Well let us turn again to God's
Word and turning now to the prophecy of Zechariah we read of him just
now there in those opening verses of chapter 5 in the book of Ezra
turning to the prophecy of Zechariah at the end of the Old Testament
Scriptures and I'll read in chapter 4 from verse 6 through ten. Moreover, the word of the Lord
came unto me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation
of this house. His hand shall also finish it,
and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto
you. For who hath despised the day
of small things? For they shall rejoice, and shall
see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel. With those seven
are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and throw, through the
whole earth and I want really to concentrate your attention
for a little while tonight on the words that we have there
in the middle of verse 10 the expression they shall see the plummets in
the hand of Zerubbabel they shall see the plummets in
the hand of Zerubbabel. On previous occasions we've looked
at parts of this portion. We've certainly said to say something
with regards to what he said about the day of small things. We've also considered those words
at verse 6 about God's power and the manner in which God demonstrates
that power not by might nor by power it says but by my spirit
saith the Lord of hosts but I want us to concentrate as I say on
what he said here with regards to the plumage in the hand of
Zerubbabel. Zechariah was ministering at
the time of the restoration as we saw in the readings that we
took back in the book of Ezra and he was ministering also with
Haggai there were these two men who were the prophets who were
engaged in ministering to that little remnant that had returned
and as we saw in chapter 5 of Ezra their task really was to
encourage the people. They were ministers of the Word
of God to them, encouraging them in the rebuilding of the temple. There were those present at that
time, if we'd have read in chapter 3 right to the end, we'd have
seen there in the closing verses that there were old men present
who had seen the glories of Solomon's temple and they were weeping,
they despised really what was going on. There were those who
were rejoicing, there was a sort of mingled emotions, some weeping,
some rejoicing, but those who had seen the glories of the temple,
they tended to despise what was taking place as a small thing. And so we have this word of rebuke
from Zachariah, not to despise the day of small things, because
that temple that was being built at that time would not be destroyed
until the year 70, it would be added to in subsequent generations,
but it would stand right the way through even to the coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and Christ himself would actually
minister in that very building. Haggai mentions that in chapter
2 and verse 9 the glory of this latter house shall be greater
than of the former saith the Lord of hosts and in this place
will I give peace saith the Lord of hosts and of course we know
how the Lord Jesus does come and actually ministers there
in In John 7, for example, we find Christ going up to Jerusalem
and there in the temple at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles. And of course, as we saw in chapter
1 of Ezra, they actually celebrated that feast when they first returned
to Jerusalem. But there in John 7, we read
of Christ and his preaching at the temple in the days of the
feast. Verse 28, Then cried Jesus in
the temple, as he taught, saying, Ye both know me, and ye know
whence I am, and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me
is true, whom ye know not, but I know him, for I am from him,
and he hath sent me. Then they sought to take him,
but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet
come. and many of the people believed on him and said when
Christ cometh will he do more miracles than these which this
man hath done and then later we're told aren't we how he cries
out in the great day of the feast the last day that great day of
the feast Christ stands and cries If any man thirst, let him come
unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the
Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water. He spake of the Spirit, which
they that believe on him should receive, for the Holy Ghost was
not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. And so that latter house was
glorified. in the ministry of Christ there
in the in the midst of it but coming to the words that I've
announced as our text here in verse 10 we're told of the plummet in
the hand of Zerubbabel and I want to address that theme then of
Zerubbabel's plummet Zerubbabel's plummet and just Just two headings
that I want to take up. First of all to look at the person
of Zerubbabel and then secondly to look at that plummet which
he said to be in his hand. Who was Zerubbabel? We know that at that time Zechariah
and Haggai were the prophets of the Lord. Ezra was a scribe
and the priests were also there. But who was Zorobabu? Well, he
was a prince. In fact, he was the grandson
of Jehoiachin. King Jehoiachin, sometimes referred
to as Jeconiah, and we read of him there right at the end of
2 Chronicles. He was that one of the kings
of Judah who was actually taken away into captivity, taken into
Babylon. And this man, Zerubbabel, was
the grandson. And his name would seem to indicate
that he was actually born there in Babylon, because his name
means a shoot of Babylon, a shoot of Babylon. He is an ancestor
of the Lord Jesus. He is mentioned in the opening
chapter of the New Testament Scriptures, Matthew chapter 1
and verses 12 and 13. We find his name there amongst
the antecedents of Christ in that great genealogy. So, Christ is descended from
this man, Zerubbabel. because he's of the royal house,
he's of the house of David, he's the rubbable. And furthermore,
the rubbable is actually a type, a type of the Lord Jesus. That's quite evident in what
we read here in the prophecy of Zachariah. Remember his name
literally means a shoot of Babylon, the rubbable. and is also referred
to in the book as the branch. In chapter 3 verse 8, He and
Eloah Joshua, the high priest, thou and thy fellows that sit
before thee, for thou men wondered at, for behold I will bring forth
my servant the branch. And again in chapter 6, and verse
12, speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying,
Behold the man whose name is the branch, and he shall grow
up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. It was the rabbi there, he was
the principal person in the building of the temple, the rebuilding
of the temple there in Jerusalem, and he is not only a shoot, of
Babylon is the branch. But of course ultimately that
is a name that belongs to the Lord Jesus. One of the many names
that is given to the Messiah in the Old Testament Scriptures.
