They Will Come to Zion

I The Eight Symbolic Visions

C The Concluding Acts

3 The Mystery, 6:14 and 15

Title: They Will Come to Zion

Introduction

I have called this section a mystery because that is what Paul calls it. In Ephesians 1:9 Paul writes, He made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment —to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ, and in Ephesians 3:4-6 he writes, In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. This is the main burden of the passage. People will come from afar to the kingdom and build together. This was always God’s purpose but it was clouded in the prophets while it was made crystal clear in the gospel. It was framed in the Old Testament in language and pictures taken from their time and was easy to misunderstand. And misunderstand it they did because they kept promoting nationalistic hopes of dominance over the Gentiles whom they considered unclean. They also assented to the death of the Lord of Glory because He did not offer them what they wanted. Paul finally realized this and taught the inclusion of the Gentiles as opposed to the exclusion to which many of his day clung tenaciously. Let us bear this in mind as we look at the text and see the remembrance, the responsibility, and the reward.

I Remembrance

The Lord does not forget and he doesn’t want us to forget either. In Scripture we are repeatedly told to remember. We are to remember the sabbath, remember our blessings, remember our sins and evil ways, remember the blessings God has bestowed and remember the Lord to name just a few. So, in verse 14 we read, The crown will be given to Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah and Hen son of Zephaniah as a memorial in the temple of the Lord. Hen is another name for Josiah the host. This is the crown the prophet has had fashioned for Joshua, the priest-king. But Joshua is only a type, a symbol, a fore-shadowing of that which is to come. So the crown is placed in the temple as a reminder to the people of the promise of Messiah. But even in this act the names of the people who have given or their representatives are not forgotten by God. Hebrews 6:10 applies, God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. So in the Old Testament the High Priest Aaron bore the names of the tribes of Israel before the Lord upon his two shoulders for a memorial. The atonement money of the children of Israel was to be appointed for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, that it might be a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord. When Midian was defeated by Israel, and not one of Israel had been slain, they brought all the gold which had accrued to them, and we read in Numbers 31, Moses and Eleazar took the gold, and brought it into the tabernacle, a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord. In the New testament we read about Cornelius a Roman soldier and proselyte who prayed to the God of Israel. And in Acts 10:2-4, He gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!” Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked. The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.” Cyril of Alexandria in the 4th century writes, “This is what we look for, that to all the saints and friends of God, whom these signify, those crowns which they made of their gold and silver for the Lord Jesus, shall be an everlasting memorial in that heavenly temple of the Lord.” God remembers His covenant, and we should also remember it.

II Responsibility

We are reminded of our responsibility in verse 15, Those who are far away will come and help to build the temple of the Lord, and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. The people help to build, but the primary and true builder is Jesus Christ. According to Hebrews 3:5 and 6 the people build in the house, but Christ builds the house, Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,” bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory. Who are these people? They are Jews and Gentiles knit together in one body so that the Old Testament separation no longer exists and the wall of partition is broken down. The crowns made of gold were received from afar, namely, from the Jews of Babylon, typifying both the restoration of Israel and the conversion of the Gentiles to Messiah, King of Israel. This was forecast in the visit of the “Wise” men or Magi to the birth of Jesus for they were foreigners, strangers to Israel, who came from afar. This moment is prophesied often in the Old Testament, for example in Isaiah 60:1, 3-5 and 10 Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you…Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Lift up your eyes and look about you: All assemble and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the hip. Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come…Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Though in anger I struck you, in favor I will show you compassion. Amos 10:9-12 is also illuminating for there God talks about the time after he has visited His punishment upon His people Israel and he says, For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth. All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us. In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the Lord that does this. So it is that Peter preaching the first Christian sermon on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:39 says, The promise is to you and to your children (that is, Israel), and to all that are far off, as many as the Lord our God shall call (that is, the Gentiles). We are temple builders by the grace of God, and the temple we build will stand forever, the Church of Jesus Christ.

III The Reward

Verse 15 also reminds us that there is a reward, This will happen if you diligently obey the Lord your God. Obviously this does not mean that God’s plan will be altered. From the beginning, before the creation of the world God has chosen His own in Christ. The plan of the ages includes the restoration of Israel and the calling of the Gentiles in Christ. Paulus Osorius, a student of Augustine in the 4th century reminds us, “Because he had said, And ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me unto you, he warns them, that the fruit of that coming will reach to those only, who should hear God and with ardent mind join themselves to His name. For as many as believed in Him were made sons of God; but the rest were cast into outer darkness. But they receive Christ, who hear His voice and do not refuse His rule. For He was made the cause of eternal salvation to tell who obey Him.” In other words, what this portion tells us is that to participate in the restoration and temple building in the future, they must trust and obey in the present. Otherwise it will still occur, but they will be cast aside. We might paraphrase this portion in the words, “This will happen to you if you obey the Lord and you will see it” Thus this is a call to them to participate in the present work of rebuilding so that they can be part of the eternal kingdom. It is an incentive to follow the Lord’s command wherever we are and whenever we live. It becomes evidence of our true participation in the life of God.