The Interrupted Vision
‘The angel of the LORD answered and said, 0 LORD of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years? And the LORD answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words ‘. (Zechariah 1:12,13)
Zechariah and Haggai were the two prophets of the Jewish return from Babylon. They returned to their native land shortly after the edict of Cyrus. Their mission was the same – to motivate the Hebrews of the return to rebuild the temple. Although both of their prophecies have second advent applications, they must be interpreted first in light of this historic context.
The book of Zechariah can be broken into four subdivisions: (1) a series of eight progressive visions, chapters 1 through 6. (2) An answer to a question concerning fasting, chapters 7 and 8. (3) The first ‘burden’ applying largely to the first advent of Messiah, chapters 9 through 11. (4) The second ‘burden’ applying to the second advent of Messiah, chapters 12 through 14.
Although many interpretations have been suggested for the eight visions, the list below shows only one of them. This view takes the visions as being in chronological sequence as a foreview of Zechariah’s main purpose – to know what the future holds for Israel. In this view, application is made of the first three visions to natural Israel, the next two to spiritual Israel, the sixth and seventh to nominal spiritual Israel, and the last one as a summary of God’s plan, not only for Israel, but for the whole human race.
(1) Horses in Bottom Land – Natural Israel – Watch care of God’s attributes over Israel during four universal empires
(2) Horns and Carpenters – Natural Israel – Removal of four universal empires
(3) Measuring of Jerusalem – Natural Israel- Restoration of Israel to divine favor
(4) Joshua’s Change of Garments – Spiritual Israel – Anointed to office
(5) Olive Trees and Candlesticks – Spiritual Israel – Spiritual feeding during Gospel Age
(6) Flying Scroll-Nominal Spiritual Israel-Judgment beginning at house of God
(7) Woman in Ephah – Nominal Spiritual Israel – Rise of nominal church as Babylon
(8) Horses Between Mountains – All Classes – Summary of results of working of God’s attributes in finished plan
The above remarks will suffice to serve as a preface for our examination of the fourth vision of Zechariah, that of Joshua’s change of garments.
JOSHUA, THE HIGH PRIEST
The fourth vision saw the high priest Joshua receive a change of garments, his filthy rags exchanged for new, fresh, and clean garments. There are four actors in the vision – Joshua, the angel of Jehovah, Satan, and a group of spectators. The vision is in two parts – the clothing of Joshua (Zechariah 3:1-5) and a statement by the angel of Jehovah (Zechariah 3:6-10).
As high priest, Joshua was the leader of the priests and Levites who returned with Zerubbabel, the prince of the tribe of Judah. Joshua comes from noble heritage. His grandfather, Seraiah, was martyred, (2 Kings 25:18-21) and his father, Jehozadak, was taken captive when Nebuchadnezzar overthrew Jerusalem. Joshua was active with Zerubbabel in building the second temple. (Ezra 3:2-8) The two of them were encouraged in this work by the prophets Haggai (\#Hag 1:10) and Zechariah. Possibly he was the ancestor of Ezra, {1} who returned about a century later.
As in most pictures of the Aaronic priesthood, Joshua represents the church. It is apparent, both from his filthy garments and from the fact that the ‘angel of the LORD’ who defends him is Jesus, that Joshua represents the church alone. The words of the ‘angel of the LORD’ countering the charges of Satan, are ‘The LORD rebuke thee, 0 Satan.’ These words are quoted in \#Jude 9 where they are attributed to Michael, the Lord Jesus.
The change of garments, shows the glorification of the church in her royal garments. This scene is reminiscent of Leviticus 16:23,24 where, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest removes his sacrificial robes, bloodied by the performance of his duties, and changes his garments into those of glory and beauty.
Though not mentioning the various elements of the garments, the prophet does call attention to the headpiece – ‘set a fair mitre {2} upon his head.’ This garment was the next to the last one donned by the priest in his glory robes. (Exodus 29:6) Only the attachment of the gold plate (here called a crown) with the words ‘Holiness to the LORD’ was added afterward.
