The Recovery of the Priesthood for God’s Building 

Message One The Priesthood and the Kingship for God’s Building 

Scripture Reading: Zech. 6:11-15; Gen. 1:26; 1 Pet. 2:5, 9; Heb. 4:16; Rev. 22:1 

Outline 

I. The visions in Zechariah of comfort, consolation, and encouragement are confirmed by the crowning of Joshua the high priest—typifying Christ in His priesthood— linked with Zerubbabel the governor of Judah—typifying Christ as the Shoot of David in His kingship—6:11-15:

 A. Christ is the Shoot of Jehovah, referring to His divinity; the Shoot of Jehovah denotes that through His incarnation Christ is a new development of Jehovah God for the Triune God to branch Himself out in His divinity into humanity; this is for Jehovah God’s increase and spread in the universe— Isa. 4:2; 7:14; Matt. 1:22-23. 

B. Christ is also the Shoot of David (typified by Zerubbabel), referring to His humanity and royal faithfulness—Zech. 3:8; Jer. 23:5. 

C. Christ, typified in Zechariah 6:11-13 by two persons, Joshua and Zerubbabel, is the unique One to hold the two offices of the priesthood and the kingship in God’s administration for the building up of the church as the temple of God (cf. 1 Cor. 3:12, 17; 2 Cor. 6:16).

D. “The counsel of peace will be between the two of them” (Zech. 6:13b); between the two means between the priesthood and the kingship (cf. 1:1; Ezra 5:1). 

II. The focus of Hebrews is the heavenly Christ, and the main point of the heavenly Christ is that He is both the High Priest and the King (the King of righteousness and the King of peace), as typified by Melchizedek—5:10; 7:1-3, 28; 8:1-2: 

A. Christ is not only the King with power and authority but also the High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek—2:17; 4:14; 5:6, 10; 6:20; 8:1; 9:11; Psa. 110:1-4: 

1. Christ’s heavenly ministry in His ascension includes both His kingship and His priesthood for the building up of the church as the temple of Jehovah, the temple of God—Heb. 7:1-2; Zech. 6:13, 15; 1 Cor. 3:16-17. 

2. As the King, Christ has the scepter to rule over the earth and to manage our affairs, and as the High Priest, He is interceding for us and taking care of our case before God—Heb. 4:14-16; 7:25-26; 9:24; Acts 5:31; Rom. 8:34; Rev. 1:12-13. 

B. As the kingly High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek, Christ ministers God into us as our supply to fulfill God’s eternal purpose—Heb. 7:1-2; 8:1-2; Gen. 14:18-20: 

1. In His earthly ministry Christ was a High Priest according to the order of Aaron for the putting away of sin—Heb. 9:14, 26. 

2. Then, in His heavenly ministry Christ was designated a High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek (5:6,10), not to offer sacrifices for sin but to minister to us the very God who was processed through incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection, signified by the bread and the wine (Matt. 26:26- 28), as our life supply to nourish, refresh, sustain, comfort, and strengthen us so that we may be saved to the uttermost (Heb. 7:25).

C. Christ’s kingly priesthood is for fighting against God’s enemies to bring in righteousness and peace so that He may minister the processed Triune God into us as our daily supply and enjoyment—vv. 1-2; Gen. 14:18-20. 

D. Christ’s divine priesthood is for saving us to the uttermost in His life unto glorification from all the by-products of death, such as vanity, groaning, sighing, decay, bondage, corruption, and slavery; His divine priesthood is the absence of death and the presence of life—Heb. 7:25, 28; Rom. 5:10; 8:19, 21, 23, 30. 

III. The priesthood and the kingship are for God’s image and dominion; the priesthood causes man to have the image of God, and the kingship causes man to have the dominion of God to accomplish God’s original intention: 

A. There are two main aspects in the creation of man: image and dominion (Gen. 1:26); image is for the expression of God, and dominion is for the representation of God to deal with His enemy. 

B. The priesthood is for the expression of God; the priests enjoy the Lord, and they become His expression, manifestation, habitation, and dwelling place (His spiritual house as His holy priesthood)—1 Pet. 2:5: 

1. The line of “image” is the line of the priesthood, because only when man draws near to God and allows God to flow through him can God be expressed in His image. 

2. The priesthood is for contacting God to be mingled with God and to be transformed into and conformed to Christ’s image for His expression—2 Cor. 3:18; Rom. 8:28-29. 

C. The kingship is for the Lord’s authority, His dominion; the kings represent God with His authority to deal with His enemy—Matt. 28:19-20; Rom. 16:20:

1. The line of “dominion” is the line of the kingship, because a king receives authority from God in order to reign for God. 

2. The kingship is for reigning in life (by the abundance of grace and the inward reigning of grace) over Satan, sin, and death to represent God with His dominion for His kingdom—5:17, 21. 

