I invite you to take your Bibles and turn to the prophecy of Zechariah chapter three, we're going to continue to make our way through this amazing prophetic book that speaks of all that is coming our way by virtue of God's sovereign plan for the ages. And I've entitled my discourse to you "The Role of Israel's Priest-King in the Millennial Kingdom." 

Sometimes you will hear people say, "Well, no one knows the future." Well, I understand that we don't know the future, but God has revealed to us many things concerning the future. In fact, the Bible is about 1/3 prophecy, and approximately 2500 prophecies appear in the Word of God, and about roughly 2000 of them have been fulfilled literally. And today we are looking at some more of these amazing prophecies as we look at this passage in Zechariah. May I remind you that Zechariah is often called "the revelation of the Old Testament," and rightfully so. Specifically, there are eight visions in Zechariah’s prophecy that point to the consummation of Israel's sorrows, as well as the inauguration of the nation's prominence in millennial glory;glorious implications as well for all of the redeemed. And collectively, the purpose of these visions is to bring clarity and comfort to the dispersed and the disillusioned exiles that had returned to their land after captivity. These were given to them to reassure these beleaguered and discouraged people that God had not forgotten them; that God has not abandoned his promises to his people. 

But rather, as we see from these pages, God is faithful. He is faithful to fulfill all of his promises. In fact, in chapter one and verse 13, we read that these are quote, "gracious and comforting words." Imagine if you've been exiled for many, many years, and now you've come back, shall we say, from China, and we're back here where we live, and everything is basically destroyed. You wonder, well, has God forsaken us? And as we see here, the answer is, no, he has not. In fact, Zechariah's name means "Yahweh remembers." 

By way of reminder, in the first vision, God reminds his people of his great love for Jerusalem that he would one day return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and to expand and prosper Jerusalem itself. And in the second vision, he promised certain destruction on the godless Gentile nations who so violently conquered them and dispersed them and caused them to suffer; and we've seen this down through redemptive history. 

The third vision speaks of his choice - his sovereign choice - of Israel to be his chosen nation. It speaks of the nation through which he would one day reveal the Messiah and bless all of the families of the earth, and his promise to protect and deliver them. And also, again, to rebuild the temple and Jerusalem so they can share in millennial blessings. 

And then the fourth vision that we have examined earlier - at least the first -part speaks about how he has promised to intercede and cleanse and restore his people through the person and the work of the Messiah, Israel's great high priest and ultimate King. 

And the fourth vision, as well as the fifth vision, are really the centerpiece of Zechariah's visions. And I'll address that a little bit more in a moment. And here we see his high priestly work of of intercession and imputation and the magnificent implications that these truths have for all of the redeemed. 

And so this brings us now to the second part of the fourth vision, and we see this in verses six through 10. So follow along as I read the text, and then we will begin to examine it more closely. 

"And the angel of the LORD admonished Joshua, saying, 

'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "If you will walk in My ways, and if you will perform My service, then you will also govern My house and also have charge of My courts, and I will grant you free access among these who are standing here. 

Now listen, Joshua, the high priest, you and your friends who are sitting in front of you - indeed, they are men who are a symbol, for behold, I am going to bring in My servant the Branch.

For behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua; on one stone are seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave an inscription on it," declares the LORD of hosts, "and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.

In that day," declares the LORD of hosts, "every one of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and under his fig tree."'"

Now, before we look at this closely, I feel it's important to give you some historical and theological background. Let's back all the way up when 2 million Jews, Hebrew slaves, left Egypt in the Exodus. They needed to be organized. They needed to be, shall we say, unified into a community, so that they could just survive, not to mention fulfill their ultimate covenant obligations before the Lord to fulfill God's intention to transform them into a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. And if we go to the book of Numbers, which we are going to do here in a moment, the fourth book of the Pentateuch, we see God highlighting all of the records of their wilderness wanderings, prior to entering into Canaan. And as we look in that book, we see so many examples of God demonstrating his holiness and man's sinfulness, and how he tested them to see if they would be obedient that they would make his law a priority in their hearts, and we see how he punished them for their disobedience. But through it all, we see that he remains faithful to his covenant promises; the promises that he ultimately gave to Abraham some 600 years earlier in the desert. They learned that Yahweh was a holy and a just, and a sovereign, compassionate provider and protector who would allow them to inherit the land of Canaan. And as that day approached, a fascinating season of testing came upon them by God's design. 

