An Atheist Explores the Bible Part 186: Lots of Livestock. And some stuff about being nice to each other, at last (Zechariah 6-10)

Zechariah 6-10
Lots of Livestock. And some stuff about being nice to each other, at last.

Welcome to another instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts (Bible version).

In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the King James Bible, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as literature and mythology.

For more detail, see the introductory post http://bit.ly/2F8f9JT

For the online KJV I use, see here http://bit.ly/2m0zVUP

And now:

Zechariah 6

“And I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass.”

More visions for Zechariah – four chariots drawn by different coloured horses come from between two mountains of brass, and Zechariah is told by an angel that these are “the four spirits of the heavens” that are normally “standing before the Lord of all the earth.” This is a fairly new concept, possibly related to the four figures of Ezekiel’s vision, the idea of four subservient figures that serve God on His throne. Annoyingly for symmetry, the four chariots don’t head off in the four cardinal direction – two of them go north and the implication is that they are off to free those Israelites in the Assyrian captivity. I like that as a metaphor, that spirit servitors are working invisibly (except to those given the ability to see it by an angelic messenger) to effect God’s will on earth.

Zechariah is also instructed to make some crowns, one for Joshua the high priest, who here is named as The Branch that was mysteriously mentioned in the last chapter. Other crowns are for “Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah” – I don’t know who these people are but evidently they are to work in the new temple. The reference to Joshua the Branch is an intriguing one – Joshua will be high priest and ruler of the new temple and “the counsel of peace shall be between them both”. Metaphorically a bringing closer of the religious and secular rulers of Jerusalem? And although this chapter specifically refers to Joshua the son of Josedech, I can’t help but remember that “Jesus” is the English via Greek rendering of Joshua (Yeheshuah) – is this book included as a “support” for Jesus’ role as Messiah? I’m wondering if NT commentators will refer back to this chapter as proof?

Zechariah 7
“Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother:”

This chapter starts with a question put to God on a matter of ritual, namely whether the worshippers should still fast in the fifth and seventh months. God’s reply, via Zechariah, is that the people didn’t fast, nor eat and drink, with God in their minds, but then seems to go off on a tangent concerning proper righteous living. Although a bit off-topic, we can probably forgive it because to be fair the message is a decent one – be nice to each other, essentially (see the quoted text above). It’s hard to argue with that sentiment, except that the people “stop their ears” against it. This sounds at first like they are wilfully ignoring the message, although it could equally be that they think it’s a nice idea but then don’t actually do anything to support it – the idea of charity and kindness is pretty useless without charitable and kind deeds to go with it. There is, however, no definitive answer on the whole fasting thing. God conducts a bit of a politician’s move here by answering a question with the answer to a different question about which He has an opinion.

Zechariah 8

“Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury.”

“Jealous” is a strange word to use, and I suspect that it’s either a dubious choice by the translator, or one whose meaning has changed since the 17^th century (like “nice”), because the idea of God being jealous of anything seems faintly absurd. “Wroth” would make a suitable KJV style replacement, I think.

But never mind, because the rest of this chapter is about reconciliation. God promises peace and prosperity to the Israelites returning to Jerusalem, a city where children can play in the streets and the elderly can walk safely. The remnant will be prosperous again, provided that they “execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates”, don’t lie and don’t “imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour”. Or, you know, you could have stone-throwing and rockets and bulldozers and a big wall. Your choice. Ahem.

God also prophesies a time when other nations will come seeking Him, “Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD”, suggesting conversions across the world, which thanks to evangelising missionaries doing so probably because of such verses is a nice example of a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Oh, and we get an answer to the fasting times – yes, continue to do so but remember why you are doing them and do them with joy.

Zechariah 9

“And Hamath also shall border thereby; Tyrus, and Zidon, though it be very wise.”

That doesn’t even make any sense, and there’s a lot of that in this chapter. It starts with some very familiar threats of violence and destruction to neighbouring nations – Gaza, Damascus and so on, but ends on the more hopeful and triumphant note that Zechariah has been striking throughout. The unusual phrasing continues, “and they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine; and they shall be filled like bowls, and as the corners of the altar”. No idea, although there’s a general sense of fulfilment, I suppose. As the chapter says later, “corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids”.

And then there’s this passage “O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass”. Now I know my Palm Sunday so it’s pretty obvious where this prophecy fits in. My ongoing thesis is that there are several different explanations for these prophecies, aside from that of the true believer, that they are true and Jesus was the Messiah as predicted several hundred years previously. One is that the gospel writers added in elements in their biography of Jesus that were derived from prophetic elements, and these may be elaborations on actual events. Coupled to this, later biblical compilers selected books for the authorised version that fitted neatly with the gospel stories. The other is that Jesus and/or his followers were canny PR people and engineered events, such as riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, precisely because they fit the prophecies. I’ll come back to this concept again when we reach the NT proper.

Zechariah 10

“Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats: for the LORD of hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle.”

In the space of one verse we go from sheep, to goats, to horses – it’s a livestock extravaganza! The “shepherds” in the quoted verse are the false prophets and priests of other (false idol) gods that have angered God. However, this short chapter ends with a promise to gather together the scattered Israelites (or at least Judah, Joseph and Ephraim, the only ones that get a specific name check) and make them strong and numerous again.

The strange phrase “Out of him came forth the corner” would, in its full context, seem to imply that what is meant is the cornerstone, the strong point of a building. Also referred to are the nail and the battle bow, but also “every oppressor together” so I’m at a slight loss as to whether this is a good or a bad thing. Possibly the “him” refers to the false prophets; it’s not that clear to be honest. Zechariah seems to be so deep in his vision that clear language fails him somewhat.