A Tattered Robe, A Shining Destiny
Notes
Transcript
This is the fourth vision given to Zechariah, with Joshua the high priest as the central part of the vision. The Hebrew word translated Joshua means “Yahweh saves”; in the New Testament, the name Jesus means “Yahweh saves”!
Along with the books of Ezra and Haggai, Joshua emerges with Zerubbabel as the key leaders (one priestly, one royal) in the second phase of restoration.
1. Grimy Garments, Weighty Accusations, vs. 1-3.
1. Grimy Garments, Weighty Accusations, vs. 1-3.
1— it is the interpreting angel who shows Zechariah the high priest Joshua standing before the angel of the LORD in the presence of the LORD’s servants/angels and with Satan bringing accusations against Joshua.
We must note that the high priest ministered before the Lord for the people, he represented them before the LORD. He was the high priest of what was to be a kingdom of priests, Exodus 19:6
and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”
This was especially true on the Day of Atonement, when he brought a sin offering before the LORD for both himself and then the nation, as described in Leviticus 16.
The angel of the LORD is the preincarnate Christ, and the vision presents His future work.
Satan, the accuser, is doing that which he does best, accusing Joshua (and Israel) before the LORD. The Hebrew article appearing before the word translated Satan is the title of a being who serves as a prosecuting attorney in the heavenly court. WE have seen this before in Job 1 and 2.
His position at the right hand of Joshua is the traditional place of an accuser in Jewish life, Psalm 109:6
Appoint a wicked man over him, And let an accuser stand at his right hand.
And what is the accusation? We are not told, but from the context it is an accusation of unfitness to serve as a priest in the priestly ministry.
Regarding this, Dr. Merrill Unger wrote, “… sin exposes the sinner to satanic attack, not only in the case of unbelievers, Matt 12:43-45
“Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it.
“Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order.
“Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”
… but believers as well, 1 Cor 5:5
I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this.
2— is a record of the LORD’s rebuke of Satan, citing His own authority as the one who has chosen Israel and rebukes him a second time. Jerusalem here is linked to Joshua.
The last phrase points to the fire, a reference to the Babylon captivity and the brand plucked out of the fire, the surviving remnant. First the OT, Deut 4:20
“But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, from Egypt, to be a people for His own possession, as today.
This was the first removal from the fire, an iron furnace of Egypt.
Then looking forward:
‘Alas! for that day is great, There is none like it; And it is the time of Jacob’s distress, But he will be saved from it.
A picture of what is to come:
And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child.
But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.
And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood.
But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth.
So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
The time of Jacob’s trouble, the Great Tribulation, yet Israel will be plucked from that fire for His future use.
3— to be used by the LORD would require a holy, clean vessel. Zechariah describes the state of Joshua and Israel: “clothed with filthy garments.” The term is emphasizes the foulness of the filth; it is a garment splattered with excrement, yet this is how Joshua and Israel are seen (with spiritual eyes), ministering to the LORD in this filthy condition. The same term is used in Isaiah 4:4
When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and purged the bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning,
Joshua was not fit to serve the LORD; he represents the unclean state of the nation in which they stood before the eyes of the LORD in Zechariah’s day.
This is a picture of us and our condition before God due to sin, when our failings and accusations weigh heavy on us. But note also the presence of divine grace toward us.
2. Glorious Garments, Renewed Hope, vs. 4-5.
2. Glorious Garments, Renewed Hope, vs. 4-5.
4— the LORD spoke once again, to the hosts around Him to remove the filthy garments off of Joshua.
Then the LORD speaks to him, stating
The LORD has taken away (put off) your iniquity from you. God has forgiven Joshua/Israel’s iniquities (pictured by the filthy garment and removed not by Joshua but by the LORD).
The LORD will clothe you (put on) with festal robes. God replaces Joshua/Israel’s robes with festal robes He provides (these are the robes of royalty and wealth) - symbolic of God’s righteousness preparing Israel, restoring her to fulfill her original calling as a priestly nation, Isa 61:6
But you will be called the priests of the Lord; You will be spoken of as ministers of our God. You will eat the wealth of nations, And in their riches you will boast.
“ When God saves a person by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, he takes away sin, then adds to the sinner saved by grace His own divine righteousness.”
5— Zechariah makes a request of the LORD: a mere man, by his request, brings about a purpose of God — a picture of prayer and how it plays a part in the executing of God’s will.
The clean turban has a plate that sits at the front of it, Exodus 28:36
“You shall also make a plate of pure gold and shall engrave on it, like the engravings of a seal, ‘Holy to the Lord.’
Israel’s future is to be a holy nation of holy priests.
Zechariah’s request was fulfilled: Those around Joshua but a clean turban on his head as well as the garments, all of this observed by the Lord, who sovereignly approved and directed all the changes in Joshua’s condition.
