Zechariah 6:9-15 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,… And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Take of them of the Captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon, and come thou the same day. The crowning, the work, and the position of Joshua spoken of in these verses are obviously employed to symbolize some coming Man who would be matchless in all history. Concerning this matchless Man, we are here taught - I. THAT HE IS ONE WHOM HEAVEN COMMANDS THE PEOPLE TO HONOUR. "And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Take of them of the Captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon, and come thou the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah; then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest." The prophet is commanded to go to certain of the more distinguished men who had returned from Babylonian captivity, representative men and envoys it may be. He was to take these men, whose names are here given, who were entertained in the house of another distinguished man, here called Josiah the son of Zephaniah. From that house the silver and gold which they had brought from Babylon were to be taken, with which crowns were to be made and placed upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest. By the general consent of expositors, this was a mere symbolical transaction - a transaction pointing to some great Man whom Heaven will require all men to crown with the highest dignity. The spirit of hero worship is so strong in human nature that the servile multitudes of all times have been ready to fall down and render homage to most unholy characters. They hoist flags, ring bells, shout hurrahs, in honour of the laurelled butchers, crowned despots, and gorgeous millionaires. This is one cf the worst features of human depravity, one of the greatest obstructions to the progress of men and nations. But here is a character symbolized by the name of Joshua, to whom the people are called upon by God himself to render honour. Who is this Man? Can you find him anywhere amongst the millions of your contemporaries in any land, or on the page of the history of the people of any time? anywhere but in the records of the four evangelists - the Man Christ Jesus? "When he bringeth in the First Begotten into the world, he saith, Let all the angels of God worship him." And all heaven worships him. "I heard the voice of angels round about the throne," etc. II. THAT HIS PEDIGREE WAS STRIKINGLY SINGULAR, "Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the Man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord." He is a "Branch;" he has root somewhere; he has life, and he grows. It is here said, "He shall grow up out of his place." The reference is to some Man who grows on the earth, who is not of the earth. What man on the earth can be said to have grown out of his place? The earth is the place of all men during their stay here. It is their native home. Only one such Man we know of - the illustrious "Son of Mary." He came down from heaven and tabernacled on this earth, which was not his place. And here he grew in body and mind, in the favour of God and man. Though there was nothing congenial with his Spirit here, still he grew and became the Prince of life, the Conqueror of death, and the moral Commander of the race. A great soul, dominated by a supreme sympathy with the Supremely Good, can grow anywhere, in its place or out of it. It can subordinate the most. hostile external elements and forces to its own will and interests. III. THAT HE IS ONE WHOSE MISSION IS SUBLIMELY GLORIOUS. "He shall build the temple of the Lord," etc. Zerubbabol was now engaged in the work of rearing the material temple at Jerusalem; and a more glorious work than this is not given to man than to promote the public worship of God. The progress of nations is dependent upon morality, and morality is the growth of genuine religion. Philanthropy springs from piety; it is only as philanthropy grows that humanity can advance. Hence no work so transcendently important as that of promoting public worship, building temples, etc. Hence it is added here, "He shall bear the glory." The true promoter of public worship bears with him in every honest effort the glory, compared with which the glory of every other department of human labour pales into dimness. The building of the material temple is but the emblem of the rearing of the great spiritual temple And the Man here referred to is the Builder of that. There is one and only one, and that is Christ. He is not only the Builder, but the Creator of the materials, and himself the Foundation of the whole. "Other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, that is Jesus Christ." In doing this he bears the glory. "Now is the Son of man glorified." God is glorified in him. "God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name," etc. St. Peter gives a beautiful description of this temple when he says, "To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." Christ is the great Builder of the moral temple of the world, and no one else. IV. THAT HE IS ONE WHOSE POSITION AND FUNCTIONS ARE TRANSCENDENTALLY EXALTED. He is on a throne. "He is exalted far above all heavens." But he is there: 1. As a priestly King. On behalf of humanity before God, he holds the reins of universal dominion. 2. As a glorious Reconciler. "The counsel of peace shall be between them both." What does this mean? Not that there is a covenant of peace between him and his Father. They were never at variance. And to suppose any contract or covenant between them is to derogate Infinite Majesty. The "counsel of peace" between the Infinite Father and his alien and rebellious children. He is the Mediator between God and man. He is the Reconciliation, the Atonement. (But see in the Exposition (ver. 13) another explanation, and one more conformable to the context.) V. THAT HE IS ONE WHOSE POWER TO ATTRACT OTHERS TO HIS ENTERPRISE IS IMMENSELY GREAT. "And they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the Lord, and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you." "There can," says Dr. Wardlaw, "be no doubt here; to you who were far off, and to them that were near are the very terms of distinction between Gentile and Jew, which, in addressing the former, the apostle uses. 'I will bring my sons from far,' says Jehovah, 'and my daughters from the ends of the earth.' The Gentiles were to be themselves stones in the building, and agents in the rearing of it. And this was fulfilled in the beginning of the gospel, in the ministerial activity and usefulness of many a Gentile convert; and it is fulfilling to this day in every Gentile nation where Christianity has formed a settlement, and in every heathen country to which missionaries are carrying the message of salvation, and gathering sinners into the Church of God. For that Church of God is his temple (the members of it, how widely soever scattered, being all 'builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit'), in which 'spiritual sacrifices' will be offered to him - 'acceptable through Jesus Christ,' in all time and forever!" CONCLUSION. "Behold the Man!" What manner of man is he? He stands alone, the majestic cedar amongst the saplings of the race, the sun amidst the satellites. He is the "Wonderful." - D.T. Parallel Verses KJV: And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, |
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