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Day 268: Rebuilding the Temple
Chapter 3: Resumption of the Sacrificial Liturgy of Worship
Ezra 3:1-7 ~ Rebuilding the Altar and Resumption of the Twice Daily Tamid and the Sacrificial Liturgy at the Festival of Tabernacles
The rebuilding began under Davidic prince and Persian governor Sheshbazzar (1:8; 5:14-16), but after an interruption, the building resumed under the governorship of his nephew, Zerubbabel, and the priestly instruction of Jeshua. The combined leadership of Zerubbabel the Davidic prince and Jeshua, the chief priest, establishes an authoritative link to the era before the exile.
Ezra 3:8-13 ~ Laying Stones on the Foundation of Solomon's Temple
The second month in the Liturgical Calendar was Ziv (Iyyar), our March/April. King Solomon also laid the foundations of the first Temple in the month of Ziv (1 Kng 6:1). The ancients counted the first in any series as #1, whether day or week or year, and even included part of a day or week or year in the count. This method of counting without the concept of a zero place-value is the reason the Bible records that Jesus was in the tomb three days from Friday to Sunday instead of less than two days as we would count. Therefore, if they arrived in 538 BC, the second year is 537 BC. Notice that verse 8 again gives precedence to Zerubbabel over Jeshua in his role as the civil authority for the rebuilding the Temple.
Chapter 4: Opposition from the Samaritans
The Persian Kings mentioned in Chapter 4 (in bold):
- Cyrus II the Great ruled from 559-530 BC and conquered Babylon in 539 BC
- Cambyses II, son of Cyrus the Great, ruled from 530-522 BC
- Bardiya, son of Cyrus the Great or imposter, ruled 522 BC but assassinated by Persian nobles
- Darius I, son of Hystaspes (a kinsman of Cyrus), ruled 522-486 BC
- Xerxes I, son of Darius I, ruled 486-465 BC
- Artaxerxes I, son of Darius I, ruled 465-424 BC
Ezra 1:1-4:7 is in Hebrew, but 4:8-6:18 is in Aramaic. Unfortunately for the Judahites, their friend and protector, King Cyrus the Great of Persia, died in battle on December 530 BC. His friends and adversaries remembered him as a wise and magnanimous ruler who respected the religions and customs of the peoples he conquered.
Ezra 4:1-5 ~ The Samaritans Contrive to Stop the Work on the Temple
The Samaritans sent emissaries to offer to help rebuild the Temple, reminding the Jews that they had worshipped Yahweh since the Assyrians first transplanted them into Samaria in the eighth century BC (see 2 Kng 17:24-41). The Jewish leadership sent a letter refusing their offer and cited the Decree of Cyrus (verse 3) to support their legal claim to rebuilding the Temple and the city of Jerusalem. They did not want foreign interference especially from the Samaritans who they viewed as heretics, nor the contamination of the Samaritans' false religious practices.
Outraged at their refusal, the Samaritans set about trying to intimate the citizens of Judah and bribed Persian officials into delaying work on the Jerusalem Temple. Their tactics were successful, and work on the Temple project stopped from 537 to 520 BC.
In Jesus' time, the Samaritans continued to offer illicit worship to Yahweh, officiated by a non-Aaronic priesthood in a temple they built on Mt. Gerizim. When the Samaritan woman questioned Jesus about their differences, He told her "You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know; for salvation comes from the Jews" (Jn 4:22).
Ezra 4:6-10 ~ The Anti-Jewish Tactics of Judah's Gentiles Neighbors During the Reigns of Xerxes and Artaxerxes
In Hebrew, this king is Ahasuerus but Xerxes in Greek. Osnappar is the name in the Hebrew text which is assumed to be Assyrian king Ashurbanipal."Beyond the River" from the perspective of Israel and the other nations of the Levant to beyond the great Mesopotamian River Euphrates (Jos 24:2-3, 14-15; 2 Sam 10:16). However, from the Mesopotamian perspective it included the regions of Aram, Phoenicia, Syria, and Israel (1 Kng 4:24). The Persians also called this region Athura.
