Lesson 7 - Zechariah Chapter 3 & 4
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THE BOOK OF ZECHARIAH
Lesson 7, Chapter 3 and 4

We’ll continue today in the ultra-complex Book of Zechariah by finishing up
chapter 3, and then moving briefly into chapter 4, with still 10 more chapters
to go after that in the coming weeks and months. If you can survive this
Zechariah study, then you will certainly have proved to me your merit as a
serious Bible student! It really doesn’t get much tougher, but neither does it
get more informative about the End Times, than with Zechariah’s prophecies.

As we’ll see better when we do open chapter 4 later today, these 2 chapters
together deal with those 2 men whom God has put in place to govern the
people (mostly Judeans) who live in the Persian province of Yehud, the former
Judah. Chapter 3, then, deals with the office of the High Priest, who is at this
time manned by Joshua. I’ll tell you in advance: don’t expect to thoroughly
understand all the symbolism as we go along. The reality is that the bigger
picture only begins to come into sharper focus as each vision/oracle builds
upon the one before it, and then we reach the climax in chapter 14.

The person of Joshua in this prophecy essentially both portrays himself as a
person, as well as a representative of the office of High Priest including the
various offices of the entire priesthood institution in all its facets, and
symbolically he even encompasses the whole of Israel. Because we understand
that prophecy works in a way of having multiple fulfillments of the same
prophecy occurring in different eras… first a near-term one that is limited to
the current matters facing the people in that Prophet’s era… and then later, a
second fulfillment that occurs under different circumstances… and very often,
a third fulfillment well into the future that is universal in its scope and affect…
then that is how we are to understand what we are reading in Zechariah
chapter 3. Therefore, in its most immediate and focused scope, this is indeed
about the current High Priest, Joshua. Later another fulfillment will expand the
scope to include whomever happens to be the High Priest at that time plus the
entire institution of the priesthood, and then finally at some far-future time the
prophetic scope expands to its ultimate, which involves the people of Israel in
general. Even so, what makes these vision/oracles God is giving to Zechariah
so difficult is that it is plain to Zechariah that while part of the prophetic word

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can be applied immediately and it addresses current circumstances that he
knows and understands, other parts of the same prophecy would be
impossible to happen until sometime later when some other set of
circumstances arise that certainly aren’t presently evident to him. And,
Zechariah is given no hint as to exactly what those new circumstances will
look like, nor just how far into the future it will happen. It doesn’t help us very
much who are studying his book, either, since plainly some of what Zechariah
was given by Yehoveh to tell others about is still future to us in the 21
st

century and so mentally imaging how this all plays out is all but impossible.

Understanding Zechariah’s complex symbolism (it feels like we’re trying to put
together a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle but with a few random pieces missing)
revolves around understanding the actual historical circumstances of his time,
and what the many idioms and expressions he uses meant to the Jews of his
day. It also is that the symbols themselves have to be taken in the context of
what they meant to the Jewish people of his day because often the imagined
symbols had a very particular meaning that applied only to a very narrow slice
of time, but not in earlier or later times when those same symbols were
imagined in different ways and carried different meanings. And, I’ll caution yet
again that nothing that we’ll read has much of a correspondence to any
concrete object of the 21
st
, or even the 20
th
centuries A.D., and especially
nothing familiar to modern Western culture. Thus, we’ll run across some
symbols and phrases that we have little real idea of what was actually meant
at that time, and sometimes we have to make educated guesses while being
humble enough to admit up front that we might have it wrong.

Let’s re-read the final few verses of Zechariah chapter 3.

RE-READ ZECHARIAH CHAPTER 3: 6 – end

As we discussed in the previous lesson, verses 6 and 7 are warnings from God.
The warning is that the Priesthood (and by extension, all Israel) is to obey Him
in every facet of life or risk finding themselves once again facing God’s wrath.
Recall that the Judeans listening to this oracle, priests and laymen, had only
recently returned from exile in Babylon for what they knew was the
rebelliousness of their ancestors. While over time their conditions in Babylon

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improved somewhat, especially for the first several years the Judeans were
but miserable captives with no hope. The more zealous of the Judeans who did
return 70 years later of course wanted to be acceptable to God, but they had
been infected with Mesopotamian culture and beliefs, so it was going to take a
concerted effort by the priesthood to not only reform their institution and
themselves, but also to retrain these Judeans in the ways of the Torah. This
sort of thing doesn’t happen overnight or even in a few years. Even so, it is
vital that we grasp that the earliest foundations of a Synagogue-based
Judaism and their associated doctrines and traditions that had never existed
prior to their exile had sprouted up in Babylon (well before the words
synagogue and Judaism were ever coined), which had the effect of only further
muddying the proper worship of God and adherence to the spirit of His laws
and commands.

