Zechariah 6:9 - Meaning and Application

God did not speak only in one way in the past. He spoke at many times and in many ways through the prophets to his church. In the first part of this chapter, he spoke through a vision that only the prophet saw. Here, in the later part, he speaks through a sign, or type, that many people saw. As that sign was explained, it clearly pointed to the Messiah, Christ as the priest and king of his church.

The special act God commanded was the crowning of Joshua the high priest in Zechariah 6:10-11. It is worth noticing that the Old Testament gives us two great types of Christ, and both are named Joshua, the same name as Jesus, rendered as Jesus in the Greek Bible and in the New Testament (Acts 7:45). One Joshua was the chief captain, a picture of Christ the captain of our salvation. The other Joshua was the chief priest, a picture of Christ the high priest of our confession. Both, in their time, were saviors and leaders into Canaan.

What is especially striking here is that Joshua the high priest had something done to him by God’s command so that he would point to Christ, a priest after the order of Melchizedek, who was both king and priest. Joshua was not trying to get a crown, and the people were not asking for a crowned ruler over them. Yet the prophet, to the surprise of both, was told to crown Joshua as if he were a king. Zerubbabel’s wisdom and devotion kept this from becoming an insult to him, as if a rival had been raised up beside him. At the same time, God’s providence kept the Persian kings from taking offense, as though this were a rebellion against their rule. When we are sure something is God’s will, as this was, we can safely accept people’s disapproval.

Some Jews came from Babylon bringing an offering to the house of God, and their names are recorded to their honor. They came from the captivity to visit Jerusalem. They should have said a final goodbye to Babylon and settled with their brothers in their own land. Since they had not done that, they may have thought this visit would make up for their delay and coldness. Perhaps they also came as representatives of the wider Jewish community in Babylon, where many lived in comfort, and they brought gold and silver because they had heard the temple work was moving slowly for lack of money.

Those who cannot support a good work with their own hands must support it with their money, as far as they are able. If some can provide the labor, others can supply the means. God also set the time and place for the prophet to meet them. They meant to bring their gift to the priest, God’s ordinary minister, but God had a prophet, an extraordinary messenger, ready to receive them. That would encourage them, since in their captivity they had often said, “We see no signs, there is no longer any prophet.” It would also draw them and others back to the land, which was beginning to look again like a holy land now that the spirit of prophecy had returned.

Zechariah was told to meet them the same day they arrived, because they would waste no time in offering their gift. He was to welcome them and assure them that God accepted their present. He was to meet them in the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah, who was likely the temple treasurer and keeper of its funds. They brought gold and silver to be used for the temple, but God directed that it should honor One greater than the temple (Matthew 12:6).

Crowns were to be made and placed on Joshua’s head in Zechariah 6:11. It is likely there were two crowns, one of silver and one of gold. Some think the silver crown pointed to his priestly dignity and the gold one to his kingly dignity. More likely, since Joshua was already a priest and already had a crown of pure gold showing his priestly honor and authority, these crowns of silver and gold both pointed to royal dignity. The silver crown may have represented the Messiah’s kingdom while he was on earth, when he was the King of Israel (John 1:49). The gold crown would then represent his exalted kingdom, whose glory is as much greater as gold is greater than silver.

Those who once worshiped the sun and moon would now bow before the golden and silver crowns of the exalted Redeemer. Before him, the sun will be put to shame and the moon will lose its brightness, because both will be outshined.

The meaning of this ceremony was also given by God. Everyone would ask, “What does it mean that Joshua is crowned like this?” The prophet was ready to explain it. A spoken message was joined to the visible sign, so the sign would be noticed more and remembered better.

The promise is, first, that in the fullness of time God will raise up a great high priest like Joshua. Joshua was told that he was only a picture of One who was still to come, a faint shadow of him (Zechariah 6:12). The Lord of hosts says that the man whose name is the Branch will grow up from his place, from Bethlehem, the city of David, the place chosen for his birth. Though his family would seem like a root in dry ground, this Branch would spring up from it, as flowers rise in spring when the sun returns. Some read this as “he shall grow up by his own power,” meaning he will rise by his own life and strength.

Second, just as Joshua was a useful worker in building the temple, so the Branch will be the master builder, the only builder, of the spiritual temple, the gospel church. He will build the temple of the Lord, and the prophecy says it again for emphasis: even he will build the temple of the Lord (Zechariah 6:13). He will grow up to do good, to serve God’s glory, and to be a great blessing to people. The gospel church is the temple of the Lord, a spiritual house (1 Peter 2:5), a holy temple (Ephesians 2:21). In the old temple, God revealed himself to his people and received their worship. In the gospel church, his light shines through the word, and his people offer spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise. Christ is not only the foundation of this temple, but also the one who builds it by his Spirit and grace.

Third, Christ will bear the glory. Glory is a heavy burden, but not too heavy for the one who upholds all things. He carried the cross, which was his glory, and he will also bear the crown, which is a weight of glory. The government rests on his shoulders, and in it he bears the glory (Isaiah 9:6). All the glory of his Father’s house will hang on him (Isaiah 22:24). This is fitting for him, and he is fully able to bear it.

The glory of the priesthood and the royal line had been shared between Aaron’s house and David’s house. Now one person will bear the full glory of both. What he takes on, and what he carries out, will truly be Israel’s glory. So the people must wait for him, and be content without the outward splendor they once had, because a greater glory is coming.

