Zechariah 3:1-101And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. 2And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? 3Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel. 4And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment. 5And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord stood by. 6And the angel of the Lord protested unto Joshua, saying, 7Thus 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 places to walk among these that stand by. 8Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH. 9For 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. 10In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbor under the vine and under the fig tree. (Zechariah 3:1‑10)
Zechariah 3 has often been used by preachers as an illustration of the Gospel, and beautiful it is in this aspect. But we are here concerned with the strict interpretation of the vision.
The previous chapter uses for the first time the characteristic expression, “In that day” (vs. 11), employed about a score of times in the book, notably in Zechariah 12. It speaks in glowing terms of the restoration of Israel and the blessing in Zion. But God is righteous, and the vision in Zechariah 3 informs us how this restoration will take place.
In this vision there are three prominent actors—Joshua, the High Priest, the Angel of the Lord—that is, Jehovah Himself,—and Satan, the accuser. Exodus 23:20-2320Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. 21Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him. 22But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries. 23For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off. (Exodus 23:20‑23) tells us who the Angel of the Lord is. The translators, seeing its obvious meaning, have spelled “Angel” with a capital letter, whilst the sentence, “My name is in Him” (vs. 21), is conclusive testimony as to who the Angel is, even Jehovah in relation to His people.
Joshua stands as the representative of Israel, and what happened to him symbolically will happen to Israel in a future day.
Satan stands to resist the action of the Lord towards Joshua. That action is one of grace and compassion. Notice how verse 2 does not say, “the Angel of the Lord,” but “THE LORD said unto Satan.”
He therefore asserts His sovereignty in the choice of Jerusalem, His right to bless. He speaks of His choice of Jerusalem, and then turns to Joshua, saying of him, “Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?” thus placing Jerusalem and Joshua together, showing that the latter stands for more than himself, but is typical of the whole people.
Joshua's filthy garments are typical of the moral condition of Israel. A High Priest is the last person one would associate with the thought of filthy garments, and it gives us thus a very vivid and affecting presentation of the utterly ungodly state of the nation in the last days when God shall bring them into blessing once more.
The filthy garments are removed, iniquity is caused to pass away, a change of raiment is given, and a fair miter is placed on the High Priest's head.
Notice as the vision proceeds it is (1) “The Angel of the Lord” (vs. 1); (2) “The Lord” (vs. 2); and (3) “I” (vss 4-5); showing more and more the Lord's direct and interested dealings in the matter.
Thus in symbol we see (1) Israel cleansed; (2) Israel's change of habits and ways before God; (3) Israel's resumption of temple worship and right relationship to God as a kingdom of priests.
The first will be fulfilled when “a fountain ... for sin and for uncleanness” is opened for “the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem” (Zech. 13:11In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. (Zechariah 13:1)); the second at the same time, when the new covenant shall be made with Israel (Jer. 31:31-3431Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: 33But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. (Jeremiah 31:31‑34); Ezek. 36:25-3025Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 26A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. 28And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. 29I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. 30And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen. (Ezekiel 36:25‑30)), “a new heart” and “a new spirit” given them, and God's Spirit communicated to them. Their ways will then be such as is symbolized by the change of raiment, whilst the third will be seen in the re-established worship of God in the temple, built according to Ezekiel's vision.
But how is all this change to be effected in such a sinful nation, if God is to keep His character for righteousness and holiness? The answer is touchingly beautiful.
Attention is called in verse 8 to the fact that Joshua and his fellows were men to be wondered at, that is, men set for a sign or symbol. This is the meaning of the passage. Ezekiel 12:1111Say, I am your sign: like as I have done, so shall it be done unto them: they shall remove and go into captivity. (Ezekiel 12:11) is a clear statement as to this in the case of that prophet.
Then we get the wonderful statement: “Behold, I will bring forth My Servant the BRANCH” (vs. 8). All this blessing that is set out prophetically before us for Israel is secured in Christ.
And how did Christ, Jehovah's Servant, serve? Hebrews 10 furnishes the answer. He came to do God's will, and that was accomplished at Calvary's cross. In that very chapter in a book written to Jewish believers they are reminded as the result of the work of Christ and upon its righteous ground that “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord. I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them [“change of raiment” ]; and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more [“filthy garments” removed]” (vss. 16-17).
Then Joshua is called upon to behold “the Stone,” “one Stone,” and set in it “seven eyes,” and graving engraved upon it. Here we get three wonderful things: (1) “The Stone,” the “one Stone,” reminding us of the foundation Stone, tried, precious, and sure, the corner Stone, spoken of in Isaiah 28:1616Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. (Isaiah 28:16), showing us that all blessing is secured in Christ. (2) “Seven eyes,” speaking of Messiah's God-like qualities, for He is the God of omniscience and perfect wisdom in carrying out divine purposes of blessing for Israel. (3) The engraving speaks of God's fixed, unalterable decision to bless, in the words, “I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.” This will surely come to pass, leading to the Millennium described in the last verse of the chapter.