The Future Cleansing of Israel

Transcript

GR 1006
The Future Cleansing of Israel
03/06/1977
Zechariah 3:10-15
Gil Rugh

The book of Zechariah, Zechariah chapter 3 in your Bibles. The book of Zechariah, next to the last book in the Old Testament. We looked at the first few verses in chapter 3 last week, chapter 3 being the fourth vision that Zechariah sees. This is the vision concerning the cleansing of Joshua, a very significant vision. It serves a key purpose in the overall plan and perspective of God for Israel because Joshua’s cleansing symbolizes the cleansing of the nation Israel. The future of the nation Israel hinges upon the fact of whether or not God will cleanse that nation, forgive their iniquities and bring them back into proper alignment and relationship with Himself. We went through several of the indications of why Joshua in chapter 3 as the high priest represents the nation Israel. The cleansing in view here goes beyond just the cleansing of Joshua as a person. Joshua stands as a representative person, his cleansing depicts the cleansing of the nation. That’s why the stress here is on Joshua the high priest. As high priest he is representative of the people. We noted several persons significant in the vision, Joshua, representative of Israel, the angel of Jehovah who is Jesus Christ, and Satan, all three persons in view here. Joshua standing before the angel of the Lord as he carries on his priestly service. Satan standing to be the accuser of Joshua. Joshua has given opportunity for Satan to give accusation because of his sin.

We see Joshua standing in verse 3 in very filthy garments. We noted it literally means excrement-covered garments, garments that are polluted, that are offensive, filthy in the fullest sense of the word. Shows how unfitting he is to be there, he is not worthy to be standing there in this condition in the presence of God. The high priest was to be representative of the nation. The nation was to be the kingdom of priests to God. As priests they were to be holy and undefiled. Joshua’s condition portrays the fact that the nation Israel has been defiled by sin and rebellion. In verse 2 it was Satan who was rebuked; Joshua doesn’t speak because he has nothing to say to the accusations. Satan is rebuked on the basis of the Lord’s election of Jerusalem, that is sufficient. Since God has chosen Jerusalem and the nation Israel then they will be fitted to stand before Him, there are no accusations that can be brought before God’s elect. What the rest of the chapter does is to demonstrate that fact. Israel is cleansed because of the gracious work of God on their behalf. Their sin in not the basic issue, God’s grace is the basic issue. We noted the parallel in the New Testament, where Satan is the accuser of the brethren. We have Jesus Christ, our Advocate, in 1 John 2, who represents us in the presence of God. There are no accusations that can be brought against me which can stand because we too are those whom God has chosen.

We just looked into verse 4 a little bit where we have the change of garments. Verse 4, “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.’ ” The changing of the garments depicting again the righteousness of Christ as given to the nation Israel. “Remove the filthy garments from him,” taking away the iniquity of the nation and clothing him with the proper garments, festal garments, robes, as we’ll talk about in a moment. Depicting being clothed with the proper garments for the presence of Christ. The same thing that has happened to us. He has put away our iniquities, He has cleansed us from our sins and he has clothed us with His righteousness. We looked into the book of Revelation where we have the clothing with the garments that’s depicted there.

Now, moving into the details of the situation with the garments, in verses 4 and 5, as the forgiveness of Israel is depicted, made very clear. The putting off of the filthy garments, that’s obvious, the iniquity, the defilement is removed. You note, in the middle of verse 4, “he said to him, ‘See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes.’ ” It is God acting here. You don’t find Joshua opening his mouth at all. He had nothing to say. Representing Israel as defiled, unclean and unworthy. It’s God who acts on his behalf, it’s God who takes away the filthiness, it’s God who cleanses him with the proper adornment. Joshua has no claim to anything here. The only thing he can claim is guilt for his sin but Christ has taken care of that.