Enter the oracles of Balaam in Numbers, chapter 22 through 24. You may recall that Balaam was a greedy false prophet. You read about that, for example, in Jude 11, and this was a season when the Israelites were disbelieving, they were distrusting. They were irritable, argumentative. They even wanted to just go back to Egypt. It's all just too much for us. Let's just go back to Egypt. And you will recall, during that season of history, there was a ruler of Moab by the name of Balak, and he hired Balaam, again, a false prophet; a pagan seer of some renown, to pronounce a destructive curse on Israel. You see, Balak wanted to entice the Israelites with the Moabite idolatry worship, which included all manner of idol worship and immorality. Because he knew if that were to happen, God would punish them. Their God, Yahweh would punish them. But God, as you may recall the story, intervened and would not allow Balaam to pronounce a curse on his people.

The only thing he could do was affirm and reiterate both present blessings, as well as, future preeminence upon Israel. His word from Yahweh infuriated Balak the king, but Balaam insisted that Yahweh compelled him to speak these words. But everything that he said just reiterated the promises of the Abrahamic covenant; that Israel would be a blessing to the world, that from Israel would come a king, and ultimately, this finds its fulfillment in the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. Moreover, that this king would renovate the world, return it to Edenic splendor. In fact, we read in Numbers, chapter 24 verse 6, "'Like valleys that stretch out, like gardens beside the river, like aloes planted by the LORD, like cedars beside the waters...'" That's what you have tolook forward to in the land. But Israel's glorious future, described by God through Balaam, was very different than what was actually happening on the ground at that particular time in the desert. Some of the Israelites were celebrating the fertility god Baal through cultic meals and the sexual encounters that were a part of their worship services. 

In fact, the that was an integral part of Canaanite worship, fertility rights, and so they practice these kinds of immoral encounters, literally, in their services, in their temples. Let me pause for a moment. God warned them, not only to avoid the Canaanite culture and people when they went into the land - mind you, they haven't gone in yet with where we're at. But he warned them that when you do, stay away from these people, and I want you to eliminate them entirely. Frankly, he was advocating and commanding genocide because these people were a moral cancer, exceedingly violent. In Deuteronomy, seven, verse two, we read, "'...when the LORD your God delivers them before you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroythem. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them.'" You see that culture, like many cultures today, was like radioactive waste. The deadly radiation of paganism, if you will, would ultimately destroy the people, even as we've seen, the toxic ideologies, even in our own culture, destroying our country. And we've seen how that has happened in Europe down through the years, and now you have Islam coming in and continuing to destroy it even more. And on it goes. But the people disobeyed, and as a result, they were defeated. For example, we read in Psalm 106 verse 34, "They did not destroy the peoples, as the LORD commanded them, but they mingled with the nations and learned their practices and served their idols, which became a snare to them. They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons, and shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with the blood. Thus they became unclean in their practices, and played the harlot in their deeds. Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against His people, and He abhorred His inheritance. Then He gave them into the hand of the nations and those who hated them ruled over them."

Now back to Numbers, chapter 25 beginning in verse one, we read "While Israel remained at Shittim..." Shittim, by the way, was located in the plains of Moab, east of the Jordan River and north of the Dead Sea, and it was frankly, the last encampment of the Israelites before they went in to Canaan. "While Israel remained at Shittim, the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab. For they invited the people to the sacrifices and their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor..." Peorwas a mountain, "...and the LORD was angry against Israel. The Lord said to Moses, 'Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.' So Moses said to the judges of Israel, 'Each of you slay his men who have joined themselves to Baal of Peor.' Then behold, one of the sons of Israel came and brought to his relatives a Midianite woman." So he brings this seductive woman in to fornicate with her. And he did this, it says, "...in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the sons of Israel while they were weeping at the doorway of the tent of meeting." 

