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You may turn to Zechariah chapter 
6 as we come to the final portion of the symbolic section of this 
particular book. Remember from our introduction, 
chapter 1, verses 1 to 6 are introductory in nature, where 
the people of God are told to seek the Lord, to return to the 
Lord, and God would return to them. And then in chapter 1, 
beginning in verse 7, all the way here to the end of chapter 
6, there's a series of visions. And we're going to look at that 
8th vision, that final vision this evening in chapter 6, verses 
1 to 8. And then chapter 6, verses 9 
to 15 is a symbolic act. God tells the prophet to crown 
Joshua the high priest. And this prefigures the coming 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we'll look at this 8th vision. and the coronation of Joshua 
the high priest in chapter 6. I'll begin reading in verse 1. Then I turned and raised my eyes 
and looked. And behold, four chariots were 
coming from between two mountains. And the mountains were mountains 
of bronze. With the first chariot were red 
horses. With the second chariot, black 
horses. With the third chariot, white 
horses. And with the fourth chariot, dappled horses, strong steeds. Then I answered and said to the 
angel who talked with me, What are these, my Lord? And the angel 
answered and said to me, These are four spirits of heaven who 
go out from their station before the Lord of all the earth. The 
one with the black horses is going to the north country, the 
white are going after them, and the dappled are going toward 
the south country. Then the strong steeds went out, 
eager to go, that they might walk to and fro throughout the 
earth. And he said, Go, walk to and fro throughout the earth. 
So they walked to and fro throughout the earth. And he called to me 
and spoke to me, saying, See, those who go toward the north 
country have given rest to my spirit in the north country. Then the word of the Lord came 
to me, saying, Receive the gift from the captives, from Heldi 
to Bijah and Jediah, who have come from Babylon, and go the 
same day and enter the house of Josiah, the son of Zephaniah. 
Take the silver and gold, make an elaborate crown, and set it 
on the head of Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 
Then speak to him, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts, saying, 
Behold a man whose name is the branch. From his place he shall 
branch out, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. Yes, 
he shall build the temple of the Lord. He shall bear the glory, 
and shall sit and rule on his throne. So he shall be a priest 
on his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them 
both. Now the elaborate crown shall be for a memorial in the 
temple of the Lord for Helem, Tobijah, Jediah, and Hen, the 
son of Zephaniah. Even those from afar shall come 
and build the temple of the Lord. Then you shall know that the 
Lord of hosts has sent me to you, and this shall come to pass 
if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God. Amen. Well, let us pray. We'll remember 
the Dido family. Joe emailed today. There is sickness 
in their home. That's why they weren't at church 
this morning. So, we'll remember to pray for 
their physical health. Father, we thank You for Your 
Holy Scripture and we pray now for the ministry of Your Spirit 
to guide us through this prophet Zechariah. God, teach us lessons 
applicable to our own situation as a church in the 21st century. 
We know that Your Word was written to specific audiences. But certainly 
it was written for us, for our encouragement, for our admonition. 
We pray, Father, for Your blessing upon the Ditto family. We pray 
that You would grant them physical health and recovery from these 
illnesses and just grant them grace to serve and to glorify 
You. We ask through Jesus Christ our 
Lord. Amen. Well, as I said, chapter 
6 ends the symbolic portion of this particular book. Chapters 
7 and 8 are more didactic or teaching. delegation of some 
people go to ask the prophet a specific question. And that's 
what chapters 7 and 8 are about. And then chapters 9 to 14 are 
prophetic in nature. They look to the future. And 
so, God willing, we'll take those chapters in the coming weeks. 
