Shabbat Shalom. Please turn with me to the prophet Zechariah, chapter 6 today. The last vision that we find here in the prophecy of Zechariah is found in the 6th chapter. This is the eighth vision. Zechariah received this vision in verses 1 to 8. And then immediately following the vision in verses 9 to 15 of this chapter, we have a summary of all those eight visions that have been given to the prophet Zechariah by the Lord himself. I'm going to read these 15 verses and please follow me. We begin with verse 1. And I turned, and I lifted up mine eyes, and I looked, and behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains, and the mountains were mountains of brass.

In the first chariot were red horses, and in the second chariot black horses, and in the third chariot white horses, and in the fourth chariot grizzled and bay horses. Then I answered and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these, my Lord? And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits of the heavens which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth. The black horses which are therein go forth into the north country, and the white go forth after them and they grizzled go forth towards the south country and the bay went forth and sought to go that they might walk to and fro through the earth and he said get you hence walk to and fro through the earth so they walk to and fro through the earth then cried he upon me and spake unto me saying, Behold, these that go towards the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country.

And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Take of them of the captivity, even of Cheldai, of Tuviyah, and of Gediah, which are come from Babylon, and come thou the same day, and go into the house of Yehoshiah ben Tsephaniah, then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the heads of Joshua, the son of Yotzedek, the high priest, and speak unto I am 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 council of peace shall be between them both.

And the crowns shall be to Chelem, and to Tuviyah, and to Yediah, and to Chen, the son of Sephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of the Lord. And they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the Lord, and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me unto you and this shall come to pass if ye will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God. I conclude with verse 15 here of this chapter. I'm always amazed when I'm studying these passages how much in the ministry of the Lord to his servants including Zechariah as one of the prophets of Israel how much food of encouragement.

There is for the believers at that time, the nation of Israel, and for you and I as well today in these passages, in these visions. Now, as you know, Zechariah received eight visions. This is the final one in this prophecy of Zechariah. In fact, most Bible teachers teach that there are eight visions. Others suggest that there are 10 visions, but we have looked in our study and we have concluded that there are eight visions that Zechariah received. And the last vision is called really the vision of the four chariots and then in additional to that we have the symbolic act of Zechariah to summarize from verse 9 to verse 15 all these visions that the Lord had given this prophet of Israel we are still here in 520 BC and Zechariah is now getting the final vision and you notice as we began in the reading notice verse 1 and he lifted up mine eyes and he looked and he sees something again i want to emphasize that this is not a dream it is a vision all these.

Visions happen in the very same day in the time where Zechariah was before the Lord as we read it in chapter one it was the eight months in the second years of darius came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah the son of berakai so he sees now this final vision from here on the Lord going to begin to speak with him directly no longer through visions and here it is a very interesting vision because we learn from this vision that there is a message not only to Israel historically as we had it in the previous chapter that God is going to remove sin from among the nation of Israel this time in this final vision we have the truth concerning God removing sin from the nations of the world.

In fact, beloved brothers and sisters, what we learned from the last vision is what the angels of God have done. In the first vision, they came before the angel of the Lord as they were walking to and fro throughout the land. They presented before him the situation that existed. In the history of Israel, how the nations of the world have afflicted the nation of Israel. But in this vision, they are not longer coming to the Messiah, to God and presenting before him the problems. Now they are sent out to do his bidding, to do his activity and to deal with those that need to be judged by the Lord himself.

So look at this interesting vision in these chapters. First of all, we begin in verse 1 that Zechariah is lifting up his eyes and he sees, it says in verse 1b, he sees chariots. That's the first thing that he sees. But those chariots comes out from between two mountains, as it says here in verse 1, and the mountains were the mountains of brass. Now, many who will teach this passage, they will tell you that these two mountains, which are seen here, were mountains of brass, represent to us two things. Number one, There's two mountains representing in the land of Israel. Because remember, Zechariah was already in the land of Israel.

He sees visibly those two mountains representing those very important mountains in biblical history. Number one is Mount Moriah, or Mount Moriah, as we would know it. And the second mountain is the Mount Of Olives. Har Azitim ve Har Moriah. And in between these two mountains, there is a valley. This valley called the Valley of Kidron. It is interesting that many times when Yeshua taught in the temple in Jerusalem, which was on Mount Moriah, he went out of the temple, went down to the valley, and then went up to Mount Olives. They are very close to each other. You can literally see them near you, very close, as you visit the land of Israel.

