The Coming Priestly King
Zechariah 6:9-15
February 12, 2017
Well obviously you’ve already noticed that I messed up in a royal way.
• A few weeks ago, there was a lady who listens on line ask me if I had posted the sermon Zechariah 6:9-15 yet.
• I started looking and realized that I had skipped the passage entirely, and I cannot tell you how it happened.
But, I wanted to finish the flow of chapters 7 and 8
Before I came back this text, so that is what we’re doing tonight.
Fortunately for our study this is a passage
That stands alone in the book of Zechariah.
• We already saw that the first 5 ½ chapters go together as they constitute Zechariah’s night visions.
• And we learned that chapters 7 and 8 go together as they address the issue of the delegation who came to seek God’s favor.
• But these 7 verses standalone unique to themselves which helps us overcome my mistake much easier than it could have been.
In order to introduce this segment I want to read to you John Calvin’s intro to this passage because I think he gives some really good insight to the culture of the day and to the necessity of this sermon.
Calvin writes:
“This vision was given to Zechariah that he might inspire weak minds with better hope; for the Jews found that they were hardly pressed on every side by their neighbors, inasmuch as enemies rose up against them before and behind so that there was no end to their troubles. Hence they who had returned from exile thought themselves wretched in such a state of things. They might indeed have lived in quietness among the Babylonians, and they had become accustomed to that kind of life, so that exile was not so very grievous to them. Thus then the favor of God was turned into loathing, and was almost hated by them; for they thought it better to be deprived of their country, than to be daily exposed to new assaults. And further, the possession of the land was not itself desirable, except with references to the hope given them; that is, because God had promised by his Prophets that the kingdom of David would again be made glorious, and also that the grandeur and glory of the temple would be greater than ever before. When the Jews found themselves continually harassed by their enemies, they thought that all had been promised was in vain. There is therefore no doubt but that many complaints and many clamors were everywhere raised. Hence that they might cease thus to murmur against God, this vision was given to the Prophet, in which he is bid to take silver and gold from four men, and to make two crowns to be set on the head of Joshua the high priest. The design was to make the Jews feel assured, that the state of the people would be as safe as it was formerly, when the kingly office and the priesthood flourished; for these were the chief ornaments, of the two eyes, as it were, of the body – the priest, a mediator between God and men – and the king, sustaining the person of God in governing the people.”
(Calvin, John [Commentaries on the Twelve Minor Prophets, volume fifth, Zechariah and Malachi; Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2005] page 152)
If I can summarize for you what Calvin said, it is this.
• The people had grown comfortable in Babylon and exile no longer seemed to be that difficult.
• However God revealed His favor to them in that He opened the door for them to return to the Promised Land.
• Those who returned, however did not find ease, but rather hardship.
• They were surrounded by enemies who hated them.
• They were living in an overgrown set of ruins.
• They were seeking to farm overgrown land which had been overrun by wild beast
• And therefore this evidence of God’s favor in their lives had actually become something they were unhappy about.
• Grumbling and murmuring had followed and people felt like the glorious promises of God regarding Israel and her land were a distant memory.
And it is to this backdrop that Calvin says
God gave this sermon to Zechariah.
It is a sermon meant to restore their hope in the future
And to restore their faith in the sovereign plan of God;
Namely that better things were yet to come.
And I think Calvin probably hit the nail on the head here.
I certainly understand the sentiment.
It would not be the first time God gave a promise to people
And asked them to go out and claim it in faith,
Only for those people to find hardships
Which caused them grow discontented
And even angry that God ever got their hopes up.
• We know of Abraham leaving Ur of the Chaldeans to go pursue that land which God would give him, only to find Abraham flee from that land during famine.
• We know of the children of Israel crying for deliverance from slavery only seeing them continually grumble against God because His deliverance wasn’t want they expected.
• And even in our lives, there are times when God opens doors for a ministry or mission and because it also comes with difficulties we actually grow to wish God had never singled us out.
So when Calvin says that
These people who had left their comfortable life in Babylon,
And found such hardship in Israel
Were prone to grumble and needed encouragement;
I don’t have any trouble believing him.
This message then is meant to give hope back to people
Who had grown weary in their voyage to claim the promises of God.
Beyond that, it is a tremendous vision for us
As it helps us to understand yet again
That Christ is and has always been the fulfillment of all our hopes.
