“And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon, and come thou the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah; then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest; and speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the Man whose name is the BRANCH; and He shall grow up out of His place, and He shall build the temple of the Lord; even He shall build the temple of the Lord; and He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon His throne; and He shall be a Priest upon His throne; and the counsel of peace shall be between them both. And the crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of the Lord. And they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the Lord, and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you. And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.”
In the above scripture Zechariah is told to take certain men of the captivity, and enter into the house of Josiah, and take gold and silver, and make crowns, and place them upon the head of Joshua the high priest, and then to say, “Behold the man whose name is the BRANCH; and He shall grow up out of His place, and He shall build the temple of the Lord; even He shall build the temple of the Lord; and He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon His throne; and He shall be a Priest upon His throne; and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.”
That Joshua is introduced as a type of Christ in these verses is apparent, when we consider the language used; for we find that some of the specifications here presented are applicable to Jesus, and to Him only. First, He is called the Branch, which is the term applied to Jesus in chapter 3:8; and also in Isa. 11:1, 2, where we read, “And there shall come forth a Rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots; and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him.”
“And He shall bear the glory;” for this Branch was to be beautiful and glorious; and “we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” The glory of God is His character; and His character was fully revealed in the life of Jesus. And He “shall sit and rule upon His throne; and He shall be a Priest upon His throne.” This language is not true of Joshua, who was priest, but not king. Jesus now sits upon His Father's throne as king of grace; while He is also our great High Priest; for we read in Heb. 8:1, 2: “Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an High Priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a Minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” This one is the antitype of Joshua; and to us, the people, He says, “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne.” Between these two, that is, between the Father and His Son, Jesus, is the counsel of peace—that counsel in which all the wisdom of heaven is involved, even infinite wisdom, in carrying out the plan for the redemption of man.
“And He shall build the temple of the Lord; even He shall build the temple of the Lord.” That is the spiritual temple, of which the temple at Jerusalem was but a feeble type. It is that temple which is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief Corner-stone; that spiritual house in which we are to be lively stones, if we will but be hewed and squared for the heavenly building.
Jesus is now preparing the stones for that house; and in the dawning of eternity's morn, it will be laid up, as it were, without the sound of a hammer; so perfect will be the preparation of each stone for its place. It shall tower aloft, radiant and glorious in the light of the eternal day, to be beheld with wonder and delight by a sinless universe, as the sunlight of the face of God shall gild it with glory. O to be a stone in that building, to be prepared for a place, perhaps by the Headstone of the corner! O wondrous thought!
There are crowns to be made; and these crowns are to be placed, first upon the head of the High Priest, and then to be for the men of captivity who made them. Paul, in speaking to those whom he had been instrumental in bringing to Christ, says, “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For ye are our glory and joy.” Thus each soul we bring as a sheaf to the heavenly garner becomes a star or gem in our crown of glory. Since every soul is one for whom Christ died, the crowns are glory first to our great High Priest; but He will share them with us; for He speaks by the apostle Peter to us who are under shepherds, saying, if faithful, “When the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.”
When we take our places in the beautiful, spiritual temple, these crowns shall adorn our brows; and so they will be laid up in the temple as a memorial of the work of Jesus, and also of our work as co-laborers together with Him. The sharing with Him of these crowns is the entering into His joy; and the sweetest, deepest joy known in the universe of God is the joy of saving others. This joy placed before Jesus led Him to bear the cross and despise the shame. O what a crowned rejoicing to the Saviour will be that great company which no man can number, out of every tribe, kindred, and nation, when they cast their crowns at Jesus' feet, and crown Him Lord of all!
But, my reader, we, the men of the captivity are now working upon our crowns. If we do faithful work, and make them of gold, silver, and precious stones, they will abide; but if of hay, wood, and stubble, they shall be burned, and we shall suffer loss. If we are not faithful in dealing with souls, God will give our work to another, and he may wear our crown. “Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.”
God is inviting even those who are afar off to come and build in the temple of the Lord. Then let us all build, and build for eternity.
[The next article is “Ritualism and Righteousness.”]