And in between, there is a valley that is called the Valley of Kidron. Now, it's not coincident here that Zechariah sees those two mountains of brass. Mountains are not made out of brass. But in the Bible, in Scripture, brass, in Hebrew we call it nechoshet. Nechoshet was used in biblical time to build in the tabernacle two articles. Number one, the brazen altar, where the sacrifices have been consumed by God. And the laver, which was used for the priests to wash their hands and to cleanse themselves before they are doing a ministry unto the Lord. So what we really see here, beloved brothers and sisters, we see a scene in verse 1 of these great huge mountains.

And these mountains are made out of brass, speaks of a coming judgment of the Lord. In fact, I want you just for a moment to look with me at the prophet Joel in Joel chapter 3. And you will notice that in a place that is called the valley of yehoshaphat which is really linked and connected with the kidron valley Joel wrote about 800 bc long before Zechariah wrote his prophecy in about 520 bc and on we read Joel chapter 3 and verse 1 for behold in those days And in that time when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, listen to these beloved brothers and sisters, verse 2, I will also gather all nations and I will bring them down into the valley of Yehoshaphat.

And I will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel whom they have scattered among the nations and parted my land and they have cast for lots my people and have given a boy for an harlot and they sold a girl for wine that they might drink if you just go a little bit further down to verse 12 let the heathen be wakened and come up to the valley of Yehoshaphat for there I will sit and judge all the heathen round about again it is very interesting because the Hebrew name Yehoshaphat comes from two Hebrew words Yehovah Jehovah Shaphat is judging in fact The place where God is going to judge the nations in a future day at the end of the tribulation will be in that very same area in between the two mountains, Har Moriah, Mount Moriah and Mount Olives, where there is the Valley of Kidron linked to the Valley of Yehoshaphat where Jehovah will gather the nations to judge them because of how they have dealt, first of all, with the people of Israel.

And obviously with God himself and with his anointed the Messiah God had promised that he's going to judge not only his people as we had in chapter 5 but now this time to judge the nations of the world brass represent the fiery judgment of God as it was indeed on the brazen altar let me just remind you that the brazen altar was made out of brass the sacrifice will lay there and every time a lamb a ram was laid upon the altar the consuming fire of God judged the sacrifice and when the sacrifice was judged then the Israeli were delivered out of the judgment that he deserved the judgment on the altar produced a forgiveness for those that have accepted the bloodshed of the sacrifice which were laid upon the altar so in biblical time brass always represent judgment represent the consuming judgment also notice that the word chariots here is mentioned you remember in chapter one when Zechariah saw the first vision we only have the horses and their colors are mentioned.

But we don't have the word chariots mentioned now this is also tremendous interesting do you remember when Elijah was taken up by the chariots of fire into heaven, without death into the presence of God. Now, I always wondered, what are those chariots? It is so beautiful to see from the Bible that in Psalm 68 and verse 17, we have the interpretation of the chariots of God, where the psalmist says, in this case, it was David, the king of Israel, the psalmist of Israel, And he said, the chariots of God are twenty thousands, even thousands of his angels, of angels, and the Lord is among them as in Sinai in the holy place.

The chariots of God are thousands, as it says here, twenty thousand, even thousands of angels. Really, this expression of the chariots of God speaks to us volume of the angelic realm and the angelic being who are serving God, who are ministering spirits according to Hebrews chapter 1. They do the bidding of the Lord. They are serving Him and they are ministering for God's people on behalf of the people of God. And this is precious to see here that now Zechariah sees these chariots coming out from between those two mountains and the Scripture says very clearly and the mountains were mountains of brass to emphasize the judgment of God and so now we find out in this vision he continue in verse 2 and 3 and he gives us now what kind of chariots and the colors that the chariots head very interesting he sees now the colors of those horses that were leading those chariots he says the first one there were red horses in the second one there were black horses in the third chariot there was white horses and in the fourth chariot there were grizzled and bay horses the first one were susim adumin red horses the second one susim shorim black horses.

The third one was Susim Levanim, white horses, and the fourth one were Susim Vrudim, drizzled horses. But they were Amutzim, they were strong horses. And in what we really see that the chariots being led by those horses, and these, what we really have, servants of God. That are there ready to do the bidding of God, and they are ready to pronounce the judgment upon the nations of this world. Now, remember, brothers and sisters, that in the previous chapter, we saw that flying scroll, and there was a judgment upon Israel. Israel needed to be delivered from sin so God can use them for the future day.

