THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH
Lesson 2: Chapters 3-5
Part I Continued: The Fourth through Eighth Visions
The Investiture of Joshua and the Coming of the
Branch, The Lampstand and the Olive trees, the Flying Scroll and the Woman of Wickedness, and the Chariots and the Votive Crown
Lord of Mercy and Hope,
You commanded Your prophet, Zechariah, to warn the
covenant people still living in pagan nations to return to their ancestral
lands in Judah and to renew their covenant commitment to You. In the same way,
Lord, You call every generation of believers to come out of the secular world,
to reject its false teachings and accommodations to sinful practices, and to
return to the obedience of faith in a relationship with You. Give us the
courage we need to turn away from the surging flood of secularism that
threatens to pull our children and us away from You. Give us the courage of
Zechariah to testify to Your sovereign authority over our lives and the entire
earth. We pray in the name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
+ + +
When the
prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo prophesied to the Jews who were in
Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel who was over them,
Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak began rebuilding the
Temple of God in Jerusalem: with them were the prophets of God, supporting
them.
Ezra 5:1-2
In the second
year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of Yahweh
was addressed through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel
governor of Judah and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest.
Haggai 1:1
When that day
comes, Yahweh Sabaoth declares, I shall take you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel
my servant, Yahweh declares, and make you like a signet ring. For I have
chosen you, Yahweh Sabaoth declares.'"
Haggai 2:23
How shall we
extol Zerubbabel? He was like a signet ring on the right hand, so too was
Joshua son of Jozadak; they who in their days built the Temple and raised a
Sanctuary sacred to the Lord, destined to everlasting glory.
Sirach 49:11-12/13-14
In addition to dramatic visions, Yahweh communicates with Zechariah through oracles. The mixing of oracular speech with visions is one of the most distinctive features of the Book of Zechariah. The first oracle was Zechariah call to prophetic service and the command to tell the covenant people to repent and return to their covenant relationship in Zechariah 1:1-6. The second oracle was in the poetic section of 2:10-17 in exhortations to the exiles to come out of "the land of the north" and "make your escape, Zion, now living with the daughter of Babylon" because "I am coming to live among you, Yahweh declares!"
Zechariah returned to Judah with his grandfather in the first departure of the Jewish exiles out of Babylon in c. 538 BC when he may have been about seven years old. Now, eighteen years later, he was probably twenty-five years old and the age a man from a priestly family began his training as a chief priest. At the time of the beginning of young Zechariah's prophetic ministry in 520 BC, only a remnant of the faithful had returned to the ancestral lands in Judah. The covenant people who were taken into exile during the first and second deportations in 605 BC and 598 BC had lived in Babylonians territory for several generations.
The Judahites had made their homes there, and some of them had become prosperous and attained positions of status and influence. Daniel became a chief minister to the kings of Babylon and even to Babylon's Persian conqueror, King Darius who took the throne name Cyrus in fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecies (Is 44:28; 45:1-7). Mordecai became the prime minister to Persian King Xerxes I, the father of the Persian king ruling during Zechariah's time, Darius I, and seventy-six years later, in 444 BC when Nehemiah led the third return of Jews to Judah as the new Persian governor, he had previously served as Persian King Artaxerxes I royal butler-cupbearer. It was hard to leave a place where they had become established over several generations to return to an empty land with unproductive fields, ruined cities, and aggressive enemies in the Persian provinces surrounding Judah. However, Yahweh commanded that, for their own good, they must return before the time of God's divine judgment when He would "wave my and over" the lands of Assyrian, Babylon, and Persia "and they will be plundered" (Zec 2:13).
Zechariah's visions and oracles in this lesson:
Zechariah 3:1-9a ~ The Fourth Vision: The Investiture of Joshua
1 He then
showed me the high priest Joshua standing before the angel of Yahweh, with
Satan [ha-satan = the accuser] standing on his right to accuse him. 2 The angel of Yahweh said to Satan
[ha-satan], "May Yahweh rebuke you, Satan [ha-satan]! Yahweh rebuke you, since
he has made Jerusalem his choice. Is not this man a brand snatched from the
fire?" 3 Now Joshua was
dressed in dirty clothes as he stood before the angel. 4a The latter then spoke as follows to
those who were standing before him, "Take off 4c his dirty clothes and dress him in splendid robes 5 and put a clean turban on his head."
