Zechariah 1

Ezra ;Background to Zechariah. The historical placement of OT books & memory devices for their order. Zec, a contemporary of Hag & Ezr (Ezr 5:1), was a post-exilic, minor prophet born in Babylon. He returned to Jerusalem (536 BC) after Cyrus' decree was issued. In order to encourage the Jews, whose progress in rebuilding the temple was halted, Zec provided encouragement thru future visions. His ministry (520 BC) provided hope thru apocalyptic imagery & messianic prediction.