Lesson 157:
Zechariah 9–14
I. Zechariah 9–11
Zechariah prophesies that the
Messiah will come to Jerusalem and be rejected by His people
Note: Before
class, place a small picture of Jesus Christ somewhere in the classroom where
it is visible but not obvious for later use.
---Display
the picture Triumphal Entry ---Notice the emotions that are
depicted on the people’s faces.
---Why do you think the people in this
picture are rejoicing?
---The
picture shows an event called the triumphal entry. When Jesus Christ rode into
Jerusalem, He fulfilled a prophecy given by the prophet Zechariah hundreds of
years earlier.
---Zechariah 9:9 discusses Jesus Christ’s
triumphal entry into Jerusalem and is one of the most widely quoted prophecies
about the Messiah in the Bible. Provide context for this passage by explaining that as recorded
in Zechariah 9:1–8, Zechariah prophesied of a time
when Jerusalem would be threatened and the people would seek the Lord’s help to
be delivered from opposing nations.
---Read Zechariah
9:9 aloud looking for the reason the people of
Jerusalem rejoiced during Jesus Christ’s triumphal entry.
---Why did the people of Jerusalem rejoice?
---In New Testament times, “many Jews were
looking only for a deliverer from the Roman power and for a greater national
prosperity.” When Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem, many Jews cheered for Him
as a messiah, or a political deliverer, not necessarily the Messiah, who would
bring them eternal salvation. The title Messiah means “the anointed Prophet,
Priest, King, and Deliverer whose coming the Jews were eagerly expecting”
(Guide to the Scriptures, “Messiah”; scriptures.lds.org).
---What might have been significant about
Jesus Christ entering Jerusalem riding a donkey rather than a large, majestic
horse?
---Although
some people believed that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, many were disappointed
that He did not overthrow the Roman rule. Some of the Jewish leaders envied Him
and rejected Him as both a messiah and the Messiah, so they plotted His death.
They persuaded the multitude at Pilate’s court to demand that Barabbas be
released instead of Jesus Christ, which resulted in the Savior’s Crucifixion
(see Matthew 27:17–20).
---Raise your
hand if you have noticed the other picture of the Savior I placed in the room.
---See whether
they can find it. (ask a student to point it out if needed)
---Why did some of you not notice the
picture?
---Why might some people today not find Jesus
Christ and His gospel?
---Read Zechariah
9:10–12 aloud
looking for what the Lord would do for individuals described in these verses as
“the heathen” (people who do not believe in Him) and “prisoners.”
---Consider
the extent of Jesus Christ’s power to save. (Remember that Jesus Christ can
save and free not only those who are bound by sin in mortality but also those
who are bound in the spirit world.)
---In what ways might Jesus Christ speak or
bring peace to “the heathen”?
---Read this
statement by Elder Bruce R. McConkie:
“‘By the blood of thy
covenant’—that is, because of the gospel covenant, which is efficacious because
of the shedding of the blood of Christ—‘I have sent forth thy prisoners out of
the pit wherein is no water.’ (Zech. 9:11–16.) ‘Wherein is no water’—how aptly and succinctly this
crystallizes the thought that the saving water, which is baptism, is an earthly ordinance and
cannot be performed by spirit beings while they dwell in the spirit world” (The Promised Messiah: The First
Coming of Christ [1978], 241).
---What are the prisoners delivered from?
---What makes their deliverance possible?
Because of
the Atonement of Jesus Christ, salvation is available to all mankind, and those
who have died without having been baptized can be freed from spirit prison.
---Read this
statement by Elder D. Todd Christofferson:
“While yet in life, Jesus prophesied that He
would also preach to the dead. Peter tells us this happened in the interval
between the Savior’s Crucifixion and Resurrection (see 1 Peter 3:18–19). President Joseph F. Smith … witnessed in vision that the
Savior visited the spirit world and ‘from among the righteous [spirits], he
organized his forces and appointed messengers, clothed with power and
authority, and commissioned them to go forth and carry the light of the gospel
to them that were in darkness. …
“‘These were taught faith in God,
repentance from sin, vicarious baptism for the remission of sins, [and] the
gift of the Holy Ghost by the
laying on of hands’ (D&C
138:30, 33). …
“… Jesus Christ is the divine
Redeemer of all mankind. His grace and promises reach even those who in life do
not find Him. Because of Him, the prisoners shall indeed go free” (“Why
Do We Baptize for the Dead?” New Era, Mar. 2009, 2, 5).
---How can we help our deceased ancestors
receive the ordinances necessary for salvation?
VIDEO CLIP: Will I Do My Part? (2:43)
Elder Enrique R. Falabella of the Seventy teaches that the key to freeing our ancestors from spirit prison is in our hands
Elder Enrique R. Falabella of the Seventy teaches that the key to freeing our ancestors from spirit prison is in our hands
---In Zechariah 10–11 Zechariah prophesied that the Lord’s people
would be scattered and then gathered in the last days. Zechariah also prophesied
that the Messiah would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver (see Zechariah 11:12). This prophecy refers to the
Apostle Judas’s betrayal of Jesus for 30 pieces of silver during the final week
of the Savior’s mortal life (see Matthew 26:14–16). Zechariah also saw that as
part of this betrayal, Jesus Christ would be smitten and His followers would be
scattered (see Zechariah 13:7; Matthew 26:31).
