Suddenly if you've ever had this experience, you're lying in bed at night, trying to go to sleep, can't quite get to sleep, and suddenly this movie starts playing in your head. And this movie seems to be entitled, All the Stupidest Things I Have Ever Said. And clip after clip plays in your head, building up the case and the evidence to prove the point seemingly that you are a total chump, or maybe it's things that you've done as well, but the effect of it is to bring this kind of cringing, embarrassment, and shame. This kind of self-acculation can take on a higher pitch.
We can accuse ourselves for things that not are just not just dumb or unwise or socially awkward, but we can begin to accuse ourselves for our sins. And to a certain extent, that's healthy. We do things that we shouldn't do, and our conscience accuses us for that, and that's one of the ways that the spirit works through us and sanctifies us, and tries to make us hold your people in more like Jesus Christ. But there's another voice of accusation that can come, and begin to whisper in our ears in those moments.
And this voice doesn't just remind us of our sins, this voice doesn't just convict us of things that we've done wrong, but this voice takes it a step further. This voice begins to tell you, what would God want with someone like you? You really think he wants to forgive your sins? You really think he's willing to save someone like you that's done the things you've done that feels the shame and regret that you feel?
You really think God's interested in saving someone like you? If it's possible to imagine this, in the context of the Prophet Zechariah, the Jews were experiencing that kind of crisis on a societal level, on the level of the entire people. They had been punished for their sins by being conquered and overcome by the Babylonians. The temple had been sacked and destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar.
They had been sent into the Babylonian captivity for 70 years. Invenths had been born and grown up and become men full of years in the time that they spent in Babylon. But in the context of the Prophet Zechariah, the people are beginning to return. There is a work of rebuilding that's occurring.
The walls are being rebuilt. The temple was being rebuilt. And they are preparing to restart the sacrifices. The sacrifices that were once the tangible reminders of God's grace and mercy towards them.
But as the high priest, Joshua, prepares to be installed in that role, he's become aware of the fact that he, who is to offer sacrifice on behalf of the people, himself does not come with clean hands. He and the rest of the people bear their sins with them and are defiled by them and made unclean by them. And the question arises, what would God want with people like this? The voice of accusation.
An accusation that doesn't just aim to convict of sin, but to say that God rejects you and does not want to save you. What we're going to learn in this passage is that that voice, when it comes, is the voice of Satan. And that God decisively rejects it. And that we need not answer that voice of accusation because God has answered it for us.
And God has rejected the devil's accusations for the sake of Jesus Christ. So let us attend this passage and let us learn how to answer this voice of accusation that says that God is not willing to save us. It's after I, chapter three. Then you showed me Joshua, the high priest, standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.
And the Lord said to Satan, the Lord rebuke you of Satan, the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you, is not this a brand blocked from the fire. Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. 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.
And I said, let them put a clean turban on his head. So he put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by. And the angel of the Lord solemnly assured Joshua, 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.
Here now, O Joshua, the High Priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for thee are men who are assigned. Behold, I will bring my servant, the branch. For behold, on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with seven eyes, I will engrave its inscription to the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. In that day, he declares Lord of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come under his vine, and under his fig tree.
Thus far, the reading of the word of God. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we pray that you would bless us with ears that are attentive to the message of your word, that we would hear your vindication of us in Christ Jesus, and that would be sufficient to silence the voice of the accuser. Please bless the preaching of your word, may be preached not with the wisdom of men and not with eloquent human words, but in the very power of your spirit.
For we pray in Jesus' name, amen. As I expound the text, I want to divide it into three sections. One, concerning the work of Satan. Two, concerning the work of Joshua.
And three, concerning the work of the branch. So the first section is the work of Satan, and this covers verses one and two. It might sound odd at first to think of Satan as having work to do, but he does, and he works very hard at the work he has to do. The scripture is accused of Satan of many sins.
He's called a liar and a murderer, and he is a tempter and a deceiver and an accuser, but one thing the Bible does not call him is lazy. He has work to do, and he is about doing it. What is his work? Scriptures describe Satan as a prince and a ruler.
So he has a people that he rules over. Who, whom does he rule over? He is actually by right of the sin of our first parents, the ruler of all human beings in their natural state. When our first parents were given the covenant by the Lord, the covenant of works, that they then broke, the consequence, the penalty for breaking that covenant of works was death.
