Thank you for listening to this message from Sovereign Grace Community Church in Denver, Colorado. We pray that you are encouraged and edified by it. You can find more information about Sovereign Grace Community Church by visiting our website at www.sgccdenver.org. If you would like to make a donation to our small ministry, you can do so using the donate button on our website or on the SGCC Denver sermon audio page. Again, thanks for listening and may grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God our Father and of Jesus our Lord. What a glorious reminder that we are sharers in Christ in his death. in His resurrection, in His enthronement. And that this is not merely the case because He has done something for us, but He has joined Himself to us. The great love and mercy of our God is that the Lord Jesus Christ would take up to himself and in himself are broken, lost, condemned humanity. To bear it in himself. To heal it. To restore it. To glorify it. In himself to make man the image son. The being that God intended him to be. That as the last Adam, we should be sharers in that truth of man in Him. Raised in the heavenly places. Seated in Christ. Not simply alongside Him. Truly not at all alongside Him, but in Him. Sharers in Christ in every way. That great glorious truth that was so dear to the Apostle's heart in Christ. In Christ. In Him. Father, I pray as we consider this amazing passage this morning. This glorious revelation that you provided to the exiles in Jerusalem some 500 years before the Lord would enter the world. This marvelous truth of emerging together, of bringing into time and space an everlasting unity, a new kingdom, a new world, a new creation. Father, focus our hearts even now and cause us to be as Moses on the holy mount, petitioning you with all sincerity, show us your glory. Show us your glory. And we pray that you would condescend to us as you did to him by showing us your goodness. The goodness that has been now made known and realized in fullness. The glory of our God in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lift our hearts. Encourage us in our faith. Strengthen us in all hope. We ask in Christ's name, Amen. Well, we've completed our consideration of the night visions. And I do encourage you to keep going back over the book of Zechariah. Keep reading, re-reading, reconsidering. Because again, even though there are different sections, the prophetic ministry of Zechariah has to be understood and interacted with as a whole. We can't just push one thing to the side and move on to the next thing. So even though we're finished with the night vision episode, that whole content and revelation is still very much in the forefront of what is transpiring in this revelation as we continue on. But today we come to the center hinge of the book. We come to the apex of Zechariah's prophecy, which is this episode of the crowning of the high priest. The crowning of the high priest. And it's probably not the first time you've heard me say this, but it was a struggle for me this week because there is so much here. We could spend six months easily unfolding just this one passage and probably only scratch the surface But at the same time, my great struggle is to say, OK, we're going to break this into pieces. Because to me, it's somewhat like taking a Rembrandt and cutting it into a bunch of pieces and saying, here, let's look at this piece. Then let's look at this piece. Then let's look at this piece. The intricacy and the exquisiteness of this particular passage, I think, means that we have to hold it all together. And not only me, but you as well. If we were to return in a week and return to it largely It would have passed from your minds. And so we need to hold it together. And my intent today is to try to encapsulate what's here. But I also worked hard this week to put together virtually a double set of notes for you all. And that's my exhortation to you that you will take what you hear today and that you will be faithful and diligent with the notes because the notes are going to go into a lot more than I can possibly do today. unless you all have exceptional endurance, which you probably don't. So that's my approach, is to handle the whole of this central hinge passage today and move very quickly. There may be some things that you don't feel were adequately answered. But again, I hope that the notes will help you in that regard. And I encourage you as well, if you still have further questions, things you want to discuss, you know where to find me. You know where to find the leadership. So seek us out. Let me begin before we read the passage by just framing this prophecy a little bit for you. First of all, the prophecy in relation to the book of Zechariah, to the whole of Zechariah's prophecy. If you recall, I mentioned that the book is structured as a diptych, which is a term that refers to a kind of ancient book made up of two panels joined together by a center hinge. And that diptych structure applies to the book as a whole, where you have two main panels on either side, consisting of the night visions and then the burdens. Each of those two main panels being introduced by its own oracular introduction, or oracle, if you will. Chapter 1 begins with an oracle. Chapters 7 and 8 are also oracles that lead us into the burdens that form the marrow of the second panel. But in between those is this center hinge. And as you would expect, the center hinge binds together the two main panels. So what we're going to see today in this particular episode of The Crowning of the High Priest as the center hinge is going to presuppose what we've already seen in the night visions introduced by their oracle and what is yet to come. In a certain sense, it might have been appropriate to start with the burdens and then come back, but we're not going to do that. We're going to follow the way in which God has been pleased to record this for us. But you have an overall diptych structure. You also have in each of the two side panels their own diptych structure with their own center hinge. We saw that that is in chapter three in terms of the first panel. with the vision involving Joshua the High Priest. And then it will take us, in terms of the second panel, the center hinge of that panel is in chapter 11. But also, in a very real way, I think the two center hinges that characterize or stand at the apex of the two side panels themselves become almost like panels. that have their center point in this center hinge as well. So both the side panels as well as their center pieces also reflect back to this center hinge. And the way in which they do that, I've mentioned this before but I'll mention it again, the center hinge of the first panel focuses on the idea of the priesthood. And the center hinge of the concluding the second panel, the burdens, focuses on the kingship, both of them in relation to Messiah. And those two things are brought together in a very profound way in this center hint. So we have the centrality of this prophecy with respect to the overall message of Zechariah, but also it plays a center a critical role, a central role in all of Old Testament scriptural revelation. And it does so because it takes the two primary streams of biblical messianism or messianic revelation, if you will, and brings them together in a focal point. As the scripture begins to unfold its revelation of the Messiah, And Jesus came on the scene and his interpreters and his apostles and those who were followers of theirs insisted that all the scripture testifies of Jesus. And a primary way in which they do that is by building these strands or these streams of revelatory content that unfolds the person and ultimately the work of this Messiah to come. And the two