The festal robes, this description, festal robes, are garments that would be worn only on special occasions or functions. The word originally comes from referring to something that’s put off or taken off. It comes to mean a garment that is worn only on special occasions then taken off. We talk about your Sunday best, you come home from church and everybody runs to get changed because you’ve got on the clothes you wear for special occasions. You tell the kids, no, you have to change your clothes first. These festal robes are robes that are worn for special occasions, and particularly here they are the garments of the priesthood, very significant and important as garments of a priest.

Look back to Exodus 28, where we have these garments described for us. We have the garments of Aaron. We’re told that they were for glory and for beauty. You can see how unbecomingly Joshua is adorned. He is to be adorned with garments that are characterized by glory and beauty. Obviously they are anything but that. Those garments have been removed and now the proper garments are put on. Exodus 28:2, “You shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. You shall speak to all the skillful persons whom I have endowed with the spirit of wisdom, that they make Arron’s garments to consecrate him, that he may minister as priest to Me. These are the garments which they shall make: a breastpiece and an ephod and a robe and a tunic of checkered work, a turban and a sash, and they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons, the he may minister as priest to Me. They shall take the gold and the blue and the purple and the scarlet material and the fine linen.” And so on, the description all through chapter 28 on the making of these garments and how they are to be characterized. So they are garments for glory and for beauty. The putting on of the garments on Joshua depict the time when Israel as a nation shall have been cleansed and forgiven and thus stand in God’s presence.

Slip over to Romans 11, we’ve been in Romans 11 a couple of times previously, it’s a key section of the restoration of Israel, chapters 9-11 key chapters for the nation Israel. At the end of chapter 11 in particular we have this emphasis in the restoration of the nation. Verse 25, “For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery.” The mystery is the grafting in of the Gentiles, the setting aside of the nation Israel. The church is a mystery, that’s the mystery he’s talking about. “lest you be wise in your own estimation -- that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” This partial hardening that Israel is undergoing today is temporary, until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in, God’s program with the church is complete, the Rapture. Then verse 26, “and thus all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, ‘The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob. This is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.’ ” The removing of ungodliness from Jacob, the nation Israel, and with that will come the clothing of the garments of righteousness. Incidentally, that verse 26, “thus all Israel will be saved,” ties to a verse that we read in our scripture reading this morning in Matthew 24 [verse 13] where, he that endures to the end shall be saved. I was going to comment on that, but time got away. It had nothing to do with you or I enduring to the end and experiencing salvation. That’s directed to the nation Israel and the endurance of those within the nation Israel to the end of the tribulation and experiencing salvation by the intervention of the Messiah. We’ll be talking about that event later on in Zechariah.

Alright, back to Zechariah. Sometimes we read a section like this, we’re not as personally involved in what is going on. You read sections in the New Testament about the church and you just get all engrossed in it, you just become part of what’s going on. When you read the Old Testament and sometimes we read it like we’re a step removed, as observers. In a sense we are, as the church. But in another sense we’re identified, because the very same thing that is transpiring with Israel is transpiring with us. But it’s not the same with Zechariah. He doesn’t stand back as a passive observer saying, “Oh that’s nice, God’s going to cleanse Israel, that’s nice.” Note Zechariah 3:5, Zechariah is the speaker here, “Then I said, ‘Let them put a clean turban on his head.’ ” You get the idea almost of Zechariah being drawn in, that these filthy, vile garments are taken off of Joshua, and as they are going through this process, Zechariah in his enthusiasm can’t wait. Put the turban on his head, complete the process, let’s have him fully dressed. He is not rebuked for this. Note verse 5, “So they put a clean turban on his head.” This is part of God’s plan. This is part of the garments of the high priest. God was going to do that, but Zechariah’s so involved in what is going on here that in his enthusiasm he speaks out. The turban, that winding about the head like a skull cap, only it was of linen strips that were wound around the head, and it’s significant here for the garments because it symbolizes the complete reinstatement. The functioning priesthood, not just in truth but in fact, that it’s actually reinstated to its priestly position.