Now, what he's doing, he's dealing with the nations of the world so verses 4 to 8 the angel of the Lord explained to Zecharia the vision now again if you would have been there and i'll be there and we see this vision we will not know what does it mean we'll ask the question and here Zecharia does he answered and he said unto the angel of God he said to him what are these my Lord tell me my Lord what are these he wanted to know the meaning of this particular vision now it is not easy to understand this because. In the next verses 5 6 7 and 8 the angel now give him an answer and the answer is not so clear and we really need the help of the Lord to understand it he began in verse 5 first of all the angel give him the answer that those four chariots are the four winds of heaven he says in verse five and the angel answered and he said unto me these are the four winds or the four spirits he says in the king James the four winds of the heavens which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth those four chariots that you see apparently we had it in the first vision those angels that were riding on those horses that we read that in the first vision in chapter 1 verse 7 on they came and they told the angel of the Lord what is the condition that prevailed upon the face of this earth but this time they are not presenting before him the problem this time it shows to us.

That there are four spirits of the heavens which go forth from standing before the Lord they are going out to do his biddings in Hebrew the same word for spirit is Ruach and for wind is Ruach For the Holy Spirit, the word is Ruach. It's the same Hebrew word. Here it's in plural, the four spirits of the heavens which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth. Apparently, as we know very well, we read Revelation chapter 6 in our reading earlier, and we noticed that in the beginning of the tribulation period, there will be these four horses that we read of them in Revelation chapter 6.

And those four horses have the very same colors that we have here in this passage but it suggests to us that the time have arrived when the Lord will send forth his ministering spirit he will send forth his agents if you will and he will bring about the discipline act upon the nations of this world they stand before him and now they are going out to do his bidding. We have a very similar need for us as believers today. If we are going to serve the Lord, we first have to stand before the Lord to be in his presence, to enjoy fellowship with him, and then he can send us to do his bidding.

Here, those four winds of the heavens which go forth from standing before the Lord of all years so here he is telling us in verse 5. The answer to who those four chariots are or what they are they are those agents who are ready to do the bidding of the Lord in this world in the coming day so we continue here in verse 6 and 7 and we find here the direction where do they go and you notice here it tells us first of all the black and the white going northwards verse 6 he says the black horses which other in go forth to the north country that is Babylon the far north the north country speaking about Babel the place where we just at the end of chapter 5 we know that it is the place that is called the land of shinar and in our Bible class even we pointed out last night that he speaks about confusion le balbel in Hebrew to confound to confuse it is the first time when the tower was built Genesis chapter 11 and God had confounded the language of all those people at that time and there was confusion began it was nimrod who began to rebel against God right there in that.

City, and it's all the way through the end of the age, at the end of the tribulation, where Babylon is ultimately going to be destroyed. He continues in verse 6, and then he says, and the grizzled went forth towards the south country, and the south country in Hebrew is called Teyman, El Teyman. Every time when you talk north, east, west, and south, it's always in relation to the land of Israel. North of Israel will be Babel. South of Israel will be Egypt. And again, beloved brothers and sisters, we know very well that Egypt had been throughout the ages representing the world and its ways. And God said to Israel, don't go down to the land of Egypt.

Egypt in the south is that which the Lord did not want his people to go there. It was out of Egypt when Israel came out into liberty from bondage into liberty on the way to the promised land so we find out the north and the south for some reason i don't know why we don't hear about east and west here the west will be the mediterranean the east will be what present-day jordan and petra area with the mountains and so we don't hear here about it but what we have here is the north and the south. Babel and the land of Egypt and so we find out now in verse 7 about the next one we don't hear anything about the red horse for one reason or another but it says the bay in verse 7 these are the strong one went forth and sought to go that they might walk to and fro through the earth and he said get you hence walk to and fro through the earth so they walked to and fro throughout the earth in fact he's telling to these horses representing his agents his angels who are there to do his bidding he said another three time this expression to walk to and fro that mean that they would walk throughout the lands of the world throughout this earth and they will do his bidding all throughout the lands of this world so you can see it is interesting vision and it's maybe hard to understand this but it is a vision that speaks of judgment in the brass they are coming from in between the two mountains Moriah and Zetim and they are coming right at the valley.

Of Yeroshaphat that the day coming where God is going to judge the nations of the world and of course verse 8 it tells us what the angels have been proclaiming that God's command was already enacted already God had been appeased with some of the direction that he sent these servants because it says in verse 8 then cried he upon me and he spake unto me and he says behold these that go towards the north Bavele the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country in other words they pacified God's wrath in relation to the land of Bavele in other words God already shows us that he had been appeased, if you will, because now his wrath and judgment is starting to flow.

