A Vision of a Heavenly Courtroom Scene

Transcript

GR 1005
02/27/1977
A Vision of a Heavenly Courtroom Scene
Zechariah 3:1-4
Gil Rugh

Zechariah and the third chapter. Remember chapter 2, if you were here last week. Those verses focused on God’s words of comfort to Israel and the promise of the restoration of Israel. Particularly millennial promises, when the nation will be restored to the land, Messiah will be ruling over the nation. The nations that had chastised Israel, those that had dealt so harshly with the nation, will be rebuked and punished.

Messiah will dwell in the midst of the nation, and they will be the people around which the world really revolves in those days. Chapter 2:11, “And many nations will join themselves to the Lord in that day and will become My people. Then I will dwell in your midst, and you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you. And the Lord will possess Judah as His portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.”

So many nations will experience salvation. But Israel and Jerusalem will still be the focal point of God’s work in the earth. The chapter ended, “Be silent, all flesh before the Lord; for He is aroused from His holy habitation.” We noted this would tie directly to the coming of the Lord, to deal in judgement. The refining of the seven years’ tribulation that we talked about this morning. That awe before the Lord as He stands to accomplish His purposes on behalf of Israel, as we referred to this morning. Before God’s purposes for Israel can be brought to completion with the millennium, the refining period of the seven years’ tribulation, must come to pass. That period will bring about judgement on the nations of the world, and bring Israel to their knees, in effect, ready to believe in Jesus Christ as God’s Messiah.

Now there’s a problem that has not yet been covered. We’ve talked about judging the nations that have been so unfair in dealing with Israel. So proud and arrogant, rather than recognizing that God was using them as instruments. We’ve talked about the blessing that God will bring upon the nation Israel. But there is a serious problem yet to be resolved. That is, the nation Israel is basically a sinful people also. So chapter 3, resolves the problem, of how can a vile sinful nation experience the blessing and presence of a holy God. The basic reason is, that God will provide the cleansing for this people.

So chapter 3, this fourth vision, which carries us through the halfway point in the visions. There are eight visions. This is the fourth, focuses on the future cleansing and conversion of the nation Israel. Very interesting and outstanding chapter in Old Testament prophecy, the picture that it presents of cleansing from sin. Obviously the cleansing that the nation will experience, will parallel the cleansing of the individuals, and parallels the cleansing you and I experience even today, through faith in Jesus Christ.

The chapter opens up, verse 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.” Joshua the high priest. Joshua, the same Joshua the high priest named several times in the book of Haggai, preceding Zechariah. Now, Joshua stands as a representative of the nation Israel. Important that that be clear in our minds before we go further through chapter 3. Joshua is the representative of the nation Israel. So the events that happen to Joshua the high priest, really picture and typify what is going to happen to the nation Israel at a future time.

Several reasons why Joshua is a typical person. Joshua, the high priest, was a literally high priest, while he stands as representative of the people. The first reason is, he is the high priest. This is stressed several times in this section. Joshua, the high priest, and the high priest is the one who was representative of the people. He represented them for God in his various ministries. Here he stands as the people’s representative again, in his condition and what happens to him is symbolic of what will happen to the nation.

Second reason that indicates that Joshua is picturing the nation Israel here, is that when God rebukes Satan, we’ll look at the details of this in a moment, but in verse 2, God rebukes Satan. It’s on the basis of his choice of Jerusalem, not of Joshua. Note in the middle of verse 2, “Indeed, the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brad plucked from the fire?” So, it’s not that Joshua is chosen here. He’s not the brand plucked from the fire, but Jerusalem and the nation Israel. This flows into that without making a distinction, because Joshua does represent the nation.

Down in verse 8, Joshua and his friends are said to be symbolic. “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.” So in the very context we’re told that Joshua and those who are with him are symbolic, symbolic of future events for Israel. Verse 8 carries us into the ministry of the Messiah, “My servant the Branch,” we’ll be looking at in coming studies.

Then the fourth reason why it’s obvious that Joshua is symbolic, is that it’s the iniquity of the land that is said to be revealed. Look in verse 9, “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.” So, in verse 4, as we’ll see as we move through this, Joshua is seen, being defiled. But when Joshua’s defilement is removed, we can talk in verse 9 about the iniquity of the land, Palestine, Israel, being removed. As we move through this, we’ll be talking about Joshua, we’ll be talking about Israel, because Joshua stands as Israel’s representative. Stress that, because I don’t want you to wonder, is it arbitrary for us just to say, Joshua stands for Israel. There has to be good reason to say that, and the context gives us that reason.