Go back to Exodus 28. You see that the turban is significant because engraved on the front of the turban there is a gold plate. The engraving, as you’ll see, is holiness or holy to the Lord. Exodus 28:36, we’re still talking about the garments of the priesthood. You could read all of chapter 28 and you’ll see some of the details. Verse 36, “You shall also make a plate of pure gold and shall engrave on it, like the engravings of a seal, ‘Holy to the Lord.’ You shall fasten it on a blue cord, and it shall be on the turban; it shall be at the front of the turban. It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall take away the iniquity of the holy things which the sons of Israel consecrate, with regard to all their holy gifts; and it shall always be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord.” So you note this engraving of “Holy to the Lord” on this plate on the front of the turban across his forehead depicts the work that he carries out. He is sanctified or set apart to God, thus, he carries on a sanctified or holy ministry. Zechariah is anxious for the turban to be put on because it depicts the fact that Joshua now is reinstated to the full prerogatives of priesthood. He functions now as priest and thus depicts the fact that the nation Israel will some day enter into the functional aspect of their priesthood as a nation.

Zechariah 3:5, “So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments, while the angel of the Lord was standing by.” The presence, the angel of the Lord standing by, indicates his approval and blessing. It’s all done under his direction and his authority. He’s the one in effect that has provided the cleansing, he’s provided the change of clothes and so on. Now with verse 6, in verse 6 we move from the transition. The first 5 verses we had the symbolic vision and now beginning with verse 6 and following, we’ll have the practical application to Joshua, then beyond Joshua to the Messiah. Verse 6, “And the angel of the Lord admonished Joshua saying, ‘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.” What we have here really, is a renewal of the covenant of priesthood. Interestingly it’s put conditionally, although as we see, there is no chance the condition will not be fulfilled, verse 7, “If you will walk in My ways, and if you will perform My service.” Two conditions, you walk in My ways, you perform My service. If you will do these two things, then there will be three results; first, you will govern My house, second, you will have charge of My courts, third, you will have free access among these who are standing here. Now it’s interesting that those conditions are set down. If you walk in My ways, if you perform My service, then you can govern My house, then you can have charge of My courts, then you can have free access. Though we’ve already seen that God’s election, sovereign choice of Israel… God’s love and grace are the basis of Israel’s position. We saw that back in verse 2 where “the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem,” “rebuke you Satan.” The basis of Israel’s position is God’s sovereign choice and love. However, this is important because it’s true of us today. This does not excuse Israel from her responsibility of obedience to God. Even though God’s sovereign choice, His grace, has guaranteed her position, that does not mean that Israel is excluded from the personal responsibility of obedience to God. So after going through that beautiful picture of cleansing, God addresses the nation in the person of Joshua and warns them of their responsibility to be obedient. Now, you have to follow through -- that grace pervades the whole thing. It’s God’s grace that is going to guarantee that Israel will be faithful. Israel has not, but when we get to this point in Israel’s history, God’s grace will guarantee the faithfulness of the nation Israel.

But there is no imbalance on the sovereignty of God here and the responsibility of man. The sovereign God intervenes and acts totally sovereign in the cleansing and establishing of Israel, and at the same time says, if you want to continue to enjoy My blessing, you be obedient. In the point of time that is in view here, ultimately the Millennium, there’s no chance that Israel will not be obedient. That does not change the exhortation to be obedient. There is no conflict here. The responsibility of Joshua is to be obedient. As I look at what the angel of the Lord is doing, he has made sovereign provision that Israel will be obedient. It’s just like you are looking at both sides and seeing a full picture.