"Beyond the River" refers to the Persian Province southwest of the Euphrates River that included Judah and her neighbors; The narrative shifts forward in time to the period after the reign of King Darius I but before Ezra's mission. Section 4:8-6:18 incorporates several official Aramaic documents, the international language of this period. Verses 4:6-23 has nothing to do with the rebuilding of the Temple but with the rebuilding of Jerusalem.
Verse 6 moves forward to the reign of Xerxes I (485-465 BC) while verses 7-23 concern events under Artaxerxes I (465-424 BC). The appeal to Artaxerxes took place many years after the completion of the Temple rebuilding (completed in c. 517/16 BC), and pertained to the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem which is the concern of the Book of Nehemiah. The narrative then reverts in verse 24 to the reign of Darius I the Great (522-486 BC, the father of Xerxes I) in the second year of his reign, when the Jews, encouraged by God's prophets Haggai and Zechariah, renewed work on the Temple.
The anti-Jerusalem and its Temple tactics of Judah's neighbors continued into the reigns of Xerxes I and Artaxerxes I.
Ezra 4:11-16 ~ The Letter Sent by Judah's Opponents
The letter is from the leaders of Persian Provinces in Mesopotamia as well as from the Phoenicians and Samaritans living in the Levant (verse 17) and perhaps even from the Persian province in the Trans-Jordan (east of the Jordan River). These people continually occupied the Levant and Northern Mesopotamia during the period of the Jewish exile and are concerned that the return of the Judahites will upset the balance of power in the region.
Question: What is the accusation they make against the citizens of Judah?
Answer: The accuse them of a nationalistic temperament that led to rebellion against their overlords the Assyrians and Babylonians in the past, a pattern they are sure to repeat.
Question: Is their accusation concerning Judah's history of rebellion unfounded? See 2 Kng 18:7-8; 24:1, 20.
Answer: No; it is a well-established accusation historically. However, there is no evidence that the Judahites had ambitions to tempt their neighbors to revolt against the Persians.
Ezra 4:17-24 ~ King Artaxerxes' Reply to the Samaritans and the Citizens of the Trans-Euphrates Provinces
Verse 18 suggests the senders wrote their letter not in Aramaic but in the dialect of their regions or in a cuneiform transcription that needed a translation. King Artaxerxes writes that he has verified the claims they made in their letter. "Powerful kings" who governed the whole of Trans-Euphrates and exacted tribute could only refer to Kings David and Solomon (who died in 930 BC). King Artaxerxes orders that all work on rebuilding the city is to cease for the time being, and the order will be carried out by military force if necessary.
This verse continues from 4:5 and the narrative about the Temple. Work on the Temple ended until the reign of Darius I (522-486 BC). During the first two years of his reign, Darius had to fight for his right to the throne (as recorded in the Behistun Inscription). It was only after he stabilized the Empire that efforts to rebuild the Jerusalem Temple were permitted in year two of Darius' reign (accession year = 522, year #1 = 521, year #2 = 520 BC). The prophet Haggai, at God's command, exhorted Zerubbabel to resume rebuilding the Temple on August 29, 519 BC (Hag 1:1-5), and work began on September 21 (Hag 1:15).
Introduction
Zechariah is the eleventh of the twelve minor prophets. The Book of Zechariah in the Old Testament Christian canon comes after the Book of Haggai and before the Book of Malachi, the last of the Old Testament books in the Christian Bible. Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi were Yahweh's holy prophets to the Jewish people during the years after their return from the Babylonian exile and before the first advent of the Christ. The priest Zechariah was the younger associate of the prophet Haggai.
In 539 BC, King Cyrus the Great of Persia issued an Edict of Return, allowing the people displaced by the Babylonians to return to their homelands. Within the next year after the issuing his decree, the first group of citizens of the former Southern Kingdom of Judah returned to what had become the Persian province of Judah. The young priest, Zechariah son of Berechiah son of Iddo returned with this first group of exiles when he was a child. Zechariah's name means "Yahweh remembers." It is one of the most frequently used names in the Bible shared by thirty different men including the priestly father of St. John the Baptist.