It's starting to be accomplished. And as far as this verse tells us that God says that in the north country, it quieted my spirit in the north country, as he says here in verse 8 of this chapter. So this is interesting, very difficult vision, perhaps for us to understand. And I'm. Saying this, what I've said, because many Bible teachers come up with this conclusion concerning the four chariots and the four colored horses. They were leading those chariots, and it speaks to us of the coming judgment of God upon the face of this world. Now, I turn to Hebrews chapter 1. He's speaking about the angels, and the angels often in the Bible are called to be ministering spirits they are servants of God the responsibility is to do their bidding and when the writer to the Hebrews speaking about the Messiah he says in verse 4 being made so much better than the angels this is Yeshua he's so greater than the angels as he has by inheritance and obtain a more excellent name than they for unto which of the angels said he anytime thou art my son this day have I begotten thee and again I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son and again when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world he saith and let all the angels of God worship him not only that you and i are called to worship the Messiah Yeshua but even the angels of God who are servants of this blessed Lord and Savior they are the one that is said to us in the Bible it teaches us that.

Let all the angels of God worship him and serve him and verse 7 said and of the angels he saith who make his angels spirits and his ministers a flame of fire. In other words, the angels' service for the Lord are to be used, they're using the angels as his servants. Sometimes he used them as servants to bring blessings for the people of God, But sometime we see in the Bible that he uses the angels as a ministering spirits, as it says here, as having the flame of fire. They are the one who do his biddings. You remember when we read Revelation chapter 6, during the tribulation period, that those four horses that we see here are the judgment of God one by one.

Using his very angelic realm to judge this world in righteousness in the tribulation period because they are carrying out the service of God in this world in which we live in so the first eight verses we see the vision of the four chariots led by various horses with various colors and very strong and they are carrying out his bidding in this world so now that he finished this last eight vision in the next verses of this chapter he's summing all these visions together but look beloved brothers and sisters he's calling Zechariah to perform a symbolic act and this act will serve as a symbol for Judah and for the rest of the nations of Israel and now again i'm reading from verse 9 again you notice that it's not a vision Zechariah doesn't see as it's mentioned in verse 1 i lifted up my eyes and i looked and behold no this time the word of the Lord come directly to Zechariah it says in verse 9 and the word of.

The Lord came unto me saying God now audibly somehow spoke to his servant Zechariah so now he expect from him to do something in the next verses he is giving him now the necessity to do some symbolic act here to show him what's the great lesson of all these eight visions so look at this first of all in verses 10 and 11 the act itself and in verse 12 to 15 the lesson that is a result of the act that Zechariah was called to do so he began in verse 10 take of them of the captivity even of Cheldai and Tuviyah and of Yedaiya which are come from Babel from Babylon and come thou in the same day and go into the house of Yehoshiah the son of Tsefaniah there are certain men three men in this case the first one is Cheldai the second one is Tuviah the third one is Yedaaya you take those three men they just came from Bavail you take them and you go along with them and go see them.

In the place, in the house of a man by the name of Yehoshiah, the son of Tsephaniah. You know the Hebrew names have meanings. In biblical time, when you gave a name to a son or to a daughter, there was meaning in those names. For example, the name Tuviyah means the goodness of Jehovah. Tov, Yad. Jehovah is good. Yedaya is Yadah, Jehovah knows, he knows everything that Israel has experienced and the world is going through and so on. In other words, here he is going to present before Zechariah, the Messiah, who is going to come in the future day to restore Israel and to finally establish the kingdom that is going to come.

There's so many beautiful the names there's so many meaning that we have here in these verses so he says you take those three men they came from the captivity apparently they came later because the rest of the Jewish people were already at least 15 years in judea they stopped to build the temple in judea they have been disturbed by the neighbors around and namely really the samaritan the Shomonim. So now there were other men coming from Babylon with some additional gifts for the building of the temple in Jerusalem. So Zechariah was called to perform a symbolic act by taking those three men, going with them to the house of Josiah, the son of Zephaniah.

And then look what he's saying to them in verse 11 then take silver and gold and make crowns and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of yotzadek or yotzadek the high priest now apparently if you see here in the text The silver and the gold that he is to take was brought by them. Notice verse 10. Take of them of the captivity. So they brought with them silver. They brought with them gold from Bavell. The Jewish community in Bavell by that time became pretty well-to-do and where Cyrus have allowed them to come back to the promised land to build a temple in Jerusalem. So they brought with them silver and gold in order to use it for the temple in Jerusalem.

And those three men that brought the silver and gold, the chariah is to take it from them, make an act by literally taking on them, but not only to take the silver and the gold, but to make crowns out of the silver and gold. The Hebrew word for crowns is the word atarot. In other words, to make crowns, more than one apparently, it's a plural, And to place the crowns upon the head of Joshua, the high priest. Now, immediately we have a problem here. Why? Because Joshua was not a king. He was a priest. He was from the tribe of Levi. You read it in the book of Ezra.

