Gentiles being saved. God’s persistent purpose was fulfilled.

Following God’s Way

When you have confidence in the pervasive power of God to handle any situation in your life, does that encourage you to follow His way of living life rather than the world’s way?

When you have confidence in the persistent purpose of God to do His work in His time, does that help you relax and trust Him to work His plan even if you cannot see the effects right now?

Those are the two aspects of trusting God. You do your part of living life His way while you trust Him to do His part of working out His plan. Then, you keep your eyes open to recognize what He is doing and rejoice. It is a win/win!

In the next blog, we will look at Zechariah chapters 9-14 and see what God promises regarding our King Jesus coming to us.

Let Jesus satisfy your heart with complete trust in Him so that you will follow His way of living life instead of the world’s way or your own way.

All of the above information is covered in the  Identity: Sticking to Your Faith in a Pull-Apart World Bible Study  covering the last 7 written books of the Old Testament.

Related Resources:

• Identity: Sticking to Your Faith in a Pull-Apart World Bible Study
• Satisfied Series 18 Podcasts (Ezra-Malachi)
• Haggai 1-2: Desiring God’s Presence

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