God's Word in modern thought, verse by verse with history and science thrown in.
Zechariah 3- Cleansing
1 And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.
2 And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that has chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
God is claiming the priest Joshua and putting him under His protection.
3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.
These garments not only represent Joshua’s own sin, but the sins of the whole priesthood.
4 And He answered and spake unto those that stood before Him, saying, "Take away the filthy garments from him." And unto him He said, "Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment."
Only God can truly cleanse us.
5 And I said, "Let them set a fair mitre upon his head." So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD stood by.
The “fair mitre” was most likely the same thing that Moses placed on Aaron’s head; a cross between a turban and a crown; a sign of Divine authority.
6 And the angel of the LORD protested unto Joshua, saying,
7 Thus says the LORD of hosts; "If thou wilt walk in My ways, and if thou wilt keep My charge, then thou shalt also judge My house, and shalt also keep My courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by.
This promise reminds me of the promise made to David; that if he and his descendants would continue to serve Him they would rule forever. David’s descendant, Jesus, still rules today.
8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth My servant the BRANCH.
Here is a prophecy of the coming Christ.
9 For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, says the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
The Stone is Jesus.
Eyes represent knowledge and intelligence.
Seven is the number of completeness.
So God engraved the totality of God on one Stone, Jesus. And through that Stone, God removed all of our iniquity in one single day; the day Jesus, the Branch, died on The Cross.
10 In that day, says the LORD of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbor under the vine and under the fig tree.
Acts 17:6 says “And has made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth,”
We are now all brothers and neighbors in Christ. There is no difference between nations.