BIBLE PROPHECIES | ZECHARIAH (2)

1. Zechariah

a) Zechariah was a prophet in Jerusalem about 2500 years ago. During that time, many Jews were returning from the Babylonian Captivity to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple. Even so, Zechariah's prophecies looked far into a future in which the Jews would again be exiled from their homeland, and this time scattered worldwide. His prophecies said that Jews would be persecuted worldwide, that Jerusalem would become the center of attention for the world. Today, we can see with our own eyes that Zechariah's prophecies accurately describe the worldwide dispersion and persecution of Jews that has taken place during the past 1900 years. And Jerusalem has indeed become the center of attention, politically and religiously, for international community, more so than any other city in the world.

b) Bible prophecies are listed below.

2. Bible Prophecies

a) The Messiah would enter Jerusalem while riding on a donkey. 

Zechariah 9:9 New International Version (NIV) 

 ⁹ Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
    Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
    righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
    on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 

3. Written: Between 520 and 518 BC 

a) In Zechariah 9:9, the prophet speaks of a future king presenting himself to Jerusalem while riding on a humble donkey. This foreshadowed something that happened about 500 years later. As explained in Luke 19:35-37, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and presented himself as the Messiah, the King.

b) Alfred Edersheim, a Christian Jew who lived during the 1800s, studied ancient Rabbinical writings, and said that Zechariah 9:9 was often interpreted as being about a Messiah. In his book, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Edersheim wrote: "The Messianic application of this verse in all its parts has already been repeatedly indicated. We may here add that there are many traditions about this donkey on which the Messiah is to ride; and so firm was the belief in it, that, according to the Talmud, 'if anyone saw a donkey in his dreams, he will see salvation' (Ber 56 b)."