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The Vision of Zechariah
The Vision of Zechariah (artist unknown). Italian, Sicily, about 1300 CE. J Paul Getty Museum. In the first of Zechariah's eight visions, an angel explains that "These are they whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth". Zec 1:10
The book of Zechariah the Prophet has a strong focus on the ideal future world, which promises a day of glory for Zion. It emphasizes that God is at work on a future cosmic upheaval involving much conflict and stern divine judgement, following the nations' final attack against Jerusalem. Ancient readers of Zechariah noticed many messianic prophecies, which most Christian commentators believe to have been fulfilled in the Gospels. The key passages from Zechariah, and their fulfillment in the Gospels, are as follows:
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"Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones." Zec 13:7
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"And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered." Mark 14:27
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"And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD." Zec 11:12-13
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"Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value; And gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me." Mat 27:9-10
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"And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn." Zec 12:10
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"And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced." John 19:37
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"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass." Zec 9:9
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"Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass's colt." John 12:15
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According to the authoritative Codex Judaica, on the 4th of Kislev 3410 (on the Hebrew calendar) Zechariah prophesied in Israel that there was no longer any need to mourn the destruction of the First Temple (see Zec 7:1-7; 8:19). Two years later, on 3rd Adar 3412, the construction of the Second Temple was completed. This is an example of a dual prophecy, as spoken of by the sages:
"There is a tomorrow that is now, and a tomorrow which is later." Tanchuma, Bo 13 and Rashi, Shemot 13:14.
The construction of the Second Temple was completed in 3412, but Zechariah also spoke of the (future) temple being built by the man whose name is the BRANCH:
"There is a tomorrow that is now, and a tomorrow which is later." Tanchuma, Bo 13 and Rashi, Shemot 13:14.
The construction of the Second Temple was completed in 3412, but Zechariah also spoke of the (future) temple being built by the man whose name is the BRANCH:
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"And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:" Zec 6:12 Jesus is that branch (also see Isa 11:1, Jer 23:5 and Jer 33:15).
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Christ the True Vine. 16th Century Greek icon.
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Recall that the isopsephia value of Ιησους ("Jesus") is 888, and Ιησους Χριστος ("Jesus Christ") is 2368. Also note that 5778 on the Hebrew calendar corresponds with 2017/18 on the Gregorian calendar.
- 3410 (the year of Zechariah's prophesy) + 2368 = 5778
- 2368 years = 864,893 days (diameter of the Sun in miles)
Sukkot is also known as the Feast of Tabernacles. This feast is mentioned ten times in the Bible, and three of those appear in the book of Zechariah. For this reason, Zec 14:1-21 is the haftarah for the first day of Sukkot. To be precise, there are 864,844 days from the 4th of Kislev 3410 (the day of Zechariah's prophesy) to the first day of Sukkot 5778.
- the totient of 864,844 = 432,420 (radius of the Sun in miles)
In the book of Zechariah, the third mention of the feast of tabernacles is in the book's third last verse:
"This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles." Zec 14:19
- Zec 14:19 is the 23,088th verse in the Bible
- 23,088 = 26 x 888
The Tetragrammaton (יהוה), usually pronounced Jehovah or Yahweh but translated in the Bible as LORD, has a gematria value of 26. The name Zechariah (זכריה) literally means "Jehovah remembers" (Strongs H2148).
The signs in the heavens and on earth support the messianic nature of Zechariah's vision, and the identity of the proclaimed Messiah is unambiguous.
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