Zechariah 6:12 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Zechariah 6:12

Comments

Here is the meaning of the two crowns being placed on the head of Joshua, the high priest. One is going to be born, who will fulfil the prophecies found in Zechariah 3, and which appear in Isaiah and Jeremiah too. ‘Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH.’ He is a Branch that will grow out of the root of Jesse, David’s father. That is, he will be the great descendant of David in whom all the Messianic prophecies will be fulfilled. It is he who will wear the two crowns and will be the fulfilment of the picture represented by Joshua. The Branch describes Messiah who will come, and so Zechariah's message from these visions is going to be: ‘God is going to be kind now to Judah; we are going to able to be rebuild the temple. Do not be downhearted when you see that it is a small version of the temple, and an inadequate one. Do not be depressed. Do not be discouraged at the enemies roundabout who are seeking to stop us. They will not succeed, because this temple has to be built. God is restoring Judah for the time being. It has to be preserved because the Messiah has to be brought forth in due time, when the offices of priest and king will be united in the divine ruler of God's people, and he will be the ultimate fulfilment of the temple.’ Zechariah had only just been saying Zerubbabel will build it, but now he says another – the Branch, the Messiah – would build the temple. He is now speaking in spiritual terms, clearly. The Jews knew there was a gulf between the king and the high priest, and yet here we read that one individual is to have both offices. Does this create a problem? No, because they were kept apart previously to show that the Messiah had not yet come. No one before him fulfilled both offices, but when he is come they for the first time meet in one person.

Application

We must not let people wrest away the Old Testament and take away these prophecies of blessing for the New Testament church. When Christ comes he will build the temple – us, his church – to which the Old Testament temple pointed. Many say that Christ will rebuild a literal earthly temple when he comes again, but this is to misunderstand the Bible. The Old Testament temple was only a visual aid. Christ has come and fulfilled the temple in bodily form. We do not look for another shadow. Christ does not deal with the types and shadows but with the realities which they represent. He will not build again an earthly temple which is only a figure, but something far more wonderful and far more enduring – his church. He will be the great high priest, the mediator of the new covenant.

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Zechariah 6:12 Commentary and Bible Study