ÆäÀÌÁö À̹ÌÁö
PDF
ePub

III. 1 And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.

And he shewed me, in vision, Joshua, the son of Josedech, the high priest, bearing the type of the Son of God who is the everlasting High Priest of his Church, standing before the Lord, to intercede for his people; and Satan, the adversary of God's Church, standing ready to resist him.

III. 2 And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?

Then Christ the Lord, who was here resembled and represented in both his natures, in his humanity by Joshua, in his deity by the Angel, said unto Satan; God, even the Eternal Father, rebuke thee, O Satan: the Lord, who hath chosen Jerusalem for the place of his worship, rebuke thee, for that malicious opposition, which thou makest to his Church, and to this faithful high priest thereof; whom yet thou shalt in vain strive to resist; for is not he as a brand plucked out of the furnace of Babylon? Dost thou not see God's good purpose to him, and to his Church, in his de livery?

III. 3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments.

Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, as the rags of his captivity; representing the High Priest of the New Testament, who took upon him our sins and infirmities,

III. 4 And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.

And he said to those ministering spirits, that stood before him, Take away from him these filthy garments, the base and loathsome weeds of servitude and sorrow. And to Joshua himself he said, Behold, I have determined to restore thee to the glory, which pertains to thy great function; in token whereof, I have caused these rags, the monuments of that thy bondage, and of those sins which thou undertakest to expiate, to be put away from thee; and I will clothe thee gloriously, instead of these nasty garments.

III. 5 And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. Sa they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And, accordingly, I command you to set a fair mitre upon his head let him be endowed, with all those graces and abilities, that may be fit for the discharge of his office, and for his own ornament and glory.

III. 7 Then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by. Then shalt thou, and thy sons after thee, rule over my house, as chief priest; and have the prime oversight and command of my courts: and, at last, I will give thee a place in everlasting glory; so, as thou shalt walk gloriously in white, amongst these blessed angels,

III. 8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.

And now, O Joshua the high priest, hearken thou, and those thy assistants in thy sacred function, that sit before thee: they are, by their places, men, whose persons do portend future things to the Church; being made the signs of things to come, and therefore fit to know and foreshew this great mystery: for, behold, I will exhibit unto the world Christ the Saviour; whom I have ordained to work that great business of mediation for my Church; whose visible presence shall grace that Temple, which ye are now to build.

III. 9 For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.

In signification of which Saviour, I have laid before Joshua a stone, to resemble him who is the chief corner stone of his Church, whereon it shall be firmly built: behold, he shall be a stone of note; all eyes of angels and men shall be upon him; all the graces of my Spirit shall be poured on him, and he shall be polished and set forth with all the gifts thereof, above measure; and I will, for his sake, do away all the iniquity of my people, at once, so as it shall no more be imputed to them.

III. 10 In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree.

In that day shall my servants enjoy a true spiritual peace, and a happy communion with each other, in the favours and blessings of God.

IV. 2 And behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which were upon the top thereof.

And behold a candlestick all of gold, resembling the Church of God; with a bowl upon the top thereof, whence the several lamps were deduced, resembling Christ, the Author of all the Spiritual Lights of his Church: seven lamps were thereon; resembling the teachers and governors of the Church: seven pipes appertained to those seven lamps; resembling those means and conveyances of grace, by which God enableth his servants to give light to his Church.

IV. 3 And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.

And two olive trees stood by it; resembling the plentiful graces of God's Spirit, and ever-flourishing doctrine of the Prophets and Apostles, which are always ready at hand, to furnish those holy lamps, with sufficient abilities and matter of instruction to his Church.

IV. 6 This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying,

Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the LORD of

hosts.

This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, who is now in hand to build the Temple; Think not, that by thy might and power thou art able to compass this great work, that this candlestick is furnished with these shining lamps, and that these lamps are furnished with a supply of oil, and that these olives live to yield that supply; it is not from man, but from the power of my Holy Spirit, who worketh all things for the good of my Church.

IV. 7 Who art thou, O great mountain, before Zerubbabel? thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.

Who are ye, O ye professed opposites to my people, Sanballat, Tobiah, Rehum, Shimshai, and the rest of that wicked combina tion, which set yourselves against this work of mine; were ye as some huge mountain, yet before Zerubbabel ye should be as a low and level plain: in despite of you, he shall bring forth the head stone of the roof of my Temple, even the last stone that shall make up the battlements thereof; and shall lay it upon the finished walls, with the shouting and joyful acclamation of all my people; who shall praise God for his mercy, and pray to him for a happy blessing upon his Temple. So also verse 9.