But as we look at this 8 vision, we see the vision proper in verses 
1 to 4, and then the explanation in verses 5 to 8. We ought to 
be very thankful to our God that when He gives visions, He gives 
explanations. The book of Revelation is very 
much like that. It is revealing. We ought not 
to be afraid of the book of Revelation. It is a book designed to reveal 
the glory of Jesus Christ. And when there is something symbolic 
given, when there is some sort of a visionary message, there 
is an angel there to interpret and to guide the seer into a 
proper understanding of the symbols used. And the same is the case 
here with the prophet Zechariah. We notice the vision proper beginning 
in verse 1. There's these two bronze mountains, 
and I believe these mountains represent the gateway to and 
from the presence of our God. When we get down to the explanation 
in verse 5, it says, These are four spirits of heaven who go 
out from their station before the Lord of all the earth. I 
believe the idea is that God is in control. God is sovereign. God is the one who dispatches 
these chariots. God is the one who is taking 
care of all things for the good of His people, for the glory 
of His name. We ought to see the stability 
shown here, demonstrated here by the fact that these mountains 
are made of bronze. They are unshakable and unassailable. They are formidable. God Most 
High reigns and rules with all authority and with all power. This first chariot is driven 
by red horses. The second is black horses. The 
third is white horses. And the fourth is dappled, or 
are dappled horses. And I actually looked up dappled 
in the dictionary. It is a real word. It means modeled 
or spotted, marking as in a horse's coat. Modeled didn't help me 
too much, because I would have had to look that up. But I could 
deal with spotted. So these dappled horses are spotted 
horses. And then that's just the vision 
there. And then notice in verses 5 to 
8, the explanation. Bit of a difficult thing to try 
and interpret. I must confess, T.V. Moore and 
Thomas McCombski helped me immeasurably in my understanding of this particular 
section. But the chariot is used for a 
military application. The chariot wasn't simply something 
for a parade or just for transportation, but the chariot was used in battle. The chariot was used in war. 
The chariot was a sign of judgment, a symbol of authority. So, that's 
what we are seeing here. Proceeding from the presence 
of God is the authority of God. is the power of God, is the judgment 
of God. And we see these four chariots 
identified in verse 5, as we've already seen, as four spirits 
of heaven who go out from their station before the Lord of all 
the earth. And I believe the four spirits 
here indicate the universality of God's provision. the four 
ends of the earth, the four corners of the earth. The idea is that 
God has comprehensive control, that God has absolute sovereignty. It's not as if certain portions 
of the globe are off limits to God. No, rather He dispatches 
these spirits, these warring chariots, and they do His bidding 
in the entirety of His world. God sends these chariots to deal 
with the totality of the church's enemies. And I think that's the 
thrust of this particular vision. That as Judah has reconvened 
in Jerusalem, as they're building the temple, they will have at 
least a temporary reprieve from their enemies, the Lord God. 
through these warring spirits will keep their enemies at bay, 
will provide a climate, a context wherein they can build that second 
temple, wherein they will have a place for Jesus to come and 
be born, to live, to die, and ultimately to rise again. And then we notice the specific 
directions. The black and the white horses 
go to the north country. Now the north country represented 
the bad things for the people of God. It was from the north 
that Assyria came. It was from the north that Babylon 
came. So in this instance, these chariots... to fortify, to deal with, and 
to root out those enemies from the north. The south was Egypt. There were times in Israel's 
history that Egypt was an ally, but for the most part, she was 
an enemy of God's people. And so what the Lord is saying 
here is that through His provision and through His protection, and 
from that strong place of heaven itself, God will indeed protect 
His people. And then we notice the end result 
in verse 8, And he called to me and spoke to me, saying, See, 
those who go toward the north country have given rest to my 
spirit in the north country. John Gill comments, he says, 
By executing the judgments of God upon the Chaldeans, that's 
the Babylonians, and by helping, favoring, and delivering the 
people of the Jews, which were very agreeable to the will of 
God and well-pleasing in His sight, signified by the quieting 
or refreshing of His Spirit. And so basically, this eighth 
vision provides the context for the people of God to continue 
in their building program. That is its historical application. To be sure, there is a contemporary 
application. We can be assured that God Most 