He is called the son of Berechiah in 1:1 and 7 but the son of Iddo in Ezra 5:1 and 6:11. Most Biblical scholars identify Zechariah with the priestly family of Iddo mentioned in Nehemiah 12:16. He was, therefore, a descendant of Moses' brother, the first High Priest Aaron, and a member of one of the priestly families born in Babylon during the exile.
The Book of Zechariah divides into two parts:
Part I: Chapters 1-8 are in the same period as the ministry of the prophet Haggai (520-517 BC). Zechariah's ministry began two months after Haggai's, and like the Book of Haggai, the Book of Zechariah dates his prophecies in Chapters 1-8 that relate to crucial events impacting specific individuals in the time frame between 520 to 518 BC. During this period, with Haggai's urging, the Jews resumed work on the Temple, trusting God to protect them from the Samaritans and their other belligerent neighbors. The covenant people completed the Temple in 517 BC, seventy years after its destruction by the Babylonians. Part I of Zechariah's prophecies end before the Temple dedication in 518 BC.
Part II: Chapters 9-14 are not dated because, unlike Chapters 1-8, these prophecies do not relate to current history but are eschatological (focused on the end times) in nature and oriented toward the distant future. References to Greece (9:13) suggest a date between 480 and 470 BC, after the death of Cyrus' son and successor, King Darius I (521-486 BC) and during the reign of his son, King Ahasuerus/Xerxes I, the husband of Esther (486-464 BC) when Esther's uncle Mordecai was Ahasuerus/Xerxes' prime minister.
| Zechariah's Eight Visions | Symbolic Significance |
| 1. The man on a red horse among myrtle trees (1:8) | God will again extend His mercy to Jerusalem (1:14, 16-17) |
| 2. Four horns and four smiths (2:1-3) | Enemies who scatter Judah are cast out by angelic powers (2:4) |
| 3. The man with a measuring line (2:1) | God will provide a protective wall of holy fire around Jerusalem (2:3-5) |
| 4. The cleansing of the High Priest Joshua (3:4) | Removing Judah's guilt in preparation for the coming of God's Servant, the Branch, who will save His people (3:8-9) |
| 5. The golden lampstand and the two olive trees (4:2-3) | God empowers His people by His spirit (4:6) |
| 6. The flying scroll (5:1) | Dishonesty is cursed (5:3) |
| 7. The woman of wickedness in a barrel/basket (5:6-7) | Wickedness removed (5:9) |
| 8. The four chariots (6:1) | God's judgment executed on the world (6:5-7) |
Seven of Zechariah's eight visions find counterparts in the Book of Revelation:
| Zechariah's Eight Visions | The Link Between Zechariah's Visions and the Book of Revelation |
| 1. The man on a red horse with three other horses among myrtle trees (1:8) | The four riders on white, red, black, and pale horses (Rev 6:1-9) |
| 2. Four horns and four smiths (1:18-20) | |
| 3. The man/angel with a measuring line (2:1) | John receives a measuring line and is told to measure God's Sanctuary (Rev 11:1). An angel measures the walls and gates of the Messianic Jerusalem (21:15). |
| 4. The cleansing of the High Priest Joshua (3:4) | The spotless Bride of the lamb (Rev 19:8). |
| 5. The golden lampstand with seven eyes and the two olive trees (4:2-3) | The seven golden lampstands (Rev 1:12, 20) and the two olive trees (Rev 11:4) |
| 6. The flying scroll (5:1) | The small scroll (Rev 11:8-11) |
| 7. The woman of wickedness in a barrel/basket (5:6-7) | The wicked woman riding a scarlet beast (Rev 17:3-7) |
| 8. The four chariots (6:1) | The four horsemen (Rev 6:2-8) |
Zechariah's Oracles in Part I
The five oracles in Chapters 1-6:
- The first oracle in 1:1-6
- The second oracle in 2:10-17 *
- The third oracle in 4:6b-10a
- The fourth oracle in 6:9-15
- The fifth oracle in 7:1-14
- 587/6 BC Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple and deported the surviving Judahites to Babylon.
