The life and work of Zecharya dates back to the beginning of the Second Temple period. In the same period, Hagai, Malachi, Ezra and Nehemiah were rewarded with the prophetic gift. According to tradition, they are usually called aharonim - the "last" prophets, in contrast to the rishonim ("early" or "first") - the prophets who lived in the period of the First Temple. The treatise Yoma says: “When the last prophets Hagai, Zechariah and Malachi died, the “spirit of holiness” (prophetic gift) left (the people of) Israel (9b; see also Sanhedrin, 11a; Sotah, 48b). They were the successors of the work of the "first prophets". Their prophecies reflected the spirit of the age, the struggle of the sons of Israel, their hopes, troubles, shortcomings and achievements. "Each of the prophecies was given in connection with the problems of time, generation and behavior of people" ( Rashi, Hulin, 137a ). 
 Malachi predicted that the prophetic gift in the future should return to the sons of Israel. 
 The most common theme that runs like a red line through the books of all the prophets is the prediction of the exile and subsequent gathering of the sons of Israel from all over the Earth, the restoration of the state and the Temple, and the revelation of the Divine Presence throughout the world. For hundreds of years of suffering in a foreign land and persecution for the faith, it was the words of the prophets that promised salvation, return to their homeland and consolation, sounded in all the synagogues of the world on Saturdays and holidays, supported the spirit of the people, did not allow the dream to fade away, inspired poets, dreamers and desperate settlers who risked their lives reaching the Holy Land.