Fall Feasts and Pure Priests

And happy Sabbath! Five weeks from today, we will be celebrating the first of the fall feasts. Five weeks. It's coming fast. Will you be ready when it gets here? We put a lot of preparation into the fall feasts, into getting ready for them. There's a lot of physical prep that goes into that, and that's good. We need to do that. Those things are important. But there's a spiritual preparation we need to have, too.

It's a really special thing that we get to go and do. In times past, in this modern phase of the church, when people go to the Feast of Tabernacles, you may have heard that they would go and they would have two services a day. I'm sure everybody here would love to go to the feast, go to two services a day, right? No. That's usually not how we spend them, right? But there's a reason that it was that way. For a long time, there were a lot of congregations that were very small, very scattered, and there were members who did not get to go to services like we do every week.

And so when they got to go to the feast and be together, it was a time of preparation. It was a time where they said, no, pack it all in. Let's go twice a day. Teach me. I want to know. I want to be prepared. I want to be ready for what's coming. I want to be able to understand. And so there's that sort of spiritual preparation that we know we're going to get at the feast, but there's preparation that we can and should be doing ahead of the feast to be ready for it when we get there.

All the physical preparation, again, we got to do that. That's important. Let's make sure we're not forgetting the spiritual preparation. So today what I want to do is I want to look at a prophecy in the book of Zechariah. Look at a prophecy there that is really rich with feast themes, with fall feast themes. I want to walk through some of the visions that we see there to help us prepare our minds for these days that we're coming up on.

The book of Zechariah, if you want to turn over there, we'll start in sort of the second half of chapter two. Zechariah, when you think about Zechariah, if you're not familiar with it, you think, where does Zechariah fall in the whole story of the Bible and the story of Israel? Now, you remember when after Israel came out of Egypt, they were in their promised land for a while.

They had a period where they had kings, and then they split into a northern and a southern kingdom. Eventually Assyria came and conquered the northern kingdom and took them all away captive. The southern kingdom of Judah lasted a little while longer until Babylon came and conquered them and deported most of them. Deported them all away, replaced them with other people. After about 70 years of being exiled in Babylon, some of these remnants started to return.

They had an opportunity that God opened up for them to return to Jerusalem, to return to Judah. And so it's in that stage that Zechariah appears in the story. And he's given these visions, he's given prophecies to the nation of Judah. And we'll pick it up here in Zechariah. Let's start in Zechariah chapter 2 in verse 6. Well, some background if you just sort of glance through the headers in your Bible of chapters 1 and 2, you'll see there's... the whole thing framing the book of Zechariah is there's an initial call to repentance. God is calling the nation of Judah and really all of Israel to national repentance.

He's saying, turn back to me. Turn to me. And it seems like they respond. We see evidence of that in the book of Ezra, that the people humble themselves and they respond to him. Here we see that Zechariah's... it's about 520 BC or so when he receives his prophecy. They've actually already started work on the foundation, but the temple itself has not been built. And so Zechariah is mostly prophesying to about 50,000 or so, as is the rough estimate, of these exiles who had returned to Jerusalem and the surrounding area who are living there, who are working and going to help build this temple.

He's preaching to them and God gives these visions that... where he tells the nation that he is bringing them back into sort of his good favor, that he is going to restore them, that he's going to comfort them, that he's going to rebuild. And so we pick up their story here.

In Zechariah 2, in verse 6, let's start there. This is in the thick of... well, Zechariah has basically one crazy night where he's given a whole bunch of visions in a row. It's like he's given a series of visions, and it's one after another. And it's pretty wild. And then he's woken up and given some work to do. We'll get to that. But here in Zechariah 2, we're jumping in in the middle of the visions. Verse 6, he says, This is sort of a call out to those who had stayed in Babylon. So those exiles who had remained in Babylon, he's calling them and saying, get out of there! Get out of her!

