Zechariah prophesied at the same time as Haggai; about 438BC.
Do not confuse this Zechariah with the Zechariah Jesus referred to in Matthew 23, nor the other 28 or so Zechariahs in the Bible.
This one prophesied about restoring true worship and turning away from sins. He discusses the Messiah also, preparing the people for His advent.
1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,
2 The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers.
3 Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto Me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts.
God is just waiting for us to turn to Him. He will always be there for us.
4 Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus says the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto Me, says the LORD.
5 Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?
The Jews had ignored God’s pleas for them to repent and now they had been carried away to Babylon. Their descendants- who are back in Judea- had a chance to do it right.
6 But My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? And they returned and said, “Like as the LORD of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so has He dealt with us.”
The people realize that what was prophesied came true. God did keep His word.
7 Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,
About three months later…
8 I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white.
Horse people would call these last horses “red roans.”
In his dream Zechariah sees a man riding in the valley.
9 Then said I, “O my Lord, what are these?” And the angel that talked with me said unto me, “I will show thee what these be.”
He knew this was significant and, in his dream, prays for an explanation.
10 And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, “These are they whom the LORD has sent to walk to and fro through the earth.”
The horses were sent out as spies. Actually, they just represented the angels God had sent out.
11 And they answered the angel of the LORD that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, “We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sits still, and is at rest.”
“Everything’s OK, Boss.”
12 Then the angel of the LORD answered and said, “O LORD of hosts, how long will thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou has had indignation these threescore and ten years?”
Jeremiah had prophesied that Judah would serve Babylon for seventy years. That time was up now. The angel asks if God is still mad.
13 And the LORD answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words.
This angel that talked with Zechariah may have been a spiritual messenger of God or He may have been a manifestation of God Himself.
14 So the angel that communed with me said unto me, “Cry thou, saying, Thus says the LORD of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.”
God has forgiven Judah.
15 And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.
The Assyrians and Babylonians overdid the punishment God wanted to bring on Judah. Now He’s mad at them.
16 Therefore thus says the LORD; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: My house shall be built in it, says the LORD of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.
17 Cry yet, saying, Thus says the LORD of hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the LORD shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.
God is going to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.
18 Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns.
19 And I said unto the angel that talked with me, “What be these?” And he answered me, “These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”
Horns symbolize power, so these are the nations that have ruled the region.
20 And the LORD showed me four carpenters.
21 Then said I, “What come these to do?” And He spake, saying, “These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it.”
God tells Zechariah that, though the heathens have been unstoppable until now, God is destroying them. Babylon punished Assyria. Persia punished Babylon. And the time will come when Persia will, also, be punished.