So just who was Zechariah?His name Z’kharyah/זְכַרְיָה֙ son of Berekhyah and the grandson of Ido and he lived about just after the fall of Jerusalem which was about 587 or 586 BCE.The name Zekharyah means “the Lord remembered” and he is part of the 12 minor prophets in some traditions.Although his book is small ,his prophecies are very inspired and compelling!

Lets the start with Zechariah 1.8

“⁸ During the night I had a vision, and there before me was a man mounted on a red horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in a ravine. Behind him were red, brown and white horses.”

Here is Revelation 6

Revelation 6New International Version

The Seals

6 I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” ² I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

³ When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” ⁴ Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword.

⁵ When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. ⁶ Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two pounds^[a] of wheat for a day’s wages,^[b] and six pounds^[c] of barley for a day’s wages,^[d] and do not damage the oil and the wine!”

⁷ When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” ⁸ I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

Revelation does not feature the brown horse nor does Zechariah feature the pale horse but otherwise similar!

Here is Zechariah 2.11-12 but this will be verses 15 and 16 in the Hebrew text

” ¹¹ “Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. ¹² The Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem.”

It goes to the importance of the tribe Judah.

Here is Zechariah 3.1 in the Hebrew text.My interpretation is more mystical then literal but is compelling non the less.

וַיַּרְאֵ֗נִי אֶת־יְהוֹשֻׁ֙עַ֙ הַכֹּהֵ֣ן הַגָּד֔וֹל עֹמֵ֕ד לִפְנֵ֖י מַלְאַ֣ךְ יְהֹוָ֑ה וְהַשָּׂטָ֛ן עֹמֵ֥ד עַל־יְמִינ֖וֹ לְשִׂטְנֽוֹ

“And it was shown to me Yehoshua the high priest standing in the presence of an angel of the Lord and the enemy standing on the right hand to accuse him”

If you do not know ,Yehoshua is the name Jesus is derived from and the Hebrew word satan is used where the word enemy appears!

Here is Zechariah 3.8

שְֽׁמַע־נָ֞א יְהוֹשֻׁ֣עַ | הַכֹּהֵ֣ן הַגָּד֗וֹל אַתָּה֙ וְרֵעֶ֙יךָ֙ הַיֹּֽשְׁבִ֣ים לְפָנֶ֔יךָ כִּֽי־אַנְשֵׁ֥י מוֹפֵ֖ת הֵ֑מָּה כִּֽי־הִנְנִ֥י מֵבִ֛יא אֶת־עַבְדִּ֖י צֶֽמַח:

“Listen please Joshua(Yehoshua,the origin of Jesus) the High Priest,you and your companions who dwell before you.And to men ,behold a wonderous sign will come forth,my servant the branch”

Here the branch or shoot ,the word tzemach is a reference to Isaiah 11.1 about the “shoot or branch” from the stump of Jesse the father of David ,the line of the Masiach/Messiah

“Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.”
– Isaiah 11:1

Here is Zechariah 5.1-2 NIV

“

The Flying Scroll

5 I looked again, and there before me was a flying scroll.

² He asked me, “What do you see?”

I answered, “I see a flying scroll, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide.^[a]”

Could this be talking about the “New Testament”

Here is Zechariah 6.12 NIV

“¹² 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.”

That one needs no explanation ,it is clearly Messianic on the branch of Jesse of the line of David who will rule for ever!

Here is chapter 7 verse 10 NIV

“¹⁰ Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’”

Can not argue with that!

Here we now have chapter 9.3 in the Hebrew

יגכִּֽי־דָרַ֨כְתִּי לִ֜י יְהוּדָ֗ה קֶשֶׁת מִלֵּ֣אתִי אֶפְרַ֔יִם וְעֽוֹרַרְתִּ֚י בָנַ֙יִךְ֙ צִיּ֔וֹן עַל־בָּנַ֖יִךְ יָוָ֑ן וְשַׂמְתִּ֖יךְ כְּחֶ֥רֶב גִּבּֽוֹר:

“For I bent Judah like a bow(that is a archers bow)and I filled Ephraim.I raised up the sons of Zion upon your sons of Greece and will make you mighty with the sword”

Maybe a reference to the victory of the Maccabees predicted two to three centuries in advance!

Here is chapter 10.4 in Hebrew.

דמִמֶּ֚נּוּ פִנָּה֙ מִמֶּ֣נּוּ יָתֵ֔ד מִמֶּ֖נּוּ קֶ֣שֶׁת מִלְחָמָ֑ה מִמֶּ֛נּוּ יֵצֵ֥א כָל־נוֹגֵ֖שׂ יַחְדָּֽו:

“From them the cornerstone,from them the stake,from them the battle bow and out of them every oppressor together”

This chapter is talking about strenthing the tribe of Judah if you read verses 1-3 and verses after.Could the cornerstone be the rock of the Church and the “stake” the stake of the crucifixion of Jesus.Makes you think about the deeper meanings of scripture.Although the word used here for stake “yateid/יָתֵ֔ד is a smaller stake then what would be used for crucifixion it still could be symbolic or to the large nails in the wrists also.

Chapter 11 is very compelling and dark and complex and I would encourage you to read the whole thing but I will quote verse 4

“⁴ This is what the Lord my God says: “Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter.”

In the overall there seems that Israel is the flock with competing shepards.Verse 4 could be about the eventual lamb slain for our redemption or the flock marked for slaughter could be the Shoah(The holocaust) maybe or maybe both are right and that the Bible can make two points with one verse or statement.

Zechariah 12.10-13 NIV ,this meaning is self evident I think !

“”¹⁰ “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit^[a] of grace and supplication. They will look on^[b] me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. ¹¹ On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be as great as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. ¹² The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, ¹³ the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, ¹⁴ and all the rest of the clans and their wives.””¹⁰ “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit^[a] of grace and supplication. They will look on^[b] me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. ¹¹ On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be as great as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. ¹² The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, ¹³ the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, ¹⁴ and all the rest of the clans and their wives.

This will be the end of part one of this article,I will see you in part II ,God Bless and best wishes!