And you remember, for a priest, you don't put a crown. On a priest, you put a mitre. And the mitre says holiness unto the Lord because the priest entered into the presence of God and he's coming out of the presence of God, ministering to God, ministering to the people of Israel. But here, Zechariah is called to take those crowns and not to put it on anyone else except the priest himself. But there is a problem because in the law that God had given our nation Israel, It is only the king who was to get the crown and the priest is to get the mitre. You never have in the Bible, in biblical accounting, before the Messiah entered into this world, we only hear under the law that it is the tribe of Levi will have the priesthood.

The tribe of Judah will be the kingly tribe. In fact, just turn back to Genesis chapter 49. Remember Yaakov was blessing his children before he died. And Yaakov said concerning the tribe of Judah, he says in verse 10, the scepter shall not depart from Judah and the lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh is come and unto him shall be the gathering of the nation. The scepter represent that which a king would hold as he is functioning in his kingly order. In Isaiah we read a shoot shall come out of the stem of Jesse. The Messiah when he came he was the promised Messiah he was from the tribe of Judah he was not from the tribe of Levi.

But Zechariah is now called to take this atarot, this crown, and to set it on the head of Joshua, who was not a king, but he was a priest. And if it is in accordance with the Levitical order, the priest can never function as a king, and a king can never function as a priest. Every time a king in biblical history of our own people have ever went and offered sacrifices, he was judged by God. It was not the. Place of the tribe of Judah to function in a priestly order and fashion. It was only was given to the tribe of Levi. And of course, Joshua was from the tribe of Levi.

You can read it in Ezra chapter 3, that he was a Levite from the priestly tribe of Israel. But there is a beautiful lesson that we learn here from these verses because we learn something that is very, very important here in verse 11, that he is now giving in the symbolic act that he does, he really pointing out to the future Messiah that is going to come for the nation of Israel. You see, beloved brothers and sisters, that when our Lord Jesus the Messiah was born into this world, physically speaking, he was born to the tribe of Judah. But as we know it from the Bible that Yeshua is not only a king that was to come the king of the Jews but he was also called in the Bible the great high priest that today he is already functioning as a priest for us for you and i sitting at the right hand of the father lifting up holy hand interceding on behalf of his people, the people of God.

And he hasn't yet became the king of Israel because it is something that he is going to do in the coming days, in the future day. In fact, the Bible teaches us that Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah, was a prophet in his life, he is a priest in his resurrection and ascension, and he will be a king in his second coming, the king of Israel, the king of the Jews. If you will notice from the Bible that all these three offices were the servants who serve in this faction had to be anointed. It was Elijah who anointed one to be the prophet of Israel. In the book of Kings, we read about him.

And it was Samuel who was called to anoint David in 1 Samuel chapter 16. As the king of Israel. And it was Moshe who was to anoint Aaron as the priest of the nation of Israel. So all these three offices were distinct, and yet every one of them needed to be anointed if he is to minister in this office, but never to do the two at the same time, specifically not the king and the priest at the same time. But what we learn here is a great lesson, because here he is now going to show us and to show Zechariah and to show the people of Israel that there is a coming day when one will come that he is going to be Israel's king but also he is at the same time is Israel this great high priest who is the only one who can be both the king and priest at the same time but as a priest he could never be according to the Levitical order, he could only be a priest according to what is called in the Scripture, after the order.

Of Malki Tzedek. If I am to explain this correctly, and if you remember, there is a war between four Kings against five Kings in the time of Abraham our father. And we find out that when the war was over, that in chapter 14 of the book of Genesis, it says in verse 17, the king of Sodom went out to meet him to meet Avram and after his return from the slaughter of Keldaomer and of the Kings that were with him at the valley of Sheva which is the king's dale and then we find out as the king of Sodom come to meet Abraham look what we read and Malkitsedek king of Shalem brought forth bread and wine and he was a priest of the most high Gana Now, here's a man that his name is Malkit Tzedek.

The meaning of the name Malkit Tzedek means the king of righteousness. And it says here, in verse 18, that he was a king of Shalem. Shalem was long before Israel. Jerusalem became the capital city of the nation of Israel. We find already there a priest, king, appeared before Abraham and presenting himself to this great man, to this servant of Jehovah by the name of Abraham. And we find here in verse 18 that he's not only a king of Shalem, but now we find that he was a priest of the Most High God. His name was Malkit Tzedek. He was both a king and he was also a priest.

And when we think about this, that Abraham immediately gave him tithing of all that he had, you see that Abraham recognized Malkit Tzedek as the king priest, that he himself, in a sense, gave him tithing of all that he had. He recognized the uniqueness of this man, Malkit Tzedek. And I remember years ago when we were studying Genesis chapter 14, the Bible never tells us where Malkit Tzedek came from, never tells us how he died. It's like a scene where he appears and disappears. He is appearing, doing his act, dealing with Avram, and then he disappears. We don't know his beginning, we don't know his parents, we don't know his heritage, we don't know his background.

