Zechariah's Messianic prophecies

There are so many prophecies of Christ in the book of Isaiah that the book has been referred to as the "Gospel of Isaiah." A lesser-known Old Testament book with Messianic prophecies is Zechariah. Zechariah was a contemporary of Haggai, and the word of the Lord came to him from 520-518 B.C. (In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius...1:1), after Israel had returned to the land from the Babylonian exile. His book consists of a series of visions and oracles concerning Israel, including a number of prophecies of Israel’s Messiah--all of which were fulfilled (or will be fulfilled) by Jesus:

...I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.
For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land on one day. 3:8-9

Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest;
And speak unto him saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is the BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:
Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both. 6:11-13

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. 9:9

...and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth. 9:10b

From Judah will come the cornerstone...10:4a (NIV)

So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.
And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD. 11:12b-13

...and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. 12:10b

And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. 13:6

...smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered...13:7

Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. 14:3-4

...and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. 14:5c

And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one. 14:9

Among the prophecies about Israel is this one:

Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. 12:2-3

You only have to read your daily newspaper to know how the prophecy in Zechariah 12:2-3 has been, and is being, fulfilled. Here’s a disturbing prophecy which is yet to be fulfilled:

And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. 14:12

This prophecy, given more than 2,500 years ago, sounds as though it could be describing the effects of a nuclear war or explosion.

Given the perfect fulfilment of Biblical prophecy in the past, it's reasonable to assume that the remaining prophecies will be perfectly fulfilled in the future. The fulfilment of prophecy is proof that the God of the Bible is the one true God. In addition to Isaiah, I especially recommend the book of Zechariah to Jewish readers, and ask them to consider the Messianic prophecies contained therein. Jesus not only fulfilled all the prophecies of Israel's Messiah (the anointed One), but he also came as the saviour of the Gentiles (I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. Isaiah 49:6b). If you haven't yet trusted in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, I urge you to do so today:

I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation. II Corinthians 6:2b