The Power Behind the Priest and King
I. Dream #4 – The PRIEST is PURIFIED. (3:1-10)
A. The ACCUSATIONS are… TRUE. (3:1-3)
B. God’s DECISION, not our WORTHINESS. (3:2-5)
C. Called to FOLLOW and to REPRESENT. (3:6-10)
We’ve come to the central dreams of the sequence of 8 dreams of Zechariah. He’s been building to the hope that things can be made right again, that peace could come, that there is a reason to be joyful and today we see two characters in his visions that bring that to a visible form.
1. Kids Question: Have you ever been caught doing something wrong? What was that like?
2. When have you felt like the accuser was standing right beside you? How do 3:2-4 impact that feeling?
II. Dream #5 – The KING is EMPOWERED. (4:1-14)
A. An ETERNAL SOURCE. (4:2-3,6; I Sam 16:13)
B. Making the IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBLE. (4:7-9)
C. SMALL things MATTER. (4:10)
Along with Joshua the High Priest, the other visible leader at this time is the King, Zerubbabel. God will use this king to make sure that the temple is rebuilt, but not in the way people most expect. It will be a supernatural act that brings it about by the Spirit, not the power of the throne.
3. What is an area in your life where you feel like progress is impossible? How does this passage speak to that?
4. What “small things” have had an impact in your life? How?
III. It’s all POINTING to JESUS. (3:8; Lk. 24:27)
A. Coming PRIEST and KING. (3:1; 4:6; Heb 1:3)
B. The “BRANCH” that removes SIN. (3:8-9; Is. 11:1)
C. ANOINTED to SERVE.(4:14; Jn 1:41; Mk. 10:45)
These dreams are all giving insight to the time they come to, but in a deeper way they are pointing beyond Joshua and Zerubbabel to the final king who will come in the line of David, Jesus the Messiah. What is currently happening is symbolically representing what is coming.
5. How does Jesus meet your need for a priest and a King? What does that look like day to day?
6. Chosen/Anointed to serve: How would the world change if all Christians began to embrace this idea? How can you embrace it in the coming week?
IV. SMALL things and SYMBOLIC acts. (3:8; 4:10)
- Become VISIONS that inspire HOPE. (4:4,12)
- LIVE as ARTISANS of Peace. (3:10)
- Walk JOYFULLY into the FUTURE. (4:10)
- LOVE as God has LOVED us. (4:14)
So how do we take 8 dreams and live out the message they bring? We have to start by realizing that once we are set free and forgiven our whole life becomes a way to be people “symbolic of things to come.” Our lives, even the very small things, can point to the return of Jesus when all things will be made new.
7. How can you be an artisan of peace in your circle in the coming year?
8. What does it actually look like in your life to “love as God loved us”?