BibleProject | One Story That Leads to Jesusનમૂનો

After a rollercoaster reading journey through horns, horsemen, and holy laundry, you’ve reached the end of Zechariah’s dramatic and disorienting dreams. But don’t unbuckle your seatbelt yet.

In today’s reading, Zechariah concludes his prophetic message with more symbolic imagery, this time envisioning a future messianic kingdom.

The conclusion to the book of Zechariah has two major parts. In the first, Zechariah describes the coming messianic king. This ruler is both familiar and unexpected. He rides into Jerusalem like a triumphant conqueror, but he’s riding a humble donkey, not a majestic warhorse. He leads the people of Israel like a good shepherd would, only to be rejected by his own disgruntled sheep. So Yahweh gives his stubborn flock what they want: to trade their good shepherd’s tender care for the leadership of ravenous rivals.

In the second half of today’s reading, Zechariah appeals to the Day of the Lord, when Yahweh will flood the land with a spirit of repentance that guides his people back to him. It will be a mighty fountain that washes away the land’s crusted layers of injustice and impurity. It will be a fire that refines the people into gleaming gold, with justice that reveals and confronts evil at every turn.

Watch the video to learn more about the end of the world as we know it on the Day of the Lord.

Reflection Questions

• Meditate on Matthew’s quotation of Zechariah 9:9-10 in the story of Jesus’ triumphal entry (Matt. 21:1-11). How does the context of Zechariah help you understand the claims Matthew is making about Jesus in this story?
• The Jebusites were a Canaanite people group who lived near Jerusalem and were not driven out by the tribe of Judah during Joshua’s conquest campaigns (Judg. 1:21). When David later conquered Jerusalem, he did not destroy the Jebusites but instead incorporated them into the tribe of Judah (see 2 Sam. 24:16-25; 2 Chron. 3:1). What does the Jebusites’ story reveal about the fate of Ekron and other non-Israelite cities on the Day of the Lord?