4:6-7 - God confirms that Zerubbabel will lead the Jewish people back to Israel to rebuild the temple. It will not be because of strength or intelligence or creativity that Zerubbabel is successful...it will be because of the Spirit of the Lord. The Zechariah sees the image of an huge mountain that stands before Zerubbabel that is ground down into a flat plain. We can put confidence in that fact that if we trust in God and live in faith we can overcome any obstacle.

4:12-14 - Fortunately for us, Zechariah asks all the questions that we have as well - he says, "Who are these branches you are talking about?" Well it turns out the branches are the anointed ones - Zerubbabel and Joshua who represent the God-ordained leadership and priesthood of Israel.

5:3-4 - A curse will be upon those who steal and lie - it is a curse that will descend upon their house, infect their life ad destroy their legacy. Nothing has changed has it? When people choose to live only for themselves and will do anything to bring success and pleasure to their lives...they live under a curse that effects every area of their lives.

5:7-9 - This is a vision of the evil that is being cleansed from Israel...it is much like a picture of repentance. The Jews were exiled from Israel because of the corruption in their country. Now that God is bringing them back into relationship and back to the Promised Land, a cleansing has to take place. When people truly repent, there must be a change of heart and a change of behavior and that is what we are seeing here. The evil of Israel is being wrapped up in a box and taken away. The woman appears to represent wickedness, not because women are evil (There is some debate on that one - LOL!), but because in Hebrew the word "wicked" is a feminine word. Are there any pockets of evil in your own life that need to be boxed up and destroyed?

5:11 - Shinar? This was a Hebrew word that referred to Babylon. The vision is saying that the pagan idolatry and wickedness that once plagued Israel will be removed and sent back when it came from into the pagan kingdoms surrounding the people of God. Newly cleansed the nation of Israel will once again become what it was always supposed to be - a light shining for the whole world to see the beauty of following in the way of the Lord. This is why Christians today must be careful not to become obsessed with the sinful beliefs of the word around us...we are called to stand out as a priest nation just as the Israelites were.

6:7 - This is another vision that confirms God's knowledge of everything that is going on in the world - this picture of angels riding across the four corners of the earth. "North" - the countries that always oppressed Israel were generally located north of the Promised Land. If God's Spirit has rested in the north as this passage says it has, then this passage is prophesying victory over the pagan oppressors of Israel. God would not rest if His people were still in danger of falling under the sway of pagan empires.

6:11 - The crown described here is not the turban worn by the priest of the temple, this is very clearly a priceless crown for a king. So the crowing of the high priest in this vision represents the future coming of the Messianic priest-king Jesus.

6:12-13 - Does this verse sound familiar to you? Go read John 19:5. "Behold the man," is exactly what Pilate says when he presents Jesus to the angry crowd before his crucifixion. From the earliest traditions of Judaism, this passage was considered Messianic (meaning that they considered it to be a prophet passage about the coming Messiah). We see that this passage is fulfilled by Jesus - he is the branch that is spoken of...he is the ruler who fills the position of both the high priest and the king that are described here. Thanks be to God for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!