Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from Zec 3.1 and following. Indeed, in the deep lowering where the remains of Judah and Benjamin were, they had at their head, on their return to Jerusalem, Joshua and Zerubbabel, weak representatives of the priesthood and kingship, but precursors of the future glories of the Messiah. The high priest Joshua is the subject of the prophet’s fourth vision. His name: “the Lord is Savior”, immediately announces the character of the One of whom he is the type. But it is important to note that while Joshua represents Christ at the end of this chapter, it is not so at the beginning. For the high priest had two offices in Israel: First, he was a mediator, “established for men in matters concerning God in order to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.” Secondly, he was the representative of the people, and according to Zechariah, especially of Jerusalem; for the people as a whole are not recognized as such in this prophet. But God could only accept Jerusalem in the person of his representative, and everything depended on the condition of the latter.
In connection with the preaching of the Gospel, the beginning of this chapter is the picture of the condition of a sinner before God; we shall confine ourselves to highlighting the role of the high priest as the representative of the people. Indeed, Joshua is invited to stand before the Angel of the Lord. This Angel is, in the Old Testament, the symbolic representative of Christ, before his manifestation in the flesh. In the New Testament, the angel of Jehovah disappears, except in parts of Revelation. It is therefore before Christ, presented in this mysterious way, for Christ is usually the Lord in the Old Testament, that Joshua must stand. Now Satan stands at the right hand of the high priest to oppose him. For the Enemy still has access before God as an accuser of the brothers. But Jehovah took the cause of His people into his own hands. In the same way, Christians, God’s people of today, have at their right hand, like Joshua before Jehovah, an accuser who, through sin, has acquired rights over man. He appeals to God’s righteousness against sin, and to His holiness, to oppose what His grace would like to do in favor of Jerusalem. But the high priest was dressed in dirty clothes. Under these conditions, which one will have the upper hand, Satan rightly accusing Joshua, or the holy God whose eyes are too pure to see evil?
It was then that Jehovah said to Satan, “Let Jehovah repress you, Satan may Jehovah, who has chosen Jerusalem, repress you!” Then Joshua represents Jerusalem before God here, and the Angel of Jehovah is identified with Jehovah himself, to answer the accuser. God adds, “Isn’t this one a cloth saved from fire?” He begins by establishing that Satan can do nothing against his choice, against His election. Satan appeals to God’s righteousness and indignation against sin, in order to lose Joshua and Jerusalem; but he is covered in confusion because of his ignorance of divine love. The grace that wants to save sinners is completely unknown to him; he came to establish that God’s holiness could never bear in his presence a man with dirty clothes, and he was right. This means that it has been preserved, aside, not to be thrown there yet. Joshua being destined to be saved, Satan is struck with helplessness, and it is he, the enemy of our souls, who will be repressed for his evil designs. However, it is necessary that God’s righteousness be satisfied, and it was on this that Satan based his dangerous plans.
Now here is how Jehovah reconciles his righteousness with his election of grace: “Joshua was clothed in dirty clothes, and stood before the Angel. And the Angel spoke and spoke to those who stood before him, saying: Take off the dirty clothes from him. And he said to her, ‘Look, I have passed over you your iniquity, and I am putting on festive clothes.’ For only God could do this: Joshua could not strip himself of his clothes, without being naked before God, which would have been his condemnation. He therefore had to be clothed in new clothes, worthy of the One before whom he was. God delivers Joshua, acts towards him according to his right to purify him, and places him in the joy and happy privileges of his presence. This is what will happen on the future day when Jerusalem will enjoy the blessings of the Messianic era. For the beloved city will have the knowledge of the salvation accomplished for it; she will appear before God, having the name of Joshua, “the Lord is Savior,” engraved on her forehead; it will be “adorned with gold embroidery” that suits the presence of the God of justice and the Feast of the King.
Thus, the prophet shows that the faithful, in order to be introduced into the final blessing, must have an undefiled high priest, of whom they will be companions, and a King, of the seed of David, according to God’s counsel. But this blessed person is still presented to us in a third aspect: “For behold, the stone which I placed before Joshua; on this one stone there will be seven eyes; behold, I shall engrave the engraving, said the Lord of hosts; and I will remove the iniquity of this country in a single day.” And when Joshua, one of the leaders of the restored captivity, had begun to build the house of God, a stone had been placed in front of him, to be the foundation of the temple that the people would rebuild. It was the main stone of the area, which was to carry the whole building. This stone was only a faint image of the true stone, of Christ, the foundation of the future temple, of Christ who would first be the rejected stone before being established forever.
For the thousand-year-old reign, immense and glorious, will have as its center the temple, the place of worship of the Lord, and this center will be founded on Christ. The entire future dispensation of God’s reign on earth will have Christ as its pivot: Christ, the foundation; the temple, the dwelling place of God in the midst of his people; Jerusalem, the city of the great King, indissolubly associated with the temple; the people of God gathered in perfect order, around the house of The Lord and the Royal City; all nations, to the extreme limits of the earth, surrounding the beloved people; finally this wonderful scene unfolding under the radiance of the sun of Justice which carries health in its wings: such will be on earth, this future glory, while the splendors of the throne of the Lamb and his bride, the new Jerusalem, will fill the sky!
