Zechariah 3

Sin forgiven (vs. 1-5)—The next vision Zechariah sees is Joshua, the high priest, standing before “the Angel of the Lord” with Satan there also “to oppose him (Joshua)” (v. 1). Satan obviously wants to accuse the Jews of sin, hoping that the Lord won’t forgive them, but Jehovah rebukes him, and reminds us of His choosing of Jerusalem (v. 2). This is important. If Satan can get the Lord to condemn the Jews, and thus utterly destroy them as He has done Assyria and Babylon, then the devil will have succeeded in aborting the redemption of mankind. Remember that the Messiah was to come through Israel, so obliterating the Jews will land everybody in hell with Satan. But the Lord will have none of it. Joshua, indeed, was standing before the Angel “clothed with filthy garments” (v. 3), symbolizing the sin that had stained the Jewish people. But the Lord “spoke to those who stood before Him” (angels?) and told them to remove Joshua’s filthy garment and clothe him “with rich robes” (v. 4). There’s no question what this means because Jehovah says, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you” (v. 4). It was wholly an act of God’s grace, the only hope for Israel, or the redemption of humanity. Satan was hoping for justice, not mercy. Joshua is given clean clothes and a “fair (clean, ASV) mitre on his head” (v. 5) symbolizing his restoration to the high priesthood and the acceptance of his sacrifices (the NKJV’s “clean turban” seems to miss the point). The people have returned from captivity, God has forgiven their sins, and will allow them to offer their sacrifices again. All by His grace, for they certainly didn’t deserve it. But then, do any of us deserve the grace of God? Such is an oxymoron.

A message for the high priest (vs. 6-10)—The Lord would allow the high priest to continue his work “If you will walk in My ways, and if you will keep My command” (v. 7). All of this is made possible because of “My Servant the Branch” (v. 8). This is a reference to the Messiah. He is called “the Branch” is several places in the Old Testament (Isaiah 4:2; 11:1; Jer. 23:5; Zech. 6:12). Without His redeeming work, of course, none of this would be possible. The stone (“cornerstone,” Is. 28:6) will be laid before Joshua; it has seven eyes—the all-seeing providence of God. The last statement of verse 9 is significant: “'And I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day”—the cross of Christ. And “in that day” there will be peace with God (v. 10). The “under his vine and under his fig tree” is used on more than one occasion in the Old Testament as a proverbial statement of peace (cf. Micah 4:4). The Jews have been restored and forgiven, and the larger purposes of God through the Messiah will come to pass. Satan cannot prevent that.