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5. Zechariah 3: “Glory,
Vision, and Spirit of the Living God”
Golden
Nursing Center in Mannington, NJ –Evening Service on 5/20/2010
(edited
May 2019)
Verse 1: “And he shewed me
Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his
right hand to resist him.”
Zechariah was an Old Covenant
prophet of Judah. As the 70-year Babylonian captivity of God’s people is coming
to a close, we find Zechariah here is having one of his 10 visions (and ALL 10
happened to him in one night!). God was on the move and bringing glorious hope
to His people after a long spiritual draught.
Notice that Satan is also in this
vision. Satan seems curious and seeking some type of involvement. I believe,
from experience and observation over the years, he still shows up today when
the Spirit of God moves among His New Testament people, the Church. Ignoring
the dark shadows that can surround God’s work on this earth can be a fatal
error. Zechariah could not, I’m sure, ignore what he was seeing in this vision:
Verse 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?”
Peter and Jude both comment on
this passage in their New Testament writings to warn us, today, against trying
to directly attack or approach Satan. One of the most dangerous aspects of adopting
unbelieve as a world view is, in addition to ignoring the power and existence
of the Lord, also ignoring the existence, workings, and tragic effectiveness of
Satan.
[note: I have pondered this more
lately and conclude that, perhaps, the existence of a real devil is so distasteful
to an unbeliever because to acknowledge this dark power we must also accept
that the only hope any of us have to overcome it is to FULLY TRUST and FULLY RELY
on the RIGHTEOUSNESS and POWER of Almighty God, and not ourselves.]
That’s exactly what Zechariah is
hearing in his vision. Even the “angel of the Lord” can only offer this as a
defense: “the Lord rebuke thee, O Satan.” For all of us, whether we realize it
or not, resisting Satan exposes our utter spiritual weakness and should never
be taken on lightly or presumptuously. This reminds me, to use a more pleasant
example of our total dependence on God, of how we believers often close our
prayers by saying “in Jesus’ name.” I just about always say that and it’s not
just by rote. I KNOW that my only claim to any access to God’s attention comes
directly through Christ. This is also very humbling to me, as it should be.
Verses
3-5: “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 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. 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.”
The priest in this vision represents the whole nation, I would
say. They are filthy, brought low, and undone. Brought down by their own sins.
Sins against God and their fellow men. But after 70 years of slavery and
defeat, and with Satan himself looking on, God is bringing back His nation.
Verses
6-7: “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 places to walk among these that stand by.”
The Mosaic Covenant will apply to this
restored Israel also, Joshua is being told. Obey and find blessing, regress and
suffer. They might be doomed to continue the downward spiral that brought them
here to Babylon in the first place. But there is more to come in this vision. Much
more:
Verse 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.”
When the nation was crumbling
around them, 70 years before this vision, both Jerimiah (see Jer. 23:5) and
Isaiah (see Isa. 11:1-5) also had prophesied of this coming King, the Branch.
Wow! It is hard not to see this as a clear reference to Christ. He would come
as the Son of a daughter of King David and His death and resurrection,
still yet to happen, would usher in the swallowing up of the Old Covenant and
institute the Age of Grace. This was more than anyone in Zechariah’s day could
imagine or pray for. And yet for all the prophesy and foretelling Jesus would
still be rejected by the leaders of Israel when He finally came on the scene.
They must have been very confused. (What can I say, I rejected Him also until I
was 24 years old!)
The language we’re hearing now is
the Lord’s. It is difficult still to fully grasp:
Verses
9-10: “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 call every man his neighbour under
the vine and under the fig tree.”
Other leaders would be raised up for Israel prior to Christ’s
birth. Forgiveness and brotherhood would blossom and then wane, as before in
their History. The Temple would be rebuilt but the Mosaic Covenant was waxing
old, God having something far better in store for anyone today in any nation
who will personally accept Christ as the full and final propitiation for their
sins.
Back in the 1980’s I had sent a “fan” letter to a then-famous radio
preacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee, asking for advice about my shaky efforts at the
time to launch a local music ministry here in New Jersey. His reply came in the
form of a reference to the next chapter and vision in this book, especially
Zechariah chapter 4, verse 5:
“Then he answered and
spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying,
Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.”
I really took this advice to heart. Dr. McGee was a wise man. This
WAS not only great advice for King Zerubbabel in Zechariah’s day, but it REMAINS
the BEST WAY for you and me to serve the Lord.
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