primary ones are a a priestly strand or stream and a regal or kingly strand. You might say, well, isn't Jesus prophet, priest and king, prophet as well? Well, I would argue the prophetic strand is actually, it's taken up in the priestly and the regal strands. And probably the best example I can give you to make that case is that, in a sense, the great typological predecessor of the Messiah is Moses himself, as a prophetic type. At Sinai, you had Moses standing on behalf of the people of Israel. And Moses recounts that later on the plains of Moab in Deuteronomy 18, where he says, remember back at Horeb, at Sinai, remember when you said, we cannot stand to hear the Lord. You go. You listen to Him. Let Him speak to you and then you come and speak to us." And God said, the people spoke well. And I, Moses, made you a mediator for them. But Moses now tells the people, but God also is going to raise up another prophet like me from among the people and you must listen to Him. Whoever will not listen to Him will be cut off. So there, the prophetic role that is embodied in Moses, that will ultimately find its fulfillment in another prophet to come, embodies both this priestly and regal dynamic, because Moses is both leader of Israel, captain, if you will, of Israel, Archagon, and he is also mediator between God and the people. So this priestly and this regal or kingly strand are the two primary strands by which the Old Testament builds its case, developing itself towards the point of the coming of the Messiah himself. And if those two strands are indeed messianic, then what do we know? They must ultimately converge in the person of the Messiah. They run parallel to each other through the Old Testament salvation history. In fact, as we're going to see, they're necessarily separate from each other, but at some point they must converge, unless there are two messiahs. Right? They must converge. Now, the larger Old Testament witness suggests such a convergence, but it's this particular prophecy of Zechariah that makes that convergence explicit. It makes the convergence explicit. And even more importantly, it tells us the meaning, the significance, the purpose, the goal of that convergence. See, it's all fine and good to say the Messianic revelation consists of a priestly and a regal strand that converge. But doesn't that beg the question, why? Who cares? What does it matter? Why is that necessary? Is it necessary? What's the point of it? Why do they converge? What is the purpose and goal that God has in it? And this particular prophecy not only tells us that they do converge, but it tells us the significance of the convergence of those two. The other thing that we see from this is that this convergence is in relation to David. It's in relation to David. The converging of these two strands. We see it in the broader Old Testament witness, but we also see it here in this passage. But in the larger sense, the first way I can show that to you is by referring us back to David himself. You have in a very real way the converging of the priestly and the regal concepts or ideas in David himself, in David's own functionality. David among the kings of Israel is unique in that he's the only one who functioned as a priest. He didn't take the priesthood, but he performed a priestly function to the Lord's good pleasure. Saul before him tried to do that, and God took the kingdom from him. Uzziah after him tried to do that, And God struck him with leprosy and bound him up in his house, effectively took the kingdom from him as well. So this wasn't something that changed with David. You could say, well, yeah, that was true with Saul, but then David came along and God changed it. God didn't change it. Because Uzziah, who came later, is a descendant of David. God struck him with the same punishment for violating the priesthood by performing a priestly function. But you see David doing this in 2 Samuel 6 as he brings up the ark which represents God's throne. He brings it up to Jerusalem to establish the ark in the city of David. After he took Jerusalem and established it as the capital of Yahweh's kingdom, he brings this procession up to Jerusalem to enthrone Yahweh on Mount Zion. And he's leading the procession wearing a priestly ephod and offering burnt offerings along the way. And not only does God not strike him, God is pleased with him. So we see in David's own life, in his own ministration, this idea, this suggestion of a bringing together of the priesthood and the kingship. We also see it in relation to David with respect to his connection with the Melchizedek idea, the Melchizedek typology. Melchizedek, king of righteousness. And you see the introduction of him in Genesis 14 and he's introduced as what? King of Salem. Most scholars believe that was early Jerusalem. King of Salem and priest of God Most High. And in Psalm 110, which is a psalm of David, David is now speaking and writing, but talking about a priesthood, a king of God. A king of God who will hold the priesthood of Melchizedek everlastingly. And I won't take the time to read Psalm 110, but you can go and look at it. It's a psalm that is cited in the New Testament several times. Most importantly, it's cited by Jesus when He's being questioned and He's questioning the teachers of the law and He says, whose son? Who is David's son? Whose son is this one in this? The Lord says to my Lord, whose son? Who is this one, the son of David? And he says, well, you know, how is it that then David will say in Psalm 110, the Lord says to my Lord. If David is Lord over this son to come from him, why does David say of him, the Lord said to my Lord, sit upon your throne until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. If David called him Lord, how can he be his son? Really, the question was, who is the Messiah? Whose son is the Messiah? Well, he's the son of David. Well, then how does David say to him, the Lord said to my Lord? If he's David's Lord, how can he be his son? And they're going, hmm, we don't know. We don't know. So, Psalm 110 binds together David as Yahweh's king, along with a priesthood that is of a different order that endures forever, and connects those things with a Lord of Davids, who holds the kingship, who reigns on Yahweh's throne, and who brings in this priestly fulfillment. binds them together. So we see with respect to the Melchizedek connection with David also the fact that this merging of the kingship and the priesthood is in relation to David. And then lastly, explicitly in this passage, we see that it's in relation to David that the kingship and the priesthood are brought together. And what I hope that we'll see as we move through this is that this merging was a radical development. It's often lost upon us because we don't understand the Old Testament salvation history. We don't get the big idea here. We don't know why this is such a big deal. But this was a radical development. It really represented a departure from the Mosaic Covenant and from the Mosaic economy, the administration under which Israel lived. Because the law mandated the separation of the kingship and the priesthood. put simply, there could never be a king-priest in Israel. Now you say, well you said there is an exception with David. There is an exception in an instance where David is functioning as a priest, but even the exception there is because of the typology the typological relationship between David and this son of his who is to come. You don't have David being a priest-king. You have him executing a priestly function as Yahweh's king and enthroning Yahweh on Mount Zion and that's of huge typological significance. But you could never have the bringing together of the institution of the kingship and the priesthood in one man. Why? Because