Welcome to a year in the Bible with daily grace. The Bible tells one big story of

redemption and we want to spend five minutes every day journeying through the Bible from start to finish, and exploring how all of it

points to Jesus. Hey everyone, welcome back to a year in the Bible with Daily Grace.

My name is Alexa and today we begin our study of the Book of Sakaria by looking at

Sakariah 1 through 3. In Zachariah one, God comes to

Zachariah and gives him a message for Israel. God tells him to call the people

of Israel to repentance and to not be like their unrepentantant ancestors. As a response the people

acknowledge their sin against God and they repent. The repentance of the people

is followed by eight night visions given to Zakariah.

In the first vision, Zakariah sees a group of horsemen.

These horsemen ultimately represent God's watchful eye over his people,

but the horsemen themselves also represent angels who help

survey the earth. These angels report to God that the nations around Israel have

rest. However, God's people are not at rest, which causes the angel of the Lord to ask God

how long Israel will continue to experience hardship from other nations.

God doesn't give a direct answer but through an encouraging word the angel of the Lord tells

Zakariah to proclaim to the people how God plans to restore the temple and bring Israel back

to a place of prosperity.

In the second vision, Zakariah sees four horns and four craftsmen.

The four horns represent military powers that brought the Israelites into exile. And the four craftsmen represent other nations that will conquer the nations that are overpowering Israel, causing them to be free.

In the third vision, Zakariah sees an angel carrying a measuring stick. This measuring stick is meant to

represent how God's restoration of Israel will make the nation of Israel so numerous the city of Jerusalem

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