Zechariah

Messianic Predictions

Throughout the book of Zechariah the entire point of God’s word to his people is that they have a glorious future ahead of them as they are found in Him. He has disciplined them harshly… but it is now time to move on learn from the mistakes of their fathers. God offers them life and death… and in his Messiah there is a glorious hope that seems truly too good to be true. The prophecies about this servant will be fulfilled… as surely as God has proven himself for the last thousand plus years to his people Israel. They doubted him before and paid dearly… and now he offers them a glorious hope that they can tangibly welcome… a Savior who will deliver them into a glorious day of sins forgiven and victory over all that would harm them. The hope that is set before them is found in this Messiah… who will suffer for the sake of their glory… who will usher in a new day of security and triumph. God loves his people… he is jealous for Zion… and the fullness of his desire to restore humanity to Eden will be made manifest in the coming of the Messiah. He will remove the iniquity of man in one day… holding every man in righteousness before God as they are forgiven in him. He will be a King to rule over all the earth… establishing a glorious kingdom in which the worship of Yahweh will be paramount. It will be a time of comfort… it will be a time of gathering the nations so that God will reign as shepherd, providing faithfully his love poured out in justice and peace. This servant will be a humble and merciful peacemaker… restoring man not by violence but by overwhelming the spiritual forces to bring and end to evil in humanity. The wicked will be devoured… the evil within creation purged… and all that will remain will be set apart to worship Yahweh… the holy ones of humanity worshiping their Maker in a glorious day of light and rejoicing. This is what will come through the Messiah… living water will pour from his throne… God’s purpose will be completed as his name is glorified through all earth b/c of his Messiah.

To the original reader these prophecies showed a hope worth hanging onto… they desperately desired this redemption from the Messiah to come. They would wonder when these things were to come to pass… realizing the hope and glory that come through God’s promised Messiah. They saw God promised a beautiful end… and they would hold on… desiring the fruits of God’s love and redemption.

Today we see that this is Jesus the Christ… the Messiah. The word has become flesh and the reality for us now is that God has brought his life and light to the world as he said he would. What he offers is beautiful… we can look at God’s word in Zechariah and in the other prophets and see that God fulfilled his words… he spoke of the future and Jesus fulfilled it. The reality for us is that the blessings that come in trusting in Christ are here offered… living water… security in his covenant of blood… sins forgiven… he offers genuine hope and life of eternal restoration with the Father. The kingdom is here… the kingdom is now… yet today the world lives as if it lost… believers live as if they are without. No, Christ has come… he has brought life and light to the world. It is here… as surely as God’s word has come true his mercy and life is indeed here… all that is left to do is to believe and walk in the life he offers.