High will watch out for His people. that though there may be trials, 
though there may be difficulties, though there may be temporary 
setbacks, God Most High sends forth these battle chariots to 
protect His church. The gates of hell shall not prevail 
against it. Jesus has promised to build her. Jesus is in the process of building 
her. And when we get to the book of 
Revelation, we see Jesus presenting her to God Most High as the fruit, 
of His redemptive work. So, this eighth vision, while 
it is a bit different than perhaps what we're used to, the bottom 
line is something that is common throughout the Bible. God is 
for His people. God protects His people. God 
has ways and means by which He deals with the enemies of His 
people. Now, let us look at this after 
this command to crown Joshua the High Priest. We've already 
met Joshua the High Priest in chapter 3, in that blessed picture 
of justification wherein sin is forgiven and the imputation 
of righteousness is signified by the clothing of Joshua with 
these new garments. Well, here the high priest is 
functioning in a typical role. He is a type. He is one that 
points forward to the anti-type, which is Jesus Christ the Lord. Notice first the commanded activity, 
verses 9-12, Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 
received the gift from the captives, from Heldai, Tobijah and Judiah, 
who have come from Babylon and go the same day and enter the 
house of Josiah, the son of Zephaniah." I believe these are the same 
men mentioned in verse 14. A bit of a variation on a couple 
of their names, but what's in view is the same group of people. The idea is that these men have 
immediately returned from Babylon, and they have silver and gold 
from Babylon. And so God Most High tells Zechariah 
to take that and to fashion a crown so that he can place it on the 
head of Joshua, the high priest. This is something what we find 
in the book of Haggai. The wealth of the nations would 
be brought to the Lord. And we see that in the book of 
Revelation chapter 21 as well. The idea being that the earth 
is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. And everything is God's, 
and in the final analysis, it will all be brought back to Him 
to praise Him and to honor Him and glorify Him. So, Zechariah 
fashions the crown, verse 11, take the silver and the gold, 
make an elaborate crown and set it on the head of Joshua, the 
son of Jehozadak, the high priest. So, he does this and then he 
crowns him. And then it says, speak to him 
saying, thus says the Lord of hosts. And here comes the announcement. Here comes the prophecy. Here 
comes the reality that this symbol is depicting. And it is the announcement 
of the coming branch. And we need to see, first of 
all, that the prophet uses an indefinite form of man in verse 
12. It's literally, behold, a man. He doesn't say, behold, the man. This picture, this symbol, this 
activity, this coronation does not end with Joshua. Joshua is 
simply a symbolic figure pointing to a man who is to come. Zechariah has already highlighted 
the branch in chapter 3, verse 8. He has said, Hear, O Joshua, 
the high priest, you and your companions who sit before you, 
for they are a wondrous sign. For behold, I am bringing forth 
My servant, the branch. We saw when we looked at that 
portion, God calls Jesus His servant in the prophet Isaiah. He calls His servant, the Lord 
Jesus, the branch. twice in the prophet Jeremiah. We can look at those passages. 
It helps us to understand something of what we're seeing here in 
Zechariah. Jeremiah chapter 23. Jeremiah 
23, beginning in verse 5. Behold, the days are coming, 
says the Lord. that I will raise to David a 
branch of righteousness. A king shall reign and prosper. 
and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah 
will be saved and Israel will dwell safely. Now this is His 
name by which He will be called the Lord our righteousness. So this branch is from the line 
of David. This branch is a son of David. This branch is coming to reign 
and rule and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. 
His particular function, His particular calling to His people, 
He is the Lord our righteousness. Remember in 1 Corinthians 1, 
Paul says that God has made Jesus our righteousness, our sanctification, 
our redemption. So, the Old Testament prophets 
were looking forward to this coming branch. to this one from 
the line of David, who would indeed occupy the throne of David 
and rule and reign over all things forever and ever. He comes up 
again in chapter 33 of the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah 33, verse 
14, Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will perform 
that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel 
and to the house of Judah in those days. And at that time 
I will cause to grow up to David a branch of righteousness. He 
shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In those days Judah 
will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell safely. And this is the 
name by which she will be called, the Lord our righteousness." 