- 585 BC Jewish rebels assassinated the Persian governor Gedaliah.
- 561 BC Babylonian king Evil-Merodach released Judean King Jehoiachin from prison.
- 559 BC Cyrus the Great became the king of the Medo-Persian Empire.
- 539 BC Cyrus conquered Babylon and issued an Edict of Return.
- 538 BC The first group of exiles returned to Judah.
- 530 BC Cambyses succeeded Cyrus as king but died in c. 522 BC.
- 522 BC Darius I succeeded Cambyses as King of Persia and made Davidic descendant Zerubbabel the Persian governor of Judah.
- 520 BC Haggai began his ministry in August, and the work on the Temple resumed.
- Zechariah began his ministry in October/November (Zech 1:1).
- 519 BC February is the second date in Zechariah 1:7.*
- 518 BC December is the third date in Zechariah 7:1.
- 517 BC The Jerusalem Temple was completed and dedicated.
- 479 BC Xerxes/Ahasuerus I (486-465 BC) made Esther Queen of Persia.
- 465 BC Artaxerxes I succeeded his father, Xerxes, as King of Persia (465-424 BC).
- 458 BC Persian governor Ezra led the second return of the exiles to Judah.
- 444 BC Persian governor Nehemiah led the third return of the exiles to Judah.
Chapter I: The Summons to Repentance and Conversion and the First Vision
Zechariah 1:1-6 ~ The Summons to Repentance and Conversion
King Darius I of Persia came to the throne in 522 BC in what was his "accession year" until the Persian turn of the year on the spring equinox at which time 521 became the first year of his reign. Therefore, the second year of Darius was 520 BC, and the date of Zechariah's call to his prophetic ministry is the eighth month, the month of Heshvan in the Jewish liturgical calendar, (our October/November) and two months after the first prophecy of his contemporary prophet, Haggai (Hag 1:1).
The dates in the ministries of Haggai and Zechariah in the second year of the reign of King Darius of Persia that corresponds to 520 BC:
| Haggai | Zechariah |
| Haggai's calling and first oracle were on the 1st day of the sixth month in the second year of Darius or August 520 BC. | |
| Haggai's second oracle was on the 21st day of the seventh month in the second year of Darius or October 520 BC. | |
| Zechariah's calling and first oracle were in the 8th month in the second year of Darius or October/November 520 BC. | |
| Haggai's third oracle was on the 24th day of the ninth month in the second year of Darius or December 520 BC. | |
| Haggai's fourth oracle was also on the 24th day of the ninth month in the second year of Darius or in December 520 BC. | |
| Zechariah's four visions all occurred on the 24th day of the eleventh month in the second year of Darius or mid-February 520 BC.* | |
| Michal Hunt, Copyright © 2019 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved. | |
Zechariah's eight visions take place during the night of the twenty-fourth day of Shebat (mid-February) in 520 BC, in the second year in the reign of King Darius I of Persia. However, he is not dreaming; he is fully awake and engaged. All of Zechariah's visions date to 520 BC, two months after the prophet Haggai received God's command to call the returned exiles to continue rebuilding the Temple (Hag 1:1). The interpreter of Zechariah's visions is the "Angel of Yahweh." The Hebrew phrase, ha-mak'ak-YHWH (the messenger of Yahweh) is the most frequently used designation of an angelic figure in the Old Testament, and the prophet Haggai is also called mal'ak-YHWH in Haggai 1:13. Ha-mak'ak-YHWH mediates the visions for the prophets Ezekiel (Ex 40:3ff) and Zechariah.
The Angel of Yahweh is a familiar Biblical figure who stands at the head of Yahweh's Divine Council in the heavenly Sanctuary and is God's special messenger. Some examples of the missions of the "Angel of Yahweh/Angel of God" in the Old Testament:
- He appeared to Moses from the burning bush (Ex 3:2),
- led the children of Israel on their exodus (departure) out of Egypt (Ex 14:19)
- appeared to counsel the Judges of Israel (Judg 2:1, 4; 5:23; 6:11, etc.),
- appeared to David (2 Sam 24:16-17; 2 Chron 21:16),
- and God sent the Angel of Yahweh as His special agent over a hundred and fifty times in Old Testament Scripture.The special designation "Angel of Yahweh" appears seven times in the Book of Zechariah (1:11, 12; 3:1, 2, 5, 6; 12:8). His mission is to interpret the visions of God's divine plan to Zechariah.
