Zechariah 3:1 - Meaning and Application

There had been a Joshua who played a major part in Israel’s first settling in Canaan. Here, another man with the same name is active in their return after the exile. The name Jesus is the same name and means “Savior,” and both Joshuas pointed ahead to him who was to come, our chief commander and our chief priest.

The angel who spoke with Zechariah showed him Joshua the high priest. The prophet may have seen Joshua often and spoken with him, but in ordinary life he only saw Joshua as he appeared to other people. If Zechariah was to know how Joshua stood before the Lord, that had to be shown to him in a vision. In the same way, people are really what they are before God, not what they seem to be to the world.

Joshua stood before the angel of the Lord, that is, before Christ, the Lord of the angels, to whom even the high priests of Aaron’s line were accountable. He stood there to carry out his office and serve God under the angels’ watch. He also stood to seek God’s answer for Israel, since he acted as their representative. Guilt and inward corruption are the two great things that discourage us when we stand before God.

By our guilt over sins we have committed, we become liable to God’s justice. By the power of sin living in us, we become hateful to God’s holiness. All God’s Israel are in danger on both counts. Joshua was in that position here, since the law made priests who were themselves weak and subject to failure (Hebrews 7:28). In both respects, we find relief in Jesus Christ, who has been made for us both righteousness and sanctification, that is, right standing with God and inward holiness.

Joshua is accused like a criminal, but he is declared righteous. A strong opposition is raised against him. Satan stands at his right hand to oppose him, acting as an accuser and enemy. He stands there like the prosecutor or witness at the prisoner’s right side. The devil is the accuser of the brothers and sisters, the one who accuses them before God day and night (Revelation 12:10).

Some think the high priest was accused because many of the lower priests had sinned by marrying foreign wives, a sin they were much guilty of after returning from exile (Ezra 9:1-2; Nehemiah 13:28). When God was restoring the priesthood, Satan brought up the priests’ sins to show that they were unworthy of the honor planned for them. Our own foolishness gives Satan room to attack us and gives him material for accusation. If anything is wrong, especially with the priests, Satan will surely magnify it and put the worst face on it.

He stood to resist Joshua, meaning to block the public service Joshua was doing. He stood at Joshua’s right hand, the hand of action, to discourage him and put obstacles in his path. When we stand before God to serve him, or stand up for God’s cause, we should expect every kind of resistance that Satan’s cunning and hatred can bring. So let us resist the one who resists us, and he will flee from us.

A victorious defense is made for Joshua. The Lord, that is, the Lord Christ, said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you.” It is the joy of believers that the Judge is also their friend. The same one they are accused before is their protector and advocate, and he will make sure they are brought safely through.

Satan is checked by one who has authority, one who has already conquered him and silenced him many times. The accuser of the brothers, of ministers and the ministry, is cast out. His charges are dismissed, and his suggestions against them, as well as his suggestions to them, are shown to be malicious, empty, and troubling. “The Lord rebuke you, Satan.” The Lord said this, meaning the Lord our Redeemer, “The Lord rebuke you,” meaning the Lord the Creator. God’s power is joined to make Christ’s grace effective. “Let the Lord restrain your hateful anger, reject your false charge, and punish your hatred of his servant.”

Those who belong to Christ have him ready to stand strongly for them when Satan comes against them with force. He does not argue at length with him, but stops him at once with this sharp rebuke: “The Lord rebuke you, Satan.” This is the best way to deal with that raging enemy. “Get behind me, Satan.”

Satan is also answered by reasoning with him. He opposes the priest, but his resistance will fail. It will do no good to try anything against Jerusalem, because the Lord has chosen it, and he will stand by his choice. Whatever can be said against God’s people, God already knew it. He foresaw it when he chose them, and still he chose them. So those faults cannot now become a reason for rejecting them. He knew the worst about them when he chose them, and his choice will stand.