So, we see this branch theology, or this person called the branch, 
figures in many places in the Old Testament Scripture. And 
here in Zechariah's day, they were to be encouraged to build 
this second temple, but they were to be inspired or strengthened 
to look forward to something greater than this second temple. Even the coming of the Lord Jesus 
Christ Himself. When we go back to Zechariah 
6, we see the branches roll in the temple. Very conspicuous. Notice in verse 12, Behold a 
man whose name is the branch, from his place he shall branch 
out, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. This indicates to 
us that this prophecy or this statement or this vision or this 
symbol does not have primary application to what they were 
then doing historically. This looks beyond. This is foreshadowing. This is something of a better 
time coming in Israel's future. And of course, we know that to 
be when the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world. Turn to 
John chapter 2 for a moment. We see the application of this. John chapter 2, in the life and 
ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. There are some well-meaning brethren 
out there that tell us there is a physical, structural temple 
in the church's future. I believe that is to misread 
the Scripture. The temple stood for a time to 
point to the One who would fulfill all that the temple represented. 
Now that Christ has come, He is, as we've seen in Revelation 
21, the temple of God. We don't need a physical structure. 
We don't need to go back to Jerusalem. We don't need to institute animal 
sacrifice. We don't need to go through all 
those types and shadows, for the substance has come, the realization 
has come, and we are to worship and praise and honor and glorify 
Him. It is not to spiritualize away 
the temple, but rather it is to see the temple fulfilled for 
all that it was purposed to be. The temple pointed to our Lord 
Jesus Christ. John the Apostle tells us that 
in John 2. Notice in verse 13, Now the Passover 
of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and 
He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves 
and the money changers doing business. When he had made a 
whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the 
sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned 
the tables. And he said to those who sold 
doves, Take these things away. Do not make my father's house 
a house of merchandise. Then his disciples remembered 
that it was written, Zeal for your house has eaten me up. So 
the Jews answered and said to him, What sign do you show to 
us since you do these things? Jesus answered and said to them, 
destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then 
the Jews said, it has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and 
will you raise it up in three days? But he was speaking of 
the temple of his body. Therefore, when he had risen 
from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this 
to them, and they believed the scripture and the word which 
Jesus had said. So to go back now and build a 
physical structure as a place in which God and sinners meet 
with sacrifice and all those sorts of things is to bypass 
the finished work of Christ. It is to go backward in redemptive 
history and do the very thing the writer of the book of Hebrews 
says we're not to do. Brethren, what Zechariah is prophesying 
of is the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, His perfect life 
of obedience to the law, His death at Calvary in terms of 
sacrifice and substitute and atonement, and then His resurrection 
from the dead and His current session at the right hand of 
God Most High. Zechariah in chapter 6, verses 
12 and 13 is preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And 
we need to hear Him. And we need to receive it. And 
we need to love it and act upon it. Thomas Makonsky again says 
this concerning the temple theology here in the prophet Zechariah. 
I believe this is very important. You may already have gathered 
that. There is a system out there, 
it's called dispensationalism, which teaches that there is a 
physical, structural temple in our future. I do not believe 
the Bible. I do not believe the New Testament, 
or the Old Testament for that matter, envisages such a thing 
for the church of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the yea and amen. Jesus 
is the fulfillment of these prophecies. Jesus has completed the work 
the Father has given Him. He rules and reigns at the right 
hand of His Father. The next significant event in 
terms of eschatology is His coming again in judgment to judge the 
living and the dead, to consummate the age, to present the kingdom 
unto His Father, and then God will be all in all, according 
to 1 Corinthians 15, 20-28. Bukowski said this, another overarching 
theme in the book of Zechariah is the symbolism of the temple. 
Now get this. As we move through the first 
part of the book, we begin to feel strange stirrings that there 
is more going on than the building of a structure. Remember, the 
historical application. They are building a structure. 
That's what Zechariah and Haggai were tasked to do. Preach to 
the people so that they would build that second temple, that 
structure. But as Thomas McCombsky says, 
as we start working through this book, there's that stirring. 
There's something beyond this building of a structure. He said, 
if this were the book's only concern, why do we read pronouncements 
of a coming king and of Gentiles coming in great numbers to Yahweh? Turn back to Zechariah 2 at verse 
11. Zechariah 2 at verse 11, it says, 
Many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and 
they shall become my people, and I will dwell in your midst. 