And then this is what is so important. "When Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw it, he arose from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand, and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and pierced both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman through the body. So the plague of the sons of Israel was checked. Those who died by the plague were 24,000."  Beginning in verse 10, "Then the LORD spoke to Moses saying, 'Phineas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel in My jealousy. Therefore say, "Behold, I give him My covenant of peace; and it shall be for him and his descendants after him, a covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel."'" 

We see this mentioned as well in Psalm 106 beginning, in verse 28, "They joined themselves also to Baal-peor, and ate sacrifices offered to the dead. Thus they provoked Him to anger with their deeds, and the plague broke out among them. Then Phineas stood up and interposed, and so the plague was stayed. And it was reckoned to him for righteousness, to all generations forever." So what we see here is that God made a priestly covenant of an enduring priesthood to Phineas and his descendants. And as we study scripture, we see that the Levitical family descended from Levi then to Aaron, then to Eleazar and Phinehas, later on, is to Zadok, who was faithful to David and Solomon and to the Lord during their reigns. And ultimately, it will be the sons of Zadok, the descendants of Phinehas, who will serve as priests in the millennial temple. We read about this in in Ezekiel 40 verse 46. 

Let me give you some other passages so you begin to get the picture here. And you need to understand this in order to understand Zechariah's vision, okay? Ezekiel 44 verse 15, "'But the Levitical priest, the sons of Zadok, who kept charge of My sanctuary when the sons of Israel went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to minister to Me, and they shall stand before Me to offer Me the fat and the blood,' declares the Lord GOD." This is speaking of what will happen one day in the millennial temple. 

Ezekiel, 48 verse 11, we see how there's going to be a holy allotment of land in Jerusalem near the millennial temple for the priests. It says, "'It shall be for the priests who were sanctified of the sons of Zadok and who kept My charge, who did not go astray when the sons of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray.'" And again, Zadok came from Phinehas. There was a covenant given to Phineas because of his jealousy for the glory of God.

Jeremiah 33 and verse 18, "'...the Levitical priests shall never lack a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to prepare sacrifices continually.'" By the way, thesesacrifices in the millennial kingdom have nothing to do with the atonement. Rather, they are, they will be acts of of worship commemorating the final sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, like we do at the Lord's Supper. 

Moreover, if you study the sacrifices, you will see how they their purpose will be to maintain ceremonial purity and fellowship between a holy God and a sinful people, because the Lord himself will be in that temple. Can you imagine what it will be like in those days to worship the Lord? I can answer that for you. We can't. We're Gentiles. We see everything from a different perspective, and frankly, for the most part, even Gentiles, even many people who love Christ, really know very little of what it means to truly worship the Lord in holiness and in transcendence. Most of the time church services are little more than kind of a party to get together and to hear the Bible taught a little bit and to sing some songs. But this will be a day when Israel finally fulfills its original purpose of being a kingdom of priests. You read about that in Exodus 19, a nation to lead other nations to worship the one true God. You can read about that in Deuteronomy four. In fact, later on in Zechariah, chapter eight, verse 23 we read, "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'In those days, 10 men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you."'" 

Now, my point with all of this historical background is to help you see that God will once again have his priests lead the world in worshiping the priest-King, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus, Christ. All of this is in fulfillment of the priestly covenant that God originally gave to Phineas in Numbers, chapter 25 verses 10 through 15. So this will help us now understand the second part of Zechariah's vision where the Spirit of God reveals three amazing categories of future blessing, and we will all be recipients of this. But let me give you the three categories that I hope will be helpful as we examine this for a few minutes this morning. First of all, we're going to see the rewards of the millennial priests. Secondly, the mission of the Messiah priest King, and thirdly, the peace and prosperity of the millennial kingdom. 

Now bear in mind that the second part of this fourth vision comes on the heels of Israel's high priest, according to verse three, Joshua, who, as you will recall, and the text says he was "clothed with filthy garments, and standing before the Lord," literally, excrement covered garments. And all of this was symbolic of the abject, sinful corruption of not just the priests, but the prophets and the full gamut of Israel's apostasy. And you must understand that biblically, the priesthood foreshadowed the glorious events of the future kingdom described in the visions thus far and Israel was prefigured by Joshua, the one who was cleansed, who was converted, even as Israel will be. And you will recall that his garments were discarded. They were replaced, the text says, with "festal robes." In other words, garments fitting for a celebration. And this was a picture of the marvel of forgiveness of sins as well as the imputation of righteousness that comes from the Lord Jesus Christ in the great truth of justification, whereby we are clothed with the righteousness of Christ. 

