Zechariah Sermon Series: Sermon 8
9-22-2024 – Pastor Martin Saine
Staff Sunday
Chapter 3, Part 1
Summary..
Connective – “And He showed me”, “Then He showed me”..
Zec 3:1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him.
This is the same Joshua spoken of by the prophet Haggai in Haggai 1:1, 12, 14 & 2:2, 4
High Priest for 16 years when Zechariah is given his visions.
Three “Joshua” applications: Expound…
- Joshua, the High Priest
- Nation, Israel
- Jesus, (Y’hoshua)
Zec 3:1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the LORD, and Satan (saw-tawn, Attacker or accuser) standing at his right hand to oppose (saw-tan, Attack or accuse) him.
Notice who’s standing beside to oppose him. Reminds us of Revelation 12:10, Accuser of the Brethren..
This literally says “and Satan standing at his right hand to Satanize him”! You could also read that the attacker was standing at his right hand to attack, or the accuser standing at the right hand to accuse.
This is a perfect picture of Satan just doing what he does, because that’s who he is! He is not repentant, sorry, or even ashamed for getting caught. He is unrepentant to the end. He does evil, because he IS evil!
Let’s set the Courtroom scene:
- Joshua, the High Priest, is standing before the Angel of the Lord (Jesus) for judgment.
- The High Priest stands for (represents) the people to the Lord.
- The Accuser (prosecutor) stands accusing him of sin.
- The Angel of the Lord (Jesus) turns out to be not only the judge, but the Advocate (defense attorney)!
- Notice the defense strategy Israel’s Advocate uses.
Zec 3:2 And the LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebukes you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?”
A Few things:
1) This passage is one of the supports of Joshua being illustrative of the nation of Israel. The subject in this passage is Joshua, being accused by Satan, who was rebuked by the LORD for opposing or accusing “Joshua” because the Lord has chosen Jerusalem. The LORD’s rebuke to Satan is that the LORD has chosen Jerusalem. The defense is not that they are righteous; the defense is that God has chosen them and plucked them from the fire! Satan is telling God that they are not worthy of His protection, His response is that they (ISRAEL) are chosen, BECAUSE THEY ARE CHOSEN!
Have they been un-chosen?
Rom 11:23-27 And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.
For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?
For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “THE DELIVERER WILL COME OUT OF ZION, AND HE WILL TURN AWAY UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB;
FOR THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.”
We’ll see in verse 3 below that Satan’s accusations were not wrong! Joshua, standing in for Israel, was indeed filthy and guilty. Satan’s accusations against Israel were true.
They were as guilty then as they are now!!! If God restored them after the Babylonian Captivity because He Chose them, what makes them different now?
Satan also accuses us of filthiness (sin) and again, he’s not wrong. We are sinfully filthy on our own merits. It is only through the work of Jesus that we can be forgiven, cleansed and clothed with His righteousness.
In the same way, Israel is filthy and sinful. Their purpose was to be a light to the Gentiles and demonstrate God’s righteousness to the world. In this they failed.
Fortunately there’s a wonderful promise in Romans 11:29 “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance” which means they won’t be taken away.
God’s rebuke to Satan’s accusation was that Israel (Jerusalem) was CHOSEN! God told Satan that He had chosen Israel, and HE would cleanse them!
Examining the passage in Romans 11:29 it is clear that Paul is speaking about Israel, not the church! In Romans 9, 10, and 11 Paul states emphatically that although Israel has fallen, she will not REMAIN fallen! The gifts, calling, and promises given to her have not been revoked, just re- scheduled for a later date.
If we, the Church, are to have any comfort in the promise of Romans 11:29, we MUST accept that God’s promises to Israel will come to pass. If God re-nigs on His word to Israel, then nothing He has promised us is any good!
Next:
2) “The Lord said…. The Lord rebuke you, Satan!… Two Lords?
See Psalms 2 and map the conversation.
Psalms 110:1 and Matthew 22:41-46
Zec 3:2 And the LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?”
“Brand plucked from the fire” Some see this phrase as Israel coming out of Babylon as an ember just before it burned out. Just as all of us, Israel deserved to be judged and consumed, but was spared FOR THE LORD’S SAKE! This does not allude to simply the Captivity from which they are returning, but to all of human history where Israel has been persecuted and hated like no other nation. Even at the final crescendo when Christ comes to restore them, they will have gone through the Time of Jacob’s trouble where 2 out of 3 Jews on the planet will have been killed!
Think about that for a minute; as brutal and horrid as the Nazi extermination of the Jews was, they only took 1 out of 3. The final period of Gentile history will take 2 out of 3 per Zechariah 13:7-9.
Jeremiah 30:7 calls this the time of Jacob’s trouble: “Alas! For that day is great, so that none is like it; and it is the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.”
Jesus said in Matthew 24:21-22
Mat 24:21-23 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.
Zec 3:3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel.
The English translation “Filthy” falls a bit short in meaning.
The Hebrew word used here “tso”, means “to issue forth”, as in excrement!
Isaiah 64:6 says “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags;” “Filthy rags” here are used menstrual cloths!
God is dead serious in his description of how he views our good works as a means of justifying ourselves.
Zec 3:4 Then He (who’s speaking?) answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him.” And to him He said, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.”
The Lord has defended Joshua (The High Priest of Israel, thus the Nation itself, as he stood in their place.) with an iron clad defense. CASE DISMISSED!
Notice that Joshua was silent during the short trial. He didn’t say anything, because he had no defense! He had nothing to bring to the table, no words to defend himself, he was guilty.