So they put a clean turban on his head and dressed him in clean clothes, 4b while the angel of Yahweh stood by and
said, "You see, I have taken your guilt away." 6 The angel of Yahweh then made this
declaration to Joshua, 7 "Yahweh
Sabaoth says this, If you walk in my ways and keep my ordinances, you shall
govern my house, you shall
watch over my courts, and I will give you free access among those in attendance
here. 9a For this is the
stone which I have put before Joshua, a stone on which are seven eyes; and I
myself shall cut the inscription on it, Yahweh Sabaoth declares.'" [...] =
IBHE, vol, III, page 2180
Joshua (called "Jeshua" in Ezra 1:2; 3:8; 4:3; 5:3) was the chief priest who returned with the first group of the exiles led by Sheshbazzar and Zerubbabel (Ezra 1:11; 2:1-2). The name Joshua/Jeshua (Yeshua) was common in ancient times. The exiles selected him as the first High Priest [hakkohen hagadol] of the restored covenant people (Hag 1:1, 12-14; 2:2, 4).1The title hakkohen hagadol designates Joshua here and seven other times in the Books of Haggai and Zechariah (Hag 1:1, 12, 14; 2:24; Zec 3:8; 6:11). He was the son of the chief priest Jehozadak, and his grandfather, Seraiah, was the last High Priest of the Jerusalem Temple and martyred by the Babylonians (see 2 Kngs 25:18-21; Jer 52:24-27).
Nehemiah 12:10-11 lists the high priests who served the covenant people from 520 BC, during the reign of Darius I, to about 405 BC during the reign of Persian King Darius II.
*Jeshua in Hebrew is the same name as the Aramaic form of Joshua (see Hag 2:2, 4), and Joiakim is the shortened form of Jehoiakim. Josephus recorded that both Ezra and Joiakim died before Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem.
1 He then
showed me the high priest Joshua standing before the angel of Yahweh, with
Satan standing on his right to accuse him.
In Hebrew, ha-satan, means "the accuser" or "the
adversary."2 The use of the
article before the word "satan" indicates it is not a proper name but a title.
In the Old Testament, the word satan always appears with the definite
article ha; the only exception is in 1 Chronicles 21:1. In the vision,
Zechariah sees Satan standing to the right of the Angel of Yahweh. Most
Biblical commentators point out that it is odd that Satan should be to the
right in the position of authority and therefore Satan must be occupying the
highest position in the Divine Council before Yahweh Throne of Judgment.
However, they fail to take into account that what Zechariah sees is the reverse
of the scene viewed from Yahweh's location. The Angel of Yahweh is to the
right of the throne while Satan is standing to the left of the Angel of Yahweh
from Yahweh's perspective:
| Zechariah's View | Yahweh's View |
|
Yahweh's Throne of Judgment Angel of Yahweh (left) Satan (right) Zechariah |
Yahweh's Throne of Judgment Angel of Yahweh (left) Satan (right) Zechariah |
The Satan/Accuser is a member of the Divine Counsel in the heavenly court. He fills the role of a prosecuting attorney who spies on, accuses, and indicts malefactors, while the Angel of God acts as the Advocate for Joshua. Satan is an equivocal figure, a fallen supernatural being distinct from the other "sons of God" (Yahweh's messenger/angels), hostile to human beings, anxious to find fault in them and unleashing disaster on them that including enticing them to sin. He is cynical, cold, malicious, and sarcastic, all of which reveals his hostility to human beings based on envy.3
Job 1:6-12 gives an account of "the satan" in this role as humanity's enemy: One day when the sons of God came to attend on Yahweh, among them came Satan [ha-satan]. So Yahweh said to Satan [ha-satan], "where have you been?" "Prowling about on earth," he answered, "roaming around there." So Yahweh asked him, "Did you pay any attention to my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth: a sound and honest man who fears God and shuns evil." "Yes," Satan [ha-satan] said, "but Job is not God-fearing for nothing, is he? Have you not put a wall round him and his house and all his domain? You have blessed all he undertakes, and his flocks throng the countryside. But stretch out your hand and lay a finger on his possessions; then, I warrant you, he will curse you to your face." "Very well," Yahweh said to Satan [ha-satan] "all he has is in your power. But keep your hands off his person." So Satan [ha-satan] left the presence of Yahweh" (Job 1:6-12).
In 1 Chronicles 21:1, the only verse where Satan is a proper name (appearing without the article "the"), he has the function of testing what God plans in the parallel text in 2 Samuel 24:1. The picture of the Divine Council in 1 Kings 22:19-23 shows spirits performing various functions in Yahweh's heavenly court, including testing and provoking sinners brought forward to face divine judgment. The members of the heavenly council have power but may not act independently of God.
Question: After Jesus' Ascension, where is He in
relation to God's throne?
See Acts 2:25, 33; 3:7; 7:55-56;
Rom 8:34;
2 Cor 6:7;
Heb 1:3; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2 and
1 Pt 3:22
Answer: Jesus is on the right-hand side of God.
Question: How does Revelation 12:9 describe Satan?
Answer: He is called the "great dragon, the
primeval serpent, known as the devil or Satan, who had led all the world
astray." He orchestrated a rebellion against God's Divine authority in Heaven
where St. Michael and the loyal angels defeated him, and he, along with his
rebellious brother angels, were cast down to earth, where Satan, in the form of
a serpent, enticed Adam and Eve to rebel against God, introducing sin into the
world.