THE WARNING OF JEHOVAH
The Hebrew uwd, translated ‘protested’ in the King James Version, (Zechariah 3:6) is open to a wide variety of renderings. It contains primarily the thought of a solemn and serious tone of voice and has, as one of its meanings, ‘to give warning’ (Brown-Driver-Riggs).
The warning makes the promise of rulership conditional – ‘If thou wilt walk in my ways, and keep my charge.’ The promise itself is not merely to judge, or rule, but to be counted among the heavenly spectators.
We will quote the first part of the second statement of Jehovah from the updated American Standard Revised Version. ‘Now listen, Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who are sitting in front of you – indeed they are men who are a symbol, for behold, I am going to bring in My servant the Branch.’
This translation rightly catches the point that the gathered spectators were symbolic. To them he would introduce another servant, called ‘the Branch.’ This verse had a partial application in the days of the literal Joshua, but applies in the fullest sense to the true Christ and the construction of the true temple.
Pastor Russell’s comments on the literal application bear repeating. ‘Verses 9 and 10 blend type and antitype. Zerubbabel had begun the building of the literal Temple, and the people understood that it would be completed by him’ (R1491). In other words, Zerubabbel, who was a branch of the kingly Davidic line, was a type of Christ as Joshua was of the church.
A STONE WITH SEVEN EYES
The next statement warrants close examination. ‘For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the Braving thereof, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.’
The Hebrew word for ‘stone’ is eben (Strong’s #68), and is used of a broad variety of stones from rocks to gem stones. It is the word used for the onyx stones on the shoulders of the high priests and for the precious stones in his breastplate. (Exodus 25:7; 28:16) The New Living Bible, admittedly a paraphrase, uses ‘jewel’ as its translation. The two most reasonable options for identifying the stone is either the foundation stone of the temple which is mentioned in the next vision, (Zechariah 4:7-9) or a stone or stones associated with the high priest. Since the vision concerns the garments of the high priest, and since ‘engraving’ is always used of an inscription or ornamentation in metal or precious stones, we suggest it refers to the stones on Joshua’s breastplate. The word translated ‘one,’ suggesting a single stone, can be translated ‘any’ or ‘every’ of a number of stones, according to both Professor Strong and Brown-Driver-Riggs. The New Living Bible is in accord with this concept of a jewel: ‘Now look at the jewel I have set before Jeshua, a single stone with seven facets. I will engrave an inscription on it, says the LORD Almighty.’
Keil and Delitzsch note that the engraving does not consist of the ‘seven eyes,’ but that ‘the seven eyes are directed toward the stone, or watch over it with protecting care.’ This leaves us with the suggested translation, ‘Behold, I lay before [or upon] Joshua every precious stone, and my seven eyes will watch over them to protect them.’ The last phrase of verse 9 properly belongs with verse 10.
These ‘seven eyes’ are also attributed to the slain Lamb of God in Revelation 5:6, where they are identified with the ‘seven spirits’ (see also Revelation 1:4). They have been interpreted as the Lord speaking to the church since the messages to each of the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3 end with the admonition, ‘He that hath an ear, let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches.’ In general, they can be seen as the wisdom and watch care of both the Father and the Son over the church. This accords well with the usage in our passage in Zechariah.
The commentary of Adam Clarke on these seven eyes, though arbitrary, is worth noting. He identifies them with seven specific attributes of Christ performing seven functions in the care of the church. The list below depicts his thoughts.
‘Seven Eyes’ of Christ per Adam Clarke
Wisdom Directing
Power Protecting
Goodness Saving
Mercy Upholding
Truth Purifying
Love Governing
Compassion Preserving
If, then, the engraving on the stone (or every stone) was not the seven eyes, what was it? If, in truth, this stone (or stones) referred to the garments of Joshua, it would refer either to the onyx stones which were on the priest’s shoulders or to the stones in the breastplate. It was on the onyx stones that we do find an engraving, the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. (Exodus 28:9) Thus we have the commitment of God to eternally watch over these twelve tribes, and antitypically, over the spiritual twelve tribes named after the twelve apostles, whose names are in the twelve foundation stones of the New Jerusalem. (Revelation 21:14)
The final statement of the vision details the two results to be obtained through Christ and the anointed ‘Joshua’ class – ‘I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall ãe call every man his neighbor under the vine and under the fig tree.’
