Counting the Days: December 11, 2023
Sam Hoover ’24
Business Administration with a concentration in Professional Golf Management
Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. It is he who shall build the temple of the Lord and shall bear royal honor and shall sit and rule on his throne. And there shall be a priest on his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
Reflection
One of my favorite aspects of reading scripture is seeing how every story points to Christ. We can read the Old Testament and see God’s faithfulness to His chosen people time and time again as God promises His people something and it comes to pass, just as He said. This gives us confidence that He is with us in whatever we are going through and assures us that He is working all things together for our good. We can read about Abraham and Isaac and see a picture of God’s sacrificial love thousands of years before Jesus is born. I could go on and on but it would be Christmas morning before I finished!
In Zechariah 6, a promise of God that Christ, a Branch from the line of David (described in Jeremiah 33:15), will build the temple of the Lord. The temple described here is not a physical building but is made up of God’s people with Christ as the Chief Cornerstone. What an amazing gift that God invites us, sinners, to be His hands and feet!
This passage also promises that Christ will sit on His throne both as King and High Priest. As High Priest, Christ has offered the perfect gift, his own life, once and for all, for the attornment of our sins so that one day we will be with Him in glory!
I pray that we all remain forced on the unconditional love of God this advent season as we wait with joyful expectation for Christ to return.