THERE are several matters of a critical nature which do not come within the scope of this book; such as the quotations from it in the Gospels, and the difference in style between the earlier and later chapters. These are questions that must be discussed before another audience than that which I address, and by a more competent hand.
It has been my single aim to give the salient features and lessons of each chapter, with the object of alluring the Bible-student to a more searching and careful acquaintance with this Prophet.
Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, complete the Old Testament canon—their faces turned towards the sunrise, but conscious that darkness still brooded deep over their contemporaries. They remind one of the crisp breeze that awakes a little before the dawn, and announces its advent, to die down into silence and expectancy till the sun appears.
As one who has found spoil, which he would fain share, the author writes across this prophetic treatise, Dig here; and hopes that many will be attracted by Zechariah’s holy and eager spirit, through which God spake.
The title of this little book lays stress on one thought which pervades the prophecy of Zechariah. He is preeminently the Prophet, as Peter is the Apostle, of Hope.