Flee! Up! Up! The land of the north is... Now, if you think about Babylon, if you know your Middle East geography, if Israel's here, sort of right on the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea, you've got the sea over here, you've got Israel here. Babylon is actually like straight east across the Arabian desert. There's this big desert, and Babylon is actually over here. So when you see a reference to the north, you say, well, what are we talking about? Because Babylon's way over here. But the Kingdom of Babylon actually extended all through this northern area up here. Because this is all desert here in the middle. So when Babylon invaded, they actually invaded through the north and came down, right? And when people were deported, they were deported back out that northern region and over. Because traveling through this desert section is not really convenient. So when you see these references to the north, it is actually talking about Babylon. And we see that there in verse 7. Escape, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon, you who dwell in Babylon, is literally what he's talking about. This might sound a little familiar if you've read the book of Revelation. You can put a bookmark here in Zechariah. We're going to be back there quite a bit. Let's go to the book of Revelation, chapter 18 and verse 4.

Revelation 18 and verse 4. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.

For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.

God tells this future people, get out. Get out of that Babylon. Get out of that place, that system.

The New American commentary, it says this about Zechariah. It says, Life in Babylon, for Judah's descendants, was often better economically than the exiles had ever experienced before. The lure of materialism proved too strong for many who went into exile, just as it does today. And that's what that future call is. And sort of the encouragement to us is to come out of that, to come out of her. And why? Right? Here in Revelation 18, if you're still there, it says, lest you take part in her plagues. You receive of her plagues. Back in Zechariah, we see God is telling them to get out of Babylon to escape. Verse 8, he explains why. And here's where we get into the first of our feast themes, the Feast of Trumpets. Zechariah 2, verse 8, For thus says the Lord of hosts, He sent me after glory to the nations which plunder you, for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye. For surely I will shake my hand against them, talking about Babylon, and they shall become spoil for their servants. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me. He's coming. He's coming to punish Babylon. In the future, he says, get out of her so you don't take part in her plagues. God's bringing plagues to Babylon to lay at waste. And he's telling his people, come out. Get out of that, because he's coming back. The Feast of Trumpets is that reminder to us that Jesus Christ is coming back.

It is happening. It is sure. And he is coming back with a punishment for Babylon. But notice here in Zechariah what he says, because there's punishment, and it's dark, and it can feel heavy. And it can be a little scary. I remember as a kid hearing about these times ahead and being scared.

We don't have to be scared. Here's what he encourages instead. Verse 10, Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion. For behold, I am coming. He says he's coming. Here's that reminder. He is coming, and I will dwell in your midst, says the Lord. He is coming to dwell in our midst. Now to Zechariah's audience, who they have the foundation of this temple that has been laid, and they're going to be working on building this temple, when they heard that, when they heard that I will dwell in your midst, their thought probably goes to the temple being constructed, to God coming and dwelling in it. That's historically what they had experienced. Whether you're talking about the Exodus period and the tabernacle and God coming and dwelling in their midst in that tabernacle, or when the temple, the first temple was built, and God's glory comes and fills that temple. And they understand that to be God's presence, that He is in their midst. When they hear this, they're probably thinking that. So to his audience, dwelling in their midst means this temple will be completed, and God will come and live. But we know that there was this second temple that was going to be constructed. There was a literal fulfillment of that in the sense that Jesus Christ Himself came, and He lived in their midst. He actually entered into that temple. He would have seen that temple. He would have walked and inhabited that temple, right? God literally in the temple. But there's an even more future fulfillment than that, and we're living it. Jesus Christ has come, and He dwells in the temple that He is building now, the church, in you and I, by His Spirit. But there's an even further fulfillment of this, in the fullest sense, when we think of Jesus Christ returning to the earth to dwell in the midst of the people, in a very visible, very obvious way. In the fullest sense, the most literal sense, God will come and dwell in the midst of the land. The Feast of Trumpus reminds us of that.

Verse 11, Many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and they shall become my people, and I will dwell in your midst. There's that reminder. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you, and the Lord will take possession of Judah as His inheritance in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem. Be silent all flesh before the Lord, for He is aroused from His holy habitation. You get the sense that He's standing up. He's getting ready to come back, to return. This is the imagery of the Feast of Trumpets. These last few verses, too, when we look at many nations being joined to the Lord in that day, that is a future fulfillment. It would be very hard, very strained to try to apply that to anything in history other than the day of Pentecost, the very first Pentecost we see in Acts 2, where we see many nations coming in from all these places, and they're present there on that day. It's like you get this little glimpse and this little foretaste of what it will look like somewhere in the future. But what's being described here is a future event that is unlocked by the return of Jesus Christ. He will return. We're reminded of that. We celebrate that on that feast day. But that return is supposed to spur in us this reminder to come out, to come out of Babylon, to ask ourselves, where are we building on? Just as they were building a temple at that time, literally, we are that same spiritual temple being built up. Are we building up this temple?

