First let's get something clear about erroneous notions of Paul and his founding a new religion, which he didn't. True, the halakhah of his Judaism switched from the Pharisaic oral law to the Ruach Hakodesh, but his religion was still one of the Judaisms of the time, not a new non-Judaism Gentile religion.

ZECHARYAH (ZECHARIAH)

The Beis Hamikdash is under construction. The date is October 27,

520 B.C.E. The place is Jerusalem. It will take until the spring

of 516/515 B.C.E. for the Beis Hamikdash to be oompleted, and two

prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, are the key preachers G-d uses to

spur on the people to build. Zechariah begins by exhorting his

countrymen to repent and return to the L-rd. He reminds them of

how G-d had angrily taken their fathers into captivity (Jerusalem

and the Beis Hamikdash were destroyed by the Babylonians in 586

B.C.E.) because they refused to listen to earlier prophets like

Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, Micah, Hosea and Zephaniah (1:2-4). "And

my words and my statutes, which I

commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your

ancestors?" (1:6)

On February 15, 519 B.C.E. Zechariah has a vision at night (1:7).

He sees an angelic horse patrol reconnoitering the world for the

L-rd and reporting that the pagan world was secure (1:11). They

are apparently riding four horses and standing among some

evergreen shrubs in the Kidron valley outside Jerusalem. They

inquire of the L-rd and inform Zechariah that G-d's 70 year

period (586-516 B.C.E.--see Jer. 25:11; 29:10) of anger against

Jerusalem is over and the city and Beis Hamikdash will be rebuilt

(1:16).

A new vision begins at 1:18. The powerful pagan nations in

general (referred to in 1:15 as being guilty of "overkill" in

serving as G-d's chastening instruments against the Jews) is

symbolized by four animal "horns." These horns of strength are

being thrown down by "blacksmiths," the L-rd's workmen of

destruction. Nabatean Arabs also served as "blacksmiths" of the

L-rd when they threw down the Edomites (see Obadiah) in military

defeat (they drove the Edomites from their homeland in the 6th

and 5th centuries B.C.E.). Other "blacksmiths" had been the

Persian Empire armies who brought down the horn of strength of

the Babylonian Empire.

Zech. ch 2 shows the righteous survivors of both the nations and

the Jewish people flowing into the prophet's vision of end-time

Jerusalem, when true believers will experience the covenant of

G-d and his protection (2:5,11). Zech. 2:11 is very important

because it says "many nations/Gentiles will join themselves to

the L-rd on that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell in

your midst."

The Kohen Gadol Joshua mentioned in Zecheriah has his Aramaic

name given in Ezra 3:8, which is Yehoshua or Moshiach Yehoshua.

In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible,

this "Joshua," the first Kohen Gadol after the return, is called

)IEsous in Greek or Moshiach Yehoshua in English. Here we see the

Brit Chadasha Scriptures name of Moshiach Yehoshua prophetically

indicated in the Old Testament. The Kohen Gadol represented the

people before G-d, and together with the other kohanim, amounted

to a prophetic sign of "the Branch," the promised Moshiach (3:8),

whose name (over 500 years later) became Moshiach Yehoshua the

Moshiach, fulfilling Zech. 6:12. On the word "Branch" as a

euphemism of "King Moshiach" in the Hebrew Bible, see also Is.

4:2; 11:1; Jer. 33:15. According to Jeremiah 23:5-6, "the Branch"

(of David) was to be the King of the end-time and would be called

"The L-rd our Righteousness." The divine perfection of this

kohen-king "the Branch" (compare the Hebrew of Ps. 132:17 to Ps.

110:4) is symbolized by the perfect number, seven, in the

seven-eyed stone set before "Moshiach Yehoshua" the high kohen in

Zech. 3:9, where G-d vows to remove the iniquity of that land in

one day, a reference to the once-for-all work of the Moshiach,

who will in "one day" effect an eternal "Yom Kippur" for the

guilt of the land.

Alluding to Amos 4:11 in Zch. 3:3, this Kohen Gadol's filthy

clothes transformed in Zechariah's vision to clean turban and

apparel symbolizes the unclean people back from Exile in an

unclean land whom G-d is now going to purify in preparation for

the coming of the Branch, the Moshiach (3:3-8). Since the Davidic

monarchy was a casualty of the Exile, the Kohen Gadol will now

"rule my house" (3:7), but only to be a prophetic stand-in for

the coming Moshiach (3:8).

