Project 119: Zechariah 3

 |  Project 119  |  Amy Hirsch

As a kid, I can remember playing out in the mud puddles once in my whole life. I was probably in second grade and my friend Marla Grier had come over to play. I can just imagine the look of horror on my mom’s face when she looked outside and realized what we were doing!

Zechariah’s fourth vision is also a vision of horror and mess, but it’s not because anyone has been playing in mud puddles (at least, not physical ones). Zechariah has a vision of Joshua, the current high priest, standing in a heavenly courtroom, wearing his priestly garments. The only problem is that Joshua, the defendant, is clothed in in filthy garments. The word “filthy” is probably a tame term here; the Hebrew words used here describe Joshua’s robes being covered with human vomit and excrement. His accuser roars before the angel of the Lord; certainly this man isn’t fit to stand in the presence of God! We might expect God to agree with the accuser, after all; Joshua is the high priest, a man who ought to carry himself in a holy manner, and here he is, in heaven of all places, wearing soiled garments. But God shows grace. He rebukes the accuser and gives Joshua clean clothes, declaring He has removed his iniquity from him.

This vision probably encouraged the Israelites, who felt as if they stood before God in their own sin and shame following the exile. For so many years, their forefathers had neglected to hear God’s voice. They had chosen to give their love and loyalty to other gods, gods they fashioned with their own hands. This vision wasn’t just for Joshua; it was for all of Israel to be encouraged that God had chosen them, that he had plucked them out of exile like a brand plucked out of the fire (Zechariah 3:3). God’s grace was greater than their guilt.

Zechariah’s vision continues with the reinstatement of the priesthood, along with the promise of a greater priest—God’s servant, the Branch. On the Day of Atonement, God would remove the sins of the people, but Zechariah looked forward to the day when, on the cross, the Lamb of God, the Righteous Branch from the dynasty of David, would bear the sins of the people once and for all.

Zechariah’s vision also comforts and encourages us when hear the roar of Satan, our Accuser. We too come to God in the excrement of our sin and shame, and like Joshua, we can’t remove the stain on our own. And Satan would like nothing more than for us to feel the full weight of our sins and to despair without hope. But there is hope, because we too are plucked like brands from the fire, justified by the blood of Christ, and clothed in new garments, the very righteousness of God.

Zechariah 3 (ESV):

A Vision of Joshua the High Priest

1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2 And the LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, O Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” 3 Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. 4 And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” 5 And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD was standing by.

6 And the angel of the LORD solemnly assured Joshua, 7 “Thus says the LORD of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here. 8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring my servant the Branch. 9 For behold, on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with seven eyes, I will engrave its inscription, declares the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. 10 In that day, declares the LORD of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come under his vine and under his fig tree.”