Ok, Joshua the high priest is standing before the angel of the Lord. Now, Joshua as the high priest, represents what the nation itself should have been. Joshua is a high priest, but this should have been the condition of the entire nation. Maybe we ought to look back in the book of Exodus, just to see that clearly. Exodus 19:5, “Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.” You know what Israel is supposed to be, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. So as Joshua, the high priest stands before God, he stands in the positon that the nation should have been standing in. In effect, represents them in that positon, as a kingdom of priests and as a supposedly, holy nation.

But there are some serious problems. Back in Zechariah 3, Joshua standing before the angel of the Lord, this expression, “standing before the Lord,” is an expression used a number of times though the Old Testament, to refer to the priestly ministry. We won’t take time to look through some of the passages, Deuteronomy 10: 8, Judges 20:28, Ezekiel 24:15, various passages where this expression, standing before the Lord, pictures carrying on the priestly service. Joshua is not just standing here, but he is standing here in his position and function as a priest. He is standing before the angel of the Lord. That’s significant as we’ve seen already in chapter 1, the angel of the Lord is none other than the pre-incarnate Christ. He stands performing his priestly ministry, before God the Son. He’s a priest, representative of the nation, standing in the presence of God, to carry on his ministry. God the Son, being the person here.

The third person in view, is Satan. Satan is standing at His right hand to accuse him. Satan, the word means, an advisory or an accuser. Here we see him functioning within that capacity. There is a play on words here. Satan, standing at His right hand, to Satanize him. Or you could say, the accuser, standing at His right hand, to accuse him. The one who is the accuser, is accusing. We have these two words, basically the same word. We have a play on words here. The Accuser is now doing the accusing. The reason, being specifically, that Israel has given opportunity to Satan, to perform this ministry of opposition and accusation. Because of their sin, they have provided opportunity for the Accuser to do some accusing. Now, Satan will accuse, even without a valid opportunity. He doesn’t even have a valid opportunity here, but He thinks He does. Israel has given Him an occasion to speak, because of their sin. The position at the right hand, standing at His right hand to accuse him, just notes His positon of advantage. He has gained the advantage. He’s gained the advantage over man, generally because of the fall. He’s gained the advantage over Israel, because or their sin. So, the Accuser has gained an advantage, because he has grounds to make accusations. As we see, it’s only seeming ground, it’s not a real ground, but non the less, it gives Him opportunity to voice accusations.

We see Satan, in this position, several times through the word. The Bible, consistently presents Satan as a literal person. That’s clear in Zechariah 3:1. Joshua the high priest, a literal person, the angel of the Lord, a literal person, Satan, a literal person. Satan, being the anointed cherub that covered the throne of God. Because of rebellion against God, he lost his positon in heaven. With him, a great host of angels rebelled against God, and they lost their positons.

So, we have Satan and the demons today. Angels who followed Him in His rebellion against God. Primarily the opposition we face, is through the Demons who are under the leadership of Satan. Satan spends at least a portion of his time today in heaven. When he’s not in heaven, he’s checking things out on the earth, and stirring up trouble. Keeping his workers at work in their ministry of deception and rebellion.

Job 1, is usually the chapter we think of; it’s a very familiar chapter. We’ll just pick up a couple of verses. Job 1:6, “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.” Now the sons of God, are angels. The angels come to present themselves before God, and Satan is with them. So, Satan has lost His position in heaven. He is not the anointed Cherub that covers the throne of God any longer. He has not lost His access to heaven at this point. We’ll look at the time when He loses that access in a moment. Verse 7, “And the Lord said to Satan, ‘from where do you come?’ Then Satan answered the Lord and said, ‘from roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.’ And the Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.’”

What does Satan do in verse 9? He begins an accusation. Now, He doesn’t have any grounds for accusation, but His name indicates His character. He’s an adversary, an accuser. So, he begins to accuse Job. Well, does Job fear God for nothing? You’ve put a hedge about him, he wouldn’t fear you if you took the hedge down. Let me beat on him a little bit, we’ll see if Job won’t fear you any longer. So, you’re familiar with the account of how God gives Satan the authority to attack Job in certain areas.

