Zechariah 3:8-10 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you, and your fellows that sit before you: for they are men wondered at: for, behold… That stone was Christ. Take the clauses of the verse in succession. 1. Behold the stone which I have laid before Joshua, "He that built all things is God." He built the temple of nature. More august and glorious far is the temple spoken of here. Its foundation stone was laid by God Himself in Zion. He laid it when the great Antitype Himself came, and gave His life a ransom for many. He laid it anew, in the Zion above, when Christ was exalted on His mediatorial and priestly throne, a name given Him that is above every name. He shall finally consecrate and glorify it as the "headstone of the corner," on the great day, in presence of the Church triumphant. 2. "Upon one stone shall be seven eyes." Observe, it is "one stone." One Mediator. "' By one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified." See that one stone laid by the Divine Builder! The sun needs no glittering taper to add to its light; the ocean needs no tiny drop to add to its volume. Let the giant deed of Christ's doing and dying stand forth in all its peerless, solitary grandeur. What mean the seven eyes? Seven was a sacred number with the Jews, probably from being first associated with the seven days of Creation. It would seem to denote — (1) Christ's fulness or perfection. How applicable to Him "in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." "Out of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace."(2) The "seven eyes" point to Christ's providential government of the Church and the world. What a blessed truth is this universal, constant sovereignty of Jesus! The roll in which art inscribed the world's destinies is in His hands. More comforting still is it to think of Christ's individual providence, the care He takes of each separate member of His Church. This stone, with its seven eyes, has an eye for each. But the words "seven eyes" may admit of the rendering "seven fountains." The "eye," among Orientals, is often the metaphor for the wellspring. The Arabs call the fountain to this day, the "eye of the desert." Render then, "Upon one stone shall be seven fountains." This one stone, the Rock of Ages, was smitten by the rod of justice, and lo! seven fountain-streams flow from its cleft side. Fountains of pardon, righteousness, peace, sanctification, comfort, grace here, life and glory hereafter. All the fountains from one source. 3. "I will engrave the engraving thereof." Carvings on stone were frequent in ancient times. In Nineveh, Babylon, Egypt, it was the old method of inscribing a nation's annals. These "stone libraries" are dug up fresh as they were chiselled and entombed many thousand years ago. Once engraven on the heart of love, you are on His heart forever. An alternative rendering of this metaphor is, "I will open the openings thereof." "I," says God, "will unlock the fountains in that sealed stone, that the waters of salvation may gush forth." He opens the fountains every time His glorious Gospel is proclaimed. 4. "And I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day." This doubtless points onwards to the day of days. In the Mosaic and ceremonial dispensation of the Jews, iniquity was typically removed. But all was a shadow, till the true Anti typical Surety and Scapegoat Himself came to remove iniquity "in one day," by having the sins of His people laid on His guiltless head. It was a momentous "one day," the day waited for by all time. The stone was smitten, the fountain was unsealed. (J. R. Macduff, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH. |
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