Or are we building in Babylon? Is that where we're more comfortable? Is that where we feel settled?

Are we okay being in exile in Babylon and enjoying its luxuries? Are we building there? Are we building on something that's going to last into the kingdom of God? That's the question that it forces us to ask. The Feast of Trumpets is the start. So we keep moving. In Zechariah 3, we're going to move into—you'll start seeing imagery that's very closely associated with the Day of Atonement.

Start seeing Atonement imagery. Zechariah 3 in verse 1.

Then he showed me Joshua, the high priest, standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him. The setting here is this heavenly—it's like this heavenly court scene. It's a heavenly courtroom. We see Joshua. Joshua is introduced.

This name in Hebrew is actually the same name that was given to Jesus Christ. The name that's transliterated Jesus in Hebrew is this same Joshua. Interestingly, we have this individual here who has that same name, who's standing here as the high priest, representing the people.

The high priest represents the nation of Israel before God. And so here we have a scene where the high priest is standing before the angel of the Lord as a representative of the people.

The angel of the Lord is very clearly, as we go on, you'll see. The angel of the Lord is not simply a messenger. It's not some angel. It is the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ. We see that this angel has the authority to remove sin, to remove iniquity, to cleanse sin completely. That's not something that just any angel gets to do. This is something that was restricted to God.

So he's standing there before the angel of the Lord. And look who's standing there next to him.

At his right hand it says the adversary, Satan, the accuser, to oppose him.

So here we see this scene of the high priest coming into—maybe it doesn't explicitly say that this is the most holy place, but you get the sense he's here before God, representing God, and there is the accuser standing at his right hand. Verse 2, And the Lord said to Satan, The Lord rebuke you, Satan, The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you. Is this not a brand plucked from the fire? Here's Satan doubly rebuked.

It's actually invoking God the Father's rebuke on Satan. And so we see it's a very authoritative rebuke. The angel of the Lord here, the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ, seems to be calling on the Father to rebuke the devil, to rebuke the adversary. And with that, that's the last we hear of Satan in this flow, in this vision. It's as simple as that. He's removed him. He said, nope, your accusation—he doesn't even hear it. We get the sense that Satan is standing there at his right hand to accuse him, but he never gets to make the accusation. He's dismissed. Jesus Christ can remove the source of sin. Verse 3, Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and was standing before the angel.

This word for filthy is pretty filthy. It implies human excrement. So you get the sense that he's standing there before God in totally soiled rags. You can imagine the smell. My son has been working this summer doing some demolition and helping on a farm. At one point this summer, he was asked to help with birthing a cow. As he's doing that, he's up to his knees or more in cow dung.

So when he comes home that day, you can imagine it was not a pleasant smell. That's just up to the knees. Those garments were indeed soiled. They needed some special care. Here, the high priest is presented as standing there in totally soiled garments from head to toe.

These represent sin. They represent the nation's sin, the people's sin. He's standing there before the high priest, before the angel of the Lord, in a completely sinful, unacceptable state.

It's basically a violation of what the high priest was allowed to do. But this is the vision that God is showing to Zechariah. This isn't actually something that Joshua the high priest went and did, but symbolically, God is showing Zechariah that this is how he sees it.

Let's go back to Leviticus 22 and verse 3, because it's a clear violation. Leviticus 22 and verse 3. The context here, God is giving Moses commands to speak to Aaron and to his sons.

And in verse 3, Say to them, whoever of all your descendants throughout your generations, who goes near the holy things which the children of Israel dedicate to the Lord, while he has uncleanness upon him, that person shall be cut off from my presence. I am the Lord. He says, if somebody comes into me and they're unclean, I'll cut them off. So here we see this vision of Joshua standing before the Lord in that state. And the rightful thing that God could do here is to say, you're cut off, but that's not what he does. Turn back to Leviticus 16.

