The truth about Zechariah 3:1-5: "Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him..."

Zechariah 3:1-5: "Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” 3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel. 4 Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him.” And to him He said, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.” 5 And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head, and they put the clothes on him. And the Angel of the Lord stood by."

This was Zechariah’s prophecy to Joshua the high priest of Israel at the time of the prophecy. In order to understand this passage means, especially for believers in Christ, we have to see it in its context- what circumstances led to the giving of this prophecy and what took place afterwards. It’s also important for us to understand that this Scripture is all about our Saviour Jesus Christ and how we who believe are made right with God and saved from sin, earthly ills and death through Him. We know this because Christ taught from the Old Testament on the same day that He rose from the dead. Remember the two disciples (Cleopas and his companion) on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24? They were sad because they felt all hope was lost since Jesus had been crucified. They did not recognize the Lord Jesus as the one who walked with them on the way. Here's what Christ did as they went:

"27 Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures."

That same evening, the two disciples went to Jerusalem to share their experience of Christ with the other disciples. Jesus appeared to them there; check out what He did in verse 45 (MSG)-

“He went on to open their understanding of the Word of God, showing them how to read their Bibles this way.”

There was no New Testament at this time. Christ taught His disciples about Himself from the Old Testament. The Old Testament is filled with faith pictures of our Saviour Jesus Christ and our salvation in Him. Christ teaches us to read the Old Testament by bringing Him out of ALL the Scriptures. In one of the most popular passages of the New Testament, Christ Himself made one reference to Himself in the Old Testament: the bronze serpent that Moses lifted up in the wilderness is a picture of Christ lifted up to save the world from sin and death. See John 3:14–16. Here's more on Christ's typology of the bronze serpent that Moses lifted up as Himself: Toyin Olamide Obire's answer to What's the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament?

Now we see that the Old Testament, including Zechariah 3:1–5 is all about Jesus. The Old Testament is Christ hidden. The New Testament is Christ unveiled.

Long post alert😊

Zechariah 3:1–5 and the events following the giving of the prophecy to Joshua show us the effect of receiving our Abba Father's abundance of grace and His gift of righteousness to us in Christ. It shows us how, with these gifts, the accuser (Satan's) accusations are useless/powerless against us. The events leading to and following the giving of the prophecy are recorded in the Book of Ezra but let's do quick a recap:

Ezra 1 - 4:

God led Cyrus, the king of Persia, to send the Jews back to Jerusalem in Judah to rebuild the His Temple after 70 years of their captivity in Babylon, in fulfillment of the word of the Lord to Jeremiah. Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah and Jeshua, the high priest, along with the Jews that returned from the captivity got to work and the workers they appointed laid the foundation of the Temple of God in Jerusalem.

The old enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that their descendants were building the Temple of the Lord, so they approached Zerubbabel and the other family heads, offering to help them build and pretending that they served the God of Israel. But Zerubbabel, Joshua and their companions refused their offer. So these enemies started beating down the morale of the people of Judah, harassing them as they built. They even hired propagandists to frustrate their purpose. They kept this up for about fifteen years, throughout the lifetime of Cyrus king of Persia and on into the reign of Darius king of Persia.

In the beginning of the reign of King Ahasuerus, they wrote an accusation against the Jews to the king. Also in the days of Artaxerxes, another king that reigned after Cyrus and before Darius, two guys named Rehum and Shimshai wrote a letter against Jerusalem to the king telling him that the Jews would no longer pay taxes or tributes to him if the city was built and so the king would have less money; much like how many religious people today come against the gospel that is Grace and say it will make people disobedient and go on sinning sprees!

These two accusers told the king that the Jews were rebellious and that if he allowed their work to be concluded, he, the king, would no longer have dominion in that region. So the king wrote and stopped the building of the Temple of God. The accusers rushed with glee to Jerusalem to read the letter to the Jews and by "force of arms," made them quit building the Temple!

Ezra 5:

In this chapter, it is recorded that Haggai and Zechariah prophesied in the name of God to the Jews, and Zerubbabel and Joshua resumed the building the house of God in Jerusalem, with the prophets helping them. But what did Zechariah prophesy that made them start building again, unafraid of their accusers and the consequences of their action? We see this in Zechariah 3 and 4.

Zechariah 3:1-5 - prophecy for Joshua -

"Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” 3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel. 4 Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him.” And to him He said, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.” 5 And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head, and they put the clothes on him. And the Angel of the Lord stood by."

Satan was standing to oppose the high priest, Joshua (or Jeshua in some versions) who was clothed in filthy rags (menstrual rags in original Hebrew text,) representing his own righteousnesses from works of the Law. This was the high priest of Israel, as righteous by works as any human can be, but God saw him as one wearing filthy (menstrual) rags, as it is written in Isaiah 64:6- "all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags in Your sight..." See the NET: "...all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in Your sight."