And then Zechariah chapter 6, verse 15, the very passage under 
consideration says, Even those from afar shall come and build 
the temple of the Lord. What is here is exceeding the 
limits and the confines of Palestine in the 6th century. What he is 
looking forward to is the cosmic, universal application of redemption 
through the power of Jesus Christ. He is preaching biblical globalism 
in terms of gospel ministry here. He goes on to say, at 612 we 
begin to learn the answer. For it is the branch who will 
build the temple. The sovereignty of God that brought 
the temple to completion has established on earth a temple 
far greater than the one on Mount Zion. The temple that the branch 
builds, the kingdom of God, which is resident now in the church 
and which God will bring to eternal fruition. That's what we see 
in Revelation 21 and 22. Zachariah is talking about New 
Covenant. Christianity. He is talking about 
the messianic reign of our Lord Jesus Christ. That time between 
the first and the second advent where Christ is at the right 
hand of the Father, ruling and reigning over all things for 
His church. Looking back at Zechariah 6.13, 
we see the branches function. He not only functions as temple 
builder, but we notice something about His particular office. 
Verse 13, He shall bear the glory. It is Christ who receives glory. It is Christ who is honored. 
It is Christ to whom the nations bow down in allegiance. It is 
Christ who is the center of our affections and the object of 
our worship. He must be. We come to the Father 
through the Lord and we praise Him and honor Him and He bears 
the glory. Notice that He is a King. Just 
like David's branch, according to Jeremiah 23 and 33, Zechariah's 
branch shall sit and rule on his throne. He will execute justice 
and judgment in the earth. He will reign from the right 
hand of the Father. But he not only sits enthroned 
as a king, But he also engages in the priestly activity. Look 
at verse 13. So he shall be a priest on his 
throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both. Well, brethren, on Wednesday 
nights, we've seen that there is one person who occupies the 
offices or possesses the role of priest-king. It is our Lord 
Jesus Christ. This is Zechariah's prophecy. 
This is the one to whom Zechariah points. He's not the only Old 
Testament author. The book of Psalms, specifically 
Psalm 1-2, combines those offices of priest and king into one glorious 
person. Jesus is of the order of Melchizedek. Melchizedek was the king of Salem 
and a priest unto our God. In Hebrews 5, verse 5, it says, 
So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, 
but it was He who said to Him, You are My Son, today I have 
begotten You. As He also says in another place, 
You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. 
So He is the One who in resurrection power sits enthroned at the right 
hand of the Father as Priest. or as king, and he exercises 
the office of a priest. As we saw on Wednesday night, 
A.W. Pink says he is a priest with 
royal authority, and he is a king with priestly tenderness. And 
then in Hebrews 2, combining those two offices again, verses 
11-13, it says, every priest stands ministering daily and 
offering repeatedly the same sacrifices which can never take 
away sins. But this man, after he had offered 
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of 
God, from that time waiting till his enemies are made his footstool. For by one offering he has perfected 
forever those who are being sanctified." So, Zechariah is preaching to 
us the priestly and the kingly office of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will build the temple. He 
will bear the glory. He will rule as king. And he 
will function as a priest. And lo and behold, we get to 
the New Testament. We find all those things fulfilled 
in the Lord Jesus. Verses 14 and 15 highlight the 
fact that this was not a contemporary situation in Israel. Notice in 
verse 14, now the elaborate crown shall be for a memorial in the 
temple. Joshua didn't continue to wear it. Joshua didn't continue 
to don this royal crown. Joshua was a symbol and a figure 
prefiguring the Lord Jesus Christ. Once this had been communicated, 
they took the crown off of Joshua, they put it in the temple, it 
was a memorial. When Israel would look at that 
crown, they would think of a day when there would be one, a king-priest 
who would come, who would exercise all of those blessed offices 
of kingly rule and priestly tenderness. That would be a standing picture 
in Israel to point them to the Lord Jesus Christ. We saw as 
well, or we alluded to verse 15, even those from afar shall 
come and build the temple of the Lord. The idea being that 
God Most High, as He is building, He takes Gentiles, He takes Jews, 
and He puts us together as living stones in this temple. Peter 
talks about that in 1 Peter 2. You ought to read that sometime. 
