Building God's House # 9: Identity Calling, Zechariah 3:6-10

Intro: Who are you?Many of you know that song by The Who- Who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?) Oh, tell me, who are you? (Who are you? Ooh). Others might remember that song as the theme of CSI- Crime Scene Investigation.Younger generations might recognize Who Are You as the theme song of The Masked Singer.

I ask who ARE you because I think so many Christians suffer from an identity crisis. We don’t know who we are- who we are to God or who He is to us. One of the things I’ve learned by personal experience, going through my own identity crisis, is that our identity, or who we think we are, is not rooted in what we do. What we do flows out of who we are (or think we are). There are several aspects to the Christian identity, one of them is that of a priest. Being a priest unto God is who we are.

Zechariah 3:6-10, Then the Angel of the Lord admonished Joshua, saying, 7“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘If you will walk in My ways, And if you will keep My command, Then you shall also judge My house, And likewise have charge of My courts; I will give you places to walk Among these who stand here.

8‘Hear, O Joshua, the high priest, You and your companions who sit before you, for they are a wondrous sign; For behold, I am bringing forth My Servant the BRANCH. 9 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, ‘And I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. 10 In that day,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘Everyone will invite his neighbor Under his vine and under his fig tree.’

Last week we saw that Joshua the high priest depicts Christians, a doctrine called the priesthood of the believer (saved, cleansed, & called). The rest of this chapter helps us understand the calling of the priesthood of the believer, i.e., what we do flows out of who we are.  Being a priest for God, what is it that Christians are called to do?

1. SERVE the LORD. Vs. 6-7

Vs. 6 begins with “then” because this scene follows from vss. 1-5, where Satan stood accusing Joshua, but the Lord advocated for him.

Now, on the other side of Joshua’s cleansing, the Lord admonishes him. Admonish- to warn or counsel in terms of someone’s behavior

The Lord gives Joshua an “if, then” conditional promise: If you walk in my ways, and if you will keep my command, then you shall also judge my house, have charge of my courts, I will give you places to walk among these who stand here.

There are 2 conditions:(1) to walk in God’s ways & (2) to keep His command. To walk in His ways describes the attitude of the priest toward God, to keep His commands are the actions that follow. Don’t get this twisted- there are many times when we do the right actions, but we have a wrong attitude, or a right attitude & do the wrong thing. The conditions are the RIGHT ATTITUDE plus RIGHT ACTIONS = RESULTS.

One of the main duties of a priest was making sacrifices to God. King Saul overstepped his boundaries as king, offered sacrifices that should be made by a priest, & lost the kingdom. Why? 1 Samuel 15:22, So Samuel said: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. The Lord cares a lot more about our obedience than He does our sacrifice. Having a servant’s heart (right attitude) is more important than sacrifice (right action). This condition opens the door to the promise of blessings.

3 results of divine blessing: to Govern, Guard, & Get- (1) judge (govern) God’s House(continued service in the temple), (2) have charge of His courts(take care of/watch over the temple to guard it from idolatry & defilement), (3) God will give places to walk among those who stand here (angels, vs. 4).

When we talk about God’s House, we’re talking about ourselves as individual believers filled with God’s Spirit, & the Church as the gathering of those filled with the Spirit. 1 Peter 2:5, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. God builds His House with His priests.

Serving in God’s House is a blessing! It is crazy how many Christians want to attend church but not engage with the church. Being involved, that’s where the blessing is.

Caring for God’s House that’s where the blessing is! What God is doing for, in, and through His Church are “things which angels desire to look into” (1 Peter 4:12). Walking with the angels that’s where the blessing is! Our identity and calling as priests is to serve the Lord in His church.

2. SHOW Christ to People. Vss. 8-9

Three Messianic Titles given here- My Servant, the Branch, The Stone.

My Servant- (JFB) the characteristic title of Messiah. Isaiah 42:1, Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.

Isaiah 52:13, Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently; He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. Isaiah 53:11, He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. As God’s Servant, Christ came to do the Father’s will.

