Zechariah 6:9 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
10 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;
11 Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest;
12 And speak unto him, saying, 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:
13 Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
14 And the crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of the LORD.
15 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. And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God.
In verse 9 we are once again reminded that this is the word of the LORD. God often reminds us that the Bible is His Word. He inspired It and He has preserved It.
The time of this passage is the completion of the rebuilding of the Temple. It coincided with Ezra 6. But it is also projecting into the future. It is the future that is still beyond our time. That time is what the Bible speaks of as the thousand years of rule by the Lord Jesus Christ. We refer to it as the Millennium, which means a thousand.
The men mentioned in verse 10 were a few of those who came out of Babylon after the captivity. They were to go to the house of Josiah, the son of Zephaniah. This Josiah may have been a goldsmith or someone who had access to the gold and silver needed to make the crowns spoken of here. We see that Zechariah was told to have crowns made of silver and gold. The crowns were for Joshua the high priest. We have read of him before in this book.
God sets apart His special servants. They are not looking for earthly treasure. They are set apart to glorify God. In verse 12 we are again reminded of the fact that this is God’s Word. This is the God of the whole earth. We are also again reminded of the man whose name is The BRANCH. This is again a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ.
We know that when Jesus Christ came the first time, He referred to Himself as the Temple. The chief priests and the people mocked Him for His promise to rebuild that Temple in three days. The people assumed He was referring to the Temple made with stones. Jesus was referring to Himself. He would be crucified and resurrected three days later.
The Temple spoken of in verse 13 is the millennial Temple that Jesus will build when He returns the second time at the end of the Tribulation. The text tells us very clearly that He, The BRANCH shall build the Temple of the LORD. As we already mentioned, Jesus Christ is THE Temple. The Temple made with man’s hands, is to be a symbol of that true Temple.
In verse 13 Zechariah was told that He, The BRANCH, would bear the glory and sit on his throne. Jesus Christ will rule over the earth during the Millennium. He will be a priest upon His throne. Jesus Christ is Prophet, Priest, and King. He is also the Messiah and Saviour.
Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace. True peace comes from knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord.
In verse 14 Zechariah is again taken back to his time. We do not know anything more about the men mentioned than what is given to us here. Obviously they were important men to the LORD. The crowns were for a memorial in the Temple of the LORD. As mentioned, the Lord Jesus Christ will be crowned King of kings in the Millennium.
Verse 15 tells us of the impact that the Lord Jesus Christ will have in the Millennium. The scattered Jews will be brought back home. This of course will apply to those who are saved, not the lost. The lost Jews will perish along with the lost Gentiles.
The people of Zechariah’s day needed to know that the true God is alive and in charge. The people of the Millennium will be reminded that Jesus Christ is alive and He is the Redeemer.
The people of Zechariah’s day needed to know that God had chosen him to be the prophet for that time. He was not an imposter. He was a true man of God with a particular message from God, for that time.
As we see in verse 15, obedience is always important to God. Obedience to God is not legalism. It is not works salvation. Obedience is required of those who truly know the Lord. Obedience is not crippling. It is liberating. Obedience to God keeps us from falling into sin. It is required by God and it is a blessing for those who will obey God.
Today is the Lord’s Day. Right now we have quite the storm outside. There are times when visibility is near zero. We will have to decide if it is safe to travel to the local church today. However, even if we cannot attend the physical building today, it is still the day in which we should be focused more fully on the Lord and the things He says are important. Making money is not the most important thing in life. Knowing the true God is the most important thing in life. The only way to know Him is through His Word. The sole purpose of a true, Bible-believing church is to proclaim: “Thus saith the Lord”. This needs to be done not just with words, but with actions as well. A true local, Bible-believing church will not be a house of entertainment. It will not look and feel like the world. It will seek to draw people into a right relationship with the Lord. That is not something that is sensual.
James 3:13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
Be sure you are attending a church that is addressing the true need of your soul. You will never regret that.
Pastor Bartel