Zechariah

Zechariah (New Testament figure)

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Zechariah (Hebrew: זכריה Zəḵaryāh, "remember Yah"; Greek: Ζαχαρίας; Zacharias in KJV; Zachary in the Douay-Rheims Bible; Zakariyyāʾ (Arabic: زَكَـرِيَّـا‎) in Islamic tradition) is a figure in the New Testament Bible and the Quran,[1] hence venerated in Christianity and Islam.[2] In the Bible, he is the father of John the Baptist, a priest of the sons of Aaron in the Gospel of Luke (1:67-79), and the husband of Elizabeth who is a relative of the Virgin Mary (Luke, 1:36).[3] He is also credited as being Mary's guardian.

According to the Gospel of Luke, during the reign of king Herod, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the course of Abia, whose wife Elizabeth was also of the priestly family of Aaron. Which herod? There always seemed to be a Herod around when it was time to murder firstborn babies (ie, Herut). Further, herod (Hydra) rules the lower skies from roughly July until October. The evangelist states that both the parents were righteous before God, since they were "blameless" in observing the commandments and ordinances of the Lord. When the events related in Luke began, their marriage was still childless, because Elizabeth was "barren", and they were both "well advanced in years" (Luke 1:5–7). Personifications of the Autumn Earth

The duties at the temple in Jerusalem alternated between each of the family lines that had descended from those appointed by king David (1st Chronicles 24:1–19).[4] Actually those duties were established by Moses and Aaron, not David. Luke states that during the week when it was the duty of Zechariah's family line to serve at "the temple of the Lord", the lot for performing the incense offering had fallen to Zechariah (Luke 1:8–11). At the Autumn Equinox. It was by lot he was chosen. This was the week of Yom Kippur - the Jewish New year.

The Gospel of Luke states that while Zechariah ministered at the altar of incense, an angel of the Lord appeared and announced to him that his wife would give birth to a son, whom he was to name John, and that this son would be the forerunner of the Lord (Luke 1:12–17). Forerunner as in the first of two births of one entity. At the Autumn Equinox the Sun is directly over the Equator - the dying Sun impregnating Mother Earth. The Lord to follow John was the second birth of John himself. Citing their advanced age, Zechariah asked with disbelief for a sign whereby he would know the truth of this prophecy. In reply, the angel identified himself as Gabriel, sent especially by God to make this announcement, and added that because of Zechariah's doubt he would be struck dumb and "not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed".  This is wrong: he was considered ritually impure by the corrupt Herod- mandated political priesthood and as such along with the Egyptian tradition, had to be "locked away" - thast is, he was unable to do his regular priestly fuinctions (an imposter, or Seth, that is, pretender, took his place)  Consequently, when he went out to the waiting worshippers in the temple's outer courts, he was unable to speak the customary blessing (Luke 1:18–22). Because he was under sanction

After returning to his house in "Hebron, in the hill country of Judah",[5] his wife Elizabeth conceived. Hebron = Hebrew On. After Elizabeth completed her fifth month of pregnancy, her relative Mary was visited by the same angel, Gabriel, overshadowed by the Holy Ghost and – though still a virgin – became pregnant with Jesus. Mary then travelled to visit her relative Elizabeth, having been told by the angel that Elizabeth was in her sixth month of pregnancy. Mary is a phase of Elizabeth (El Isis Beth) - the eternal Virgin Earth. Note six months had elapsed - it was the Spring Equinox - again, the (now reborn) Sun impregnates Mother Earth. Mary remained about three months before she returned to her own house (Luke 1:23–45, 56). It took Mary 6 months to find out Elizabeth was pregnant, yet she walked there by herself after finding out (implies she didn't live too far away). Note Mary was not struck dumb and silent for not believing. How does the author know if Mary conceived before or after going to Elizabeth's house? Mary left Elizabeth's house at the Summer Solstice. Of course she would have left then - Mary personified the Virgin Earth, and Elizabeth the Autumn Earth.

