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Ask any fan of the Bible which is its weirdest book, and they’re almost bound to say Revelation.  Granted, Revelation is pretty odd.  It’s got the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, a white-haired son of man with a sword coming out of his mouth, a lamb opening a scroll, a star with a key, a seven-headed dragon, a cubic city and of course the number of the Beast, 666.  But at least, when you read it, you have a rough idea of what’s going on, even if the details are obscure.  You know that there is some kind of conflict between good and evil, and good wins in the end.  You also know, because it comes at the end of the New Testament, that the son of man and the Lamb on the throne are likely to be Jesus.

Zechariah, however, can give Revelation a run for its money in the weirdness stakes any day of the week.  One of the twelve Minor Prophets at the end of the Old Testament, it contains, of course, no explicit references to Jesus.  But it does have a sequence of visions, and ‘Day of the Lord’ writing (known as ‘apocalyptic’).  It also has an enormous flying scroll, a tiny woman in a basket, four terrifying craftsmen, a golden lampstand with a perpetual oil supply, a disturbing prophecy of widespread rape and rotting flesh, and a lot of horses.

The author of Revelation may well have plundered Zechariah for some of his imagery – the horses, the scroll and universal warfare, for instance.  But there is evidence too that this was one of Jesus’ favourite books and a source of inspiration for him, with its talk of justice and mercy taking precedence over fasting, good and bad shepherds, a king riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, the land mourning over the one they have pierced, and the people’s sins being removed in a single day.  The Gospel writers quote directly from Zechariah a number of times, particularly in their descriptions of Jesus’ suffering and death.

Zechariah’s prophecies – or certainly the first eight chapters of them – are set firmly in the world of the late sixth century BCE, when the Jewish people, newly returned from exile and still very much under the control of the Persian Empire, are struggling to rebuild the Temple and restore something of their grandparents’ way of life.  His words, and that of his contemporary Haggai, must have come as a strong encouragement from God to complete the task of rebuilding and to rededicate their lives to Him.  But it is not hard to see that Zechariah’s words point far into the future as well, to the time of Jesus, and perhaps to our own time too.

Many commentators have worked tirelessly to understand and explain Zechariah’s prophecy.  Their works are listed in the Bibliography and I am indebted to them all.  I do not pretend to be a scholar; this offering is instead an attempt to pull together some of the fruits of academic research and to present it in an accessible way.  If it inspires you to gain a fresh understanding of the marvellous works of God, and (especially if you're a preacher) to stray a little from the beaten track to forge a path through the less well-known thickets of the Bible, I shall be more than satisfied.

I am very grateful to the Diocese of York for granting me a three-month sabbatical, during which this material was written, and to the Ecclesiastical Insurance Group who granted me a bursary.  I am very grateful too for the good people of All Saints Barmston and Emmanuel Bridlington who have patiently listened to much of this in sermon form and haven’t grumbled once.  Not to my face, at any rate.