So again, as we look at Zechariah three and verse six, we see, "And the angel of the LORD..." which is the pre Incarnate Christ, "...admonished Joshua saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "If you will walk in My ways, and if you will perform My service, then you will also govern My house and also have charge of My courts, and I will grant you free access among these who are standing here."'" So what we have now are two very solemn commands that God gives to Joshua, the high priest. The first one is, "walk in My ways," which literally carries the idea of conform to my word and to my will. Conform your life to my standard of righteousness, obey my word. You will recall that in verse five, they put a clean turban on his head, and that would have been part of the garb that the high priest would wear. And we know from Exodus 28 that inscribed on that turban are the words "holy to the Lord." So I want you to walk in my ways. We're reminded of this as well in the New Testament. Paul spoke of this in Ephesians four, beginning in verse one, "Walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another and love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace." Something that every husband needs to hear, every wife needs to hear, every parent, every child, all of us, need to walk in his ways. 

But the second command is interesting as well, and that is to "perform My service."  I notice the Legacy Standard Bible translates it "keep the responsibility given by Me." In other words, keep my charge pertaining to your sacerdotal duties as a high priest, the faithful performance of your official duties, your responsibilities. And we know from other passages - I'll just give you a hint of this - In Ezekiel 40 verses, 45 through 46 we see that their primary responsibility will be to attend to the services there at the altar. And they will personally quote "minister to the Messiah," Ezekiel, 44:16. They will teach, they will judge the people. They will obey the laws, the statutes, the appointed feasts and Sabbaths, we see in Ezekiel 44:23 and following. 

And as I was thinking about it, by way of just practical implication, if I can pause here for a moment, the forgiveness and cleansing of our sin is solely by grace, through faith and the imputation of righteousness in our justification; all of that are free gifts of God. It's granted to every single sinner who comes to faith in Christ, and that happens at the moment of salvation. But you must understand, beloved, the privilege and the joy of effective and acceptable spiritual service is conditioned upon your commitment to walk in his ways. If you do not do that, you are a hypocrite, and you will forfeit God's blessing in your life, and you will also place yourself in the pathway of divine chastening. Moreover, you will lose future reward at the judgment seat of Christ, right? Second, Corinthians 5:10. 

So back to verse six, "The Angel of the LORD admonished Joshua, saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "If you walk in My ways, and if you will perform My service..."'" then we're going to see three promises that he makes to them. Here's what they are, "'...you will also govern My house and also have charge of My courts, and I will grant you free access among those who are standing here.'" So this brings us to the first point in my little outline, and that is the rewards of the millennial priests. The first one is "you will also govern My house." In other words, it could be translated, "You're going to render justice in my house." And this is, again, as I mentioned earlier, reference of what Ezekiel tells us in chapter 44. And this is consistent with other prophecies that they will help judge, adjudicate justice with the Lord in his house. For example, Isaiah two, beginning in verse two, "Now it will come about that in the last days, the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains, and he and will be raised above the hills." There's an indication that that may be the highest point on the planet at that point. "And all the nations will stream to it and many peoples will come and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; that He may teach us concerning His ways, and that we may walk in His paths. For the law will go forth from Zion and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem." 

Now notice what it says, "And He will judge between the nations, and will render decisions for many peoples; and they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they learn war." So the first reward of the millennial priest is they're going to be able to govern in his house. 

But secondly, it says, also have charge of my courts. Now, in order to understand the gravity of what is said here, you would have to study Ezekiel 40 through chapter 48 and you will see the amazing details of what the millennial temple will be like. In fact, if you as you look at it, you will see that it will be one mile square. That is a large campus. Magnificent architecture; massive campus. Now, originally the temple courts were areas that would encompass the actual temple building. And through his prophet, Isaiah, God described how at times there were blasphemous, idolatrous practices that occurred in those temple courts, sacrifices that took place in those temple courts; Isaiah 1:12 through 14, Ezekiel, eight and verse 16 and other passages. And because of the horrible apostasy at that time, we read how God called forth angelic executioners to slay the people in Ezekiel's vision. For example, in Ezekiel, chapter nine and verse seven, we read, "And He said to them, 'Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go out.' Thus they went out and struck down the people in the city." 