Ok, verse 8. What verse 8 does now, is carry us beyond Joshua, carries us very clearly beyond the present day in Israel. It carries us to the time of the Messiah. Let me just mention, at the end of verse 7, in case you have questions, “Free access among these who are standing here,” probably refers to angelic beings. The free access refers to the spiritual ministry in the presence of God, the ability to come and go in God’s presence as the angels do, it denotes that spiritual privilege and position. Verse 8, “Now listen, Joshua the high priest,” note again how he’s addressed fully as a representative person. “Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who are sitting in front of you,” those who would be joined with him in the priestly ministry, “indeed they are men who are a symbol.” Clearly they are symbolic (we made reference to this last week, this verse) Joshua, those sitting in front of him, those who serve with him in the official priestly capacity, although Joshua is the only one directly addressed. It’s clear here, you are a symbol. What do they symbolize? “Behold, I am going to bring in My servant the Branch.” So Joshua as the high priest symbolizes the nation, but it will go beyond the nation. These events carry us to the time when the Messiah will be present.

Here we have one of the basic titles of Jesus Christ, two of the titles, really, “My servant the Branch.” The servant, the name My Servant, becomes a technical title for the Messiah. The Servant of the Lord, that identification as a servant, because He is the one who perfectly, in all ways carried out the will of the Father. He is exactly what a servant ought to be, a servant is one who ought to do exactly what his master wants done. You and I as the servants of Jesus Christ, we are to be doing precisely what He would have us do. Jesus Christ is the servant in the fullest sense because He fully and completely obeyed the Father. But it goes beyond that here, He’s My servant the Branch. In this use, or the title, the Branch or the sprout is used a number of times through the prophets. We’re not going to do a detailed study of it, we could take an evening on it without any problems. But if sometime if you’re looking for some studies to do on your own -- you say, where shall I get hold of a bible study, how should I start on my own? Here’s a good study for you, even in your devotional time. Trace through the Old Testament the verses using the title, the Branch, as a title of the Messiah, see how they’re used and the connotation there. Basically, what is in view, is the humility of Christ at His first coming, which would involve His rejection as well. He’s called the Branch. This Branch, this sprout, will of course grow into a powerful tree at the second coming. The Branch, the sprout, primarily focusing on the first coming. Although some of the context, it will carry you beyond that obviously.

I jotted down just some verses, we’ll just look at a couple of them where it’s used. Look back in Isaiah 11, Isaiah 11, one of the great Messianic chapters in the Bible. We’re familiar with it, because of verse 6 and following. “And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Then it will come about in that day that the nations will resort to the root of Jesse, who will stand as a signal for the peoples; and His resting place will be glorious.” Obviously that has never been fulfilled. We’re still not to the point where lions and lambs get together to relax and these other things go on; where a little child can play with a poison viper. It just doesn’t happen yet, it will happen in the millennium.

But we want verse 1, “Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.” Depicts here his humiliation and lowliness. A branch from the roots which bears fruit from the stem of Jesse. It ties Him to David because it ties His origins here to David. It ties to His fruitfulness, He will bear fruit. That compares with the bareness of the nation Israel, who should have been a fruitful plant before God but was not. When the Messiah comes, He will bear fruit. And through Him the nation also will bear fruit. Look over here in Isaiah, Isaiah 53. We’ll limit some of the verse we’ll look at, to Isaiah. Isaiah 53:2, “For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.” Again you note his lowliness and humility is usually in view in the passages tying to Him as the sprout or the shoot, the Branch, depicting His lowliness and His humility. One other passage in Isaiah, back in Isaiah 4. Isaiah 4 is interesting because it carries us beyond the first coming and the humiliation to really the deity of the Branch. His humanity is in view but also His deity. Isaiah 4:2, “In that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the adornment of the survivors of Israel.” So the glorious character of the Branch as well as the humility of the Branch is seen. So one of the very interesting titles of the Messiah connecting Him in various ways with man, with the nation Israel, with David, with Jehovah is that branch, that shoot that grows out of these various sources and blossoms to be fruitful for the nation of Israel.