Leviticus 16. This is where we turn to on the day of atonement. These are atonement themes that we're talking about. Leviticus 16 and verse 3. It says, Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place. So here's how Aaron is supposed to appear before God when he comes in, the high priest. With the blood of a young bull is a sin offering, and of a ram is a burnt offering.

He shall put on the holy linen tunic and the linen trousers on his body.

And the implication is these are clean. These are not soiled. He'll put these on his body. He shall be girded with a linen sash and with the linen turban. He shall be attired. These are holy garments.

Therefore, he shall wash his body in water and put them on. When he went in on that day of atonement to appear before God to atone for the people, he was supposed to be completely clean. His body was supposed to be washed. The garments were supposed to be clean. And yet, by contrast, in this image, we see him. He's very much the opposite. Let's go back to Zechariah chapter 3 and verse 4.

So here we are. He's standing before the Lord in these holy, these filthy garments.

Then he answered, this is God, he answered and spoke to those who stood before him, saying, take away the filthy garments from him. And he said to him, see, I have removed your iniquity from you. He's saying he's taking these symbolically filthy garments that are the representative of sin and what it does and what it produces. He's taking those away. I've removed your iniquity from you and I will clothe you with rich robes. Elsewhere, this is translated as festal apparel. It's rich robes. He's clothing him in something that is more appropriate for the setting, but more importantly, he's clearing him of iniquity. He's purifying him. He's showing that now before him, before God, he stands there as a pure priest. He can come in and he can appear again. Verse 5, it says, and I said, and it seems to be Zechariah who is speaking here, which you get the sense that maybe Zechariah, he's seeing all this in vision. He gets excited about it. They give him new robes and Zechariah chimes in and says, let them put a clean turban on his head. He wants to see that too, and God obliges him. And so they put a clean turban on his head, and they put the clothes on him, and the angel of the Lord stood by. The turban is important.

Let's turn back to Exodus 28. Exodus 28 and verse 36. See why Zechariah may have been so eager to get this turban also cleaned up and replaced and have that present. Exodus 28 and verse 36.

You shall make a plate of pure gold. This is talking about priestly garments. You shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it like the engraving of a signet, holiness to the Lord.

And you shall put it on a blue cord that it may be on the turban that they had made for the high priest. It shall be on the front of the turban, and so it shall be on Aaron's forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things which the children of Israel hallow in all their holy gifts, and it shall always be on his forehead that he may be accepted before the Lord. So the turban, this clean turban that the priest wore, would have a plate on it that would hang on his forehead, and it was there to symbolize holiness before God, that he is acceptable before God.

Let's go over to John 1 and verse 29, because what we've just seen here is that, well, there's two things that have been removed. John 1 and verse 29.

John 1 and 29 says, the next day John, this is John the Baptist, he saw Jesus coming toward him, and he says, presumably for the sake of his disciples who are around him, he says, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

What we've just witnessed in Zechariah 3 is the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ taking away sin. He's taken away the source of sin, right? Dismissed the adversary, dismissed Satan and his influence. Said, nope, we're not even hearing that. And he's taken away the filth, right? The guilt, the residue of sin, he's removed that also. And Jesus Christ is the one who takes away the sin of the world. He's able to do that. All of this is happening in the book of Zechariah in the context of God's call to repentance and the people responding.

When we are able to go before God and seek forgiveness, repent before Him, this is the same thing that He does for us. He takes those filthy garments, He cleanses them, He sees us as righteous before Him, He dismisses our adversary and our accuser, and we can serve Him. That's what God wants to do. Let's go to Revelation 7 in verse 14. Revelation 7 and verse 14.

Verse 13, how about, Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, Who were these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?

And I said to them, Sir, you know. So he said to me, These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

They washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Now, if you've ever tried to wash anything in blood, that probably wouldn't work very well, right? We don't tend to...

Blood is something that can be very difficult to get out of a garment. So, what's it talking about here? It's talking about purification. This is symbolic. Let's go back to Exodus 29. I know we're jumping around a lot. Exodus 29. In verse 21, this is how the priests are consecrated. Exodus 29, 21, You shall take some of the blood that is on the altar. So, blood that was used to consecrate the altar that was before the altar. You shall take some of the blood that is on the altar, and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron, and on his garments, on his sons, and on the garments of his sons with him. And he and his garments shall be hallowed, and his sons and his sons' garments with him. This is how they're purified. Blood is a part of purification. You could say their garments are made white in the blood. So, we're reading in Revelation 7 there. It's interesting because their garments, these white garments, the fine linen of the saints, they're purified by the blood of the Lamb, by the blood of the high priest, our high priest.