What part will the Resurrected Jesus play in the Divine Council when those who professed belief in Him are brought before the throne of God to face divine judgment? See the question repeated with Scripture and CCC references at the end of the lesson.
The issue before the Divine Council concerns Joshua and the office of the high priesthood. Ha-satan is the accuser or prosecuting attorney, and the Advocate for the accused is the role of the mal'ak YHWY, the Angel of Yahweh. What is at stake is the role of the priesthood for the restored covenant people and Joshua's fitness for it. The Accuser apparently is opposed to covenant people's restoration and the continuation of the priesthood. He receives a rebuke from the Advocate before the proceedings even get started!
2 The
angel of Yahweh said to Satan, "May Yahweh rebuke you, Satan! Yahweh rebuke
you, since he has made Jerusalem his choice. Is not this man a brand snatched
from the fire?"
We do not know what accusations Satan brought against
Joshua; we only hear the Angel of Yahweh's rebuke. Since the angel refers to
the continuation of Jerusalem as Yahweh's choice as His dwelling place among
His people, it may be that Satan insisted that Joshua and Jerusalem have been
rejected permanently by God because of the people's past sins.
Question: In Isaiah 4:3-4, how does the prophet
describe the purging of the filthiness of Jerusalem's sins? How were the sins
of the wicked purged in the abode of the dead in Sheol/Hades before the
sacrifice of the Christ? See Jesus description in His parable of Lazarus and
the Rich Man in Lk 16:23-24. How are the venial sins of the righteous purged
in Purgatory in after Jesus' Resurrection 1 Cor 3:13-15? See CCC 633, 1030-32.
Answer: Jerusalem will be purged by fire like the
souls of the dead in need of purification in Sheol/Hades/Purgatory before
Christ descended to the dead from His grave to preach the Gospel of salvation
and rescue them.
Fire is both a symbol of judgment and purification. God brought judgment on the wicked communities of Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed them by fire. In the same way, He judged Jerusalem and her population guilty of unrepeted sins and apostasy from the covenant, allowing the Babylonians to be His instruments of judgment in destroying the city and its Temple with fire. However, in Sheol/Hades the sinful dead were purified of their sins before Christ descended there to preach salvation and to cleanse and liberate their purified souls. In 1 Corinthians 3:15, St. Paul gives the assurance that the righteous destined for Heaven but still in need of purification after the Resurrection of Christ will "suffer loss," referring to their bad works that are burned up like hay or straw, but "he himself (the individual's soul undergoing purification) will be saved" (see CCC 1030-32). Fire is also one of the symbols of God the Holy Spirit. See CCC 1147, 696, and 1189.
Zechariah 3:2 describes Joshua as having emerged as "a brand snatched from the fire." This may be a reference to his deliverance from pagan Babylon or his grandfather's salvation from the burning of Jerusalem and therefore the continuation of his priestly line.
3 Now
Joshua was dressed in dirty clothes as he stood before the angel.
His filthy garments represent sins but not necessarily his
personal sins. He bears the sins of the covenant people from their ordeal
living in a pagan nation where they could not offer proper sacrifices to
cleanse themselves collectively and individually since sacrifice and atonement
could only be offered on God's holy sacrificial altar at the Jerusalem Temple.
Zechariah's vision of the ritual cleansing of Joshua in February 520 BC (Zec 3:1-19a) is related to the prophet Haggai's third oracle in December 520 BC in which Haggai gave a warning concerning the necessity of ritual and spiritual purity and the promise that worthy ritual offerings guarantee blessings of prosperity (Hag 2:10-19):
4a The
latter then spoke as follows to those who were standing before him, "Take off
his dirty clothes and dress him in splendid robes 5c and put a clean turban on his head."
So they put a clean turban on his head and dressed him in clean clothes, while
the angel of Yahweh stood by and said, "You see, I have taken your guilt away.
Verses 4-5 anticipate the consecration of the High Priest
for liturgical service. His unclean garments represent the collective sins of
the covenant people that must be removed. He needs his purified, holy,
priestly garments, a clean turban, and to be in a state of grace before the
Lord. In the liturgy of worship, he will serve to take upon himself the duty
of standing before God in the image of redeemed man as he expiats the guilt of
the covenant people so they can stand acceptable before the Lord God (see Ex 28:31-38). His purified garments represent Joshua's spiritual cleansing in
preparation for him performing his high priestly duties as God's covenant
representative to the people. Putting the clean miter/turban on Joshua's head with
the golden plate engraved with the words: "Consecrated to Yahweh" reinstates
him to his high priestly office so that the covenant people had a divinely
authorized covenant mediator, a role that began with his ancestor, Aaron (Ex 28:1-38). This will go on Aaron's brow, and Aaron will thus take on
himself the short-comings in the holy things consecrated by the Israelites, in
all their holy offerings. It will be on his brow permanently, to make them
acceptable to Yahweh (Ex 28:37-38)
6 The
angel of Yahweh then made this declaration to Joshua, 7 "Yahweh Sabaoth says this, If you walk
in my ways and keep my ordinances, you shall govern my house, you shall watch over my courts, and I
will give you free access among those in attendance here.
