Day 22: Zerubbabel

“I will take you, my servant Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel,” declares the LORD, “and I will make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you.” — Haggai 2:23

Probably one of the most neglected texts for readers of the New Testament is the genealogy of Jesus Christ in Matthew. Yet, for the attentive reader, the text contains, first, the trajectory of the entire gospel (Matthew 1:1), namely, the truth that Jesus Christ is the heir promised to David and the one through whom the promise made to Abraham becomes reality. Second, the text contains a powerful witness to the revelation of God in the micro-history of His people. Matthew 1:2–6 lists people who were part of the formation history, by His mercy, that culminates with the people of God established as a kingdom. Matthew 1:7–11 lists people who were part of the crisis history that, because of His righteousness, led to God’s judgement and culminates with the exile in Babylon. Finally, Matthew 1:12–17 lists people who were part of the restoration history, through God’s faithfulness, that culminates in the incarnation of the Son of God in Jesus Christ. In fact, the genealogy of Matthew 1, together with the stories of its people, shows history is a space not only for human experience but also for God’s revelation of His mercy, justice and faithfulness.

For Christians in Romania, a society enslaved for decades in communist materialism and denials of God’s involvement in the world, this is an essential encouragement. God’s work in history fuels our endeavours to reintroduce the spiritual dimensions of living to our lives, families, neighbours, communities and institutions.

Biblical details are sparse concerning the last group of people in the genealogy, but Zerubbabel’s story has some details we can learn from. First, he is portrayed as royal. In Haggai 1:1 and 2:2, he is addressed as the governor of Judah. He is not the king, as God’s people were under foreign rule in his day. But Haggai, the LORD’S prophet, addresses the kingly and high priestly lines as part of God’s remnant with instructions and then with covenantal promises (2:20) to assure that He’s not yet done with His people as He had constituted them. Listed as an ancestor of the Lord Jesus Christ, Zerubbabel reminds us that God’s promises to David and the royal line are still valid.

Zerubbabel is not only an ancestor of Jesus but also His archetype. He prefigures Jesus in his obedience to the Word of God. Zerubbabel was a person to whom the LORD spoke His Word and who obeyed the Word of God spoken to him, a person whose spirit was stirred up by the LORD and thus did the LORD’S work in the LORD’S power (Haggai 1:12, 14; Zechariah 4:6–10). Jesus testified that He came to do only what was the Father’s will (John 6:38; Philippians 2:8) and that the Spirit was upon Him to bring about the realities of God’s kingdom (Luke 4:18–21).

Zerubbabel also prefigures Jesus as a faithful servant in the house of God. He was instrumental in the rebuilding of the altar for burnt offerings in the house of God so that access to God in daily worship could be restored (Ezra 3:1–6). In this, he also points to Jesus, whose death on the altar of the cross opened access to the presence of God for all who are His by faith (Mark 15:38; Hebrews 10:19–22).

Looking at these three facets of Zerubbabel’s story, we should ask two important questions: How great is our Lord Jesus, the descendant of Zerubbabel? And how can we be part of His work in history? For we, too, as Zerubbabel, have the honour to be part of the people of God by grace through faith, to be called and instructed by His Word and to participate in worshipping God as living sacrifices. When we unite the honour to be written in God’s book of life with the responsibility of obedience and worship in everyday life, that will transform our lives into signposts of the Kingdom of God and conduits of His work in history.