they were of different tribes. The priestly tribe was Levi. Under the law, the priesthood was given to Levi. Already earlier, through Jacob's blessing upon his sons, we know that the kingship was endowed to Judah. Judah and Levi were brothers. You can't be descended from two brothers, right? One or the other or neither. So it was impossible for there to be a king-priest in Israel. The last thing I want to mention, and then we'll read this, is that this is a prophecy that is a physical prophecy. You say, what do you mean by that? It's a prophecy that takes the form of a physical action. Now it comes at the Lord's direction, but it is a physical action. You see the same thing in Jeremiah, I think about chapter 13, where he's to take the sash and go and bury it by the Euphrates River, and then go back and get it, and it's ruined, and that becomes God's prophecy to the nation of Israel. You see it in Ezekiel chapter 3 through 5, a series of signs. from building a brick and writing Jerusalem on it and laying siege against it to cutting his hair and chopping it into three pieces as a sign of how God's going to bring judgment against the nation. Even the death of his wife is a physical prophecy in chapter 24. This is a physical prophecy. You see it in Hosea. Hosea taking a wife of harlotry was a physical prophecy to teach something to the nation of Israel. A physical prophecy is something that actually takes place that has prophetic meaning. So let's read then in chapter 6 beginning at verse 9. The word of Yahweh came to me saying, take an offering. An offering isn't in the text, but it's implied. Take from the exiles from Heldi to Baia, Jediah, and go the same day and enter the house of Josiah, the son of Zephaniah, where they, these three men, have arrived from Babylon. And take silver and gold, make an ornate crown, and set it on the head of Joshua, the head of Jehozadak, the high priest." There's the physical act, the physical prophecy. And then the rest is the interpretation, the significance which God gives to Zechariah to proclaim to those who are observing. And then say to him, thus says the Lord of hosts, say to Joshua, thus says the Lord of hosts, behold a man whose name is Branch. for he will branch out from where he is." I don't really like that rendering. That's the new American standard. He will sprout up from his place. Let's put it that way for now. And he will build the temple of the Lord. The sanctuary of God. Yes, it is he who will build the Lord's sanctuary and he will bear the honor of Yahweh and sit and rule on Yahweh's throne. And thus, he will be a priest on his throne. and the counsel of peace will be between the two. Now, the crown will become a reminder in the temple of the Lord to Helem, Tobiah, Jediah and to Hen, the son of Zephaniah. And those who are far off will come and build the sanctuary of Yahweh. And you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you and it will take place if you completely obey the Lord your God." There's the central hinge. that really is the apex, in a sense the focal point of the totality of Zechariah's prophecy. So again, a prophecy is a physical act and essentially what Zechariah is instructed to do by the Lord is to go and he is to take a collection of silver and gold from these three men. There are men who have recently come from Babylon. Perhaps they have come with this gold and this silver in order to present it as an offering towards the construction of the sanctuary. Because recall, what's happening at this time is that the exiles are building the temple. And they may likely have heard that this work was re-engaged, that it was moving through to completion, and they traveled from Babylon to bring this offering for use in building the temple. Silver and gold were a part of the fitting out of the temple, right? If you go back and you look at even Solomon's temple or the tabernacle, I don't know that for sure, but there's a possibility of that. But either way, the point that's important is that the silver and the gold that Zechariah is to take up represents the wealth of Babylon. It is the wealth of Babylon. It is gold and silver that has come from Babylon. And I want you to keep that in your mind. It's important. What he's to do with this gold and this silver is to make, the text says, a crown. NES supplies this adjective, ornate. Really what it says in Hebrew is you are to make crowns. And the idea is that you don't take gold and silver and melt them together. What he was to do is to take the gold and the silver components and he was to form, in a sense, individual crowns, encircling bands, ornate bands, and then weave them together somehow. So that he made a composite ornate crown made of silver and gold components. It's not, you know, a crown on this side, a crown on that side. But they are separate silver and gold components, encircling bands is the idea. And then he was to take that crown and he was to set it on the head of the high priest, Joshua. We've already encountered the high priest in chapter 3, right? This is the actual high priest, the Lord's high priest, ministering to the exiles in Jerusalem. And he is to set this crown on the head of the high priest. And then the Lord says, you are to make a series of proclamations. That's really the physical part of the prophecy. Now comes the actual prophetic content in the sense of the interpretation. What does this mean? What are the people to understand from this? And specifically, he speaks these things to Joshua the High Priest. But also, as we see, it broadens out to where it becomes instruction, at least to those who are present in the house, but more broadly, to the sons of Israel. So, Yahweh's pronouncement after this setting of the crown on the High Priest, and it comes in a series of statements. The first proclamation is this, Behold, a man whose name is Branch. Behold, a man whose name is Branch, or Shoot, Sprout, Shoot. Again, Branch. We've seen Branch in chapter 3, right? Branch refers to the son of David, but not just any biological son, not just even a regal son, a descendant who will take the throne following him. And he had a whole dynasty of sons who sat on the throne in Jerusalem. But specifically, the son promised in the covenant. You have to go back to 2 Samuel 7. And I'll refer you back to chapter 3, because we dealt with the branch idea back then. But the branch of David is specifically the son promised to him in the covenant. The son who would build a house for Yahweh. Remember, after David conquered Jerusalem, after he enthroned Yahweh on Mount Zion in a tent, he desired to build a permanent house. Because he saw Jerusalem to be the site of the central sanctuary. God had said, when you take the land, when you're established, I will tell you there's to be a place where you're to put my name. There's to be a place. And David believed that Jerusalem was that site. And so he desired to build a permanent dwelling for Yahweh on Mount Zion. And God said, no, David, not you, but a son to come from you. He will build my house. But in the context, He will build my house even as I will build you a house. David says, I want to build you a house. And God says, no, I'm going to build you a house. I'm going to establish your house, your dynasty, your dominion, your throne, your kingdom everlastingly. And in connection with that, this one will build a house for me. This one will build a house for me. That's the branch. The son of David who is ordained by God to build the house for Yahweh. To build Yahweh's temple. Now keep in mind again, you have these exiles building the Jerusalem temple at that time. This is the son promised in the covenant, the son who would build the house, God says, and also the son in whom David's own identity