Although Zechariah is concerned for the building of the temple, he encourages people to look beyond the carnage around them and to focus on God and the coming of his kingdom. Good advice for all of us, I should think, whether we find ourselves needing to rebuilding a temple or not. As Jesus says, ‘seek first the kingdom of God’.

Moving on from Haggai, we come to Zechariah. Just like Haggai, Zechariah wrote after the exile and challenged the people about the rebuilding of the temple. The first half of the book contains prophecies from around the same time as Haggai was writing, but it is thought that the second half of the book was written later. This is a collection of thoughts and pictures about the messianic kingdom which is to come.

There were lots of lovely verses to choose from, but my favourite verse was: Zechariah 3.10: “‘In that day each of you will invite your neighbor to sit under your vine and fig tree,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”.

This vision on Zechariah’s speaks of hospitality, welcome and worship outdoors. It reminds me of Greenbelt.