1 John 3:16


"By this we perceive the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."

Wednesday 4 August 2010

Zechariah continued...

Note this again, “I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day…In that day shall you call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree.”. Statements about Israel dwelling permanently in the land represent our redemption, the fulfilment, security and victory in Christ.

Such statements are found throughout the prophets. They do not mean that Israel as a nation will forever be settled in Canaan. They speak of Christ who gives us eternal rest. This point is clearly outlined in another chapter of this book, showing in particular from the book of Hebrews that this is the mind of the prophets. In chapter six Zechariah continues the Messianic theme:

Then take silver and gold and make crowns and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest; and speak to him, saying, Behold the man whose name is the BRANCH; and He shall grow up out of this place and He shall build the temple of the Lord.

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 council of peace shall be between them both. (Zech 6:11-13).

This passage shows the following:

1. Joshua was the priest but he was also crowned king. Joshua was not actually made king, but this was acted out only as a prophecy of the Messiah.

2. God shall bring forth the Branch, which is the Messiah and He shall build the temple and bear the glory.

3. Here we see the fulfilment of the promises to David, that a king shall not fail from his seed and that He shall build the house of God.

4. In Christ we see the joining of the offices of priest and king in one person. This was not allowed under the law, but the two offices have peace (are together) in Christ, as they were in Melchizedek.

The prophets clearly taught that the return of Israel to Jerusalem from Babylon was for the purpose of the coming of Messiah who would take away our sin and build the temple or household of faith. This household would consist of Jews and Gentiles, of all those redeemed under the New Covenant.

In the light of all this it is clear that the church was one of the main foci of the Old Testament. The church was a major theme of all the prophets from Jacob in Gen 49:10, to the wilderness, to Nathan in 2nd Samuel 7 and throughout all the Major and Minor Prophets. This was the whole purpose of the coming of Christ from the beginning.

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, your King comes to you; He is just and having salvation; lowly and riding upon an ass and upon a colt the foal of an ass. (Zech 9:9).

Jesus fulfilled this when He rode into Jerusalem.

And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplications; and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for Him. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem…(Zech 12:10-11).

Some of Israel would be restored through grace and others would mourn because of what they did to Christ. This refers to both the New Covenant and the judgement that fell upon Jerusalem and the surrounding nations in “that day” after Christ had risen, 70 A.D.

On the destruction of Jerusalem a Jewish writer Terentius Rufus said, “An officer in the army of Titus, with a ploughshare tore up the foundations of the temple”, to fulfil Mic 3:12, “Zion shall be ploughed as a field.”. Is there a non-Christian Jew today who does not interpret the prophesied return from captivity as referring only to the return from Babylon and all the nations in those days? In that day the New Covenant was established:

In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David (the gift of the Spirit) and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness…And one shall say, What are these wounds in Your hands? Then He shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of My friends. (Zech 13:1, 6).

And His feet shall stand upon the Mount of Olives…And it shall be in that day that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem…And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. (Zech 14:4, 8, 9).

Jesus stood upon the Mount of Olives when He came. His sacrifice allowed living waters to go out to all nations. He reigns over the heathen today, as Psalm 2 says. The rest of Zechariah 14 shows the calamity that was to befall the Jews and the surrounding nations and the safety in the New Jerusalem for those in the Messiah. This is all fulfilled in the kingdom of Christ.

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