Joshua and Judges: Crossing the Jordan - The spies and Rahab, part 4. Jos 2:17-24; Zec 4:1-10.

Title: Joshua and Judges: Crossing the Jordan - The spies and Rahab, part 4. JOS 2:17-24; ZEC 4:1-10.   

 

Announcements / opening prayer:

 

 

The token for Rahab is a scarlet thread, the color of blood, the color of the veil before the holy of holies. It is a type of the cross of Christ.

 

This token is more than just a marker for the Israeli army to know which house not to assault.

 

In this large, extremely fortified city of stone, there hangs one thin, frail, scarlet thread that is a type of Christ and it alone delivers the one family that survives.

 

Amidst the walls falling, the people scrambling for their lives, the bloodshed of the fallen, the tension of broad muscles that wield sword, spear, and shield, the cries and screams of sudden and massive battle; there hangs a small, frail, scarlet thread in a window.

 

Zechariah has seen four visions and he is now roused for a fifth.

 

ZEC 4:1 Then the angel who was speaking with me returned, and roused me as a man who is awakened from his sleep.

 

ZEC 4:2 And he said to me, "What do you see?" And I said, "I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold with its bowl on the top of it, and its seven lamps on it with seven spouts belonging to each of the lamps which are on the top of it;

 

ZEC 4:3 also two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on its left side."

 

ZEC 4:4 Then I answered and said to the angel who was speaking with me saying, "What are these, my lord?"

 

ZEC 4:5 So the angel who was speaking with me answered and said to me, "Do you not know what these are?" And I said, "No, my lord."

 

ZEC 4:6 Then he answered and said to me, "This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel saying, 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the Lord of hosts.

 

ZEC 4:7 'What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring forth the top stone with shouts of "Grace, grace to it!"'"

 

The great mountain is a symbol of the power of the world that opposes God's purposes. The kingdom of God, by means of God's power, is the plain. God will mow it down.

 

The people will shout, "Grace, grace!" This is significant as it was the unmerited favor from God that made it all possible and not the might of man, and this shout is made by those who recognize it.

 

When God builds of you a great temple in the kingdom of God which began from a thin scarlet thread, saving faith, you will shout, "Grace, grace!" - praise the unmerited favor from God.

 

The building of the temple of stone and wood is simply regarded as a type of the building of the kingdom of God, and neither building is accomplished through the might or power of man.

 

The government of Israel has no reality or existence, except in the government of Jehovah.

 

The family of David, from whom Zerubbabel descends, will rise up into a new royal power and glory in the Tsemach [Branch], whom Jehovah will bring forth as His servant.

 

ZEC 3:8 I am going to bring in My servant the Branch.

 

ZEC 3:9 'For behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua; on one stone are seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave an inscription on it,' declares the Lord of hosts,' and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.

 

The stone with the seven eyes is another type of the Lord as is seen in 4:10. He did remove the iniquity in one day and one wonders here if the reference to the inscription is the one that Pilate ordered put upon His cross, "Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews."

 

This servant of Jehovah will fill the house of God, which Zerubbabel has built, with glory. In order that this may be done, Zerubbabel must build the temple, because the temple is the house in which Jehovah dwells in the midst of His people.

 

On account of this importance of the temple in relation to Israel, the opponents of Judah sought to throw obstacles in the way of its being built; and these obstacles were a sign and prelude of the opposition which the imperial power of the world, standing before Zerubbabel as a great mountain, will offer to the kingdom of God.

 

What Zerubbabel the governor of Judah has begun, he will bring to completion; and as he will finish the building of the earthly temple, so will the true Zerubbabel, the Messiah, Tsemach, the servant of Jehovah, build the spiritual temple, and make the church as well as Israel in the future into a lamp stand, which is supplied with oil by two olive trees, so that its lamps may shine brightly in the world.

 

The lamp stand could only shine in the temple before the face of Jehovah, and so does the congregation need a house of God, not a physical one, but the functioning body of Christ, that it may be able to cause its light to shine.

 

The Lord, His word, and His Spirit are the only light that illumes the believer's conscience, his sundial. The lampstand was the only source of light in the holy place.

 

ZEC 4:8 Also the word of the Lord came to me saying,

 

ZEC 4:9 "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will finish it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you.

 

ZEC 4:10 "For who has despised the day of small things? But these seven [eyes of the Lord looking over all the earth and all His people] will be glad when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel —  these are the eyes of the Lord which range to and fro throughout the earth."

 

No one who hopes to accomplish, or does accomplish, anything great, despises the day of the small things.

 

The small things are the beginnings of the foundation of the temple and its completion, while the great thing is the Messiah, the Lord, or as the Lord calls Himself in this prophecy, "the Branch" in 3:8.

 

The small things are the process of building. One foundation stone may seem small in the whole scheme of things, but without it the temple cannot stand and without the temple Jesus Christ cannot fulfill His mission. Don't despise the small things. They are building you up to a spiritual condition of power from which the Lord will shout forth His mission. The scarlet thread is a small thing, but to Rahab and her household, it is the beginning of a spiritual journey, from whom God is still shouting forth His glory.

 

The plum line in the hand is a sign of being engaged in the work of building, or of superintending the erection of a building. The meaning of the clause is therefore, "Then will the seven eyes of Jehovah look with joy, or with satisfaction, upon the execution," not, however, in the sense of just being the temple but also the Messiah who will build the true temple, and every child of God who sets about the process of building in his soul through faith. The Lord will look and be pleased.

 

And so, the building, the finished work, the individuals who joy in the work of building, the mowing down of mountainous opposition; how is it all accomplished - a scarlet thread, faith in TLJC and His word.