After a number of weeks, we now return to our study of Zechariah's prophecy. So if you will take your Bibles and turn to Zechariah chapter three; in a few minutes we will look at the first five verses, and I'd like to do so under the heading "The Messiah's Priestly Work of Intercession and Imputation." Wonderful truths that can bring such tremendous joy and encouragement to the heart of every believer; and certainly, we all need that, especially in these dark days. The Islamic jihadist terrorist attack in New Orleans is yet another reminder of the sheer evil that exists in this world; the danger of satanic deception. Frankly, none of us are safe. None of us know when we will breathe our last, but that day will come, and so we all need to be ready, and we can only be ready through faith in Christ and his saving grace.

It struck me once again this week, and you hear this phrase all the time, when something tragic happens, people will say, "Our thoughts and prayers are with the families." We kind of understand what that means, but how much better it would be to say we are praying that God will comfort each family and that he will reveal his presence to them through the power of the gospel. People today are without hope. They are without purpose. They are without joy. They can only deaden the pain of a meaningless life and the fear of death through alcohol and drugs and anger, activism, short lived pleasures, false religions, on and on it goes. People need the Lord. People need the Lord. And I think of what Jesus said in John 6:35, "Whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst." And this is why we as believers, can rejoice come what may in our lives.

Scripture tells us in Philippians four verse four, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Psalm 37 four, "Delight yourself in the Lord." Psalm 32:11, "Be glad in the Lord and rejoice." And we know, according to Psalm 16 and verse 11, that "In His presence there is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore." And therefore, we can all gladly submit to the command in First Corinthians 10:31 that says, "Whether then you eat or drink or whatever you do, do, all for the glory of God."

So as we return once again to the prophecy of Zechariah, we will find this text to be inspiring; it will be encouraging; it will be humbling and convicting, and hopefully motivating. For here, we are reminded again of what God has done in eternity past, in the present, what he's going to do, not only for his covenant people Israel, but for all whom he has set his love upon in eternity past.

Now, let me give you a bit of a review, because it's been a while since we've immersed ourselves in this great prophetic book. Remember, there were about 50,000 Jews that returned to the rubble and ruin of their homeland in Judea, Jerusalem, after 70 years of captivity in Babylon. Their temple was destroyed, and when they came back, they were met with violent opposition from The Samaritans that lived there - people that were part Jewish and part pagan - and they experienced God's judgment over that 70 years because they disregarded his word. They ignored the words of the prophets. They did not obey what God had commanded them to do. They allowed the culture to mold them into its particular image. They were apathetic towards the laws of God. In fact, the 70-year captivity was calculated based upon their violation of the Sabbath rest for the land that was required that's described in Leviticus 26.

And now this morning, is the fourth vision in a series of eight visions that was given to young Zechariah about 2500 years ago. And collectively, the purpose of these visions is to bring clarity and to bring comfort to the dispersed and the demoralized exiles that had come back into their land; to reassure these beleaguered people that God had not forgotten them, that God had not abandoned his future kingdom promises; all that he had promised them in his covenants. But these particular visions also remind every single believer that God is faithful to fulfill all that he has said. In fact, in chapter one and verse 13, we read that these are "gracious and comforting words."

Now, these eight prophetic visions point to, ultimately, the consummation of all of Israel's sorrows and the inauguration and of the nation's prominence and millennial glory when Christ establishes his kingdom. And I also want to remind you that these visions are arranged in what's called a "chiasm," that comes from the Greek word Chi, t looks like our "X". And a chiasm is really a structural pattern, or a literary technique, that's frequently seen in Scripture, where concepts will repeat or echo or explain each other, and each parallel builds to a key focal point in the passage. For example, here in these eight visions, the first and the last vision are paralleled, and the second and the seventh are paralleled, the third and the sixth, and finally, the fourth and the fifth, which would be the most important parallel. And certainly, as we look at this today, we will see the emphasis on the Messiah, and therefore this is the focal point of all of the visions, because it reveals just the supremacy of the Messiah.

Now briefly, may I remind you that in the first vision, we were reminded of God's love for Jerusalem, his anger against the nations that have persecuted them so viciously. It's a reminder of his sure return to Jerusalem with mercies to rebuild and ultimately expand the temple. It's summarized well in chapter one verse 17, "Again proclaim saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem."'"

