Verses 3 & 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 of his filthy clothes. “ Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you”.
GOD
CLEANSES HIS ELECT UNTO A HOLY PRIESTHOOD
Like
often in the Bible, in Zechariah’s fourth vision we have to do with a court
case, a trial. Satan – in Hebrew literally “the Accuser” – stands at the
right side of the accused, as it was the custom in an Israelite court of
justice. The high priest Joshua
represents mainly the corrupt priesthood of
Thus
could have sounded the act of accusation which Satan loudly declares before God,
brothers and sisters. In the mean time, Joshua - the accused - stands in the
presence of God, powerless, miserable and in despair. His clothes bear all the
filth of Judas' history of disobedience, of uncleanness and wickedness. The
Hebrew word translated by filthy actually means "covered and
defiled by excrements". So Satan did not lie, his facts about the case
are right! He knows the law of the Lord by heart, and he carefully counts every
and each sin which you and I commit against it. He is excellent at making the
total sum of them and writing them down; none of then are missing on his long
list... but by doing so he does not only want to make of you and I a loser; he
also wants to make of God a loser. He wants to turn Gods just judgement against
God Himself and against His angel: after all, didn't God's plan for his creation
clearly fail? Why is He going on with it? The only solution is to destroy it,
Satan means. Didn't God himself say: " I
will put an end to your uncleanness"? Let God destroy his people first,
and then the rest of the creation; for what is the goal of keeping His Creation
after the fall, if there is no people left to fulfil a holy function in it? Oh
brothers and sisters, it is not so much Joshua who stands at the centre of
Satan's accusation. Joshua and
Bu
suddenly, a miracle takes place. Suddenly the accuser becomes the accused and is
even threatened.
" The Lord
rebukes you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you! Is not this
man a burning stick snatched from the fire?"
What happened? Satan, how learned in the law he may be, easily forgot the
following words in God's law: "I
punish the children for the sins of the fathers to the third and fourth
generation of those who hate me, but I show love to a thousand generations of
those who love me and keep my commandments” The
Lord let his just judgement take place: in the year 586 before Christ, he
had Jerusalem and his temple destroyed by the Babylonian troops. That is neither
a myth, nor a legend, nor a cleverly invented story, that is the historical
manifestation of God's judgement upon his unfaithful people, a judgement
announced by his prophets, and recorded for us in the Bible. After this
destruction, three of four generations of Jews were brought to exile. Now, the
time for the restoration has come, merely on the following ground: "I
have chosen Jerusalem” This
choice of Jerusalem as God's city is a sovereign decision, and the Lord
will show Satan that he remains in control of history and circumstances.
In chapter one and two of the book Zechariah, the restoration of
Jerusalem as a city is already mentioned. Of course it goes hand in hand with
rebuilding the Temple, where a faithful priesthood must from now on serve God
and enhance communion with him. In order to fulfil His plan, God indeed puts and
end to the uncleanness of his people. But he does not do it in the way Satan
wants it. He will now show Satan that he has the power to put an end to the
uncleanness of his people in a different way, a divine way: after having brought
punishment upon them, He snatches a burning stick out of the fire. As only an
Almighty and gracious King can do He declares Joshua clean, and that become
reality... He forgives, according to His gracious nature, and He purifies His
people. Yes, He is just, but He is also merciful, without the two clashing
against each other or cancelling one another. And so Satan, who does not know
what forgiveness means, becomes the loser in this trial. This is the glorious
Gospel of our Lord, for the comfort of all of us brothers and sisters...
3. The consequences of the purification: the restoration of an eternal priesthood before God.
And
now, while Satan the Accuser recedes into the background, the Angel of the Lord
comes to the fore. Who is he? In the Old Testament, he is sometimes
distinguished from the Lord, and sometimes identified with him. It is him who
now has Joshua put on clean clothse. It is him who proclaims to the high priest
that his sins have been forgiven. Who can forgive sins, except God himself,
teachers of the Law once thought in themselves, after Jesus had said to a
paralysed man, " Friend you sins are
forgiven”. Of course, those
are words which only the Lord or His angel can utter.
In
the same gracious trend, he also cansay on behalf of the Lord "
I will remove the sin of this land in a single day"
(verse 9).