D. The redemption accomplished through Christ’s blood “made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father”—Rev. 1:5b-6a. 

E. In the millennium the overcomers will be priests, drawing near to God and Christ, and they will also be kings, reigning over the nations with Christ—2:26-27; 20:4, 6. 

F. The believers who are defeated will forfeit this reward; however, after being dealt with in the millennium, these defeated ones will participate in the blessing of this reward in that they will serve God in the priesthood and represent God in the kingship as the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth—22:3, 5: 

1. When the New Jerusalem is manifested, the holy city is like jasper (21:11, 18a); jasper denotes the image of God, because God’s appearance is like jasper (4:3); in the holy city the water of life—the Spirit of life—flows to fill the city with God; hence, the image of God, the expression of God, is fully realized. 

2. Furthermore, those who are a part of the New Jerusalem will reign as kings and exercise God’s authority for eternity—22:5. 

IV.The throne and the river of water of life in Revelation 22:1 speak of Christ being both the King and the Priest: 

A. According to the picture of the New Jerusalem, the authority of the throne and the fellowship of life, the flow of life (v. 1), are for the building of the New Jerusalem; this corresponds to Zechariah 6:12-13, which speaks of the offices of the priesthood and the kingship converging in Joshua and Zerubbabel, who are types of the Lord Jesus, for the sake of the building of God’s temple: 

1. The river of water of life, the flow of life, is the divine fellowship of being saturated and soaked with God for His holy priesthood with His image, His expression—1 Pet. 2:5. 

2. The throne of God and of the Lamb is the rule and headship of Christ as the embodiment of God for His royal priesthood with His dominion, His kingdom— v. 9. 

B. The priests draw near to God, enter into the Holy of Holies to touch the throne of God, and allow God as rivers of living water to flow through them and into other persons (John 7:37-39a); the flowing of the water of life from the throne into us and out from us is the only way that builds up the church of God. 

C. In Hebrews Christ as the Priest brings the believers into the Holy of Holies, that is, into fellowship with God (2:17; 3:1; 4:14; 5:6; 7:1); in Matthew Christ as the King is Emmanuel, God with us, the One who joins God with man and brings the authority of God to man (1:1, 23; 2:6): 

1. Hebrews speaks of the building of a city (11:9-10, 16; 12:22), whereas the Gospel of Matthew speaks of the building of the church (16:18); the building of the church and the building of the city are the same thing. 

2. Christ is both the Priest and the King for God’s building; in Christ there is the fellowship of the priesthood and the authority of the kingship, both of which are for God’s building; on the one hand, Christ flows out the fellowship of life to us for God’s image, and on the other hand, He brings us under the authority of the throne for God’s dominion. 

D. First Peter 2:9 reveals that the redeemed ones are a “royal priesthood”; the word royal means that we have the position and authority of a king (the throne), and the word priesthood indicates that we have the fellowship of life (the river of water of life). 

E. Everyone among us should be a royal priest (v. 9), one who has the flow of life from the throne; in every one of us there should be an expression of both the priesthood and the kingship; God’s intention for His people is to make them a kingdom of priests (Exo. 19:4, 6; Rev. 5:10). 

V. According to Hebrews 4:16, the way to minister as a priest is simply to come forward to the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace for timely help: 

A. We should compare Hebrews 4:16 with Revelation 22:1, which says that the river of water of life proceeds out of the throne of God. 

B. When we come forward to behold God and contact Him by praying in our spirit to touch His throne, we experience the Spirit flowing in us, flowing through us, and supplying us. 

C. This supply, this flow of the Spirit of life, is the timely help, which is the mercy and grace of God; mercy and grace refer to God flowing through us and being gained by us. 

D. Timely help is the living God, the flowing God, coming into us and flowing through us to refresh, water, and supply us; whenever, by the Lord’s blood (Heb. 10:19-20), we come forward and touch the throne of grace, God flows to refresh and water us, and we experience indescribable joy, no matter how harsh the circumstances are (1 Pet. 1:8). 

E. To the believers this throne is the throne of grace, but to God’s enemy it is the throne of authority; the throne of grace is related to the priesthood, and the throne of authority is related to the kingship:

1. Out from the throne of God flows the river of water of life for grace (Rev. 22:1) and the river of fire for judgment (Dan. 7:9-10). 

2. The flow of the river of water of life produces the New Jerusalem as a city of water, but the river of the fire of God’s judgment flows into the lake of fire. 

3. When we touch the throne of grace and allow the water of life to flow through us, we receive mercy and grace for timely help; then we can touch His throne of authority so that He can judge the improper situations within us. 

F. God wants us to enter into the Holy of Holies, our spirit, in order to touch the throne of grace and allow the water of life to flow through us; this flow will bring us into the fellowship with God and will cause us to be built up in His life to be His dwelling place, His spiritual house, His holy and royal priesthood—1 Pet. 2:5, 9.