Zechariah 6:13

Zechariah 6:13. Even he shall build the temple of the Lord Here we have a sentence omitted by the LXX., Syriac, Arabic, and one MS., and which Archbishop Newcome proposes to expunge, as being only a different reading of the foregoing clause. “But, in arrest of judgment,” says Dr. Blayney, “I would beg leave to plead, that, in my opinion, the clause is not superfluous, but highly emphatic, implying that EVEN HE, the self-same person, who should build the temple of Jehovah, והוא , EVEN HE, should have the honour of governing and presiding in it, as both king and priest, in both capacities advancing the peace and prosperity of his people.” Or, perhaps, the prediction is repeated, chiefly in order to confirm the Jews in the assured expectation of what is promised. And he shall bear the glory The glory of the priesthood and royalty had been divided between the house of Aaron and that of David: but now, he alone shall bear the glory of both. Glory, in general, is a burden, and this double glory would be a double burden; but not too heavy for him to bear who upholdeth all things. He bore the cross, which was his glory, and he bears the crown, an exceeding great and eternal weight of glory. They shall hang on him all the glory of his Father’s house, &c., Isaiah 22:24. He shall bear such glory that the glory of the latter house shall be greater than that of the former. Thus he shall raise, or lift up (Hebrew, ישׂא ) the glory. The glory of Israel hath been thrown down and depressed, but he shall raise it out of the dust. And shall sit and rule upon his throne He shall have a throne: the government shall be on his shoulders; which denotes both dignity and dominion, exalted honour and extensive power: he hath a name above every name; all power is his in heaven and on earth. And this throne is his: by birth-right; by donation of his Father; by purchase; by conquest: it is his most undoubted right. And its being said that he shall sit and rule upon his throne, signifies at once his royal magnificence, the perpetuity thereof, and the ease with which he shall rule, namely, the world, by his providence, judging and punishing, or sparing and pardoning nations, families, or individuals; or the church, and all the members of it, by his word, especially his laws, his Spirit, and the exercise of discipline. Observe well, reader, Christ, who is ordained to offer sacrifice for us, is authorized to give law to us. He will not save us, unless we be willing he should govern us, Hebrews 5:9. God has prepared him a throne in the heavens, and if we would have any benefit by that, we must prepare him one in our hearts, and be willing and glad that he should sit and rule there, and to him must every thought be brought into subjection. And he shall be a priest upon his throne With the majesty and power of a king, he has the tenderness and sympathy of a priest, who, being taken from among men, is ordained for men, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for men; who can have compassion on the ignorant, &c., Hebrews 5:1-2. In all the acts of his government as a king, he prosecutes his intentions as a priest. Let not those, then, that believe in, and are subject to him, look on his throne, though a throne of glory and of judgment, with terror and amazement. For as there is a rainbow round about the throne, so there is a priest upon the throne. And his office as a priest is no diminution to his dignity as a king. But his dignity as a king gives efficacy to his intercessions and services as a priest. The counsel of peace shall be between them both Between Jehovah on the one hand, and the man, whose name is the Branch, on the other. That is, the counsel concerning the peace to be made between God and man, by the mediation of the Messiah, shall be, or rather, shall appear to have been, concerted by infinite wisdom, in the covenant of redemption; and that the Father and the Son understood each other perfectly in that matter. So some interpret the words. But it seems more probable that the kingly and priestly offices of Christ are here referred to, and that the meaning is, that the peace made for God’s people shall rest on these two offices; that Christ, by his priestly office, should make peace for them with God, and by his kingly office should deliver them from their spiritual enemies: that by the former he should expiate sin, and by the latter extirpate it; that as a priest he should make, and as a king maintain peace.