Through the grace of Christ we can experience forgiveness and restoration. God’s love replaces our shame with dignity, giving us new life and a fresh start when we place our faith in Him alone.
3. Great Promises, Future Assurance, vs. 6-10.
3. Great Promises, Future Assurance, vs. 6-10.
6— Now the angel of the LORD admonishes Joshua; in so doing we have the introduction of another oracle.
7— The LORD of hosts gives two conditions and three promises. Joshua’s faithful obedience to the conditions will bring him future opportunities for service (a principle).
Condition #1 is obedience, seen in practical righteousness,
“Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
and to keep the Lord’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?
“Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it.
“Yet on your fathers did the Lord set His affection to love them, and He chose their descendants after them, even you above all peoples, as it is this day.
“So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer.
“For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe.
“He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing.
“So show your love for the alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
“You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve Him and cling to Him, and you shall swear by His name.
“He is your praise and He is your God, who has done these great and awesome things for you which your eyes have seen.
“Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons in all, and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.
“The Lord will establish you as a holy people to Himself, as He swore to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways.
Condition #2 is to be faithful in priestly duties, this pertains to a priestly function within a covenantal relationship.
Promise #1 — Joshua will govern the temple; Israel will govern God’s house and God’s people, Deut 17:8-13
“If any case is too difficult for you to decide, between one kind of homicide or another, between one kind of lawsuit or another, and between one kind of assault or another, being cases of dispute in your courts, then you shall arise and go up to the place which the Lord your God chooses.
“So you shall come to the Levitical priest or the judge who is in office in those days, and you shall inquire of them and they will declare to you the verdict in the case.
“You shall do according to the terms of the verdict which they declare to you from that place which the Lord chooses; and you shall be careful to observe according to all that they teach you.
“According to the terms of the law which they teach you, and according to the verdict which they tell you, you shall do; you shall not turn aside from the word which they declare to you, to the right or the left.
“The man who acts presumptuously by not listening to the priest who stands there to serve the Lord your God, nor to the judge, that man shall die; thus you shall purge the evil from Israel.
“Then all the people will hear and be afraid, and will not act presumptuously again.
For thus says the Lord, “Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, And shout among the chief of the nations; Proclaim, give praise and say, ‘O Lord, save Your people, The remnant of Israel.’
Promise #2 is to have charge of the temple courts, that is keeping the court’s of God’s house pure, Isa 56:7
Even those I will bring to My holy mountain And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.”
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Once again they will speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities when I restore their fortunes, ‘The Lord bless you, O abode of righteousness, O holy hill!’
Promise #3 is that he/they will enjoy free access into the LORD’s presence like the angels who stood before Him.
and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”
and for believers today too, Heb 4:16
Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
All of verse 7 anticipated the Person and work of Jesus Christ. WE enter into God’s presence by [His] grace through faith, cf. Heb 10:19-22
Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus,
by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh,
and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
8— Zechariah see Joshua and his fellow priests, who represent the priesthood of Israel. THey too are absolved of guilt, and are accepted by God again.
The LORD declares that these are men who are a symbol, a sign, a token of future events, like Isaiah and his children, cf. Isa 8:18
Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.
What is the future event?
The promise of the LORD’s bringing in “My servant the Branch”, a two-fold title of Messiah.
“My Servant”, Isa 42:1
“Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations.
also Isaiah 49:3, 5; 52:13; 53:11; Ezekiel 34:23-24
“Then I will set over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd.
“And I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David will be prince among them; I the Lord have spoken.
The Branch (literally, sprout), Isa 11 1
Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.
Jer 23:5; Jer 33:15
‘In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth.
9— here is another Messianic figure as well as of God: the stone set before Joshua, Isa 28 16
Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed.
Then 1 Pet 2:6-8
For this is contained in Scripture: “Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.”
This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, “The stone which the builders rejected, This became the very corner stone,”
and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.
This same stone is the cornerstone of the church Eph 2:19-22
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household,
having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,
in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord,
in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
following Jesus’ first advent. This stone is also the “stone” that strikes the nations of the earth at Jesus second advent.
The Messiah (Christ) will do His Father’s will redeeming, cleansing, and restoring Israel to God’s intended place for her.
He will remove the guilt of the land in one day, made possible by Messiah’s sacrificial death on the cross, and finalized in the Day of the LORD.
10— Israel’s remnant will receive all God has promised at Jesus’ second coming; Gentiles to will enjoy peace and prosperity under the reign of Messiah.
For us there is the forward looking promise that there is a day when we will be completely restored and have eternal peace in Christ. Therefore because God is still at work, making us more and more like Jesus, walk with hope and confidence before Him, who does all things well.