Back in Zechariah we are going to see the Branch again, Zechariah 6:12, “Then say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, a man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the Lord.‘” So depicting here the growth -- as I mentioned, His first coming as a branch or a sprout but at His second coming why the development in the growth to accomplish God’s purposes. We will talk a little more about the Branch so if you do your study on the Branch between now and when we get to chapter 6 then you will have a little more background on what we will do there. Back in Zechariah chapter 3, this cleansing of the nation, now we have an idea of where we are going. We are going into the future from Joshua, to depict when this will cleansing of the nation occur that we have seen. Well, it ties to the Messiah, the Branch who will come. When He comes He will provide salvation. The emphasis on his humility and lowliness in connection with His first coming ties to the very foundation to the cleansing because it is at his first coming that he suffers rejection and crucifixion. By His death He provides the foundation for the cleansing of the nation Israel. There could be no cleansing of the nation, there could be no putting off of the filthy garments, if Jesus Christ did not die to pay the penalty for their sins. Just as we could not have forgiveness if it were not for His death on our behalf. “I am going to bring in My Servant the Branch.”

Now in verse 9 we have another title for the Messiah, “For behold, the Stone that I have set before Joshua.” The stone should be a capital S as a title, just like you have Servant in verse 8 and Branch in verse 8 capitalized, stone in verse 9 should also be capitalized as well, it is a title for the Messiah, He is the Stone set before Joshua. On this stone there are seven eyes and an inscription is engraved on the Stone. The result is “I will remove the iniquity of that land in that day.” Now the stone, if you want to do an interesting or change of pace study, trace through your Bible the stone as a title or reference to Jesus Christ. Just one or two passages to get you started. In Daniel 2, in front of our Old Testament, this is the vision that we have talked about on several occasions recently. Daniel 2 is one of the key chapters prophetically in the Bible. Daniel 2, that vision of the image which depicts all the nations and empires of the world. And note in verse 34 of Daniel 2, verse 34, “You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands,” stone is not of human origin, “and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them.” Verse 35, “Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time.” At the second advent of Christ to establish His kingdom He destroys the satanic world system and all its empires. They are carried away like the chaff but the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. The mountain symbolizing the kingdom in prophesy. The mountain... the stone grows and becomes a great mountain, fills the whole earth -- another way of saying that the kingdom of Christ shall fill the earth.

We read that in Isaiah 11 [verse 9b] the whole earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, His kingdom will be worldwide. Here He is pictured as the stone cut without hands. The stone will destroy the kingdoms of the world and thus exalt the nation Israel. They won’t annihilate them, these kingdoms will continue to exist. We find them in the millennium and we will talk about those as we get later on in Zechariah but as powers they are finished, as a world system they are finished. They are all seen as the point in relation to the nation Israel rather than that nation Israel being seen in relationship to them. The stone is Christ, He is the stone of stumbling and the rock of offence; again, you can read Romans 9:32, 1 Corinthians 1:23. At His first coming He was a stumbling stone, a rock of offence, the Jews fell over Him. At His second coming He’ll be a destroying stone to destroy the empires of the world.

Back to Zechariah, just look over to chapter 4 where you see this stone. There are other analogies if you’re familiar with the New Testament, where Christ is the cornerstone, and the stone which the builders rejected, it’s become the chief stone. If you trace this through in your concordance in your own personal Bible study, you’ll see some of these analogies. But look in Zechariah 4:7, since we’ll be confronting this is coming weeks, “What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring forth the top stone with shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’ ” So, the stone of stumbling becomes the chief stone. We’ll talk about the context of chapter 4, but we’ll see we’re still in view here with the Messiah here and His significance. Here He’s identified as the Servant, as the Branch, as the Stone.

