Read the Bible in 2011 ◊ Week 47: Friday

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
He is just and endowed with salvation,
Humble, and mounted on a donkey,
Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
Zechariah 9:10

Friday’s Bible reading is Zechariah 8–14. As you read, remember that Zechariah was one of the postexilic prophets who was a contemporary of Haggai. Haggai began prophesying in the sixth month of the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia., while Zechariah began his prophecy in the eighth month and continued over the next two years (Zechariah 7:1)

Dr. Gleason Archer divides the book into two sections, the messages given during the building of the temple (chapters 1–8) and those given after its building (chapters 9–14). Today’s reading finishes the third messages given during the building: “7:1–8:23…The query about extra fasts, 7:1–3…The fourfold answer (obedience more important than fasts), 7:4–8:23.”¹

Dr. Archer titles the three messages given after the temple’s building: “9:1–11:17…Burden of Hadrach…12:1–14:21…The burden of Israel…13:7–14:21….Final victories of the King,”² while R. E. Higginson divides chapters 9–14 into two sections: “9:1–13:9 The World-Wide Rule of Zion’s King,” and “14:1–21 The Day of the Lord.”³

As you read if you look at the cross references at the above link or in your Bible you’ll better understand these titles because there are prophecies about the first and second advent of Jesus Christ in Zechariah. Here are some:

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Isaiah 42 Photograph: ChristianPhotos.net – Free High Resolution Photos for Christian Publication
^{1, 2}Gleason L. Archer, Jr., “Postexilic Prophets: Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi,” A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, pp. 424, 424–425.
³“R. E. Higginson, Zechariah,” The New Bible Commentary: Revised, D. Guthrie, J. A. Motyer, eds., A. M. Stibbs, D. J. Wiseman, contributing eds., pp. 795, 801.

Original content: Copyright ©2011 Iwana Carpenter