Elizabeth gave birth, and on the eighth day, when their son was to be circumcised according to the commandment, her neighbours and relatives assumed that he was to be named after his father. Elizabeth, however, insisted that his name was to be John; so the family then questioned her husband. As soon as Zechariah had written on a writing table: "His name is John", he regained the power of speech, and blessed "the Lord God of Israel" with a prophecy known as the Benedictus or "Song of Zechariah" (Luke 1:57–79). Why the significance over him being NAMED John? Zechariah is a title, like Godfather, it is not a name, and would have thus been passed to John in time regardless of his legal name. Zechariah was worried that if John was named Zechariah, it would have placed a target on his back due to what the term Zechariah implies. Hiding the child in the wilderness until he is strong enough to claim his title. Note that the curse (proclaimation of ritual impurity) was released from Zechariah immediately. The child grew up and "waxed strong in spirit", but remained in the deserts of Judæa until he assumed the ministry that was to earn him the name "John the Baptist" (Luke 1:80, Luke 3:2–3, Matthew 3:1). Hidden in the wilderness as John

Origen suggested that the Zechariah mentioned in Matthew 23:35 as having been killed between the temple and the altar may be the father of John the Baptist.[6] Orthodox Christian tradition recounts that, at the time of the massacre of the Innocents, when King Herod ordered the slaughter of all males under the age of two in an attempt to prevent the prophesied Messiah from coming to Israel, Zechariah refused to divulge the whereabouts of his son (who was in hiding), and he was therefore murdered by Herod's soldiers. This is also recorded in the Infancy Gospel of James, an apocryphal work from the 2nd century. The Bible is filled with omissive misleadings so as to not appear to be lies. Under the age of two is synonymous with One year olds, for example (New Sons). Both the later Origen and the later Gospel of James show that no one knew what had happened to Zechariah at the time the NT was being played out, and as such, both drew on the Old Testament account to fill in the blank, which reveales that the NT is a later version of the old, albeit more concise in some matters and far more incomplete in others. Between the Temple and the Altar is an astrological correlation similar to "between two thieves" most likely being the two Equinoxes or Eves (Evenings: Equinoxes), as it is at the Winter Solstice (between the two Equinoxes) that the Old Sun dies and the New Sun is born. The Equinoxes were both eves - the are both times of the evening of night and day and day and night. Zechariah did what was expected of him after the new Sun was established: he went abroad in order not to be perceived as a threat to his son's reign. Herod supplanted John's reign by "beheading" him (cutting off his lineage from the temple), which resulted in John being "born again" as Jesus in a bid to continue his mission.

Who were Herod's Soldiers? Most likely Scorpio: Pontius Pilate. Were they also Cancer? Both are land crawlers - sea crawlers (one synonymous withthe sea-wet Summer, and the other with the desert-dry Autumn), and they mark the beginning and end of Herut-Hydra in the night sky. Werre they likewise the "Sons of Amun" - Benjamin of the Old Testament (in the morning they hunt, in the evening they pillage)?

It should be realized that the fates afforded to Zechariah, John and Jesus were the singular, unified fate of all three. Zechariah was made dumb and mute, later he was said to have been "murdered" "between the Temple and the Altar": Lazarus (a form of Zechariah) was raised from the dead after three days in the tomb: Jesus was "crucified between two thieves" and rose on the third morning; John was "locked away" and "beheaded". Losing one's station or name is the same as being "killed" - not literally murdered, but ceremonially murdered, similar to how a caterpillar dies in order to resurrect as a butterfly. In ancient traditions, this was allegorized in the Phoenix / Benu bird.

Abram became Abraham; Sarai became Sarah; Jacob became Israel. The largest crime of Christianity is that it formed two figures out of two aspects of one central figure. What if Abram and Abraham were written of as being two separate people? How about Jacob becoming the elder cousin of Israel? They were each two distinct binary aspects of the singular entities. So why was John the Baptist dissected into two entities? The answer may lie in Exodus with Moses and Aaron. the Priesthood and the Throne.