Jesus also was silent during His trials (Is 53…)
Discuss sin as inherent vs assigned….
Israel will ALSO be silent on their day:
Zec 12:7 “The LORD will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not become greater than that of Judah.
Zec 12:8 In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the LORD before them.
Zec 12:9 It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
Zec 12:10 “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.
Zec 12:11 In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.
Zec 12:12 And the land shall mourn, every family by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves;
Zec 12:13 the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of Shimei by itself, and their wives by themselves;
Zec 12:14 all the families that remain, every family by itself, and their wives by themselves.
Notice there is no self-defense when Jesus returns to save and restore them! The focus will be on Him whom they pierced. There will be no excuses, works of righteousness, or bravado…
Some would say this was fulfilled on the Cross because of John 19:36-37
John 19:36 For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, “NOT ONE OF HIS BONES SHALL BE BROKEN.”
John 19:37 And again another Scripture says, “THEY SHALL LOOK ON HIM WHOM THEY PIERCED.”
However, looking at Zech 12 there are a number of things that were NOT fulfilled at the Cross.
Zec 12:7 “The LORD will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not become greater than that of Judah.
Zec 12:8 In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the LORD before them.
Zec 12:9 It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
Zec 12:10 “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.
Discuss sin as personal vs assigned…
Now that the trial is over, the Lord will deal with Joshua’s guilt (filthiness) and clothe him with “rich robes” so that he (Israel) can be RESTORED..
Robes are often used as a measure of worth…
See Matthew 22:1-14
Who has the power to remove iniquity and clothe with righteousness?
Only Jesus has this authority.
This section has strong future implications for the Nation. Although God will indeed honor His covenants and promises to restore Israel, He will NOT restore them without repentance and justification through faith in Jesus.
Just as we are justified by faith in Jesus, being clothed in HIS righteousness, so too will the Nation be justified, by putting on the righteousness of Jesus their King!
Zec 3:5 And I (who is speaking now) said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” King James says “fair mitre” which is a headdress with diadem, written on it was “Holiness to the Lord”. This is the headdress the high priest would have worn (Exodus 28:36-37. So they put a clean turban on his head, and they put the clothes on him. And the Angel of the LORD stood by.
Here we have the picture of justification! The filthy rags are removed, the filth washed off, rich robes put in place, and Holiness to the Lord headdress is installed. All done at the orders of the Angel of the Lord.
—————————————————————————–
Zec 3:6 Then the Angel of the LORD admonished Joshua, saying,
Zec 3:7 “Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘If you will walk in My ways, And if you will keep My command, Then you shall also judge My house, And likewise have charge of My courts; I will give you places to walk Among these who stand here.
Joshua, the high priest, is being given the charge here to obey so that he would judge the Lord’s house and have charge of His courts. Interestingly, he’s also given a substantial promise that could easily be overlooked; I will give you places to walk Among these who stand here. Who is standing here? And where is here?
Solomon was given a similar charge by God to obey in order to be blessed.
See 1 Kings 3:1-14
Israel has been given this charge many, many, many times as well! When Zechariah interjects in vs 5 “Put a fair mitre on his head” he was alluding to Israel being restored to her proper place in God’s blessing as “Holiness to the Lord”, or separated and set apart for the Lord’s use.
Remember that when the High Priest stood before the Lord on the Day of Atonement, he was representing the people to God. In effect, the High Priest would bear the sin of the people onto the scapegoat to go out into the wilderness.
At this point I’ll mention that I also see Joshua in this passage as a foreshadowing of Jesus himself. Even the name Joshua is the same as that of our Lord.
As strange as it sounds, Jesus himself had to comply with vs 7 above to qualify as our High Priest.
Notice that in Zec 3:3 Joshua is standing clothed in filthy rags, but isn’t saying anything. When Jesus went through his trials, he was also silent. Why?
Why didn’t Jesus ever defend himself?
Because as He stood in our place, there was no defense! He BECAME sin for us, therefore there was no denying the accusations against Him.
See Hebrews 5:5-11, John 5:14-47, John 6:32-71, and most importantly, Matthew 26:37-45
Jesus himself had to keep the Fathers statutes, walk in His ways, and keep His commands in order to become both God’s acceptable sacrifice, AND our High Priest.
Zec 3:8 ‘Hear, O Joshua, the high priest, You and your companions who sit before you, For they are a wondrous sign; Joshua and the future priests are a foreshadowing of the Messiah to come. For behold, I am bringing forth My Servant the BRANCH.
- Branch is “tsemech”, a sprout, that which grew forth.
- See Isaiah 4:2-6
- Isaiah 61:1-11 (note vs 11- “bud” = tsemech)
- Jeremiah 23:1-6
- Jeremiah 33:14-21
- Zechariah 6:12
- Special look:
- Hosea 8:1-8
- “Branch”- netser- greenness, a shoot, descendant
- Isaiah 11:1
- Isaiah 60:19-22
Zec 3:9 For behold, the stone That I have laid before Joshua: Upon the stone are seven eyes. (SEE Revelation 5:6) Behold, I will engrave its inscription,’ Says the LORD of hosts, ‘And I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
- “Stone”
- Psalms 118:22- The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
- Matthew 21:33-42
- 1Co 10:1 Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea,
- 1Co 10:2 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,
- 1Co 10:3 all ate the same spiritual food,
- 1Co 10:4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.
- “in one day”
- Isaiah 10:20
- Isaiah 66:8
- Daniel 2
- Zec 3:10 In that day,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘Everyone will invite his neighbor Under his vine and under his fig tree.’ ”