There are 3 main points.
#1 A STRANGE CORONATION
Zechariah 6:9-11
This setting is a little difficult to discern
Because it deals with 4 guys who are not referenced anywhere else.
So we don’t really know who we are dealing with
Or even why we are dealing with them.
Here’s what we know:
They are men who have returned from living in Babylon.
• They are called “exiles” and God reveals that “they have arrived from
Babylon.”
We also know that the message that is revealed here is as much for them as it is for anyone
• Because when this crown gets finished it is ultimately placed in the temple as
“a reminder…to Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah and Hen”
Calvin sees this as proof that these men
Had a specific issue of doubt and even discouragement.
That is to say that
• God called these men out specifically because He wanted them (more than
anyone) to quit their complaining and have hope.
• This crown was to be a specific reminder to them, and their punishment was
that they had to pay for it.
And I tend to agree with him.
I think we have here a group of grumblers.
We have here a group of people who are just really good at pointing out the leaks in the boat.
• We all love those people who are better at spotting problems than solutions.
• We all love those “glass half empty” people who are more than ready to explain to us why failure is inevitable.
That is not to say that it is wrong to be a person
who spots difficulty or who is a voice of reason,
But when you have a group of people who are doing what they are doing in obedience to God, being a discouraging voice is actually sinful.
And that is what it appears that these men were doing.
So God has a plan for them, and ultimately for all the people.
(10-11) “Take an offering from the exiles, from Heldai, Tobijah and Jedaiah; and you go the same day and enter the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, where they have arrived from Babylon. “Take silver and gold, make an ornate crown and set it on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest.”
So here Zechariah takes silver and gold from these exiles
And uses it to make a crown.
The strange thing is what he does with that crown.
He is commanded to “set it on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest.”
This is strange because these are offices that simply are not connected.
• God had commanded that the priests come from the tribe of Levi.
• God had specified that the kingly line was from the tribe of Judah.
Now we do have a couple of instances in the Old Testament
Where one man tried to occupy both offices and neither worked out well.
1 Samuel 13:8-14 “Now he waited seven days, according to the appointed time set by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattering from him. So Saul said, “Bring to me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. As soon as he finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him and to greet him. But Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “Because I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the appointed days, and that the Philistines were assembling at Michmash, therefore I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not asked the favor of the LORD.’ So I forced myself and offered the burnt offering.” Samuel said to Saul, “You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, for now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. “But now your kingdom shall not endure. The LORD has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.”
2 Chronicles 26:16-21 “But when he became strong, his heart was so proud that he acted corruptly, and he was unfaithful to the LORD his God, for he entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. Then Azariah the priest entered after him and with him eighty priests of the LORD, valiant men. They opposed Uzziah the king and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron who are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful and will have no honor from the LORD God.” But Uzziah, with a censer in his hand for burning incense, was enraged; and while he was enraged with the priests, the leprosy broke out on his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, beside the altar of incense. Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous on his forehead; and they hurried him out of there, and he himself also hastened to get out because the LORD had smitten him. King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death; and he lived in a separate house, being a leper, for he was cut off from the house of the LORD. And Jotham his son was over the king’s house judging the people of the land.”
I read you those to remind you that
This was a strange prophecy from Zechariah.
Yet here we have Zechariah placing a crown on the head of the priest.
The only Old Testament precedent for this sort of thing
Is found in the man Melchizedek.
Genesis 14:18-20 “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. He blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” He gave him a tenth of all.”
• Melchizedek, who preceded the Levitical priesthood and the Davidic line was
called both the King of Salem and the priest of God.
• You’ll recall that Abraham even validated this fact by paying tithes to him.
• Furthermore you will remember form our study of Hebrews that this
Melchizedek was a prophetic type of the coming Messiah.
Psalms 110:4 “The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”
So there was a precedent,
But not one which was very familiar to the Jews.
All they knew was that no king in Israel had ever successfully ventured into the priesthood and no priest in Israel had ever been crowned king.
THIS WAS STRANGE
A Strange Coronation
#2 A SPIRITUAL EXPLANATION
Zechariah 6:12-13
These verses then give us the explanation
As to the purpose of the drama which Zechariah just acted out.
Joshua is not going to be king in Israel.
