"The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you." [Zech 4:9]
One of the most popular prophecies is in Zechariah, where God used the prophet to speak to Zerubbabel, a man commissioned of God to rebuild the temple following the seventy year captivity of the Israelites in Babylon. The LORD greatly encourages this man, and those with him, who had up to this point, due to discouragement and fear placed in their hearts by the enemy, left off the work. For it is written,
“Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building, And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.” [Ezra 4:4-5]
And, after sending a letter to the king in favor of forbidding this rebuilding, a command was issued for them to stop. But with their obedience in this matter, God was not well pleased. Whereas they should have acted as Peter said, “we ought to obey God rather than men,” [Acts 5:29] they left off the work, and resumed diligence toward their own personal effects. Therefore, because of this, God stirred up and gave word to Haggai and Zechariah, who not only encouraged the work to restart and continue, but also helped alongside the people. The LORD spoke through Haggai, saying,
“Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes….Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.” [Hag 1:4-6, 9]
It is plain for us to see that because of their negligence to God’s command to rebuild and restore the temple, they were experiencing loss and suffering, not being able to fully enjoy the fruit of their work. But The LORD, gracious and merciful as He is, would not come to them with just rebuke, but also offered strength and hope. In Haggai, we read,
“Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the LORD, and work: for I am with you, saith the LORD of hosts.” [Hag 2:4]
And again, through Zechariah, God spoke,
“This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it….The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you. For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.” [Zech 4:6-7, 9-10]
From this, we receive much encouragement and strength towards that which God has called each of us specifically to. For The LORD tells Zerubbabel that through the power of His Holy Spirit, and not through his own innate strength or ability, but that through His provided grace working in Zerubbabel, he would finish the building of the temple. And whereas before, the enemy frightened him and thus left off building, now, by God’s Spirit and power, the work would certainly be finished, and at the end when all was said and done, Zerubbabel would be able to say nothing except “grace, grace[!]” Therefore in our own struggles and “mountains” as it were, we can take courage; for just as God was with Zerubbabel, so too He shall be with us, and say likewise to our timid and weak hearts, “be strong…and work: for I am with you, saith The LORD of Hosts.”
Certainly there is encouragement to be found here to revitalize and strengthen any who have fallen or felt discouraged, or to further spur on the man already busy at work. However, there is yet another truth put here of God by which we may receive encouragement.
The best strength and learning comes from when we see Christ in a passage. Jesus Himself says to us, emphasizing the subject of our learning, “take my yoke upon you, and learn of me.” [Mt 11:29] Therefore, let us look at another prophecy God gave through Zechariah where He speaks to Joshua the high priest, the man who helped lead alongside Zerubbabel, and to whom the prophecies in Haggai also were addressed.
“And speak unto [Joshua], saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD: Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” [Zech 6:12-13]
Upon reading God’s word regarding Joshua, “behold the man,” we are immediately reminded of what Pilate said, who when presenting Christ, exclaimed, “behold the man!” [Jn 19:5] And further, as The Lord called Joshua “The BRANCH,” we remember in Jeremiah God promised, “the days come…that I will raise unto David a Righteous Branch…and this is His name whereby He shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” [Jer 23:5-6] In this, we see that though Zechariah spoke to Joshua, yet the prophecy is ultimately and fully intended for The Messiah, Jesus Christ, and it is there in which we shall find its greatest application and fruit. Therefore, when we hear God say, “the hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it,” and again to Joshua regarding the same work, “he shall build the temple of The LORD…and He shall bear the glory…” we can see that it is truly Christ who shall do these things. Whereas Zerubbabel and Joshua built a physical temple, Christ builds a spiritual temple. Whereas the prophet reveals they shall build, finish, and bear the glory of the temple, in the fullest sense, it is Christ Jesus who has and is building His spiritual temple, the Church; who shall finish it; and who also shall receive and bear all the glory thereof.
Regarding the first truth, that the Church is Jesus’ temple; we read in the New Testament, “ye are the temple of the Living God,” [2 Cor 6:16] and,
“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” [1 Cor 3:16]
And also,
“Ye also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” [1 Pe 2:5]
And once more,
“But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.” [Heb 3:6]
Amazingly, God desires to dwell in us. Over and above fancy buildings or ornate structures hemmed out of precious stone, God desires chiefly to dwell in man; [Isa 66:1-2] and Christ, who is God, dwells in us, His temple, through His Spirit. What a privilege it is to bear the presence and glory of Jesus Christ in our hearts and in our bodies. And let us be encouraged also by the latter two points from Zechariah: first, that Jesus shall finish building His temple, and second, Jesus will receive all the glory.
In answer to the first, we are greatly encouraged that Jesus shall finish the work He began. He shall not leave off for fear of the enemy like some have done; He shall not grow weary and leave off the work either; no, Christ Jesus shall never, until we are complete, stop working in our lives. Let us be “confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ;” [Phil 1:6] for it is written, “The LORD will complete that which concerneth me,” and, “faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it.” [Psa 138:8, 1 Th 5:24] Moreover, in answer to the second, we ought to remember it is Christ Jesus who shall receive the glory. We “serve the Lord Christ” [Col 3:24] and He is the one that will bear all the glory; for it was His blood that was shed for us. “Yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” [Rom 8:34] To Jesus Christ we shall lay our crowns down one day in submission, humility, and gratitude. He is King, and not us; He shall bear the glory, and not us. Therefore, let us not seek after it, “for whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” [Lk 14:11]
Let us be confident and rest in Christ: for He is building us and shall see to it that we are completed. For He is not a lazy or crooked builder, but faithful and diligent and skilled. And let us be humble to His rule, for He is King, He is High Priest, and He is the one who shall get all the glory.
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