When the remnant returned to Israel to rebuild the walls (Haggai 1:1, 2:4), Joshua was the High Priest at that time.
In verses 1-3:
Joshua is appointed and Satan stands to accuse him. Joshua’s appearance / man’s appearance.
Joshua, who here represents the nation of Israel, was accused (“resisted”) by Satan. Joshua stood in “filthy garments” (sins) and the accusations were true. However, God showed His mercy by stating that He had decided to save His people regardless. In Job 1:6, it says that Satan always makes people look bad in front of God. Yet, he extraordinarily misconstrues the expansiveness of God’s benevolence and absolution toward the people who put their faith in Him. In the end, Satan the Accuser will be destroyed (Revelation 12:10), and all believers will be saved (John 3:16). We can ask God to strip us of our sin and clothe us in His goodness so that we can be ready.
• Ezra 9:15, O LORD God of Israel, thou art righteous: for we remain yet escaped, as it is this day: behold, we are before thee in our trespasses: for we cannot stand before thee because of this.
• Isaiah 64:6, But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
The fire of great trials had been God’s punishment for Judah, but He saved the nation before it was completely destroyed, “a brand plucked out of the fire.”
In verses 4-5:
Joshua is made acceptable. Joshua is given a mitre (crown) and he was given a charge.
Zechariah’s vision shows how believers obtain mercy from God. It has nothing to do with us or anything that we can. However, it is God who removes our (“filthy garments”) sins. When we repent of our sins and ask Christ into our hearts, that is when the filthy rags are removed, and we obtain a new set of clothes (righteousness). When Satan tries to make us feel unclean and unworthy, we should remember that Christ's righteousness is clean and makes us worthy of coming closer to God.
• 2 Corinthians 5:21, For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
• Revelation 19:8, And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
• 1 Kings 3:14, And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.
In verses 7-10:
There was not a priesthood during the exile, so it was restarted, and Joshua became the High Priest. One of the duties that the High Priest had to perform was the offering of a sacrifice, for the sins of the people on the Day of Atonement. The priest was the mediator between man and God. This was to represent the future Messiah (Isaiah 11:1) who would change how the people’s sins were dealt with (Hebrews 10:8-14). Jesus Christ was the High Priest who sacrificed Himself once and for all time to pay for our sins. In His new order, each Christian is a priest offering a sacred, purged life to God (1 Peter 2:9; (Revelation 5:10).
The Messiah is referred to by the Branch. There is no clear meaning about the stone with seven facets (“eyes”). It could imply that the Branch Himself was the establishment stone of the Temple, the stone that Moses struck that delivered water for the Israelites (Numbers 20:7-11), or the reestablished church spiritual priesthood. Jesus Christ fulfilled these verses hundreds of years later. Christ, who “hath suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God,” fulfilled God’s promise that “I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day” (1 Peter 3:18). We cannot atone for our sins on our own. It is through Christ that God can remove them.
So, if you were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?
Imagine if you will a court room. God is the judge. Satan is the prosecuting attorney, telling the court everything that you did wrong. You are the accused. Jesus is the defense lawyer, and He paid the price for your sins. Have you ever noticed that the prosecutor is to the left side of the judge and the defense is on the right, from the judge’s perspective?
• Acts 2:33, Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.
• Romans 8:34, Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
• Hebrews 1:3, Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:
We were appointed when we accepted Christ as our Savior. Satan is always trying to accuse us. In sin we had an old appearance, but in Christ we have a new appearance. We were made acceptable to God through the blood of Jesus. We have been given a crown of life, and we have also been given a charge to go and spread the Gospel of Jesus.
Can anyone tell just by looking at us that we are Christians? Have we traded our old clothes for new clothes, our old walk for a new walk, our old way of talking for a new way of talking? Do we use the same language, same jokes, same clothes? Do we go to the same places? Do we project Christ in our lives everywhere we go? Do we set the example? (Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, 1 John 1:9, Ephesians 4:24, 1 John 2:15-16, 2 Corinthians 6:17)
Thanks to Calvary, I am not the man I used to be. Thanks to Calvary, things are different than before.
Courtroom Script
The first time I preached this message, we presented a short presentation to the congregation. I was the accused man.
In the following script, the accused man has a torn (cut into strips) black shirt on under his jacket that the congregation cannot see. Under that torn shirt he is wearing a white T-shirt. The pastor of the church plays the part of Satan. Two other men of the church (deacon, choir director, Sunday school teacher, etc.) play the part of Jesus and God.
God:
Looks at Satan and says –
Satan, what do you have to say?
Satan:
Looks at the man then looks toward God and says –
This man is a liar, cheater, a drunkard, thief, selfish, had immoral thoughts
Satan pulls off the man’s coat, parades him around and says –
See, he is nothing but filthy rags, he is dirty, no good
God:
Looks at Jesus and says –
Jesus, what do you have to say?
Jesus:
Looks at the man then looks back at God and says –
One day I heard him cry out to me asking for forgiveness. He accepted my sacrifice of dying on
the cross for his sins. I do not know of these things.
Jesus takes off the rags, and parades man around then says –
See here, he is clean!
Jesus looks at the crowd and says –
What sins are you talking about? I do not remember them anymore. From the Book of Life, they have all been torn out. I do not remember them anymore.
