Please turn to Zechariah 3. We will read the whole chapter.
And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.
And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; yea, the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.
And he answered and spake unto those that stood before Him, saying, Take the filthy garments from off him. And unto him He said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with rich apparel.
And I said, Let them set a clean mitre upon his head. So they set a clean mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments; and the angel of the Lord stood by.
And the angel of the Lord protested unto Joshua, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts: If thou wilt walk in My ways, and if thou wilt keep My charge, then thou shalt also judge My house, and shalt also keep My courts, and I will give thee a place of access among these that stand by.
Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou and thy fellows that sit before thee; for they are men that are a sign: for, behold, I will bring forth My servant the Branch.
For behold, the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall ye invite every man his neighbour under his vine and under his fig tree.
Let us pray.
Dear Lord, as we continue in Thy presence, our hearts are full of gratitude to Thee. The wonder of wonders: that Thou, our God, shouldst come to this world to become a man and to die for our sins. Lord, we are ever grateful today.
We pray, Lord, that Thou wilt draw our hearts toward Thyself. May Thy word fall upon our hearts as upon good soil, that it may bear there a hundredfold fruit unto Thyself, because Thou art so worthy of it.
We commit this time into Thy hands and trust Thy Holy Spirit to speak to each one of us. May Thy name be glorified. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
As I waited upon the Lord for this time, I felt somehow a burden in my heart to share with you, dear brothers and sisters, from Zechariah 3 and Zechariah 4.
We know Zechariah was a post-exilic prophet; that is, he was a prophet raised up by God after the Jewish remnant returned from Babylon to Jerusalem to rebuild the house of God.
God raised up this young man to encourage the returning remnant to resume the building of the temple, which they had stopped for a number of years because of opposition. Through the encouragement given by the prophecies of this young man, together with the older man Haggai, the discouraged remnant rose up and finished the building of the house.
Now, in Zechariah 3, you find the name of Joshua. Joshua was a high priest among the returning remnant, and here he is a representation of the whole priesthood. As Joshua was to be recovered, as it were, so it shows us that the whole priesthood would be recovered.
Then in Zechariah 4, you find Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel was the prince, a seed of David. Under his leadership, the remnant returned to rebuild the temple. So he represents kingship.
Here you find not only the priesthood—the functions of the priest—but also the kingship, the rulership of the king. Both must be recovered if the recovery of the house of God is to be complete.
So I feel that there is a message for us today. Brothers and sisters, we who are redeemed of the Lord are priests, and we are kings.
In 1 Peter 2, we find that, as we come to the Lord, Who is the living stone, we become living stones. We are being built up together to be a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Again, in 1 Peter 2:9, we find that we are a royal priesthood. Then, when you turn to the last book, the book of Revelation, you find in Revelation 1:
Unto Him that loveth us, and loosed us from our sins by His blood;
and He made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto His God and Father.
Again, in Revelation 5, you find a new song sung by the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures, glorifying the Lamb because the Lamb is worthy, because He was slain and redeemed people out of every tribe, tongue, people, and nation.
Worthy art Thou to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and didst purchase unto God with Thy blood men of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation,
and madest them to be unto our God a kingdom and priests; and they reign upon the earth.
So, in a very real sense, brothers and sisters, we who believe in the Lord Jesus and are redeemed by the precious blood of our Lord Jesus are both priests and kings.
It is God’s will that our functions as priests must be recovered, and our functions as kings must also be restored. Unless these two things are recovered, the recovery of the house of God will not be complete.
This is how important it is: in the recovery of the house of God, these two functions must be fully recovered. In these two chapters, we may learn the lessons that I believe God wants us to learn.
Zechariah, in the night, received a series of visions. The third vision he received is what we read at the beginning. He was shown a vision: he saw Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord.
As we have already said, Joshua, being the high priest, is a representation of the whole priesthood. You find that it is the proper place of the priest to stand before the Lord.
The angel of the Lord in the Old Testament, whenever you see Him, refers to the second Person of the Godhead. He is God, one with God. So Joshua standing before the angel of the Lord is the proper place of a priest.