That situation for the Judeans was very much as we see things happening in
modern times. While there was a core of truth in what was believed and
practiced by those ancient Judeans, it had become corrupted with paganism
and manmade doctrines for so many decades that even the priests had
unconsciously developed and accepted some wrong ideas…doctrines… which
they sincerely thought were right. Today, we find Judeo-Christianity in a
similar situation. The Hebrew Roots movement has sprung up because of the
growing recognition of our dilemma as Believers. So, in an attempt to revive
the Scriptural truth as compared to what has been erroneously taught and
practiced within Christianity for far too long, such that some of the basic
Church doctrines are so ingrained that they are taken for granted and haven’t
been challenged for centuries to determine their authenticity, the Hebrew
Roots movement seeks to break out of that mold and our best to return to the
purer ways that look more like how it was when Yeshua roamed the Holy Land .
And, it’s not as though the Hebrew Roots movement has eve rything correct in
what we teach; we, too, have been subjected to corrupted teachings and
thoughts and so we can unknowingly get off on the wrong track at times. The
only remedy… whether for Jew or gentile… is for us as the body of Believers
and followers of Yeshua to start over again, beginning with Genesis, and
allowing God’s Word to speak for itself with the least intrusion possible caused
by our own thoughts, and built-in filters, and memories of perhaps some
cherished traditions we grew up under.

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After the prophetic warning of verses 6 and 7, a stern command is issued to
Joshua and to his colleagues in verse 8.

CJB
Zechariah 3:8 Listen, cohen gadol Y'hoshua, both you and your
colleagues seated here before you, because these men are a sign that
I am going to bring my servant Tzemach [Sprout].

In this verse God is singling out the entire priesthood that He has put into a
special role with much expanded areas of authority than what they had in
earlier times. This expanded role has come about because of the noticeably
different circumstances under which they lived and operated. When we read of
them (meaning the regular priests) all being seated before Joshua, it means
sitting in the sense of being selected to hold down certain official offices, tasks,
and positions. It would be like saying “those who sit in judgment” as meaning
a jury or a judge who is officially tasked to make judicial determinations. So,
the idea is that these priests have not only their historical authority, but an
even greater authority given to them by the Persians, and they are to
understand this has happened as God’s will and so they should not shy away
from exercising it.

The next few words of this verse have been called “very difficult’ by language
scholars (and that is an understatement), and so we’ll find it translated a
number of ways. The CJB interprets the words as “because these men are a
sign”. The KJV says “for they are men wondered at”. The YLT says “for men of
type are they”. I think the RSV uses words that are closer to how we’re able to
understand it in the sense it was meant, at least for modern Western ears:
“for they are men of good omen”. The Hebrew word the translators of these
various Bible versions are stumbling over is mopet. Mopet is used in a few
places in Scripture and it most usually means signs, omens or portents. All of
these meanings essentially indicate a forewarning of something that is good or
evil. So, that being the case, then the idea is that these priests sitting before
Joshua are a prophetic sign or omen of the coming of someone future to them.
That is, the actions, authority, and the character of the priesthood as being of
God’s will is (in this unusual case) a portent of the coming of someone called
Tzemach… the Shoot or Sprout or the Branch. I think the validation for this as

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the correct interpretation of those difficult words is strengthened when the
next few more words are “I (Yehoveh) will bring forth”. That is, just as the
existence… even the re-institution… of the priesthood was a sign of an act of
God’s will (because otherwise it seems so unlikely to have happened), so will
be the coming of the Shoot or Branch that is unlikely to happen in any natural
way, but Yehoveh says that “I” will make it happen.

