Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” 3 Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. 4 And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” 5 And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by.
6 And the angel of the Lord solemnly assured Joshua, 7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here. 8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring my servant the Branch. 9 For behold, on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with seven eyes, I will engrave its inscription, declares the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. 10 In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come under his vine and under his fig tree.” Zechariah 3 ESV
Zechariah 3 Part 2 Men Who Are A Sign
And the Angel of the Lord solemnly assured Joshua - Look back at the previous post and attached links for more on the Angel of the Lord. This is a preincarnate Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity, speaking to Joshua the High Priest, who is representing Israel.
So, notice, first of all, two conditions. Number one, “If you walk in My ways.” What does that mean? What are God’s ways? What does it mean to walk in God’s ways? I can simplify it. To be like God. He says, “When you begin to live like Me, live a life like Me.”
You say, “Um, that’s a little difficult.”
Yes, but from our vantage point, is that possible? Humanly speaking, no, but for the Christian with the indwelling Spirit, yes. Paul said, “Be followers of me as I am of Christ.” In the day when Israel receives the indwelling Spirit and can pattern their life after God, they will begin to fulfill their part of the covenant of being like Him.
And the second element is, the second condition, “And keep My charge.” And that means a faithful performance of obedience to His will. So, when Israel becomes like God and obedient to God, that’s the condition upon which the cleansing takes place. From God’s sovereignty, it’s going to happen, but it’s going to happen when God graciously moves on the hearts of His people; and they turn to Him, and they receive salvation; the Spirit of God indwells them; they have a new capacity to be like God and a new desire to obey His will. - J Mac
If you will walk in My ways and keep My charge - How will this ever be? This is a statement of condition, after the accusations of the devil, showing that Israel has never lived up to God's decrees. They had the law, a simple list of ten commandments and broke them immediately after entering a covenant in which they promised to keep the law. How will God ever be able to keep His unilateral covenant with Abraham? He has already spoken through His prophets that they will reject their salvation, the Angel of the Lord even, who Joshua is standing before.
…3He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. 4Surely He took on our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken by God, struck down and afflicted. 5But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.… Isaiah 53: 3-5
…10He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. 11He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—… John 1: 10-12
Then you shall rule My house and have charge of My courts - He is talking about reinstating them, but there is a penalty that has to be paid, right? God threw Satan and his minions down, and some are locked up inside some penal pit even now, because of their atrocities. God flooded the earth and killed everyone but eight people and some animals. He turned Sodom into a salt mind, utterly obliterating this people because of their sin. So how has He taken this brand out of the fire? It is against God's very nature to let sin stand, so how will He make them into a kingdom of priests, cause them to be worthy of such a role as being His ministers to the world? You can see part of it in Isaiah 53 above, God is preparing a sacrifice, His own High Priest, Someone blameless, Holy, and eternal. He already knows that the majority will reject Him, but He holds a remnant, and of that final remnant, those left in Jerusalem at the end of the time of Jacob's trouble, the finale of the time of the gentiles, all will turn to look on Him Who they pierced. It ain't over till God says it's over.
…26I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances. 28Then you will live in the land that I gave your forefathers; you will be My people, and I will be your God.… Ezekiel 36: 26-28
10Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son. 11On that day the wailing in Jerusalem will be as great as the wailing of Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.… Zechariah 12: 10-11
For they are men who are a sign - The priest were a sign, a symbol of a future reality. Because keep reading, look Who is coming.
I will bring My Servant the Branch - This is the reality, culmination of human history, the hinge upon which all of time hangs. You say stupid things when you're young, "it's my life, my body", oh really, well, every breath you have taken in that body is as a sinner, every moment you have enjoyed, every sunrise and sunset that has happened in your time, everything about your life was paid for by the Branch. That's right, even those who don't believe, your life belongs to God because He made it, and as the Potter He has full right over the clay, but He is also just and righteous, His holiness demands righteousness from His creation. He says the wages of sin is death, so technically speaking it should have all ended in the garden, the moment our parents sinned, but it didn't, and the accuser was standing there even then. You know something else, Satan did not want Christ to come, did not want Him to go to the cross, because there was a deficit there, all the sin that occurred before Him, every life that was spared before He arrived, all of it was at a price, to be paid for by the Seed promised in the garden. Christ paid this balance by living the life you and I did not, and then by going to the cross in innocence, atoning for my every breath. It's not my life, He spoke life into existence, and when human kind fell, He spoke again, making known His redemptive plan. It's not my life, He paid for it, so I gladly acknowledge Him as Lord.