To stand means that you are waiting upon the Lord. You are ready to serve. You are ready to perform your priestly functions. That is to stand before the Lord.
In a sense, brothers and sisters, we are priests, and as priests our right position is to stand before the Lord. We are not supposed to lie down, relaxed and not watchful.
As the servant watches the hands of the master, or even the eyes of the master, this is our attitude. We should always be in readiness—alert, watchful—to see any direction that may come from the Lord.
Whether He leads us by His hand or whether He leads us by His eyes, we should be watchful. When we begin to know His will, then we are ready, because we are standing there—not sitting there, not lying there. We are standing there, ready to move, ready to do whatever He has shown us.
That is our right position, brothers and sisters. It is not just when we come together on the Lord’s Day to worship that we begin to function as priests. As a matter of fact, being priests, our whole life is ready to serve.
Our whole life is supposed to stand before the Lord. Wherever we are, whatever we do, we are ready to serve Him and to do the will of God. So Joshua standing before the angel of the Lord is the right position.
But, surprisingly, you find there is another person standing by: Satan, the adversary of God and man. He was also standing by the right hand of Joshua.
You may be surprised that Satan was there, but as a matter of fact, you find that this is always true. The adversary of God and man is always nearby, by your side, to resist you.
The word resist here means to be your adversary. He is there to oppose you, to accuse you, to resist you, and to prevent you from performing your priestly functions.
You remember the book of Job. There you find Job, a righteous person, perfect in his generation, fearing God and turning away from evil. Yet you find Satan there accusing him before God.
Satan said, “Doth Job fear Thee for nought? Hast Thou not made a hedge about him? Thou hast blessed him, so no wonder he fears Thee. Now suppose Thou takest that hedge away, and takest the things Thou hast blessed him with away; he will surely curse Thee to Thy face.”
Satan is always there trying to find a reason to accuse God’s people before God. But thank God, even though God allowed Satan to take away all the blessings that God had given to Job, and even allowed Satan to attack Job’s body, Job remained faithful to God.
Why? Because God used Satan to perfect His servant. The enemy means evil, but God can take it and make it good. That is what we find all the time.
Satan was there accusing Joshua, and Satan had grounds to do that, because Joshua was clothed with filthy garments.
If you read Exodus 28:2–3, you find that Aaron and his sons, the priests, were to be clothed with beautiful garments for glory and for beauty. They were to be richly clothed in a way that made them fit to serve God.
When you come before a person of position—suppose you are called to the White House to see the president—will you go there in a T-shirt and barefoot? Certainly not. You have to be clothed properly. Properly simply means in relation to the position of that person.
In order to worship God, to serve God, and to draw near to God, the priest, especially the high priest, was gorgeously clothed—beautifully clothed—for glory and for beauty, making him fit to approach God.
That is what it should be. Only in that sense are the priests able to minister and function. No priest can enter into the holy place without being clothed with the priestly garments. You cannot go in with an ordinary garment. You have to be clothed with a priestly garment to make you fit to serve.
In a very real sense, that is what it is. We are priests, and we are to serve God. But we need to be clothed with priestly garments for glory and for beauty. Of course, we know our garment is none other than the Lord Himself. He is our robe. He is our garment. His righteousness—He is our righteousness—makes us fit to serve.
But unfortunately, you find here Joshua clothed with filthy garments.
In Isaiah 64:6, we are told that we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.
It is up to us, to ourselves. Our righteousness—not our sins, not our wickedness, but even our righteousnesses—those things that we consider right, where we think we are right and all right, even our righteousness before God is as filthy rags.
They are rags. They cannot cover our nakedness. They are filthy and cannot be accepted by God. This is the best we have. The best we have is as filthy rags. How can we be fit to serve God as priests?
So here you find Satan has grounds to accuse, to attack, and to resist Joshua. He should be clothed with priestly garments, but he was not.
In this case, of course, it speaks of the spiritual condition of the children of Israel, even among the remnant. They had returned from Babylonian captivity. They were stirred by the Spirit of God to leave Babylon and return to Jerusalem, and they were burdened with building the house of God.
