Zechariah 3-4

What’s Happening?

God's people want God's presence to return to their currently ruined temple. They know that if God lives in their midst, he will protect them from their enemies. But Zechariah understands that before God's presence can return, God's people need a priest to purify their sins. They also need a king to lead the rebuilding project. In a series of visions, Zechariah sees how God will choose the priest and king that his people need in order to be with him once again.

Zechariah sees a vision of Joshua the priest being brought to trial in a heavenly courtroom. Like a prosecutor, Satan accuses Joshua of being too impure to act as God’s priest (Zechariah 3:1). And he’s right—Joshua’s clothes are filthy (Zechariah 3:3). But God does not let Satan have the last word (Zechariah 3:2). He removes Joshua’s dirty clothes, symbolically taking away his impurity, and then dresses him in clean clothes fit for a priest (Zechariah 3:4-5). An angel tells Zechariah that Joshua has another name, “the Branch” (Zechariah 3:8). The Branch is a title that refers to God’s promised final king (Jeremiah 23:5). Zechariah realizes that Joshua represents a future priest who will also be God’s final king. And this final priest/king will be the one to purify his people (Zechariah 3:9).

The angel then shows Zechariah a different vision of the same reality. Two olive trees are tapped and their oil is siphoned into a single bowl (Zechariah 4:3). This oil fuels the light of a lampstand, like the kind that stood in the temple (Zechariah 4:2). The vision represents the way the combined leadership of a priest and a king will purify God’s people to be lights in a world of darkness.

In a final vision, Zechariah sees Israel’s governor, Zerubbabel, completing God’s temple (Zechariah 4:9). As he puts the final stone in its place, the people shout in celebration (Zechariah 4:7). But God tells Zechariah the purity of Joshua and the leadership of Zerubbabel are only symbols of what God will do. Soon God, by his Spirit alone, will purify his people once and for all (Zechariah 4:6). 

Where is the Gospel?

Under the leadership of Joshua and Zerubbabel, the temple was completed in Zechariah’s lifetime. But God’s promised Branch had not yet come and God’s people were still waiting for God to finally come and purify them from their sin. The text even says that when Zerubbabel completed the temple it was only a day of small things (Zechariah 4:10). The priest/king of Zechariah’s visions had not yet come. 

But Jesus is the Branch. Jesus is the priest and king that Zechariah knew would come. Like Joshua in Zechariah’s vision, Jesus stood trial wearing clothes that represented a greater reality (Mark 14:55-56). Jesus was dressed as a king but his prosecutors accused him of being unfit to rule (Mark 14:57-58). Jesus was crucified for his supposed insurrection, only to rise from the dead. Vindicated from his enemies’ accusations, Jesus now sits on his rightful throne in heaven, ready to bring God’s Kingdom to earth (Ephesians 1:20). 

Like Joshua, he was fit to offer a sacrifice for sins. But Jesus chose to offer himself in our place so that our sins could be purified in a single day (1 Peter 2:24). Jesus is our final priest and our final king (Hebrews 1:3).

And since he has purified us by his sacrifice and sits enthroned in heaven, Jesus is able to complete the temple, the place where God lives with his people. And that temple lives in us (John 14:16). Through the Spirit we now experience God’s presence and forgiveness wherever we are (1 Peter 2:5). 

See for Yourself

I pray that the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to see the God who brings his Kingdom and presence to his people. And may you see Jesus as the priest/king who purifies his people and builds them into a temple where they will live with God forever.