We don't know where he died, how he died, where he's buried, nothing. Malkit Tzedek became a picture and a type of the Messiah himself, who is both king and a priest at the same time. Even though he is not functioning at the same time in this office, but he is a king and a priest of the Most High God. That's what we read here in Genesis chapter 14. And so we see that he became a type and how to connect it together. In Psalm 110, prophetically, we find out about the Messiah. In verse 1, we read, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit down on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

The Lord shall send the road of thy strength out of Zion. Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the days of thy power, in the beauties of holiness. From the womb of the morning thou hast the dew of thy youth. And now notice verse 4. The Lord had sworn, and he will not repent. You are a priest forever after the order of Malkit Tzedek. The Malkit Tzedek order was long before the Levitical order had been given to our people, Israel of all, in the law. When the Messiah was prophesied about in the Bible, in biblical time, he is going to be a priest totally after a different order, the order of Malkit Tzedek.

That's why, brothers and sisters, it is so important to understand here that Zechariah was called to make those crowns and to place it upon the high priest. He couldn't do it unless he gave you a symbolically act that he's speaking about the future king who is going to be both the king of Israel as well as the priest after the order of Malki Tzedek. I'm going to connect it with just one more verse, if you'll allow me, in Hebrews chapter 7. For this Malkit Tzedek, the king of Shalem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the Kings, and he blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being, by interpretation, a king of righteousness, And after that, also the king of Shalem, which is the king of peace, king of Shalom, without father and without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, no end of life, but he made like unto the Son of God, abideth a priest continually.

So here the writer to the Hebrew believers explain to those Hebrew believers that the Lord Yeshua the Messiah is greater than all the Levitical high priestly order because he came and he entered in his ministry after the order of the man that is called Malkitsedek in the biblical history of our people Israel. So, beloved brothers, I'm back in Zechariah, in chapter 6, and in verses 10 and 11, take those three men, take the silver and the gold from them, make yourself crowns, atarot in Hebrew, and place them upon the head of Joshua, the son of Yotzedek, the high priest. And so now, here's the lesson of this. The lesson that Zechariah received from the angel of the Lord is twofold.

Number one, here is what these three men representing with the crown upon Joshua's head, it really speaks to us in type and in picture about the coming branch, the coming Messiah. One of the titles of the Messiah is Tzemach in Hebrew, the branch. So look at this verse 12 and 13 here's the lesson that he is teaching Zechariah with the crowns upon Joshua's head and now he's speaking beautifully about the coming Messiah the future coming of the man the tzemach the branch and he spake unto him and he said 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 and he shall bear the glory and he shall sit and he will rule upon his throne and he shall be a priest upon the throne and the council of shalom the council of peace shall be between both of them or them both now he's telling Zechari Zechari see the act that you have just done you took all the silver the gold you made the crown you put it on Joshua's head I want to tell you this is a lesson this act is a symbolic act to tell you what is going to happen in a future day he said to him.

You know look at the man behold the man you remember when Yeshua went to pilot and they beat him and you remember when he sent him out and he said behold the man later on he said behold your king this is the man of God's council, this is the man that God will found pleasure in him, here he is called the bridge the tzemach, it's like a little shoot that comes out and grows we really see the humanity of the Messiah here called the bridge, the tzemach the Bible tell us he will grow in the dry in a weary land he will grow as a branch coming out of a dry ground you know all in the world around us all have failed all have come short of the glory of God but here's a man he's growing out in the midst of a dry land to give pleasure to the heart of God to meet the need of every man and he's called one of the beautiful messianic titles.

Of Yeshua is called a branch. We see him in his humility, in his simplicity, in his perfection as well. He was a man that brought pleasure to the heart of God. In the Bible, Isaiah said, he's called a man of sorrows, which have been acquainted with grief. That's the man that Zechariah needed to get his heart refreshed from. You know, what refreshes your heart and mind in a time of so much trouble in this world, in a personal problem, family problem? Israel have experienced at that time a problem to build the temple in the city of Jerusalem. They have been opposition from without, opposition from within.

They couldn't continue to build the temple in Jerusalem and Zechariah with his act really perform a symbolic act which takes us to the future day when the branch and he's called here behold the man whose name is the branch the Bible it tells us in Hebrew his name is Tzemach the Bible tells us where Miriam said and you shall call his name Yeshua for he will save his people from their sins simple name he was a man from Nazareth rejected and despised and yet he was a man that gave pleasure to the heart of God and so Zechariah says look at this man he's the branch and I just want to make one more point in chapter 3 in verse 8 he's already had a reference to that branch here now oh Joshua the high priest thou and thy fellows that sit before thee for their men wondered at for behold i will bring forth my servant the branch of the we can see actually as i've already pointed out in the four gospels that we have in the.