This term, either tzemach in Hebrew or perhaps it sounds more like semah,
is an agricultural word. It speaks about the first growth of a tree, a vine, or a
field crop… although it could include the newest or latest growth of a plant that
regenerates year after year. Some Bible versions translate it as “rod”.
Interestingly the Jewish Targum and the Syriac Bible take it to mean “shining”.
Nonetheless, however we decide to nuance the term tzemach, it is
agricultural in its nature and it is used in prophecy as a metaphor to speak of a
future king. What I just said might leave us with much doubt about who this
branch is, but fortunately we find the same term used in Isaiah 4, and in
Jeremiah chapters 23 and 33, which speak of a future monarch over Israel
that comes from the dynasty of David. Christianity takes this as referring to a
Messiah, and it seems to me that this is correct as the idea of Yeshua being a
Davidic king coming about in the End Times is well laid out especially in the
New Testament.

On the other hand, because of the way biblical prophecies typically operate,
let’s look at this the way Zechariah would have understood it. If you recall
what I mentioned earlier in this lesson that when prophecies are fulfilled, it
usually happens 2 or 3 times, with the first time being immediate and
occurring within the specific context of the period that the Prophet who gave
the prophecy was living. It is so very important for us to grasp this, because
in years past so many very good Bible scholars have failed to recognize that 1)
prophecies are nearly always fulfilled at least twice, and often 3 times (or
more), in different circumstances and eras, and 2) that whatever the political
and societal setting was at the moment those prophecies were originally
written, that was how the Prophet understood them and how the first
fulfillment would play out. Therefore, if we can look at the symbols and
meanings in that light, then it will go far towards explaining how we modern
Bible students are to understand them. That said, sometimes those meanings

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are so obscure and lost to history that we may never know some of them with
any confidence.

So, I am going to explain how I see these various symbols and their
meanings, and do it according to their immediate historical setting, based on
what was happening at the time. And, as we have also discussed, what was
happening at that time is all wrapped in these returning exiles coming home to
a whole new set of realities. Chief among these was that while it may have
been their former homeland (Judah), now it is Persian land under a Persian
government, and the place is now called Yehud. Further, even though the
priesthood and the Temple are being revived, one of the most important
historical elements of that Temple’s legitimate existence was its pairing with
an Israelite King. And currently there was not one and nothing was on the
horizon that even hinted that someday in any discernable future might there
might be. It’s hard for me to find the words or an analogy to help you picture
just how weird and unsettling this was for the returned Jews, and how
confused and conflicted these circumstances made them feel, as they were
especially sensitive and aware that they didn’t want to upset God.

So, he is one way to think about it. Imagine if somehow in the USA, we were
invaded and captured by a cruel foreign enemy. But then, some years later the
Catholic Church stepped forward with a huge coalition force that they
somehow assembled, and they defeated our captors, and then in an
enlightened and merciful way said that we can re-establish our government,
and our most prized institutions, and these can be run by Americans.
However, we won’t be fully independent. The Pope in Rome will be our
ultimate government authority, and an American-born Catholic Archbishop
selected by the Pope will rule over us instead of President elected by the
people. This Bishop will sit in the White House Oval Office of this renamed
country that is now called the Holy Romerican Union. Weird. How might we all
feel no matter how well-intentioned the ruling Archbishop and Pope are?
Probably better than in our previous situation as captives, but somehow being
ruled over by a Catholic Bishop just isn’t the same as a traditional secular
politician being selected by the American people. So, we of course would have
mixed and conflicted emotions about it all that keep us uneasy, but also not

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sure if this was God doing something for us… or was it against us? The
Judeans faced a similar dilemma.