Several other things about this stone, just in outline form so we can tie things together here this evening. Zechariah 3:9, “The stone I’ve set before Joshua”, that doesn’t mean that it’s subject to Joshua, just presented before Joshua, to see the significance here. “On one stone are seven eyes,” now the seven eyes denote infinite intelligence and omniscience, omniscience and infinite intelligence, seven being the number of perfection. We should have read it when we were in Isaiah, if you can get back to Isaiah 11 again quickly, if I can get back to Isaiah 11 quickly, there it is. Again you have the same context, the same kind of things blended together. As we mentioned earlier in our study of Zechariah, Zechariah draws from the writings of the previous prophets. So, in Isaiah 11, we had the shoot, the branch, in verse 1. Verse 2, “The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon Him”, now, the same kind of thing, only we’ve also brought in the stone in Zechariah 3. The stone has the seven eyes. Note the Spirit resting upon the branch. It’s the Spirit of the Lord resting on Him. “The spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.” The sevenfold spirit rests upon the Messiah. You can jot down Revelation 5:6, we won’t turn over there, but the seven spirits before the throne, in the throne room scene in Revelation 5:6. So the infinite intelligence and omniscience depicted here of the Messiah, indicating that this stone, in effect, has to be the Messiah, it has to be deity, because it’s characterized as such.

Now interestingly it’s engraved with an inscription. Zechariah 3:9, “ ‘I will engrave an inscription on it,’ declares the Lord of hosts.” Things are given weight here. This inscription, by the declaration of the Lord of hosts, “ ‘I will engrave an inscription on it,’ declares the Lord of Hosts”. This stone seen as a precious stone. Just as precious stone is cut to accentuate it’s brilliance and it’s beauty, so this stone, this precious gem, is engraved or carved, its cut. We’re not told what is engraved or cut, but the indication and the context here seems to refer to probably the scars of the crucifixion, which are drawn attention to in John 20 in the New Testament. Where its these marks on this stone, which accentuate His beauty and desirability, because its these markings that make Him so precious to us. Because if it were not for these markings on the stone, you and I would not know Him as Savior. We can only know Him as Judge. It’s the markings of the crucifixion that make Him so beautiful and desirable, because they identify Him as our Savior. Thus they accentuate His beauty, because they identify Him, not as Judge to us but as Savior to us.

That would tie to the last statement here, “I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.” The foundation for the removal of the iniquity, of course, is the death of the Messiah. And thus on this stone the precious markings are the marks of the crucifixion which were born, as we mentioned in our previous studies in 1 Corinthians, even in the resurrected body of Jesus Christ. He is unique, in that He bears the scars of the crucifixion. Because of their tremendous significance, they become marks of beauty, in effect, and desirability. “I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day” Now, remember up here, we saw the taking off of the garments. That cleansing of Israel will occur in one day. We read in Romans 9, thus all Israel will be saved. In one day that iniquity is going to be cleansed, they are going to be purified before God. The event we are talking about here is the second advent of Jesus Christ. When He returns then all Israel shall be saved and the cleansing will occur. We’ll talk about the events of the second coming and the judgments. Where it will cause Israel to pass under the rod and the judgments of Matthew 25 in future studies in Zechariah. That’s what’s in view here, in one day the Messiah will return, Israel will be cleansed.

So when will this occur? This picture that has been portrayed symbolically, with the cleansing of Joshua, it will occur in one day, in a future day with the return of the One who is the stone. When He comes and crushes all the empires of the world. At that time, He will be cleansing the nation Israel. Because they will have been prepared to respond to Him as their Messiah. They will believe in Him and experience the cleansing that He provided in His death. That ties to Zechariah 3:10, “In that day”, the same day here. We’re talking about the return of the Lord as the specific time in view. “ ‘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.’ ” Now again, without the feel for the Old Testament, that doesn’t sound too exciting. None of you have invited me over to sit under your vine and your fig tree. In Nebraska it would be pretty hard to do anyway, I guess. But for the Israelite what is symbolized here is very significant. You can jot down some verses here because of time. We won’t take time to turn there. 1 Kings 4: 24-25. Solomon, who’s reign is typical of the millennial reign of Christ, his reign of glory and splendor is typical of the reign of Christ. In Matthew 12, Jesus said that a “greater than Solomon is here” among you. We’re told that everyone sat under his vine and under his fig tree, denoting the safety and security and enjoyment that Israel was experiencing under the reign of Solomon. It’s Micah the prophet, however, that really gives this expression a millennial context.