and significance will be fulfilled. From the point of the Davidic covenant, the text commonly refers to this branch of David under the title of David. This is the reason a lot of early dispensationalists believed David was going to be resurrected. and sit on the throne beside Jesus in Jerusalem going into the Millennial Kingdom. Because the text keeps saying God is going to raise up David. He's going to send David. He's going to establish David as the shepherd of His people. But all of that comes after the Davidic covenant. And the text wants us to understand that the truth of David is bound up, the meaning of David is bound up in the Son to come from Him. The typological significance of David, as I mentioned a few minutes ago. So, you have a high priest now crowned in a proclamation. This man, behold, a man whose name is Branch. crowned with the wealth of Babylon. Babylon symbolizing the world power in its antithesis to God. Recall how we've seen Shinar, how we've seen Babylon. Don't forget the night visions. Babylon epitomizes and symbolizes the powers raised up against God that contradict Him. that stand in the place of him, perhaps even actively oppose him, but certainly contradict him and his kingdom. And here you have the high priest crowned with the wealth of Babylon. The covenant son promised to David. The one who was promised to build the house of God but fulfilling that work as the Lord's High Priest. The imagery is again a man, a priest, who is crowned, triumphal, wearing and bearing on himself, if you will, the glory of the world power. Think about the language in John's Apocalypse. The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our God and of His Christ. And He will reign forever. The triumph of Yahweh in the Son of David exemplified in the wearing of the wealth of Babylon. Being crowned triumphing in that sort of a way. The imagery of it is powerful. So the first thing then is, behold a man whose name is Branch. Secondly, he will sprout up from himself, is really the best way to understand it. He will spring up or sprout up from under him, is the way it really reads in Hebrew. It's not branch out from there. That, I don't think, really captures the idea. Sprout up from under him, himself. That very much suits the branch imagery, right? Sprout is really the idea. And think about Isaiah 53. He's spraying up before him like a tender shoot. Like a sprout out of the dry ground, right? That branch imagery. Some believe, and there's I think some justification for it, that there's even perhaps a remote allusion to the fact of the Messiah coming forth from within the soil of the Abrahamic people. That He's going to spring forth from within the Abrahamic people. Come forth from under Himself, but that which stands under Him. Remember, even Isaiah refers to Him as both the root of David as well as the offspring of David. How can he be the root of David and the offspring of David? He lies back of David, but he comes forth from David. But he springs forth from the Abrahamic people, the children of Israel. That will become important at the end. But regardless, the idea is just as a shoot comes forth from the ground in its season, So, this one who is branch will sprout up at the appointed time. He will emerge. He will appear at the appointed time. And he says next, the next proclamation of the Lord is that he will build Yahweh's sanctuary. And then beyond that, that he will sit and he will rule on Yahweh's throne and he will bear Yahweh's glory and majesty. Yahweh's honour. And in those two statements, which kind of you can put together, you see very clearly the affirmation of this prophecy that this branch person is indeed that son of David. It's still talking about that covenant son of David. David's not mentioned in the passage. But this is the branch who builds the house of God as the enthroned king. And remember, the first referent of that fulfillment was in Solomon. After Solomon was enthroned, he built the house of Yahweh as Yahweh's enthroned king. The one ruling on the throne of God in Jerusalem. Sitting on Yahweh's throne in Jerusalem. That's how Chronicles presents Solomon. And he built the house as the enthroned king. And David told him, this covenant Solomon has an immediate reference in you, but it also and mainly pertains to the distant future. And doesn't Peter say that in Acts chapter 2? And I'll leave you to look at that for yourself. But the summary of it is that Peter says, David was a prophet in the sense that he knew God had promised to seed a descendant of his on the throne. And therefore, he looked to the resurrection of the Christ. He will sit and rule on Yahweh's throne and he will bear the Lord's majesty and honor. And then the next thing is he says, you are to proclaim that this one, the branch, will be a priest upon his throne. He will be a priest upon his throne. This is the most profound and the most critical statement, the most critical issue in the proclamation that Zechariah is given to make. Why? Because it takes this branch revelation which had existed for a time in the salvation history, it takes this branch idea associated with David, his kingship, the building of Yahweh's house as an enthroned king, it takes that and it enlarges it so that it brings in a priestly dimension to it, not just a regal dimension. The Davidic Covenant specifically had a son of David on the throne building Yahweh's house. Now a priestly dimension is brought into it. And thus the pronouncement, the determination or the judgment, the outcome, the decision of peace will be between them. Now there are those who believe that this between them, the reference of that, the peace is between Yahweh and his people. And it's clearly true that the messianic work brings peace between Yahweh and his people, but the context is not concerned with peace between Yahweh and his people directly. It's concerned with branch functioning as a king-priest. And so the immediate issue is the reconciliation, if you will, the determination, the decision of Yahweh to bring together the kingship and the priesthood in the branch. And as I mentioned earlier, the significance of that is often lost on the modern reader. Ask your fellow Christian brothers and sisters, what is the significance of this prophecy in terms of this bringing together of the kingship and the priesthood. Why was that a big deal? And they probably won't be able to tell you. In fact, a basic premise of dispensational thought is that the kingship and the priesthood are still separate. And I'm going to speak to that briefly before we're done today. We don't get what the big deal is. But again, Saints, Israel's identity, its purpose, its relationship, everything about Israel as seed of Abraham, son of God, servant witness, son disciple, everything about Israel's definition, purpose, role, prescription, was embodied in this thing called the Law of Moses, the covenant at Sinai. It defined the people, it prescribed their identity, how it was they were to fulfill their identity and their calling. And the law separated the kingship and the priesthood in an irreconcilable way because it bound them up in different tribes. Right? And that can't be undone. You can't assign the priesthood to Levi and have the kingship assigned to Judah and then somehow arbitrarily bring that together. It won't work that way. In fact, the author of Hebrews, in talking about the significance of the kingship and the priesthood, but particularly the priesthood in chapter 7, he says, the covenant itself, the law had its basis in the priesthood. Israel could not think of itself, an Israelite could not think of himself, he could not think of his people, he could not think of the relationship of himself and the nation, that relationship