Now, what a stark contrast to the magnificent architecture and the beauty of the millennial courts described in Ezekiel, 40 through 48; massive gates, expansive courts, paved with stone, 30 chambers that face inward and in the courts a place of genuine of exuberant worship. And what an inexpressibly glorious privilege it will be for those priests to serve the Lord Jesus Christ, who will be dwelling in the midst of that temple. In fact. Zechariah two, verse five, says, "'I will be the glory in her midst.'" Ezekiel 43 verse five, "The glory of the LORD filled the house." And what a wonderful fulfillment to God's priestly covenant that we just read about in Numbers 25 alluded to here in Zechariah's vision. No more excrement covered robes like those of Joshua in Zechariah's vision. Instead, the priesthood and the worshipers will be purified. They will be purged by their Messiah. 

So back to the text, "'...you will govern My house.'" You will also have "'...charge of my courts.'" And then thirdly, "'and I will grant you...'" In other words, this is a gift of grace - everything is a gift of God's grace, there’s no merit involved in it. "'...I will grant you free access among those who are standing here.'" That is a reference to the angels serving the Lord in the vision. We see this for example, in Zechariah, three, verses four and five. And so the priests will have full access to the Messiah, just like the angels. And like the angels, they will personally minister to the Messiah, Ezekiel 44:16, "'They shall enter My sanctuary. They shall come near to My table to minister to Me and keep My charge.'" What an amazing privilege. 

Now we know that we all, as believers, have access into the Holy of Holies, the priesthood of the believers, through the blood of Christ, God instantly indwells every believer at the momentthey are born again. There's permanent access, there's intimate fellowship, but that communion dear friend, is going to reach a whole new level when we see the Lord face to face; when we come into His presence, when we come to worship him with the priests of Jerusalem in the kingdom age. Now think about this historically, the patriarchs looked for a promised King that would come, and he would come through the loins of Abraham. They looked for that. They looked for a priest-king that was one of righteousness, pictured by Melchizedek, as you will recall, in Genesis 14; a Messiah who would reign on the throne of David forever, through whom the world, whole world, would be blessed. And we read about this in the Davidic Covenant in Second Samuel seven, and the magnificent, peaceful and prosperous reign of Solomon. Solomon really foreshadowed the coming glory of the millennial age, an ancient age when all the surrounding nations under Solomon were blessed and they witnessed the glory of God. For example, First Kings 4:25, we read that, "Judah and Israel lived in safety, every man under his vine and his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, north to south, all the days of Solomon." 

But oh how Israel failed. And although she failed, God remained faithful to his covenant promises, and the prophets continued to proclaim the promise of a coming Messiah. Isaiah, seven and verse 14, "Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call his name Emmanuel." Isaiah, nine, verse six, "For a child will be born to us. A Son will be given to us, and the government will rest on His shoulders, and his name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace. On the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this." In other words, folks, you can take it to the bank, as we would say. And in Jeremiah, 23 verses five through 22 the prophet Jeremiah made it clear that the coming Messiah would be the quintessential Prophet, Priest and King, the one that would succeed in all of the ways Israel's former prophets, priests and kings had failed, and this is the central theme in Zechariah’s eight visions, emphasized here at the focal point of these visions, namely the fourth and the fifth visions. 

Again, remember, as we've studied before, these visions are arranged in what is called a chiasm, which is a structural pattern, a literary technique. It's seen in Scripture many places where you have concepts that repeat or echo or explain each other, and each parallel builds to a key focal point in the passage. And so when we look at the eight visions, we see that the first and the eighth vision parallel one another. They speak much of the same thing. The second and the seventh do the same thing. The third and the sixth do the same thing, and then the fourth and the fifth parallel each other, the center parallel consisting of the prophecies of the Messiah. Therefore it is the most important of all of the visions, the fourth and the fifth vision, because they point to the supremacy of the Messiah. He is the one, as we've seen, who intercedes. He's the one who cleanses. He's the one who restores his people. Indeed, he is Israel's great high priest and king. 

