After 70 years in exile, some of the Jews returned from Babylon under Zerubbabel. After 2 years the foundations of a restored Temple were laid but in the face of opposition work ceased. God sent prophets like Haggai and Zechariah to stir the people to renewed work. Here Zechariah is told to take the gold and silver to make a crown for Joshua the High Priest, a symbolic action relating to the work of the Messiah God would provide. We consider Zechariah 6:12-13 The Royal Branch.
1. The living Branch
Joshua is not literally crowned king – as a priest he could not be. His role (and that of his associates) is ‘symbolic of things to come’ (3:8). Joshua stands for ‘the man whose name is the Branch’ (v12). In Jeremiah 23:5 God promises he will ‘raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will rule wisely’. The promised ruler from David’s line is the Messiah. The person and work of Christ are described here (see also Isaiah 4:2). He will ‘branch out’ from IsraelIsrael in its woeful state and God will do a great work of salvation in a most unpromising situation (‘dry ground’, Isaiah 53:2). God’s work will flourish – ‘he will branch out’ in vigorous growth. No-one can thwart the Messiah’s work.
2. The true Temple
The Branch’s task is to ‘build the Temple of the Lord’ (v12), re-iterated in v13. The Temple built by the Messiah is not a literal Temple in Jerusalem but a spiritual Temple built by God’s power and grace. The NT describes the fulfilment:
(i) in Christ himself. He speaks of raising the Temple in 3 days, referring to his resurrection (John 2:19,21). Christ replaces the Temple and all it stood for was fulfilled in him. Christ crucified and risen provides the fellowship with God that the Temple symbolised.
(ii) in Christ’s people. The redeemed covenant people are the Temple the Lord is building, each one a living stone (I Peter 2:5). By God’s grace this Temple grows according to the divine pattern into ‘a holy Temple in the Lord’ (Ephesians 2:21). The church, united to Christ, is the true Temple.
3. The perfect Priest
How can sinners be changed into stones in a holy Temple? The answer is to be found in the Branch’s role as priest – ‘a priest on his throne’ (v13). This priestly work is crucial to the Messiah’s mission. A new priesthood is established, not from the house of Levi but ‘in the order of Melchizidek’ (Psalm 110:4). Christ is eternally a priest (see Hebrews 7:11ff). The chief function of the High Priest was to offer sacrifices for sin. The blood was taken into the Most Holy Place on the Day of Atonement. Christ ‘entered…once for all with his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption’ (Hebrews 9:12). By his death in the place of his people he secures salvation (I Peter 2:24) and provides peace with God (Romans 5:1).
4. The glorious King
The Branch combines the offices of Priest and King – ‘he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne’ (v13). He is an eternal King, fulfilling the promise to David (2 Samuel 7:16). His progression from self-humbling to death on the cross through to supreme exaltation is traced in Philippians 2:6-11. He reigns in glory (Ephesians 2:22; Matthew 28:18). He guides his people by laws they delight to keep (I John 5:3), provides for them (Philippians 4:19), and equips them for battle (Ephesians 6:10ff).