There is but one scripture more that I shall mention, which, though some will not allow that it relates to this matter, yet, if we duly consider the scope and design thereof, together with its connexion with the foregoing words, may probably appear to be of some weight to confirm this doctrine; namely, in Zech. vi. 13. in which it is said, _The counsel of peace shall be between them both_. Some, indeed, understand these words, as referring to Joshua and Zerubbabel, and that they signify their mutual consent, to promote the peace and welfare of the church. But this cannot reasonably be concluded to be the sense of the text; for Zerubbabel is not mentioned in this chapter; nor are there any two persons spoken of therein, that it can be applied to, but Jehovah and the Branch, that is, the Father and the Son, who are mentioned in the foregoing words; Christ, who is called the Branch, is said _to build the temple of the Lord_, and to be a _Priest upon his throne_; and this work, which he was engaged in, and the royal dignity, which he was advanced to, are both of them said to be the result of a counsel, or federal transaction, that was between them both.
If it be objected to this, that this _counsel of peace_ only respects the harmony that there is between Christ’s priestly and kingly offices, as both of them have a reference to our salvation: this cannot well agree with the meaning of the word _counsel_, which implies in it a confederacy between two persons, and not the tendency of two offices, executed to bring about the same end.
And, if it be farther objected, that the grammatical construction of the words do not favour the sense which we give of them, inasmuch as they contain an account of something that was future, and not from all eternity. To this it may be replied, that it is not, in the least, disagreeable to the sense of the words, and other phrases of the like import, used in scripture, to understand them in the sense before-mentioned, since it is no uncommon thing, in scripture, for that to be said to be, that appears to be: thus it is said, _Let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ_, Acts ii. 36. that is, he hath, by his raising him from the dead, demonstrated him to be _both Lord and Christ_, which, in reality, he was from all eternity; so, in this text, when it is said, that _the counsel of peace shall be between them both_, it signifies, that Christ’s building the temple, and bearing the glory, and sitting as a Priest upon his throne, is a plain evidence, or demonstration, that there was a counsel or covenant, between the Father and him, from all eternity, relating to the peace and welfare of his people, who are the spiritual house that he builds, and the subjects whom he governs, defends, and saves. Thus concerning the federal transaction that was between the Father and the Son; and, since this is called, in this answer, _The covenant of grace_, it may be necessary for us to enquire,