DETAILS CONCERNING CHRIST
The last six chapters of Zechariah are divided into two groups: chapters nine through eleven, which speak of Christ’s lowly first coming, and chapters twelve through fourteen, which speak of Christ’s victorious second coming.
In His First Coming
In His first coming, Christ came as a lowly King and was temporarily welcomed as the King into Jerusalem in a lowly form. Regarding this, 9:9 says, "Exult greatly, O daughter of Zion; / Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! / Now your King comes to you. / He is righteous and bears salvation; / Lowly and riding upon a donkey, / Even upon a colt, the foal of a donkey." Christ came also as a Shepherd (11:7-11), shepherding in Favor (grace) and Bonds (binding). However, He, the proper Shepherd of Israel, was detested, attacked, rejected, and sold for thirty pieces of silver (vv. 12-13). The children of Israel were thus left to false, useless, and worthless shepherds—the elders, the priests, and the scribes—who would not take care of them (v. 17).
In His Second Coming
In chapters twelve through fourteen, we see Christ in His second coming. In His coming back, He will be the King not only over Israel but also over all the peoples on earth. "Jehovah will be King over all the earth; and in that day Jehovah will be the one God and His name the one name" (14:9). He will reign over the entire earth, and all the peoples of the earth will go up to Jerusalem from year to year to worship the King, Jehovah of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles (v. 16). Upon those who refuse to go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, there will be no rain (v. 17).
CHRIST AND THE TEMPLE OF GOD
The book of Zechariah clearly reveals that God desires the rebuilding of the temple (4:9; 6:12-15). However, without Christ everything, including the temple, is empty. We need Christ, yet Christ needs a Body. This Body is the temple of God, the house of God, the expression of God, the satisfaction of God. Hence, today we should emphasize both Christ and the church. Concerning Christ, we need to pay attention both to the crucial aspects unveiled in chapters one through six and to the details unveiled in chapters nine through fourteen.
(Life-Study of Zechariah, Chapter 15, by Witness Lee)