Satan’s attack is also unreasonable, because this is a brand plucked out of the fire. Joshua is such a brand, and so are the priesthood and the people he represents. Christ does not find in them reasons for praise so much as reasons for pity. He is ready to make the best of his people, and he notices everything that can be pleaded in excuse for their weakness. He is far from being strict in marking every fault.

They have only recently been in the fire. No wonder they are blackened, smoked, and still smell like smoke. But that should excuse them, not accuse them. It is no surprise that people who only recently were captives in Babylon look poor and weak. They have just come through great trouble. Is Satan really so cruel as to want them thrown back into it? They have been wonderfully delivered from the fire so that God might be glorified in them. Will he then cast them off and abandon them? No, he will not quench the smoking flax, the smoldering firebrand, because he pulled it from the fire with a purpose.

A narrow escape from great danger is a hopeful sign and a strong plea for greater mercy. A converted soul is a brand plucked out of the fire by a miracle of free grace, and so it will not be left as prey for Satan.

Joshua also appears as one who is polluted, but he is purified, because he represents the Israel of God. All of them are unclean until they are washed and made holy in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. Here we should notice the impurity in which Joshua appeared. He was clothed, not just in plain clothes, but in filthy garments, which very badly suited the honor of his office and the holiness of his work. By the law of Moses, the high priest’s garments were to be for glory and beauty (Exodus 28:2). But Joshua’s garments brought shame and disgrace on him, yet he stood in them before the angel of the Lord. He had no clean linen in which to minister and carry out the duties of his office.

This shows, not only that the priesthood was poor and despised, and under heavy shame, but also that much sin clung to the holy things. The returned Jews were so absorbed with their troubles that they thought they did not need to complain about their sins. They did not see that their sins were the main reason God’s work was moving so slowly among them. Because they had turned away from idolatry, they thought no guilt was left in them, but God showed them many things were still wrong.

There were spiritual enemies fighting against them, and these were more dangerous than any nearby nation. The Chaldee paraphrase says Joshua had sons who married women priests were not allowed to marry, and we see that this was true in Ezra 10:18. There were likely other faults in the priesthood too (Malachi 2:1). Yet Joshua was allowed to stand before the angel of the Lord. Though his sons did not act as they should, the covenant of the priesthood was not broken. Christ bears with his people when their hearts are sincere, and he brings them into fellowship with himself despite many failings.

Provision was then made for Joshua’s cleansing. Christ gave orders to the angels who attended him and were ready to do his will, and they were to put Joshua into a better state. Joshua came before the Lord in filthy garments, as one needing mercy, and Christ looked on him with compassion, not with anger, though he had every right to do so. Christ hated the filth of Joshua’s garments, yet he did not cast Joshua away. Instead, he removed the garments. This is what God does by grace for those he chooses to be priests to himself. He sets them apart from their sins, so their sins do not separate them from him. He accepts the sinner, but not the sin.

Two things are done for Joshua here, and they picture a double work of God’s grace in believers. First, his filthy garments are taken away (Zechariah 3:4). Christ explains the meaning plainly: “See, I have taken away your guilt.” The guilt of sin is removed by pardoning mercy. Its smell and stain are removed by peace spoken to the conscience. Its power is broken by renewing grace. When God forgives our sins, he makes them pass from us so they cannot rise up against us to condemn us. They are removed as far as the east is from the west. When he changes our hearts, he helps us put off the old self and throw away the filthy clothes of corrupt desires and lusts.

In this way Christ washes those from their sins in his own blood whom he makes kings and priests to God (Revelation 1:5, Revelation 1:6). We must be cleansed from sin’s pollution, or else we will be unfit for that priesthood, as polluted people were removed from it (Ezra 2:62). Second, Joshua is clothed again. The shame of his filthiness is removed, and the shame of his nakedness is covered: “I will clothe you with rich garments.” Joshua had no clean clothing of his own, but Christ provides for him. He will not allow a priesthood he has appointed to fail or become contemptible before people, or unacceptable before God.

