Zechariah 3

3:1 AND he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, 2 and Satan standing at his right hand to be his adversary. And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; yea, the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is 3 not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, 4 and stood before the angel. And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take the filthy garments from off him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have 5 caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with rich apparel. And I 6 said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and 6 clothed him with garments; and the angel of the LORD stood by. And the angel of the 7 LORD protested unto Joshua, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts: If thou wilt walk in my 7 ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou also shalt judge my house, and shalt also 8 keep my course, and I will give thee a place of access among these that stand by. Hear 9 now, O Joshua the high priest, thou and thy fellows that sit before thee; for they are men 9 which are a sign: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the Branch. For behold, the 9 stone that I have set before Joshua; upon one stone are seven eyes; behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in 10 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.

Chap. 3. A vision concerning Joshua, the high-priest, who appears as a type of the Jewish Church, whose adversaries are typified by the accuser or Satan. The restoration of ceremonial purity is indicated, and the advent of Messiah promised. B. C.—The first six verses describe the vision. They are in prose, except that the rebuke to Satan (verse 2) is three lines of verse. Verses 7–10, the words of the angel of Jehovah, are in poetical lines; each verse has a distinct topic. W. J. B.

Vision the fourth. Zechariah sees Joshua, the high-priest, standing before the angel of the Lord, as it were soliciting to be admitted to the discharge of his sacred functions, and Satan, or the adversary, standing by in the act of opposing him. The adversary receives a rebuke from Jehovah, by whose special command Joshua is stripped of his filthy garments and invested with the priestly robes of service, and a clean “mitre” or bonnet set upon his head. The angel delivers him a solemn charge. After this follows a clear and interesting prediction of the coming of the Messiah, and the establishment of His Church, of which Joshua and his companions are ordained to be signs. Pardon and peace are held forth as the blessed effects of Christ’s coming. Blayney.

Here we find Joshua, the high priest, put upon trial before Jehovah, with Satan as his accuser. According to the custom of Eastern trials, he is dressed in “filthy garments,” but upon his acquittal he is clothed in a dress of honor, and a tiara, indicative of his restoration to the high-priesthood, is placed upon his head. As high-priest he is to judge the people wisely, and thereby prepare for the coming of Christ, who is called the Branch or Sprout. Moreover, to encourage him, the foundation stone of the temple is laid before him, and he is assured that the seven eyes of God, the symbol of His ever-watchful providence, shall perpetually rest upon it. R. P. S.

1. The angel of Jehovah.** A clear idea in regard to this being is necessary to the understanding of the post-exilian prophets. In Zechariah he is the same as in the earlier Old Testament books—not some angel or other, but one particular being, different from ordinary angels. One especial characteristic of him is that at one moment he is a person distinct from Jehovah, perhaps interceding with Jehovah, or sent by Jehovah, and in the next moment he speaks or acts in the character of Jehovah Himself. In this he is like “the Word,” or “the Son,” of the New Testament. It was the angel of Jehovah that appeared to Moses in the burning bush, and went before Israel in the pillar of cloud or fire, and brought them in to the promised land (Ex. 3:2; 14:19; 23:20, 23; 32:34; 33:2; Isa. 63:9). Very important, in these prophecies of Zechariah, is the implication that the angel of Jehovah was now present with the returned exiles, as he had been with their fathers. Besides the angel of Jehovah, an interpreting angel (“the angel that talked with me”) is in this prophecy distinguished from any other angels who may happen to appear in any of the visions. W. J. B.

Satan. Rather, the accuser, or the adversary. Joshua is seen in vision preparing to offer an expiatory sacrifice on behalf of the people in discharge of his duty as high priest. But an adversary intervenes, who, as usual in the case of an accuser, stands at the right hand of the accused, and urges that he has incurred a ceremonial impurity which unfits him for his office of expiation. This charge is not expressly stated by the accuser, but may be inferred from the decision of the angel of Jehovah, who appears as an arbiter or judge. B. C.

The Bible record certainly seems to give the idea that there are two moral forces in the universe, and that the representative of the evil side of these forces is hostile to man, and would work his ruin, if possible, while the good, as represented by God Himself, is favorable to man, and stands ready to help him in the ceaseless struggle. This idea is the important one in the thought or figure of a personal devil. A man should know that he is in as great moral peril all the time as though a personal spiritual adversary stood at his right hand, even when he is in the presence of the angel of the Lord, or of God Himself; and that therefore it is for him to resist evil suggestions and influences vigorously, and to triumph over them through faith filled battling. H. C. T.—No one who accepts the authority of our Lord can well deny the existence and activity of a malignant spirit, who would fain make the most of men’s sins, and use them as a means of separating their doers from God. That is the conception here. A. M.

2. And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee. The Logos, or Son of God, said unto Satan, “The Lord,” even God the Father, “rebuke thee,” and not suffer thy mischievous imagination against Jerusalem and the temple to prosper: he, that hath chosen that place for his especial residence. This text seems parallel with Gen. 19:24, where it is said, “The Lord rained fire from the Lord out of heaven;” a text alleged by both ancient and modern writers, to prove that a distinction of persons in the blessed Trinity was a doctrine delivered, though but imperfectly, in the Old Testament. W. Lowth.

Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Is not this small remnant returned from captivity, miraculously rescued from utter destruction, like “a brand plucked out of the fire?” And can it be thought that God will not preserve them? (Cf. Amos 4:11; Jude, verse 23.) W. Lowth.

He who in verse 1 is called “the angel of the Lord,” is here “the Lord,” “Jehovah.” So also in the phrase “The Lord rebuke thee,” “Jehovah” is the word for “Lord,” showing that this term is applied interchangeably to both the Father and the Son. The clause, “The Lord rebuke thee,” is repeated, both for the greater emphasis, and in order to connect with it the consolatory words—He, the same that has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes thee. The term “choose” here, as in 1:17 and 2:12, implies God’s special love for Jerusalem as representing His own people. “Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?” implies that after the fires of utter destruction were already kindled upon her, the Lord plucked her out and extinguished the fires. Having done so much to save her, and at such personal risk, would the Lord give her up to Satan now? H. C.

3. Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments. What is meant by the “filthy garments” is evident from what is said by the Lord in the next verse, “Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee.” It is no other than the stain of moral pollution, which is in some degree found in every man, though done away by the grace of God in Christ. And it is in this respect that it is said (Isa. 64:6), “We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” This makes us unworthy in ourselves to appear in the presence of a God of purity, and this afforded the adversary his ground of objection against Joshua. Blayney.

3,4. The Mosaic law prescribed the priest’s garments very minutely, and made great account of them as indicative of the moral purity requisite in those who came before God. Here the filthy garments represent the sins of the people, and their long and guilty wanderings from God into idolatry in past time, from which they were only now returning. He stood before the Divine angel who, in verse 4, pardons sin. This Divine personage says to his attendant angels: “Take those filthy garments away;” and to Joshua, “See, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with festive garments,” such as the priests should wear on holy days. This removing of his sin is a representative thing, its import being, not that the Lord forgives his personal sin, but rather the sins of the people, and practically reinaugurates the functions of the priesthood. H. C.

Of special significance is the position of Satan with respect to the covenant people. This is shown with particular clearness in Zech. 3, while it is also briefly alluded to 1 Chron. 21. The vision in Zechariah is as follows: Joshua, the high-priest, stands in unclean garments before the angel of the Lord, and Satan stands at His right hand to accuse him. The Lord repels with threats the accusations of Satan, acquits the high-priest, and commands him, as a token of his acquittal, to put on clean festal garments. The high priest is the representative of the people. He is accused before the Lord, not on account of his own sins as an individual, but in his capacity of high-priest. His priestly garments are defiled. Satan affirms that for this sinful people there is no valid mediation before God; that Israel is rejected because there is no longer an atonement for them. The Lord will, however, have pity, according to verse 2, on this brand plucked from the fire, the remnant of His people, and will not regard their sin. He therefore causes the high-priest to be clothed in clean garments, thus acknowledging the validity of the high-priestly mediation, though with an intimation (verse 8) that the perfect atonement for the people is to be effected only by the Messiah. Thus the work of Satan is to question the forgiveness, the justification of the Church, in which sense he is called (Rev. 12 : 10), “the accuser of our brethren.” Hence he is here represented as the opposite of the angel of the Lord, who, according to Zech. 1 : 12 (like the high-priest on earth), stands before the Lord to intercede for the people. Oehler.

4,5. Note that Joshua’s guilt as the representative of the people is not denied, but tacitly admitted and actually spoken of in verse 4. Why, then, does not the accuser have his way? For two reasons. God has chosen Jerusalem. His great purpose, the fruit of His undeserved mercy, is not to be turned aside by man’s sins. The thought is the same as that of Jeremiah: “If heaven above can be measured, . . . then will I also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done” (Jer. 31 : 37). Again, the fact that Joshua was “a brand plucked from the burning”—that is, that the people whom he represented had been brought unconsumed from the furnace of captivity—is a reason with God for continuing to extend His favor, though they have sinned. God’s past mercies are a motive with Him. He has, therefore He will. Creatural love is limited, and too often says, I have forgiven so often than I am wearied, and can do it no more. We often come to the end of our long-suffering a good many numbers short of the four hundred and ninety a day which Christ prescribes. But God never does. True, Joshua and his people have sinned, and that since their restoration, and Satan had a good argument in pointing to these transgressions; but God does not say, “I will put back the half burned brand in the fire again, since the evil is not burned out of it,” but forgives again, because He has forgiven before. The sentence is followed by the change of the filthy garments, symbolical of sin, for the full array of the high-priest. Ministering angels are dimly seen in the background, and are summoned to unclothe and clothe Joshua, A. M.

The Lord will not only help us in our battling with the Tempter, He will also forgive us for having yielded to temptations, and will cleanse us from all our sins. Instead of the rags that indicate our helpless dependence, we shall be given rich apparel, as the clothing of those who have triumphed through the aid of our Divine Friend. We need have no fear in the conflict, however severe it may be; for victory is sure, through faith in Him who is mighty to save. H. C. T.

