Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
And he shall bear the glory - i:e., He shall wear the insignia of the kingly glory, "the crowns" (Psalms 21:5; Psalms 102:16; Isaiah 52:13). He himself shall bear the glory, not thou, Joshua, though thou dost bear the crowns. The Church's dignity is in her head alone, Christ. So Eliakim, type of Messiah, was to have "all the glory of his father's house hung upon him" (Isaiah 22:24).
And shall sit - implying security and permanence (Psalms 9:4).
And rule upon his throne - as the King (Psalms 110:2, to end).
And he shall be a priest upon his throne - the Antitype to Melchizedek, who was the sole Representative of a priesthood, prior and superior to the Aaronic priesthood, in that it centered in himself, and was neither derived from nor transmitted to any other man: also, in that it combined the kingship with the priesthood, (Genesis 14:18; Psalms 110:4; Hebrews 5:6; Hebrews 5:10; Hebrews 6:20; Hebrews 7:1-28.) And the counsel of peace shall be between them both. Joshua and Zerubbabel, the religious and civil authorities cooperating in the temple, typify the peace or harmonious union between both the kingly and priestly offices. The kingly majesty shall not depress the priestly dignity, nor the priestly dignity the kingly majesty (Jerome). The peace of the Church, formerly sought for in the mutual "counsels" of the kings and the priests who had been always distinct, shall be perfectly ensured by the concurrence of the two offices in the one Messiah, who by His mediatorial priesthood purchases it, and by His kingly rule maintains it. Vitringa takes "His throne" to be Yahweh the Father's. Thus it will be, 'there shall be the counsel of peace between the Branch and Yahweh' (Ludovicus de Dieu). The other view is better-namely, 'Messiahs throne.' Messiah shall be a priest upon His own throne. As Priest, He expiates sin; as King, extirpates it. "Counsel of peace" implies that it is the plan of infinite "wisdom," whence Messiah is called "Counsellor," and the scheme of redemption is called God's counsel (Isaiah 9:6; Ephesians 1:8; Ephesians 1:11, to end; Hebrews 6:17). Peace between the kingly and priestly attributes of Messiah implies, the harmonizing of the conflicting claims of God's justice as a King and His love as a Father and Priest. Hence, is produced peace to man (Luke 2:14; Acts 10:36; Ephesians 2:13-17).
It is only by being pardoned through His sacerdotal atonement, and ruled by His Kingly laws, that we can find "peace." The royal "throne" was always connected with the "temple," as is the case in the Apocalypse (Revelation 7:15), because Christ is to be a king on His throne and a priest; and because the people, whose "king" the Lord is, cannot approach Him except by a priestly mediation (Roos). Jesus shall come to effect, by His presence (Isaiah 11:4; Daniel 7:14), that which is looked for, in His absence, by other means in vain. He shall exercise His power mediatorially as priest on His throne (Zechariah 6:13); therefore His reign is for a limited period, which it could not be if it were the final and everlasting state of glory. But being for a special purpose, to reconcile all things in this world, now disordered by sin, and so present it to God the Father, that He may again for the first time since the fall come into direct connection with His creatures; therefore it is limited, forming the dispensation in the fullness of times (Ephesians 1:10), when God shall gather in one all things in Christ, the final end of which shall be, "God all in all" (1 Corinthians 15:24-28).