I. THE BRANCH INTRODUCTION
A. HAS ANYONE EVER DONE ANY WORK ON BREAKING
CODES? CODED
MESSAGES?
1. HOW DO YOU
BREAK A CODE? (HAVE A KEY)
B. READ ZECHARIAH 3:8. TELL ME ABOUT
THE BACKGROUND TO THIS TEXT?
(HP. ACCUSED BY SATAN. GAVE HP CLEAN ROBE CLEAN TURBAN AND TOLD HIM
TO
OBEY)
C. THIS VISION IS A KIND OF CODED MESSAGE.
THE KEY TO THE CODE IN V.8
IS UNDERSTANDING WHAT IS MEANT BY THE "BRANCH". WHAT CLUES DO
YOU GET
FROM V. 8 AND THE BACKGROUND? (BLKBORD)
1. WHO ARE JOSHUA'S
ASSOCIATES? (PRIESTS)
2. IT SAYS THAT
THEY ARE "SYMBOLIC" OF THINGS TO COME. WHAT
IS TO COME? (THE BRANCH--HE IS GOING TO BRING THE BRANCH)
D. SO THE PRIESTS ARE SYMBOLIC OF THE BRANCH.
E. WHAT DID THE PRIESTS DO? (SPIRITUAL LINK
BETWEEN GOD AND MAN)
F. SO WHO IS THE BRANCH? (OUR LESSON SAYS
THAT THE BRANCH IS JESUS.
THE BRANCH IS USED ELSEWHERE IN THE OT TO REFER TO JESUS (IS. 11:1;
JER. 33:15)
II. BEHOLD THE MAN
A. NOW THAT WE HAVE THE KEY, LETS MOVE INTO
THE MAIN TEXT FOR
TODAY WHICH IS ZECHARIAH CHPT.6.
B. READ ZECHARIAH 6:9-11. IS THIS ANOTHER VISION
THAT ZECHARIAH
WATCHES? (NO. HE PARTICIPATES IN THIS)
C. WHO ARE THESE 3 GUYS AND WHY DOES ZECHARIAH
TAKE THEIR GOLD
AND SILVER FROM THEM?
1. IS THIS SOME
KIND OF ROBBERY? (THESE MAY NOT BE LITERAL
PEOPLE. THE NAMES MEAN "THE CHIEF MEN", "THE USEFUL MEN" AND
"THOSE
THAT HAVE UNDERSTOOD IT." THE IDEA IS THAT THE JEWS IN BABYLON WERE
SENDING SUPPORT TO THOSE REBUILDING THE TEMPLE.)
D. ISN'T TOTALLY OUTRAGEOUS THAT THE SUPPORT
SENT TO BUILD THE
TEMPLE IS USED TO MAKE A CROWN?
1. GOD TOLD
ZECHARIAH TO DO THIS. ANY IDEA WHY? (I DON'T KNOW,
BUT GOD MUST SEE THAT SOMETHING MORE IMPORTANT THAN BUILDING THE
TEMPLE IS GOING ON WITH THIS CROWN.)
E. SO ZECHARIAH MAKES A CROWN AND PUTS IT ON
JOSHUA THE HP's HEAD.
JOSHUA HAS A VERY ACTIVE HEAD. WHAT DID WE LAST SEE DONE WITHT
HIS
HEAD? (THE WHITE TURBAN WAS PUT ON HIM AT THE SAME TIME AS HE GOT A
NEW
ROBE.)
F. WHY WOULD A HP BE PUTTING ON A CROWN?
DID THEY WEAR CROWNS?
(NO. THE HP DID NOT WEAR A CROWN. THIS IS THE SECOND VERY
STRONG SIGNAL
TO US THAT SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IS BEING SYMBOLIZED WITH THIS
CROWN.)
III. THE REAL KING AND PRIEST
A. LETS READ ON. V.12-13.
B. NOW WE COME TO THE KEY TO OUR CODE. YOU
TOLD ME THAT THE
BRANCH WAS JESUS. THE LESSON SAID THAT THE BRANCH WAS JESUS.
BUT I CAN
READ AND THE BIBLE SAID THAT THE BRANCH IS JOSHUA.
THE WORD PICTURE IS THAT ZECHARIAH PLACES THE CROWN ON JOSHUA'S HEAD
AND THEN SAYS TO HIM, "HERE IS THE MAN WHOSE NAME IS THE BRANCH..."
C. SO, WHAT HAVE YOU GOT TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?
(THE WHOLE THING
DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE. MAKE A CROWN WITH TEMPLE FUNDS AND PUT IT ON
THE HEAD OF SOMEONE WHO DOES NOT DESERVE IT.)