The "house" and its "courts" Joshua will have Yahweh's
authority to govern will be the rebuilt Temple. Since there is no longer a
Davidic king to rule over the covenant people, the anointed High Priest will
become the highest-ranking divinely appointed shepherd of God's covenant
people.
9a For
this is the stone which I have put before Joshua, a stone on which are seven
eyes; and I myself shall cut the inscription on it, Yahweh Sabaoth declares.'"
The stone with seven facets may refer to the breastplate the
high priest wore over his ceremonial robes (see Ex 28:15-30) or to the engraved
rosette of pure gold that was attached to the front of the high priest's
miter/turban (Ex 28:36-39). However, those sacred items were fabricated by
human artisans while human hands have not created this ornament that is
presented to Joshua by Yahweh. It must represent Yahweh's divine intervention
to solve the problems of contamination and deconsecrating that hindered efforts
of the people and their high priest to offer pure sacrifices and worship (Hag 2:14-19).
Zechariah 3:8-10 ~ The Coming of "the Branch"
8 "So
listen, High Priest Joshua, you and the colleagues over whom you preside, for
they are an omen of things to come, for now I shall bring in my servant the
Branch, 9a and I shall
remove this country's guilt in a single day. 10 On that day, Yahweh Sabaoth declares,
invite each other to come under your vine and your fig tree."
The prophecies in Isaiah and Jeremiah identify "the Branch" as a Messianic descendant of King David of the tribe of Judah and the fulfillment of Yahweh's eternal covenant with David's lineage to establish an everlasting kingdom ruled by an eternal king of David's royal line. Therefore, "the Branch" cannot be the High Priest Joshua who is a descendant of Aaron of the tribe of Levi. Most Biblical scholars suggest Zechariah's "Branch" must point to Davidic prince Zerubbabel who embodied the Messianic hopes of a Davidic descendant (Hag 2:20-23). However, since he does not fulfill the other parts of the prophecies, Zerubbabel probably points to the coming of "the Branch" as a prelude to his coming. Parts of the prophecies concerning "the Branch" are not fulfilled in Zerubbabel as they are in his descendant, Jesus of Nazareth. Both genealogies in Matthew and Luke's Gospels split between David's sons Solomon and Nathan but come back together in Zerubbabel from whom both Joseph and the Virgin Mary are descendants (Mt 1:12-16 and Lk 3:23-27).
9a and I
shall remove this country's guilt in a single day.
This is the most significant statement in the passage.
When did Yahweh remove the communal sins of the covenant people in a single
day? Does the promise refer to the atoning and sanctifying sacrifice of the
Tamid lambs in a twice-daily liturgical worship service on God's holy
sacrificial altar (Ex 29:38-42) that had to be repeated daily? Or does it
point to what the Tamid lambs only represented and was fulfilled in the
sacrifice of "the Branch" of David, Jesus of Nazareth, on the altar of the
Cross at the same times the Tamid lambs were sacrificed in two daily worship
services? See the e-book, "Jesus and the Mystery of the Tamid Sacrifice" or at
amazon.com.
10 On that
day, Yahweh Sabaoth declares, invite each other to come under your vine and
your fig tree.
The prophet Micah, at the end of the 8th-century
BC, foretold a time when He (Yahweh) will judge between many peoples and
arbitrate between mighty nations. They will hammer their swords into plowshares
and their spears into bill-hooks. Nation will not lift sword against nation or
ever again be trained to make war. But each man will sit under his vine and
fig tree with no one to trouble him. The mouth of Yahweh Sabaoth has spoken (Mic
4:3-4). Micah's prophecy points to a time of perpetual peace in the
eschatological future that promised perfect covenant unity with Yahweh.
The prophet Joel also wrote about "that (awesome/terrible) day" as a day of divine judgment in Joel 1:15, Cry out to Yahweh: "Alas for the day! For the Day of Yahweh is near, coming as destruction from Shaddai." However, Zechariah's "day" does not forebode judgment but blessings. The fruitful vine and fig tree were symbols of Israel in covenant peace with Yahweh, and that is probably the intention of verse 10. See the chart on the "Symbolic Images of the Prophets" at The Symbolic Images of the Old Testament Prophets.
