Make a crown, and set it on the head of Joshua, the high priest
Mon, 19 December, 2005: Today’s Bible readings.
9 And the word of the LORD came to me: 10 “Take from the exiles Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon, and go the same day to the house of Josiah, the son of Zephaniah. 11 Take from them silver and gold, and make a crown, and set it on the head of Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 12 And say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD. 13 It is he who shall build the temple of the LORD and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne. And there shall be a priest on his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.”‘ 14 And the crown shall be in the temple of the LORD as a reminder to Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen the son of Zephaniah.
In the Old Testament, the high priest and the king were two different offices that could never be held by the same person. By God’s command, the rightful kings were all descendants of David. God had promised that He would not take the kingdom away from the descendends of David. David was from the tribe of Judah. By God’s command, the high priest was a descendant of Aaron, and therefore was from the tribe of Levi.
But here we see God command Zechariah to crown the high priest, and to declare that he shall sit and rule on his throne.
What do we learn from this?
God here speaks of Joshua the high priest in messianic terms, in essence uniting the role of high priest and king. He calls him the Branch, a term used to describe the coming messiah:
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.”
Joshua was not the messiah, but in his role of being high priest during the time of rebuilding the temple after the Babylonian captivity, God uses Joshua to reveal more about the coming messiah.
Where is Christ in this passage?
As the Messiah (God’s anointed one), Jesus Christ combines the role of high priest and king in the one person. He is the Branch prefigured by Joshua, the high priest. He is the Son of David, and so is the rightful king. And He is high priest, not from the line of Aaron, but in the order of Melchizedek.