Satan could oppose Joshua because in and of Joshua the high priest, he was not a righteous man, not before God, just as none of us are righteous of ourselves today (Romans 3:10.) Bear in mind that Joshua was high priest of Israel with knowledge of the Ten Commandments and the over 600 other laws, yet he was clothed in filthy rags of unrighteousness. How much more we (of ourselves) who have no idea about most of these laws? Like Joshua, all of man’s good works and obedience to the law done in order to get right with God, earn His favour or earn a ticket to heaven amount to a filthy (menstrual) rag in the sight of God. They cannot make anyone righteous in the sight of God, "For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands..." (Romans 3:20.)

Because many in the church cling to their law-keeping and good works as a means of getting into God's good books, many are experiencing a lack of progress like Jeshua did in the construction of the Temple. Only the Righteousness that proceeds from the obedience of Christ (Romans 5:19) will suffice for God the Righteous. And He freely gives this gift of Grace to all who believe.

For we who believe in Jesus Christ, the word of the Lord to Jeshua in Zechariah's vision- “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes” is our reality. And like Joshua the high priest, we did nothing to earn it. This “clothe you with rich robes” refers to God's gift of righteousness to us in Christ. See this in Christ's counsel to the church in Laodicea which still exists today in the form of beliefs that churchgoers hold in their hearts regarding how they are made righteous and saved- Revelation 3:

15 ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold (invigorating, refreshing) nor hot (healing, therapeutic); I wish that you were cold or hot.16 So because you are lukewarm (spiritually useless), and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth [rejecting you with disgust]. 17 Because you say, “I am rich, and have prospered and grown wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked [without hope and in great need], 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold that has been heated red hot and refined by fire so that you may become truly rich; and white clothes [representing righteousness] to clothe yourself so that the shame of your nakedness will not be seen; and healing salve to put on your eyes so that you may see.”

This church was not lacking in works/deeds. But they depended on their law-keeping and works of righteousness done by human effort (arm of flesh) to make them godly. These were their "riches." Like the church in Laodicea, many churchgoers today also see themselves as being able to do works that will improve their standing before God and make Him see them as godly or good. But such righteous works or obedience to the law that churchgoers think they need to do by their own power in order to be considered as living a godly life (be like God) are not acceptable to God. Isaiah 64:6 says of how God sees them and their doers:

"We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in Your sight."

With Christ as our righteousness, we are guilt-free. He took our condemnation and judgment. Here, accusations or charges brought against us by Satan cannot prosper. See Romans 8:33:

"Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies."

It is God who makes righteous. Satan's fiery darts of accusations through his agents like Tattenai and his cohorts in Ezra 5 who tried to scuttle the prosperity of the Jews cannot prosper in the life of all whose righteousness is found in Christ: a gift. The law condemns everyone who is trying to obey it to get right with God. HaSatan is literally Hebrew for “prosecutor at law” and the law is the only weapon in his arsenal. Condemnation and judgment follow Satan's accusations (fiery darts of the wicked one) on those who are clothed in their own righteousnesses aka trying to obey the law and doing good things in order to get a favorable judgment from God the Righteous Judge.

Satan’s previously successful opposition of Joshua resulted in the accusations by the Jews' physical enemies and their enemies' success at stopping the work on the Temple…until the Lord rid him of his filthy rags of (self)righteousness and clothed him with His Righteousness. Before anything can happen in the physical, it has already been settled in the spirit realm, e.g. Job’s fate was sealed in the spirit realm before his calamities befell him. However, Job did not have a Mediator. We who believe in Jesus have Him as our Mediator and Bearer of sins. Satan cannot go to God’s presence to accuse or oppose us anymore because the Lord Himself is our Righteousness. So what he does is deceive churchgoers who are yet to understand their Christ’s blood-bought godly/righteous standing before God into believing that they are not godly and then trick them into doing the seemingly good but deathly act of trying to be godly (be like God)/get right with God by human effort aka keeping the law which gives the knowledge of good and evil. The same strategy was used to deceive Eve and the result is the same- being cut off from Jesus Christ the Tree of Life:

”For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.” Galatians 5:4.

But the Lord stripped Joshua of his own righteousnesses from works of the Law (filthy rags) and clothed him with rich robes (for us today, Christ's righteousness.) Notice that Joshua did nothing here except be still a receive God's gift of righteousness. The Lord called and justified him. Only when we are clothed in the righteousness of God which is a gift for all those who are in Christ (Romans 5:17) will the weapons formed against us (Satan's accusations) never prosper and tongues that rise against us in judgment are condemned. The promise is a heritage (an inheritance) of the servants of the Lord whose righteousness is from the Lord and not earned by filthy rags works of (self)Righteousness. We see this in Isaiah 54:17.

