Part Two
In chapters 1-7 we looked at a number of situations where two communities which had either lived apart for many years or never previously seen each other at close quarters suddenly found themselves living side by side and having to come to terms with differences which had grown up in the years of separation.
We tried to see their problems and evaluate their responses in relation to many comparable situations in our experience and to hear a message of hope, with the reasons for hope, from Zechariah. We continue this as we look at some of the Marks of a New Age as Zechariah sees them.
When you move to chapter 8 you may feel as if you are in a different world. Scholars have noted this and some have suggested a different author and a different date, possibly about 200 years later.
Recently however, the trend is to see it as a whole since that is how the compilers of the canon saw it and how it has come down to us that is what we will do.