Having seen some of the passages from the different prophetic books, now what the prophet Zechariah said about the coming Messiah. First of all let us consider Zechariah 3:8 “Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth by servant the BRANCH.” Based on this verse we can see the identical message as given by the prophet Isaiah and Jeremiah. This was because all Scriptures in the Bible were written by one author namely God Himself. Furthermore Jeremiah 3:9-10 continues to say “For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree.” In other words, having known whom the Branch is as described in other prophetic passages now in these verses we are told that the Branch will bring the kingdom to this earth. He will also peach to this earth because He is the prince of peace. Apart from His coming to this earth as King there will be no any security on this earth. As promised here Israel at last will be in permanent peace and security. After so many centuries Israel was suffered and oppressed without any peace but the coming of the King to this earth will bring peace to Israel. All those things that have been mentioned will be fulfilled when the Branch comes, namely the Lord Jesus Christ.
Zechariah 6:11-13 “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.” In other passages we can see that the same BRANCH as mentioned here is referring to the Messiah as the King of kings. However the BRANCH described in this passage is talking about the Messiah as the High Priest. This is to say that when the Messiah comes in His Second Coming He will be a King at the same time He will be a High Priest. To the Jews this is something which is very hard to understand because in the Old Testament there would never be a king and priest at the same time in one person. However it is clear that there is no problem with this priesthood mentioned in this passage because He is not Aaronian priest but the Melchizedekian priest. As Psalms 110:4 “Thou are the priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.” In order to know all the details that the Lord has mentioned in His Holy Scriptures, we, believers in the Lord should know the Scriptures. The Lord expects us to know His word so that we will not be in error in understanding the Word of truth.
Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.” In the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to this earth Zechariah 9:9 has been fulfilled when Jesus entered Jerusalem with the riding of a donkey (Matthew 21:2-5). Based on this verse, Jesus Christ as a King we can see His humility in the riding of a donkey. However in His Second Coming He will not ride the same thing anymore but rather He will ride on the mighty war-horse. Furthermore in Zechariah 9:10 when the prophet Zechariah said “His dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth” shows to us the things that will happen in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. In that time the whole world will be under His dominion.
Zechariah 11:12-13 “And I said that unto them, If ye think good, give me my price, and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord.” This passage is the prophecy of the rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ by the Jews and at the same time we can see here the prophecy concerning Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus. Hundreds years before Jesus Christ came to this earth, the betrayal of Judas Iscariot toward the Lord Jesus Christ had been given even the most details in which we can know how much Judas received from the Pharisees and Saducees in order to betray Jesus. It is absolutely marvellous even in the Old Testament we know about Judas Iscariot.
Zechariah 12:10 “10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” This is another prophecy concerning the crucifixion and the death of Jesus Christ. However this passage focuses on the mercy of God that will be given to those who have rejected and pierced the Lord Jesus Christ. In other word though the people of Israel have rejected the Lord Jesus Christ in His first Coming but the Lord will show His mercy to them and the One whom they have crucified and whose name they hate till this day, at last they will recognise. They will come to the Lord Jesus Christ and get the forgiveness of sins from Him alone. Salvation will be given to Israel individually and nationally.
Zechariah 13:1 “In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.” When the people of Israel at last understand and appreciate the blood of Jesus Christ, they will be saved. Zechariah 13:7-9 we read “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.” The special plan of salvation of God to Israel at last will be fulfilled. All promises given to Abraham will be fulfilled some day to Israel. The Lord will do great things to Israel and not only to them but also to us, Christians, the unnatural branches, strange branches and the engrafted branches as mentioned in Romans 11.
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