Rather, Joshua is a prophetic picture of One who is coming.
(12-13) “Then say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Behold, a man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the LORD. “Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the LORD, and He who will bear the honor and sit and rule on His throne. Thus, He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.”‘
Look at Joshua and see a priest wearing the crown.
Now understand that you will someday see this again.
There is One coming who will in fact fill both offices.
His name is “Branch”
It’s not the only time this is mentioned.
Jeremiah 23:5-6 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land. “In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The LORD our righteousness.’”
Jeremiah 33:14-16 “’Behold, days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. ‘In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth. ‘In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell in safety; and this is the name by which she will be called: the LORD is our righteousness.’”
Jeremiah also spoke of this coming “Branch”.
• Jeremiah saw Him as One who would reign as king on David’s throne.
• Jeremiah saw Him as One who would reign with righteousness.
• And Jeremiah saw Him as One who would be the source of righteousness for God’s people.
Isaiah also spoke of this “Branch”
Isaiah 11:1-5 “Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear; But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, And faithfulness the belt about His waist.”
So in one sense we understand the name “Branch”
As we see this One being part of David’s tree.
He is a descendant of David, an heir to the throne, and thus a branch in David’s line.
But even that seems a little strange.
For if we know anything about Christ we know that He existed long before David.
Christ should be called the tree and David should be called the branch.
Why is it the other way around?
Isaiah 53:1-4 “Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.”
On one hand He is called “Branch”
Because He is of the Davidic line,
But He is also merely called “Branch”
Because as such He is easily overlooked.
Zechariah gives another reason why He is called “Branch”.
“Behold, a man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is;”
That is to say He will “sprout up”
He acts like a branch.
Again listen to what Isaiah said;
Isaiah 53:2 “For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.”
That is to say He sort of sprang up out of nowhere.
He branched out where you wouldn’t have expected Him.
And certainly that is true of Jesus.
• No one could believe that the Messiah would be a carpenter’s son raised in Nazareth.
So obviously Zechariah is talking about Jesus here.
“and He will build the temple of the LORD.”
WHAT?
• I thought Zerubbabel was building the temple?
• Beyond that, I don’t remember Jesus building any temple when He came.
Some take this to mean that Jesus will build a Millennial temple from which to reign, but I think that is also missing the point.
Consider the conversation that Jesus had with the Woman At The Well.
John 4:19-24 “The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. “Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Jesus did not build a physical temple, but He did build a spiritual one.
He cut through the superficial ceremonial worship of the Jews
And instituted true worship of the Father.
Jesus came in and cut to the heart.
He looked through their giving and fasting and praying
And pushed for true devotion of the heart.
He is the King who will restore true worship.
And that is why Zechariah continues.
(13) “Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the LORD, and He who will bear the honor and sit and rule on His throne. Thus, He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.”‘
Because it is He who institutes true worship,
He not only serves as King, but also as Priest.
And think about Christ for a second.
• It wasn’t that Jesus showed up and demanded a crown, nor did He demand to
be priest.
• He didn’t do like Uzziah and force His way into the temple to assume the role
of priest.
But…
This “Branch” who seemingly came out of nowhere,
Did more to lead Israel into true worship
Than any other who ever came before Him.
Thus, He didn’t receive the title because of His lineage,
He earned the title because of His work.
He was a king by birth, He was priest by merit.
In Him God saw One who could
Faithfully and sufficiently occupy both offices.
“Thus, He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.”
That is to say that after Him there will no longer be a distinction.
And of course this was the whole point of the writer of Hebrews.
TURN TO: HEBREWS 10
(1-4) You will remember the absolute ineffectiveness of the former priests
(5-7) You see the perception and decision of Christ to give God what He truly wanted (obedience)
(8-10) He offered the perfect sacrifice to God (His own holy life)
(11-14) He did what no priest before Him could do, He perfected the people
This supreme act earned Christ the right to be our priest.
And that is what Zechariah is pointing to.
There is One coming who will be a king and priest extraordinaire!
He may not be the guy you’d initially notice,
But He will most certainly be the One who gets the job done.
He will “build”
He will “sit”
He will “rule”
All the “honor” will absolutely be His.
He is coming!
That is what this symbolic event was meant to reveal.