He will lift up the glory, or, in other words, restore it. Israel’s glory had been brought low and trampled down, but he will raise it from the dust. He will also have a throne, and he will be both priest and king on that throne. A throne means honor and rule, a high place with wide authority.

This priest will also be a king, and his priestly work will not lessen his royal dignity. He will sit and rule on his throne. Christ, as a priest, always lives to intercede for us, that is, to plead our case before God. Yet he does this from the right hand of the Father, with full authority (Hebrews 8:1). We have a high priest Israel never had, for he is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and that gives power to his mediation, his work of bringing God and sinners together. The one who speaks for us inside the veil is also the one who sits and rules there.

Christ was appointed to offer sacrifice for us, and he is also authorized to rule over us. He will not save us unless we are willing for him to govern us. God has prepared a throne for him in heaven, and if we want any benefit from that, we must also prepare him a throne in our hearts. We should be glad for him to sit and rule there, and every thought within us must be brought under obedience to him.

This king will also be a priest, a priest on his throne. Along with the majesty and power of a king, he has the tenderness and simplicity of a priest. A priest is taken from among men and appointed for men, so he can have compassion on the ignorant and those who go astray (Hebrews 5:1, 2). In every act of his rule as king, he carries out the purpose of his grace as priest. So his people should not look at his throne, even though it is a throne of glory and judgment, with fear alone. There is a rainbow around the throne, and he is also a priest upon the throne.

The counsel of peace shall be between them both. This may mean, first, between the Lord and the Branch, between the Father and the Son. The plans for the peace to be made between God and man through Christ’s mediation were settled by infinite wisdom in the covenant of redemption, the eternal agreement to save sinners. The Father and the Son understood one another perfectly in that matter.

Or it may mean, more directly, between the priesthood and the throne, that is, between the priestly and kingly office of Jesus Christ. The man the Branch must grow up to carry out a plan of peace, peace on earth and, before that, peace with heaven. God’s thoughts toward us were thoughts of peace, and in carrying them out he exalted his Son Jesus Christ to be both Prince and Savior. He gave him a throne, but with this condition, that he should be a priest on his throne. By carrying out both offices, priest and king, he would bring about man’s reconciliation to God and man’s happiness in God.

Some think this points to the former government of the Jews, where king and priest were separate officers but worked together for peace and prosperity in the church and state, as Zerubbabel and Joshua do now, with the prophets helping them. In the same way, the peace and well-being of the gospel church and of all believers are worked out, not by two separate people, but by two separate offices joined in one person. Christ buys all peace by his priesthood and preserves and protects it by his kingdom, as Mr. Pemble says. His prophetic office also serves both of these in this great work.

There will also be a happy joining of Jews and Gentiles in the gospel church, and both will meet in Christ, the priest on his throne, as the center of their unity (Zech. 6:15). Those who are far away shall come and build in the temple of the Lord. Some take this to mean the Jews who were still far off in Babylon and had remained in captivity, which discouraged the others who had returned and needed their help in rebuilding the temple. God promises that many of them, and some from other nations who had embraced the Jewish faith, would come and help build the temple, and many hands would make the work easier.

The kings of Persia helped with the building of the temple (Ezra 6:8) and its supplies (Ezra 7:19, 20). Later, Herod the Great and other foreigners helped decorate and enrich the temple. But this also points ahead to that temple of the Lord which the man the Branch was to build. Gentiles, strangers from far away, will help build it, because God will raise up ministers from among them who will work with Christ in that building. All Gentile believers will also be stones added to it, so that it grows into a holy temple (Ephesians 2:20-22). When God means to build his temple, he can bring in people from far away and use them in the work.

The fulfillment of this will strongly confirm the truth of God’s word: you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. The promise that those far away would come and help build the temple was like a sign. By it, they could be sure the other promises would also be fulfilled in due time. This would happen very quickly, and it did. Those who had been their enemies and accusers, because of the king’s decree, became their helpers and quickly did what they were ordered to do for the work’s progress. In that way, the work went forward and was finished (Ezra 6:13, 14). By this surprising help from far away in building the temple, they could know that Zechariah, who had told them this beforehand, was sent by God, and that his word about the man the Branch would also come true.

These promises were also a strong call to obedience: this will happen, and you will have help in building the temple, if you will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God. They would have foreign help in building the temple if they would set to the work earnestly themselves. The help of others should not excuse our laziness, it should push us to work harder. They would enjoy the benefit and comfort of these promises if they took their duty seriously. They must remember that they were under a call to faithful obedience, and though their God was moving toward them in mercy, they could not expect him to continue unless they followed his ways.

What God requires of us, if we are to enjoy his favor, is obedience to his revealed will. And that obedience must be careful and earnest. We cannot truly obey God’s voice without effort and attention, and our obedience will not be accepted if we give it only half-heartedly.

There was also a provision to keep this event in memory. The crowns used in this solemn act were not given to Joshua, but were to be kept as a memorial in the temple of the Lord (Zechariah 6:14). They were either placed in the temple treasury, or, as Jewish tradition says, hung in the temple windows where everyone could see them. In this way they served as a lasting reminder, a public witness to the promise of the Messiah and to this symbolic act that confirmed that promise.

The crowns were given to those who had supplied the materials, and some think their names were engraved on them. They were kept as a public proof of their generous devotion, and as an encouragement to others to bring gifts to God’s house in the same spirit. In many ways, God gave Old Testament believers help for their faith while they waited for the consolation of Israel, until the appointed time when it came.