Chapter 2 opens up, “Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. And the Lord said to Satan, ‘where have you come from?’ Then Satan answered the Lord and said, ‘from roaming about on the earth, and walking around on it.’” Then we go back to Job again. What about Job? Yeah, well, you’ve taken the hedge down a little bit, but not enough. You can read the book of Job, see something about how Satan works.

Let’s look over in Revelation 12. Revelation 12 is important because it tells us when Satan will lose His access to heaven. Even today, Satan still has access to heaven. I take it, when the angels come to present themselves before God, Satan comes among them. One of the reasons He comes is, He has been touring the earth, and He dumps out His accusations against the saints. In Revelation 12, the event we’ll read about, occurs in the middle of the tribulation. Three and a half years into that period of time, we talked about this this morning, the seven years tribulation. The chapter opens up with the sign in heaven, the “woman clothed with the sun.” That represents the nation Israel. There are some marvelous interpretations given of that symbol, represents Israel.

Verse 3, “another sign appears in heaven, a great dragon having seven heads and ten horns.” We talked about the seven heads and ten horns in our previous study. Same thing as we’ve seen over in chapter 17. Verse 4, “his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to earth.” Some take from this verse, that a third of the angels followed Satan in His rebellion against God. That the stars here, may be symbolic of the angels. “Attacks the man child, Christ,” and so on. Verse 7, “And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. And the dragon and his angels waged war.”

Remember we read in Daniel 12 this morning, where Michael stands up on behalf of the nation Israel. There is war in heaven. Satan and his angels battling against Michael and his angels. Note verse 8, “and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven.” They lose their access. Verse 10, “And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, ‘Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night.’”

So you see what Satan is doing. What His ministry is. Constantly accusing believers before God. I take it this may tie, you can just jot down, Ephesians 4:27, where Paul says, do not give the Devil a place. “Do not give the Devil an opportunity,” as it’s translated in the New American Standard, a place. We give the Devil opportunity, a place to make accusation, when we indulge in sin. That’s His ministry, to accuse the brethren. Now, it’s not successful as we see. But we’re not to give Him grounds to make an accusation in the first place. There ought to be nothing He can accuse us of.

But we think we sin in secret. Don’t think you do it. The Devil is there to dump it out. What about your servant, Gil? Ha Ha, look how vile he’s been. There to accuse the brethren. He’ll lose that position in the middle of the tribulation. If you read on in the chapter, that’s why the last half of the tribulation is so terrible. He’s lost His access to heaven, he realizes that his time is limited, so he begins to pour out his fury and wrath, and trying to bring the world to destruction. Thus, thwart the purposes of God, which of course he’s unable to do.

Back to Zechariah 3. We see Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. That’s a very vivid picture for us as believers today. It depicts the ongoing ministry of Satan. Verse 2, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?”

It’s interesting, the Lord here, refers to the angel of Jehovah. He is the spokesman evidently, it blends, as it did in chapter 2, where the angel of the Lord and the Lord just blend into one another. You sometimes are not sure who is talking, because they work harmoniously and together, as God the Father and God the Son. It’s interesting that the angel of the Lord, I take it, He is the one, because he’s the person in view in verse 1. Responds to the accusations of Satan. Joshua has nothing to say, because Joshua obviously is guilty of the accusations. He is silent. But Joshua need not say anything, because the angel of Jehovah takes up the defense of Joshua. The reason that Joshua can stand in the presence of God, under the accusations of Satan, is because of the defender he has. The angel of the Lord rebukes Satan. Very strong rebuke here.

There are a number of ways, we won’t go through the details, that emphasize the severity of the rebuke that Satan gets, the very repetition “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you!” One of the ways the Hebrews had to intensify something, is to repeat it. Say it twice. That intensified it. The stress on the Lord, as the one who rebukes, said twice, lays weight on the strength of the rebuke. You’ll note, why Satan is rebuked, because your accusations are not true. No, that’s not what He said. Because Joshua isn’t really filthy and vile, no, that’s not what He says. “The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you!” The sovereign, gracious election of the nation Israel, is the basis of the rebuke of Satan. God has graciously chosen Jerusalem. He has graciously chosen Israel. That’s sufficient to rebuke you, Satan. Because nothing else matters now, except God has chosen this nation. Since God has chosen this people, you have nothing to say against them. God’s choice, enables them to stand in His presence.