Why don’t we just turn to Micah 4. Again, remember that Zechariah draws from the prophets preceding him. This would have been a familiar figure to him already as Micah uses it in a millennial context. He fixes this expression as depicting millennial blessing for the nation Israel. Verse 3, some people like to quote it out of context. Verse 3, “He will judge between many peoples and render decisions for mighty, distant nations. They will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they train for war.” It does something to my insides when I read people quoting that for today as a reason why we need to disarm or anything else. This verse has to do with the millennium and you won’t need weapons because Jesus Christ will sovereignly rule with a rod of iron. And there will be no rebellion and no need for weapons because in His sovereignty He will not allow for their use, there will not be any wars. Verse 4, “Each of them will sit under His vine and under His fig tree, with no one to make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. Though all the people walk each in the name of his god, as for us, we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.” So that expression in verse 4, they each sit under His vine and under His fig tree depicts the blessings of the nation Israel as they dwell safely without fear and securely under the sovereign protection of the Messiah.

That is what Zechariah 3:10 is talking about. In that day everyone of you will invite the neighbor; they will come and relax, enjoy peace and safety because they have experienced God’s cleansing and now they experience God’s protection. Chapter 3, God in grace has taken a polluted nation defiled by sins, cleansed it, and established it as a holy kingdom, a nation of priests in His presence. But this has been accomplished through the work of the Messiah, the One who is the servant branch, the stone and it’s His work that is made possible the cleansing and establishing of the nation Israel.

You can see the parallel is no different for the church. The church is not Israel but the church is just as vile, we were just as vile, just as unclean, and just as unholy. It took a sovereign work of God’s grace to take, to cleanse us, to purify us, to establish us, in God’s presence as a kingdom of priests as Peter says we are. Revelation 1 identifies us as a kingdom of priests that was accomplished through the gracious work of the Son of God in His death on our behalf. So our cleansing, our position, has the same pattern and the same foundation as the cleansing for the nation Israel. And for the cleansing for anyone who will ever experience cleansing. Israel has a full realization of it in the future just as we do. When we shall be presented before Jesus Christ’s Father, Colossians tells us, without spot and without blemish in all of His perfection. There is coming a time for Israel when Jesus Christ will return to earth and they will be established before the world as His nation, having been cleansed, purified, and thus prepared for blessings throughout the world for all nations to come up to Jerusalem and share in their Messiah.

Let’s pray together. Father, again we thank You for the marvelous salvation even as it’s depicted in this chapter pertaining to Israel. Lord, for such great grace. Father, grace that is overwhelming and almost non-understandable. Reach down to sinful men and provide total, complete, and free cleansing. Lord, provide the garments of holiness and beauty in order that they may stand undefiled in your presence. Lord, we thank You for the privileged position that we occupy today as the church, those who have been cleansed and forgiven, those who have been established as priests before You. But even now we come with boldness into Your presence and offer our thanks and our praise. Father, I pray that we may learn, as we read Israel, learn of Your grace, learn of Your sovereignty, learn of Your love. Father, learn of our responsibility to function in light of what we are as a kingdom of priests who are to be holy and pure even as You, the God that we serve, is Himself holy and pure. We thank You for the glorious destiny that lies before the nation Israel, that someday they shall have the privilege of functioning under the reign of their Messiah. We thank You, Father, that that Messiah is the one to whom we shall be joined in the marriage to the Lamb and shall rule and reign with Him in that kingdom for all eternity. We praise You for it in Jesus’ name. Amen.