IV. 10 For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.

Why did ve, O ye faithless Jews, look so discontentedly upon the mean foundations of this Temple, and weep to think of that goodly structure of Solomon's, compared with this? There shall be no cause of this disparagement: ye shall rather find reason to rejoice in this noble work, which ye see Zerubbabel in hand to finish; while, besides the glory of this work, ye shall acknowledge the abundant graces of God's Spirit poured out upon men, under this Temple; and the infinite protection and providence of God, which, as it diffuseth itself to all the corners of the world, so especially hath magnified itself in the care of this Temple and Jerusalem. IV. 11 What are these two olive trees, &c.? See verse 3.

IV. 14 Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.

Those two olive branches resemble the special graces, which God hath bestowed upon these two anointed servants of his, that stand before him, Zerubbabel and Joshua; by whose means, it pleaseth God to convey many favours and blessings to his Church.

V. 2 And I answered, I see a flying roll; the length thereof twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits.

And I said, I see a roll of paper flying in the air, of very great extent; for it is twenty cubits in length, and ten in breadth; so as it contains great store of writing therein,

V. 3 Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it.

Then said he unto me, In this large roll is written that curse, which pertains to all wicked sinners, over the face of the whole earth; for every one that stealeth shall be punished and cut off, according to the judgment set down in that roll; and, on the other side, every one that sweareth shall be cut off, according to the judgment specified therein.

V. 6 And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth.

And he said, This is an ephah, that is now represented unto thee, as passing forth before thee, to signify the measure of the iniquity of my people, made fully up. And he said, This ephah is the resemblance of the great measure of all the sins of Israel, heaped up together against me by them, all the world over.

V. 7, 8 And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah, And he said, This is wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof.

And, behold, there was also represented unto me a leaden weight; and withal, a woman sitting in the midst of the ephah. That woman, which he cast into the midst of the ephah, resembled the person of those wicked Jews, which he meant to cast out of his Church; of whom he said, These are so wicked, that they are as wickedness itself. That leaden weight, which he laid upon the mouth of the ephah, to depress the woman there inclosed, resembled that heavy weight of judgment, wherewith he decreed to load and humble those wicked ones of the Jews; from which they should not rise up, till his season appointed.

V. 9 Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork: and they lift up the ephah between the earth and the heaven.

Then lifted I up my eyes, and looked; and, behold, the executioners of God's just sentence, resembled by two women; which had the wind in their wings, to resemble the exceeding speed which they should make in the performance of their charge; lifted up the ephah, to carry it away with them.

:

V. 11 And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base. And he said unto me, These carry away the wickedness of the Jews, together with the owners thereof, into Babylon, whence it came; and there shall it settle and grow, where it first had its accursed original,

VI. 1 Went out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass,

Went out from the unchangeable decree of God.

VI. 5 These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.

These are four angelical and heavenly powers, which, upon the command and mission of the Lord of the Whole Earth, go forth to all the parts of the world, to execute his will amongst men.

VI. 6 The black horses which are therein go forth into the north country; and the white go forth after them; and the grisled go forth toward the south country.

Those angels, which are represented by the black horses, are they, which go forth into Babylon for the punishment of those Chaldees, which have afflicted God's people; and those, that are represented by the white horses, go forth thither also, for the comfort and preservation of those Jews, which are left there: those, which are represented by the grisled, go forth towards Judea, to take order with those neighbour enemies, which resist the work of the Lord in the hands of God's people:

VI. 7 And the bay went forth, and sought to go that they might walk to and fro through the earth.

Those, which were represented by the bay, as not being designed to any particular place, went forth to pass to and fro through the whole earth; to take charge of the Church of God, scattered in all the parts of the world.

VI. 8 Behold, these that go toward the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country.

Behold, those angels, that were sent to Babylon-ward, have done that acceptable service, on which they were sent; both in comforting God's people, and punishing their enemies which are in those parts.

VI. 11 Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest. Then take of the silver and gold, which is offered to the Lord, by those Jews which are come from Babylon, and make two crowns thereof; and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, who represents him who is the Eternal High Priest and King of his Church.

VI. 12 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.

Saying, Behold the man, who is the true type of the Messiah, that flourishing branch of the stock of Jesse; even this Joshua : he shall grow up and prosper out of Sion, and shall build up the Temple of the Lord; in type of Jesus, the Mediator of the New Testament, who shall fill heaven and earth with his glory, and shall build up a Spiritual Temple, which shall endure for ever. So also verse 13.

VI. 13 He shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.

He shall be both a Priest in his Temple, and a King in his Throne;

« ÀÌÀü°è¼Ó »