In fact it will be in the ‘same day,’ the thousand-year day of Christ’s reign, that there will be both the removal of all Adamic sin and its accompanying iniquity, as well as the obtaining of the security of every man sitting under his own vine and fig tree. The latter expression can be understood in either its literal sense or symbolically, sitting under the rulership of Christ (the ‘vine’) and the earthly dominion of restored Israel (the ‘fig tree’).
FINISHING THE VISION
With this statement the vision of Joshua the high priest appears to end. The narrative goes on to describe the next four visions. However, after completing his account of all eight visions, the prophet returns to the story of Joshua the high priest to add, as it were, an addendum to the earlier vision.
This addition is found in Zechariah 6:9-15. ‘And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon, and come thou the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah; Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest; And speak unto him, 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 counsel of peace shall be between them both. And the crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, 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 hath sent me unto you. And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God.’
In Zechariah 3 we see Joshua dressed in pure garments and topped off with a mitre; in Zechariah 6 we see a crown made to go over the mitre. This is reminiscent of the instructions given regarding the making of the original garments of glory and beauty. In Exodus 29:6 we read, ‘And thou shalt put the mitre upon his head, and put the holy crown upon the mitre.’
The main difference between the two is that the original crown for Aaron was a simple gold plate engraved with the words ‘Holiness to the LORD’. (Exodus 28:36) a second difference is that Zechariah refers to ‘crowns’ in the plural, rather than to a singular tiara. However eight ancient manuscripts, along with the Syriac and Chaldaic versions, read ‘crown,’ in the singular, which better accords with the concept that this was a crown for Joshua and not for multiple priests.
The object of Joshua having a crown is specifically stated in Zechariah 6:13, ‘he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne.’ This is the same position as Melchizedek, who was both a priest and a king. (Hebrews 7:1,8:1) Joshua is the first and only Aaronic priest who shares these two offices. In fact, historically these positions were kept separate, the kingly line descending from the tribe of Judah and the priestly line from Levi. Now, however, they are to be joined in Messiah, the true Branch, who, with his church, shall be ‘priests and kings and reign a thousand years’. (Revelation 20:6)
There are, thus, two occasions when we see the roles of king and priest united in the line of Aaron – in Joshua and in the robes of glory and beauty for the Aaronic priesthood, where the golden plate represents the crown. {3} It is then, as stated in Zechariah 6:13, that ‘A counsel of peace shall be between them.’ Indeed, the Updated American Standard Version renders this phrase, ‘the counsel of peace shall be between the two offices.’
We note that one of the times the high priest was to change into the garments of glory and beauty was on the atonement day, after the scapegoat was let go into the wilderness. (Leviticus 16:22-24) This implies that the garments of glory and beauty do not apply to Christ or the church until the sacrificial work is done. Since Jesus finished his sacrificial work some two thousand years ago and yet does not don the glory robes until the sacrificing of both the church and the great company is completed, those robes do not apply to the glory of person. Rather, they represent the glory of the office which will be filled when the spiritual classes are complete.
Likewise, though Joshua was given clean raiment in Zechariah 3, he is not given the crown until the work of all the other visions are complete. It is the last act of the vision section of Zechariah’s prophecy.
LAID UP FOR A MEMORIAL
Further, in the visions of Zechariah, even after the crown is made for him, he does not immediately wear it. The crown is to be placed in the completed temple and placed under the charge of Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen the son of Zephaniah ‘for a memorial.’ The Hebrew word ztkrown (Strong’s #2146) is the same word used of the onyx stones on Aaron’s glorious garments in Exodus 28:12.
Probably it was not that it was only to remain as a memorial token, for such are the grounds of idol worship. More likely it was to be kept there for those rare occasions when the crown was to be worn by Joshua or his successors.
HELDAI, TOBIJAH, JEDAIAH AND JOSIAH
Very little is positively known about these individuals, who were active both in the making and in the preserving of Joshua’s crown. We do know that the first three were among the returnees to Jerusalem from Babylon. We can assume that Josiah had returned earlier since he already owns a house. We can also assume that all four came from godly parentage, since all four names include the ‘iah’ suffix, meaning ‘Jehovah.’ The name ‘Helem’ in verse 14 Is likely the ‘Heldai’ of verse 10.
