We are currently making our way through the minor prophets and are in Zechariah. I admit, this is a hard book to understand! Even some of the commentaries I read have a hard time understanding everything in this book. When you don’t understand something, the tendency is to read over it quickly and move on to other things. This morning I did not do that.
I don’t really understand the significance of the four horses at the beginning of chapter 6…though there is an obvious parallel with the four horses that John will later see in Revelation. Apparently the message here is that God will judge the “north country” (Babylon and other nations that oppressed Israel) and bring peace to that region for His people.
It is the second half of chapter six that caught my interest this morning. Zechariah is commanded to take silver and gold (donated from certain men from Babylon) and make a crown. Then he was to take the crown and place it on the head of Joshua, the high priest, and say…
“ Behold, the Man whose name is the BRANCH!
From His place He shall branch out,
And He shall build the temple of the LORD;
Yes, He shall build the temple of the LORD.
He shall bear the glory,
And shall sit and rule on His throne;
So He shall be a priest on His throne,
And the counsel of peace shall be between them both.”’ (6:12-13)
Why is this significant? God does not tell Joshua “You are the branch” but rather instructs him to look forward to the Branch that is coming. Joshua is a sign of the future Messiah. This is stated in Zechariah 3:8…”Listen, O high priest, Joshua and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come.” So Joshua is told to Behold the Man! To look forward into the future and see a Man that will branch out with hope, that will build the temple of the LORD, that will bear God’s glory, that will rule over the earth as a priest and a king. This was a significant prophecy because it made clear that the coming Messiah, the Anointed One, would be both a priest and a king. He would forgive sins and rule over the earth. He shall be a priest on the throne.
Who is this Man? His name is Jesus….or Yeshua….Joshua. He would be like Joshua, the commander, who led the people of Israel into the Promised Land and like Joshua, the high priest, the one who restored the captive nation of Israel out of Babylon and back into right relationship with God.
I had never really heard too much of Joshua, the high priest. He is not really emphasized or spoken about. My guess is that the book of Zechariah is too hard to understand to really make it a part of most of our Bible studies. But Joshua, perhaps more than anyone, symbolizes the coming Messiah. He is high priest. He is leader. He is restorer. He is a sign of the One who will grow from the root of David and branch out with hope to all the world.
Lord, thank You for Your Word!