Say it in a whisper, but Zechariah is not the first book that I would turn to when dipping into the Old Testament. Some books are easy to understand, and some books are not. Zechariah is not.

So when Tony Payne tossed me Tim McMahon's studies on Zechariah about a month ago, in order for me to edit them, my feelings were mixed. Yes, I thought it would be exciting to scale Everest and take in the view, but parts of the climb were going to be seriously hairy and, given some of the weirder excesses of apocalyptic interpretation, possibly life-threatening. I didn't want to read Zechariah and end up in present-day Israel fighting angry Palestinians. But some readers of Zechariah in modern times have read it, and clearly then felt compelled to take that path.

What do we do when confronted with the hard, harder and hardest parts of the Bible—especially if (like me) you sometimes feel yourself to be in the ‘dumb and dumber’ category of Bible reader?

First, the best advice of all, in my experience, is to say a quick prayer, and start reading. If God really is God and the Bible really is his word (the ‘Sword of the Spirit’), and he really does want to use it to save us, then, whatever else happens, we mustn't allow ourselves to be put off by the incredulity of our friends and the sneers of unbelievers: “Study the Bible? Study Zechariah? Surely not!” God spoke his word and inspired others to write it down because he intended it to reach an audience. It was an audience greater in scope and extent than the original hearers could possibly have imagined. To pick the book up and read it, to feel confused and disoriented, and then to pick it up and read it again is a great act of faith. And it is a faith that will not be disappointed—if God is true to his own word and if he has given us his Holy Spirit to help us.

Second, however, I'm not saying that we should do this without help. Other Old Testament readers have the potential to be great friends to us. I include and mention especially the writers of the New Testament. For them, as for us, the Old Testament was an ancient text by the time they got to work on interpreting it: it was well over 500 years old for them, and, in some cases, considerably older. Zechariah was a relative new kid on the block, but still further from them than Shakespeare is from us. And the New Testament writers had clearly read him. Jesus quotes or refers to Zechariah in the days and even moments before his arrest, trial and crucifixion. Furthermore, the New Testament writers have this advantage on us: their interpretations are divinely inspired whereas ours are not.

Third, you will want to turn to other friends outside of the New Testament and ask for their help too. Tim McMahon's studies, still in their editing stage (I'm nearly finished, Tony—nearly finished!) have been just brilliant for me in this respect—not least because Tim appears to have followed my first two steps! That is, he has read Zechariah prayerfully and has consulted the New Testament. Tim would not mind me saying that, unlike the New Testament writers, he is not divinely inspired and error-free! But having worked through Tim's studies several times, there is no doubt in my mind that God's Holy Spirit has given him significant understanding of God's prophecy through Zechariah. And now, working through Tim, God has helped me as well.

Oh, just one afterthought: people who struggle with reading may even want to get someone to read the Bible for them. This is not nearly as demanding or embarrassing as it used to be. The Bible can now be downloaded as mp3 audio files (e.g. this). Those of us outside the US may even grow to love an American accent. (US readers will no doubt retort, “What accent? Y'all are the ones who talk funny!”).

9 Comments »