In the New Testament, Matthew, we see him as the king. Mark, we see him as the servant. Luke, we see him as a man. And John, we see him in his divine nature as God. A king, a servant, a perfect man who is none else but the eternal son of God who came down to this world. We see it in Isaiah chapter 4 that we find concerning this Tzemach. We see in Jeremiah chapter 23 that he is called as well the Tzemach. And if you notice all these four chapters, Jeremiah 23, Isaiah chapter 4, Zechariah chapter 3, Zechariah chapter 6, all those four chapters describe before us the branch divine nature human nature servant and a king and so here beloved brothers and sisters he presents him as a man the humanity of the Messiah now how the Messiah is going to come in the future day look at the list of what the Messiah the branch the man is called the branch look what he's going to do it tells us here in verse 12 and 13 in the future day in the future number one look what it says about him he shall grow up out of his place number two he shall build the temple of the Lord by the way when it says he shall grow up out of his place it tells us the growth of the Messiah he will grow up just like any other boy here in this world you and i grew up in our home country some of us were born in Jerusalem some of us were born.

Here and in toronto some of us were born in other country in this world and we all grew up it speaks about the humanity of the Messiah but not only that he will grow up he shall build the temple of the Lord people of Israel stopped to build the temple of the Lord now because of opposition Zechariah here is what's going to happen in a future day that the Messiah himself who is called the branch he himself is going to come one day and he's going to build the temple of the Lord which had been tore down and broken then he continued notice in verse 13 he repeated again he said oh yes even he shall build the temple of the Lord Zechariah it is he who is going to build the temple of the Lord and you know in the Bible we have four temples we have the temple that Solomon built the Solomonic temple which was destroyed of course as you know very well by Nebuchadnezzar then we have the temple that Israel had built when they came back from Bavell and.

That's the temple that we are dealing with right now this temple had been destroyed in 70 AD by Titus and the Romans. Then we will have, according to 2nd Thessalonians and the book of Daniel and the book of Revelation, we have what is known to be the tribulation temple, which God will not sanction and will not accept it because Israel rejected the Messiahship of Yeshua. God will not accept the sacrifices that will be offered in the tribulation period. But there is a great temple that is going to come in a future day where we read about this temple in the book of Yechezkel, Ezekiel the last chapter of Ezekiel which the Messiah himself the man who is called the branch he is going to build that temple even he, he shall build the temple of Jehovah he will build that temple of Jehovah in the future day, Zechariah then it says in verse 13b he said he shall bear the glory the Hebrew word for glory is hod he will receive the glory that.

He deserves you remember we read in the book of Philippians chapter 2 on verse 9 on it says therefore God have highly exalted him and giving him a name which is above every name that in the name of Yeshua every knee will bow every tongue will confess that Yeshua the Messiah is Lord to the glory of God the Father and that's what we learn here he will come now in his second coming now he takes us now not to the first coming because he already came, he became a servant he died, he finished the work on the tree but he takes him beyond the church age beyond the tribulation just to the end of the tribulation period and he says listen he's going to come that branch that once was rejected and despised and he's going to build for me the temple in Jerusalem and he will receive the glory that he deserved in Psalm 24 it says the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof the world and they that dwell therein.

And then notice it goes down and then it says in verse 7 lift up your heads all ye gates and be lifted up ye everlasting doors and the king of glory shall come in who is the king of glory the answer is Jehovah strong and mighty Jehovah mighty in battle lift up your heads all ye gates even lift them up verse 9 ye everlasting doors and the king of glory shall come in who is the king of glory Jehovah of hosts he is the king of glory and so he shall bear his glory we read in verse 13 of Zechariah chapter 6 and then he continues and he tells us how the Lord the very same one who is the king and priest at the same time and you see that he now going to rule as a king and he's going to function as a priest and he's going to sit upon his throne as it says here in verse 13 notice then after it says he shall bear his glory it says then he shall sit and rule.

Upon his throne the Hebrew word throne mean kisek is all his seat and then he continued he shall be a priest upon his throne notice it's interesting here this is a very unusual statement he's going to rule as a king upon his throne and he will be a priest upon his throne if you are doing it according to the levitical order it's not possible a priest could not sit as a king and a king could not function as a priest that's why it could only apply to one man that can hold these two, three offices at the same time. A prophet in his life, a priest in his resurrection and ascension, and a king in his second coming.