So we move from the rewards of the millennial priest to, secondly, the mission of the Messiah Priest-King. Notice in verse eight. "'"Now listen, Joshua the high priest."'" It's interesting. Now listen, pay attention here. That's the idea. "'"Now listen, Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who are sitting in front of you - indeed, they are men who are a symbol, for behold, I am going to bring in My servant, the Branch.”‘“ Now, who are these friends sitting in front of Joshua? They can't be the angels because they were standing before the angel of the Lord, the pre-Incarnate Christ. And to help us understand this, we can see from the original language when it says "you and your friends," the term "friends" can also be translated "companions" or "fellows." So these are fellow priests who represented Israel by virtue of their office. For example, we could go to Second Kings 4:38, and chapter six and verse one. And we see the sons of the prophets, quote, "sitting before their master Elisha." We see the elders of Israel sitting before Ezekiel in Ezekiel 8:1, and 14:1 and 20:1. So this was a common posture for ordinary priests to sit before the high priest to learn, to discuss, to adjudicate disputes and so forth. 

And he goes on to say, in verse eight, "...indeed, they are men who are a symbol..." A symbol, a sign of what is to come now. How so? How are these fellow priests a symbol? Well, think about it, they administered the sacrifices that prefigured the future, cleansing of Israel through the sin remover, through the Messiah; a cleansing that only he could do. And it's interesting that the Messiah is now referred to in this section under three messianic titles, My servant, the Branch and the stone. Oh, this is exciting. Notice what it says, again, verse eight, "'"...indeed, they are men who are a symbol, for behold, I'm going to bring in My servant."'" That's the first title, the first messianic title, the one who would be the final sacrifice for sin. Again, the one who would intercede and cleanse and restore. And we see this phrase, use this concept, this this title in other passages, for example, Isaiah 49 verse six, he says, "It is too small a thing that you should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel. I will also make you a light of the nation, so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth. Thus says the Lord, 'The Redeemer of Israel, and its Holy One, to the despised one, to the one abhorred by the nation, to the servant of rulers; kings will see and arise. Princes will also bow down because of the LORD who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.'" 

The second title is that of, "the Branch." The branch -  it could be translated "a shoot" or "a sprout." It's from the Hebrew word "ṣemaḥ" and it means to sprout out, something that would sprout out, use of growing plants. And so the branch is also, we see here a proper name. Now Zechariah speaks of this later on in chapter six, verse 12, "'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Behold a man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the LORD."'" And we know that this branch would be a descendant of David, who would arise out of obscurity, out of humility, but eventually bear fruit, the fruit of a kingdom, Isaiah, 11 and verse one, "Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit." This, of course, speaks of the Messiah, and in his incarnation, that lowly branch sprouting from a plant, namely the royal line of David; a tender shoot that would die for his people. And of course, this is the whole theme of Isaiah 52 verse 13, through chapter 53 and verse 12. Jeremiah says the same in chapter 23 beginning in verse five. "'Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous branch, and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. In His days, Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is His name by which he will be called, The LORD our Righteousness.'"

So once again, if I can revert, refer to what I read earlier in Zechariah six, verse 12, then I want to add verse 13, "'Then say to him, "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Behold a man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the LORD. Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the LORD, and He who will bear the honor and sit and rule on His throne. Thus He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.'"'" We can read as well in Isaiah, chapter four and verse two, "In that day, the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the adornment of the survivors of Israel." 

Now I might add as a footnote, the two figures "servant" and "branch," the proper name "Branch," are used together because they apply to the first advent of the Lord Jesus Christ. But the figure of the stone in verse nine stands alone because it applies to the second advent, the second coming of Christ. And let's look at this third title, "the stone." Verse nine, "For behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua." Look at the stone that I have set before Joshua. Now this was a familiar figure, this idea of a stone; a stone that would smite the nations, according to Daniel's prophecy that we read earlier concerning the colossus that Nebuchadnezzar saw, that Daniel interpreted. You remember Daniel two beginning in verse 34, "'You continued looking,'" Daniel told the king, "'until the stone was cut out without handsand it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and they became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.'" A reference to the millennial kingdom. In Isaiah eight, and verse 14, the prophet tells us what will happen, "'Then He shall become a sanctuary; but to both the houses of Israel, a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over, and a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.'" In other words, he's going to be a place of safety and refuge for those who believe but a place of destruction for those who do not. 

