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Life on planet earth is fragile. We live every day under the threat of catastrophic environmental disasters and weapons of mass destruction. Surprisingly, a study of a book as ancient as the Old Testament prophecy of Zechariah can give us a stabilizing perspective in these fear-filled times.
- Zechariah Is A Priest
- Zechariah Is from The Tribe of Levi
- Zechariah Followed The Law of Moses
- Zechariah Is The First Person in The NT to Speak with An Angel
- Zechariah Is Old and (At First) Childless
- Zechariah Prayed For A Child
- Zechariah Doesn’T Believe The Angel’s Message
A priest is someone whose responsibilities included offering sacrifices and taking care of the Temple of the Lord, and blessing the Lord’s name (1 Chr 23:13). One of their duties was to make sure that incense was burning before the Lord at all times. Zechariah is offering incense when we meet him in the book of Luke (Lk 1:9). The priests were desce...
In Bible times, the Jews traced their ancestry back to one of Jacob’s twelve sons. Zechariah is from the tribe of Levi, the same tribes that Moses, Aaron, Ezra, and Asaph hail from.
Luke tells us that both Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth were “blameless” when it came to the Torah: they observed all the Lord’s decrees and commands (Lk 1:6). Now, this doesn’t mean they were sinless—we’ll see in just a minute that Zechariah is not perfect. It means that they followed the commands thoroughly: especially the commands that involved...
Most of our stories of Jesus’ birth start with an angel speaking to either Mary or Joseph, right? Well, when Luke kicks off his story of Jesus, he begins with an angel speaking to Jesus’ relative, Zechariah. Zechariah is ministering in the temple when an angel appears. The angel tells Zechariah that his wife will bear a son: one who will go before ...
Luke fills his first chapter with callbacks and allusions to the miraculous of significant figures in Israel’s history. Zechariah and Elizabeth are old and have no children: similar to how Abraham and Sarah were before the birth of Isaac. It was a sad thing in those days to have no children. In their culture, having no children meant that your fami...
Luke doesn’t record Zechariah’s prayer. But the angel who visits him does mention that he had prayed to have a son (Lk 1:13).
When God told Abraham that his wife Sarah would bear a son, Sarah laughed at the idea (Gn 18:11–15). In similar fashion, when the angel tells Zechariah that his wife will bear a son in her old age, Zechariah does not believe it. Zechariah asks how he can be sure that such an outlandish promise will come to pass. The angel replies, “I am Gabriel” (a...
Zechariah (Hebrew: זְכַרְיָה Zəḵaryā, "remember Yah"; Greek: Ζαχαρίας; Zacharias in KJV; Zachary in the Douay–Rheims Bible; Zakariyya (Arabic: زكريا, romanized: Zakariyyā) in Islamic tradition) is a Jewish figure in the New Testament and the Quran, [2] and venerated in Christianity and Islam. [3]
Jun 18, 2004 · Zechariah’s message focuses on the future and proclaims that God would send the Messiah to establish His Kingdom through the destruction of the Gentile empires and the salvation of His people Israel.
Jan 2, 2014 · God sends them a new prophet: Zechariah. This prophet has colorful visions—messages of comfort and hope to the Jews. It all begins with a simple request: “Return to Me,” declares the LORD of hosts, “that I may return to you” ( Zec 1:3).
May 3, 2019 · There are two notable figures in the Bible called Zechariah (also spelled Zacharias or Zachariah). One was an Old Testament prophet who foretold in the days of Haggai and who composed the book of Zechariah (Ezra 5:1; Zechariah 1:1).
Why is Zechariah so important? The book of Zechariah contains the clearest and the largest number of messianic (about the Messiah) passages among the Minor Prophets. In that respect, it’s possible to think of the book of Zechariah as a kind of miniature book of Isaiah.