D. IS IT POSSIBLE THAT JOSHUA IS NOT WHAT
HE APPEARS TO BE?
E. IN ZECHARIAH 3 WHAT DID THE HP JOSHUA REPRESENT?
(THE SINFUL
PEOPLE)
F. DO YOU THINK THAT HE REPRESENTS JESUS?
(CONSIDER THAT HE IS NOW
REFERRED TO AS A BRANCH AND A HP WEARING A CROWN? (JESUS. THE PRIEST
KING OF THE ORDER OF MELCHIZADEK)
G. THAT CLEARS UP THE SECOND MYSTERY: WHY
ZECHARIAH SHOULD BE
CROWNING THE HP.
IV. THE BRANCH
A. OF ALL THE CODE NAMES THAT GOD COULD HAVE
USED TO SYMBOLIZE
JESUS, WHY DID HE CHOSE "BRANCH?" THAT IS LIKE "LEAF." WHY NOT
"KING",
"MIGHTY TREE" "FLYING LION?"
B. WHEN JESUS SAID, "I AM THE VINE AND YOU
ARE THE BRANCHS," THAT
MADE SENSE. WHAT REASON TO BE CALLED "BRANCH?"
1. CHARACTERISTICS
OF BRANCH? (BLKBORD)
C. IN IS. 53:2 HE IS CALLED A "TENDER SHOOT"
AND A "ROOT OUT OF DRY
GROUND." IN IS. 11:1 HE IS CALLED, "A SHOOT...FROM THE STUMP OF JESSE"
AND
"FROM HIS ROOTS A BRANCH WILL BEAR FRUIT."
1. DO YOU NORMALLY
SEE A BRANCH COMING FROM ROOTS?
2. WHY DOES
IT SAY THAT THE GROUND IS "DRY?"
( THE BRANCH IS LIVING AND ACTIVE, BUT THE TREE IS MISSING. THE BASE
IS
LOUSY, IT IS DRY. THE PEOPLE ARE LETTING JESUS DOWN. ISREAL IS A DRY
HOLE.
A CUT DOWN TREE.)
D. IT SAYS THAT THIS BRANCH WILL BUILD THE
TEMPLE. DOES JESUS BUILD
THE TEMPLE? WHAT TEMPLE ARE WE TALKING ABOUT? (EPH. 2:19-22 AND 1PET.
2:5-9
REFERS TO US BEING STONES OF THE TEMPLE AND JESUS BEING THE
CORNERSTONE AND THE CAPSTONE. (I SKIPPED OVER ZECHARIAH 3:9 THAT
BOLSTERS THE IDEA OF THE STONE)
E. WE ARE TALKING ABOUT A SPIRITUAL TEMPLE
HERE.
F. THIS SOLVES THE SECOND MYSTERY ABOUT SPENDING
TEMPLE MONEY
FOR A CROWN. IF JESUS WERE NOT OUR KING AND OUR HP, YOU CAN FORGET
ABOUT BUILDING THE TEMPLE.)
V. CONCLUSION. PICTURE THAT WE HAVE HERE IS BEAUTIFUL. AT SAME
TIME
THAT THEY WERE PHYSICALLY BUILDING A TEMPLE WITH THE LORD'S HELP, AS
WE
ARE BUILDING A CHURCH, JESUS WAS BUILDING THEM SPIRITUALLY AS A TEMPLE.
(V.15. "THOSE WHO ARE FAR AWAY" ARE YOU, THE GENTILES.)
VI. NEXT WEEK: ZECHARIAH7&8
IF NEED MORE TIME:
LETS LOOK AT THE SYMBOLISM OF THE BRANCH FROM ANOTHER ANGLE
VII. MINISTERS ON THE EARTH.
A. IF THE PRIESTS (OF ZECHARIAH3:8) ARE SYMBOLIC
OF JESUS, DO YOU
THINK THAT PLACES AN OBLIGATION ON THE PRIEST TO BE AN ACCURATE SYMBOL
OF CHRIST?
B. IS THAT TRUE ONLY FOR THE PRIESTS THAT
LIVED BEFORE JESUS? OR IS
THAT ALSO TRUE OF MINISTERS AND CONF. ADMIN. AND PRIESTS TODAY?
1. IF YOU SAY,
"YES!", NOTE THAT THE LORD REFERS TO JESUS AS "HIS
SERVANT."
a. DO YOU WANT YOUR CONF. PRES. TO BE ACTING LIKE A
SERVANT?
2. THERE IS
AN OLD SAYING, "WHAT GOES AROUND, COMES AROUND."
DOES THIS COME AROUND SO THAT WE SHOULD BE SERVANTS TOO?