He can even promise a communion with God unheard-of before: "I will
give you a place amongst these angels standing here”. The restoration of
the priesthood before the Lord is now assured; access to God has again been
secured. The symbol of this restoration is the clean turban, which is put on the
head of Joshua, upon the insistence of the enthusiastic prophet Zechariah, who
attends the trial as an active spectator. According to Exodus 28, this turban
had to be the most special sign of the high priest’s garments. There had to be
a flower made of pure gold attached to the turban, with the following words
engraved on it: “Holy to the Lord”. What is striking here, brothers
and sisters, is that the cleansing of the high priest is not effected by way of
a ceremonial ritual as prescribed by the Law. Remember the stipulations of the
Law for the cleansing of the people, as we read them in Leviticus16: the high
priest bore upon him all the sins of the people as well as his own ones when he
entered the Most Holy place. There he served as mediator between God and the
people by accomplishing all the prescribed rites. Therefore at the same time he
bore the sins of Israel upon him before God, and he conveyed God’s cleansing
to them on behalf of Him. This double function made of him a mediator between
God and Israel. But here, something else takes place: somebody greater than the
high priest does the cleansing by having him putting on clean garments. Joshua
does not accomplish any ritual; he passively receives the clean garments and the
turban. He is directly declared clean in the presence of the holy God. The whole
ritual of his office as high priest is replaced by a direct process of
purification which the Angel of the Lord accomplishes. Thus, above the
priesthood of Joshua there is in heaven a totally different type of priesthood
which both replaces and restores Joshua’s priesthood! And here we get another
insight into God’s wonderful plan: the restoration of the priesthood, after
the purification has taken place, goes further into the future than the
generation of these Jews who came back to Judah seventy years after the
destruction of the city and its temple. The past has been dealt with and the
present is marked by the joyful reconciliation with God. But our text goes
further and points towards a unique future. Joshua and his friends are described
by the Angel of the Lord as a sign of somebody else who will come one day, a
servant whom the Angel calls “ the Branch” (v.8).
Why “the Branch”? Because from this burning stick snatched from the
fire, God is going to let something arise which will be incorruptible. We find
this name- “the Branch”- already used in the book of Isaiah and
Jeremiah. Here it is linked to another name: “My servant”, which is
also used by Isaiah and Jeremiah to indicate a royal offspring. Thus Joshua and
his friends become a prefiguration of a messianic figure who will be both priest
and king. We find again this Branch mentioned in Zechariah 6: “Here is the
man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build
the temple of the Lord. It is he who will build the temple of the Lord, and he
will be clothed with majesty and will rule his throne. And he will be a priest
on his throne. And there will be harmony between the two.” Both king and
priest, like Melchisedek, king of Salem and priest of the Most High, in the book
Genesis. We understand even better why Satan was continually accusing Joshua.
Through Joshua, who would serve as a sign of the Branch, Satan wanted to prevent
the coming of the kingship and priesthood of the Branch.
But
his efforts are in vain. The Branch will come one day, as the Angel of the Lord
announced it. God’s plan will be carried out. The author of the letter to the
Hebrews, in the New Testament, testifies about it in chapter 7: “Because
Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save
completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to
intercede for them.” An eternal priest intercedes for us and builds a
temple that cannot be destroyed because He himself is the temple. As for us, we
have access to his temple and we become a new priesthood for God insofar we too
receive new clothes, washed from all uncleanness. This priesthood is filled with
the Holy Spirit, since as cleansed people, we now have been sanctified, we have
been made holy: Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have
the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city” Do
we read in Revelation 22 verse 14. “You are sons of god through faith in
Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself
with Christ” Paul writes in Galatians 3:27. In Romans 13:14. This motive
becomes an invitation, even a pressing exhortation: “ Clothe yourself with
the Lord Jesus Christ”. This is the glorious Gospel of our Lord, for the
comfort of all of us, brothers and sisters…
4. An
insight into eternal peace
Zechariah’s
vision ends with a future look into the future: “ I will remove the sin of
this land in a single day. In that each day of you will invite his neighbour to
sit under his vine and fig tree, declares the Lord Almighty”(v. 9and 10).
This typical expression indicates peace, security and prosperity for the people
of God. The prophecy of Amos ends with a similar image: “I will bring back
my exiled people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them.
They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat
their fruit. I will plant Israel in their own land, never to be uprooted from
the land I have given them”, says the Lord your God.” God’s promise of
a future of peace, security and prosperity is not just addressed to Joshua and
the people of Judah after the exile. This promise certainly applies to us too,
who have clothed ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, our eternal priest. But
just as for Joshua and his friends, the covenantal condition expressed in verse
7 also applies to us: “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 angels standing here.” We remain a new,
Spirit filled priesthood for God inasmuch as we remain a covenantal people,
congregation of our Lord Jesus-Christ. Let us never forget it, we who too were
at one stage a burning stick snatched from the fire. For in order to make of us
a royal priesthood, God had to send His son on earth like a Lamb who was
crucified on the altar of Golgotha.
That was
the price to pay to give us our new identity: a covenantal price, paid with the
blood of the New Covenant. Our new identity, as God’s new priesthood, is best
described by these words of 1 Peter chapter2:”You are a chosen people, a
royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare
the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” As
royal priesthood, we are therefore called to proclaim in words and deeds the
praises of our Holy God. This is our Covenantal task, which we best carry out
when we walk in God’s ways and keep His requirements. Zechariah’s vision of
peace, security and prosperity is addressed to such covenantal people saved from
Satan ‘s accusations and from God’s holy judgement; a people wearing
cleansed garments, clothed with Jesus Christ. Of this people John says, in
Revelation chapter 5 “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve
our God, and they will reign on the earth.”
AMEN