Thus, for the returned exiles, there were reasons to be concerned. Was the
Temple going to be legitimate since it was not directly associated (as it always
had been) with an Israelite monarch? Was the priesthood legitimate since the
High Priest was chosen and given his position by a Persian King? How, exactly,
ought the Judeans consider Zerubbabel, their governor? As just a willing
Persian puppet, or as a God-provided Jew from the line of David, who at least
would have Jewish interests in mind? This background, then, says that
Zechariah would have expected that Zerubbabel was that tzemach… that
shoot or branch of David… and the reason God gave this prophecy to
Zechariah was so that the people would not doubt that Zerubbabel was indeed
God’s will and choice for their good, and not as punishment. And, because
Zerubbabel was from the dynasty of David, then it gave the people some hope
(no matter how feint) that perhaps in some way not currently visible, he might
escape Persian control and become an independent Israelite King over them.
So, this strange situation winds up with a resolution endorsed by a recognized
Prophet and now the people can rest easier knowing that what is happening
regarding Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the Temple reconstruction is God’s will and
plan… and it was a positive development… even if it looked so very different
from how things had ever been.

Beyond any understanding that Zechariah could have had is the End Times
event that would also come about as a result of this prophecy. Two things: 1)
always remember that in God’s economy, when He determines it is time to
give His plan and purpose to a Prophet, once that Prophet announces the
prophetic oracle, that is the energy that puts its fulfillment into motion. Once
announced, it is written in stone and actual movement towards its fulfillment
gets underway. The Prophet, then, is not a bystander or merely a passive
messenger. His words are the energy and impetus to get that now
unstoppable prophetic ball rolling. 2) I’ve always opined that our problem
with understanding prophecy, and then not recognizing it when it happens, is
that we never take it literally enough. So, in the current case, while Joshua is
the name of the High Priest in the days of Zechariah… and he is from Tzadok’s
dynastic line… and so it well fits with the prophecy itself, it should not go

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unnoticed that the End Times fulfillment of this same prophecy also involves a
person of that same name and from the same ancestral root. Joshua and
Yeshua are exactly the same name. Joshua is an English name, not Hebrew,
because Hebrew has no “J” sound. So, in Hebrew it sounds closer to Yoshua
not Joshua. And Yoshua and Yeshua are the same name and in Hebrew
essentially vocalized the same. So, imagine: we could just as easily strike out
the name Joshua in our Bibles, and insert Yeshua. That is, the name of the
High Priest at the time of Zechariah was Yeshua; but the English translations
obscure this reality especially when they insist on calling the New Testament
Yeshua, Jesus. The literalness of the prophecy for its fulfillment in both
Zechariah’s time and then in the End Times, even as it comes down to the
name of the person involved, is amazing.

Verse 9 is yet another series of words that are extremely challenging to
untangle. It revolves around the ambiguous word “stone”.

CJB
Zechariah 3:9 For look at the stone I have put in front of Y'hoshua:
on one stone are seven eyes; I will engrave what is to be written on
it,' says Yehoveh-Tzva'ot; 'and I will remove the guilt of this land in
one day.

The variation of opinions from Bible academics on this passage, and especially
what the “stone” is or represents, generally falls along 3 different paths. The
first is that the stone is a priestly gemstone attached to the High Priest’s
garments. That there are indeed a number of stones with engravings on them
that is part of the High Priests garb is backed up in Exodus chapter 28. The
reason many academics say that this is what this passage is referring to say
that it is obvious this is the case since this entire chapter is about the High
Priest and by extension the entire priesthood, and so nothing outside of that
narrow realm can be seriously considered.

The second line of thinking is that it is an important and ceremonial stone used
in the reconstruction of the Temple, since after all, it is the Temple that is at
the center of everything that has been going on in Zechariah up to now. The
High Priest and the priesthood exist only to serve God and His Temple.

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The third line of thinking is that the stone is the Messiah. Some say it is the
premier stone in the Messiah’s crown. Perhaps the central reason for this
determination is that Yeshua is sometimes call the Rock. Or, in an offshoot of
this line of thinking, the stone represents God’s Kingdom… but in the sense
that it is also the Messiah’s Kingdom.

But then we’re also told that on this stone will be 7 eyes. Again, there is
nothing near a consensus on what that meant. First, does it mean that the
stone has 7 eyes contained in it? Or, does it mean that the gaze of 7 eyes is
upon it? Clearly, the number 7 indicates that it is something divine, and the
number 7 represents a perfect completeness, which can only be embodied by
God. More complicating is that it is said that this stone with the 7 eyes is set
before Joshua. The thing we can know is that it is God… Yehoveh… who
initiates this action with the stone because He says so. Further complicating
the matter is that in our next chapter (4) that switches the main character to
Zerubbabel, we also find a verse speaking of a stone.