The Roman Catholic Church commemorates him as a saint, along with Elizabeth, on September 23.[7] The celebration of the Autumn Equinoxial conception of Elder Mother Earth by the dying Sun. Isn't it interesting that as the Sun dies, the Earth becomes "old"? He is also venerated as a prophet in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church on September 5. The Eastern Orthodox Church also celebrates the feast day of Zechariah on September 5, together with Elizabeth, who is considered a matriarch. Zechariah and Elizabeth are invoked in several prayers during the Orthodox Mystery of Crowning (Sacrament of Marriage), as the priest blesses the newly married couple, saying "Thou who didst... accept Zechariah and Elizabeth, and didst make their offspring the Forerunner..." and "...bless them, O Lord our God, as Thou didst Zechariah and Elizabeth...". In the Greek Orthodox calendar, Zechariah and Elizabeth are also commemorated on June 24. June 24th is the Summer Solstice proper, which not only marks the birth of John the Baptist, but also Earth and Sun in all their glory (the earth is bountiful and the days are much longer than the nights). It is of no small significance that Zechariah is commemorated on  John the Baptist's Birthday, because John the Baptist was the next lineal inherent to the title name Zechariah... thus, the celebration of the True Madonna and Child. In Egypt, the Son of Ptah-Zeker("iah")-Osiris and Isis (Meri-Elizabeth) was Horus (IUSA KRST), whose birth on the Summer Solstice was celebrated as his "bursting forth from his mother's womb and his father's decay" as the new soverign Priest-King. Again, the Phoenix / Butterfly allegory, bursting forth from the decay of its elder (forerunner) self.

Armenians believe that the Gandzasar Monastery in Nagorno Karabakh, Azerbaijan contains relics of Zechariah. However, his relics were also kept in the Great Church of Constantinople, where they were brought by the praefectus urbi Ursus on September 4, 415.[8]

In 2003, a 4th-century inscription on the so-called Tomb of Absalom, a 1st-century monument in Jerusalem, was deciphered as, "This is the tomb of Zachariah, the martyr, the holy priest, the father of John." THE holy Priest - not simply A holy priest. Note also the term HOLY - a reference to Helios - the Sun - a Priest of Heliopolis. Note also the fact that at the time of the inscription's creation, it was assumed that everyone knew whom this John was and what was implied by the Zechariah-John correlation. No further identifiers were needed, such as "John the Baptist", or Zechariah, the son of..." The writer was assured that anyone who read the tomb would know exactly who was being referenced by just a few words, so they did not see a necessity to write any more than such. This suggests to some scholars that it is the burial place of Zechariah the father of John the Baptist. Professor Gideon Foerster at the Hebrew University states that the inscription tallies with a 6th-century Christian text stating that Zechariah was buried with Simon the Elder and James the brother of Jesus, and believes that both are authentic.[9] What makes the theory less plausible is the fact that the tomb is three centuries older than the Byzantine inscriptions, that a tomb with just two burial benches is unlikely to be used for three burials, as well as the fact that the identification of the tomb has repeatedly changed during its history.[10] Why would Zechariah be buried in the same location as Jesus' brother James? This is probably not Zechariah's resting place... so where was he buried? Perhaps France? Glastonbury? Nova Scotia?

Zechariah (Arabic: زَكَرِيَّا Zakariyyā) is also as a prophet in Islam, and is mentioned in the Qur'an as the father of John the Baptist. Zechariah is also believed by some Muslims to have been a martyr. An old tradition narrates that Zakariyah was sawed in half,[11] in a death which resembles that attributed to Isaiah in Lives of the Prophets. Sawed in half - cut off at the waist or the head - as in Orion?

Zakariyah was a righteous priest[12] and prophet of God whose office was in the Second Temple in Jerusalem. He would frequently be in charge of managing the services of the temple[13] and he would always remain steadfast in prayer to God.

His office was in the second temple. He was frequently in charge of managing the services of the Temple. Sounds more like a High Priest than a priest who was chosen by lot spuradically.

Does "Second Temple" correlate to an astronomical anomaly? Two Temples - like Batman and Bruce Wayne, never to be seen in the same place at the same time. Is the term "Second Temple" a reference to the latter months of the year? As Moses epitomizes the Spring - the dawning of the nation and the foundation of the First Temple, Zechariah epitmoizes the Autumn - the end of the nation - and the destruction of the Second Temple.

