Return from Exile: Zechariah 4-6 (5)

Pray Psalm 47.5-8.
God has gone up with a shout,
The LORD with the sound of a trumpet.
Sing praises to God, sing praises!
Sing praises to our King, sing praises!
For God is the King of all the earth;
Sing praises with understanding.
God reigns over the nations;
God sits on His holy throne.

Sing Psalm 47.5-8.
(Truro: Shout, for the Blessed Jesus Reigns)
God has ascended with a shout, the Lord with sound of trumpet bold!
Sing praise to Him, let praise ring out! Let praise through all the world be told!

God is the King of all the earth, sing praise to Him with glorious psalms!
He rules the nations by His worth, and on His throne receives their alms.

Read Zechariah 6.1-11; meditate on verses 9-11.

Preparation
1. What did Zechariah receive?

2. What was he to do with this?

Meditation
The traditional headpiece for a Jewish high priest was a turban, capped with a crown (cf. Exod. 29.6). Zechariah had called for a turban to be set on the high priest’s head, but not a crown (Zech. 3.5). Now the time had come to bring that prophecy to completion with a crown. God had promised that Joshua would be not only a priest but a ruler of His people—high priest and judge, rolled into one (3.6, 7). What began in Zechariah’s first vision would come to completion at this time.

Certain, evidently wealthy, captives had just returned from Babylon (v. 9). Perhaps they had not returned prior to this time because they had some loose ends to wrap up in Babylon? We don’t know. But at any rate, they came bearing gifts. Significant gifts of silver and gold. And they gave their gifts to Zechariah (v. 10).

Well, this was no doubt familiar protocol for these wealthy Jews. Without saying as much, they were seeking favor with the prophet for whatever they might have in mind now that they were back among the folks in Jerusalem and ready to set up shop. They seemed to believe that money talks, perhaps even rules.

Zechariah would not be captive to things. He put their gifts to proper use, making a crown to reinforce his earlier word about Joshua, the Branch, and the coming Kingdom of peace (v. 11; cf. 3.8-10).

Though not even he would have understood fully, Zechariah’s action again pointed forward to another “Joshua” Who would fulfill his prophecy and wear the eternal crown of glory. Jesus is King. Jesus is High Priest. All our wealth and blessings are from Him, and all must be daily devoted to Him.

We must not be captive to material things, but to our eternal King only.

Treasures Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
When we are captive to our eternal King only, our freedom to dawdle is curtailed. God does not, nor should we, ever take a laissez-faire approach to Kingdom activity and work.

Observe God’s action words to Zechariah (Zech. 6.9-11):
Receive the gift of gold and silver.
Go to the house of Josiah, that same day.
Don’t sit on the gift, or waste time letting it lay around your house.
You have a job to do.
Take the silver and gold.
Make an elaborate crown.
Set it on the head of Joshua, the high priest.
Get busy. Ready, set…go!

Zechariah saw Joshua. “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels,
for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He,
by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone” (Heb. 2.9).

“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses,
but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4.15).

“Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself” (Heb. 7.25-27).

A Crown for Joshua. Our Life for Jesus, the forever King and High Priest.

Who is on the Lord’s side? Who will serve the King?
Who will be His helpers, Other lives to bring?
Who will leave the world’s side? Who will face the foe?
Who is on the Lord’s side? Who for Him will go?

By Thy call of mercy, By Thy grace divine,
We are on the Lord’s side, Savior, we are Thine.
(Frances R. Havergal, 1877)

For reflection
1. How does Jesus serve as High Priest for you?

2. How is it evident that Jesus is also your King?

3. How can we cut down on the dawdling and ramp up living for the Kingdom of God?

Crowns are to be made, and put upon the head of Joshua. The sign was used, to make the promise more noticed, that God will, in the fullness of time, raise up a great High Priest, like Joshua, who is but the figure of one that is to come. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Zechariah 6.9-11

Pray Psalm 47.1-4, 9.
Jesus lives to make intercession for us as our High Priest and to advance His rule in and through us as our King. Call on Him for each of these roles, that He may be powerfully at work in your life today.

Sing Psalm 47.1-4, 9.
(Truro: Shout, for the Blessed Jesus Reigns)
O clap your hands, you peoples all, with joy to God your songs intone!
Shout out to Him, and on Him call, He is the mighty, sovereign One!

High is the Lord, O, fear His Name! He rules, a King o’er all the earth.
Nations and peoples He has tamed, the heritage of His holy worth.

Princes of peoples gather all to Abraham and to our God.
Exalt the Lord, and on Him call. The earth is His, so praise our God!

T. M. and Susie Moore

Two books can help us understand our own captivity and lead us to seek revival and renewal in the Lord. The Church Captive asks us to consider the ways the Church today has become captive to the world. And Revived! can help us find the way to renewal. Learn more and order your free copies by clicking here and here.

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (Williston: Waxed Tablet Publications, 2006), available free by clicking here.