Zechariah 2:1-4 (1:18-21 in some translations) ~ The Second Vision: The Horns and the Smiths
The "horns" symbolize strength as in the use of the word "horn" in the Hebrew translation of Psalm 75:4-5, I said to the boastful, "Do not boast!" to the wicked, "Do not flaunt your strength [horn]! Do not flaunt your strength [horn] so proudly, do not talk with that arrogant stance." Also see "horn" for strength in Psalms 18:2b. In this case, the "horns" are the nations hostile to Israel (the Northern and Southern Kingdoms) who took her citizens into exile, and the number four symbolizes their universality.
3 Yahweh then showed me four smiths.
Zechariah probably identifies these angelic figures as "smiths/blacksmiths" because the iron implements they carry are forged by fire. The four smiths/blacksmiths are the angelic powers God will send to overthrow the power of Judah's enemies who have scattered her citizens across the ancient Near East (cf. Is 54:16-17). Those powers include the Assyrians who conquered the Northern Kingdom in 722 BC and took the Israelites of the ten northern tribes into exile to relocate them in Assyrian lands and the Babylonians who took the citizens of Judah into exile in three waves in 605, 598, and 587/6 BC. The "horn" could not include the Persians because God used them as His instrument of judgment against the Babylonians to conquer that empire and allow the covenant people to return to their homeland.
Zechariah's vision of the four horns and the four smiths assured the citizens of Judah of God's promise to overcome their enemies' plans to defeat them. Therefore, there was no longer any reason to fear interference in rebuilding God's dwelling place in Jerusalem! He will not only stop their neighbors from threatening to invade them, but He will destroy the nations that devastated His holy people in the past.
Zechariah 2:5-9 (2:1-5 in some translations) ~ The Third Vision: The Man with the Measuring Line
Another angel appears holding a measuring line, a tool used in carpentry and in building construction (Is 44:13). In Scripture, a measuring line can be a symbol of judgment (Is 34:11; Lam 2:80, and in this case, restoration and judging spiritual perfection. Yahweh told the sixth-century prophet, Jeremiah, that the Babylonians would destroy Jerusalem, but then in Jeremiah 31:38-40, God promised the rebuilding of the city when "once again the measuring line will stretch straight..." God's promise to Jeremiah anticipated the prophet Ezekiel's vision. The sixth-century BC prophet Ezekiel had a similar vision in Ezekiel 41:13. In the books of Zechariah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, the measurements symbolically represent the spiritual "rebuilding" of the Temple in preparation for the spiritually restored worshippers.
Revelation 11:1 and 21:15 repeats the vision of the measuring line. In Revelation Chapter 11, John receives a long cane like a measuring rod and is told to measure God's heavenly Sanctuary, the altar, and the people who worship there. And in 21:15, an angel shows John the holy city of Jerusalem coming down out of Heaven from God. He carries a gold measuring rod to measure the city and its gates and wall.
Zechariah 2:10-17 (2:6-13 in some translations) ~ A Song for the Daughter of Zion: Yahweh’s Two Exhortations for the Covenant People
The narrative moves from prose to poetic verses in 14-17. Some verses are missing from some Protestant Bibles but not from the Jewish Tanakh or Catholic Bibles. In these verses, the Angel gives an oracle containing two exhortations:
- All the covenant people still living in pagan lands must return to Judah before God brings His divine judgment against those lands.
- The citizens of Judah must rejoice since Yahweh will return to make Jerusalem His dwelling place.