CJB
Zechariah 4:7 'What are you, you big mountain? Before Z'rubavel
you will become a plain; and he will put the capstone in place, as
everyone shouts, "It's beautiful! Beautiful!"'

Other Bible versions will, instead of saying “capstone” say headstone, excellent
stone, or top stone. Yet, the Hebrew word being translated here is eben,
which is a generic word that is rendered in Zechariah chapter 3 merely as
“stone”. So, the question is, is this stone in Zechariah chapter 4 the same as
the one in chapter 3 that we are currently discussing? Naturally, academic
opinions strongly differ on that answer because it is so ambiguous.

I’m not going to spend a great deal of time on this because the arguments for
and against all these competing viewpoints of the meanings of “stone” and the
“7 eyes” have good scholarly and logical reasonings behind them. Here is my
conclusion. Each Bible scholar tends to select one or another of all these
choices as to what this passage must be referring to. If a person is an
Evangelical Christian, the answer is nearly universal that it can only be the
Messiah. And then, their choice is upgraded into a doctrine (added to a long
list of other doctrines) and so no other possibility can be considered. The

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solution to this is what I spoke about a few minutes ago. Every prophecy is
fulfilled more than once, and with each fulfillment the scope widens and the
distance in time from when the Prophet lived gets larger. So, the answer as to
the symbolic meanings must be attached to a certain fulfillment of that
prophecy. If there are 3 fulfillments, then the symbols could point to 3
different things. It is not a matter of either/or; only one correct answer that is
universal no matter where or when it is finally played-out.

In our case, the first fulfillment likely has to do with the stones on Joshua’s
garment that is typical for when the High Priest is ordained into office. In the
next fulfillment, it likely has to do with the ceremonial completion of the
Temple (which comes just a few years later) and a special stone as a kind of
capstone with a commemorative engraving on it is laid. And in the 3
rd

fulfillment of it, Yeshua comes the first time to take away the guilt of the
people of Israel, but He is also the stumbling stone for those who refuse His
gracious offer of forgiveness of sins and Salvation. And in a 4
th
fulfillment,
Yeshua returns as the Priest/King over His Father’s kingdom and rules for
1000 years and the stone speaks of the crowing stone in the crown Yeshua will
wear when He becomes the undisputed ruler of the earth. Each and every one
of these fulfillments has to do with taking guilt away, whether from the land or
the priesthood or the people in general, it’s only that it is each in its own time
and own way.

I readily admit that the precise way I see this might not be exactly correct.
Yet, it has merit because we can see how the stone, and the 7 eyes (the divine
impetus) can be manifested upon a sequence of several fulfillments of this
prophecy, as opposed to a common one-size-must-fit-all approach that is
standard in systematic theologies. Because of lack of acceptance of multiple
fulfillments, rather it must always be just one.

The final verse of chapter 3… verse 10…

CJB
Zechariah 3:10 When that time comes,' says ADONAI -Tzva'ot, 'you
will all invite each other to join you under your vines and fig trees.'"

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The key to this verse is discerning what the meaning and timing of the first
few words is indicating… “When that time comes”. However, in literal Hebrew
it says “in that day” and not “when that time comes”. Nearly always in
Scripture (especially prophetic scriptures) “that day” is eschatologically
oriented … that is, it is about the End Times. Once again, there are different
views on when this time that is being spoken about is the right one. Some say
that it connects to verse 9, meaning it happens to bring about the subject of
verse 9, which is when God will remove the guilt of the land. Others see at as
having no connection to whatever has been said previously can only be about
the End Times and have to do with a Messiah.

So, the question that arises is what it means to invite each other to join you
under your vines and fig trees. In the setting of Zechariah’s time, it has to do
with a restoration of the Jews’ homeland such that the fields and orchards and
vineyards are once again producing in abundance. Christianity, of course, says
that this can only be about the return of Christ at the End of Days. However, is
that the only time from the days of Zechariah forward in which people will be
in harmony with one another, living peacefully? And that there is plenty of
food and drink for everyone? History alone proves that was not the case.
Rather such peace, unity and abundance seemed to come and go in cycles.

