Zechariah

Desultory thoughts on reading through Zechariah the second time. If you are reading this entry, be forewarned of my lack of organization here.

Lots of visions and prophecies that are difficult to place or interpret. One clear Messianic prophecy about a forthcoming Man whose name is BRANCH, who is to build the temple of the Lord and rule from His throne their as priest of the Lord.

It's interesting that we think of Jesus in the role as Savior so often and yet never consider what it means when the Old Testament calls Him a priest.

An interesting historical point is that the name "Jesus" is a Greek word that derives from the Hebrew "Yeshua," which both means "salvation" and is itself a derivation of "Yehoshua," which in the modern language translates to "Joshua." In other words, there's strong evidence that the names "Jesus" and "Joshua" were heavily related and possibly even interchangeable. What then do we make of Zechariah 3? In Zechariah 3, Joshua the high priest is shown standing before the Angel of the Lord. Already, the image is confusing theologically because both the Angel of the Lord and Joshua from the Old Testament are considered by many circles to be foreshadowing manifestations of Christ. Joshua the high priest is first clothed in filthy garments as he stands before the Angel, and the Lord commands that his filthy garments be stripped away and replaced with rich robes and a clean turban. And then the Lord promises Joshua the high priest that if he walks in His ways and keeps His commands, then he will judge the Lord's house and have charge of His courts.

Seems like Joshua here, who may not be linked to Joshua the son of Nun, is a pretty clear visual representation of a coming Messiah's restoration from filth to glory.

It's also relevant to note that in this text, the Angel of the Lord and the Lord are used interchangeably. I've always wondered about the capital letter Angel of the Lord, whether he is an angel with special authority or whether He is an incarnation of the Lord. Texts like Zechariah seem to indicate the latter, and a lot of people jump to the assumption that it's Jesus by another name, but what precludes the Angel of the Lord from being a fourth person of God, upgrading the paradigm from Trinity to Quaternity?

In chapter 7, verse 5, the Lord asks the people of Israel, "When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months during those seventy years, did you really fast for Me -- for Me?" This verse is hilarious to me because of the immortal words of Ivan Drago in Rocky IV: "I fight for ME! For ME!"

Finally, a verse in chapter 8. For several years, I have tried to find ways to communicate how I think Israel plays into God's plan for the salvation of the nations. That instead of revealing Himself to the world at large, He chose Israel and gave her His laws and presence and favor so that the world would see and marvel and become jealous and want some of that awesome God thing that Israel had going for her. So it's a nice picture in Zechariah 8:23 that encapsulates that thought: "Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'In those days, ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you."'"

If you stand with Israel because you believe that God is still glorified in the way He preserves Israel, or if you believe that you are an ambassador for Christ, you should ready yourself for people tugging on your sleeves, wanting to come with you because in you they see the Lord.