Zechariah 6:9-15--The Crown and the Temple

Zechariah 6:9-15
English Standard Version

The Crown and the Temple
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.

15 “And those who are far off shall come and help to build the temple of the LORD. And you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. And this shall come to pass, if you will diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God.”

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We are now done with the series of visions that came back full circle, and Zechariah is now going to be given instructions to speak to a group of exiles that are returning from Babylon.  They will be bringing silver and gold with them which Zechariah is supposed to take from them to give to Josiah the son of Zephaniah to make a crown.  Then they are to put the crown on the head of Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest.

Then a message was given to Zechariah to give to Joshua the high priest.  Joshua is referred to as "The Branch" (though he is but a prophetic type of the true Branch that was to come, who is Jesus).  Joshua was the one selected by the LORD to rebuild the Temple and be the spiritual leader of His restored people.  This prophecy will ultimately be fulfilled by Jesus who will be both High Priest and King over His people whom He has built into a Temple of praise.   The crown would remain in the Temple of the LORD as a reminder of this promise.

Then the LORD promised that He would even cause the other nations to come from far away to help rebuild the Temple.  In this way, the people would know this was a miracle of the LORD.  All they need to do is obey His Word and He will work out all the details.  They have not to worry about.  It's too big for them to do, but not too big for Him to do.