These people should have been holy. They should have been clothed with priestly garments. But here you find that even the faithful remnant were clothed with filthy garments, unfit to serve God. The enemy had every ground to accuse them.
Now, brothers and sisters, even though this prophecy is concerned with Israel, we know that its spiritual principle applies to us today. We are the Israel of God today, as you find in Galatians 6:16.
Are we not also in that kind of situation? Our position as priests is to stand before the Lord and to serve Him. But we are not clothed with priestly garments. Instead, we are clothed with filthy garments, totally unfit, and that gives ground to the enemy to resist.
What a wonderful thing it is. You find Joshua just standing there, saying nothing. He has nothing to say. What can he say?
He cannot reason with Satan and say, “You have no ground to resist me,” because that is his situation. But thank God, he does not need to say anything. There is Someone speaking for him.
Here you find the angel of the Lord addressing Satan for Joshua and saying, “The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan.”
When this word rebuke is used with God, it means more than a verbal rebuke. When this word is used of God, it means a total rejection and suppression of all the accusations.
I read somewhere that Satan may have the right to accuse, but he does not have the right to condemn. Why? Because our Judge is God Himself. Satan is not our judge. He can accuse, yes, but he cannot condemn.
This reminds us of Romans 8:33–34.
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth;
who is he that shall condemn? It is Christ Jesus that died, yea rather, that was raised from the dead, Who is at the right hand of God, Who also maketh intercession for us.
Who can condemn us? There is only One Who can condemn us: it is Christ.
You remember John 8, when they took a woman who was caught in adultery to the Lord. They said, “According to the law of Moses, she should be stoned to death. Now what wilt Thou say, Jesus?” They were trying to entrap the Lord Jesus.
You remember how our Lord, instead of facing them or arguing with them, bowed down and wrote with His finger on the ground. These accusers thought that they had every right to condemn. They thought they were righteous, and here was an unrighteous person caught in sin.
You can imagine their attitude. Here the Lord bowed Himself down, humble and meek, writing with His finger on the sand. We never know what He wrote. I think all commentators are very curious about that, and they try to find all kinds of explanations, but I dare not try.
When they pressed Him, the Lord stood up and said:
He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
How they were convicted in their conscience. The Bible says that, beginning from the eldest, one by one they went out. Why from the eldest? Because the oldest had longer years of sin, so they left first. But the youngest also sinned, and finally there was nobody there but the Lord.
The Lord did not leave because He had no sin. He knew no sin. He was the only One Who could condemn. The woman stood there trembling, because there was still One Who could condemn her.
But you remember how the Lord said, “Woman, where are they? Did no man condemn thee?” She said, “No man, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn thee: go thy way; from henceforth sin no more.”
Why could He do such a thing? Would He be unrighteous? No, because He is the Christ Who died for us, was raised from the dead, sits at the right hand of God, and intercedes for us.
Brothers and sisters, the enemy, the accuser, may have grounds to accuse. But thank God for the blood of Jesus Christ. The brethren overcome the accuser because of the blood of the Lamb, the word of their testimony, and because they loved not their lives even unto death.
So here you find that even though the enemy thinks he can accuse, and apparently has grounds to do his work, thank God, He Who is able to condemn us justifies us because of the shed blood of our Lord Jesus. It is all under the blood.
The ground of accusation has been taken away from the enemy. The Lord rebuke thee.
“The Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?”
Dear brothers and sisters, why is it that our Lord rebukes the enemy in spite of our condition? It is because He has chosen Jerusalem.
God has chosen. And because He has chosen, you find in Romans 8:30:
Whom He foreordained, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified.
We thank God that even before the foundation of the world, God chose you in Christ Jesus. Now, that is a mystery beyond our comprehension.
Even before the foundation of the world, before God created the heavens and the earth, before there was anything existing except God Himself—He is the self-existing God—God had already chosen you in Christ Jesus.
He had already seen you, perhaps millions of years ago. He already saw you. He chose you in Christ Jesus, not because of what you are or what you will be, but because of His love. He set His eyes upon you and chose you.
Because He chose you, one day He called you. He calls you by your name: “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? It is hard for thee to kick against the goad.” He calls you, and because He calls you, He justifies you.