with God and one another, except in relation to the priesthood. We're so far removed, we don't get the issue with that, but they could not even think of themselves except in connection with the priesthood. And in fact, again, the author of Hebrews says that the law, the covenant at Sinai had its very basis in the priesthood. If you will, the priesthood was the basic premise underlying the covenant relationship between God and Israel. But so also was the idea of kingship. We think the coming of kingship to Israel was some sort of a failure on the part of the nation. It was in a sense, but God had already told Moses that a day was coming when you're going to have a king. But he's got to be this sort of a king. And if you look at the criterion that was given to Moses, you see in the listing of Solomon's failures exactly the failure at that point. Solomon is not that king. David was not that king. But God said that you will have a king. And in fact, didn't Israel need to have a king eventually? But throughout its history, Yahweh was king in Israel and other men, human beings, administered his lordship, his rule. But Yahweh was king in Israel. Kingship was always at the heart of that relationship of God and his people. But at one point, then it took the form of a kingship, a human kingship with the idea of a man after God's own heart who will be imaged son in a particular way and will bear the truth of God to Israel and to the nations. An Abrahamic son. A son who will fulfill that Abrahamic calling, which was the very definition of Israel itself. The kingship and the priesthood were absolutely at the heart of Israel's existence and life and self-identity, but they were separate. So when he put this crown on the head of the high priest, those men that were present would have been shocked. And they would have understood that if this is what's bound up in branch who is to come, then the coming of branch means the ending of the order that we know and in which we live. Just because David's throne was gone, just because the kingdom in a theocratic way had been thrown down and these exiles were under Gentile domination, it doesn't mean that their relationship with God, their definition was still the Mosaic Covenant. That was still who they were and how they thought and how they lived. They still saw themselves in that way. And now this being done says that is going to come to an end. It's going to come to an end. The reconciliation of the kingship and the priesthood, the determination of peace between them meant the passing of the then present order of things. The covenant structure itself under which Zechariah and the exiles were living. It was going away. And it also meant, therefore, the abolition of the Sinai covenant itself. And so, by implication, the introduction of a new covenant. Read Hebrews 7. This is his very point. Now, he doesn't deal with it so much in terms of the merging of the kingship and the priesthood, but he ties it to a new priesthood that is the Melchizedek priesthood, which is the king-priest. And he says, if the covenant had its basis in the priesthood, then by definition, where there is a change in the priesthood, there must be a change in the covenant as well. There must be a change in the covenant as well. So, he argues for the fact that Jesus is a priest of a different order, if for no other reason than because he's a descendant of Judah. He says, under the Mosaic economy, Jesus could not be a priest. He was of the wrong tribe. It's those who are of Levi that serve the tabernacle and the temple. He could not do that. His priesthood means a new priestly order. And he takes you back to Psalm 110. And where there is a new priesthood, a priesthood which he holds everlastingly, unchangingly, there must be a change of covenant as well. So the Lord's proclamation and this crowning of this priest and declaring, there is branch, this speaks to this person branch. What that meant is that branch's coming was going to mean and introduce a whole new order of divine human relationship. Because that's what the priesthood was about. A whole new order of divine human relationship defined, prescribed and administered by a new priesthood. under a new covenant. A covenant that is in branch Himself. Think of Isaiah 42 and 49. I make you a covenant of the people. You are the covenant. Because in Himself, He is the relationship between God and men. And we are only related to God as we are sharers in Him. he is the covenant. But, again, that relationship between God and his people had its centerpiece in the sanctuary, didn't it? The priesthood administered this relationship in connection with the sanctuary. So, if you have a change of So, a new priesthood by virtue of a merging of the kingship and the priesthood, if you have Judah and Levi, one of them or both of them have to yield and Levi yields. Judah remains. The son of David is the Lion of Judah. A new priesthood is now bound to him, not of Levi of Melchizedek. means a new order, it means a new covenant, and by at least suggestion, a new reality in relation to the sanctuary itself. And that's what we see here specifically, is that Branch, the king priest, is the one who builds Yahweh's sanctuary, and they should have been thinking, and we should be thinking, gee, it sounds like perhaps the sanctuary that he builds is not the same sanctuary that they were then building. because he's a different sort of priest, administering a different relationship in the context of a different covenant, and therefore perhaps a different sanctuary. And that leads us now into the instruction that God then gives. He was to proclaim these things to Joshua, Then he gives a little bit of like an elaborative instruction. And the first piece of instruction is that the crown is to serve as a reminder. The crowning of the high priest was a one-time event and Joshua didn't forever after that wear this crown on his head. The crown was to be put into the temple as a commemoration. What does that tell us? He's indirectly reaffirming to these exiles who are involved in building this temple, it will be built. Go back to chapter 4. Not by power, not by might, but by my spirit says the Lord. Zerubbabel laid the foundation and he will lay the capstone. This temple will be built. The very premise that this crown is to be, in a sense, enshrined in the temple means that the temple will be built. It's not done yet, but it will be. It will be. The temple will be built. And this is to be a continual reminder that coronation symbolism is a one-time event. The significance of that, the meaning of that is to be forever before the eyes and the hearts of the exiles as they wait for 500 years for Messiah to come. They've got to believe. They've got to trust, right? So it told them, first of all, that the temple would indeed be completed, but that it would be non-ultimate. Because when they see a crown that represents Branch sitting somewhere you know, enshrined. We don't know exactly how, but it was set and put in place in the temple. Every time they would see that, they would be reminded, this temple is not ultimate. Why? Because the one to whom the crown belongs hasn't come. That's why the crown's still sitting here. And he's going to build the house. If he's not here, the house isn't built. And as long as the crown is sitting here, then branch hasn't come. And therefore, Yahweh's house has not been built because branch is going to build that house. So the temple that they are standing in, looking at this crown, is not the house promised by God. Both the temple and the crown enshrined in it looked to the coming One. They were a reminder. that the time hadn't come, but that Yahweh would keep His word. He would do what He said. He was going to have Branch