Moment in the Word

Zechariah 1:19-21 - And he told me, "These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem." 20 - Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen. 21 - "What are these coming to do?" I asked. And He replied, "...the craftsmen have come to terrify them and throw down these horns of the nations."

 

Have you ever searched for something but could not see it, although you knew exactly what you wanted and the object was right in front of your eyes? Well, you are not alone because many people also have suffered from this same peculiar type of inattentional blindness.

 

Three hundred years before Jesus was ever born, the Jewish rabbis predicted the coming of four Messiahs based on Zechariah 1:19-21. They called them the Four Artisans or the Four Craftsmen. We might think of them as the Four Carpenters or the Four Fixers who would repair the damage that the surrounding nations had caused to God's people in Israel. Determined to identify these mysterious repairmen that God would send, the Jewish rabbis searched their Bibles and found four promised Messiahs.

 

The first Messiah was called the Elijah, the one God would send to prepare the way for the other three builders (Malachi 4:5). Early Jewish Christians recognized this annointed one as John the Baptist (Matthew 11:14).

 

The second was known as Messiah Son of Joseph and might be identified two ways. First, he was like the Patriarch Jacob's son, Joseph, who was persecuted by his brothers, went into prison, but was raised to great glory by Pharaoh to become the savior of the starving Egyptians. His brothers would later follow him into Egypt and become slaves after Joseph was gone. Consequently, this second Messiah Son of Joseph was prophesied by the rabbis to suffer and die for the sin of his people (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 98b) while destroying their evil inclination (Babylonian Talmud Sukkah 52a). He would be resurrected from the grave and save the Gentiles while Israel suffered from the same people who killed their Messiah.

 

A second way to identify Messiah Son of Joseph might be by the name of his earthly father and grandfather,  "...and 'Jacob' the father of 'Joseph,' the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus (the Carpenter), who is called Christ (Messiah)." (Matthew 1:16)  Either way, the death and resurrection of Messiah Son of Joseph would eventually set the stage for the last two "craftsmen" of Zechariah, chapter one.

 

The third annointed one was called the Priest of Righteousness and would be like Melchizedek in the days of Abraham (MunichTalmud). Thus, the apostle said in Hebrews that Jesus, a type of priestly Melchizedek, "did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption." (Hebrews 7:17, Hebrews 9:12)

 

The fourth and final anointed one was the King Messiah Son of David who would raise the dead and establish His Kingdom at the End of Days. And for this last manifestation of Zechariah's craftsmen, both Jews and Christians now earnestly wait.

 

Although many who originally searched have already overlooked the arrival of the first three anointed "fixers" whom God promised to send (Romans 11:25) ... the Elijah, the Messiah Son of Joseph, and the Priest of Righteousness; yet absolutely NO ONE will miss the arrival of Messiah Son of David, "'Look, he is coming with the clouds,' and 'every eye will see him, even those who pierced him'; and all peoples on earth 'will mourn because of him.' So shall it be! Amen. 8 - 'I am the Alpha and the Omega,' says the Lord God, 'who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.' (Revelation 1:7-8)

 

When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. (Luke 21:28)