Remember how back in the book of Isaiah in chapter 11 we read
of Christ, the root, out of the stem of Jesse. there in the opening words of
Isaiah he is spoken of as a root out of the stem of Jesse and
a branch the word branch again is used there and then also in verse 12 of that chapter Christ
is spoken of as a root of Jesse which shall stand for an ensign
of the people, to which shall the Gentiles seek, and his rest
shall be glorious." So, he's not only a rod out of the stem
of Jesse, he is also the root of Jesse, both the root and a
rod proceeding out of Jesse, Jesse the father of David. and not surprisingly when we
come to the end of scripture there in Revelation 22 we read
of the Christ as that one who is the root and offspring of
David the root of David but also the offspring of David we think
of the words of the Lord Jesus at the end of Matthew 22 when
he's speaking with the Pharisees and he asks them that question
What think ye of Christ, whose son is he? And they say rightly,
he's the son of David. He's the son of David. But then
the Lord says, why then doth David call him Lord? Saying the
Lord said unto my Lord. In the language that we have
in the second Psalm. He is the root of David. He is David's Lord. He is before
David. When we think of Christ in terms
of his eternal sonship, that he is the eternal son of God,
but as he is the root of David, so when we think of his human
nature, he is the offspring of David. He is David's son. He is the son of God, yes, but
he is also the son of David. He is the son of man. This is
the great mystery, isn't it? The mystery of the incarnation. we sometimes sing that hymn 709
the Lord that made both heaven and earth and was himself made
man lay in the womb before his birth contracted to a span behold
from what beginning small our great salvation rose the strength
of God is owned by all but who his weakness knows he was crucified
through weakness and the language that we have in the familiar
words of Isaiah 53 that great chapter that speaks of the suffering
servant of the Lord and remember the opening part of the chapter when we think of him you see
as a stem growing out of Jesse as it were he shall grow up before
him as a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground he
hath no form nor comeliness And when we shall see him, there
is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected
of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. When we
heard, as it were, our faces from him, he was despised, and
we esteemed him not." Oh, there can be a despising.
There is a despising. Surely we recognize that. would
recognize Christ for who He is. How He came unto His own, His
own received Him not. How many despise Him. And here
we have it in the verse before us, this 10th verse, who have
despised the day of small things. When we think of the Gospel,
the beginnings of the Gospel, think of the parable that the
Lord tells in Matthew 13 that chapter that's full of parables
that was the manner of the Lord's teaching parabolic teaching and
amongst other parables here we have the parable of the grain
of mustard seed Matthew 13 and verses 31 and
32 Christ says that the mustard
seed is the least of all seeds, and yet he speaks there of a
grain of mustard seed being planted, and it grows into a great tree.