The "land of the north" refers to the lands of Assyrian and Babylon into which the covenant people were forcibly taken into exile. Physically, these lands were to the northeast, but since a desert separated the Holy Land from Assyria and Babylon, invading armies from Mesopotamia came from the north to attack Israel/Judah (cf., Jer 6:22; 10:22). The "four winds of heaven" refer to the four compass points and convey the idea of encompassing all places on the earth (see the same phrase in 6:5 and Ez 37:9 and Jer 49:36).
In Hebrew, hoy, hoy is a characteristic prophetic interjection that appears 51 times in the Old Testament, mostly in the three of the books of the major prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, and in six of the twelve minor prophets in Amos, Micah, Nahum, Zephaniah, and Zechariah.
However, in verse 10, the angel uses the three times repetition of "hoy" in a slightly different way. Like 7 of the other 51 Biblical occurrences, it is an independent interjection not followed by the standard account of a group's misdeeds and is a warning directed toward the exiles who God will restore to Zion. In this case, the "hoy" could mean "woe" for the exiles, but it also implies "woe" for those who hold the covenant people captive (verses 12-13.8-9). Therefore, it has to be something other than a prophetic lament. Instead, it is calling the people to action, to get up and leave Babylon (verse 11-13). God encourages "Zion," His covenant people, to flee Babylon and return to their ancestral lands before future enemies plunger Persia and the Persian province of Babylon, probably a prophecy relating to the 4th century BC invasion of Alexander the Great.
Zechariah 3:1-9a ~ The Fourth Vision: The Investiture of Joshua
Joshua (called "Jeshua" in Ezra 1:2; 3:8; 4:3; 5:3) was the chief priest who returned with the first group of the exiles led by Sheshbazzar and Zerubbabel (Ezra 1:11; 2:1-2). The name Joshua/Jeshua (Yeshua) was common in ancient times. The exiles selected him as the first High Priest [hakkohen hagadol] of the restored covenant people (Hag 1:1, 12-14; 2:2, 4).1The title hakkohen hagadol designates Joshua here and seven other times in the Books of Haggai and Zechariah (Hag 1:1, 12, 14; 2:24; Zec 3:8; 6:11). He was the son of the chief priest Jehozadak, and his grandfather, Seraiah, was the last High Priest of the Jerusalem Temple and martyred by the Babylonians (see 2 Kngs 25:18-21; Jer 52:24-27).
Nehemiah 12:10-11 lists the high priests who served the covenant people from 520 BC, during the reign of Darius I, to about 405 BC during the reign of Persian King Darius II.
- Jeshua/Joshua* was the high priest during the time of the first return from exile when Sheshbazzar and Zerubbabel were governors (Ezra 5:2; Hag 1:1; Zec 6:11).
- Joiakim son of Jeshua* was the high priest during the time of Ezra (Neh 12:10, 12, 26).
- Eliashib son of Joiakim was the high priest during the time of Nehemiah (Neh 3:1, 20; 12:22, 23; 13:4, 7, 28).
- Joiada succeeded his father, Eliashib.
- Johanan succeeded his father, Joiada.
- Jaddua succeeded his father, Johanan.
*Jeshua in Hebrew is the same name as the Aramaic form of Joshua (see Hag 2:2, 4), and Joiakim is the shortened form of Jehoiakim. Josephus recorded that both Ezra and Joiakim died before Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem.
1 He then showed me the high priest Joshua standing before the angel of Yahweh, with Satan standing on his right to accuse him.