build the sanctuary as His enthroned king-priest. And then the other thing that God gives as a kind of instruction, a qualifier, is He says, other men will build this temple. Very interesting. Men will come from far off and they will build the temple of Yahweh. And you say, well, that doesn't make sense. He's just told us twice Branch is going to build the sanctuary. Now he says men are going to build the sanctuary. Men who come from far off. Well, once again, unfortunately, English versions don't do the job they ought to do. It's more obvious in Hebrew if you look at it closely. There's a difference here. Branch builds the house. These who come from far off build into the house. It's not a contradiction. It's a complementary idea. And obviously the first thing that we think of is, okay, men will be involved in building this house alongside the branch. And certainly the exiles probably would have been thinking that way because at that time they were engaged in building this house, this temple in Jerusalem, right? And perhaps that even caused them to think maybe branch is quickly coming. Because if men from far off are going to gather to the sacred site of Yahweh's dwelling place and build his house, hey, that's what we've done. We've gathered from far places. We've come from the reaches of Babylon together to gather in this sacred site to build Yahweh's house. Maybe as we're building, branch is going to come. but the fullness of the time saints is what would reveal really the powerful dimension of this. What does it mean that men will come from far off and they will build into Yahweh's house? Well, it does mean in a certain sense that they will participate in, they will be workers in building this house, but even more substantially and behind even that is the idea that they themselves will be built into the house as stones in the house. Branch builds the house. Men come from far and wide to build into this house, first and foremost by being built into it. And so as you look at the way this plays out, you see This idea of Jesus saying, go out, as he's preparing to ascend, he says to his disciples, you will be witnesses of me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the ends of the earth. You are to go out and you are to, as it were, gather stones and bring them to put them into my temple. But you must first wait until you are clothed with power from on high. Wait in Jerusalem until the Spirit comes. Then you will be able to do this work. You must first be stones in the house before you can be gatherers of stones. You must be stones in the house. Peter says, having come to Christ, the living stone, you now as living stones, are built together to be a spiritual house, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God in Christ Jesus. Once you were not a people, once you had not obtained mercy, Now you have obtained mercy. Now you are the people of God. A kingdom of priests. A royal priesthood. A holy nation. A people belonging to God. A people for His own possession. So the fullness of the times would reveal not simply that men will have a role in the building of this house, but that they themselves will be built into it. And that alone tells you that this is a different sort of house. Right? And then the last thing is God throws a qualification in here. And this really, I think, trips up a lot of people, because after all this glorious disclosure, branch coming, the merging of the kingship, the priesthood, branch building the house, all of this being accomplished, then he throws this caveat in there. It will take place if you completely obey the Lord your God. Are we back into the domain of synergism again? I thought it was a monergistic. I thought God saved. I thought God was sovereign. Now we've got men and branches can't come and do this work and build this house unless men are obedient to God. That's the path we want to go down in our heads and we completely missed the point. I think we completely missed the point anyway. God is making a very critical point. Who is He speaking to? He's speaking to these men who are present, but more broadly, He's speaking to the exiles of Israel, who represent in themselves Israel, right? What He's saying is that in order for this to happen, it is absolutely critical that Israel be Israel. It doesn't even really say obey. It says, You must surely, this will take place if you certainly, most certainly, heed the voice of the Lord your God. Now, I'm not saying that has nothing to do with obedience. But this is a conforming to the divine mind and the divine purpose. And ultimately, as you hear me say all the time, for this to happen, Israel had to be Israel. because God made a promise to Abraham. And Abraham's descendants are what Israel is. And God's promise was that all the families of the earth, ultimately the whole of the creation, is to be blessed and gathered back in through Abraham and his seed. And if Israel's failure means that God's purposes fail, or God comes up with another plan, or Israel somehow becomes Israel. This depends upon you heeding the voice of the Lord. But this becomes all the more troublesome because we who know the salvation history know that not only did Israel not heed the word of the Lord, but they could not. Israel could not be Israel. That's the great quandary through the Old Testament Scriptures, is we know from Genesis forward that all of this depends upon the Abrahamic people. And yet, the Abrahamic people cannot be the Abrahamic people. What's to happen? What's God to do? How's this to come about? And what do the prophets tell us? God will bring out from within Israel a new Israel in whom He will restore both the remnant of Israel and the nations of the earth. There's no synergism in this in the way that we want to think about it. Salvation depends upon men and it depends upon God. That's not the idea. But God's purposes, as He decreed them, depend upon Israel being Israel. And the promise that's not in this passage, we see only the qualification. But if we've been following even the branch story here, and we know what the larger scripture has been teaching us, we know that Israel will be Israel. This qualification, this condition, if you will, will be met. but in the person of the true Israel who embodies Israel and in whom Israel finds its own identity, mission, calling fulfilled. Israel will be Israel. God's purposes, His design, His decree will be realized. So in conclusion then, what you have is a promise of God concerning the raising up of David's fallen tabernacle. It parallels Amos chapter 9. A promise to raise up David's fallen tabernacle. Branch represents that. And that raising up would mark the inauguration of a whole new order of kingdom. Not the resuscitation of David's kingdom in the way Israel was expecting. and particularly, saints, by the time you get to the time of Jesus, in the second temple period, when Israel was living out its life in the diaspora, the Jews were scattered, and they met in the synagogues, and they were under Gentile oppression and domination, but they had these truths in their minds, and they were waiting, and they were waiting, but it became more and more a nationalistic hope. Messiah's going to come, He's going to arise, He's the Son of David, He's going to throw off Rome, He's going to establish the glory of David's kingdom again and give us lordship over the nations. That's what the zealots were all about. They were trying to instigate a conflict with Rome, believing that perhaps that would bring in Messiah. Think about when they wanted to take Jesus and make him king and he refused. He refused. Why? Because he's not the king of Israel? No. It's because what they thought that was, he's not. And he wasn't going to take ownership of their