And the fowls of the air come and make their houses in the
branches of it. But what small beginnings! It's
quite remarkable, isn't it, when we read through the opening chapters
of the Acts of the Apostles. we're told there in the 15th
verse of the opening chapter that the names of the disciples
or the number of the disciples was 120 120 that was the primitive church
that was the finest church that ever existed I read a comment
on it recently and it was said How do you measure the strength
of that church? You don't number it, you weigh
it. You don't number it, you weigh it. So often we're impressed
by numbers. But that church was 120. And
then of course in the following chapter we have the glorious
coming of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost and to that number
of 120 there are added 3,000 souls and
then in chapter 4 we read of another 5,000 men only men alone
besides women also being converted all from what's beginning small
our great salvation came when we consider it like that but
you know it's not only true with regards to the church when we
think of the church as a body, and that church of course is
made up of individual believers. But also when we think of the
experiences of God's people, often their beginnings might
be small and almost indistinct. we look back on our experiences
and sometimes wonder how it was that the Lord began with us and
aren't there often just little incidents that prove to be so
significant under God's hand it's a strange book Zachariah
strange things are recorded in it but in chapter 14 for example
we read these words chapter 14 verses 6 and 7 it shall come
to pass in that day and mark the expression that day it's
referring to the gospel day, the last days time and again
we have that expression throughout the prophets the day of the Lord,
the last days, that day, the day it shall come to pass in
that day that the light shall not be clear nor dark but it
shall be one day, which shall be known to the Lord, not day
nor night, but it shall come to pass that at evening time
it shall be light." When it seems that the dark is
coming on us, all of a sudden there's the glorious light, the
blessed light of the Gospel. How often you see God's works
seem to be so indistinct, difficult to fathom, to understand. I often
think of those words that we have also in Isaiah 59 verse
10. We grope for the wall like the
blind, we grope as if we had no eyes, we stumble at noonday
as in the night. Isn't that how we are sometimes?
We are almost feeling our way along. We have to continually
look to the Lord to grant light upon our path, a lamp to our
feet. We are poor, dependent people.
We have to continually look to the Lord. But time and again
we see how the Lord God encourages His people, even in the midst
of small and insignificant beginnings. The words of Job 8, 7, Though
thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end shall greatly
increase. All we are not to despise small
things then. Better is the end of a thing
than the beginning thereof, says the preacher in Ecclesiastes.
And here in the context we can think of this little company
who returned and they've gone to rebuild the temple and there's
opposition. But what is God's promise? Here
in verse 7, Who art thou, O great mountain, before the robbable?
Thou shalt become a plain. For thee shalt bring forth the
heads down thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, Grace, unto it. Sometimes we have to overcome
mountains and mountains of of unbelief really. How can we overcome
them? Well, the Lord. The Lord himself
is that one. We have to look to him as ours,
a rubbable. For this word of the Lord hath
us a rubbable, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my
Spirit, says the Lord. And do we not read of the spouse,
the believer there in the Song of Solomon? in the second chapter she says
the voice of my beloved behold he cometh leaping upon the mountains skipping
upon the hills nothing can frustrate the Lord when he will come and
attend to the needs to the cry of his people we need faith in
him we need faith even as a grain of mustard seed The words of
the Lord Jesus, if ye have faith, as a grain of mustard seed, He
says, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder
place, and it shall remove, and nothing, nothing shall be impossible
to you. This is the Zerubbabel then that
he said before us, yes, it's a real person, The man who actually
lived on the face of the earth, one of the descendants of King
David. And he was there to engage in
this work of the building of the temple in Jerusalem. But he directs us really to one
who is far greater than Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel's greatest son, David's
greatest son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, let us turn in
the second place to see what he said here with regards to
this plummet that's in the hand of the rubbable. And of course,
the plummet reminds us that the work that he's engaged in is
that of erecting a building. It's a plumb line that's being
spoken of. In fact, the margin for plummet
gives us the literal Hebrew, a stone of tin, a weight, on
the end of a plumb line, used to ensure that all the walls
that are being erected are straight and vertical. And it's in the
hand of the rubbable. The plumb line is in the hand
of the rubbable. Remember the great antitype,
the Lord Jesus, then we see that the plumb line is in Christ's
hand, it is Christ's work. And how the Lord works, and he
works by making use of a plumb line. And in a sense we can say
that the Lord Jesus, by that plumb line, measures his people. He measures them. again going back to the second
chapter there in the opening verses I
lifted up mine eyes again and looked and behold a man with
a measuring line in his hand then said I with the goers though
and he said unto me to measure Jerusalem to see what is the
breadth thereof and what is the length thereof Jerusalem, of
course, the title of the church. Here is the man who measures
Jerusalem, he's measuring his people. And that's what the Lord
Jesus does. The image is taken up, remember,
in the book of the Revelation. So much of what we have in the
Revelation is rooted back in the Old Testament. And there
in the opening words of Revelation 11, we read of a man with a measuring
reed, and there was given me a reed
like a rod to measure the temple and the altar and the worshippers
therein we read those words at the beginning of that 11th chapter
this is how the Lord deals with us he comes with his measuring
line as it were And when the plummet, as it were, is applied,
it shows that there's nothing but crooks in our lives. There's
nothing straight. We're crooked. The word that's
used in the Old Testament, iniquity, certainly has that idea, something
that is crooked, out of line. Isn't that what we are? We're
fallen creatures. God made man upright. but they
have sought out many inventions when the Lord begins to deal
with us and to show us where we are and what we are our crookedness
that's the ministry of the law very much so we know that what
thing so ever the law said it said to them who are under the
law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world become guilty
before God by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified
in his sight by the law is the knowledge of sin. And of course that law must be
taken as it were into the hand of Christ, it must be applied.
