20. (a) What was the one called Sprout to build, and where would that one rule? (b) What was to become of the golden crown that was made?

²⁰ Let us listen to what Zechariah is told to say to Joshua: “And you must say to him, ‘This is what Jehovah of armies has said: “Here is the man whose name is Sprout. And from his own place he will sprout, and he will certainly build the temple of Jehovah.

Zechariah 6:12-15.

21. Why was it fitting that High Priest Joshua be the one crowned, and not Governor Zerubbabel?

²¹ In the fourth vision to Zechariah he had been told to say to High Priest Joshua: “Here I am bringing in my servant Sprout!” (Zechariah 3:8) In Jeremiah 23:5 the foretold Sprout is said to be raised up to King David of the house of Judah, not to a high priest of the house of Levi. Yet it was appropriate for Zechariah to put the golden crown upon the head of High Priest Joshua instead of upon the head of Governor Zerubbabel. Why? Because, concerning Sprout, it was said: “He must sit down and rule on his throne, and he must become a priest upon his throne.” (Zechariah 6:13) Here the Greek Septuagint Version reads differently, saying: “And there shall be a priest on his right hand”; and a number of modern Bible translators take that reading instead of the Hebrew and Syriac. The crowning of High Priest Joshua instead of Governor Zerubbabel would not arouse the fears of King Darius I of Persia that a Jewish revolt was being set forward. No, the kingdom of David was not being restored at that time, but it had to wait until the end of the Gentile Times in 1914 C.E.​—Luke 21:20-24.

22. Did Joshua the son of Jehozadak sit upon a throne and rule as priest-king, and, in the light of that, what is the application and fulfillment of the prophecy?

²² High Priest Joshua did have part with Governor Zerubbabel in finishing the building of the second temple of Jehovah at Jerusalem and he witnessed its inauguration. He did not, however, personally rule as a crowned Priest-King upon a throne in Jerusalem. Neither did Governor Zerubbabel do so. But the anointed High Priest Joshua was a type or prophetic figure of the Messiah, the Christ, and in this latter one the prophecy concerning Sprout is fully realized.