An interesting response to the accusations of Satan. It’s a brand, plucked from the fire. That would refer to Jerusalem, the the nation Israel. Again, Jerusalem stands for the nation, being the capitol. Just like we refer to decisions that come from Washington, well other nations, decisions that come from the capitol, depicting the decisions of the nation, representative of the people. A brand plucked from the fire. Here you see the rescue of the nation Israel. It doesn’t just refer to the Babylonian captivity, and Israel has been preserved and carried out of that, but it refers to all the persecutions that Israel will go through and endure. The last one, being the most severe. The fire of the tribulation. Israel will be plucked from that final persecution, that final fire, and preserved. We’d include all of these, but the culminating one, being the one, which will be their ultimate salvation. As they’re plucked from the tribulation and carried into the earthly kingdom. “Is this not a brand plucked from the fire.” This intervention of the angel of Jehovah on behalf of Israel, you see something of the ministry of Christ, to the church, is very similar to the ministry of Christ with the nation Israel.

Many of you are familiar with 1 John 2. In 1 John 2, we’re told that “if any man sin,” talking about believers, “we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He himself, is the satisfaction for our sins.” Not our sins only, but for the sins of the whole world. The reason that I stand in the presence of God, is not because there are not sins in my life that I can be accused of. The reason is, that I have an advocate who represents me, and defends me in the presence of God. So when Satan brings His accusation, Jesus Christ is there to say, but he is one of Your chosen ones. As one of the chosen ones, he has been redeemed by my blood. There is no accusation to bring against him. All his sins have been cleansed. There is no basis of accusation.

We see something of the same picture going on as we come over to into the New Testament. The accuser there, but our advocate, our lawyer, our representative to be our defender. Now, you want to see something of how filthy the nation Israel is, it’s almost repulsive. One thing you can not accuse the prophets of, under the inspiration of the Spirit, is using delicate language. They can be very, very blunt. Remember that it’s God speaking through the prophets. It’s not that these men just we a little bit uncouth, remember as Isaiah wrote, that “all our righteousness are as filthy rags.” Literally, menstrual rags, polluted rags. Well, here verse 3, Joshua was clothed with “filthy garments.” The word, translated filthy, actually means excrement covered. That’s pretty filthy. It’s not only filthy, it stinks. It’s vile and offensive. It’s rather repulsive. We have it translated filthy, that gives the idea, it’s not just that they had been rolling in the dirt. They had been rolling in more than dirt. They were filthy and stinky and smelly, covered with excrement.

Here you see one who is to be representative of a nation that is holy. A people who are undefiled, standing in the presence of a holy God and note the condition he’s in. A rather repulsive condition. It depicts something of how vile the sins of Israel really are as they come into the presence of God. They are terribly offensive. The picture is really repulsive, that here the high priest would stand in the presence of the holy God in such a vile condition. These filthy garments depict all of the apostasy and unfaithfulness of the nation Israel. All the unfaithfulness, the self righteousness. All of which culminated in the rejection of their Messiah.

You get some idea of how sin is pictured in the presence of of God, among those who are to be holy and pure. The vileness of the sin of Israel. This nation that was to be holy and undefiled, now is pictured in such a vile condition. No wonder that Satan is there to point out, and say, “hey, there’s your holy priests. Take a look at those garments. They are supposed to stand before you, holy and pure.” This is getting rather ridiculous, isn’t it? Rather repulsive isn’t it? There would be no hope, if it wasn’t for the intervention of the angel of the Lord. Filthy garments and standing before the Lord. Two participles here. The clothed and the standing, denote a continual condition. It denotes that this is Israel’s condition. Standing before God in these filthy, vile garments.

Now, we’re just going to make a reference into verse 4 and that’s as far as we’re going to go. That’s really a break, but I don’t want to leave us with Joshua standing there with excrement covered garments. A rather negative note to end on. The real hope is, in verse 4-7, picture Israel as forgiven and re-established in their holy position. Verse 4, “And 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.’”

So the answer comes. How can a holy God bless such a vile nation? Very simply, He’s going to clean them up. He’s going to purify them, going to cleanse them. Two aspects here, a negative and a positive. The negative aspect, He takes away the filthy garments. He takes away the pollution. He takes away the vileness. He removes their sin, is another way of putting it. He cleanses their sin. That’s what is happening here, that’s what’s being pictured. The positive aspect, He clothes them with festal garments.

