Zachariah

Zechariah Chapter 3

• Zechariah 3:1 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.
• 2 And 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?

In Amos chapter 4:11 we see the reason Israel was like a brand plucked out of the fire?

• Amos 4:11 I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.

Here is a picture of the work of Satan. He wants to hinder any work of God. For some reason Satan did not want the nation of Israel restored and did not want Jerusalem to prosper and he did not want the temple to be rebuilt.

In Haggai chapter 1 we see the commandment to go and rebuild given from the Lord to Haggai and from Haggai to Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the high priest:

• Haggai 1:1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying,
• 2 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD'S house should be built.

The Messiah was to come through Israel and Satan tried to stop it. He tries to hinder any genuine work of the Lord. We can see as we study history that someone or something always has hated Israel and the Jews. They have been a scattered-hated nation and a people heavily persecuted. A brand plucked out of fire represents their suffering and deliverance from Babylon captivity and also may represent future sufferings they will face. Someday this will end. They will rule the world under Jesus Christ. When the end of their captivity came, some tried to hinder any restoration of the wall or the temple of the Lord.

Satan tries to hinder Jesus the Christ from fulfilling His mission:

• Matthew 4:8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
• 9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
• 10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Satan also is the accuser of the brethren. That is why it is important for us to avoid being his mouthpiece. This doesn't mean we can't correct error among our brethren but always in the spirit of meekness and never behind one's back to stir up evil.

• Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
• 10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

Satan will be defeated and cast out but for now he tries to hinder any work of God or any commandment of God from being fulfilled.

• Zechariah 3  Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.
• 4 And 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.

This Joshua existed in the days of the restoration of Jerusalem. His garments were not fit to be a priest so the garments were changed. He represented Israel and their sad condition. Changing the garments represented being cleansed from sin. This happened in part in those days but only temporarily. The future tribulation will bring about this cleansing once and for all; for all Israel shall be saved.

Isaiah 61:10 is another example of having garments changed but with a robe of righteousness when we are clothed with God's salvation.

• Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

To us, the old filthy clothing represent the old nature and sin. This Joshua was the spiritual leader in that day over Judah. His garment was changed and his iniquity taken away. This seems to be similar to what takes place when one receives salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

• Ephesians 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

Also Paul speaks of these things:

• Romans 3:21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
• 22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
• 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
• 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
• 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
• 26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

The whole iniquity of Judah will one day be taken away through faith in Jesus Christ. In Zechariah 12:10, the Jews will repent and mourn over the one that their ancestors pierced, and their iniquity shall be cleansed at the Second coming of Christ.

• Zechariah 3:5 And 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.

We see an example of someone lost and is found in the story of the prodigal son In Luke chapter 15.  He was also clothed and given a feast at his return to his father.

• Zechariah 6 And the angel of the LORD protested unto Joshua, saying,
• 7 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 places to walk among these that stand by.

Here is a verse among many verses in the law about keeping the charge of the Lord:

• Ezekiel 44:16 They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge.

Israel could have had everything long before this present time if only they had served the Lord from the beginning instead of rejecting the Messiah and rebelling against God by forsaking the Him many times. Satan would not have been allowed to persecute them and scatter them all over the world if they had been obedient to God in the first place. Through their disobedience though the gospel of salvation was preached to the Gentiles.

The presence of the Lord with Israel was conditional upon their walking in His ways and being obedient to His word. This applies to all those that believe in the future Messiah or Christ. We don't just believe in Jesus then do as we please. Obedience is also taught in the New Testament. 

Some, not all, of our own troubles are caused by our disobedience too. If we would spend more time seeking God and seeking God's will in our lives, we would get into less trouble. If we walk in His ways and seek His paths, we will judge the world along with Him.

A good comparison is the way we eat. If we eat fatty junk food all the time with very little exercise, our body will suffer. It is not that God wants us to be unhealthy and fat and is punishing us for some reason, it is because we do not eat right and exercise all that fat off. We get sick in this case because we did not watch our diet. We are what we eat.

This happens in the spiritual realm too. If we sow to righteousness we will reap the same. If we sow discord, discontent, murmuring and complaining, we will reap those kind of things. If we neglect to pray and seek God and daily consume the Word of God, we will be very weak spiritually. We are what we eat in the spiritual realm too.

Some trials come through no fault of our own though and will pass as we seek the Lord in faith and patience but some things do come as a result of our own disobedience and spiritual laziness.

• Zechariah 8 Hear 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.

Isaiah mentions the branch which is Christ:

• Isaiah 11:1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:

More about this rod of Jesse: Proof Jesus who died for sins was prophesied in Isaiah 53.

• Isaiah 53:1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
• 2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
• 3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
• 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
• 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
• 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

We can find Christ all through the law and the prophets if we look for Him. That is why Jesus said:

• John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

The only scriptures they had when Jesus walked on the earth among men, was what we call the Old Testament. It was the very word of God along with the New Testament that came later.

• Zechariah 9 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.

The seven eyes may refer to the Holy Spirit as described in Revelation chapter 5. 

• Revelation 5:6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

Here is a promise of the New Covenant for the house of Israel. We can't even fathom or imagine what Jesus Christ has for Israel and for all who believe: Here is one place in Jeremiah that tells of that new covenant.

• Jeremiah 31:33 But 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.
• 34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, 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.

He pardons, He saves, He gives, He heals. When we come to Jesus, we too shall know the Lord and have our sins remembered no longer. 

• Micah 7:18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.

This is why the song, Amazon Grace is so profound. His grace is freely given. He forgives and so must we.

• Zechariah 3:10 In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree.

This is also mentioned in Micah:

• Micah 4:4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.

Jesus Christ is the BRANCH. This branch was to take away sin and restore the nation of Israel. The first coming of Jesus was to make a sacrifice and offering for sin. He had to do this in order to bring salvation to a lost and dying world. At His Second Coming the evil in the world will be destroyed and Christ will rule from Jerusalem. The complete restoration of Israel will take place in full then and only then. Israel is partly in their own land after 1948 but there is constant war and fighting. The United States and the United Nations continually pressure Israel to give up more of their land. God will eventually judge the nations that are doing this and restore all to Israel that was promised to Abraham. The completion of the work of Christ will be at the Second Coming. 

Israel of course are not innocent in all their ways. I don't defend Israel when they do wrong or when they continue to reject Jesus Christ. This however, does not give us the right to take away anything God has promised to them. If one fully studies the scriptures, they will see that Israel will discover the true Messiah and will repent of sin. The church has never replaced Israel and the church is not the Israel spoken of in the Old Testament. The promises to Israel are to Israel. The church inherits the kingdom of God and the promises of Abraham if we come through Jesus Christ and obey the word of God. 

We never replace Israel but inherit their blessings only through faith in Christ. We must never boast and assume that we replace Israel. This has been the biggest mistake the church throughout the ages has done. Because Israel ceased to exist as a nation, the church assumed that God was finished with them and where God mentions Israel, the church assumed that the new Israel was the church. After 1948 there is no excuse for any church to assume anything other than what the bible says. 

Take the bible literally except where it is clear that a symbolic meaning is meant. DC