So we have A Strange Coronation, A Spiritual Explanation
#3 A SOUVENIR FOR CONFIRMATION
Zechariah 6:14-15
God is very specific to Zechariah what to do with this crown.
“Now the crown will become a reminder in the temple of the LORD”
This crown will serve the same purpose as so many other relics in the Old Testament.
• You had the Ark of the Covenant
• You had the jar of manna
• You had Aaron’s staff that budded
• You had the 10 Commandments
• You had Joshua’s rock pile
• And so on…
This is yet another souvenir
To be kept in the temple as a perpetual reminder.
When you walk in this temple and you see this crown
You are supposed to remember that the “Branch” is on His way.
And when He comes He will rule
And He will bring in true worship like no one ever before.
Specifically this reminder was for:
“Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah and Hen the son of Zephaniah.”
These men were the ones who had been a voice of discouragement,
Perhaps a voice of pessimism among the people.
• Maybe the temple was unimpressive…
• Maybe the Promised Land was too difficult…
• Maybe the struggles were overwhelming…
Whatever the issue these men had been a voice of negativity
So God singles them out first of all as the men who needed the reminder.
This land might be difficult and this temple might be unimpressive.
This nation might seem like a shadow of what it once was.
But that will all change when the real king arrives.
When He gets here righteousness and worship and glory
Will return like never before.
Then Zechariah gives another and almost strange piece of information.
(15) “Those who are far off will come and build the temple of the LORD.”
What?
I thought He said the “Branch” was going to build it.
What gives?
The Branch is going to rebuild the true temple of praise,
Here we find out who will be a part of it,
And it’s not just Israel.
Even “those who are far off” (as in Gentiles)
Will be a part of this new time of worship.
Isn’t that what Jesus told that woman at the well?
John 4:21-24 “Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
It’s not just a Jewish thing
The worship this king will institute will be the worship of the nations.
It was a foreshadow of the coming church.
“Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.”
• Which is Zechariah’s way of putting everything He has into verifying this prophecy. It is his way of saying, “If this doesn’t happen then I’m not a prophet!”
“And it will take place if you completely obey the LORD your God.”
Does that mean the promise is conditional?
No, this King is coming whether they obey or not.
What is conditional is whether or not they enjoy it.
This king is coming and He will reign
And He will lead to true worship,
But the only way you will participate in it is through obedience.
And of course we saw that play out precisely in Jesus’ day.
• Those who submitted to Christ enjoyed the worship and priesthood of this great King.
• Those who refused to submit were excluded from the blessing.
BUT WHAT IS THE POINT HERE?
We have some who are looking at the present circumstances
And the current difficulties and are losing hope.
They are discouraged and are discouraging others.
The danger of course is that a lack of hope leads to a lack of obedience.
If you lose hope that God will make it worthwhile
Then you lose your incentive to continue to obey.
So God gives a vision of hope here to let them know that
Their decision to leave Babylon and return is not in vain.
Yes, the current struggle is real, but it is also only temporary.
The King is on His way and His reign will be worth it.
You need to press on, so that when He comes you can fully enjoy it.
Calvin summarized it like this:
“We now then see what was shown to the Prophet, – that though the Jews were then exposed to many evils, to reproaches and wrongs, yet Christ would come to restore all things to a perfect order, that he would be not only a king but also a priest; and further, that his beginning would be obscure and despised by the world, and yet that he would attain without any earthly helps his own elevation; and, lastly, that his own proper office would be to build a temple to God…As the temple, then, begun at that time to be built, had but little splendor and glory connected with it, and could hardly be expected to become a better or more adorned building, the Prophet reiterates this promise, He, he shall build the temple of Jehovah; by which he means, “Let not your eyes remain fixed on this temple, for to look at it weakens your faith and almost disheartens you; but hope for another temple which ye see not now, for a priest and a king shall at length come to build a better and a more excellent temple.” (ibid, pg. 159)
Don’t look at what you see now,
Look beyond to the promise in the future
And let that motivate your hope and your obedience.
That’s a message we cling to isn’t it?
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
• We look past the struggles of today and look to the promise of a greater day.
• We see that the king is on His way and His return will certainly usher in the true worship.
• And if we remain faithful to Him, it will be a day which we will greatly enjoy.
Don’t let your little temple cause you to be discouraged.
The real temple and the real worship is on its way!