Zechariah 4:1-14 ~ The Fifth Vision: The Lampstand and
the Olive Trees
1 The
angel who was talking to me came back and roused me as through rousing someone
who was asleep. 2 And he
asked me, "What do you see?" I replied, "As I look, there is a lampstand
entirely of gold with a bowl at the top of it; it holds seven lamps, with seven
openings for the lamps on it. 3 By
it are two olive trees, one to the right and the other to the left." 4 I then said to the angel who was
talking to me, "What are those things, my lord?" 5 The angel who was talking to me
replied, "Do you not know what they are?" I said, "No, my lord." 6a He then gave me this answer, 10b "These seven are the eyes of Yahweh,
which range over the whole world." 11 Then
I went on to ask him, "What is the meaning of these two olive trees, to the
right and left of the lampstand?" 12 And
I went on to ask him further, "What is the meaning of the two olive branches
discharging oil through the two golden openings?" 13 He replied, "do you not know what they
are?" I said, "No, my lord." 14 He
said, "These are the two anointed ones [sons of the oil] in attendance on the
Lord of the whole world." [...] = literal Hebrew, IBHE, vol. III, page
2163.
Zechariah's fifth vision of the lampstand and the two olive trees has a counterpart in Revelation Chapter 11. This passage assures the covenant people that God will grant them His grace through their spiritual and civic leaders who will guide the people in obedience to God, resulting in the prosperity of the nation.
Zechariah's lampstand is not the familiar seven-branched menorah (Hebrew word for lampstand) created by God's command for the Holy Place of His earthly Sanctuary as a copy of the heavenly lampstand (Ex 25:31-40; 37:17-24). The object in Zechariah's vision is a large bowl-shaped oil reservoir surmounting on a golden base and fitted around its top rim with seven protruding cups to serve as lamps. The two olive trees to the right and left of the lampstand provide continuous oil to keep the wicks of the seven lamps burning. The large bowl holds an abundant supply of oil, symbolizing the fullness of God's power and grace through His Spirit.
Question: What answer does the angel give
Zechariah concerning the meaning of the vision of the lampstand?
Answer: He tells Zechariah the burning lamps are
the seven eyes of Yahweh which see everything that takes place across the earth.
The seven burning lamps/eyes are symbolic of the omniscience and watchful of God. In the Book of Revelation, John sees a Lamb with seven eyes which are the seven Spirits that God has sent out over the whole world (Rev 5:6b). The complex fifth vision will become more understandable with the oracle referring to Zerubbabel that follows in verses 6b-10a).
10b "These
seven are the eyes of Yahweh, which range over the whole world."
This verse returns to the question in verse 5. If the lamps
are the eyes of Yahweh, then the lampstand probably is the Divine Person of the
Lord. The image of the all-seeing eyes of God is standard in the Biblical
tradition (2 Chron 16:9; Job 34:21; Ps 14:2; 66:7; Prov 15:3).
11 Then I
went on to ask him, "What is the meaning of these two olive trees, to the right
and left of the lampstand?" 12 And
I went on to ask him further, "What is the meaning of the two olive branches
discharging oil through the two golden openings?" 13 He replied, "do you not know what they
are?" I said, "No, my lord." 14 He
said, "These are the two anointed ones [sons of the oil] in attendance on the
Lord of the whole world."
In Revelation 11:1-13, the two olives trees are two
witnesses, wearing sackcloth and ashes (signs of mourning) that Yahweh sends to
prophesy to "the end." In Zechariah's vision, the angel identifies the two
olive trees as "the two anointed ones," literally in Hebrew, "sons of the oil,"
who evidently represent the two men chosen by God to serve Him in the restored
Israel/Judah: Joshua, the priest (3:1-10) and Zerubbabel, the Persian governor
(Hag 1:1) who is the Davidic prince and heir to David's throne and the Davidic
covenant (Hag 2:20-23; Mt 1:13). These two men are responsible for the
restoration of the Temple that will quench God's wrath against Judah and restore
His relationship with His covenant people. It is significant that the roles of
priest and prince come together to guide the covenant people. The inspired
writers of the New Testament depict Zerubbabel's descendant, Jesus of Nazareth,
as the fulfillment of this priest-king ideal!
The oil is probably not the holy oil used for the consecration of priests or anointing of kings, but rather the oil used for cooking and fuel for lamps. The significance may be if the divine lamp burns natural oil, then perhaps there is an interrelationship between the human and divine world since the blessing of human abundance is connected to the divine light.
Zechariah 4:6b-10a ~ The Third Oracle: Three Sayings
About Zerubbabel
6b This is
the word of Yahweh with regard to Zerubbabel, "Not by
might and not by power, but by my spirit," says Yahweh Sabaoth. 7 "What are you, great mountain? Beside
Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! He will bring out the keystone while it
is cheered with Hurrah! Hurrah!" 8 The
word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows, 9 "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of
this Temple; his hands will finish it. Then you will know that Yahweh Sabaoth
has sent me to you. 10a A
day of little things, no doubt, but who would dare despise it? How they will
rejoice when they see the chosen stone in the hands of Zerubbabel!"