Not only does He justify you, He glorifies you. He will transform you. He will build His own character in you. He will make you conform to Him, to be like Him, taking the ground of accusation completely away.
Brothers and sisters, because God has chosen you, that is the reason why the enemy’s accusation, even though apparently he has some grounds to make it, has been taken away.
In the will of God, you are complete in Christ Jesus. You are fit to serve God. That is the complete work of our Lord Jesus.
In view of the complete, finished work of the Lord Jesus, the Lord can rebuke Satan: “You have no ground to accuse.”
“Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?” Yes, there is fire there. We may be scorched, but the Lord has taken the brand out of the fire and delivered us out of the fire.
Not only has He delivered us out, but He has even perfected us in Christ Jesus. So far as God is concerned, brothers and sisters, the enemy has absolutely no ground to resist us. He is defeated.
Thank God for that.
Sometimes, when we look at ourselves, we are discouraged. “How can I be fit?” We look at ourselves as if we are not clothed with priestly garments for beauty and for glory. Instead, we are clothed with filthy garments.
But, brothers and sisters, if you take your eyes away from yourself and look at the perfect work of Christ on Calvary’s cross, it is a different story.
You find that He has done it. It is finished. That is the shout of triumph on Calvary’s cross: “It is finished.”
So look unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith. He has already taken away every ground the enemy has to resist us. Why be deceived by him and succumb to his accusation?
Trust in the perfect, finished work of Christ, and that will enable us to stand before the Lord and minister unto the Lord.
After the Lord dealt with Satan, then He turned to work upon Joshua. He told those who stood by—most likely the angels—“Take away the filthy garments from him.”
The angels are ministering servants. They are to minister unto the redeemed of the Lord. So here you find the Lord turning to the angels and saying, “Take off the filthy rags.” There is no reason why Joshua should be clothed with filthy rags, because our Lord has already died for us.
When the prodigal son came back, the first thing the father said, after he kissed his neck, was to take away the rags and put on the best robe, because he was his son.
When we return to God, when He softens our rebellious heart, when He forgives our sins, He not only takes our filthy garments away, but He clothes us with the best robe: Christ our righteousness.
We are all clothed with Christ as our righteousness. We are clothed with beauty and with glory, and we are fit to serve God in Christ Jesus.
So, brothers and sisters, thank God for that. Every one of us—the rags are gone. The priestly garments, the festival garments, are upon us. In Christ Jesus, we are fit to minister unto the Lord as priests.
But strangely, you find that all the time the prophet Zechariah was there as a spectator. He was watching the whole thing going on before his eyes. Then suddenly the prophet begins to speak.
When he saw that the angels took away the rags and put on the festival robes, he burst out and said, “Let them set a clean mitre upon his head.”
He was so moved and so one with God that he cried out, “This is not finished yet. He needs to have a clean turban upon his head.” That would complete the priestly garments.
If you turn to Exodus 28, you will find that after the priest is clothed with beautiful priestly garments, there is to be a clean turban upon his head. On that turban there is a golden plate inscribed with three words:
Holiness unto the Lord.
With that turban, the high priest bears the iniquity of the holy things, and all the sacrifices are acceptable to God.
In other words, here is the response to what God has done. Because God has taken away our filthy garments and has put festival garments upon us, therefore our response is holiness unto the Lord.
We want to separate ourselves and offer ourselves to the Lord, to be holy for Him and for His service. That is the response, and that completes the priestly garments.
Now, is that not a wonderful issue? In order to complete the recovery of the house of God, the priestly function has to be recovered, because that is the content of the house.
You may have a house and all the furniture there, but if there are no priests, the whole thing is quiet and silent. There is nothing there. But after the priests begin to function, the whole house becomes living.
So, brothers and sisters, in the recovery of the house of God, the functions of the priesthood have to be recovered. God has already made every provision for us. What we need is to believe and receive His provision.
But that is not the end. With the vision comes the word. It is always like that. In the Bible, whenever there is a vision, there is always a word with it. God is trying to tell us something—not just to see it, but to hear it, what He wants us to know.