We’ll do the details that are involved here and the meaning, in our study next week. But the positive side is, He clothes them with new garments. Festal garments so that they are suited for God’s presence in heaven. A very clear picture, the removal, the cleansing from sin. The clothing with His righteousness. Where did he get this righteousness? He got it from God. The angel of the Lord gives the command to clothe him with these garments. You know, Joshua hasn’t said anything. What can he say? I mean, you stand there, dressed like this, the best thing to do, is to keep your mouth shut. He’s obviously got nothing to contribute. But who’s the one doing the work here? God himself. The Son himself, is the one doing all that is necessary to cleanse the sin. All that’s necessary to put on the garments of holiness and purity. It’s a work that He Himself accomplishes.

Several places that this could be followed through in the New Testament. Maybe just turn over to the book of Revelation. We’ll draw to a close with a few verses in the New Testament. Revelation 3, you could look into places like Romans 3, which talks about the forgiveness of sins by faith in Christ. The cleansing from sin and it’s defilement and so on, to get the actual spiritual picture carried out. But in Revelation 3, following the analogy of the garments, in verse 5, the promise given. “He who overcomes shall thus be clothed in white garments.” And the white garments come out of verse 4, “But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white; for they are worthy.” He who overcomes, and the overcomer, 1 John 5 tells us, “who is he that overcomes, but he that believes that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.”

Every person who is a believer in Jesus Christ the Son of God, is an overcomer, has the victory. All those who are believers. Revelation 3:5, “He who overcomes shall thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels.”

Look over to Chapter 3:18, to the church at Laodicea who was bogged down in it’s own sinfulness, self righteousness. The exhortation comes in verse 18. “I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich, and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see.”

So, the clothing of the saints, will be the white garments. The white garments of Revelation 19, we’re told, depict the righteousness of the saints. Because of the righteousness of Christ, that we have His righteousness, that enable us to submit to the Spirit. It is character produced, which results in righteous acts, for which we will be rewarded, and we will be clothed. A circular type of process.

While you’re in Revelation, just back up to 1 Peter 2. As you see, Israel is to be a holy nation a holy priesthood, undefiled before God, so you and I now, today the church, as the people of God are to occupy that position. A holy nation, a holy priesthood, undefiled. Note verse 4, “And coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected by men, but choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” Those of us who have come to believe in Jesus Christ, are now a holy priesthood. We are to be offering up spiritual sacrifices. We are to be a holy priesthood. Spiritual sacrifices. Note verse 9, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

Thus verses 11 & 12, “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and stranger to abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul. Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may on account of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.” That same context, we’re to be a holy nation, a holy priesthood. That exhortation, “abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul.”

You see yourself in that picture, that if we were to be displayed now, as the kind of priesthood that we really function as. Would we function as a holy priesthood in our conduct and in our actions? Would our garments be displayed as pure and white, because of our faithfulness in submission to the Spirit’s direction? That’s a demand of the priest. It’s easy to read Zachariah chapter 3, and be repulsed.

But my sins are just a vile as Israel’s sins were. They’re just as unacceptable and just as repulsive. They’re just as unfitting for one who is to be part of a holy priesthood, as Israel’s sins were. Praise God for the cleansing and the forgiveness that is brought about through the ministry of His Son. But that ought to be a motivation toward a holy life, not an excuse for a sinful life. Let’s pray together.

Father indeed we do thank You for Your gracious choice of the nation Israel. In Your sovereign love, You chose that nation to belong to You. Lord Your purposes will be accomplished in and through them. There is coming a day when they shall stand in Your presence as a redeemed people. Your holiness being characteristic of them. Your righteousness being characteristic of them. Lord we thank You, that we too have that glorious position. Even a more exalted position. Lord that we stand as a holy nation, as a royal priesthood even today. Pray Father that we would learn from the nation Israel. As we see something of the results of their conduct. Their rebellious actions. That we might see how repulsive sin really is, when brought against the light of Your holiness. Pray, Lord that we would shun unholiness. That we would abstain from fleshly lusts, realizing they wage war against the soul. Father, pray that we might take the position that we have, seriously. That we might function as a priesthood, offering up spiritual sacrifices acceptable through Jesus Christ. Thank you for such a privilege, in Jesus Name. Amen