Thus those whom Christ makes spiritual priests are clothed with the spotless robe of His righteousness, and appear before God in that; and with the graces of His Spirit, which are ornaments to them. The righteousness of saints, both imputed and implanted, is the “fine linen, clean and white,” of Rev. 19 : 8. H.

7. The essential meaning of the verse is clear: “If thou art both obedient and faithful, thou shalt be established in the priesthood, thy services shall be accepted before Me, and thou shalt have ministering angels to lead and aid thee in thy work.” H. C.—He must walk in God’s ways, he must live a good life, and be holy in all manner of conversation; he must go before the people in the paths of God’s commandments, and walk circumspectly. He must also keep God’s charge, must carefully do all the services of the priesthood. He must take heed to himself, and to all the flock (Acts 20 : 28). Good ministers must be good Christians; yet that is not enough, they have a trust committed to them, they are charged with it, and they must keep it with all possible care, that they may give up their account of it with joy. H.

8. The Branch.** There is no article in the Hebrew, but “Branch” is used as if it were a proper name. The reference is distinct to the promise made in Jer. 33 : 14-26 ; 23 : 5-8 ; Isa. 4 : 2, that Jehovah would raise up to David a righteous Branch, and would perpetuate forever the throne of David and the ministrations of the priests and Levites. W. J. B.

The word “Branch” should not carry our thought to a branch in the sense of limb, as one among many on the same tree, but to the one shoot which springs up from the root, and which, though small at first, becomes a tree of wonderful qualities. The word seems to be chosen because it well expresses the humble origin of the Messiah and the small beginnings of His work, and also His descent from the stock of David as to His human nature. It occurs as a name for the Messiah in Isa. 4 : 2 ; Jer. 23 : 5 ; 33 : 15 ; Zech. 6 : 12. “My servant” is also a well-known designation of the Messiah, occurring Isa. 42 : 1 ; 49 : 3, 5, 6 ; 52 : 13 ; 53 : 11. The earliest Jewish expositors known to us interpret this passage of the Messiah.

The Chaldean paraphrase (older than the Christian era) reads it: “Behold, I bring My servant the Messiah, who will be revealed.” H. C.

The same person must needs be intended here as is spoken of under the same title Jer. 23: 5; nor can terms so magnificent as those used in the latter place more especially be applicable to any one of less consequence than the great Messiah Himself, through whom alone iniquity is put away and the reign of perfect peace and righteousness is to be established. Blayney.

9. The stone.** It removes most of the obscurities with which the interpretation of this verse is loaded, if we suppose that the stone here mentioned is the same with the “stone of lead,” the plummet of Zech. 4: 10—a small plummet weight, of lead or tin, with seven eyes engraved upon it. The plummet stone itself is an emblem of building, and the seven eyes engraved upon it are said in Zech. 4: 10 to be an emblem of Jehovah’s omnipresent watchfulness. It is an appropriate emblem, to be handed in turn to these two chiefs of the temple builders, Joshua and Zerubbabel. In our verse the angel places the plummet weight before Joshua as an emblem, saying as he does so, “Behold the stone that I place before Joshua, upon one stone seven eyes; behold I engrave the graving of it.” The meaning is: The engraving on it is My emblem, and it shall prove a true emblem of My forgiving watchfulness. W. J. B.

Upon one stone shall be seven eyes. To show My watchful providence over this and all other places devoted to My service; and withal the wisdom and other graces which shall be eminent in the Messiah, the chief corner-stone of all the mystical churches of God. The eye is the emblem of Providence; the number seven denotes perfection. Dr. Stokes.

“I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.” Jesus Christ has “once for all” made atonement, as the Epistle to the Hebrews so often says. The better Joshua by one offering has taken away sin. “The breadth of thy land, O Immanuel,” stretched far beyond the narrow bounds which Zechariah knew for Israel’s territory. It includes the whole world. As has been beautifully said, “that one day is the day of Golgotha.”

10. The vision closes with a picture of the felicity of Messianic times, which recalls the description of the golden age of Solomon, when “Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree” (1 K. 4: 25). In like manner the nation, cleansed, restored to its priestly privilege of free access to God by the Messiah who comes with the fulness of the Spirit, shall dwell in safety, and shall be knit together by friendship, and unenyingly shall each share his good with all others, recognizing in every man a neighbor, and gladly welcoming him to partake of all the blessings which the true Solomon has brought to his house and heart. A. M.

In that future day, when the Messiah shall be revealed, “the iniquity of His people be taken away in one day,” and their spiritual discipline be made effective to their sanctification, there will be superabounding joy and blessedness, beautifully represented here by the common Jewish conception of reposing in peace and in love under the vine and the fig tree. The last words of the verse, “under the vine and under the fig tree,” are given here as the very language of the call. Every man shall cry to his neighbor, “Ho! under the vine and under the fig tree;” come and let us have peace and rest, enjoying the gifts of our bountiful God! H. C.