Peter spoke of this as well. Remember, in First Peter two eight, he speaks of a "stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, for they will stumble because they are disobedient to the word and to this doom they were also appointed." Now, we go back to the Old Testament. Later on, in Isaiah, 28:16 we read, "'Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone; a tested stone, a costly cornerstone for the foundation firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed.'" And the Psalmist tells us in Psalm 118, verse 22, "'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.'" All a reference to Christ. Again, we read about this in in the New Testament, in Ephesians, chapter two, beginning in verse nine, the apostle Paul tells us, under the inspiration of the Spirit, "We are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Christ Jesus, Himself, being the cornerstone in whom the whole building being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit." 

Now another fascinating truth. If we look at Zechariah, chapter two and verse 10 and chapter 6:12, through 13, we see how God reminds these beleaguered exiles, the struggling nation, that he is going to build the temple. Remember he told them; I want you to build a temple here. And the one they're looking at is like, my this is nothing like the one that was here in the days of Solomon. No, I still want you to build it, but I am going to build one, one day. But we also see in other prophecies, like Ezekiel, three, one through two. First, Corinthians 61:9, Ephesians 2:20, First Peter, two, five and eight, that he will make his redeemed people the temple. Not going to be just a physical temple. We are going to be the temple, the place where he himself will dwell. 

Now back to chapter three and verse nine, "'"For behold the stone that I have set before Joshua..."'" And then he goes on to describe the features of the messianic figure, "'"...on one stone are seven eyes."'" Now we know from other passages this is a symbol of divine omniscience. In other words, the watchful eyes of providence; they're watching you right now as you build your temple in that day. We know, even in our dispensation, the watchful eyes of our God are watching us as we build his spiritual temple, the church. He's watching us right now. He's hearing everything I say. He's examining your heart as you listen and seeing all that will happen, as well in the establishment of the Kingdom, in the millennial temple. In other words, this stone has seven eyes, the idea that there is absolutely nothing that he cannot see or know or understand completely. And this is further expressed in his next vision, as we will see in chapter four, verses one through 14. In fact, in verse 10, we read "'"the eyes of the Lord which range to and fro through throughout the earth."'" Revelation five and verse six, John sees, "...a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God." All of that is a reference to the Holy Spirit in all of his fullness, and it's "sent out into all the earth." And the purpose there, in that context, is to judge unrepentant sinners. And the number seven reminds us of the seven-fold ministry of the Holy Spirit. We see that described, for example, in Isaiah 11 and verse two, "The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him," referring to Christ the Messiah, "...the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD." 

So again, back to verse nine, "'"For behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua; on one stone are seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave an inscription on it," declares the LORD of hosts.'" Now a couple of thoughts here. This may be an illusion to repeat what happened on the "even ha-shetiyah," which is the foundation stone of the second temple. According to the Talmud that foundation stone had engraved upon it the sacred tetragrammaton, in other words, the four Hebrew letters making up the ineffable name of Yahweh of Jehovah. Perhaps this will happen again, we can't say for sure. But it also may be, and I believe I lean towards this in particular, reminiscent of the two stones of the high priests uniform that were engraved with the names of the tribes of Israel in Exodus 28 beginning in verse 11 we read about this, "'As a jeweler engraves a signet, you shall engrave the two stones according to the names of the sons of Israel; you shall set them in a filigree settings of gold. You shall put the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of memorial for the sons of Israel, and Aaron shall bear their names before the LORDD on his two shoulders for a memorial.'" If you study this more closely, you will see that the names of the 12 tribes of Israel were engraved deeply in onyx and mounted in beautiful gold settings to glorious display the solemnity, the preciousness of the nation divided into the 12 tribes.  And one scholar, DK Stewart said, quote, "They were fastened permanently to the shoulders of the ephod by braided gold chains, and thus born by Aaron with him whenever he ministered in the presence of Yahweh," quote, 'as a memorial before Yahweh,' a reminder to all that Aaron represented, not merely himself, but the whole people, and that the whole people were important to God. The stones were not hidden or a minor embellishment on the ephod. They hung by their special gold chains and swung noticeably as Aaron moved. An easily visible reminder of the people's corporate solidarity with Aaron before the Lord of Glory." And of course, we see images of this as well in the New Testament. The names of the elect of God are engraved upon the palms of his hands. That's actually in the Old Testament, and I believe it's Isaiah 49. And it's written upon his heart; our names are written upon his heart. In Second Timothy two, verse 19, we read, "...the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, 'The Lord knows who are His.'..." He has sealed every name that was written in the Lamb's book of life before the foundation of the world, everyone for whom he suffered and died, everyone for whom he even now intercedes, everyone that he has cleansed, everyone that he has restored. 