In the Old Testament – I’ll give you a little footnote, this is just free, just have this – in the Old Testament, the Branch is used of Messiah in four ways. And this is beautiful; now watch this. The Branch is used of Messiah in four ways. Number one, Messiah is called a Branch of David, which speaks of His place as King. A Branch of David, speaking of His place as King; and He’s called that in Isaiah 11:1, a Branch of David speaks of His place as King. What Gospel describes that? Matthew.
The second, here in our text He is called My servant the Branch. What Gospel describes Him as the servant? Mark. In the sixth chapter of Zechariah, verse 12 and 13, He is called the Man whose name is the Branch. What Gospel presents Christ as the perfect Man? Luke. And in Isaiah 4:2, He is called the Branch of Jehovah. What Gospel presents Him as God? John. The Branch. None other than Jesus Christ. - J Mac
1Then a shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit. 2The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him—the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the LORD.… Isaiah 11: 1-2
1This is the record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham: 2Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. 3Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram.… Matthew 1: 1-3
On the stone that I have set before Joshua - Who is before Joshua?
…15For you said, “We have made a covenant with death; we have fashioned an agreement with Sheol. When the overwhelming scourge passes through it will not touch us, because we have made lies our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.” 16So this is what the Lord GOD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken. 17I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the level. Hail will sweep away your refuge of lies, and water will flood your hiding place.… Isaiah 28: 15-17
…41“He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and will rent out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of the fruit at harvest time.” 42 Jesus said to them, “ Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? 43Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.… Matthew 21: 41-43
…10then let this be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11This Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”… Acts 4: 10-12
On a single stone with seven eyes - The stone is Christ, eyes are seeing, like knowledge and wisdom, and seven is the number of perfection.
…10Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush Him and to cause Him to suffer; and when His soul is made a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. 11After the anguish of His soul, He will see the light of life and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities. 12Therefore I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong, because He has poured out His life unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors. Yet He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.… Isaiah 53: 10-12
I will engrave its inscription - Some see this as the scars from the whips, the nails, the crown of thorns, and the spear in His side, but look at the context of the priest. The priest has on him the stones that stand for the tribes, he goes before God on behalf of the nation, Jacob, Israel, the twelve tribes. On the stone with seven eyes, is probably written the deed to the Lamb's book of life, everyone that the Father has given the Son.
…36But as I stated, you have seen Me and still you do not believe. 37Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never drive away. 38For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me.… John 6: 36-38
I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day - This was at the cross, that makes this possible, and one day all Israel will acknowledge what Christ did.
The concept of stone was very important to Israel. In Isaiah 8:14, the Messiah was called a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. But in Isaiah 28:16, He was called a stone of refuge. So, He was either a stone of refuge or a stumbling stone to Israel. Stone is important to the nations. In Daniel chapter 2, we saw that He’s called the stone cut out without hands that smashes the Gentile world powers. Stone is important to the Church, because in Ephesians 2:20, Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone. The stone is Christ. He’s the only one that could do this. And He says, “I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.” And, beloved, Calvary was that one day, when the Lamb of God took away the sins of the world. And the one day – Israel’s one day will be appropriated in the day when they look on Him whom they have pierced and mourned for Him as an only son. That’s Zechariah 12:10. That’s their day. “And in that day” - says 13:1 – “here shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.”
There is a day, and a day when Israel believes and the fountain floods from Israel to the world. And when that happens, “‘In that day’” - verse 10 says – “says the Lord of Hosts, ‘shall you call ever man his neighbor under the vine and under the fig tree.’” Which being interpreted means nobody’s going to fight any more. Peace all over the earth in the kingdom.
And do you want to know something interesting? The vine and the fig tree are associated with peace. And people sitting under vines and fig trees are associated with peaceful times. In 1 Kings 4 – I think it’s verse 24, in the reign of Solomon, it says, “He had dominion over all the region on the side of the river, from Tipsah to Gaza, over all the kings on this side of the river; he had peace on all sides. And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree from Dan to Beersheba all the days of Solomon.” - J Mac
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