Who is Zerubbabel?
Introduction
The name Zerubbabel זְרֻבָּבֶל (zᵊrubāḇel)H2216, which means “Sown/Scattered in Babylon“, occurs 21 times in 20 Bible verses. Nonetheless, this man is seldom mentioned in the context of either Biblical scripture or Christian theology. So what can be learned about this, man and who might he represent? Let us take a closer look.
The first mention of Zerubbabel is in 1 Chronicles 3:19, “And the sons of Pedaiah [were], Zerubbabel, and Shimei: and the sons of; Meshullam, and Hananiah, and Shelomith their sister:” Here we are provided that Zerubbabel (translated as “Zorobabel” in the New Testament), is descended from the Tribe of Judah. Zerubbabel is descended from the Davidic line of the kings of Judah, beginning with Solomon and ending with Jehoachin (Jeconias in the New Testament), just before Jerusalem and Judea were placed into captivity in Babylon when we consider Matthew 1:12, “¶And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel; And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim;and Eliakim begat Azor;“
We then find Zerubbabel’s name appearing in four more books of the Old Testament involving the restoration of Jerusalem following the 70 years of captivity in Babylon in Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, and Zechariah.
The Book of Ezra
In Ezra we find the following verses that tell us of the leadership role of Zerubbabel in rebuilding the Temple of God and restoring the temple sacrifices in Jerusalem:
Ezra 2:1&2, “¶Now these [are] the children of the province that went up out of the captivity, of those which had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away unto Babylon, and came again unto Jerusalem and Judah, every one unto his city; Which came with Zerubbabel: Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel:” Note that Zerubbabel has a special place being named first and followed by ten Jewish men of renown, with Nehemiah (of the Book of Nehemiah) and Mordecai (of the Book of Esther) being two clear standouts, who we know were raised up by God as “Types” of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Ezra 3:2, “Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as [it is] written in the law of Moses the man of God.” Note that this sacrificial rite activity was coordinated between Jeshua (or “Savior” hence the same name as “Jesus”) of the tribe of Levi, together with Zerubbabel, who was of the tribe of Judah.
Rebuilding the Temple of God
Ezra 3:8, “Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem; and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of the LORD.“
Ezra 4:2 &3, “Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye [do]; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither. But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the LORD God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us.“
The Book of Nehemiah
In Nehemiah, these verses similarly tell us that Zerubbabel was a leader in restoring Jerusalem and the Chief men and priests and Levites “went up with” Zerubbabel. (Are you starting to see a “Type” here?)
Nehemiah 7:7, “Who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah. The number, [I say], of the men of the people of Israel was this;” (but this time there is one more name bringing the total number of men to eleven with the name of Nahamani being the additional one)
Nehemiah 12:1, “Now these are the priests and the Levites that went up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,“
Nehemiah 12:47, “And all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel, and in the days of Nehemiah, gave the portions of the singers and the porters, every day his portion: and they sanctified [holy things] unto the Levites; and the Levites sanctified [them] unto the children of Aaron.“
The Book of Haggai
In Haggai we see the following verses where we learn that Zerubbabel, as the likely (great?) grandson of King Jeconiah is the Governor of Judah and is consistently (in four verses) linked with Joshua the high priest. Finally, God calls Zerubbabel His Chosen Servant and His Signet (the King’s Royal Seal Ring).
Haggai 1:1, “In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying,“
Haggai 1:12, “Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him, and the people did fear before the LORD.“
Haggai 1:14, “And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God,“
Haggai 2:2, “Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying,”
Haggai 2:4, “Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the LORD, and work: for I [am] with you, saith the LORD of hosts:“
Haggai 2:21&22, “Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth; And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother.” And then in the next verse:
Haggai 2:23, “In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LORD, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the LORD of hosts.”
NOTE: This phraseology is most interesting because Jeremiah issued the following curse from God against Jehoichin (also Jeconiah or Coniah) the last official reigning king of Judah in Jeremiah 22:24, “¶As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence; And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand [of them] whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.” That chapter ends with this curse in Jeremiah 22:29&30, “O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man [that] shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.” While it is certainly true that Jehoachin did not ever again have an “earthly” successor to his throne in Judah, God nonetheless indicated through the”Type” of the Lord Jesus Christ in Zerubbabel, would still have a leadership role. God specifically called Zerubbable to be His “chosen” “servant“, that Zerubbabel, would be made a “SIGNET” to become a “Governor” in Judah, but, more importantly, that Jesus Christ (the “Substance” of the “Type”) would be made a King of Kings and Lord of Lords on His Throne eternally in Heaven.
