Zech. vi. 12, 13. Thus speaketh the Lord of Hosts, saying, Be- hold the man ivhose 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.
MANY of the most important prophecies were introduced with remarkable and appropriate signs. When God foretold to Moses the deliverance of his people from their bondage in Egypt, he appeared to him in a burning bush, which represented the state of his Church as persecuted on every side, but pre- served from injury by his presence in it. Thus was Joshua the high-priest now made to receive an honour
which described in a very significant manner the glory and dignity of the promised Messiah. Some of the Jews who had chosen to remain in Babylon after that their brethren had returned to their own land, shewed that they were not altogether unmindful of their brethren or their God, by bringing a present of gold and silver for the use of the newly erected temple : and God instantly commanded that two crowns should be made of the gold and silver, and that these crowns should, in the presence of the donors, be put upon the head of Joshua : then, in explanation of this sign, the prophet was ordered to direct their attention to the promised Messiah, in whom all honour and power, whether regal or priestly, should be combined3.
This prophecy will lead us to consider,
I. The name and work of the Messiah —
Christ is here referred to as " the man whose name is The Branch" —
[Frequently is he characterized by the prophets under this appellation^ Its import is, that he was to be a scion or shoot springing out of the stem of Jesse, that is, to be born of the house of David, when it was cut down and reduced to the lowest state0. But though he was to appear in such £, weak and mean condition, yet he was to " sit upon the throne of his father David and to reign for ever." Nor can we err in apply- ing this prophecy to Christ, since another prophet, speaking of him by the very same name, expatiates in exalted terms upon the glory of his majesty, and declares that the name whereby he should be still more eminently distinguished, should be, Jehovah our Righteousness d. In due time he " grew up out of his place," both out of Bethlehem, where he was born, and out of Nazareth, where he was brought up. We do not indeed find him called " The Branch," by any of the New Testament writers ; but, as the place where this branch was to grow up seems to be so particularly specified, it is not impossible but that this prophecy received its accomplishment in that contemptuous appellation given to him, " The Nazarene* :" at all events it was fulfilled in that title so often ascribed to him, " The Son of David*."]
a ver. 9 — 11. b Zech. iii. 8. Isai. iv. 2.
c Isai. xi. 1. and liii. 2. d Jer. xxiii. 5, (j.
e Matt. ii. 23. The Hebrew word Netzer signifies a Branch,
i Matt. xx. 30, 31. and xxi. 9.