Somewhat more is known about Josiah. {4} His ancestor is listed as Zephaniah. This Zephaniah is not the prophet whose book bears that name, for that prophet was a descendant of Hezekiah (Hizkiah in the Authorized Version) while this Zephaniah appears to have access to the temple, and thus be a priest. Most probably this was the Zephaniah who was the frequent messenger of King Zedekiah to Jeremiah (Jeremiah 29:29 37:3) and was one of the leaders of Israel who were killed by the Babylonian captain of the guard, Nebuzaradan. (2 Kings 25:18-21)
Their role was two-fold – first, manufacture the crown of gold and silver for Joshua; second, be responsible for its maintenance in the temple. We suggest that their roles may be similar to those ascribed to the four and twenty elders of Revelation. These are seen in Revelation 5:9,10 witnessing with joy to the worthiness of Christ and those who would rule with him: ‘And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy art Thou to take the book, and to break its seals; for Thou wast slain, and didst purchase for God with Thy blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. And Thou hast made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.’ ‘ (VAS)
In Revelation 4:4 we see them sitting around the throne wearing crowns of gold. These crowns, however, they do not retain. In verses ten and eleven, they are seen casting their crowns before the one on the throne, saying, ‘Thou art worthy, 0 Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.’
This activity of the 24 elders is roughly parallel to that of Josiah and his three companions in Zechariah. Though there is honest debate among brethren as to the identity of these 24 elders, we would suggest that they represent the prophets (or prophecies) of the Old Testament. In these prophecies we find the defined requirements for the one who would prove worthy, not only to open the book, but to wear the crown. They retain, like the holder of a wager in a gambling event, the booty for the one who meets the requirements. Once that party is proven, they cast their crowns before him or, as in the case of Joshua’s crown, they continue to keep it treasured in the temple as a memorial.
Thus, in the interrupted vision we see the call, selection, proclamation, and crowning exaltation of the Joshua class, the church in their future role of kings and priests with the Lord upon his throne.
– Carl Hagensick
{1} Ezra is also listed as the son of Seraiah. (Ezra 7:1) Since both Joshua and Ezra were high priests, it is most likely that the Seraiah of the two lineages is the same. The following note from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia gives a logical explanation for this seeming discrepancy. ‘Since Seraiah, according to the Book of Kings, was killed by Nebuchadrezzar at Riblah, (2 Kings 25:18-21) and since he was the father of Jehozadak, the high priest who was carried into captivity by Nebuchadrezzar (1 Chronicles 6:14-15, etc.) in 588 BC, and since the return under Ezra took place in 458 BC, the word ‘son’ must be used in Ezra 7:2 in the sense of descendant.’
{2} Though the Hebrew word for ‘mitre’ in this passage is not the same as that used of the high priest in Exodus, and is frequently translated ‘turban,’ the following from the Keil and Delitszch is noteworthy: ‘Tsaniiph is not a turban, such as might be worn by anybody (Koehler), but the headdress of princely persons and kings, (Job 29:14,Isa 62:3) and is synonymous with mitsnepheth, the technical word for the tiara prescribed for the high priest in the law (Exodus and Leviticus), as we may see from Ezekiel 21:26, where the regal diadem, which is called tsaniiph in Isaiah 62:3, is spoken of under the name of mitsnepheth. The turban of the high priest was that portion of his dress in which he carried his office, so to speak, upon his forehead; and the clean turban was the substratum for the golden plate that was fastened upon it, and by which he was described as holy to the Lord, and called to bear the guilt of the children of Israel. (Exodus 28:38) (From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament. New Updated Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
{3} It is interesting to note that the only time after that when there was a ‘king’ to rise over Israel came as a result of the Maccabean revolt when Judas Maccabeaus, a Levite and a priest, assumed the kingly role. He was followed by his descendents of the Hasmonean Dynasty.
{4} ‘Hen,’ in verse 14, is likely not a proper name, but should have been translated into its meaning as ‘chosen’ – the chosen, or favored son of Zephaniah. Many translators, so interpreting it, render ‘Hen’ as ‘Josiah.’