We have that purification. Anytime we go to God in repentance, with faith in that blood, to forgive us. And he'll do what he shows that he would do for Joshua the high priest there. The way is open for us to go in before him. That's what atonement teaches us. It's open. The way is open. Do we go in? Do we take opportunity for that? The guilt of sin can separate us and make us pull away from God. But if you look at this story, and you look at just how willing God is to forgive, it really should encourage us to go in, to be in his presence, to ask for that purification, to shut down our accuser, and be able to move forward. Let's go back to Zechariah 3.

Zechariah 3. Let's jump down to verse 8.

Zechariah 3 and in verse 8, we're going to start seeing here now Feast of Tabernacles imagery.

We're going to start seeing Millennial imagery that's drawn in. Zechariah 3 and verse 8, Here, O Joshua, the high priest, you and your companions who sit before you, the companions of the high priest are probably priests. There are others who serve in the temple, those who are along with him. Some translations render that word colleagues.

You and your companions elsewhere, it's rendered friends. Those who are with you, who sit before you, for they are a wondrous sign, saying, Joshua and his companions are a wondrous sign. They're a sign of what's coming. This vision is happening in the process of God showing that he's restoring the priesthood. He's restoring a priesthood in Israel at that time, right, as they've got this temple that's being built, this foundation that's laid, and God is restoring the priesthood. He's showing Zechariah this, and he's saying, this, though, is a symbol of something that is coming that's in the future.

For behold, I am bringing forth my servant the branch. The branch. The New American commentary succinctly says, it says, branch, that term branch, is one of the Old Testament's most prominent Messianic titles. It's through there constantly. We won't go through all of them, but if you want an interesting study, go look at all the places where the Old Testament talks about the branch. Let's go to Isaiah 11, verse 1. Here's one that will probably be familiar to you.

Again, this is all in the context of this millennial imagery. Isaiah 11, verse 1. There shall come forth a rod from the stem of Jesse.

Jesse is David's father. So all of the imagery that we see around the Messiah that was to come that's fulfilled in Jesus Christ, it's Davidic. It's of the Davidic line.

It said that he would be a descendant of David. And so here, the stem of Jesse is referring to David's father. And a branch shall grow out of his roots. This branch is a person.

Verse 2 describes this person. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge, and of the fear of the Lord. His delight is in the fear of the Lord, and he shall not judge by the sight of his eyes nor decide by the hearing of his ears. These verses are describing Jesus Christ, and they're describing him in that future context where he will rule and he will reign over the whole earth.

Verse 6. You'll read this at the Feast of Tabernacles. I am almost sure of it. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb. The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.

These are Feast of Tabernacles verses some of the core ones. And it's this imagery that that branch reference points us toward. It talks about the Messiah, and yes, he fulfilled some of these things in his first coming. But so much of this branch imagery is pointing toward what he will do at his second coming, and the peace that he will bring, the rule and the reign that he will have.

Let's go over to Jeremiah 23.

Jeremiah 23 and verse 5.

Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will raise to David a branch of righteousness.

A king shall reign and prosper and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.

In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely. Now this is his name by which he will be called, the Lord our righteousness. This is future. This has never been fulfilled in the sense that that Jeremiah is describing it here. Jesus Christ said his first coming was mocked as their king. He did not have a chance to rule and to reign in this way, where Judah would be saved and Israel would dwell safely. This is the future.

Therefore, behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, this is verse 7, that they shall no longer say, as the Lord lives, who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt, which is one of the most significant events in history. The deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, a people who were nothing that God delivered through the Red Sea, made them into a nation. That's one of the most significant things that has ever happened historically.

Today we still talk about it. We make movies about it. It's a major thing. But what he's saying here is the days are coming that they're not going to talk about that as the big event.