This passage is Zechariah's third oracle that concerns Davidic prince Zerubbabel, the Persian governor of Judah and the grandson of Davidic King Jehoiachin who the Babylonians deposed and took into exile in Babylon (1 Chron 3:17-19; 2 Kng 24:8-12). The Third Oracle is in three parts and concerns Zerubbabel:
Verse 6 is significant to Rabbinic Judaism with its message that it is not human power that moves forward the history of humanity, but the power of God. Its message was inscribed on the front of many rebuilt Synagogues after World War II, including the Synagogue in Cologne, Germany.
The previous complex vision becomes more understandable with the three-part oracle referring to Zerubbabel. Haggai's 4th oracle addressed specifically to Zerubabbel was in December 520 BC: When that day comes, Yahweh Sabaoth declares, I shall take you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel my servant, Yahweh declares, and make you like a signet ring. For I have chosen you, Yahweh Sabaoth declares (Hag 2:23). Zechariah's oracle is two months later in mid-February.
Question: Who is Zerubbabel and what is his
connection to King David and Jesus Christ? See Matthew's genealogy of Jesus in
Mt 1:12-16 that Biblical scholars believe is Jesus' legal descend through His
adopted father Joseph and Luke's genealogy in Lk 3:27-32, understood to be the
bloodline link to Mary.
Answer: Zerubbabel was a descendant of King
David. The two genealogies split between David's son Solomon and Nathan but
come together again in Zerubbabel.
David
Solomon Nathan
Zerubbabel
Joseph Mary
The prophet Joel also speaks of "that day" in Joel 1:15, referring to the "day of Yahweh" when He will intervene directly in human history by a mighty act; it is associated with heralding the coming of the Messiah to consummate the healing of humanity. A "signet" was a type of seal either worn as a ring or on a chord around the neck. Its function was to leave an impression in wax or clay that served as the owner's signature to authority or authenticate a document or to ensure that it was sealed shut by the owner (cf., Gen 41:42). Persian King Darius I used his signet ring to seal the stone over the lion's den in Daniel 6:17. Rulers also gave signet rings to individuals as signs of a high office like the signet ring Esther's husband, King Xerxes, presented to Haman (Esth 3:10ff) and later to Mordechai (Esth 8:2, 8). It could also indicate a pledge of full payment for a debt. In this passage, it may even serve as the reversal of the curse placed on Zerubbabel's grandfather, King Jehoiachin in Jeremiah 22:24.
"Not by might and not by power, but by my spirit,"
says Yahweh Sabaoth.
Part one of the Zerubbabel oracle: The success of
Zerubbabel will not come as a result of his personal power but the Spirit of
Yahweh.
7 "What
are you, great mountain? Beside Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! He will
bring out the keystone while it is cheered with Hurrah! Hurrah!"
Part two of the Zerubbabel oracle: The "great mountain"
is probably an opponent of Zerubbabel, perhaps Tattenai, the governor of
Transeuphrates who opposed the rebuilding of the Temple and sent a letter
denouncing the reconstruction to King Darius (Ezra 5:3-17). The unnamed person
who opposes the rebuilding of the Temple will not be a problem because God will
reduce him from his influential position as a "mountain" to the lowly status of
"a plain."
8 The word
of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows, 9
"The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this Temple;
his hands will finish it. Then you will know that Yahweh
Sabaoth has sent me to you. 10a A
day of little things, no doubt, but who would dare despise it? How they will
rejoice when they see the chosen stone in the hands of Zerubbabel!"
Verse 8 is the third part of the oracle. The foundation stone
from Solomon's Temple, destroyed by the Babylonians in 587/6 BC, will be
incorporated into the foundation of the new Temple and set in place by
Zerubbabel amid the shuts of the people.
Then you will know that Yahweh Sabaoth has sent me to you.
This is the third of four times the phrase "Then you will
know that Yahweh Sabaoth has sent me" is repeated, but three of those repeats,
in 2:16, 4:9, and 6:15, add the words "to you" (plural), referring to the
covenant people:
In Haggai 2:23, God selected Zerubbabel as the centerpiece of His Divine Plan; he is God's own "signet ring," stamped with God's name as His representative. He now serves as a guarantee that future glory for the covenant people will come from his descendant and God's servant, the "ME" who is the Davidic Messiah.
Haggai predicted that Yahweh would set Zerubbabel as the center of a Messianic dynasty that will continue through him as a descendant of the great King David (Hag 2:20-23). This prophecy would have assured the people that Yahweh had not forgotten the Davidic covenant that promised an eternal Davidic kingdom and a spiritual restoration through a Davidic "shepherd." It recalls the prophecy Ezekiel, the 6th century BC prophet of the exile. As Yahweh's divine messenger he told them: The word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows, "I shall raise up one shepherd, my servant David, and put him in charge of them to pasture them; he will pasture them and be their shepherd. I, Yahweh, shall be their God, and my servant David will be ruler among them. I, Yahweh, have spoken. I shall make a covenant of peace with them (Ez 34:1, 23-25a).
