Zechariah 3 · The Lantern

The Vision of Joshua the High Priest

And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and the Accuser standing at his right hand to accuse him.

Also in Zechariah: "And the Lord showed me Jesus, that great priest, standing before the face of the angel of the Lord, and the devil was standing at his right hand to oppose him.

But because he forgot the commandment of God and fulfilled the will of the serpent, the devil held his hand and caused him to reach for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, in order to eat of the forbidden fruit. In him, judgment was pronounced on all, and the adversary began to stand at the right hand of all.

(Chapter III - Verse 1 and following) And he showed me Jesus, the great high priest, standing before the angel of the Lord: and Satan was standing at his right hand to oppose him. And the Lord said to Satan: May the Lord rebuke you, Satan, may the Lord rebuke you who has chosen Jerusalem. Is this not a brand plucked out of the fire?

And the LORD said to the Accuser, The LORD rebuke you, Accuser! And the LORD who chooses Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?

I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

But perhaps an inquisitive reader will object this too: how we can assert that God stands at the right of the just man, and the devil at the left of the sinner, when concerning our Lord it is read in Zechariah, "And the devil was standing at his right hand to oppose him." Let him, then, who objects this read also what follows: that when the devil was standing at his right hand,…

This is also a type of our situation. Just as the avenging and wicked devil was very opposed to Joshua for being high priest and making intercession to God on behalf of the people, so in turn this same enemy was an opponent of Jesus the great high priest in the order of Melchizedek for taking away the sin of the world15 and wished to bring him down.

And Joshua was clothed in filthy garments and standing before the angel.

"But to give you the account of the revelation of the holy Jesus Christ, I take up again my discourse, and I assert that even that revelation was made for us who believe on Christ the High Priest, namely this crucified One; and though we lived in fornication and all kinds of filthy conversation, we have by the grace of our Jesus, according to His Father's will, stripped ourselv…

Now in this, by that wondrous sacrifice, Elijah clearly proclaimed to us the sacramental rite of baptism that should afterwards be instituted. For the fire was kindled by water thrice poured upon it, so that it is clearly shown that where the mystic water is, there is the kindling, warm and fiery spirit that burns up the ungodly and illuminates the faithful.

Holy Job says, when speaking about his own sins, "for man that is born of a woman is short-lived and full of wrath: as the flower of grass, so does he fall; and he departs like a shadow, nor shall he stay. Hast Thou not taken account even of him, and caused him to enter into judgment in Thy sight? For who shall be pure from uncleanness?

And he answered and said to those standing before him, saying, Remove the filthy garments from him. And he said to him, See, I have made your iniquity pass from you, and I will clothe you with festal robes.

And I said, Let them set a clean turban on his head. And they set the 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 testified to Joshua, saying:

Thus says the LORD of hosts: If you walk in my ways and if you keep my charge, then you also will judge my house and also keep my courts; and I will give you places to walk among these standing here.

Hear now, Joshua the high priest, you and your companions sitting before you — for they are men of a sign: for see, I am bringing my servant the Branch.

For see — the stone that I have set before Joshua; on one stone are seven eyes. See, I am engraving its engraving — the utterance of the LORD of hosts — and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.

In that day — the utterance of the LORD of hosts — you will call, each to his neighbor, under the vine and under the fig tree.

Zechariah3

The Vision of Joshua the High Priest