But here we see him now in the kingdom age as both. The ruler is the king of righteousness who is sitting upon his throne, and as the priest who is sitting also upon his throne. How can this jive together? It only can when we understand the priestly function of the Lord Jesus according to the order of Malkitsedek. He never had a beginning because he is the eternal Son of God. He never will ever have an end because he is the eternal Son of God. God and the humanity in the person of the Son. And God is eternal. The Messiah is eternal. Therefore, he can rule as a king and he can function as a minister, as a priest as well at the very same time and as it says here at the end of verse 13 he said and the council of shalom peace shall be between them both what between both between his function as a priest as his function as a king there will be as it were here the council of peace shall be between them both in other words there will not be any contradiction it will be the one that can function and do the very same ministries and services in a future day in the kingdom age.

And now the conclusion here now, he took Zechariah to the future when the Messiah, the Tzemach, the branch will come. Now he brings him closer to the day in which they live, 520 BC, about right here in the text in which we live. We are writing 520. Now he's saying in the last verses of this chapter, verses 14 and 15, This symbolic act, Zechariah, will serve to be for you and the people of Judah, the people of Israel, as really the crown shall be to Chelem, and to Tuviyah, and to Yediah, and to Chen, the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of the Lord. Zechariah you will take these crowns that you have made out of silver and gold and you will place them in the temple that you are going to build right now and these crowns will serve to be as a memorial in the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem what does that mean a memorial you're going to look at the crowns and you will see you and all the others that he's speaking their names are mentioned here you will look at those crowns and it will serve to remind you the word for memorial come from the Hebrew zikaron memorial is core to remember and it will remind you of the promises that we have that God had given to the people of Israel it will remind you that yet there is a day coming and yet in this day the Messiah the branch will come and he will build the future temple and he will be the one that received the glory and he will sit upon his throne as king and priest it will serve as a memorial to remind you of what is going.

To happen in the future day. Now I don't know if you noticed but in verse 14 he changes two names. Notice that? It says the crown shall be to Chelem notice Chelem is the first name that is mentioned in verse 10 his name is Echoldai he's changed his name from Choldai to Chelem and then he says and to Tuviah that was the second name in verse 10 now in verse 14 it's the same you repeat the same name and then to Yedaya which is the same like the one before in verse 10 but then he changed the third the fourth name I should say take them according to verse 10 to the house of josiah the son of Zephaniah here he changed his name from josiah to hen the son of Zephaniah i was wondering also why is the change here what do they have two names well they may have had two names i don't know but the word helem and the word hen really speaks of two Hebrew words helem come from the word halom it's a dream that we are looking for for the future day.

We dream for that to occur to come to pass and the word hen come from the Hebrew word grace if God is going to bring about the future day when the Messiah will come and do what he was called to do to build the temple of Jehovah in the city of Jerusalem and there to sit as king priest there in that future day it's a desire of the nation it's like a dream that is going to come to pass and it is only can happen on the basis of the grace of God so those crowns will serve to be zikaron memorial for all these men and for the people of Judah who are now struggling in building the temple in Jerusalem and they are remembering the day the future they don't get discouraged because there is day coming when Israel is going to be restored and for us brothers and sisters don't get discouraged i know we sometimes get discouraged when things don't go our way when all the desires of your heart doesn't seem to get through do not get fulfillment you have desires.

And they don't come to fruition and you are discouraged we are discouraged but when we look at the Scripture and we see the promises of God it should remind us that there are better days ahead for us. We are going to be in the presence of the Lord, the body of Christ, the body of Messiah. We are going to be with our Lord Jesus the Messiah in heaven and all the promises that he had given us all he will fulfill them to the letter. He said if you remember in John 14, in my father's house there are many mentions and I go to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and I will receive you unto myself that where I am there ye may be also.

There is a glorious day that are waiting the church, the ecclesia, the body of Messiah but also for the nation of Israel. And the conclusion in verse 15 and they that are far off shall come and build the temple of the Lord. This one, the one that you are building Zechariah that Israel are called to build now at the time 520 BC. They shall come and more people, more Jewish people will be gathered from Babel and they're going to come, they will build the temple of the Lord and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me unto you and this shall come to pass if you will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.

In other words, he expected from Zechariah's people, namely Israel, to listen to the voice of the Lord, to trust Him, to be diligent in building the house now and being faithful to the Lord because yet is coming day. They will come from afar. They will build the temple. The Messiah Himself will be the center of the future regathering of the nation of Israel and the promises of the Lord are surely going to come to pass. We need to encourage each other with such verses as this very difficult last vision. And yet, the vision itself and all the other visions have been summarized from verses 9 to 15 by the symbolic act of Zechariah in placing the crowns upon Joshua the high priest, who is a type of the Messiah Yeshua in both ways, king and priest.

And the Messiah, Yeshua, is going to come in a future day to restore Israel back to Himself. May the Lord hasten this day and may the Lord encourage us today as we wait for His soon return.