zechariah 3-4

Read Zechariah 3-4 at Bible Gateway.

Zechariah, in Zec 4, is seeing a menorah, a lampstand with seven lamps and seven pipes to the seven lamps. Before the vision of the menorah, he sees a stone with seven eyes (Zec 3:9), laid before Joshua the high priest. We saw yesterday that this Joshua is a type of Messiah Yeshua (the name “Joshua” is the anglicized form of the name “Yeshua”), who is My Servant the Branch. Following the vision of the menorah, he is given a prophecy about Zerubbabel, the son of David, who we saw yesterday was also a type of Messiah Yeshua. In this prophecy:

“For these seven rejoice to see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. They are the eyes of the LORD, which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth.” Zec 4:10

In other words, we are looking at a chiastic structure, with the menorah of seven lamps as the central axis, flanked before and after by the seven eyes of the LORD. The menorah also forms the central axis of some of the chiastic structures in Exodus, when the instructions for building the tabernacle are given to Moses.

None of this is coincidental! This prophecy and vision is encouragment for Zerubbabel to build the second temple; we could also be looking at a vision of the first and second comings of Messiah Yeshua. In His first coming He served as High Priest (the seven eyes before Joshua the high priest) and in His second coming, He serves as King of kings (the seven eyes rejoicing to see the plumb line in the hand of the son of David, the king).

Additionally, we could also be seeing confirmation from the prophets that the one who will build the temple that is coming, is Messiah Yeshua, King of kings. Any one else who tries to build the temple is a counterfeit. The temple that He is building, He is building by the Spirit and not by power or might; the temple’s capstone, its finishing stone, will be by grace (Zec 4:6-7).

These are not just powerful references to the temple of His Body that Messiah Yeshua is presently building by His Spirit and by grace (Joh 2:18-21); but what is true going forward is also true going backward, for Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb 13:8) — He is the substance which casts the foreshadow of the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings (Col 2:16-17).

In other words, if it is true that the temple of Messiah’s Body, His dwelling place and His worship, is by the Spirit and by grace, then it is also true that the Mosaic temple, which was for His dwelling place and His worship, is by the Spirit and by grace. The larger lesson is that it is NOT TRUE that the Old Testament describes a religion of works while the New Testament describes a religion of the Spirit and grace. It IS TRUE that there is ONE FAITH from Genesis to Revelation, and that faith is by the Spirit and by grace. So what is the place of obedience to the Law, which is nothing more than the Word of the LORD, which proceeds from His heart by the Spirit of grace (Luk 6:45)? Obedience is motivated by the Spirit, and gives evidence to the faith by the Spirit and by grace that is already there (Jam 2:14-26).

As we have so plainly seen in the history of Israel we have just finished reading, obedience cannot be sustained without the Spirit and without grace, which is why God promised them and provided them for His people in Messiah Yeshua.