Remember what Jesus specifically said in John 18:36, “Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.” We must also remember that Jesus is the first born, “begotten”, from the dead at the First Resurrection on Easter Sunday, 33 AD, as we read in Colossians 1:18, “And he (Jesus) is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all [things] he might have the preeminence.” (See also Revelation 1:5) Therefore, Jesus established a new Kingly Lineage beginning with Himself to reign eternally in Heaven, and NOT this temporal earth in a temporal Jerusalem.
The Book of Zechariah
In Zechariah we see Zerubbabel more clearly as a “Type” of the Lord Jesus Christ on Judgment Day because Jesus is the Master Builder with the plummet, Who both laid, and was, the foundation stone of God’s eternal Temple built with lively stones by the Grace of God.
Zechariah 4:6, “Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This [is] the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.
Zechariah 4:7, “Who [art] thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel [thou shalt become] a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone [thereof with] shoutings, [crying], Grace, grace unto it. ¶ Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,“
Zechariah 4:9, “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you.“
Zechariah 4:10, “For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel [with] those seven; they [are] the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.”
Plummet?
The word “plummet”, אֶבֶן (‘eḇen)H68, is most often translated as “stone” as we read here in Zechariah 3:9, “For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone (אֶבֶן (‘eḇen))H68 [shall be] seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.”
Nonetheless, the word “plummet” in the hand of Zerubbabel is at least reminiscent of these verses which in every case are referring to Jesus Christ and the building of His eternal Temple of God:
Zechariah 2:1, “I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked, and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand.” and
Ezekiel 40:3, “And he brought me thither, and, behold, [there was] a man, whose appearance [was] like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate.“
Revelation 21:15, “And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.“
“Eyes of the LORD“
Regarding the “eyes of the LORD” we have several reference verses that apply:
Psalm 34:15, “The eyes of the LORD [are] upon the righteous, and his ears [are open] unto their cry.”
Proverbs 5:21, “For the ways of man [are] before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.
Proverbs 15:3, “The eyes of the LORD [are] in every place, beholding the evil and the good.”
Proverbs 22:12, “The eyes of the LORD preserve knowledge, and he overthroweth the words of the transgressor.“
Conclusion
The conclusion that we must draw is that not only do we have evidence from the Bible that Zerubbabel was in the Davidic lineage of kings traceable through Solomon to Jehoichin, but that he was also in the genealogy of Jesus via Mary (as well as in the genealogy of Joseph). Moreover Zerubbabel was chosen by God to be God’s servant as the first governor of Judah to supervise the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. We are blessed to see that Zerubbabel is not only a progenitor of the Lord Jesus Christ, but also serves as a “Type” of The Lord Jesus Christ Who is building the eternal Temple of God right now from His Throne in Heaven.
For more on the implications of Jesus’ genealogy that we can find in the Bible, please see: Jesus’ Earthly Ancestry
PostScript
It was mentioned previously that, in Jeremiah 22:24, God had cursed king Jehoichin such that none of Jehoichin’s progeny would ever sit on the earthly “throne of David” in Judah again. It was also shown how this curse was upheld by God, and it remains factual in the earthly realm to this day. However, that curse does not invalidate or prevent Jesus, as a descendent of Jehoichin, from attaining to His Throne in Heaven from which He now reigns eternally.
Moreover, we should also note that despite this curse upon Jehoichin, God, nonetheless, granted grace to Jehoichin in his last days on earth (while still in captivity in Babylon) as we read in Jeremiah 52:31–34, “¶And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth [day] of the month, [that] Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the year that he began to reign did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison. And he spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon; And changed his prison garments: and he did eat bread continually before him all the days of his life. And his allowance was a continual allowance given him of the king, a daily rate for every day, all the days of his life.” (see also 2 Kings 25:27–30)
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