The Messiah Anna Longed For

Zechariah 6:12-15 You are to tell him: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: Here is a man whose name is Branch; He will branch out from His place and build the Lord’s temple. ¹³ Yes, He will build the Lord’s temple; He will be clothed in splendor and will sit on His throne and rule. There will also be a priest on His throne, and there will be peaceful counsel between the two of them. 14 The crown will reside in the Lord’s temple as a memorial to Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen^[a] son of Zephaniah. ¹⁵ People who are far off will come and build the Lord’s temple, and you will know that the Lord of Hosts has sent Me to you. This will happen when you fully obey the Lord your God.” (HCSB)

The Branch would be a priest who would build the Lord’s temple.

He would not rebuild Solomon’s temple or Herod’s temple. He, instead, would build the true temple of the Lord.

But this priest and temple builder has another role in this passage. He would sit on his throne and rule.

God-fearing Jews had to wonder at this. By heritage and by law, priests could not be kings and kings could not be priests. In fact, Scripture mentions punishment by God and/or man for people trying to take on both the religious and organizational leadership. (For instance, God punished Aaron and Miriam for trying to take over Moses’ leadership in Numbers 12. Or in 1 Samuel 13, God punished Saul for trying to act as priest when Samuel was delayed.)

Nor did priests or kings build their own temples. That required yet another specific calling.

Each job, builder, priest or king, had a unique calling and physical legacy.

But what would Anna truly love about this builder-priest-king?

1. He will be clothed in splendor perpetually. Priests of her day might look elegant entering the temple, but they looked foul and stunk when they left.
2. He would establish peace between the priesthood and kingship. Rather than jockeying for authority, the two positions would be of one accord.
3. He would beckon people from afar off to be part of the temple. The alludes that the Gentiles would have complete inclusion.
4. He would establish full obedience to God. To do this, the curse must be lifted.

This builder-priest-king can only be the Messiah!