The word prophet comes from the Greek word prophetes, which means to speak for or in the name of someone. Although many think of prophets as foretelling the future, it is more often the case that they act as forthtellers, that is, as God’s messengers they speak to current rather than future issues, including social situations.The role of prophet is also closely related to that of a seer and a revelator. Though God may speak to His prophets through visions, dreams, feelings, whisperings of the Spirit, and through angels, on rare occasions He also speaks with them face to face, such as was the case with Moses (see Deuteronomy 34).

We can view prophets in both a general sense through the spirit of prophecy and as a prophet assigned to fulfill a specific assignment. The majority of this site will deal with the latter, that is, a prophet called to represent God to His children in a specific calling. We’ll look at what a prophet is and what a prophet isn’t. We will look at patterns and prophecies. We’ll answer some of your questions and perhaps cause you to ask more. But in the end, we hope you will feel more assured than ever that God is in control of the universe, that He is indeed your Father in Heaven, and that He loves you. One way of manifesting that love is through His servants, the prophets.

Lifespan

Uncertain, but probably included the last 40 years of the sixth century B.C.

Ministry

Zechariah prophesied in the second to the fourth years of Darius the Persian. He seems to be encouraging his post-exilic citizens of Judah.

Preparation and Calling

Unknown.

Interaction with God

God spoke to Zechariah primarily through vision and the gift of prophecy.

Social Situation

The Jews had returned to their homeland after being exiled to Babylon. They were poor and struggling with drought and consequent hunger. In short, life was not going at all the way they had remembered it was nor how they had envisioned it would be once they returned to Jerusalem.

Key Teachings

Rebuilding the temple is critical in providing the needed spiritual center for the rejuvenation and reconstruction of the Jewish community. Also, in the end, the Lord will come and create a new Jerusalem where He will reign as King.

Prophecies of Christ

“For, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH” (Zech. 3:8).

“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” (Zech. 9:9).

“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” (Zech. 11:13).

“And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends” (Zech. 13:6).

Living with the Prophet

Zechariah’s people were struggling. They were poor and struggling. And yet God wanted a temple. Their story is much the same as the situation faced in the early 1800s by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Do you ever feel like you have to choose between practical needs and spiritual needs? Those are very difficult times. Do you believe that both needs can be fulfilled by obedience to God’s word?

Sources

Learning Bible, the book of Zechariah

Holy Bible, the book of Zechariah

Oxford Companion to the Bible, s.v. “Zechariah, the Book of”