Today’s reading: Zechariah 5-6; James 1
In Zechariah 6, God re-joins the priesthood and the monarchy that were divided before they even began in Israel when Moses refused to take on the role.
When God first called Moses to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt, there was no mention of splitting the spiritual and governmental leadership between different people. Moses was to lead the people, and he was also to mediate for them before the Lord, being both priest and leader. When he fought God on the assignment though, refusing over and over again to go, as a concession, God split out the priesthood and gave it to Moses’ brother Aaron and his family line. As a result, from the very beginning, the spiritual and governmental leadership in Israel was divided, which, many times in the nation's history, caused issues and divisions which wouldn't have otherwise existed.
God's Messiah, however, would be both king and intermediary for the people before God. This is why the author of Hebrews looks back to Melchizedek, who was both king and priest of God most high, as the order of priesthood from which Jesus' spiritual authority derives, rather than the limited priesthood of Aaron.
What we see in Joshua, in Zechariah 6, is the advancement of the Messianic profile as we edge closer to the arrival of Jesus. In many ways Joshua fits the picture of the Messiah, a king priest who leads the people back to faithfulness to God, but in other ways his "messiahship" falls short. Joshua is made pure by God for the task (as we saw in chapter 3), rather than being innately qualified for the task, and Joshua does not live and reign forever, permanently establishing Israel's place on the global stage. In these ways, Joshua sets the stage for the one coming after him who will be the even greater and fuller fulfillment of the promises of God to deliver Israel.
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