In Hebrew, ha-satan, means "the accuser" or "the adversary."2 The use of the article before the word "satan" indicates it is not a proper name but a title. In the Old Testament, the word satan always appears with the definite article ha; the only exception is in 1 Chronicles 21:1. In the vision, Zechariah sees Satan standing to the right of the Angel of Yahweh. Most Biblical commentators point out that it is odd that Satan should be to the right in the position of authority and therefore Satan must be occupying the highest position in the Divine Council before Yahweh Throne of Judgment. However, they fail to take into account that what Zechariah sees is the reverse of the scene viewed from Yahweh's location. The Angel of Yahweh is to the right of the throne while Satan is standing to the left of the Angel of Yahweh from Yahweh's perspective:
| Zechariah's View | Yahweh's View |
| Yahweh's Throne of Judgment Angel of Yahweh (left) Satan (right) Zechariah | Yahweh's Throne of Judgment Angel of Yahweh (left) Satan (right) Zechariah |
The Satan/Accuser is a member of the Divine Counsel in the heavenly court. He fills the role of a prosecuting attorney who spies on, accuses, and indicts malefactors, while the Angel of God acts as the Advocate for Joshua. Satan is an equivocal figure, a fallen supernatural being distinct from the other "sons of God" (Yahweh's messenger/angels), hostile to human beings, anxious to find fault in them and unleashing disaster on them that including enticing them to sin. He is cynical, cold, malicious, and sarcastic, all of which reveals his hostility to human beings based on envy.3
Zechariah 3:8-10 ~ The Coming of "the Branch"
- The word "branch" or "shoot" is represented by eighteen different Hebrew and four different Greek words in the Bible, but the concept of the person known as the Branch or Shoot in the prophecies is associated with the Hebrew words netzer and tesmach.4 The eighth-century BC prophet Isaiah was the first to prophesy the coming of "the Branch" or "Shoot" in Yahweh's Divine Plan:
- A shoot [choter = twig] will spring from the stock of Jesse, a new shoot [netzer] will grow from his roots. On him will rest the spirit of Yahweh, the spirit of wisdom and insight, the spirit of counsel and power, the spirit of knowledge and fear of Yahweh: his inspiration will lie in fearing Yahweh. His judgment will not be by appearances, his verdict not given on hearsay. He will judge the weak with integrity and give fair sentence for the humblest in the land. He will strike the country [land] with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips bring death to the wicked. Uprightness will be the belt around his waist, and constancy the belt about his hips (Is 11:1-5).
- The next prophecy of the individual called "the Branch" is from the 6th-century BC prophet Jeremiah:
- Look, the days are coming, Yahweh declares, when I shall raise an upright branch [tsemach] for David; he will reign as king and be wise, doing what is just and upright in the country [land]. In his days Judah will triumph and Israel live in safety. And this is the name he will be called, "Yahweh-is-our-Saving-Justice" (Jer 23:5-6).
- And it is followed by Jeremiah's third prophecy of "the Branch":
- Look, the days are coming, Yahweh declares, when I shall fulfill the promise of happiness I made to the House of Israel and the House of Judah: In those days and at that time, I shall make an upright Branch [tsemach] grow for David, who will do what is just and upright in the country [land]. In those days Judah will triumph, and Israel live in safety. And this is the name the city will be called: Yahweh-is-our-Saving-Justice (Jer 33:14-16).
- Zechariah's prophecy is the fourth:
- [Yahweh Sabaoth declares]"So listen, High Priest Joshua, you and the colleagues over whom you preside, for they are an omen of things to come, for now I shall bring in my servant the Branch [tsemach], 9a and I shall remove this country's guilt in a single day. 10 On that day, Yahweh Sabaoth declares, invite each other to come under your vine and your fig tree" (Zec 3:8-10).
- And the fifth prophecy is also in the Book of Zechariah:
- And say this to him, "Yahweh Sabaoth says this: Here is a man whose name is Branch; where he is, there will be a branching out (and he will rebuild Yahweh's sanctuary). Yes, he is the one who will rebuild Yahweh's sanctuary; he will wear the royal insignia and sit on his throne and govern, with a priest on his right [on his throne]. Perfect peace will reign between these two ... Then you will know that Yahweh Sabaoth has sent me to you. It will happen if you diligently obey the voice of Yahweh your God" (Zec 6:12, 16).
