For centuries, various schools of Biblical interpretation have often made it difficult to both believe and simply accept what the Bible shows us regarding the Lord’s return.

In contrast, when we consider how the prophet Zechariah’s words were fulfilled in the first coming of Christ, we should be very encouraged (2 Pet. 1:19). However, he not only prophesied about the first coming of Christ, but about His second coming as well. And we should realize that just as in the past the former were fulfilled in an exact and quite literal way, so in future the latter will be fulfilled in an exact and literal way as well.

In particular, we see in Zechariah that God will work in history, as indeed He has already begun to work, to restore the nation of Israel and fulfill His promise to Abraham, that He would indeed give Abraham’s physical descendants the Good Land as their possession (Gen. 13:14-16). For those who claim to believe what the Bible says, the prophecies of Zechariah really leave no room for honest doubt concerning this matter.

For a fuller treatment of these prophecies, see The Recovery of God’s House and God’s City, Chapter 6, “The First and Second Coming of Christ,” by Witness Lee

The Prophecies of the Lord’s First Coming

The King Coming to Jerusalem on a Donkey.
Prophecy: Zechariah 9:9
Fulfillment: Matthew 21:1–8

His Being Sold for 30 Pieces of Silver.
Prophecy: Zechariah 11:12–13
Fulfillment: Matthew 26:14–16, 27:3–8

The Lord’s Being Rejected by Israel and the “Three Shepherds” and He in Turn Rejecting Israel.
Prophecy: Zechariah 11:8–10
Fulfillment: Matthew 16:21, 27:17–26;
Romans 11:25

The Shepherd, the Lord’s “Fellow” Being Struck and the Sheep Being Scattered.
Prophecy: Zechariah 13:7
Fulfillment: Matthew 26:31

A Fountain Opened in Jerusalem for Cleansing from Sin.
Prophecy: Zechariah 13:1
Fulfillment: John 19:18; Luke 24:46-47

The Prophecies of the Lord’s Second Coming

His Purging Yet Saving the Nation of Israel through a Severe Trial, that They Would Turn to Him Again.
Prophecy: Zechariah 11:8–10, 14:5x
Fulfillment: Matthew 24:1-31

God Coming to Fight on Behalf of Israel, with His Feet to Stand on the Mount of Olives, the Very Place from which Jesus Ascended.
Prophecy: Zechariah 14:1–4, 12:8–9
Fulfillment: Acts 1:9–12

The Lord Revealing Himself to the Nation of Israel as the One “Wounded in the House of His Friends.”
Prophecy: Zechariah 13:4–6

The Jews finally recognizing “the One They Have Pierced” as the promised Messiah, that They as a Nation Might Repent and Believe in Christ.
Prophecy: Zechariah 12:10
Fulfillment: Romans 11:26–27

God Causing the Jews who will be Scattered Over the Whole Earth to Return to the Land of Israel.
Prophecy: Zechariah 10:9–10
Fulfillment: Matthew 24:31

The Lord Establishing His Rule over All the Earth.
Prophecy: Zechariah 14:9–19
Fulfillment: Revelation 19:1–20:6