Vision of the High Priest

Zechariah 3:1-10 

1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him. 2 And the LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?"

3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel.

4 Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, "Take away the filthy garments from him." And to him He said, "See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes."

5 And I said, "Let them put a clean turban on his head."

So they put a clean turban on his head, and they put the clothes on him. And the Angel of the LORD stood by.

The Coming Branch

6 Then the Angel of the LORD admonished Joshua, saying,
7 "Thus says the LORD of hosts:

'If you will walk in My ways,
And if you will keep My command,
Then you shall also judge My house,
And likewise have charge of My courts;
I will give you places to walk
Among these who stand here.

8 'Hear, O Joshua, the high priest,
You and your companions who sit before you,
For they are a wondrous sign;
For behold, I am bringing forth My Servant the BRANCH.

9 For behold, the stone
That I have laid before Joshua:
Upon the stone are seven eyes.
Behold, I will engrave its inscription,'
Says the LORD of hosts,
'And I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.

10 In that day,' says the LORD of hosts,
'Everyone will invite his neighbor
Under his vine and under his fig tree.'"

This vision of the High Priest and Branch seem to use the real figure of Joshua (Haggai 1:1) who was the priest standing before the Accuser Satan, who is the accuser of all God’s people.  God puts the adversary in his place quickly by forgiving grace to cover the sins of Joshua as the Christ Joshua (Jesus is the name Joshua) forgives ours by God’s command.  God chooses His own and rebukes the devil who tries to oppose and destroy us with accusations and lies.  He also uses Joshua the priest to point us to our eternal High Priest, Jesus Christ of the same first name but the one who is the forgiving and atoning one of us all.  The man priest was filthy with sin but was made clean by God’s will and command in this vision to be fleshed out later in the gospel through faith and repentance by the God priest (Hebrews 3:1, 4:14, 6:20).  Like Isaiah (Isaiah 6:5, 7), Joshua was cleansed of the iniquity of his sin and clothed with the righteousness of God, another foreshadowing of the gospel to be fully revealed by Jesus Christ and described by the apostles for our understanding.  This message of God’s working to call and save His chosen children has not changed; it has only a mystery made clearly evident to us as we read all of the counsel of God’s word like this passage.  We also have been clothed in the righteousness of Christ Jesus as our new robes and hat (1 Thessalonians 5:8) of the understanding of His word according to His Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:10, 12, 16) living in all His regenerated sons and daughters.  This passage also speaks of the Servant Branch who is the Messiah (Christ).  This suffering servant is told of in Isaiah 11:1-2 and Isaiah 42:1-2 as the seed from Jesse of King David according to the flesh but of God as well.  Matthew 12:17-18 clearly shows this is Jesus Christ of Bethlehem according to this earthly lineage as promised.  He was to come and remove our iniquities and cleanse us in His righteousness and unite His children in real fellowship to,share in all things as demonstrated in the first church of Acts 2:44-47 where they had all things in common.  Micah 4:4-5 also described this abundant life as one with no fear (1 John 4:18) for those who forever walk in the name of the Lord God in Christ as we know the mystery unfolded within us now (Colossians 1:26-27).  We now have peace with God under our trees as Isaiah 36:16 hinted at and has been given fully in Christ as Romans 5:1-2 assures us now.  We can therefore invite others to know Him and join us under that tree and vine of peace along with us and fellowship in our Branch of righteousness (Jeremiah 23:5, 33:15-16) together.  He is YHWH Tsidkenu, the LORD who is our righteousness!  All these things were foretold and began to be revealed since that vision long ago to see the gospel being unveiled slowly to us.  We see then that all scripture is profitable for us (2 Timothy 3:16-17) to learn and grow from as we continue in our sanctification to be transformed into the image of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18) as the restored image of God (Genesis 1:27) in which Adam our forefather was made.