A. The writer(s), the place, and the time: [Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo (Zech. 1:1), was born in the land of captivity; he returned to the homeland with Zerubbabel. Iddo was one among the first group of priests to return (Neh. 12:4, 16); hence, Zechariah was both a prophet and a priest (Zech. 7:3-4), like Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
Iddo means “an appointed time;” Berechiah means “blessed of Jehovah;” Zechariah means “remembered of Jehovah.” These three names taken together mean “at the appointed time Jehovah blesses and remembers.” Surely, at an appointed day, God will bless and remember His people.] This book was written in Judah around 520 B.C.
B. The subject: the importance of Christ in the recovery of God’s building.
C. The background: Haggai and Zechariah were contemporaries, prophets after the return from captivity. They spoke the same prophecies in the same circumstances, strengthening Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the people of the land for the rebuilding work, and at the same time they gave them the hope of the future restoration and glory.
D. The central thought: the love and care of God toward His people guaranteeing that He will bless and remember them at the appointed time.
E. The general sketch: [In order that Zechariah might strengthen the rebuilding work of the holy temple by foretelling its success, God gave him a series of eight visions in the beginning of the prophecies in his book.]
The first vision showed that God would grant mercies that His house might be rebuilt. The second vision showed the tools used by God to smite Israel’s enemies. The third vision showed that Christ, the Sender and sent One, would choose Jerusalem and dwell in its midst. In the fourth vision, [God raised up Christ as the Sprout of life and the stone with God’s seven Spirits (seven eyes—4:10; Rev. 5:6), and judged (engraved on) Him on the cross that He might remove the iniquity of Israel. The Sprout of life, Christ, who is filled with God’s Spirit, also became the festival-robes to clothe them as their righteousness that they might live in God’s presence.] The fifth vision showed that the purged Israel would shine as a lampstand among the nations. In this vision [the two olive trees, on the one hand, signify Joshua and Zerubbabel building the holy temple and recovering God’s testimony by the Spirit of Jehovah; on the other hand, they denote the two witnesses in Revelation 11 preaching the word by being filled with the Spirit.] It also showed that Christ is the topstone for the building of God’s temple. The sixth vision showed that God wants to cleanse His people by His law and righteousness. The seventh vision showed that the people needed to return all the Babylonian things to Babylon. The eighth vision showed that the nations will be judged and this judgment will cause them to come and build up God’s temple.
Zechariah also prophesied various aspects of the two comings of Christ (9:9-10; 11:12-13; 12:1-14; 13:1, 6, 7; 14:2-5, 12-15).
F. The sections: 1) the message during the building of the temple (chs. 1—8) and 2) the message after the building of the temple (chs. 9—14).
A. The writer(s), the place, and the time: [Malachi, whose name means “my messenger,” was the last of the prophets.] He prophesied in Jerusalem about 434 B.C.
B. The subject: The Old Testament age of the law ends with a curse, and the New Testament age of grace dawns with the introduction of Christ.
C. The background: [During that time, first, the holy temple had been rebuilt and the offering of sacrifices had been restored (Mal. 1:6-10); second, the zeal of the priests had gradually grown cold in the service of God (compare Mal. 1:6 with Neh. 13:4); third, the people had neglected to bring their tithes to the storehouse (compare Mal. 3:8 with Neh. 13:10-12); fourth, the people had married heathen wives (compare Mal. 2:11 with Neh. 13:23-25); and fifth, the initial fulfillment of the prophecy in Malachi 3:1-5 probably refers to Malachi and Nehemiah initially.]
D. The central thought: Remember God’s love, repent of your sins, turn back to Him, and look to the coming Lord.
E. The general sketch: Malachi rebuked and admonished the people of Israel for their evils after the rebuilding of the holy temple and the holy city. Then he foretold the coming of Elijah the prophet and John the Baptizer. Finally, he foretold the second coming of Christ.
F. The sections: 1) the zeal of God towards Israel (1:1-5), 2) God’s chastisement of the iniquities of the priests (1:6—2:9), 3) God’s chastisement of the iniquities of the people (2:10-17; 3:7-15), and 4) God’s unveiling of the day of Jehovah (3:1-6, 16-18; 4:1-6).
Malachi’s [message terminated the age of law of the Old Testament and introduced the greatest messenger, the messenger of the covenant (Mal. 3:1), the Lord Jesus who gives grace. However, he could only introduce the Lord Jesus and could not bring Him in. Therefore, his concluding word was still on the curse (4:6), which was the terrible result of the age of law.]
[Between the book of Malachi and the Gospel of Matthew there was a space and silence of about four centuries. Bible readers can see, however, that a wonderful connection and correspondence definitely exist between the two books. The things that were mentioned at the end of Malachi are also at the beginning of Matthew—the Messenger of the covenant and His forerunner (3:1; 4:2, 5; Matt. 1—3).]