Today Zechariah sees a vision concerning Joshua the high priest, a Levite and the son of Jozadak. This is the man who will minister before God on behalf of the people in the rebuilt temple. Joshua, along with Zerubbabel the governor and the grandson of King Jehoiachin of Judah, are the leaders of the nation. These two men led the first wave of freed captives back to Jerusalem, and they carried with them the temple vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had taken to Babylon. Though the Persians would not allow Judah to re-establish a monarchy, the nation at this time enjoys a good deal of sovereignty under the leadership of their governor and high priest.
But there is a problem. Before the downfall of Judah the priesthood had become corrupt. There's no use having a new temple if the same old sins are going to enter into it. So Zechariah sees a vision of the high priest being accused of sins by Satan, and then being made fit by the Lord to stand before Him as a mediator between God and the people.
We recall there has been an angel by Zechariah's side while he experiences his visions, and this is the being who is with him now as he says, "Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. 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) We learn from David in Psalm 109:8 that the accuser of a person stands at his right hand in court. Satan wants the Lord to find Joshua unfit to mediate for the people, thus leaving them in their sins. Satan wants the Lord to find you and me unfit to serve Him too. Satan accuses us day and night according to Revelation 12:10. But thanks be to God, the One seated on the throne doesn't waste time on this nonsense, but says instead to our accuser, "The Lord rebuke you, Satan! This servant of Mine has been made right with Me by My grace. I snatched this one from the path to perdition in the same way a man might snatch a stick out of the fire. I am the Master and I alone can judge whether My servant is worthy." Amen! As the Apostle Paul said to those who criticized the servants of God, "Who are you to judge someone else's servants? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand." (Romans 14:4)
"Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. 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 fine garments on you.'" (Zechariah 3:3-4) Only the Lord can make us clean. Even on our best behavior we are not worthy on our own to stand before the Lord, as the prophet Isaiah pointed out, "All our righteous acts are like filthy rags". (Isaiah 64:6) Joshua is doing the best he can as a human being and as a priest, but even at his best he is an imperfect creature. Only the Lord can impute true righteousness upon him, or upon you and me as well. The Lord alone takes away our sin.
Since the high priest represents the people, making him acceptable before the Lord is the same as making the people acceptable before the Lord. The Lord has chosen this period of time to be kind to Judah, to build her up and not tear her down, to restore her fortunes, to rebuild what enemy Babylon had torn down. Judah's time of rebuke and correction is over for now, and Zechariah's vision is the proof of this. So is our next verse, "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 3:5) This is the turban the high priest would wear while entering the Most Holy Place once a year on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). This turban had an engraved golden plate attached to it that read "Holy To The Lord". (Exodus 28:36) Placing the clean turban on Joshua's head indicates that he has been made holy to the Lord and that he has been made fit, by the Lord's grace, to intercede on behalf of the people.
The One seated as Judge now gives His orders to the high priest. He also speaks of the peace that will someday reign in the kingdom of the Messiah. "The angel of the Lord gave this charge to Joshua: 'This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'If you will walk in obedience to Me 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. Listen, High Priest Joshua, you and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring My servant, the Branch. 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. In that day each of you will invite your neighbor to sit under your vine and fig tree,' declares the Lord Almighty." (Zechariah 3:6-10)
Both Isaiah and Jeremiah spoke of the Messiah as the "Branch", and Isaiah referred to Him as the "root of Jesse", Jesse being the father of King David. In the book of Zechariah the return to the land, the rebuilding of the temple, the governorship of Zerubbabel of the line of David, and the high priesthood of Joshua of the line of Aaron, were signs that God will indeed accomplish all He has promised regarding the Messiah and King and His eternal kingdom. God kept His promise to bring the people back from captivity, so He can be trusted to keep all His other promises. Zerubabbel, the man who holds legal title to the throne of David, is the political leader of the nation. Joshua, a Levite and descendant of Aaron, is the spiritual leader of the nation. These things foreshadow the coming kingdom of the Messiah, who will be both King and High Priest at the same time. He alone will hold the title to the throne of David. He alone will be able to mediate between God and man and make us "Holy To The Lord".
The Apostle Paul spoke of Jesus Christ as our high priest. Though He was not of the line of Aaron, He was made a priest upon the oath of God, just as Melchizedek was in Genesis 14. Melchizedek was not of the line of Aaron; Aaron hadn't even been born. But he was appointed a priest by the oath of God, and as Paul points out in the book of Hebrews, the oath overrides genealogy. So now the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is able to be both King and High Priest. He will hold both offices, being both the political leader of the world and the spiritual leader of the world. He is the One who clothes us in clean garments. He is the One who takes away our sins. He is the One who stands before God as our defense attorney and rebukes the accusations of Satan. With His perfect blood, He made a sacrifice on our behalf once and for all. Now He can place the words upon our heads "Holy To The Lord". The restoration of the political leadership of the line of David, and the restoration of the spiritual leadership of the line of Aaron, are signs in the book of Zechariah that the Lord will one day place on the throne of David the One who holds legal title to it, and He will also establish the priesthood of the only One who is truly worthy to enter into the Most Holy Place on our behalf.
No comments:
Post a Comment