e passage
seems to mean that upon the stone, with its seven facets, which was to be
set in the crown prepared for the head of Zerubbabel, Jehovah himself
would engrave a fitting title.

In Zechariah's fifth vision he defined the relations between the civil
and priestly authorities. The golden candlestick represented the temple
and its service. The two olive trees beside it stood for Zerubbabel, the
civil ruler, and for Joshua, the high priest. The duty of each was to
contribute his part toward the support of the temple service. They were
both Jehovah's Messiahs, that is, men anointed as a symbol of the task
which each was to perform.

In this connection Zechariah declared that Jehovah would remove all
obstacles from before Zerubbabel, and that he who had begun the work
should live to see its completion. In an address recorded in the latter
part of the sixth chapter of his prophecy (intentionally revised by a
later scribe), Zechariah threw aside all symbolism and gave directions
to make a crown for the head of Zerubbabel from the silver and gold
that had been brought as a gift by a deputation from the Jews of Babylon.
He also plainly predicted that this descendant of David should sit on the
throne of Judah and that Joshua the priest should be his minister like the
priests in the pre-exilic kingdom.

VI. Disappointment of These Patriotic Hopes. With Zechariah's prediction
that Zerubbabel should reign on the throne of Judah the descendants of the
house of David suddenly and forever disappear from Old Testament history.
Whether the Jews made the attempt to shake off the yoke of Persia
Or whether Zerubbabel was quietly set aside cannot be determined.
Contemporary history states that within at least six months after
Zechariah voiced the patriotic hopes of his people the authority of Darius
was fully established throughout the empire. He at once began thoroughly
to organize the vast realm. Post roads bound together the distant
provinces, and satraps, appointed largely from the ranks of the royal
family, unified the whole empire and held it under firm control. As a rule
Persian governors were substituted for the native princes. With the
institution of this policy Zerubbabel may well have been quietly set
aside. The event evidently made a profound impression upon the messianic
expectations of the Jews. Henceforth, for three or four centuries, the
temporal, kingly type of messianic hope, which had been inspired by the
glories