Scripture Reading: Zech. 12:1; Isa. 42:5-6; John 4:24; 2 Tim. 4:22; Zech. 3:9; Rev. 5:6; Zech. 1:8-11, 20-21; 2:1-2, 5, 8-9, 11; 2-3, 4:7, 4:9, 11-14; 9:9; 11:7-13; 14:9, 16-17; 1, 6:12-15
The book of Zechariah reveals that Christ is wonderful and that He is the centrality and universality of God's economy. But how can we receive such a Christ? The means and the instrument by which we can receive Christ is our human spirit. In this message, therefore, I would like to give a word concerning the human spirit and the Christ unveiled in Zechariah.
In the books of Zechariah and Isaiah, both of which have much to say about Christ, there are sister verses that speak clearly regarding the human spirit. Zechariah 12:1 says, "Thus declares Jehovah, who stretches forth the heavens and lays the foundations of the earth and forms the spirit of man within him." This reveals that the heavens are for the earth, the earth is for man, and man was created by God with a spirit that he may contact God, receive God, live God, fulfill God's purpose for God, and be one with God.
Isaiah 42:5 is a sister verse to Zechariah 12:1. "Thus says God Jehovah, / Who created the heavens and stretched them out, / Who spread forth the earth and what springs up from it, / Who gives breath to the people upon it / And spirit to those who walk on it." The Hebrew word translated breath here can also be rendered spirit (cf. Prov. 20:27). These sister verses both mention three matters: the heavens, the earth, and the human spirit. Whereas Zechariah 12:1 speaks of God's forming the human spirit, Isaiah 42:5 simply speaks of God's giving a spirit to man.
Verse 6 goes on to speak concerning God's purpose in giving man a spirit. "I am Jehovah; I have called You in righteousness; / I have held You by the hand; / I have kept You and I have given You / As a covenant for the people, as a light for the nations." Here we see that God intends to give His Son Christ to us as a covenant and as a light to the nations. Such a Christ is wonderful, but unless we can receive Him, He does not have anything to do with us. In order to receive this Christ, we must have a receiver within us, and this receiver is our human spirit. God has given us a spirit so that we can receive, partake of, participate in, and enjoy Christ as the covenant and as the light.
At this point I would like to remind you of the Lord's conversation with the Samaritan woman in John 4. The Lord Jesus said to her, "Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall by no means thirst forever; but the water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water gushing up into eternal life" (v. 14). When she asked Him to give her this water, He told her to go and call her husband (vv. 15-16). His intention was to help her to know her sins. However, she immediately turned the conversation to the matter of worship, saying, "Our fathers worshipped in this mountain, yet you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men must worship" (v. 20). The Lord Jesus replied, "An hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father....But an hour is coming, and it is now, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truthfulness...God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness" (vv. 21, 23-24). John 4:24, a wonderful verse, matches Zechariah 12:1 and Isaiah 42:5.
In His word to the Samaritan woman, the Lord Jesus seemed to be saying, "Woman, you do not know what it is to worship God. The real worship of God is not on a mountain or in Jerusalem — it is in your spirit. Only by using your spirit can you touch God. I am your God, and I am here as living water for you to drink of Me. The way to drink this living water is to exercise your spirit. This is what it means to worship the Father." God has given us a spirit that we may worship Him by drinking of Him.
Another crucial verse concerning the human spirit is 2 Timothy 4:22. "The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you." This verse does not say that the Lord is with our mind or soul or heart; it tells us that He is with our spirit. Deep within, in the center of our being, we have a particular organ — the human spirit — created by God for the purpose of receiving Him and containing Him. We all, especially the young people, need to see that today the Lord Jesus Christ is with our spirit.
Our regenerated human spirit matches Christ, who is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17). Regarding this, Zechariah 3:9 says, "This is the stone that I have set before Joshua: upon one stone are seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave its engraving, declares Jehovah of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day." This stone which has been engraved with God's engraving to take away the sin of God's people is Christ. The seven eyes of the stone are "the eyes of Jehovah running to and fro on the whole earth" (4:10). In order to understand the significance of the seven eyes, we need to consider Revelation 5:6. "I saw..a Lamb standing as having just been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth." The Lamb here, who is the stone in Zechariah 3:9, is Christ, and the seven eyes are the sevenfold intensified Spirit. Thus, the Christ who has been engraved by God to take away our sin bears the sevenfold intensified Spirit. Actually, He, the last Adam, has become a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b), even the sevenfold intensified Spirit. Christ today is the Spirit, and we have a spirit particularly formed by God to match Christ.
Let us now go on to consider the Christ who is unveiled in the book of Zechariah. In the first part of this book (chs. 1—6), there are five visions concerning Christ, and in the last part (chs. 9—14), many details concerning Christ.
In the first of the five visions concerning Christ, Christ is unveiled as the Man as the Angel of Jehovah riding on a red horse and standing among the myrtle trees (1:7-17). The myrtle trees signify the humiliated yet precious people of Israel in their captivity. Christ's riding on a red horse indicates that He was the redeeming One. His being the Angel of Jehovah indicates that He was the One sent by God to take care of His people with much expectation while they were in captivity.
