Zechariah 3
Big idea: A courtroom vision in which nothing is argued. The high priest stands in filthy clothes with an accuser at his right hand, and the case is settled not by a defence but by a rebuke and a change of clothes — carried out while everyone watches.
Joshua is re-dressed and then told he and his colleagues are a sign of someone else: my servant the Branch. Chapter 4 turns to the other half of the leadership, the governor.
3:1–5 — Take the filthy garments off him
The scene is legal: the high priest standing before the angel of Yahweh, with the accuser — ha-satan, 'the accuser', a role rather than a name at this stage of the Old Testament — at his right hand, which is the prosecutor's position. The charge is never stated and never denied. The clothes make it unnecessary: filthy is the strongest word available, and for a priest it means unfit to serve.
1 He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before Yahweh’s angel, and Satan standing at his right hand to be his adversary. 2 Yahweh said to Satan, “Yahweh rebuke you, Satan! Yes, Yahweh who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Isn’t this a burning stick plucked out of the fire?” 3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the angel. 4 He answered and spoke to those who stood before him, saying, “Take the filthy garments off him.” To him he said, “Behold, I have caused your iniquity to pass from you, and I will clothe you with rich clothing.” 5 I said, “Let them set a clean turban on his head.” So they set a clean turban on his head, and clothed him; and Yahweh’s angel was standing by.
3:6–10 — My servant the Branch
The charge given to Joshua is conditional in the ordinary priestly way — walk in my ways, keep my requirements — and the promise attached is unusual: you will judge my house, and I will give you a place of access among these standing here, meaning the heavenly court. But the section's weight falls on what comes next.
6 Yahweh’s angel solemnly assured Joshua, saying, 7 “Yahweh of Armies says: ‘If you will walk in my ways, and if you will follow my instructions, then you also shall judge my house, and shall also keep my courts, and I will give you a place of access among these who stand by. 8 Hear now, Joshua the high priest, you and your fellows who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign; for, behold, I will bring out 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 its inscription,’ says Yahweh of Armies, ‘and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. 10 In that day,’ says Yahweh of Armies, ‘you will invite every man his neighbor under the vine and under the fig tree.’”
Scripture text: World English Bible (public domain).