You ought to see the beauty of such a picture. We see in Ephesians 
2 that Jesus Christ, or because of Jesus Christ, those Gentiles 
who once were afar off are brought nigh through the blood of Jesus 
Christ. Zechariah sounds just like Paul. Zechariah sounds just like New 
Testament authors. as He is preaching the ministry 
and the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So, that's an overview 
of the section. We have three lessons to conclude. The first is obvious. We've already 
alluded to it. The Lord protects His people. 
You've got to get that from the eighth vision there. And I would 
submit that this was a temporary provision, because ultimately, 
as we saw in accordance with the seventh vision, Judah filled 
up the measure of her guilt. She was like that woman in a 
basket, that measuring basket. It filled up, that stone, that 
leaden disk was placed over it, and then she was transported 
away to Shinar, or to Babylon. No accident, when we get to the 
book of Revelation, the great boat there is called Babylon. I believe it's associated with 
Jerusalem, an apostate people. They filled up the measure of 
their guilt, culminating in the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
So God sends them away. He treats them as spiritual Babylon. So this would have been a temporary 
provision. But in the church, God has promised 
us. protection. God has promised 
us provision. Now, that doesn't mean if we 
sin or apostate, we deny the glory of God, we deny the deity 
of Jesus, He'll withdraw our lampstand. But as far as His 
genuine people, genuine believers on the Lord Jesus Christ, they 
are safe and secure. They are protected. They will 
be guided. They will be blessed. We will 
be kept unto that great day when we are presented before our God. 
Paul the Apostle tells us this in Philippians 1, he said, I'm 
confident that he who began a good work in you will complete it 
unto the day of Christ. God doesn't lose those for whom 
Jesus died. When Jesus saves you, you are 
saved to the uttermost. You may have some issues, you 
may have some trials, you may have some setbacks, but as God's 
people, you will persevere by His grace and for His glory. 
T.V. Moore commenting on the fact 
that the Lord protects His people. He says the history of the world, 
you've got to think like this, especially based on Ephesians 
1, 20-23. He says the history of the world 
is all arranged and conducted in reference to the destinies 
of the church. I'm convinced we don't think 
that way. And the agencies that control that history go forth 
from the seat of the church's great head, the unseen temple. In Ephesians 1, verse 20, it 
speaks of the glory of Christ, or the power of God, rather, 
manifested at the resurrection of Jesus. And then in 120 of 
Ephesians, he says, which He worked in Christ when He raised 
Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the 
heavenly places. far above all principality and 
power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, 
not only in this age, but also in that which is to come." That's 
right now. We're not waiting for Jesus to 
assume this posture of kingly rule and authority. Jesus has 
assumed this. Remember at His ascension, what 
did He do? He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on 
high. According to Peter on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, that 
is when He sat on David's throne. That is when Jeremiah 23 and 
33 began to be inaugurated. That is the rule of Christ our 
Lord. And then notice in verse 22 it 
says, And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be 
head over all things to the church. He is head over all things to 
the church. The church is the apple of His 
eye. The church is that portion that 
is specifically delightful to the Lord Jesus Christ. He rules 
and reigns the governments. He is, as John says in Revelation 
1, 5 and 6, currently ruler over the kings of the earth. But He 
has specific attention. He has an eye upon the church. Brethren, that ought to give 
you great encouragement. He goes on to say, "...which 
is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all." Our 
Lord Jesus is at the right hand of the Father and He protects 
His people. Our Savior can beat up everybody 
else's Savior. Our Savior is Almighty God. Our Savior cannot be cast off 
His throne. He cannot be stopped. He cannot 
be repositioned. He cannot be dispossessed from 
His throne. He is, forevermore, that King 
who has priestly tenderness. Never forget that. The Lord protects 
His people. Secondly, the Lord built the 
temple. We already saw that in Zechariah 
6, 12 and 13. He will build the temple. Again, 
the temple stood to point to Christ. Once Christ has come, 
once He has realized the covenant blessings, once He has become 
the mediator between God and man, we don't need a structure 
in Jerusalem. We don't need to pray that the 
Muslims' dome on the rock would collapse so that we can get busy 
to build the temple again, only for it to be destroyed. That 
is an exercise in biblical futility. The temple was destroyed in the 
first century by Christ through the Roman armies. The New Testament 
documents are replete with this fact. We as the people of God 
have realized the temple of God. We don't need a structure. Revelation 
21, we saw that. Read it again. Revelation 21, 
22, And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and 
the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun 
or the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated 
it. Now, I realize this looks ball work. This is not yet realized, 
but it's already being It's already present to some degree. As new 
creatures in Christ Jesus, we live in a blessed state. We are 
already blessed in God, experiencing the blessings of the New Covenant, 
though it's not yet been fully realized what we will have. He 
says, "...the city had no need of the sun or the moon to shine 
in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light, and 
the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, 
and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it." 