In the second vision (vv. 20-21) Christ is the last Craftsman used by God to break the four horns — Babylon, Persia, Greece, and the Roman Empire — which damaged and destroyed the chosen people of God (vv. 18-19). Christ will be the unique One not only to break the four horns but also to smash the entire human government from the toes to the head, as signified by the great human image in Daniel 2.
In the next vision Christ is the One who measures Jerusalem in order to possess it (Zech. 2:1-2). This One not only possesses Jerusalem but also becomes the center of Jerusalem as the glory within her and the circumference of Jerusalem as the wall of fire round about her (v. 5). Furthermore, He is both the sending One and the sent One. He, Jehovah of hosts, has sent Himself as the Angel of Jehovah (vv. 8-9, 11).
In the fourth vision Christ is unveiled as the topstone of grace (4:7). As indicated in 3:9, upon this stone are seven eyes, signifying the seven Spirits, that is, the sevenfold intensified Spirit. Christ is therefore the topstone of grace to consummate God's building with the sevenfold intensified Spirit.
The fifth vision involving Christ is the vision of the lampstand of gold and the two olive trees (4:2-3, 11-14). The lampstand here signifies the nation of Israel as the collective testimony of God shining out all His virtues. We may say that this lampstand is also a type of Christ, the embodiment of the Triune God. In Zechariah's time the two olive trees were Joshua and Zerubbabel, but during the three and a half years of the great tribulation, the two olive trees will be Moses and Elijah.
The last six chapters of Zechariah are divided into two groups: chapters nine through eleven, which speak of Christ's lowly first coming, and chapters twelve through fourteen, which speak of Christ's victorious second coming.
In His first coming, Christ came as a lowly King and was temporarily welcomed as the King into Jerusalem in a lowly form. Regarding this, 9:9 says, "Exult greatly, O daughter of Zion; / Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! / Now your King comes to you. / He is righteous and bears salvation; / Lowly and riding upon a donkey, / Even upon a colt, the foal of a donkey." Christ came also as a Shepherd (11:7-11), shepherding in Favor (grace) and Bonds (binding). However, He, the proper Shepherd of Israel, was detested, attacked, rejected, and sold for thirty pieces of silver (vv. 12-13). The children of Israel were thus left to false, useless, and worthless shepherds — the elders, the priests, and the scribes — who would not take care of them (v. 17).
In chapters twelve through fourteen, we see Christ in His second coming. In His coming back, He will be the King not only over Israel but also over all the peoples on earth. "Jehovah will be King over all the earth; and in that day Jehovah will be the one God and His name the one name" (14:9). He will reign over the entire earth, and all the peoples of the earth will go up to Jerusalem from year to year to worship the King, Jehovah of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles (v. 16). Upon those who refuse to go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, there will be no rain (v. 17).
The book of Zechariah clearly reveals that God desires the rebuilding of the temple (4:9; 6:12-15). However, without Christ everything, including the temple, is empty. We need Christ, yet Christ needs a Body. This Body is the temple of God, the house of God, the expression of God, the satisfaction of God. Hence, today we should emphasize both Christ and the church. Concerning Christ, we need to pay attention both to the crucial aspects unveiled in chapters one through six and to the details unveiled in chapters nine through fourteen.
Finally, I would like to point out that in the book of Zechariah we can see Christ's judgment. The vision of the flying scroll (5:1-4), the vision of the ephah vessel (vv. 5-11), and the vision of the four chariots (6:1-8) are visions of judgment. Christ's judgment will be carried out by the four chariots which come forth from between two mountains of brass (v. 1). Brass here signifies judgment. Although the two mountains of brass do not signify Christ, they are nevertheless closely related to Christ, for He has been appointed by God to carry out the judgment upon the living and the dead (John 5:22; Acts 10:42; 17:31; 2 Tim. 4:1). On the one hand, Christ is the Redeemer and the Savior; on the other hand, He is the Judge. As the Judge, He will carry out God's judgment.
According to Zechariah, Christ's judgment over the earth will be upon three categories of negative things. First, He will judge stealing (5:3b, 4b). Stealing signifies sins toward man, which are the issue of greed and covetousness. Second, Christ will judge the matter of swearing falsely by Jehovah's name (vv. 3c, 4c). Swearing falsely by Jehovah's name signifies sins toward God, which are the issue of a wrong relationship with God. Those who swear falsely in this way do not deal with God in faithfulness and honesty. Third, Christ will judge the entire human government signified by the great human image in Daniel 2. He, the last Craftsman, will come as the stone cut out without hands and smash this great image from the toes to the head. Thus, He will clear away from the earth all stealing, all false swearing by Jehovah's name, and all of human government.
We need to see how Christ's judgment is related to us today. We should be careful not to steal from others in any way, and we should also be careful to be honest and faithful with God. Then we will be right with man and also right with God. Finally, we need to see that Christ will come as the stone cut out without hands and will smash the entire human government and thereby bring in the eternal kingdom of God.
