- Joshua is at the Beam seat, which will occur after the rapture (just before the Tribulation)
- all believers up until that time will be caught up into heaven and stand before Jesus
- Joshua stands before the Judge, THE angel of the Lord (pre-incarnate Jesus)
- Satan is there as the accuser (like a prosecuting attorney) ...
(Zechariah 3:1) 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.
- Jesus is not only Judge, but He is the defense attorney
- every believer (as well as their good deeds) will go through the fire
- because all believers have been redeemed, all their sins are forgiven and God chooses to remember them no more, and because we have been sealed by the Holy Spirit, believers will pass safely through the fire into heaven
- (and we will be rewarded for every pure deed that makes it through the fire)...
(Zechariah 3:2) 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?”
- when believers go to heaven, we will all receive glorified bodies...
(Zechariah 3:3) Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel.
- in this vision, the angels in attendance help change Joshua's clothing, which represents sin now removed...
(Zechariah 3:4-5) 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.
THIS WAS ALSO A VISUAL ALLEGORY OF HOW SATAN ATTACKED JOSHUA WHEN HE WAS ANOINTED AS HIGH PRIEST (during that time):
1. this had personal significance, because many people opposed Joshua as high priest, accusing him of being unfit for this position
2. this had priestly significance for the nation at this time, showing Israel's restoration to a priestly position before God as they lived in obedience
3. it had prophetic significance, illustrating the future cleansing of the nation at the return of Christ (during the Tribulation, as the Israelites experience persecution from the Antichrist's kingdom, and they see that the judgments upon the earth are their "signs" that their Messiah will be returning - they realize Jesus was and is their Messiah, who will save them and bring all believers into the Millennial kingdom)
NOW JESUS BUILDS ON THIS TO GIVE JOSHUA A PROPHESY:
- all three points mentioned above require perfect obedience which is only possible through salvation through Jesus...
(Zechariah 3:6-7) 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.
- Jesus is called "the Branch" and the corner "stone"
- the first part of the prophecy was that Jesus would come to earth in flesh (in order to accomplish His work on the cross, making all redemption and salvation possible, even retro-active to all those who had faith in God during those times)...
(Zechariah 3:8) 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.
- the second part of the prophecy was "in that day" Jesus would come again (at the end of the Tribulation, to remove all evil from the earth) and bring them into the Millennial kingdom where they would experience blessings, peace and security...
(Zechariah 3:9-10) 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.’”
From this we see:
- Satan accuses believers to make us feel inadequate (3:1)
- Jesus defends believers against Satan's accusations (3:2)
- angels serve God in heaven (3:4-5)
- (obedient) believers receive help from the angels (3:7)
Personal experience: we SHOULD feel remorse after doing something wrong. But once we have reconciled those things, we should have peace about that issue.
As long as we have done what we should do, there should be peace, even in those circumstances when we apologize to someone and they refuse to forgive us - because their forgiveness is not our problem. That becomes an issue between them and God.
If there is still shame - we need to know that this is the work of Satan. Even if there isn't an actual demon standing there whispering accusations in our ears to cause us feelings of shame and feelings of inadequacy, it still falls within Satan's realm.
This includes those times we throw ourselves "pity-parties" - when there isn't even any reason! And I'm probably the queen of pity-parties! So I need to remind myself that this is wrong, and destructive. There is no benefit in this!
Today's takeaway: when we continue with those feelings of inadequacy, what we are saying is that Jesus' work on the cross - was inadequate. We are saying that Jesus' salvation, God's strength, and the Holy Spirit's guidance - is inadequate.
We need to embrace our salvation and God's love and grace! God sees us with the redemption of Jesus! We are a child of God! We are children of the King!...
(Galatians 2:17-21) But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? May it never be! 18 For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19 For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”
(1 Corinthians 6:20) For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
(Colossians 1:13-23) For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. 19 For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach— 23 if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.
(Galatians 4:6-7) Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.
(Ephesians 1:3-14) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight 9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him 10 with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him 11 also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, 12 to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. 13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
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