Week #38 | The Gospel in Zechariah and Joel

 LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Zechariah 4-14; Ezra 5-6; Joel 1-3; Psalms 107, 111, 112

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

(1) The Gospel in Zechariah. Zechariah is a really interesting book, and it is absolutely full of references to the Messiah. 

To start, the Angel of the Lord (who is both with God, and appears to be God) appears for the first time in quite a long time in Zechariah 3. We see here the same blurring of identities that happens whenever the Angel of the LORD has shown up in the Old Testament in the past--for instance the strange language of the LORD invoking the LORD to rebuke Satan ("the LORD said to Satan, 'The LORD rebuke you, O Satan!" in 3:2) as Joshua and Satan stand before the Angel for judgment. Matt Foreman and Doug Van Dorn interpret this to mean that the Angel of the LORD is being identified as the LORD, and then in passing judgment the Angel then says "the LORD rebuke you" to Satan. So the Angel is here a pre-incarnate appearance of God the Son; distinct as a person so that he can refer to the LORD in third person, and yet of one substance with God the Father so that he can be identified as the LORD himself. Then, we see that the Angel of the LORD has the ability to forgive sins: the Angel declares "I have taken your iniquity away from you" to Joshua in Zechariah 3:4. 

In the rest of Zechariah 3, the Angel declares that God will bring the Branch forth (remember this title for the Messiah from Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel), with whose arrival God declares "I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day" (Zechariah 3:10). This is precisely what Jesus, the Branch -the "root" and "shoot" of Jesse described as far back as Isaiah 11- did when he gave himself up to death on a cross. 

Strangely, symbols of the Messiah from David's line are placed on Joshua in Zechariah 6, including a crown and the title of "the Branch," as well as "royal honor." This is strange because Joshua is not an heir of the line of David. This should make us stop and wonder why this is happening. Why the break in the pattern, by recognizing someone who is not from David's line this way? It might be as simple as a name and a function. As the high priest, Joshua intercedes before God for the people. And as for his name, he won't be the last person with the name "Joshua" to bear a crown of glory and messianic names: this Joshua prefigures a greater Joshua -whose name, though the same, is more commonly rendered in English as Jesus- whom this particular Joshua points forward to. 

In Zechariah 9, the people (who have no king, as they are waiting for a descendant of David) are told "your king is coming to you, righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey" (Zechariah 9:9). 

And then, towards the end of the book, we have an incredible passage where the LORD identifies himself as the one who will be pierced to cleanse his people from sin and uncleanness: 

“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn... On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness." -Zechariah 12:10, 13:1

(2) The Gospel in Joel. This prophetic book speaks clearly about the Day of the LORD, and is a favorite book for end-times enthusiasts. But Joel is primarily a book that points to Jesus. The difficulty is that many of our translations obscure this in a key verse in Joel 2:23, where it should read "the teacher of righteousness" instead of "the early rain." Not that my Hebrew is great or anything (it's not), but various recognized experts in the book have pointed this out, and I believe them. Michael Rydelnik has written a dedicated chapter on this issue; the notes for the NET Bible acknowledge the source of the difference in translation (though it ultimately it takes a different stance); and the CSB translation includes "the teacher of righteousness" as an alternate translation for Joel 2:23 in a footnote.

With that one verse rendered differently the center of the book reads:

"Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given the Teacher of Righteousness; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before... You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God and there is none else. And my people shall never again be put to shame... And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit... And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved." -Joel 2:23, 27-29, 32a

If you see the prediction of the Teacher of Righteousness -a messianic title- leading into a prediction of the pouring out of the Spirit in Joel chapter 2, then it all of a sudden becomes much clearer why Peter makes this same connection in his sermon in Acts 2.

DO | HOW DO WE RESPOND?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? I won't lay out exact responses in this space because the possibilities are often endless. But it is worth it to think about application in the categories of worship, attitude, and actions. Does this reading direct me to God in worship and thanksgiving and praise, or does it direct me towards a change that I need to make here and now? If it's about a change that I need to make, is this something inward in my attitude, or outward in my actions? This helps to rescue application from just being a series of how-to tips, or one-size-fits-all instructions that go beyond what the Bible actually states. Sometimes, the most helpful application we can make is to get a different perspective on what's the most important thing, or about how we should respond inwardly to the things going on around us.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US TO GOD?

Whether in response to anything pointed out here, or to something else in your Bible reading time, take a few moments before you close up your Bible to pray in response to God. If you need a format for prayer, both the ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication), CALL (Confess, Ask, Love, Listen), and PRAY (Praise, Repent, Ask, Yield) methods are helpful ways to stay consistent.

-Sean