This change of clothing is rich and costly clothing, like garments worn on special days. Joshua will appear as pleasing as he had once appeared offensive. Those who serve in holy things will not only stop doing evil, but will learn to do good. God will make them wise, humble, diligent, faithful, and examples of what is good. Then Joshua is clothed with change of raiment. So those whom Christ makes spiritual priests are clothed with the spotless robe of his righteousness and appear before God in it, along with the graces of his Spirit, which are their true ornaments. The righteousness of the saints, both counted to them and worked in them, is the fine linen, clean and white, with which the bride, the Lamb’s wife, is dressed (Revelation 19:8).

Joshua is also in danger of being removed from office, but instead he is put back and confirmed in it. He not only has his sins forgiven and is given enough grace for himself, but, like one acquitted in court, he is restored to his former honor and duty. The crown of the priesthood is placed on him (Zechariah 3:5). This was done at the prophet’s special request: “Let them set a clean turban on his head,” as a sign of his office. Now that he looks clean, let him also look honored, and let him be dressed in the full garments of the high priest.

When God means to restore or revive religion, he stirs up his prophets and people to pray for it, and he answers those prayers. Zechariah prayed that the angels would set the turban on Joshua’s head, and they did it at once, along with the priestly garments. No one takes this honor for himself, but only the one God calls to it. The angel of the Lord stood by, watching over the work the created angels were doing. He stood by as one who was pleased with it, and as one who would continue to support the priesthood he had ordered.

The covenant of the priesthood is renewed with Joshua, called God’s covenant of peace (Numbers 25:12). Mr. Pemble calls it the grant of his office, and here it is declared and handed to him before witnesses (Zechariah 3:6, Zechariah 3:7). The angel of the Lord first made Joshua fit for his office, and that is how God works with every calling, he either finds a person fit or makes him fit. Then he installs him in office. Joshua is not made a priest with an oath, since that honor belongs to Christ, the priest after the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:21). But because Joshua is a type of Christ, he is given a solemn statement of the terms on which he holds his office.

The angel of the Lord warned Joshua that if he would do the duty of his office, he would enjoy its dignity and reward. He must walk in God’s ways, meaning he must live a godly life and be holy in all conduct. He must go before the people in the paths of God’s commandments and walk carefully. He must also keep God’s charge, faithfully carrying out all the duties of the priesthood, and making sure the lower priests performed their tasks properly and in order. He must watch himself and the whole flock (Acts 20:28). Good ministers must first be good Christians, but that alone is not enough. They have a trust committed to them, and they must guard it carefully so they can give account of it with joy (1 Timothy 6:14).

The next thing is the privileges we may expect, and be assured of, in the right discharge of this office.

His grant continues, “as long as he behaves well,” meaning during faithful service. Joshua must do his part, and God will honor him.

God says, “You will judge my house.” Joshua, the high priest, was to oversee the temple and guide the lower priests. This shows that the power of church leaders is not to make new laws for God’s house. Their task is to judge in the sense of making sure God’s laws and commands are obeyed. They must protect and encourage those who keep them, and they must investigate and punish violations.

God also says, “You will keep my courts.” Joshua was to watch over everything done in the temple courts and keep them pure and orderly for worship. Ministers are God’s stewards, responsible for caring for his courts out of respect for the Lord, who owns them. They must preserve fairness and good order among those under their care.

Finally, God says, “I will give you places to walk among those who stand by.” These are the angels who were serving as witnesses and helpers in Joshua’s appointment. They would stand by him while he served God, either as a kind of guard or as a sign of great honor, like an angel of God (Galatians 4:14). Ministers are also called angels (Revelation 1:20). Those who walk in God’s ways may be said to walk among the angels, since they do God’s will as the angels in heaven do and are fellow servants with them (Revelation 19:10). Some understand this as a promise of eternal life and a reward for Joshua’s faithfulness in the life to come. Heaven is not only a palace of rest, but also a paradise, a place to walk in, with paths among the angels and fellowship with that holy and glorious company (Ezekiel 28:14).