As my text, I am using the book of 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." Thus, the messianic promise was passed onto Zerubbabel, the man that God entrusted to be the governor of God's people upon their return to Israel, and with the rebuilding of the Temple at Jerusalem. Zerubbabel was a leader, a man of God, and a faithful servant to God's will. Zerubbabel was a messianic figure. This can be seen in a series of comparisons and contrast to Christ and His work.

To begin, Zerubbabel was the son of Shealtiel and the grandson of Jehoiachin this is referenced in Ezra 3:2; and Matt 1:12). In I Chronicles 3:19 he is said to be the son of Pedaiah, Shealtiel's' brother. The explanation for this apparent discrepancy is very likely that Shealtiel died without having a son; and either his nephew was his legal heir and therefore called his son (reference here to Exod 2:10), or else; Pedaiah married his brother's widow and, therefore, Zerubbabel became Shealtiel's son by levir

Zerubabbel lead this first contingent, numbering over 42,000 back to Jerusalem. Nothing is revealed about the trip itself, except it can be induced that it took about four months to make the journey. When they first reached Jerusalem, they set up the altar of burnt offerings, then they proceeded to lay the foundation of the new temple, thus beginning the task of re-establishing the Temple as a symbol of God's covenant presence with His people.

Zerubbabel is, now, shown to be one of the Davidic covenant who's God's wrath is non-longer upon. He becomes a legal substitution for a king, in order to perform a work under the Law that Christ would, later, perform under Grace. For Zerubbabel it was the rebuilding of the Temple for God to dwell in, a place for God's people to come and seek forgiveness through sacrifice. Zerubbabel, however, rebuild a new Temple, much different from the type and kind that Solomon had constructed in all of its earthly glory. But Solomon's glory failed because his human nature did not keep focus on God.

It should also be noted that Zerubbabel lead God's people back to take possession of the land. Christ, also, will lead the saints back to take possession of the land during His millennium reign (refer to Rev 19 and 20).

However, adversaries of the Jews came from Samaria and offered to help Zerubabbel and the Jews to rebuild the Temple. These adversaries were people brought to Samaria by the Assyrian kings before the exile of Judah and Benjamin to Babylonia. But Zerubbabel and the other leaders refused to accept their help as seen in Ezra 4. Zerubbabel did not accept the offer of these foreign people, in contrast to Joshua's being deceived by the Gibeonite's when he brought the Israelites into the land (Joshua 9:27).

The election of Zerubbabel to go and rebuild the Temple was tied to more than the inauguration of a Davidic prince; it can be likened to Christ coming and rebuilding the relationship structure between God with man. The work of each prefigures a cataclysmic change in the cosmos (Haggai 2:6-7, 21-22). The writer of Hebrews views this eschatological age as already having been inaugurated in the person of Christ (Heb 12:26-29).

Zerubabbel was never made king of Judah; but he was the crown prince next in line to the throne with no sitting as king. For all purposes, he did perform the legal sanctioned role of ruler over the people of God, and administrator of the land.

However, God reigns Sovereign over creation, including the nations of the world. As part of God's process to return His people to the Judah, God delivered the Babylonian empire into the hands of Cyrus the Persian, who became after his conquest of Babylonia became know as Cyrus the Great. God elevated Cyrus to rule over the middle-eastern world of the time. Then, God worked the heart of Cyrus to command Zerubbabel to return with a company of Israelites to the, now, colony of the former kingdom of Judah. Cyrus, also, appointed Zerubabbel governor of the colony (Ezra 1:8, 11; 5:14).

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2622
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)