And this magnificent reality is at the very heart of this vision, the mission of the Messiah, priest king, and he says, "'"...and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day."'" What day will this be? Well, it will be the day when the Messiah returns, the King of kings, and Lord of lords, when he saves a remnant of Israel, many Jewish people and many Gentiles, and establishes his kingdom. We read about this in so many passages; Zechariah 12, beginning in verse nine, "'And in that day, I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.'" We read the same in chapter 13 of Zechariah, beginning in verse one. "'In that day, a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity. It will come about in that day,' declares the LORD of hosts, 'that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered; and I will also remove the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land.'" 

So here, beloved, the Messiah is pictured in all his omniscience, empowered by the Holy Spirit to accomplish his mission as the Priest- King, the conquering stone of Satan's world system, the cornerstone of his holy sanctuary comprised of his people. And then finally, in closing, in verse 10, we see the peace and prosperity of the millennial kingdom mentioned, "'"In that day," declares the LORD of hosts, "every one of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and under his fig tree."'" My what a promise, and they would have understood this in their culture, in their context, and this is what I alluded to earlier. This is reminiscent of the age of Solomon, where peace and prosperity reign supreme over the ancient world. But the concept of a vine in Scripture is also often associated with renewal, especially that of a renewed creation. For example, you remember the vineyard that Noah planted after the curse, after the worldwide flood, after that curse had been lifted in Genesis nine. So the imagery of the vine and the fig tree pictures a renewed creation. It will be a time, as we see throughout Scripture, when there will be a return to the Edenic splendor of the original age prior to sin. We will see this in the millennial kingdom, an age of peace and prosperity made possible by the priestly work of the ultimate high priest and King, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Now what a profound encouragement this must have been to those discouraged exiles who feared that maybe God had abandoned them. May I challenge you in closing, those of you, first of all, who truly love Christ, walk in a manner worthy of your calling. Okay? Do that. Take that seriously; separate yourself from the wickedness of this world, lest its toxic wickedness contaminates you, even as the Midianites did to the Israelites. And don't reject God's sovereign rule over your life by worshiping other deities, some phony Christ that's so often worshiped these days, it has nothing to do with the true Jesus. Don't worship those things that capture your thoughts, those things that bring temporary, fleeting joy to your heart until you have to have another fix of whatever it may be; those idols of the heart that we can all have if we're not careful; those things that will cause us to orbit around them so that nothing else is as important as whatever that might be. 

And finally, keep your eyes fixed upon the coming of the Lord. And folks, the more you know him and serve him, the more you will long for his presence. Let me say a little bit differently. If you're not longing to be in the presence of your Lord - the lover of your soul - then you're walking far from him, and you need to get serious about the sin in your life and the idols in your life that are causing you to still cling to this earth that is passing away. 

And finally, if you're here today and you've never obeyed God's command to repent and believe in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, all I can say is, I beg you, as a minister of the gospel, to do so today, lest you perish in your sins. What a wonderful Savior we have. Amen? Let's pray together. 

Father, thank you for the eternal truths of your word, plant them deep within our heart and cause us to live them out to the praise of your glory that we might experience the fullness of what it means to be truly in Christ, for it's in his name that I pray. Amen.