Take of Them of the Captivity - Zechariah 6:10

In the book of Zechariah, Zechariah said, “And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, ...”, and in chapter six and verse ten of Zechariah, Zechariah shared how the word of the LORD said, “take of them of the captivity” where we read,

Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon, and come you the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah;

The verse reads, “Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon, ...” Zechariah began with the words, “take of them of the captivity” or “fetch, lay hold of, seize, acquire and receive from the exiles or foreigners”, “even of Heldai” which means “from Heldai whose name means worldly and was a returning exile”, “of Tobijah” or “from Tobijah whose name means Jehovah is Good and was the chief of the returning exiles”, “and of Jedaiah” which means “and from Jedaiah whose name means Jehovah has known and was a post exilic priest”, “which are come from Babylon” or “who enter and return from Babylon whose name means confusion and was also known as Babel and the ancient site and capital of Babylonia situated on the Euphrates”. Zechariah shared how the “word of the LORD” told Zechariah to receive the gifts from “Heldai, Tobijan and Jedaiah” who returned from being exiled in “Babylon”.

The verse continues, “... and come you the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah;” Zechariah added the words, “and come you the same day” or “and enter, be enumerated and be brought you, Zechariah, upon the very morning and evening of the day Zechariah received the gifts”,  “and go into the house” which means “and proceed, leave and depart to the dwelling place, habitation and abode” “of Josiah” or “belonging to Josiah whose name means whom Jehovah heals and was a returned exile and son of Zephaniah at whose house took place the solemn and symbolical crowning of Joshua the high priest in the time of Zechariah the prophet” “the son of Zephaniah” which means “the male offspring and progeny belonging to Zephaniah whose name means Jehovah has treasured and was probably the receiver-general for the temple who kept the treasures of it”. Zechariah shared how he was to take the gifts given to him to enter on the very same morning to evening into the dwelling place belonging to “Josiah” who was the progeny of “Zephaniah”the receiver and keeper of the temple treasures. 

When we meditate upon the words in this verse, we learn through Zechariah how there were men who came from Babylon, (Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah), with gifts with them to give to “Josiah” to place within the temple. The names of these men are significant when we put them together: “worldly, God is good and God has known” and the gifts were to be given to “whom Jehovah God heals”. We shall see how these gifts are used in our next few verses, but let us keep in mind that even though these men came from “Babylon”, their names become a picture of God's offering of salvation to mankind. It appears that these men returned to Babylon after giving their gifts, but God wants a permanent intimate relationship with us. He sent His Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for the sins of everyone, and when we believe and trust in Him as our personal “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put within us an assurance that God is working His purposes to save us from the “world” because He is “good” and He “knows” and “heals” those who surrender to Him.

Next time Zechariah shared how the word of the LORD said, “take silver and gold, and make crowns”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".