Haggai 2, 6-9. Pictured in the coming of those 
men from Babylon bringing their silver and their gold. For what? 
The temple. Isaiah 60 speaks of men from 
nations bringing their riches to the temple. That's what's 
going on here. Its gates shall not be shut at 
all by day. There shall be no night there. 
And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations 
into it. G.K. Beale in a very excellent book. 
I mean, I heartily recommend this book. It's not an easy read, 
but it's called The Temple and the Church's Mission. Biblical 
theology of the temple, and it begins in the Garden of Eden. 
And what he says is that Eden was a temple. Adam was a priest. That was his primary calling. 
We look at Adam, we say, hey, there's a work ethic, we need 
to go to our jobs. Well, the work ethic that Adam 
was engaged in was priestly. He was to extend that temple. 
He was to till the ground. He was to cause the glory and 
the knowledge of God to permeate the land. Brethren, that is what 
happened in the Garden of Eden. And as a result of sin, it was 
forfeited. But in Christ, it's going to 
be realized. And that's the thrust of Revelation 
21 and 22. I saw a new Jerusalem coming 
down. And it's a temple. G.K. Beale says, consequently, 
the new temple would be an eternal and perfect abode for God's universal 
presence because it would not be made with hands. That is to 
say, not of this old creation and without moral blemish. This 
is why John says in Revelation 21-22, I saw no structural temple 
in the new cosmos because the Lord God, the Almighty, and the 
Lamb are its temple. The former temples that were 
imperfect dwellings for God's presence are replaced by God 
and the Lamb in person. And here's the point. So that 
unrestricted dealings with God are possible. That's the point 
of the temple. When Solomon built the temple 
and when the exiles from Babylon built the temple, what was it 
to be? A place where God and sinners met. A place for communion. Isn't that what we have in Jesus? 
Isn't that what's realized in Christ? Isn't that what we already 
possess? So the temple simply pointed 
to what we enjoy as New Covenant believers. Kenneth Gentry says 
this, the visionary temple, he's speaking specifically of Ezekiel's 
vision. Ezekiel 40-48 deals with this 
grand visionary temple. Again, some well-meaning brethren 
say this is to be a physical structure in the millennium, 
re-institution of animal sacrifices. No, Ezekiel was preaching Jesus. 
Ezekiel was preaching the gospel. Ezekiel was using the figure 
of his day to communicate new covenant realities. So Gentry 
says the visionary temple of Ezekiel's vision is symbolic 
of the glorious presence of God in the kingdom of Christ coming 
in the New Covenant era. And it is so because even further 
defined, it is symbolic of Christ himself. Christ is the true presence 
of God which could only be hinted at in the temple construction. 
Now, I realize you probably haven't read G.K. Beale. I realize you 
haven't thought a lot about temples. What's the take-home lesson? 
Jesus is what Zechariah was talking about. That's the take-home lesson. You have communion with God the 
Father through Christ the Lord. You have intimacy. You have provision. You have protection. You have 
intimacy. You have everything in the Lord 
Jesus Christ. You don't need a physical structure. 