wrong thinking about his kingship. Even John didn't understand. John the Baptist didn't understand exactly how this was to play out. He was expecting a triumphal Messiah in a way that didn't seem to be present in Jesus' ministration. So the expectation of the coming of the kingdom was very much a reviving of what they had known before. And this prophecy shows just by the bringing together of the kingship and the priesthood, this is to be a whole new order of things. Simply having a biological descendant of David on the throne, simply having a temple in Jerusalem, simply restoring the city of Jerusalem was not going to be an overthrowing Rome or whoever else was dominating them. That's not going to bring the kingdom. That's not going to be the kingdom. A new order was coming, not the resurrection of the old order. A new kingdom based in, ordered by a new covenant formed on a new priesthood. And that priesthood is to be a regal one. Not in a regal priestly nation, Exodus 19. If you will keep my covenant, you will be a regal nation, a nation of priests to me. Not that sort of regal priesthood where you have still this separation between the kingship and the priesthood. But a regal priesthood embodied in a person. Such that every man who shares in him shares in his identity and his status as a king-priest. He has made us kings and priests to our God. Who is worthy to open the scroll to lucid seals? And John's weeping, crying loudly, nobody's worthy. Nobody. Who can accomplish this purpose of God? Nobody. Stop weeping, the lion of the tribe of Judah has prevailed." And I looked and I saw, looking as a lamb who had been slain. And he went up to the throne and he took the scroll. And all of a sudden there's just this hymn of praise throughout all heaven. Worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive glory and honor and power and dominion. For he has purchased with his blood men for God and made them to be a kingdom, kings and priests who are God and they will reign on the earth. Glory to God and to the Lamb. Glory, honor, power and dominion. Revelation chapter 5. So, a regal priesthood that is associated with a regal priestly person, and in union with him, a kingdom of kings and priests. A kingdom of kings and priests. The Son of David has come He has fulfilled the calling, the promise of God in the Abrahamic Covenant, but he has done that as a son of Abraham. The great premise of the Davidic Covenant was the Abrahamic Covenant, right? The great premise of the Sinai Covenant was the Abrahamic Covenant. Why do I say that? Because it's not just a king coming, sitting on a throne and ruling over the nations. That king is coming and ruling in his enthronement as the son of Abraham. The one through whom the nations of the earth are restored to God and ultimately the whole creation is restored back to God. This isn't just the son of David sitting on a throne. This is the restoration of the cosmos. The son of David is the son of Abraham. The seed in whom all things are restored to God. And now, as the enthroned king-priest, from his throne, he has sent his Spirit. The Spirit who is the Spirit of Christ. Who doesn't just tell men about Jesus, but He communicates Christ to them by forming His life and likeness in them. by joining them to Him so that they can be sharers in Him, the last Adam. And in that way, He is now building Yahweh's sanctuary. The woman in Samaria, when she was kind of feeling a little uncomfortable because Jesus seemed to know her background and how many husbands she'd had, she said, well, let me ask you another question. Because our fathers, the Samaritans, say that we worship God here on this mountain. But you Jews say it's in Jerusalem. Which is it? Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is. Now is. When neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will men worship God. They'll worship him in spirit and truth. And that's said in the larger context of John's making much in his Gospel of the fact that Jesus is the sanctuary of the living God. building His sanctuary by building stones upon Himself. And saints, I say this all the time, but with a heaviness in my heart, we don't get this, and it's evident in the way we think about God's church. The way we live out life in the church. We don't understand this idea. We don't live this out. It's still a consumable commodity. We're consumers. We're not living stones who are members of a community because we are sharers in the one life of the one true man, sharers in his resurrection life. We're consumers. We're consumers. When you come to Romans 8, and this is where I want to close with our contemplation, As Paul has been discussing this gospel, this work of God in his son, he is so overwhelmed that he erupts in this spectacular doxology of praise. We want to make parts of Romans 8 just a proof text for God's sovereignty. See, there's predestination, there's election, there's foreknowledge. But we miss the larger point that Paul is making. a God who has been faithful to accomplish what he's purposed. And Romans 8 is highlighting not just that there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, but the whole creation is waiting for its share in the redemption, the life that's in Christ Jesus. Romans 8 is Paul saying God has put forth and has already shown the fulfillment of his sure promise of comprehensive restoration of all things in his Son. And that fills his heart with so much glory. Turn to Romans 8. You may even know this passage by heart, but I want to just capture this last part for you. Again, in terms of this idea of the enthroned priest-king and us being seated in the heavenlies in Him. Verse 31, Paul says, What shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how then will He not also with Him freely give us all things? He gave us His Son. Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies. Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died. Yea, rather, who was raised. Who is at the right hand of God who intercedes for us. Who has sent His Spirit Who knows us and who knows the Father and who carries our burdens to the Father. He's already talked about that earlier if you read the whole chapter. The Spirit who mediates our communion with God, the Spirit of Christ. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Who or what? Tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, the sword, as it is written, for your sake we are put to death every day, all day. Think of 2 Corinthians 4. We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered, but in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, not angels, not principalities, not things present, not things to come, not powers, height, depth, anything in the created order shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Why? Because our King is enthroned with all power, authority, and dominion, and because He is a priest mediating for us. Not for us at a distance on our behalf, but as those who are sharers in Him. When He pleads Himself, He pleads us. Right? I want to just read this statement Thomas Torrance, and it's short. He says this, he says, this is an advocacy in which Christ is the eternal leader of our prayer and intercession. In which he makes himself the true content and the sole reality of the worship and prayer we offer. He goes on then to say, that is the prayer which Jesus Christ eternally is before the Father. He is that prayer of the saints in a very real way. That is the prayer. He is the true content and the sole reality of the worship and prayer of his people and really of all mankind as true man. The one in whom true humanness is bound up and in whom every human being finds that which is truly human existence. And that is the prayer which Jesus