As he reached his old age, Zakariyah began to worry over who would continue the legacy of preaching the message of God after his death and who would carry on the daily services of the temple after him. Apparently, Zechariah felt there was no equal among his faith or countrymen. Daily Services? He was obviously  a High Priest. Zakariyah started to pray to God for a son. The praying for the birth of an offspring was not merely out of the desire for a child.[12] He prayed both for himself and for the public – they needed a messenger, a man of God who would work in the service of the Lord after Zakariyah. This shows that Zechariah was no less significant than John the Baptist. John was not to be the forerunner of someone else, but rather, the heir and replacement to Zechariah. Zakariyah had character and virtue and he wanted to transfer this to his spiritual heir as his most precious possession. His dream was to restore the household to the posterity of the Patriarch Jacob, and to make sure the message of God was renewed for Israel. This is not synonymous with the Bible account of Zechariah and John. This is far-more profound than what is recorded in the Christian version. Zechariah asked for more than simply a forerunner to another to come as the NT implies. As the Qur'an recounts:

A mention of the mercy of your Lord to His servant Zakariya. When he cried unto his Lord a cry in secret, saying: My Lord! Lo! the bones of me wax feeble and my head is shining with grey hair, and I have never been unblest in prayer to Thee, my Lord. Lo! I fear my kinsfolk after me, since my wife is barren. Oh, give me from Thy presence a successor who shall inherit of me and inherit (also) of the house of Jacob. Jacob's inheritance was Israel: what was Zechariah's inheritance? Egypt. Priesthood and Nation, both being currently supplanted by foreign occupiers. And make him, my Lord, acceptable (unto Thee). [Quran 19:4–6 (Translated by Pickthall)]

As a gift from God, Zakariyah was given a son named Yaḥyá (Arabic: يحيى‎, identified with John the Baptist), a name specially chosen for this child alone. Muslim tradition narrates that Zakariyah was ninety-two years old[14] when he was told of John's birth. Again, the significance of the name John is made. As the personification of the Sun, the numerology may equate to 92 days from the Summer Solstice, when the now aging son was at its rebirth in all its glory. 92 years equates to 92 days, which is 1/4 of a year, placing the Sun in the Autumn Equinox, which was precisely when Zecharaih was presiding in the Temple over the Course of Abion, which in turn is when the anunciation took place and Elizabeth conceived. In other words, going back 92 days from the aunciation, would place the Sun at the Summer Solstice - a time known as the Sun in all its glory. It is also significant, that on the Autumn Equinox, there are 92 days left until the Winter Solstice. The first half of the year has 181 days, while the second half of the year has 184 days. As such, the newborn Sun in all its glory (reborn at the Summer Solstice), would reach it's mid-life of 92 days at the Autumn Equinox. What's interesting about this, is that John the Baptist was credited with being born at the Summer Solstice.

In accordance with Zakariyah’s prayer, God made John renew the message of God, which had been corrupted and lost by the Israelites.[15] As the Qur'an says:

O Zachariah! Lo! We bring thee tidings of a son whose name is John; we have given the same name to none before (him). He said: My Lord! How can I have a son when my wife is barren and I have reached infirm old age? He said: So shall it be, your Lord says: It is easy to Me, and indeed I created you before, when you were nothing. He said: My Lord! give me a sign. He said: Your sign is that you will not be able to speak to the people three nights while in sound health.

We bring thee tidings? None were named John before the Baptist - yet there is an apostle named John who must have changed his name once he became a follower of John or rose to John's station. Maybe the apostle was the Baptist's son? Not being able to speak to the people would be a big deal if one were the High Priest. The NT says Zechariah was unable to speak for 9 months and seven days (the full term of Elizabeth's pregnancy and then not until the eighth day afterwords once John was named). Yet here it is written as being three nights. Three nights here equate to nine months and eight days in the NT... why? What is the significant of nights as opposed to days? Such seems to point to an astronomical allegory at play here. Perhaps this was an allusion to the Sun's three nights in Hell at the Winter Solstice to come.

Was John beheaded - or was he coronated?