Now, the church is a great blessing. God has promised in a special 
way to be in the midst of His corporate people on the Lord's 
Day when we gather for worship. The Puritans and the Divines 
spoke much of the priority of corporate worship. We ought not 
to minimize that. Family religion is important. 
Private religion is important. You should read your Bible. You 
should pray. But you should be in the church when she gathers 
for worship. You should be in that place and 
engage in that due use of the ordinary means because it's in 
that that God has promised to bless and encourage and strengthen 
His people. And then the final observation 
and the final lesson is that we learn much of Christ. He bears 
glory. He is a king and He is a priest. 
The rest of the Bible testifies that He is also a prophet. Those 
three offices find their fulfillment in Jesus. He is our prophet. 
He speaks authoritatively to us by His Word and by His Spirit. He is our priest. And the two 
functions of a priest Jesus satisfies, Jesus fulfills. A priest intercedes. That means He prays for us. We 
have it in Romans 8. We have it in Hebrews 7. That 
Jesus ever lives to make intercession for us. That's a blessed thought. Your mom and dad may love you. 
They do love you. I shouldn't say they may love 
you. But they don't always intercede for you. Your husband loves you, 
but he doesn't always intercede for you. Jesus always lives to 
make intercession for His people. Isn't that a blessed thought? 
There's one at least now praying for us. But the priest doesn't 
only intercede, the priest offers sacrifice. And this priest is 
extra special. This priest, when it came time 
to offer sacrifice, brought the very best. It wasn't like in 
Malachi's day. We'll see that in Malachi chapter 
1. It was a bleak time in Israel's history. I mean, you think after 
the preaching of Zechariah and Haggai, after the temple was 
rebuilt, after everything was in place, certainly they would 
be full of zeal and desirous to worship God. Bad things happen 
very quickly. Enter the prophet Malachi. He 
comes along and he says, look, you can't bring lame and maimed 
and mangy sacrifices to God. You can't steal a sacrifice on 
the way to the temple. That's what they were doing. 
This generation, or at least probably a generation later, 
they would steal a sacrifice to take to the temple and say, 
oh God, bless me. Here's my offering. Now, Jesus 
wasn't like the Jews in Malachi's day. Jesus brought the best, 
namely Himself. And we see that throughout the 
pages of the New Testament. And Jesus is our King. We need 
a King to govern, we need a King to rule, we need a King to defend, 
and we need a King to protect. And Jesus occupies that role, 
that office, on His throne where He does execute judgment and 
justice throughout the earth. So those are some valuable lessons 
for the Church in the 21st century from Zechariah chapter 6. And 
if you don't know this branch, if you don't know this Jesus 
Christ, the one way is by believing the Lord, or believing the Gospel 
concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. The Gospel is simple, it's clear, 
it is evident in the pages of the New Testament. It is that 
Jesus died, that He rose again, and that all who believe on Him 
will have everlasting life. Come to the branch, come to this 
King Priest, because He will not cast you out. He issues that 
promise in John 6.37. He says, All that the Father 
gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will 
certainly not. cast out. That is a blessed statement 
from a blessed Savior, and we ought to worship and glorify 
Him. Well, let us pray. Father, we 
thank You for this branch. We thank You for this King Priest, 
and we thank You that He builds the temple, that He is the realization 
that all the temples stood for. And our Father, we look forward 
to that eternal state when we will enter in and see the glory 
of Jesus Christ so clearly manifested. We thank You for the down payment 
of that in our Lord's Day worship and in our private worship. God, 
how we thank You for Bibles and for prayer. the Holy Spirit and 
the means that You've given to the church. How we thank You 
that You are not a stranger, but You show Your face and You 
show Your grace and You show Your mercy. We love it as well, 
Lord God, when You show Your power to save sinners. And we 
pray that even today as Your Gospel has gone forth throughout 
this world, we pray that a multitude would come to know Jesus Christ 
as Lord and Savior. And it's in His name that we 
pray. Amen.