How does the Lord Jesus apply it? Well He does it in many ways
by His Spirit. That's the office of the Holy
Spirit to bring that conviction. When He has come Christ says
He will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and
of judgment. of sin because you believe not
on me of righteousness because I go to my father and you see
me no more of judgment because the prince of this world is judged
but that's the ministry of the Spirit to reprove, to convince,
to convict and he comes as the Spirit of
Christ he comes to serve the Lord Jesus Christ and so we have it here in the
text the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel and it says with
those seven they are the eyes of the Lord which run to and
throw through the whole earth those seven the eyes of the Lord
now we interpret what we have here of course by what we have
in the New Testament we read from the New Testament back into
the Old Testament in order to rightly interpret what is being
said and I've already said that The language that we have here
in Zechariah is taken up by John in describing those things that
are revealed to him in the book of the Revelation. And remember
what John tells us concerning the Lamb that it had been slain
there in the midst of the throne in Revelation chapter 5. The Lamb as it had been slain,
having seven eyes, it says, which are the seven Spirits of God.
Here we have seven eyes, there in Revelation 5 and verse 6 we
have the seven Spirits of God. Of course there is only one Holy
Ghost, one Holy Spirit. We know, don't we, that seven
is a symbolic number. indicating the perfection of
the works of God. He makes all things in six days
and He rests on the seventh day and pronounces it all very good. And seven has that idea, it's
a perfect work of the Spirit of God, when the Lord God comes
to measure us. And we see that God's work is
perfect and we're all in perfection. we're all sinners this is how
the Lord gathers his people to himself he comes and he measures
them by the ministry of his spirit by the application of his word
especially the Lord of God showing us how perverse we are how disobedient
how willful in our sins but of course ultimately this figure
of the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel indicates that the
Lord Jesus is building his church and we have it there in verse
9, the hands of the rubber ball have laid the foundation of this
house his hands shall also finish it and thou shalt know that the
Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you says the prophet. The rubber
ball will complete the work that he has commenced and our spiritual
Zerubbabel the Lord Jesus he tells us upon this rock that
great confession of Simon Peter there at Caesarea Philippi thou
art the Christ the Son of the Living God upon this rock I will
build my church or no other foundation can any
man lay than that which is laid which is Jesus Christ I will
build my church he says and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it. He is the one who will accomplish
then all of that work that has been given to him. And so here in the end of verse
12 in chapter 6 where we read of the man the branch behold
the man whose name is the branch he shall grow up out of his place
and he shall build the temple of the Lord he shall build the
temple of the Lord and so we have it there also here in this
context in chapter 4 verse 7 What does the rubber bull do?
He brings forth the headstone thereof, with shoutings crying,
Grace, Grace, unto it. We might feel ourselves to be
so few, and we seem to be always reducing in these days. But we're
not to despise the day. It's still the day of grace,
it's still the acceptable time, it's still the day of salvation.
What are we to do? We are to be steadfast, unmovable,
always abounding in the work of the Lord. For as much, says
the Apostle, as you know that your labour is not in vain in
the Lord. Or can we not then pray with
Moses? We have a psalm, don't we? The
psalm of Moses, Psalm 19. The psalm of Moses the man of
God. Singing the hymn 141, the tune
St. Saviour 228. Behold the sure foundation stone
which God in Zion lays to build our heavenly hopes upon and his
eternal praise. 141, tune 228.