The beginning of Meyer's book offers biographical information. Zechariah was born into a priestly family in the latter years of the Babylonian captivity. His father, Berechiah, is believed to have died when Zechariah was young, and so Zechariah was raised by his grandfather, Iddo.

When permission was finally granted by Darius for the Jews to rebuild the temple, the Jews were not zealous to do so, and so the "restoration" prophets began their exhortations. Haggai and Zerubbabel began expressing their visions to the Jews, as did Zechariah. Zechariah has a touching, merciful prophecy: "Thus saith the Lord of Hosts: return to Me, and I will return to you" (Zech 1:3). Once Meyer has described the content of Zechariah's message, he begins to apply it to contemporary society: "There never yet was a backslider for whose return the infinite God did not yearn, and after whom it did not send messages like this (Meyer 14).

Meyer continues to point out that those who have given such messages have passed away. Prophets are, after all, human beings. It is not the person who carries the force of conviction, according to Meyer, but the word of God. Meyer encourages the reader to pay greater attention to God's "invitations, warnings, threat

Meyer believes that in Christ is found humanity's need for both a priest and a king, and it is Christ who will rebuild the temple, the "temple" referring to the community of God's followers.

The first verse of Zechariah 10 commands the reader to ask for rain. Meyer interprets this to mean asking for a time of refreshing. The believer should ask God for "that Pentecost which is to close the present age (Meyer 103). The Christian church is made up of God's seeds, according to Meyer, and while being planted means death, darkness and loneliness, God's spirit, symbolized by rain, will create new life.

Zechariah then has a vision of Joshua, the High Priest of Israel, in filthy rags. Meyer suggests that this could represent the futility of rebuilding the temple for an unworthy priesthood. The fifth vision is of a golden candlestick, which Meyer takes to be the Jews, who give the knowledge of God to the world but provide no light without God. The remaining three visions are grouped under the heading "going forth." The sixth vision is of a flying scroll, covered with the "solemn curses of the law." The seventh vision is of an ephah (a measurement about the size of a bushel) removed by two women, and the eighth vision is of four chariots going out of the mountains surrounding Jerusalem.

During the Babylonian captivity, the Jews observed occasions of fasting. They continued to observe these occasions after their freedom. Meyer believes that times of fasting serve to strengthen belief. According to Meyer, the Jews "entered (captivity) deeply imbued with polytheism, and left it the strictest monotheists the world has ever seen" (Meyer 87).