In Zechariah’s time, the thing that was holding back this peace and unity was
the lack of abundance. It is scarcity that brings on an every-man-for-himself
mentality, and so there is invariably social discord and disorder. The thing that
was holding back abundance was the peoples’ procrastination about rebuilding
God’s Temple. In the Book of Haggai, it is flatly said that God is intentionally
withholding agricultural fruitfulness because of the general disinterest in
rebuilding His Temple. However, Haggai and now Zechariah ushered in a
renewed enthusiasm to accomplish the task and so abundance will be upon the
Judeans very soon. This is what Zechariah was envisioning in the near term.

As this prophecy plays out again later, I’m not sure that it is until the End
Times that we could truthfully say that the Branch came and fruitfulness and
contentment reigned. So, I see this part of the prophecy being played out
within a couple of years or so of Zechariah pronouncing it, and then again the
End Times.

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As always, hold anything that seems future to us lightly. Not because it isn’t
sure to happen, but because the circumstances and the way it will play-out
may be nothing that we can even envision today.

Let’s move on to Zechariah chapter 4.

READ ZECHARIAH CHAPTER 4 all

Depending on your viewpoint, this is either the 4
th
or the 5
th
vision. I think it is
the 5
th
. This most famous vision centers on a symbol that is again most
difficult to discern it’s meaning. Whatever it is, we must look to find it in the
minds and circumstances of the people of Zechariah’s day (late 6
th
century
B.C.).

A Lampstand and two olive trees form the object of the vision. This complex
and symbolic scene that unfolds before Zechariah doesn’t make much sense to
him. Which, by the way, is only further evidence that Zechariah isn’t
pronouncing his own prophecy coming from his own thoughts (which many
modern scholars believe all the Prophets do because they do not believe in
legitimate prophecy as real) but rather he is being given a divine vision that he
did not expect, which his own mind is struggling to comprehend. Therefore, we
have a reappearance of the Interpreting Angel to both prepare him to delve
deeply into perceiving what it is about, and to guide him to understand the
Angel’s words as he explains its meaning Zechariah.

I have mentioned that Zechariah really only becomes understandable in the
whole after we have struggled through each vision/oracle and considered each
symbol. This particular vision of the lampstand and 2 olive trees is critical to
get right, because what we decide here will send us off in a particular direction
for how to we are to understand what the remainder of Zechariah means.

It seems that some time has passed since the previous vision. By saying that
this angel aroused Zechariah probably means that he brought Zechariah back
into a heightened state of awareness rather than literally awakening him from
a sound sleep. This heightened state makes Zechariah know that something

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special is happening; he is not dreaming. Therefore, there is this thread of
understanding among Bible academics that all of the visions that came to
Zechariah were at night, and here Zechariah is asleep in his bed at night, and
now is awakened. That isn’t what we’re being told otherwise we would have
heard that like little Samuel awakening the slumbering Eli, the angel woke
Zechariah up to show him something. Rather, this circumstance is said only to
be similar, but not entirely, to being woken up from a sound sleep.

This fifth vision/oracle is about Zerubbabel, the Persian-appointed Jewish
governor of Yehud. The vision is fully complementary to the one of chapter 3
that concerned Joshua the High Priest. When taken together we understand
that in God’s eyes the leadership of the returned Judeans legitimately rests in
the hands of the 2 men Joshua and Zerubbabel, who govern jointly.

In whatever way visions like this are seen by Prophets… probably in the
deepest recesses of Zechariah’s consciousness that are not accessible other
than by divine inspiration… the Interpreting Angel asks Zechariah what he
sees. Zechariah responds that he sees a lampstand and then gives a
somewhat detailed description of it. And he also sees 2 Olive Trees, one
standing on each side of the golden lampstand. That this is the Temple
menorah is rather plain to see except that this is not really as it is described in
the Torah for use in the wilderness tabernacle. It is the precise description of
this menorah that we need to work through in order to tear the symbolism
apart and then reconstruct it in a way that leads us to the truth. And, this is
where we’ll begin the next time we meet.