And by having the power of death over human beings, Satan became their ruler, and we became enslaved to him. So the letter to the Hebrews will say that human humanity was delivered over to the power of death, the one who has the power of death, that is the devil, and that we were subjected to him in lifelong slavery. So Satan has work to do as a ruler over the human beings who are in his thrall, and also over the rebel angels that followed him in his rebellion in heaven. He has work to do as an accuser.
This is the primary work that we see him doing in the passage that's in front of us. We can also think of the accusations that he levels against Job, in the book of Job, where he also appears in the heavenly court to make his accusations. And indeed, the book of Revelations, chapter 12, verse 10, says that Satan, unceasingly, 24-7, is accusing the people of God. This is his constant work.
The scriptures also call Satan a liar and the father of lies. That's from the Gospel of John, chapter 8, verse 44. But again, here we see Satan primarily doing the work of accusation. And in fact, if you look at the verses in the original language, in Hebrew, when it says that Satan was standing at his right hand to accuse him, the word for it to accuse in the Hebrew sounds a lot like the name Satan.
It's just two variations on the same word. So we can translate this as the accuser was accusing. Or if you wanted to get a little bit more colloquial, we could say, Satan's going to say this is what he's doing all the time, and this is his work in his vocation. But we also see in verse 2 that the Lord decisively rejects this accusation that Satan brings against Joshua.
Why? What's going on here? What is the substance of Satan's accusation? And then why does God reject it so strongly and so decisively?
Let's turn them to the work of Joshua that we see in verses 3 through 7. Joshua is the high priest. That means he's at the head of the sacrificial system that was at the heart of the mosaic covenant, which is one of the central parts of course of the Old Testament. And it's easy to forget sometimes that in terms of covenants, the ancient Hebrews were under a covenant of grace.
So in terms of like covenant theology, we have two covenants. The covenant of works that was given to Adam and Eve in which they failed. And then the covenant of grace, which is what everybody after Adam and Eve are under, all believers throughout the scriptures, Old Testament and New Testament, are under a covenant of grace. One way to see that, as Lincoln-Dungan put it, that you can see grace in the mosaic covenant because most of the mosaic code is about what you do after you break the mosaic code.
So it defines laws and it defines sins and it says sins are going to happen. And here's the sacrifices that you're going to perform then to atone for those sins. Now those sacrifices of course in themselves could not remove sin, but the point of them was to look forward to the fulfillment of the covenant of grace in the New Testament when we understand that those types and shadows are pointing us to the one in perfect and sufficient sacrifice of Christ. But insofar as those sacrifices were meant to point towards Jesus, they are a part of the covenant of grace as it was given to the Jewish people, as it was given to the Hebrews.
And that those types and sacrifices were leading the people to have salvation through faith. Salvation has always been by faith and it's always been through the Lord Jesus Christ, whether we're talking about the Old Testament or the New Testament. And Joshua's path as the High Priest was to perform some of the most important sacrifices as a part of that picture of grace that the Old Testament sacrifices were. And particularly of course he had the task of performing the sacrifice on the day of atonement.
Probably being most important sacrificed in the entire sacrificial system in the book of Leviticus when he would offer a sacrifice for the sins of the whole people. And there were numerous requirements for how that had to be done. All sorts of details and ritual requirements that had to be fulfilled, or the High Priest was risking his own death. If he failed at any of these details or any of these preparations he was supposed to make, it says that punishment for that could be the death of the High Priest.
And so Joshua, whose job is to perform these most sacred and most holy sacrifices, and who is in the position perhaps of the greatest dangers having to appear as a representative of the people to atone for their sins. He's in a terrible predicament because he is ritually unclean. He is thoroughly ritually unclean. It says in the verse 3 that his garments are filthy.
Now the great R.C. Sroll wrote a children's book based on this passage and it was called The Priest with dirty clothes. And it's about a priest who's on his way to preach to the king and he's got his nice priestly vestments on. But on the way he slips off of his horse and falls in the mud.
Well that's okay for the kids' version. But I have to tell you that etymologically speaking this word hilvy refers to things that are a lot worse than mud. He has not fallen into a muddy road, he's fallen into the pig's thigh, or maybe something worse. But to say at least he is thoroughly and completely ritually unclean.