In the Gospel of John, Jesus, son of Zerubbabel, son of
David, will tell the Jewish crowds:
"I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd lays down
his life for his sheep... I am the good shepherd; I know my own, and my own know
me, just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father; and I lay down my life
for my sheep (Jn 10:11, 14-15).
However, the prophecies concerning the one sent by God at who's "coming" the people will then know that Yahweh Sabaoth has sent me to you cannot be Zerubbabel. He does not bring the conversion of many nations, but he does lay the foundation of the Second Temple as well as the human foundation that will result in his descendant, Mary of Nazareth (the daughter of Zion) and the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. Zerubbabel will disappear from the Biblical record after Zechariah 4:10 only to reappear in the New Testament genealogies of Matthew 1:12-13 and Luke 3:27.
The physical Temple of God in Jerusalem was only a "sign" of what was to come. Jesus is Himself the new and superior Temple (Mt 12:6) whose destiny was to be destroyed in death and rebuilt in His Resurrection on the third day (Jn 2:19-21). In the New Covenant in Christ Jesus, every Baptized Christian becomes a temple of God's presence (1 Cor 6:19). St. Peter called Christians the "living stones" built into a spiritual temple that gives pleasing worship to God (1 Pt 2:5; CCC 583-86, 593, 756, 797-98). And at the same time, Christians are incorporated into the Body of Christ as "living stones" to become the Kingdom of His Church, united into a holy spiritual temple in which the Spirit of God dwells (1 Cor 3:16; 2 Cor 6:16); Eph 2:19-22). At the end of time as we know it, when the Christ returns in glory, He will destroy death and create a new Heaven and earth, and He will bring down the heavenly Temple of the New Jerusalem as the dwelling place of God among the angels and saints (Rev 21:1-4).
Zechariah 5:1-4 ~ The Sixth Vision: The Flying Scroll
1 Again
raising my eyes, I had a vision. There was a flying scroll. 2 The angel who was talking to me said,
"What do you see?" I replied, "I see a flying scroll; it is twenty cubits long
and ten cubits wide." 3 He
then said to me, "This is God's curse sweeping across the face of the whole
country; for, according to what it says on one side, every thief will be
banished and, according to what it says on the other, everyone who commits
perjury in my name will be banished from it. 4 I am going to release it, Yahweh Sabaoth declares, for
it to enter the house of the thief and of anyone who commits perjury in my
name, for it to settle deep within his house and consume it, timber, stone and
all."
Both the prophet Ezekiel in the 6th century BC and St. John in the 1st century AD saw visions of scrolls (Ez 2:1-10 and Rev 10:8-11). Ezekiel's scroll also had writing on the front and back like Zechariah's scroll and both contained curse judgments. John's scroll was small and not large like Zechariah's, but it also contained judgments against nations, and like Ezekiel, he was told to eat his scroll.
The flying scroll was immense; its measurements equated to 30 feet long and 15 feet wide or about 9 meters long by 4.5 meters wide. Its size is equal to the portico of Solomon's Temple (1 Kng 6:3). The angel explains that it represents God's judgment on the land of Judah to purify it from wickedness when the people complete the rebuilding of the Temple, and God's law is again taught and practiced. The judgment against perjury in verse 4 is what initiated the practice for those giving testimony in a court of law being required to place their right hands on a Bible and to swear an oath in God's name to tell the truth or fall under His divine judgment. Although the passage only mentions theft and perjury (violations of the 8th and 9th commandments), they are probably intended to be representative of the sins of the people.
Zechariah 5:5-11 ~ The Seventh Vision: The Woman in
the Barrel
5 The
angel who was talking to me appeared and said to me, "Raise your eyes, and see
what this is, going along." 6 I
said, "What is it?" He said, "It is a bushel measure [ephah] going along." He
went on, "This is their guilt throughout the country." 7 At this a disc of lead was raised, and
I saw a woman sitting inside the barrel [ephah]. 8 He said, "This is wickedness." And he
rammed her back into the barrel and jammed its mouth shut with the mass of
lead. 9 I raised my eyes,
and there were two women appearing. The wind caught their wings, they had
wings like a stork's; they raised the barrel midway between earth and heaven. 10 I then said to the angel who was
talking to me, "Where are they taking the barrel [ephah]?" 11 He replied, "to build a temple [house]
for it in the land of Shinar and make a pedestal on which to put it [the ephah
will be set in place there]." [...] = Hebrew, IBHE, vol. III, pages
2163-2164.
In the reoccurring symbolic images of the Old Testament prophets, the prophets presented Israel in covenant union with Yahweh, her Divine Spouse, as a chaste Bride while they depicted a sinful and unrepentant Israel as a wicked, adulterous wife or harlot (see the document The Symbolic Images of the Old Testament Prophets).