The Branch- Isaiah 11:1, There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. Jeremiah 33:15, In those days and at that time I will cause to grow up to David A Branch of righteousness; He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.

By the time of our text, the line of David was all but dead. Zerubbabel was a descendant of David, but not a king. He was the governor of the exiles that had returned to Jerusalem. God is saying that even though the kingship was cut off at the exile, He would fulfill His earlier prophecies that Messiah, The Branch of David, would come. Jesus is HE!

The Stone- a likely reference to the foundation of the temple that had already been laid (Ezra 3:8-13), but there is more. The Stone has 7 eyes (7 a number that represents perfection). There are various interpretations of the eyes, some say “the eye is the symbol of Providence” (JFB), others they represent Messiah’s full intelligence or knowledge of everything that happens on earth. The eyes could represent all the eyes of the ages that are fixed upon Christ. Calvin- the 7 eyes were carved on the stone, representing the sevenfold fullness of His grace. In the heavenly scene of Revelation 5:6, John saw “a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.”

The inscription says the Lord will remove “the iniquity of the land in one day”.  “One Day” language is usually atonement language, but it can also be Day of the Lord language. It could be a reference to Christ’s crucifixion or to His return, but either way, it is about trusting in Him.

1 Peter 2:6-7, Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.” 7 Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. Those who believe upon Christ are saved, those who reject Him are put to shame.

Don’t miss this- the point of the vision is that Joshua and the other priests were “a wondrous sign”, i.e., symbols of the Messiah to come- the Servant, the Branch, the Stone.

Now Messiah has come, & as His priests, this is our calling- to be signs that show people Jesus. ILL: Like billboards with flashing neon lights that say TURN HERE, we are to be pointing people to Jesus. Like those guys on the storefront, spinning those signs, we are to point people to Jesus.

3. SHARE an INVITATION to Others. Vs. 10

“In that day” in vs. 10 refers back to “one day” in vs. 9. As I said, “one day” either refers to the Day Christ atoned for sin at His crucifixion, or the Day when He returns to consummate His Kingdom. Whichever event is being talked about here, the image is one of peace and prosperity. In fact, the same image was used to describe the reign of King Solomon. 1 Kings 4:25, And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, each man under his vine and his fig tree, from Dan as far as Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.

If “that day” refers to Christ’s 2nd Coming, then this image refers to the peace that follows the return of Christ and restoration of the kingdom. If the “one day” refers to the Atonement, then we’re talking about the peace that is made with God through Jesus.

Either way, we’re talking about the kind of peace that people can only get through Jesus. When He returns, there will be a period of unprecedented peace the likes of which haven’t been seen since Eden (paradise lost). Paradise is regained through Jesus, so that people can experience peace with God, & the peace of God because of Jesus.

John 15:1, 4, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser...         4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

Christ cleanses us from our sins so that we can share the faith with others. Staying connected to the vine; we invite others to sit under the vine with us. So, we invite people right now- be my guest, sit with me at church, receive Christ as your Lord.

One of the easiest ways to share that you are a person of faith is to invite someone to church.I recently read a statistic that said 7 out of 10 unchurched people have never been invited to church in their whole lives. According to a Lifeway research poll, “82% of people would come to church if a friend invited them,”i.e., 4 out of every 5 people you invite will likely say yes. Only 2% of church members invite a single unchurched person to church each year.

Jesus exemplified a culture of invitation- to His disciples, He said Come and See, (John 1:39); to the hurting, Come to me and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28); to would be followers, Come, take up the cross, and follow me (Mark 10:21). What is Jesus calling us to do today?

1 Peter 2:9, But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Being a PRIEST unto God is our identity, PROCLAIMING His praises is our ministry- that is the calling. Our Identity as a Priest has a Calling to Proclaim.

What Jesus has done for us- to save us, cleanse us, call us, gives us an identity and with it an opportunity- to serve the Lord, show people Christ, & share the faith. Are you living up to your identity & calling?