The prophecies in Isaiah and Jeremiah identify "the Branch" as a Messianic descendant of King David of the tribe of Judah and the fulfillment of Yahweh's eternal covenant with David's lineage to establish an everlasting kingdom ruled by an eternal king of David's royal line. Therefore, "the Branch" cannot be the High Priest Joshua who is a descendant of Aaron of the tribe of Levi. Most Biblical scholars suggest Zechariah's "Branch" must point to Davidic prince Zerubbabel who embodied the Messianic hopes of a Davidic descendant (Hag 2:20-23). However, since he does not fulfill the other parts of the prophecies, Zerubbabel probably points to the coming of "the Branch" as a prelude to his coming. Parts of the prophecies concerning "the Branch" are not fulfilled in Zerubbabel as they are in his descendant, Jesus of Nazareth. Both genealogies in Matthew and Luke's Gospels split between David's sons Solomon and Nathan but come back together in Zerubbabel from whom both Joseph and the Virgin Mary are descendants (Mt 1:12-16 and Lk 3:23-27).
9a and I shall remove this country's guilt in a single day.
This is the most significant statement in the passage. When did Yahweh remove the communal sins of the covenant people in a single day? Does the promise refer to the atoning and sanctifying sacrifice of the Tamid lambs in a twice-daily liturgical worship service on God's holy sacrificial altar (Ex 29:38-42) that had to be repeated daily? Or does it point to what the Tamid lambs only represented and was fulfilled in the sacrifice of "the Branch" of David, Jesus of Nazareth, on the altar of the Cross at the same times the Tamid lambs were sacrificed in two daily worship services? See the e-book, "Jesus and the Mystery of the Tamid Sacrifice" or at amazon.com.
10 On that day, Yahweh Sabaoth declares, invite each other to come under your vine and your fig tree.
The prophet Micah, at the end of the 8th-century BC, foretold a time when He (Yahweh) will judge between many peoples and arbitrate between mighty nations. They will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into bill-hooks. Nation will not lift sword against nation or ever again be trained to make war. But each man will sit under his vine and fig tree with no one to trouble him. The mouth of Yahweh Sabaoth has spoken (Mic 4:3-4). Micah's prophecy points to a time of perpetual peace in the eschatological future that promised perfect covenant unity with Yahweh.
The prophet Joel also wrote about "that (awesome/terrible) day" as a day of divine judgment in Joel 1:15, Cry out to Yahweh: "Alas for the day! For the Day of Yahweh is near, coming as destruction from Shaddai." However, Zechariah's "day" does not forebode judgment but blessings. The fruitful vine and fig tree were symbols of Israel in covenant peace with Yahweh, and that is probably the intention of verse 10. See the chart on the "Symbolic Images of the Prophets" at The Symbolic Images of the Old Testament Prophets.
CHALLENGE: “Catholics shouldn’t pray to the saints. Prayer is an act of worship, which is due only to God.”
DEFENSE: This involves a confusion of terms based on how the English language developed.
In contemporary American English, “pray” indicates an act of worshipping God. However, Catholics do not give divine worship to the saints.
The root of the confusion lies in the fact that the English word “pray” is derived from the Latin word precare, which meant “to ask/implore/entreat.”
By the 1300s , the English phrase “I pray thee” was used as a way to make a polite request—i.e., “I ask you” (equivalent to “please” or “if you will”). “I pray thee” was later contracted to the single word “prithee,” which is rare in American English but more familiar in British English. Because of the Protestant influence on American English, the word “pray” was eventually restricted to acts of worshipping God. However, this was not its original meaning.
The original sense of the term is preserved in settings like law courts (where the phrase “My client prays that the court . . .” still means “My client asks that the court . . .”) or in Catholic circles (where it indicates asking the saints for their prayers).
If you read the Catechism (or other official Catholic documents), you won’t commonly find the phrases “praying to the saints” or “prayer to the saints.” What the Church normally uses instead is the phrase “intercession of the saints” (cf. CCC 956, 1434), which expresses more precisely what Catholics are asking when they “pray to the saints.” They are asking the saints for their intercession—i.e., they are asking them to ask God to grant their prayer requests.
In other words, they are asking the saints to be prayer partners with them. They are not giving the saints the worship that is due to God alone. No matter what respect a created being may be due (cf. Exod. 20:12, Rom. 13:7, 1 Pet. 2:17), God is an infinite, uncreated being who is due the supreme form of worship. Catholics do not violate this when they ask the saints to be their prayer partners.
Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist
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