The Davidic prince who returned from the exile, Zerubbabel and

the Kohen Gadol of chapter 3 are together a prophetic sign of the

Davidic prince of the last days, the Moshiach, who will bring the

Ruach Hakodesh. This is symbolized by presenting these two

anointed men as olive trees supplying a seven-lamped

lampstand with oil through which the worshipping community could

light up the world. These two witnesses of chapter 4, Zerubbabel

and "Moshiach Yehoshua" or Joshua the kohen, symbolize not only

the Moshiach but also the worshipping community, which the two

witnesses of Revelation 11 apparently symbolize as well. The

point of the chapter is that everything that is done in building

a congregational "Beis Hamikdash" dwelling for the L-rd is done

by the power of the Ruach Hakodesh (4:6).

From Zch. 4:6, we see that the Ruach Hakodesh does everything and

this is why we only hurt the L-rd's work when we quench the Ruach

Hakodesh or forbid (tacitly or bluntly) speaking in tongues or

any spiritual gift. See I Thes. 5:19 and I Cor. 14:39. Sooner or

later, organizations that quench the Spirit will find

themselves at a loss for power. Numbers, money, or buildings

cannot replace the power, the raw power (that can make people

nervous or offended or sold-out) of the Ruach Hakodesh.

In this fourth chapter of Zechariah, we see the dual aspects of

Moshiach: prince and kohen. The prince lays the foundation and

also completes the building of the Beis Hamikdash (4:9) and the

kohen acquits the sinners and opens their access to the presence

of G-d. As the Son of Man of Daniel 7, Moshiach Yehoshua was the

world-judge with the power to acquit the quilty. Therefore we see

Him in the Besuras Hageulahs forgiving sins even before He made

His self-sacrifice. However, when the Son of Man stood up alive

from the dead, all was finished and, both His dual roles intact,

He could send the Ruach Hakodesh to erect a universal body that

would be a house of prayer for all peoples, the called-out people

of G-d of the Moshiach. Both the king and the high kohen were

anointed with oil. The Kohen Gadol is called Kohen Mashiyach (the

anointed kohen) in Lv. 4:3. See also Ps. 2:2 for the same word

used for the king. Since Zerubbabel has royal Davidic blood and

is the Jewish Persian governor, he represents the Moshiach coming

as does also Yehoshua the Kohen Gadol since Moshiach will himself

be a kohen forever (Ps. 110:4). This is the proper Messianic

interpretation of Zech. 4:14.

In chapter 5, the curse of the law and sin itself are personified

in a gigantic flying scroll thirty feet long and fifteen feet

wide and in a woman deported to Babylon (Shinar) in a six gallon

capacity basket, apparently just as sin is removed by the death

curse of the law.

Look at chapter 6. Nothing escapes the L-rd. Just as He had

angelic horsemen in the initial vision, so now chariots are added

(with power to execute judgment) and Moshiach Yehoshua's namesake

(the kohen Joshua) is crowned as a type of the Moshiach to come

and execute judgment concerning the whole world. Zech. 6:11-13

should be read in light of Zech. 3:8. "Moshiach Yehoshua" is

crowned and called Moshiach in an acted prophecy that is one of

the most astounding scriptures in the whole Hebrew Bible.

Liberal scholars, without any textual warrant whatsoever,

speculate that this text was probably originally about

Zerubbabel. Instead of humbly admitting that they don't

understand a text, they accuse it of being falsified by a later

scribe. This sin, committed by many Protestant and Catholic

commentators, is as grievous as sins of misinterpretation

committed by rabbis and other false teachers.

