Zerubbabel is God’s signet ring

Just who is this Zerubbabel character? Zerubbabel was the grandson of king Jehoiachin who was taken captive to Babylon a little ahead of the last stream of captives. He was taken captive in 597 BC and carted off to Babylon. He was really the last official king of Judah. I know Zedekiah actually ruled after him, but Jehoiachin in one sense was the last official king. And that may have created a little bit of a crisis. You remember that the Lord had made a promise to king David five hundred years before this. A promise of a royal line of kings. He said to David,

your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever. (2 Samuel 7:16)

That was his promise to David. And as if highlighted in green and yellow and orange, in Psalm 89:1–52, he made no bones about it in the way he expresses God's promise there:

“I will establish his line forever and his throne as the days of the heavens.
I will not remove him from my steadfast love nor be false to my faithfulness.
I have made a covenant with my chosen one…. and sworn….
I will not lie to David and his offspring shall endure forever,
and I will build his throne for all generations as long as the sun before me.”

And then this character Jehoiachin who is of this line of David's kingdom, is carted off to Babylon in exile. What becomes of that promise of a royal line of kings that will lead to the messianic kingdom when the Messiah, the King, comes somewhere down the line of that royal line of kings? Well, that is part of the problem that Judah faced. You see, Zerubbabel was the grandson of that king Jehoiachin who had been taken captive. That is, Zerubbabel was of the royal seed of Judah. He was of David's line. What about that promise that had been made to David? Notice that the Lord said to Zerubbabel, I will place you as a signet ring. What is a signet ring? Well, a signet ring was something that a king wore. It was a ring that was worn on his finger and had an insignia, an engraving on it. And for any official documents or proclamations, the king would seal his documents with an imprint of his signet ring in wax. It was like his signature that authenticated the document as genuinely coming under his authority. Sometimes it could be a cylinder that had engraving on it, which was often worn in a cord around the neck. The king would take it off and he would roll it in the wax to leave the imprint that was known as his. It was his means of authentication, and so it was very precious.

But what is interesting here in regard to this promise of a royal line to David in the coming Messiah, when Jehoiachin, Zerubbabel’s grandfather, was carted off to Babylon, the Lord had almost uttered a curse on Jehoiachin.  In Jeremiah 22:1–30, the Lord said to Jehoiachin/ Coniah, even though you were the signet ring on my right hand [that precious esteemed document that I jealously guard], yet I would tear you off and give you into the hands of those who seek your life. It is an awful judgment. In fact he said that neither Jehoiachin, nor his offspring, shall succeed in sitting on the throne of David and ruling again in Judah. Did that mean that the whole promise to David was going down the pipeline of history? That it fell dead with Jehoiachin? Interesting then that after Jeremiah 22:1–30, Haggai speaks God's greeting to Zerubbabel and says, in essence, In contrast to what I said to your grandfather, I’m as much as reversing what seems to be a curse: I will place you, Zerubbabel, as a signet ring. What does that mean? That means that the Lord was saying, Zerubbabel, it is as if you are going to be my signature in history, guaranteeing that I will bring that promise to David to fulfillment. You are the guarantee that the kingdom of the Messiah, and the Messiah himself, will in fact come. You, Zerubbabel, are my Signature, and my Signature begins with Z.

One thing that I want you to get from that is this 500-year old promise to King David, and God's stubbornness in not allowing it to fall to the ground, even though it looked like it had. And that I think is part of what Haggai wants Zerubbabel and all God's people to see - how stubborn God is about his promises.¹

Dale Ralph Davis