He's been defiled by his transgressions, as we all are defiled by our sins. Sometimes people misunderstand the doctrine of total depravity to mean that total depravity means we're as bad as we could be, that we can all the sins we could possibly commit, that we're the biggest sinners we possibly could be. And that's not what it means. What total depravity means is that we are wholly completely and thoroughly defiled in every aspect of who we are by our sin.
There is no part of us that's reserved from that defilement. And so this picture of Joshua the high priest appearing before the Lord in these filthy garments is a picture of how thoroughly and how completely and how disgustingly our sins have defiled us. So Satan is a liar and he is the father of lies, but seemingly in this passage he has a plate, right? Satan as a prosecuting attorney is not just going on trumped up charges here.
He isn't just making up a completely false accusation. Joshua really is clothed in these filthy garments in a situation where he is supposed to be at his most holy and sanctified and cleansed. And yet God rejects the accusation. Not only does God reject the accusation that Satan brings against Joshua, God graciously and proactively initiates the process of removing these filthy garments from Joshua and putting clean garments upon him.
It's a little bit with my tongue and my cheek that I say that this part of this sermon is called the work of Joshua, because Joshua doesn't really do much here. He doesn't even have any lines that he speaks. This process of grace is initiated by God and brought to completion by God. All Joshua does is appear before him in those filthy garments and then God initiates that process of graciously removing those garments from him and putting pure and clean vestments upon him.
The only line that's even spoken by anyone other than God here is by the Prophet Zachariah. That's when it says, that's when it says, I said put a turban on his head. That's in verse 5. That's the prophet speaking.
Let them put a clean turban on his head. So the Zachariah gets a line in there saying that you shouldn't just put him in clean vestments on him. You should glorify him. You should give him the symbol of his priestly office and rule.
But notice Joshua himself doesn't really do anything here. And yet the charge is rejected that Satan lodges against him. And notice it's only after those garments are put upon him that God gives Joshua something to do. It's not as though when Joshua appears before God in these filthy garments that God gives Joshua a plan to clean himself up.
He doesn't look at him and say, okay Joshua, let's go and do these ritual washings and bathe and then give me this and give me that and then I'll maybe accept you when you can atone for your sins. No, God again graciously without any work on Joshua's part initiates this process of cleansing him. And only then does he give him a charge about what he should do. That's in verse six.
And the angel of the Lord solemnly assured Joshua, 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. So it's only then that he's given work to do after he's already been cleansed. But why? Is this just a miscarriage of justice?
Is God showing favoritism towards the high priest? Is Satan the one who's got the point about what justice should look like in this situation? And is God just rejecting these just accusations? Why does God let Joshua go free?
To consider that, we have to look at the work of the branch that covers verses eight through ten in this passage. God says that Joshua and his friends with him, which probably refers to other priests that are there with him and are also partaking of this cleansing, at least vicariously. God says that these men are a sign that what has been done to Joshua does not just pertain to Joshua, but it's supposed to be a sign and a symbol pointing us to a greater reality. And that reality has to do with God sending his servant, we calls the branch.
And we know from many passages both in Zechariah and elsewhere that this title branch is a messianic title. This is a title referring to the Messiah who is to come and to redeem God's people. And this branch also has work to do. The first part of that work is a little mysterious though.
What is this stone? This stone that has seven facets and an inscription. If you dig into the commentaries on this passage in Zechariah, you'll find a lot of different interpretations about what this stone might be referring to. And a lot of them have a lot of plausibility.
But I think the context here should really lead us to think of the high priest in his moments. And if you read Exodus 28, when the garments and vestments of the high priest are described, we'll find that some stones are a part of that garment. The high priest has a special vestment called the Ephud and it's got 12 stones that are included in that garment. And all those 12 stones are inscribed the names of the tribes of Israel, the 12 sons of Jacob.
And it says in that passage in Exodus that when the high priest appears to offer sacrifices on behalf of the people, God is essentially going to look at those stones and he's going to remember the sons of Israel. So it's a sign of covenantal assurance. It's a sign that yes, God has really chosen these people for himself and that he's going to be watching over them and he's going to be remembering them when sacrifices are offered on their behalf. So the stones of the Ephud here I think are what we should have in mind in terms of the context of what the stone with seven facets means.
But what is this stone? Why does it have exactly seven facets? And what exactly is God inscribing on it? We know of course that the number seven has connotations of fullness in scripture.