In chapter 7 (December 7, 518 B.C.E.) a delegation arrives from

Babylon to inquire about the fasts which for many years have

commemorated the fall of Jerusalem, the death of the murdered

governor Gedaliah (II Kgs. 25:25), the beginning of

Nebuchadnezzar's siege of the city of Jerusalem, and the day when

the city wall was breached Should these fasts continue once the

Beis Hamikdash is rebuilt, they ask. The answer that comes back

is a question and an appraisal of both the motives and the fruits

of fasting. This answer continues through chapter 3 and concludes

with 3:19-23 where a reversal is anticipated and the fasts become

a universal feast including Non-Jews with Jews (at a ratio of 10

to 1!). Other important Biblical references on fasting are Isaiah

58:3-7; Ezra 8:21-23; Ps. 35:13; Mt. 17:21; Yoel (Joel) 1:14;

2:12-13; Mt. 6:16-18; Acts 14:23.

In chapter 8:22-23 the nations come to Jerusalem to seek G-d and

to be blessed as was promised to Abraham (Gn. 12:3). In chapter 9

a new section begins. Here Zechariah sees G-d claiming all the

land promised to His people and coming to bring back to Himself

those who were alienated to Him. The Palestinians, whom some say

are related to the ancient Philistines, should take note of 9:7

as a hopeful promise for them if they humble themselves and turn

to the Moshiach.

In 9:9-10 we see a picture of the Prince of Peace entering

Jerusalem not on a war horse but on a donkey, as Moshiach

Yehoshua did on Palm Sunday. See Yochanan 12:12-19 and the other

Besuras Hageulahs. In 9:11-17 the victories of the faithful Jews

during the intertestamental period (the Maccabees against the

Syrian Greeks) are predicted.

Chapter 10 deals with the Lord's redemption of his people and his

compassionate determination to bring them home (10:8-12), despite

their false leaders (see 10:2-3 and the messianic prophecy 10:4).

Chapter 11 contrasts the foolish shepherds with the best of

shepherds whom the people reject (Is. 53) and sell for the

ironically "lordly" price (11:13) at thirty shekels (the price of

a slave--Ex. 21:32), a prophecy that the Moshiach would be seen

as no more valuable than a slave (fulfilled by Judas--see Mt. 26:

Is. 27:9). The Suffering Servant would become the Suffering Slave

(the ancient Hebrew word can mean both servant and slave. The

three shepherds in 11:8 who were cut off in one month could refer

to the prophets, priests and civil rulers who lost all authority

when they rejected the Moshiach (see Mic. 3:11-12 and Zech.

3:3-4).

Chapter 12 shows that the powder keg of the last days is

Jerusalem, as is clear in our time (12:2). "All the nations of

the earth shall come together against it" (12:3). 12:10 shows

that revival will finally come to the Jews when they look upon

Him whom they have pierced. Those who would rather put the Jews

to death by means of terrorism and war then tell them the saving

good news about the One whom they pierced should read their own

obituary notice in 12:9. Notice the Moshiach's "house" will be

"like G-d" (12:8). Notice when the Moshiach is pierced, G-d

("Me") is pierced, so close is the identity between them (12:10).

Malachi 3:1 calls the Moshiach "L-rd," meaning "L-rd G-d."

In chapter 13:1,6-9 we have a confirmation of Isaiah 53 and

Daniel 9:26. "What are these wounds between your hands?..The

wounds I received in the house of my friends" (13:6). These

Moshiach Yehoshua must have meditated on, as it became

increasingly clear to him that he must suffer and die and be

abandoned and rejected in order to fulfill the prophecies

regarding the Messiah. After the death of the Shepherd-Moshiach,

a remnant of his flock shall be saved and refined in the ensuing

tribulation (13:7-9).

In chapter 14 we have a picture of the last battle and the new

holy age dawning in the Millennium (14:16) as the Moshiach

asserts his Lordship over the whole world from Jerusalem, even as

Moshiach Yehoshua did by driving the money-changers out of the

Beis Hamikdash (14:21). Some see nuclear war in the description

given us in 14:12-15.

ZECHARIAH 6:12-13

12

And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the L-rd of hosts,

saying, Behold the man whose name is The Branch; and he shall

branch out from his place, and he shall build the Beis Hamikdash

of the L-rd: 13 Even he shall build the Beis Hamikdash of the

L-rd; and he shall bear the glory, and sit and rule upon his

throne; and he shall be a kohen upon his throne: and the counsel

of peace shall be between the two (that is, between the kohenhood

and the monarchy as these two offices are brought together in the

Moshiach's Ps. 110:4 ministry of king-kohen).