09/06/2026
Hope for the Filthy: Zechariah 3:1-10
This Fall we’re taking a deep dive into Zechariah, one of the twelve Minor Prophets. He writes after the return from exile in Babylon. Although back in the Promised Land, God’s People remain under the thumb of pagan overlords. The foundation of the new temple is a dim shadow of the former glory of Solomon’s temple. The people are likely asking, “Is this all there is?!”
Through a series of visions and prophetic declarations, Zechariah warns the people of slipping back into the rebellious patterns of their forefathers. He calls them to repentance, obedience, and tells of the coming of the Messiah. He looks forward to a restored Jerusalem which exists to bring blessing to the whole world. As we read Zechariah through the lens of Jesus’s Person and work, the prophet takes our ache and longing in this broken world, translating the prayer “your kingdom come” into the cry, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”
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 accuse him. �2 - The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, 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 standing before the angel.
4 - He spoke and said to those who were standing before him, saying, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” Again he said to him, “See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes.”
5 - Then 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, while the angel of the Lord was standing by.
6 - And 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 perform My service, then you will also govern My house and also have charge of My courts, and I will grant you free access among these who are standing here.
8 - Now listen, Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who are sitting in front of you—indeed they are men who are a symbol, for behold, I am going to bring in My servant the Branch.
9 - For behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua; on one stone are seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave an inscription on it,’ declares the Lord of hosts, ‘and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
10 - ‘In that day,’ declares the Lord of hosts, ‘every one of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and under his fig tree.’”
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