When was the book of zechariah written

Jesus will come, according to Zechariah, as Savior, Judge, and ultimately, as the righteous King ruling His people from Jerusalem —9. The prophet used a simple structure of eight visions Zechariah — , four messages — , and two oracles — to anticipate the completion of the temple and, ultimately, the future reign of the Messiah from Jerusalem. For a people newly returned from exile, Zechariah provided specific prophecy about their immediate and distant future—no doubt a great encouragement.

Their nation would still be judged for sin —11 , but they would also be cleansed and restored —10 , and God would rebuild His people — Zechariah concluded his book by looking into the distant future, first at the rejection of the Messiah by Israel — , and then at His eventual reign when Israel will finally be delivered — Have you struggled with discouragement?

Read Zechariah. While the book contains its share of judgments on the people of Judah and beyond, it overflows with hope in the future reign of the Lord over His people. The book of Zechariah serves as a correction for that tendency in our lives. We have a hope that is sure. How refreshing! Zechariah prophesied from the second to the fourth year of the reign of Darius, about to B. Along with his contemporary Haggai, Zechariah was instrumental in organizing and inspiring the Jews to finish rebuilding the temple see Ezra ; We do not know precisely when or where the book of Zechariah was written.

However, we do know that Zechariah lived in Jerusalem soon after the return of the Jews from their exile in Babylon. He received the visions recorded in this book between the second and fourth years of the reign of Darius, or between and B.

Many of the messages Zechariah received from the Lord were in the form of visions see Zechariah 1—6. Jerusalem was still only partially rebuilt and had no significance among the surrounding nations. Many viewed faithful obedience as useless. It seemed to make more sense to forget God and to pursue the best life possible. Zechariah prophesied to the people of Judah soon after they had returned from exile in Babylon.

Several years earlier, in b.