— [Quran 19:7–10 (Translated by Pickthall)]

According to the Qur'an, Zakariyah was the guardian of Maryam . The Qur'an states:

(Remember) when the wife of 'Imran said: My Lord! I have vowed unto Thee that which is in my belly as a consecrated (offering). Accept it from me. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Hearer, the Knower! And when she was delivered she said: My Lord! Lo! I am delivered of a female - Allah knew best of what she was delivered - the male is not as the female; and lo! I have named her Mary, and lo! I crave Thy protection for her and for her offspring from Satan the outcast. And her Lord accepted her with full acceptance and vouchsafed to her a goodly growth; and made Zachariah her guardian. Whenever Zachariah went into the sanctuary where she was, he found that she had food. He said: O Mary! Whence cometh unto thee this (food)? She answered: It is from Allah. Allah giveth without stint to whom He will.[Quran 3:35–37 (Translated by Pickthall)] Mary is Virgo or (most likely) Venus. Zechariah is her guardian to keep her safe from Satan. Zechariah is the Sun and Satan is Hydra. Venus is not indigenous to our solar system. She is here hiding from Seth (Hydra). Zechariah went into the sanctuary where Mary was... the Sun transits through Virgo (or venus). She had food: Virgo holds spica in her hand. Her sanctuary would have been synonymous with Bethlehem - the House (Sanctuary) of Bread (food).

Muslim theology maintains that Zakariyah , along with John the Baptist and Jesus, ushered in a new era of prophets – all of whom came from the priestly descent of Amram, the father of the prophet Aaron. The fact that, of all the priests, it was Zakariyah who was given the duty of keeping care of Mary shows his status as a pious man. It actually shows that she was most likely his concubine. Zakariyah is frequently praised in the Qur'an as a prophet of God and righteous man. One such appraisal is in sura al-An'am: "And Zakariyah and Yahya and Isa and Eliyas. Each one was of the righteous."[Quran 6:85 (Translated by Pickthall)]

Qur'an translator Abdullah Yusuf Ali offers commentary on this one line[2] – suggesting that these particular prophets make a spiritual connection with one another. He points out that Yahya was a relative of Isa, while Eliyas was one who was present at the Transfiguration of Isa [16] on the Mount, as mentioned in the New Testament. Zakariyah meanwhile, through marriage, was the uncle of Isa and his son Yayha was referred to as Eliyas in the New Testament.[17]

Jesus is called Isa by the Muslims? Isa is the root of Zechariah's wife's name! El (Lordess/Lady) ISA Beth (House). Was Jesus named after Elizabeth? Or does Elizabeth make reference to the fact that she is the Lady of Jesus' House - the true womb of Jesus? the fact that mary is simply an aspect of Elizabeth is obvious: just as Zechariah was Elizabeth's husband, he was synonymously referred to as Mary's Guardian, just as a husband should be considered.

Zechariah (Hebrew prophet)

Zechariah[a] was a person in the Hebrew Bible and traditionally considered the author of the Book of Zechariah, the eleventh of the Twelve Minor Prophets. He was a prophet of the Kingdom of Judah, and, like the prophet Ezekiel, was of priestly extraction.

It seems that all traditional Zechariahs were of the lineage of Aaron and Moses.

The book of Zechariah introduces the prophet as the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo (Zechariah 1:1). The book of Ezra names Zechariah as the son of Iddo (Ezra 5:1 and Ezra 6:14), but it is likely that Berechiah was Zechariah's father, and Iddo was his grandfather.[1]

His prophetical career probably began in the second year of Darius, king of Persia (520 BC). His greatest concern appears to have been with the building of the Second Temple.[1]

He was probably not the "Zechariah" mentioned by Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew (23:35) and the Gospel of Luke (11:51); Zechariah ben Jehoiada was more likely intended.[2]

Bahá'í Faith[edit]

Bahá'í teachers have made comparisons between the prophecies of Zechariah and the Súriy-i-Haykal in the Summons of the Lord of Hosts, a collection of the Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh.[3][importance?]

Liturgical commemoration[edit]

On the Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar, his feast day is February 8. He is commemorated with the other Minor Prophets in the calendar of saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church on July 31. The Roman Catholic Church honors him with a feast day assigned to September 6.