Some consider this to be the ninth vision of the prophet. It is,
however, the Word of the Lord which comes to the prophet. There can
be no doubt but the command was actually carried out and Cheldai
(robust), Tobiah (God's goodness), and Jedaiah (God knows), gave
their silver and gold, and crowns were made out of it and placed upon
the head of Joshua the high priest. But the action had a much deeper
meaning. It was a highly typical one. It must have astonished Joshua
and the people to hear such a command, for the royal crown did not
belong to the high priest but to the descendant of David. He must
have understood that the whole command had a symbolical bearing.
Joshua hears it from the Word of the Lord that another person is only
typified by him, "Behold the man whose name is the Branch." It is
this man the Branch who will be a priest upon the throne. This, of
course, is our Lord Jesus Christ. The name of the high priest Joshua
is in itself very significant, for the meaning is, God is salvation,
Saviour, Jesus. Pontius Pilate was fulfilling prophecy when he stood
there leading out Jesus of Nazareth before that tumultuous multitude,
and when he said "Behold the man." If the assembled Jews had known
the Scriptures they would have recognized the phrase. But how did he
then come forth? He wore a crown of thorns upon His meek and loving
brow, and the people gazed into the blood-stained face of the Lamb of
God now ready to be placed upon the altar and slain. But once again
it will sound forth, "Behold the man," for when He appears it will be
after He has gathered His saints, and then He will come as the Son of
Man in the heavens, and the sign of the Son of Man will be seen
there. He will be crowned again, too, but not with the crown of
suffering and shame, but with the crowns of glory. Thus he is seen in
Revelation xix: 12 as wearing many crowns.
He comes to build the temple of Jehovah, bearing majesty, sitting and
ruling upon His throne. He is now the builder of the spiritual temple
which is composed of living stones (Eph. ii: 21; 1 Peter ii: 5). But
when He comes again there will be the building of another temple. It
is now no longer His Father's throne but His own, upon which He is a
priest as well. The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords has now taken
possession of His inheritance. The times of overturning are over and
He whose right it is has come. There is a very instructive thought in
the fact that the persons of the exile, as mentioned above, were to
bring the silver and the gold out of which the crowns were to be
made. The time will come when the whole exiled nation, so long
scattered and peeled, though even in dispersion, the richest nation
of the earth, will bring their silver and gold, their glory and their
all and lay it at the feet of the King.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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