“On this one stone there will be seven eyes.” In Revelation, the seven spirits, the seven lamps, and the seven eyes are the same thing, but with different meanings, for in Rev. 1:4, the “seven spirits who are before his throne” are the fullness of the Spirit of God, presiding over the government of the world. In Rev 4:5, “the seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God” are the fullness of the Spirit to bring to light and bring to judgment what is in opposition to God’s government on earth. In Rev 5:6, the lamb who has “seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God, sent upon all the earth,” represents Christ, with the fullness of his knowledge (combined with the fullness of his power, seven horns), for the purpose of fulfilling God’s ways to the world.
Here, the stone with the seven eyes is Christ, in whom we find the fullness of the knowledge of God’s thought, and who is also the full expression of this thought, for we see Jehovah himself engraving it. Christ, man here on earth, the stone once rejected, is the manifestation of the divine Being himself, the Truth: it is in Him that God has revealed Himself, in Him that He will make Himself known on the renewed earth, during the glorious reign of the Son of man.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
The High Priest Joshua:
· Opponents, examples
Ezr 4:4 Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah; they intimidated them to prevent them from building, Za 3:1 He made me see Joshua, the high priest, standing before the angel of Jehovah, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. Acts 13:8 But Elymas, the magician, for this is what his name means, opposed them, seeking to divert the proconsul from the faith. 1 Cor 16:9 because a large door of efficient access is open to me, and the opponents are numerous. 2 Tim 3:8 Just as Jannes and Jambers opposed Moses, so these men oppose the truth, being corrupt in understanding, reprobate as far as faith is concerned.
· High Priests
Ex 28:1 Bring upon you Aaron, your brother, and his sons, and take them among the children of Israel to consecrate them to my service in the priesthood: Aaron and the sons of Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. Lev 21:10 The priest who has superiority over his brethren, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured out, and who has been consecrated and clothed in sacred garments, will not discover his head or tear his clothes. Za 3:1 He made me see Joshua, the high priest, standing before the angel of Jehovah, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. Hb 5:5 Nor did Christ claim the glory of becoming a high priest, but he took it from the one who said to him: You are my Son, I have begotten you today! Hb 9:7 and in the second the high priest alone enters once a year, not without carrying blood that he offers for himself and for the sins of the people.
· People of God, the chosen people
Dt 7:6 For you are a holy people to Jehovah your God; Jehovah, your God, has chosen you, that you may be a people who belonged to him among all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. Ps 4:4 Know that the Lord has chosen a pious man for himself; Jehovah hears, when I cry out to Him. Eph 1:4 In Him God elected us before the foundation of the world, that we might be holy and irreprehensible before Him, 1 Pet 2:10 you who were once not a people, and who now are the people of God, you who had not obtained mercy, and who now have obtained mercy.
· Robes of Justice
Ps 132:16 I will clothe his priests with salvation, and his faithful will cry out with joy. Isa 61:10 I will rejoice in the Lord, My soul will be delighted with joy in my God; For he clothed me with the garments of salvation, He covered me with the mantle of deliverance, As the bridegroom adorns himself with a diadem, As the bride adorns herself with her jewels. Mt 22:11 The king entered to see those at the table, and there he saw a man who had not put on a wedding dress. Luke 15:22 But the father said to his servants, “Bring the most beautiful robe, and put it on; put a ring on his finger, and shoes on his feet.
From all the above, we note that a new scene is offered to Zechariah. The priest Joshua – who represents the people – stands before the Angel of the Lord. But Satan is also there in his usual role as an accuser. For Joshua’s dirty clothes are too good an opportunity for his attacks. But Jehovah had given such formal instructions for the purification of the priests that to appear before Him with defilement was to incur a certain condemnation. Well, we have read it, the one that the adversary allows himself to touch is like the apple of God’s eye, “a cloth torn from the fire”. The poor accused has nothing to say in his defense. The Judge Himself has provided for everything. But without tolerating the defilement! “Look,” He declares, “I have passed over your iniquity, and I put you on…” not only clean clothes, but “festive clothes” (Mt 22:1-14). Purified, justified, Joshua now has a double responsibility: to walk in the ways of Jehovah and to faithfully discharge his office. For to taste the grace of the Lord, one must have taken the same place as Joshua. And the Messiah (the Germ) will reign in righteousness over a purified people: “On that day,” said the Lord of hosts, “you will each invite his neighbor under the vine and under the fig tree.” It will be the day of rest for everyone, the common enjoyment of this rest, the true reign of peace for Israel. Our prayers are with you all.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to react to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow ” the vision of Man among the myrtles.”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.