The Book of Zechariah is important because of its amazing prophesies about the Messiah who was promised to come to the Jewish people as a Savior, Judge, and ultimately as a righteous King who would rule over His people from Jerusalem.

Zechariah's purpose was to challenge and encourage the remnant who had returned from exile to serve God in restoring the temple, the city, and all of Jewish society. Their faith in God was weak and they were not motivated to rebuild the temple. They needed to learn and conform to the law of God again.

In chapters 1-8, Zechariah recorded eight visions and he encouraged the people to reinstate the priesthood and other religious laws that had been forgotten during their long exile. He also gave them hope and encouragement about a coming Messiah who would set up His throne and rule as High Priest and would offer up the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world. God assured His people that He would always remember His promises to them.

Thus says the Lord of hosts, Behold a man whose name is Branch for He will branch out and He will build the temple of the Lord. He will bear the honor and will be a priest who will rule from His throne.

In chapters 9-14 Zechariah foresaw two oracles with several prophetic and apocalyptic events in the future, some of which would have generations or even millennia between them. He prophesied of judgment against neighboring enemies, of the coming of the Messiah (9:9), His betrayal (11:12), His crucifixion (12:10), and His second coming when He would descend from heaven in the same way that He had gone up into the clouds. cf. Acts 1:11.

In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives in front of Jerusalem on the east and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a large valley so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. (14:4).

Zechariah also prophesied that Israel would still be judged for sin, but they would eventually be cleansed and restored and God would rebuild His people. The book concludes by looking far into the future at the rejection of the Messiah by Israel in chapters 9-11 and then to His eventual reign when Israel will finally be delivered in chapters 12-14.