Here you find the angel of the Lord protesting to Joshua. The word protest simply means that He testifies. He testifies to Joshua, telling him what is the right thing to do in view of what God has already done.
God has taken away the filthy rags and put on the festival robes, making him fit to function as a priest. Now comes Joshua’s responsibility.
If thou wilt walk in My ways, and if thou wilt keep My charge, then thou shalt also judge My house, and shalt also keep My courts, and I will give thee a place of access among these that stand by.
“If thou wilt walk in My ways”—that is personal. It refers to our life, how we need to walk in the ways of God. Do not walk in our ways, but walk in His ways. That is our life.
“And if thou wilt keep My charge”—that is our ministry. Our ministry is to keep His charge. Whatever He says, we will keep it and not depart from it or deviate from it. Be faithful to the Lord.
If in your life you walk in His ways, and in your ministry you keep His charge and are faithful, then the Lord says, “I will make you judge My house.”
What does it mean to judge His house? As priests, you are supposed to be able to discern what is right and what is wrong, what is of God and what is not of God, what is clean and what is unclean.
Because you yourself know what is clean and what is unclean, because you yourself are sanctified and set apart for God, therefore you are to teach the house of God what is right and wrong, what is of God and what is not of God, what is clean and what is unclean.
That is the meaning of judging. It means that you are able to distinguish between holy and unholy, between that which is of God and that which is of man.
Second, “Thou shalt also keep My courts.” You will be like watchers, like watchmen, in God’s house. You are able to watch and see, and not allow anything foreign to invade the house of God.
Third, you will be given a place to walk among those who stand by. These who stand by, of course, refer to the angels. The angels are ministering angels. They stand before the Lord to minister to Him.
Here you find that you also will be one who ministers unto the Lord, like the angels. When I read this, I think of Revelation 2 and Revelation 3.
You find that the risen Lord wrote to the angel of the church. The angel there, we believe, does not refer to celestial angels. It refers to terrestrial angels, messengers—those who are spiritually responsible for the house of God.
So here you find that you will have a place among them. But, dear brothers and sisters, this is not the end. There is something greater than this.
The word continues: “Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou and thy fellows that sit before thee; for they are men that are a sign.”
Joshua and his fellows, these priests, are signs. They are not the end in themselves. They are a sign, pointing somewhere, pointing to Someone.
Their job as high priest and as priests is to point to what?
For, behold, I will bring forth My servant the Branch.
Their faithful ministry will bring forth the Branch. The Branch, of course, in the Old Testament refers to the Messiah, to Christ.
You find in Isaiah that He would be like a tender shoot before the Lord. He is the Branch—full of life and fruitful.
Not only the Branch, but also the stone. The metaphor changes: “Behold, the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts.”
He is also the stone. So far as His life is concerned, He is like a branch, full of life. So far as His work is concerned, He is like a stone. He is the foundation stone.
In Isaiah 28:16, God says:
Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone of sure foundation: he that believeth shall not be in haste.
So, dear brothers and sisters, if we are faithful as priests unto God, we will bring in the Messiah. That is the end.
In one day, the iniquity of the land will be removed.
Spiritually speaking, we would say this is the day of Golgotha. Prophetically speaking, we would say this is when our Lord Jesus shall return, when Israel shall look upon Him, repent, and all Israel shall be saved. The iniquity of the land will be removed in one day.
When the Lord returns, there will be peace upon the earth. Everyone will sit under his fig tree and his vine. Peace—the Prince of Peace has returned.
So, brothers and sisters, you find in that vision a message. The message is this: if we are faithful as priests unto God, God will use us to bring in the Messiah.
The Prince of Peace will come, and the whole earth will enter into His glory. That is the message I believe the Lord wants to say to us. May we take it to heart.
Let us pray.
Dear Lord, Thou hast done everything that is needed. We cannot do a thing. It is all grace, and Thou hast already done it.
We pray that Thou wilt open our understanding, that we may accept the full salvation that Thou hast provided for us.
By Thy grace, Lord, make us faithful, that we may be those who will bring in the Prince of Peace. Oh, how the world needs peace. Come, Prince of Peace. We pray in Thy precious name. Amen.