That's not going to be the big thing. It's going to be overshadowed by this future thing that's going to happen. Verse 8, but as the Lord lives, who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them, and they shall dwell in their own land. That's what God is going to do. He's saying it's going to be an even bigger deal that all of these people who have been dispersed, who have been scattered, God is going to bring all of them back to Israel in the future to settle into this land.

And from there, the law will go out. The knowledge of God will cover the earth.

This is Feast of Tabardacle's imagery that all goes back to this idea of this branch.

That is going to come and rule and reign. Let's go back to Zechariah 3, verse 9.

I know we're moving slowly through Zechariah. I hope that's okay. Zechariah 3, in verse 9, says, For behold, the stone that I have laid before Joshua, upon the stone are seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave its inscription, says the Lord of hosts. I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.

Now, there's a possibility that this is in part referring to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

And we know that His death has removed iniquity for us, for those who believe in Him. But in the fullness, fullest sense of this, this seems to be pointing to a future event.

UCG Bible Commentary says this. It says, the removal of Joshua's iniquity in verse 4, which we read about, was meant to typify the conclusion of verse 9, what we just read here, the removal of the iniquity. What Judah experienced was only a small forerunner.

What God is here referring to is the repentance of the whole nation at the return of Jesus Christ.

That's what it's looking toward. That's what this these feast days look toward. That's a part of it, is this massive national repentance in return, and people who are willing to follow Jesus Christ, to finally learn peace, to live His ways.

And it'll have, it'll bear fruit. Verse 10 of Zechariah 3, In that day, says the Lord, when that day finally comes, in that day, everyone will invite his neighbor under his vine and under his fig tree. This is millennial imagery that we read about in Micah 4, but Zechariah actually adds a little bit to it. It's not just that every man will sit under his vine and his fig tree, but actually invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and his fig tree. Now, if you've ever tried to sit under a vine, that may have been a little bit of a weird experience for you. Often vines will grow on fences or sometimes on trellises, but in ancient Israel, a lot of the houses that they've unearthed from that time, they're actually, they're kind of laid out in sort of a U-shape, if you think about it. There's a long room at the back, and then there are these two side rooms, and then there's a courtyard in the center. And that courtyard would often have a trellis over the top, and you might be able to have some animals and grow some plants in the center of that courtyard. So your vine would grow up and be on top of that trellis, and you might have some plants in there, some smaller bushes or trees, some fig plants. So when it talks about sitting and being able to sit under his vine and under his fig tree, it's talking about people who are able to be in their homes, enjoy the abundance that God has provided, and even do this with their neighbors. And this is a very feast of tabernacles type of thing to do, right? When we go, when we travel, we have an abundance that we get to enjoy, and we'll say, hey, why don't why don't you just come on over after services, and we'll just we'll sit and have lunch together. We'll enjoy this. It's getting at the same kind of thing as sitting under your vine and under your fig tree and being able to enjoy that thing with other people. It's a very millennial thing to do. That's the image that it's pointing us to. I want to go back to verse 8, though. I'm going to go back to verse 8, where it says, Hero Joshua, the high priest, you and your companions who sit here before you. I want to talk about that for a second because it's, when he says, for they are a wondrous sign, you and your companions, scholars kind of question, well, how could the companions be a sign? It literally says they are men of portent, men of a portent, men portending something, pointing towards something in the future that is going to happen. People say, well, how could the companions be a portent, and how could all these people be a portent? But if we're looking at this through the lens of the millennium, through the lens of the Feast of Tabernacles, it makes a lot of sense that a high priest and his companions would all be pointing towards something that is going to happen in the future. Let's go to Revelation 20 and verse 6 because this is the millennial imagery that we will read about, I'm sure, at the Feast of Tabernacles. Revelation chapter 20 and verse 6. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be two things. Priests of God and of Christ. So they'll be priests. It's you and me. They'll be his companions, his colleagues, in the sense that Zechariah had his companions there. And they shall reign with him a thousand years. It's kings. When we talk about being kings and priests, that's a single unified role. The high priest and his companions, they portend the eternal high priest and his companions who share that role, who rule in the millennium. That's you.

This is, I think, further clarified in Zechariah. Let's go to Zechariah 6 and verse 9.

