God is a transcendental ruler, who communicates with his
subjects not directly, but through angelic messengers, and who, like the
Persian kings, is dependent for information regarding his great kingdom
upon the reports of the different members of his heavenly court. Thus
Zechariah marks a wide departure from the simple theology of the
pre-exilic prophets who thought of Jehovah as dwelling in the midst of his
people and communicating directly with all who turned to him in faith.

II. The Book of Zechariah. The book which records the prophet's sermons
contains four distinct divisions: (1) An exhortation addressed to the
people in December, 520, three months after Haggai first appealed to them
to rise and rebuild the temple, Zechariah 1:1-8; (2) symbolic visions
dealing with the problems in the Judean community, 1:7-6:8; (3) practical
counsel, exhortations, and promises, 6:9-8:23; (4) a later appendix coming
from a prophet who probably lived during the earlier part of the Maccabean
period, 9-14. All of Zechariah's recorded sermons probably date from the
three or four years between 520 and 516 B.C., during which the temple was
being rebuilt. They throw a remarkably clear light upon an exceedingly
critical and significant period in the life of the Jews of Palestine. They
are also in many ways the best Old Testament source for the study of the
unfolding of Israel's messianic hopes.

III. Problems and Hopes of the Judean Community. Four or five practical
problems confronted and disturbed the temple-builders. The first was:
Would Jerusalem and the temple, still without walls, be protected from the
attack of the hostile foes that encircled them. A second and larger
question was: What was to be the outcome of the great tempest through
which the Persian Empire was passing, and did it mean for the Jews
deliverance from the powerful conquerors who for centuries had oppressed
and crushed them? The third was: Would the necessarily modest service of
the restored temple, already sadly polluted by heathen hands, be
acceptable to Jehovah? Another problem was: What were the relations and
the respective duties of Zerubbabel and Joshua, the civil and religious
authorities in the community? It was also inevitable that at this time the
hope of securing their independence under the leadership of Zerubbabel
should come prominently to the front. To each of these problems Zechariah
addressed himself, and his book records his convictions and public