God created in six days and on the seventh day he rested which expressed the fullness of that work being complete and being done. So the number seven tends to be associated with the idea of fullness and completion. And I think that should be giving us something of an idea of what the significance of this stone is. It's going to be like the stones, the 12 stones that are part of the Ephod and that show God's covenantal promises towards his own people.
But it's going to be fuller than that. It's not going to be limited in the way that those 12 stones are just to the sons of Israel. Now again, to cite the book of Revelation, Revelation 2 17 says that to those who overcome Christ will give a stone. And on this stone will be a name known only to the person who receives it.
And many people have interpreted this too as a symbolic expression of assurance of salvation. That not only does God know you and care for you and once he redeem you, but he has a name. Each of us has a name that only he knows and he's going to reveal that to us in the stone of assurance. So he has a work to do this branch with the stone.
He has work to do with removing the iniquity of the people. It says that the iniquity of the land will be removed in a single day. Now theoretically, that's what the day of the poem is supposed to do. That's supposed to be Joshua's job.
But clearly this is pointing to us to a fuller day of a poem and something of which each individual day of a poem can only be a shadow in a picture. This is a more complete removal of the iniquity of the land. Lastly, we're told that the work of this branch is to make us safe. Each man safe is under his own vine and fig tree.
This is a picture of just rule of a land that's at peace and it's being governed well. So we see here a threefold work for the branch. He has to teach his people and he is to claim them as his own with full assurance in distinction to the accusations that Satan brings. This branch is going to bring assurance to his people that he has saved them.
This branch is going to rule over the people but he's going to have a just rule. It's not going to be like the slavery that Satan inflicts on the people that are part of his kingdom. But it's going to be a just rule that allows people to sit under their own vine and fig tree. And instead of bringing accusations of iniquity against the people, this work of the branch is going to be a removal of that iniquity.
It's going to be a silencing of these accusations. And of course, we know that this office is fulfilled in Christ, that his pre-fold office of being a prophet, a teacher of truth instead of a teacher of lies like Satan is, of his office of removing iniquity, taking sin away from his people instead of accusing them of it, the way Satan does. And Christ ruled over us the way he justly rules us and brings peace instead of the way Satan brings slavery. We know that Christ's threefold office is that picture of him fulfilling this role of the branch.
And so if we can look at the work of Satan here and the work of Joshua and the work of the branch, we see humanity poised between two options, the kingdom of Satan, which is a pale copy and a wretched perversion of what the Messiah is to be. And on the other hand, we see the gracious Messiah who fulfills these roles of prophet, priest, and king to purchase a people for himself. And so when that voice of accusation comes, and when it says, look at your sins, look how wretched and filthy of a person you are. Why would God want to save someone like you?
How will you answer that voice? Will you try to point towards your own works? Will you say, well, look at it, I've done good things. I'm a good person because that voice is only going to say, no, all those things are tainted by sin and imperfect and are not worthy to be offered to God.
Are you going to point towards your prayer and your Bible reading and your church attendance because that voice of accusation can clearly respond to that and say, well, all those things are just acts of hypocrisy. Are you going to point towards the sincerity and strength of your own faith even? Because that voice of accusation will merely reply, it's not strong enough for faith and it's not sincere enough. It's not good enough to make the cut.
We can't respond to that voice of accusation with anything that is in ourselves without just inviting a fresh round of accusations. Instead of responding to that voice, let us stand in the response that God has already given to that voice. Here are the words that the angel of the Lord says in this passage, as though they were spoken over you right now. The Lord rebuke you, Satan, the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you, is not this a brand plucked from the fire.
We are not to answer ourselves, those accusations, but we are to stand in the answer that God has already given to them, which is that this is my child. This is a child and a son and a daughter of my kingdom and Satan, you do not get to have him. You do not get to have her. This person belongs to me and they are going to be with me together in glory.
Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we pray that you assure us of the truths that are promised to us in these scriptures. We promise that you will beg that you assure us of your promises that we are your children. Let us look not to ourselves, not to our own works, not whether they be good works that are moral good works or whether they be works of faith or whether they even be to the strength and the power of our faith.
No, let us look just to Jesus Christ. Let us look to the work that he has accomplished, removing the iniquity of the land in a single day and making and clothing us with his righteousness. Lord, look upon us as clothed with the righteousness of Christ, not with our own righteousness and accept us for his sake and for the sake of his obedience, for we do ask in Jesus name. Amen.