Priest Joshua!
Bible Texts (Concordant Version of the Old Testament and Concordant Literal New Testament with keywords Concordance (Main text: Zechariah 3:1-10 and 1 Peter 5:8)
1 Then He showed
me Joshua, the great , standing before the messenger of Yahweh, and Satan,
standing at his right, to be his adversary.
2 And Yahweh said to Satan, Yahweh is rebuking you, Satan; Yahweh Who is
choosing Jerusalem is rebuking you. Is not this wooden poker being rescued from
the fire?
3 Yet Joshua was clothed in filthy garments, and was standing before the
messenger.
4 And He answered and spoke to those standing before him, saying, Take away the
filthy garments from him. And He said to him, See, I cause your depravity to
pass from you, and will clothe you with fine outfits.
5 And I said, Let them place a clean turban on his head. So they placed the
clean turban on his head and clothed him in garments. And the messenger of
Yahweh was standing by.
6 Then the messenger of Yahweh testified to Joshua, saying,
7 Thus says Yahweh of hosts: Should you be going in My ways and should you be
keeping My charge, then indeed you shall adjudicate over My house and,
moreover, you shall keep My courts, and I will give to you access among those
who are standing by.
8 Hear now, Joshua, the great , you and your associates who are sitting before
you, for men of a miracle are they, for behold Me bringing My servant, the
Sprout.
9 For behold the stone which I bestow before Joshua; on one stone are seven
facets. Behold Me engraving its engraving, averring is Yahweh of hosts, and I
will remove the depravity of that land in one day.
10 In that day, averring is Yahweh of hosts, you shall invite each man his
associate to come under the vine and under the fig tree.
One of the things you should
understand this week is that as good as light may benefit millions of people
for sight and direction, it may not be able to illuminate its own shadow. This
is what Priest Joshua learnt in Zechariah 3. The day I studied this scripture;
it helped me to be more humble/sober and more careful about life. I am not perfect but I
understand that my completion is in Yeshua (2 Colossians 2:10). I believe this would be a huge blessing to you
as well.
Priest Joshua was a prominent person
in the land of Israel. He was commanding the respect of his associates and
millions of people. If it were these days, he would probably be controlling billions of hard currencies in many bank accounts, fleet of
cars and different kinds of jets among many things a man of his status should have. He would have a large parcel of land built with exquisite
gigantic mansion. He would have many real estates and many land property on his name. He would be wearing the best outfits and his dinning
table would be full of dainty foods. His wife and children would be proud of this man
and they would have trusted him to be always right with Yahweh. This man would never stop asking his congregation to continue to give money. His words are full of compelling, manipulation and coercing. He was the Chief Priest in Jerusalem. What a higher position. This man was on the top of
the world during his lifetime and he believed that he lacked nothing until Zechariah
3:1-10. For clarity, there was Joshua who was the first Judge in Israel. However, after many years, there was another Joshua who was a Chief Priest in the land of Israel. So, they are not the same people.
Priest Joshua did not know his spiritual
state before Yahweh. He was being fooled with his riches, fame, signs and
wonders, great preaching, tons of followers and all material blessings. Remember
that it was a vision. So, Priest Joshua could not control what happened in this
event. When Zechariah narrated the vision he had with Priest Joshua, I believe
it would be a great awakening to him. This vision might be a great turnaround for
him as he was instructed in verse 6 through 10 of this scripture passage to change his ways and relate this vision to his associates.
The vision in summary is this:
In the presence of Yahweh, Satan was standing beside Priest
Joshua. Both were standing in front of a messenger (believed to be Yeshua). It was kind of a court. Priest Joshua’s appearance was an outfit of a rag and tattered cloth.
It depicts that his righteousness was like a filthy rag (Isaiah 64:6). Priest
Joshua believed he was spiritually okay but his appearance in this vision shows
that he was not looking presentable before Yahweh and the host of heaven. This
is why Satan was standing beside him to report him as an unworthy gesture in the
presence of Yahweh. Satan is specialized in reporting your flaws before Yahweh
(Revelation 12:10). He is like a roaring Lion (1 Peter 5:8). He always love to scare children of God and love to report them to God. Just so you know. That is his job description.
Satan expected Yahweh to reject Priest Joshua because of how bad he appeared before Yahweh. However, Yahweh showed mercy on
this Priest. He was regarded as a wooden poker being rescued from fire. In order
words, Priest Joshua was a useful tool but he was a beautiful wood rescued from trouble and condemnation. Just imaging you saving your valuable substance from
being burnt in a fire. If that substance can talk, it would certainly
appreciate you for saving it. This is how Priest Joshua’s situation was before Elohim
Yahweh, the messenger and the host of heaven. Therefore, Satan was rebuked by this messenger (in the name of the Lord) concerning the report he brought against Priest Joshua. His dirty
cloth was replaced with a brand-new outfit. This is a complete mercy from
Yahweh.
Example of wooden pokers
However, this passage is not about Jerusalem but it is about Priest
Joshua. Yahweh referred to the inhabitants of Jerusalem city as his choice not
by their good deeds but by his mercy. He made a reference to this city as an
example of his magnanimous mercy. So, he extended the same mercy to Priest Joshua. Paul recorded that Yahweh will have mercy upon who he would (Romans 9:15).
This bible passage centered on Priest Joshua, not on Jerusalem.
When Priest Joshua’s outfit was
changed with a turban on his head, the messenger instructed him to be
following Yahweh's ways and he should be keeping Yahweh's charge. This would enable this Priest to
adjudicate over his house (that is, Jerusalem). Moreover, the Priest should keep Yahweh's courts among other things in this scripture. At the heel of this vision, Zechariah admonished Priest Joshua to
follow Yahweh’s instructions as found from verse 6 through 10.
In conclusion, Zechariah was just a Prophet.
He was nobody. He was not even recognized in the city of Jerusalem as a
significant person but Yahweh knew him. Yahweh confounded the wise (Priest
Joshua) with the unwise (Prophet Zechariah) according to 1 Corinthians 1:19. Zechariah was
shown this great vision about the shortcomings of this great Priest. It means Yahweh can use anyone no matter how unrecognizable they may be. This Priest was in the dark for so many years until Yahweh sent
Zechariah to him. Indeed, Yahweh is merciful. May he continue to show us mercy
in all areas of our shortcomings. May Yahweh never leave us in the dark. May Satan be continually be charged guilty on our cases in Yeshua's name. Amen. For clarity, Isaiah 54:17 tells us that we can also condemn any tongue that rises up against us but Zechariah 3:1-10 was not a real life incidence. It was a vision. It was not controllable. So, Yeshua, the messenger rebuked Satan for charges brought up against Priest Joshua. I hope you can see the difference between the two scripture passages.
I do not know what this week’s blog might mean to you but I hope
it blesses you once again.
Thanks for your continuous prayers and words of encouragement.
Shalom!
References:
https://www.concordant.org/version/read-concordant-old-testament-online/the-book-of-zechariah/
https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AwrFFggZMstoCgIAmr9XNyoA;_ylu=Y29sbwNiZjEEcG9zAzEEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3Nj?p=picture+of+satan+standing+beside+priest+joshua&fr=mcafee#id=47&iurl=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.bible.art%2F0f6b5acb-f7f1-4c1a-aa14-61fc641771a6-compressed.jpg&action=click
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