Zechariah 4: 6-9: The prophecy for Zerubbabel

So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts. 7 ‘Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone With shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’” 8 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 9 “The hands of Zerubbabel Have laid the foundation of this temple; His hands shall also finish it. Then you will know That the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you.”

The prophecy to Zerubbabel made him see that the obstacles to the building of Temple of God cannot be removed by human effort (today, our various efforts at doing things in order for God to help us or anything we do in our own strength to fight off accusers and enemies aka obeying the Law in order to be godly) but by His Spirit. The letter (law) kills but the Spirit gives life is a popular bible verse. And with the Spirit of the Lord, it is neither by human might nor power. The capstone is the finishing stone of a structure. The Lord made Zerubbabel see that the project will be completed only by His Grace- undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour.

So what happened when Zerubbabel and Joshua heard these prophecies from Zechariah and resumed work on the Temple of God, conscious of their God-given abundance of Grace and His gift of Righteousness respectively? Their human accusers, mouthpieces of Satan the accuser led by a guy named Tattenai came forward to oppose them as usual, even informed the then king Darius of the work. Little did they know that like Haman in the story of Esther, that was to be their downfall!

The king ordered the same accusers, enemies of the Jews, to make sure they, the Jews, received everything they needed for the work to be finished without delay. He even decreed that anyone who slowed the work down by not providing the needful things on time should be impaled on a beam from their own house and the house.

Bear in mind that Satan's mouthpieces are today still spewing their fiery darts of accusations even from some pulpits, e.g. seemingly "righteous" leaders that accuse believers of being subject to generational curses that Christ hung on the cross to redeem us from according to Galatians 3:13 and those that make you believe that you can be godly (be like God the Righteous) by obeying the Ten Commandments despite Romans 3:19-25-

“19 Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. 20 For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.21 But now God has shown us a way to be made right with Him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. 22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, in His grace, freely makes us right in His sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when He freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed His life, shedding His blood.”

That seemingly good but horrid and antichrist doctrine that says “you can be godly (be like God) by keeping the law which gives the knowledge of good and evil" is the same false doctrine that Satan preached to Eve in Eden. Following it only causes sin to have dominion over those who try to be godly by their own strength as Adam and Eve attempted to do:

"For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under grace." Romans 6:14.

Believer, only by the obedience of Christ are we made righteous: “By one man's disobedience many were made sinners so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous.” Romans 5:19.

Zerubbabel, the grandson of Jehoiachin, a king of Judah and governor of Judah freely received God's abundance of Grace to build the Temple of God. Recall the prophecy to Zerubbabel- “And he shall bring forth the capstone With shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’” Not just Grace but an abundance of Grace. Jeshua, the high priest, freely received rich robes aka the gift of Righteousness and the Temple of God was built. They freely received, with no terms and conditions attached.

One (Zerubbabel) a king; the other (Jeshua) a priest. Today, in Christ, we are kings and priests as it is written in Revelation 1:5-6-

"...To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."

As king-priests in Christ, like Zerubbabel the undeserving, we have abundance of Grace and like Jeshua the high priest who was undeserving in his natural clothing of a menstrual rag, we are righteous in God's sight through the blood of Jesus: Romans 5:9-

“And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."

Only that gift of righteousness that proceeds from Christ's obedience will suffice for God the righteous to declare anyone righteous and He gives freely to all who believe. We all need God's abundance of Grace and His gift of Righteousness that Christ counseled the church in Laodicea to BUY. The cost is the blood of Jesus that was shed for you and I. All who freely receive are instantly made right with God, "even though we are guilty of many sins." And only by receiving do we get to live in triumph over sin and death. See Romans 5:16-17:

"And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ."

In Christ, we have overcome Satan who accuses and opposes through his mouthpieces some of whom are manning pulpits - those who try to get you to bear the burden and guilt of your sins that Christ suffered and died to take away; those who tell you to strive for godliness (be like God) with your human effort (arm of flesh that will fail) at obeying the law which gives the knowledge of good and evil like a certain tree

Clothed in Christ's rich robes of righteousness and not our own menstrual rag ones from works of the law, the accusations of Satan can neither stand nor prosper in our lives. We get to reign in life. We get to live in triumph over sin and death plus all of its symptoms, including fear, worry, anxiety, stagnation in any facet of life, stress, oppression, pride, inferiority complex (still pride but the other side of the coin: both involve self-occupation when we should be Christ-occupied,) depression, silly mistakes, lack, poor health, impatience, intolerance, fast-tracked ageing, physical death and the second death. We reign in life through this one Man, Jesus Christ! He does it all.

Believe Right and you will Live Right