In the seventh vision, the woman in the barrel or basket, literally an ephah, represents the collective sins/wickedness of Israel/Judah and impiety personified, as the angel explains to Zechariah in verse 6. Zechariah sees the image of wickedness contained in an ephah, a standard dry measure equal in size of 1.25 bushels, but here the vessel is larger than the standard ephah. The names of capacity measurements were derived from what was used to hold the measurements, so what holds the image of the woman of wickedness must look like the vessels that contained an ephah of dry goods.
8 He said,
"This is wickedness." And he rammed her back into the barrel and jammed its
mouth shut with the mass of lead.
When Scripture uses the word "wickedness," it is used as
a general term denoting acts of moral, religious, and civil evil and as an
antonym for "righteousness" (e.g., Ps 13:6; Ez 33:12). There is a similar
image of a woman of wickedness in Revelation referred to as the "great
prostitute" of Babylon (Rev 17:1-7). "Wickedness" in Scripture is associated
with idolatry. In Deuteronomy 8:18-20, Yahweh's covenant is said to be valid
so long as Israel does not walk after other gods, and Deuteronomy 9:4 uses the
term "wickedness of nations" as the justification of Israel's inheritance of
the land to separate the covenant people from the other nations.
The "two women" with wings in verse 9 could be agents of God or agents of the pagan goddess figure who are removing pagan influence from a land purified by Yahweh. The Northern Kingdom of Israel (722 BC) and the Southern Kingdom of Judah (587 BC) fell under Divine Judgment for their apostasy in turning away from Yahweh, worshipping pagan gods by building altars for them and making sacrifices to them, including the sacrifice of children.
Some commentators compare these winged female beings to the double winged Cherubim or the multiple winged Seraphim (Ex 25:19; Gen 3:24; Is 6:2-3). However, they not like the Cherubim or Seraphim since the passage identifies them as female and Scripture always identifies the Cherubim and Seraphim as male like the angels who have the appearance of "men" in Zechariah's visions. If they are agents of God, then this verse is the only occurrence in Scripture where winged agents/angels of God are female. It is more likely that they are agents of the goddess who is the personification of pagan wickedness that can no longer inhabit the land of the covenant people since they have repented their sins, have returned to obedience to Yahweh and His covenant, and God once again is going to dwell in Judah taking possession of His rebuilt Temple. Also, the passage describes the female figures as having "wings like a stork's" in verse 9. A stork was a ritually unclean bird (Lev 11:19; Dt 14:18), and an agent of God would never be described of having an attribute of anything that was ritually unclean. See the chart of ritually clean and unclean animals.
In answer to Zechariah's question in verse 10, the interpreting angel tells him the woman of wickedness is contained and is going to be carried away. Evil personified is going to a pagan house/temple in the "land of Shinar," an ancient name for Babylon from Genesis 10:10, and considered the center of the pagan world. Shinar was the site of the first widespread rebellion against Yahweh in the building of the Tower of Babel that resulted in the scattering of the peoples of the world and the confusion of languages, so there was no longer one human family (Gen 11:1-9). The image of Wickedness' mouth is sealed shut, so her influence is limited but not eliminated, only confined to the pagan world. No longer will pagan wickedness be able to seduce the hearts of the covenant people who dwell in the land God gave them to worship in the Divine Presence.
The message to the returnees is that God not only forgives the collective sins of His covenant people but in His mercy, He also carries away their temptation to return to pagan worship from the land, making it a Holy Land again.
Questions for discussion or reflection:
In 1 John 2:1, St. John describes Jesus Christ as our "Advocate
with the Father." Scripture in Acts 2:25, 33; 3:7; 7:55-56;
Rom 8:34; 2 Cor 6:7;
Heb 1:3; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2; and 1 Pt 3:22 tells us that after Jesus'
Accession to Heaven, He took His seat on the right hand of God the Father in
the heavenly court. How does Jesus act as the Divine Advocate for all believes
when they face Divine Judgment after physical death? What did Jesus say in Matthew 12:32-33 and Luke 12:8-9 that pertains to that judgment? Also see Heb 7:25,
CCC 519, 659.
How does Jesus combine the offices of both the High Priest Joshua and the Davidic prince Zerubbabel? See 1 Tim 1:15-17; 6:14-15; Heb 4:14-15 and Rev 17:14.
Endnotes:
1. Hakkohen hagadol in Hebrew is literally "great
priest" but usually rendered "high priest" in Jewish and Christian translations.
2. When preceded by the definite article "the," as in Zec 3:1-4, ha-satan is not a proper name. According to Hebrew etymology, it means "the adversary" (see 2 Sam 19:23; 1 Kng 5:18; 11:14, 23, 25) or "the accuser" (Ps 109:6).
3. For other meetings of the Divine Council with Yahweh on His throne and all the heavenly host standing before Him or to the side of Him see 1 Kings 22:19-22; Isaiah Chapter 6; Psalm 82; and Daniel 7:9-10.
4. Interlinear Bible Hebrew-English, vol. III, pages 1634, 1792, and 2161.
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Catechism references for the lesson (* indicates Scripture is quoted or paraphrased in the citation):