Christ eternally is before the face of the Father and in God himself where he ever lives in active intercession prayer for us. We have to think of this in terms of substitution as well as representation. If he were only our representative before God, he would represent us in our prayer and worship and would be, so to speak, the instrument of our prayer and worship. But as our substitute, the one in whom we are found, is his point, he acts in our place and offers worship and prayer which we could not offer, yet he offers them in such a way as we are shares in him, that while they are made in our stead and on our behalf they are made to issue out of our own human nature to the Father as our own worship and prayer to God. We worship the Father not in our own name, nor in the significance of our own prayer and worship, but solely in Christ's name, who has so identified himself with us, taken our own selves, our own humanness, taken the brokenness of Adam himself to himself, the brokenness of the race, as to make his prayer and worship ours, so truly and really ours that we appear before God with Christ as being our one true prayer and our only worship. That identification is so profound that through the Spirit Christ's prayers and intercession are made to echo in our own. There's Romans 8. And there is no disentangling of them from our weak and our stammering and altogether unworthy acts of devotion. Our worship is Christ's worship. Our devotion is Christ's devotion. Our faith is Christ's faithfulness. Our prayer is Christ's prayer. He's not just up there carrying our petitions. You know, in some Roman Catholic way, we just appeal to Mary and she goes to her son because she'll listen to her son. That's not how he intercedes for us. When he bears our burdens, he bears his burdens. We are hidden in him. Our prayer is His prayer. So I ask us saints, in view of all of this, what is our exaltation? This is Paul's exaltation, the enthroned priest king, and what that means for us. What is our exaltation? What is our doxology? The release of forgiveness. Boy, I'm glad I'm forgiven. I can get on with my life. Is that our exaltation? Is it the hope? of an abundant life. God promises me abundant life. So, you know, my exaltation is my best life now. It's my exaltation, my doxology, my song of praise, my longing for and waiting for heaven as the best of all possible worlds as I can imagine it. When all of the things that are wrong in my life now are going to be right. When everything will finally be what I want it to be. What is our exaltation and our doxology even as we consider an enthroned high priest? Do we even have an exaltation in the doxology? Do we even have one? I think many Christians don't. God doesn't meet our expectations. Life is just a constant movement from one expectation and hope to the next. hoping to find what we're looking for. And for the most part, it's all discouragement and it's just holding on until we get to go to heaven when we die. I tell you, saints, if we don't have our exaltation and if we don't have our doxology in this Christ, in this way, we don't have one at all. This is the great travesty of separating the priesthood and the kingship. And my intent is not to pick on dispensationalism. But when we say, oh, won't it be wonderful when Jesus is King? If we say that, if we're waiting for Him to be enthroned, we have on the authority of Scripture said, He is not exercising His priesthood. And we're looking for His kingship when He'll come and He'll sit in Jerusalem and finally get even with all the bad people, and it's going to be this glorious thing with the temple in Israel. And He'll finally be on the throne, crushing His enemies. He is exercising his lordship according to the principle of lordship in his kingdom. He is bearing this world and his people as he has even taken that up in himself. You cannot have a priesthood without a kingship because he enters into his priesthood as he is enthroned. And if we're going to take his kingship away, we have just robbed ourselves of the possibility of this doxology. It's precisely the fact that Christ who died, ye rather, is raised seated at the right hand of God and interceding for us as the bearer of us, that we have a doxology. Not longing to go to heaven, but recognizing that nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Do we believe it? Do we live it out? Are we always running? Are we always looking? Are we always seeking? Are we always moving on? Let's pray. Father, you know my burden. And it's a burden that I bear for myself. The church needs to be the church. We have no gospel for the world if we are not the church. Because this is not about a religion. It's not about a new set of doctrine. It's not about a new commitment and a new zeal for morality and piety. It's the truth of new creation that is real and extant and has its substance in Christ himself. A new creation that in your purposes will take everything into its grasp. The summing up of everything in Him. Where is the proof of that? If that's the Gospel, if the Gospel of the Kingdom is the Good News of new creation, where is it? It's in the saints who are sharers in it. And Father, I lament that when the world looks at the church, it does not see new creation. It sees People who are very much still concerned with their natural agendas, their personal lives, their personal issues. They see consumerism. They see a commodity to be chewed up and discarded. What's in it for me? What are you going to do for me? And all that we're doing is we're just making an investment for a heavenly hope. If I walk through this in some sort of a conforming way, that I get to go to heaven. Or finally, I get to be left alone and I'll be in good health. Forgive us. Father, you must teach us what these things are. You must teach us what it means to be in Christ. You must teach us. And you must produce in us the truth of 1 Corinthians 12, that we are members of one another. What does that mean? What does it mean that the church is the fullness of Him who fills all in all? What does it mean that unless and until a community of people are one as the Father and Son are one, the world will not know that you have sent the Son? For all our tracts, for all our doctrine, for all our proof texts, for all our door ringing, the world will not know. Because we don't preach a way to go to heaven. That's not the gospel. We don't preach merely forgiveness of sins. That's not the gospel. We don't preach release from our guilt. That's not the gospel. We preach the good news of the kingdom of God. That our God was pleased to bear in Himself and His Son the brokenness of this world. That He would heal it. That He would judge and condemn it in Himself and heal it and restore it and bring it to life. Not that the world would fall at his feet and say how glorious you are, but that he would take all things up in himself and bind together a created order in the perfection of love that is in the Godhead itself. An everlasting Sabbath and the Lord's perfect Shalom. Father, may we be heralds of that gospel, but we must live it out. We must get this right. The prophets were zealous to communicate, communicate, communicate, get this across, get it across. And Christ comes in the world and he says, it is now. It is me. It is true. We tell people, let me tell you how to get God off your back and know that you're going to go to a happy place when you die. Oh, and by the way, he's going to fix everything in your life now, too. Forgive us for our blasphemy. Forgive us for our unbelief. It's time for judgment to begin with the house of God, that we would be faithful. Help us in all these things we pray, for Christ's sake, for the honor of His name in the church and in the world. Amen.