Because Zechariah had another vision. Well, this is actually, this is past the vision. He's being given a command by God. Zechariah 6 and verse 9. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Receive the gift from the captives, from Healdah, Tobijah, and Jadiah, who have come from Babylon, and go the same day and enter the house of Josiah, the son of Zephaniah.

Take the silver and the gold and make an elaborate crown. So here's what's happening. We've got some exiles who they are coming back to Jerusalem, and God says they are coming and they are bringing silver and gold. Go meet them, and you're gonna do something with that. You're gonna make a crown. Verse 11. Take the silver and gold and make an elaborate crown, and who do you put the crown on the head of? You crown kings, right? Not here. Take the silver and gold and make an elaborate crown, and set it on the head of Joshua, the son of Jehazadak, the high priest.

Now normally, you don't crown a priest. These are separate roles in the Old Testament. The priest is one thing. The king is another thing. But here, he's crowning the priest, and he's taking this, the literal word there, when it talks about make yourself a crown, it's plural. Make yourself crowns, and it could be that the silver and the gold represent both that kingly and priestly side. They're being woven together into a single crown and placed on the head of the high priest.

Now, Joshua did not serve as king, because you'll notice it's not left on his head. Then speak to him, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is the branch. Okay, so he's not talking about Joshua. He's talking about what Joshua symbolizes. Jesus Christ, the man whose name is the branch. From his place, he shall branch out, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. Yes, he shall build the temple of the Lord, he shall bear the glory, and he shall sit and rule on his throne. So he shall be a priest on his throne. So you get both, right? He's going to be a priest, and he's going to be sitting on his throne. And the counsel of peace shall be between them both. He's harmonizing the kingly and the priestly roles here. That's what Jesus Christ has done already. He is already our king, already our high priest. That's how we refer to him. And he's harmonized those roles. It says, you know, the counsel of peace shall be between them both.

He does that for us now, but more fully, more completely, more visibly in that millennial time. All people will see it. All people will know it.

Verse 14, it says, the elaborate crown shall be for a memorial in the temple of the Lord, for Helam, Tobijah, Jadiah, and Hen, the son of Zephaniah. So they took this crown and they put it on Joshua's head, but then they removed it and they set it as a memorial, right? Because Joshua wasn't going to serve as the king, but this crown was a memorial for what was coming, and for what is still coming. Let's go to Revelation 3, verse 21. Revelation 3, verse 21, this is in the context of the Laodiceans.

I get a pretty rough wrap here. Revelation 3, 21. We know they get critiqued pretty hard, but look at the promise that is extended to them and to all of those who overcome. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with me on my throne. What?

Who invites anybody else to come and rule with them on their throne? That's not a human thing to do, you know? Human kings sometimes kill their offspring so that nobody else will sit on their throne. Jesus Christ is inviting all who overcome to come and sit with him on his throne.

That's the invitation that we have, is to sit with him on this throne where he is both king and priest, and that's the invitation that we have. That's our opportunity. That's what the Feast of Tabernacles points us toward, this opportunity to come and serve with Jesus Christ on his throne as part of his priesthood. It's incredible. It's hard to fathom. So are we preparing for that?

Let's go back to Zechariah chapter 3 because I skipped a section, and I skipped it intentionally, but Zechariah 3 and verse 6, because there is a priestly admonition here. There's a priestly encouragement that he's going to give us. Zechariah 3, 6, Then the angel of the Lord admonished Joshua, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts. He's going to give some encouragement here.

But I want you to think about this as this is something that we are preparing for.

This is something that the feasts are going to help us to prepare for, all of them. That's why God gave them to us. We need, as much as we need the physical preparation for these upcoming feasts, we need spiritual prep. Because these feasts show us the reality of all these things that we just covered. They show us the reality of Jesus Christ's reign, of your reign with him in his priesthood.

We need to think about these things because there are things that we need to know, that we need to learn.

If we were going to these feasts, if you were thinking about these feasts, say, as like a trade convention or a work convention, where you needed to go so that you could develop and train and learn and improve, how would you think about these feasts? What would you be expecting from them in order to become more like what you need to be? That's why we go to these feasts. God is preparing us for something. He wants us to go and to learn, to understand. He wants us to grow. Are you going to these feasts anticipating growth?

