Major Messages from the Minor Prophets: The Forth Vision—Zechariah

• The Man Among the Myrtle Trees (Zech. 1:7-17) teaches that God's Care Is Demonstrated by His Presence. The man on riding the red horse is the preincarnate Second Person of the Trinity — his name is Immanuel — and he stands among the Myrtle Trees which represent the nation of Israel.

• The Four Horns and the Four Craftsmen (Zech. 1:18-21) teaches that God's Care Is Demonstrated by the Punishment of Oppressors. The horns represent those nations that scattered Judah, and the craftsmen have come to terrify them, and these craftsmen are there to disassemble those nations.

• The Surveyor with a Measuring Line (Zech. 2:1-12) teaches that God's Care Is Demonstrated by the Promise of a Glorious Future. The vision was showing that there would be a Messianic day when Jerusalem would grow to vast proportions and not need a wall because of God's protection. The New Jerusalem revealed in John’s Revelation fits this description.

Now we come to the forth vision. The Cleansing and Crowning of Joshua, the High Priest. The first three visions pictured Israel's external deliverance and glory. In the fourth, God is focusing on the internal state of Israel, which is in need of cleansing from sin and reinstatement as a priestly nation and a light to the world. This vision is a little different because it involves a historical figure rather than deeply symbolic visions and images. Even so, God uses the historical figure of Joshua, the High Priest to reveal some deep spiritual truths to his people. We see Joshua, the son of Johozadak, the high priest who returned with Zerubbabel from Babylon, who is representing the nation of Israel; the Angel of the Lord; Satan, the accuser; the attending angels; and Zechariah, who becomes a vocal participant in the vision.

The vision is about forgiveness and cleansing. When we come to God to be forgiven, what does He do for us?

I. HE REBUKES THE ENEMY (1–2)

“Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. 2 The LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?” (Zechariah 3:1–2, NIV84)

1. in verse one we have a common Biblical motif — a courtroom scene with a defendant, a prosecutor, and a judge

a. Joshua, the high priest, is the defendant and represents the nation of Israel

b. he’s in the doc, and Satan is there accusing him

1) as a side note, this is the only place in the Minor Prophets were the name Satan is used

2. we’re not privy to the accusations, but we can well imagine

a. “Lord, your people have committed grievous sin. They have rebelled against your Law and gone after other gods committing whoredom. They have neglected the weigher things of the Law such as taking care of the widows and orphans. Their political leaders have trusted in alliances with foreign Kings instead of the King of Glory. Their Priests have offered second best in the sacrifices due you, and kept the best for themselves. The rich have taken advantage of the poor, cheating them out of land, and livelihood. Lord, your people are wretched, and unworthy of your love. You’d be just to smite them from the Earth.

b. and everyone of those accusation, and probably a whole lot more, were true and accurate

1) Joshua can do nothing but hang his head and weep

3. but there is someone else standing next to Joshua

a. “ ... the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD ... “, and God rebukes him, not because the accusations are not true, but because of God's gracious love for and choice of His people Israel

“The LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?” (Zechariah 3:2, NIV84)

b. only one person can rebuke Satan ... the Lord of Glory, Jesus Christ, and that’s who this angel is

A. SATAN IS THE ACCUSER (Rev. 12:10), but ...

“Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.” (Revelation 12:10, NIV84)

1. Satan is still the great accuser of the brethren

a. why God allows Satan to stand before Him as the accuser of the brethren is not answered in Scripture

b. but we do perceive a part of Satan's character here

1) 1st, he lies and lures mankind into sin(s) and then when the seduction is accomplished

2) 2nd, he turns around and becomes man's accuser

2. we're not privy to Satan’s accusations against us, but we can well imagine

a. "Lord, this “so called” child of yours has committed grievous sin. He has rebelled against your grace worshiped other gods committing whoredom. He has neglected the weigher things of grace such as loving his neighbor as himself. He has trusted in his finances instead of the King of Glory. Your Apostle Peter call him a “priest” but he has offered you second best of his life and goods, kept the best for himself. He has taken advantage of his neighbor, and cheated on his taxes. Lord, this “so called” child of yours is unworthy of your love. You'd be just to smite him from the Earth.”

b. and, like Joshua, we’d have to hang our heads and weep, confessing, “It’s all true”

3. but like Joshua, we have a defender standing at our side ...

B. CHRIST IS THE ADVOCATE (1 John 1:9–2:2)

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. 1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 1:9–2:2, NIV84)

1. we are chosen by God and belong to Him, and the enemy cannot condemn us

“What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:31–39, NIV84)

2. the Spirit convicts us of sin in love to woo us back to God, Satan accuses us of sin in hatred to make us despair of God's help

a. be sure to distinguish these two voices

II. HE REMOVES THE INIQUITY (3–5)

“Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. 4 The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you.” 5 Then I said, “Put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the LORD stood by.” (Zechariah 3:3–5, NIV84)

1. the dirty garments symbolized the sinfulness of the nation, for the high priest was to keep himself clean before the Lord

a. here the angel commands that the other angels strip away Joshua’s filthy cloths and cloth him with rich garments

b. the Angel of the Lord is clear, See, I have taken away your sin ...

2. God removes our sin and clothes us in righteousness because Jesus died for our sins and lives to intercede for us

A. GOD ALONE REMOVES OUR DEFILEMENT

1. here is a beautiful Old Testament picture of God's forgiveness and acquittal that comes be grace alone

2. the turban is a symbol of joy and reinstatement as a priestly nation

III. HE RESTORES THE MINISTRY (6–10)

“The angel of the LORD gave this charge to Joshua: 7 “This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here. 8 “ ‘Listen, O high priest Joshua and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch. 9 See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,’ says the LORD Almighty, ‘and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day. 10 “ ‘In that day each of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and fig tree,’ declares the LORD Almighty.” (Zechariah 3:6–10, NIV84)

1. God did not set Joshua aside

a. if Joshua is faithful then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here

b. the purpose of Joshua’s forgiveness and cleansing, which is representative of Israel’s forgiveness and cleansing, if for the purpose of restoration to ministry

2. God tells Joshua to go back and minister to the people and tell them about the coming Messiah, the BRANCH

a. and, a time is coming in the life of Israel, that just as Joshua was cleansed and restored, so Israel will be cleansed and restored when Messiah comes to reign

Lest me close with a short application. In a very real sense, we are all a burning stick snatched from the fire. John Wesley never forgot a terrible night of his childhood. He was only six years old at the time, and he had awakened in the family's old rectory to find it ablaze from top to bottom. Everyone else had been dragged from the building, but by some extraordinary oversight he had been forgotten. At the very last moment, just before the roof fell in with a crash, a neighbor climbed on another's shoulders and pulled the terrified child from a window. Later that scene was drawn for Wesley, and he kept the picture until the day of his death. He wrote under it this verse in the third chapter of Zechariah: "Is not this a brand plucked from the burning?"

Wesley's experience in being literally saved from fire was unusual, but all of God's people experience it in a far more important sense. Jesus Christ has rescued us from the fires of hell. We too are encouraged to do so for others. Jude 23 reads, "save others snatching them out of the fire."

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