II. Zechariah 12–14
Jesus Christ will deliver
Jerusalem from the nations that will gather to fight against it
---After
prophesying about the Lord’s mortal ministry, Zechariah prophesied about the
Second Coming.
---In what ways will the Second Coming of
Jesus Christ be different from His mortal ministry?
---Zechariah 12 records Zechariah’s prophecy of
a great battle (the battle of Armageddon) that will precede the Second Coming
of Jesus Christ.
---Whom would all nations gather against in
this battle?
---What will the Lord do for the people of
Jerusalem?
---In Zechariah 12:10–14:5 Zechariah described other
significant events that are part of this battle.
---Read Zechariah
14:2 looking for
what will happen to the inhabitants of Jerusalem before they are delivered.
---Invite students to report what they find.
---Read Zechariah
14:3–5 looking for what will happen that will allow
the people of Jerusalem to be delivered.
---What will Jesus Christ do to deliver His
people?
---What will the Jews notice about Jesus
Christ’s appearance when He comes to deliver them from their enemies?
---Modern
revelation confirms and clarifies this prophecy.
---What will the Jews realize at the Second
Coming? (
At the
Second Coming, the Jews at Jerusalem will recognize Jesus Christ as the Messiah.
---What do you think this moment will be like
for the Jews?
---Read Zechariah
12:10 aloud
looking for what the Jews will do when they realize that Jesus Christ is the
Messiah. The word pierced refers to
the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ (see
John 19:37).
---What will the Jews do when they realize
that Jesus Christ is the Messiah?
---Why do you think the Jews will mourn?
---Divide
students into pairs.
---Ask them
to read Zechariah
14:6–9 together, looking for events that will take
place as part of the Lord’s Second Coming.
---Report.
Jesus Christ
will be King over all the earth.
---Zechariah 14:10–19 says that the battle will end,
many of those who have fought against Jerusalem will be destroyed, and those
who remain will “worship the King, the Lord of hosts” (verse 16) or suffer droughts and plagues.
---How can we benefit now from knowing that
one day Jesus Christ will reign over all the earth?
---Testify
that Jesus Christ will one day return to the earth and all people will honor
Him as their King.
---Ponder
what you can do to prepare for the time when the Savior comes again. Follow any
promptings you receive from the Holy Ghost.
Commentary and Background
Information
Zechariah 9:9. “Thy King cometh …
riding upon an ass”
This verse
is one of the most widely quoted prophecies about the Messiah in the Bible. Elder James E. Talmage of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
wrote about the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem:
“That the
occasion was no accidental or fortuitous happening, of which [the Lord] took
advantage without preconceived intention, is evident. He knew beforehand what
would be, and what He would do. It was no meaningless pageantry; but the actual
advent of the King into His royal city, and His entry into the temple, the
house of the King of kings. He came riding on an ass, in token of peace, … not
on a caparisoned steed [a horse decorated for war] with the panoply [full
armor] of combat and the accompaniment of bugle blasts and fanfare of trumpets.
… The ass has been designated in literature as ‘the ancient symbol of Jewish
royalty,’ and one riding upon an ass as the type of peaceful progress” (Jesus
the Christ, 3rd ed. [1916], 516–17).
Zechariah 9:10. “He shall speak
peace unto the heathen”
In this
verse, “the heathen” refers to those who were not numbered among the covenant
people of the Lord. The term Gentiles is often used to refer to this group of
people. This prophecy was partially fulfilled when the Lord revealed to the
Apostle Peter through a vision that the time had come to “speak peace unto the
heathen” or begin preaching to people who were not descendants of Israel.
Zechariah 11:7–14. “Thirty pieces
of silver”
Speaking of
the Messiah, Jesus Christ, Zechariah recorded the words of the Lord declaring
the treachery and betrayal of His people. They rejected Jehovah as their
shepherd and protector. As a result, they forfeited the blessings that come
from maintaining a covenant relationship with Him. Jehovah spoke of two staffs
to represent this covenant relationship. One represented the “Beauty” (Zechariah
11:7, 10) of the
promises extended to them as His covenant and chosen people. The other
represented the “Bands” (Zechariah
11:7, 14) of
brotherhood between the nations of Judah and Israel. The people rejected Him by
paying Him 30 pieces of silver in exchange for terminating His service as their
protector. The Lord then symbolically cut both staffs in half, symbolizing that
the people would no longer enjoy the blessings of a covenant relationship with
Him. This prophecy refers to the Apostle Judas’s betrayal of Jesus to the chief
priests for 30 pieces of silver during the final week of the Savior’s mortal
life.
Zechariah 14:3–9. The Second
Coming
Zechariah
prophesied that at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, the dead will be
resurrected, and all the saints (or all the righteous, both the living and
those who have been resurrected) will join the Lord in heaven and descend with
Him (see Zechariah 14:5; 1 Thessalonians
4:14; D&C 88:96–97). In the evening of the day that
He comes, “it shall be light” (Zechariah 14:7), as it was in the Americas on
the night before the Savior’s birth (see 3 Nephi 1:13–15). Zechariah also confirmed that
Ezekiel’s vision of waters that flowed from the temple was not solely symbolic.
He recorded that “living waters” would flow from Jerusalem and heal the Dead
Sea (Zechariah 14:8; see Ezekiel 47:1–12).
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