And in what? Well, that's part of what I think Zechariah answers for us here. He gives us some very practical things that we can take, that we can use to prepare for these feasts that are coming up. Verse 7, thus says the Lord of hosts, if he gives two requirements, two conditions, and then he gives three rewards, two requirements. Thus says the Lord of hosts, if you will walk in my ways and if you will keep my commands. Now those those kind of sound like he's just repeating himself, but they're actually quite different. When he says, if you'll walk in my ways, that walk there implies a continual daily activity. He's talking about how do you live the course of your life? What is the walk of your life? You think about Psalm 1, we sing Psalm 1 all the time, blessed is the man who does not walk in wicked ways. That's the kind of walking that we're thinking about. It's an ongoing thing that we're doing. He's saying, if your personal moral character, if you are always trying to maintain that as representative of God, reflecting him as a light in the world for walking in his ways and keeping his commandments. One translation I like says, keep my watch. Keep my watch. New American commentary says that this word for command is a technical expression for the faithful completion of the priest's official duties.

So it's not just saying keep the commandments, which obviously we should do, but this is saying there's a special set of duties, there's a service that you are to render, and God is expecting us to do that. Let's go to Romans 12.

Romans 12 and verse 1. I think maybe, I don't know if Paul is getting it at this same thing or not, but it does fit. Romans 12 and verse 1 says, I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice. This is definitely priestly imagery, whether he's got Zachariah in mind or not, I don't know. But he's saying, present your bodies as a living sacrifice. Holy, acceptable to God. And he says, this is your reasonable service.

This is your duty. These are your priestly duties, in a sense, is what we're preparing for.

He says, if we do that, if we will show him that, yes, we want to walk in his ways and keep his commands, then he says, and he gets into the three rewards, he says, then you shall also judge my house. You say, what? I'm not qualified to do that. And you're right, we're not. But that's why he's given us these days to prepare. He says, you shall judge my house. We won't turn over to 1 Corinthians 6, but in 1 Corinthians 6, Paul tells his audience, well, he says, don't you know that the saints are going to judge the world? He says, don't you know the saints are going to judge angels? And every time I read that, I think, I did not know that, Paul. How did you know that? That's incredible. Paul knew it. He knew that we would judge God's house. We would have authority over the angels. He says, God says, you shall judge my house. He's going to entrust you with that kind of authority, because he'll know. He'll know that you're ready for it. It's not going to be something that's going to overwhelm you. You're going to be ready for it. That's why he gives us these days is to ready us for these responsibilities. He says, you shall judge my house, and you shall have charge of my courts. Dr. Frank Dunkel, when he teaches this section of Zechariah at ABC, spoiler alert for you ABC students, he talks about this section. He points out Jesus Christ, when he went into the temple, he was doing this. He had charge of the courts. That's why he went in and flipped the tables and drove people out with whips. It's because he, as the high priest of the temple, he had charge of those courts, and he was exercising his rightful authority over them. But God is saying, I will give you charge of my courts, and I will give you places to walk among those who stand here. It's fascinating.

Revelation chapter 7. Let's go over to Revelation 7 verse 15.

Revelation chapter 7 verse 15. We read verse 14.

Verse 14 talks about those who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. And look what opportunity is given to those who do that. Verse 15. Therefore, they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple, and he who sits on the throne will dwell among them. You and I are going to be given the opportunity to have places to walk among those who stand here. When he says that, when God says that, he's talking about the divine house. He says, you'll have access. You'll be able to walk among those who are here, because you will be holy.

You'll be part of his priesthood. You'll be his children. We'll have access to him, to serve him, who sits on the throne. When we go to the feast, we need to go thinking about these requirements, thinking about the things that God is expecting us, and expect to receive instruction in those things now, to help you in your walk now. Go to every single one of these feasts, every day of these feasts, expecting to learn how to prepare for these responsibilities that he's promised us as part of our reward. They come with responsibility, and we need to be learning how to fulfill those responsibilities. So go to these feasts expecting to learn that.

Hopefully you've seen a little more today about how awesome our high priest is. He's inviting us. He's expecting us to be there in his kingdom with him, reigning with him, serving with him.

These fall feasts anticipate that time. They are beginning sooner than you think.

Don't let them creep up on you, because you have a kingdom to prepare for.