Been reading Zechariah this week and came across these verses this morning which led to much flicking backwards and forwards and cross referencing. Thanks Vicki for the idea of those narrow little "post it" tabs for the tops of pages, haven't got it quite as organised as you yet!
I had just finished the first 8 verses of chapter 6, thinking "God, what the heck, what are you saying here....divine judgements etc" It was a little early in the morning to get my head around. Another sip of tea followed, the page was turned over and I continue to read on from verse 9....when, helloooo this is sounding familiar:
I read it in the New International version, but actually I think I prefer it in the NKJ below:
Zechariah 6:9-13 (New King James Version)
9 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: 10 “Receive the gift from the captives—from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have come from Babylon—and go the same day and enter the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah. 11 Take the silver and gold, make an elaborate crown, and set it on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 12 Then speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, saying:
“ Behold, the Man whose name
is the BRANCH!
From His place He shall branch out,
And He shall build the temple of the LORD;
13 Yes, He shall build the temple of the LORD.
He shall bear the glory,
And shall sit and rule on His throne;
So He shall be a priest on His throne,
And the counsel of peace shall be between them both.”’
Apparently the Jews regarded verse 12 as referring to the coming Messiah, The verses above describing the crowning and reign of the Messianic King-Priest.
Isaiah 11
The Branch From Jesse
1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of power,
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD -
3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;
The words
"Behold the Man" stood out to me. I turned to this New Testament passage where I remembered reading that phrase before:
John 19 (New King James Version)
John 19
1 So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged
Him. 2 And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put
it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe.
3 Then they said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck Him with their hands.
4 Pilate then went out again, and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him.”
5 Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And
Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!”
6 Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, “Crucify
Him, crucify
Him!”
A different crown, a purple robe, "Behold the Man".
No wonder they were furious, I bet they saw the similarities...or perhaps I am reading too much into it! So what was the charge?
Matthew 26
59 Now the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death,
60 but found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses came forward
61 and said,
“This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.’”
62 And the high priest arose and said to Him, “Do You answer nothing? What
is it these men testify against You?”
63 But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, “I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!”
64 Jesus said to him, “
It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man
sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Interesting comparison to the Zechariah verses re: the temple (build or destroy?) and the throne.
Finally I remembered the angel's visit to Mary:
Luke 1 30-33
But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.
31You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.
32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,
33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
I get excited when these phrases pop up and get me thinking and questioning....
So anyway, I finished my cuppa and let the chickens out!
Here endeth the first lesson!
