I have told you before, on other blogs, that I like facts. That isn't just about people spouting ugly insults in place of solid evidence regarding other people, though; I like them in all facets of my life, whenever I can get them.
That Zechariah existed, at the time he existed, is a fact. Is it provable? Yes.
He is written of, in context of time (Darius the King), he is part of an official record kept by some of the most zealous record keepers of Mankind, in toto.
Not only is there a book of the Holy Scriptures written by him, but he is mentioned in at least one other book in the Holy Scriptures, which was written by another person.
(Ezra 5:1) 5 And Hag´gai the prophet and Zech·a·ri´ah the grandson of Id´do the prophet prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and in Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel [who was] over them.
There is more proof that he existed than that you do, because while you may have a birth certificate, it also is just a paper that says someone believed you were born and it tells nothing of your actions or your words, nor gives any reason, outside of your birth, for why a person might wish to remember you.
We are told who Zechariah is, by lineage, and by work; and when his work was accomplished. It is proof enough.
And what was his work? This, in part:
(Zechariah 9:9-10) 9 “Be very joyful, O daughter of Zion. Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem. Look! Your king himself comes to you. He is righteous, yes, saved; humble, and riding upon an ass, even upon a full-grown animal the son of a she-ass. 10 And I shall certainly cut off [the] war chariot from E´phra·im and [the] horse from Jerusalem. And the battle bow must be cut off. And he will actually speak peace to the nations; and his rulership will be from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of [the] earth.
This is a prophecy made sometime before 518 B.C.E. (before the common era) that was fulfilled in Jesus the Christ:
(Matthew 21:1-8) 21 Well, when they got close to Jerusalem and arrived at Beth´pha·ge on the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent forth two disciples, 2 saying to them: “Be on YOUR way into the village that is within sight of YOU, and YOU will at once find an ass tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. 3 And if someone says anything to YOU, YOU must say, ‘The Lord needs them.’ At that he will immediately send them forth.” 4 This actually took place that there might be fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet, saying: 5 “TELL the daughter of Zion, ‘Look! Your King is coming to you, mild-tempered, and mounted upon an ass, yes, upon a colt, the offspring of a beast of burden.’” 6 So the disciples got on their way and did just as Jesus ordered them. 7 And they brought the ass and its colt, and they put upon these their outer garments, and he seated himself upon them. 8 Most of the crowd spread their outer garments on the road, while others began cutting down branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. . .
In and of itself it is not so much proof. One can certainly read such a prophecy and then arrange to sit upon a donkey and one can fool people into thinking you are humble, if you are a good actor, I suppose. But that is only one of the prophecies fulfilled by the Christ.
This is another one which would be much harder for a man to fake:
(Daniel 9:25-26) 25 And you should know and have the insight [that] from the going forth of [the] word to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem until Mes·si´ah [the] Leader, there will be seven weeks, also sixty-two weeks. She will return and be actually rebuilt, with a public square and moat, but in the straits of the times. 26 “And after the sixty-two weeks Mes·si´ah will be cut off, with nothing for himself. “And the city and the holy place the people of a leader that is coming will bring to their ruin. And the end of it will be by the flood. And until [the] end there will be war; what is decided upon is desolations.
Not only would it be hard but, please: why would a man even want to? So that he could walk around, ministering to people, and then die with nothing? Doesn't sound like the greatest con to run, does it?
And I dare say, that even if he noticed that he was born at the right time, managed to be humble enough to have nothing for himself, rode on the right sort of donkey, and was a good enough doctor/magician to make people believe in the healing that was taking place - which was significantly different than what happens at the Revival tent meetings in that the people being healed by Jesus were not known to him (if he was a mere man, that is) but were exceedingly well known by many of the persons in the crowds surrounding him, so that he had to actually be healing those people. Remember, the alternative to him really having healed them was a death by stoning, at best! - and even if he had fooled himself into believing he was the Christ, or had gone insane, or whatever: It would have been impossible for him to arrange for the destruction of Jerusalem, especially in the prescribed manner in which it was, after his death, destroyed.
... to be continued ....
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