And then the second vision, he expands upon those gracious and comforting words by promising certain destruction upon all of the godless nations that so violently attacked them and dispersed them and caused them to suffer. And this will not only include Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome, but also a revived Roman Empire during the time of the tribulation that's symbolized by the 10 horns on the head of a great monster. This will be a great federation of Gentile powers that will re-emerge under the rule of 10 kingdoms. And these 10 kingdoms you may recall, correspond to the feet and the toes of the colossus that we see in Daniel two and Daniel seven and Revelation 13:1 and so forth. Then an 11th horn, you will recall, will appear, and it's a little horn that comes up after them, which is revealed to be the final Antichrist. And then eventually, at Christ's second coming, he will vanquish all of Israel's enemies, and he will publicly display his glory in Millennial reign. Why is that? So Israel? All of Israel will know, and all of the world will know, who he is; that he is the Lord, and to show to the world that he is faithful to his covenant promises that he made to ethnic Israel, his chosen people.

And then the third vision, you will remember, he explains how the Israel is his gracious choice, to be his chosen nation; the nation through which he would reveal the Messiah that he would bless all of the families of the earth, and he speaks of his promise to protect and deliver them and to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem so they can share in millennial blessings. And that brings us now to where we're at today in the fourth vision. And here we are going to see his promise to intercede and cleanse and restore his people by the person and the work of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ; Israel's great High Priest, the ultimate King, who is, frankly, the centerpiece now of all of Zechariah's visions. So here we marvel at the high priestly work of Christ, the work of intercession and imputation that I will explain in more detail later. So let me read this passage to you, and this is really the first part of the fourth vision that we will look at in these first five verses.

"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.

The LORD said to Satan, 'The LORD rebuke you, Satan! Indeed the LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?'

Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel.

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.'

Then I said, 'Let them put a clean turban on his head.' So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments, while the angel of the LORD was standing by.'"

I want us to examine this passage under two very simple headings. We're going to see the Messiah's priestly work of intercession and his priestly work of imputation. And what you must understand, and I'm sure you will as the as the hour goes by, is that this is necessary for spiritual restoration to occur, for there to be reconciliation between sinful people and a holy God, between God and his people, Israel. And frankly, all of his elect. In fact, every Gentile who has trusted in Christ as Savior can celebrate with the remnant of believing Israel and these two priestly works of the Lord Jesus Christ, because he is also our Savior. He is our king. He is our advocate before God's bar of justice in the courtroom of heaven.

Now it's also important to bear in mind that God's immutable promises concerning Israel's future to make them a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, Exodus 19, six, all of that is anchored in the elective purposes of his sovereign grace. In fact, he has said in Second Chronicles six and verse six, "'I have chosen Jerusalem that My name might be there.'" And sowhat we see all through Scripture, is that despite Israel's grievous sins and idolatry and moral defilement and utter unworthiness, God, in his mercy, saves them, as he has us. And there's many passages that attest to this. Jeremiah three, beginning in verse 16, we read, "'It shall be in those days,'" referring to the millennium, "'...when you are multiplied and increased in the land,' declares the LORD, 'they will no longer say, "The Ark of the Covenant of the LORD."  And it will not come to mind, nor will they remember it, nor will they miss it, nor will it be made again.'"

By the way, the reason for this is because the Messiah himself will be on his throne in Jerusalem. He goes on to say, "'At that time, they will call Jerusalem "The Throne of the LORD," and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the name of the LORD; nor will they walk anymore after the stubbornness of their evil heart.'" But again, none of this can be accomplished apart from the Messiah's high priestly work of intercession and imputation.

Now let's look closely, first at his work of intercession. Verse one, "Then he showed me Joshua the high priest, standing there before the angel of the LORD and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him." My what is going on here? It's fascinating. Is it not here we see God compelling Zechariah to look at something very important. Joshua, who was Israel's high priest was, of course, God's chosen representative to, as all the priests were, to mediate Israel's relationship with God through the sacrificial offerings that would symbolically atone for sin. And his role, and his integrity are crucial in maintaining a proper relationship with God. And he, essentially, as all the priests would do, would, shall we say, impersonate Israel in his holy office. And so the guilt of Israel, and his guilt were, shall we say, one and the same. He bears Israel's sin, for example, when he enters into the Holy of Holies. And you will recall, in the Day of Atonement on Yom Kippur, the high priest would go into the holy of holies and sprinkle the blood upon the mercy seat; the place of propitiation and symbolically atone for the sins of the people; and thus receive God's blessing for that coming year.

Now the big question in the minds of the exiles at this point in history was, essentially, this, is God still with us? Yes, we're able to come back to the land, but is God still with us? Has he abandoned us? After all, we're experiencing a whole lot of turmoil here with the Samaritans. And theologically, what we are going to see here is the answer to the great theological question, which is essentially this: How can an infinite, infinitely holy God show mercy to sinful people without violating his holiness? And what we're going to see is this kind of restoration requires divine efficacious - meaning effective, successful intercession - as well as imputation, which can only be accomplished by the great high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ.

So here Joshua is standing before the Lord; the Angel of Yahweh, who is Yahweh Himself; the Lord Himself, as we have studied in other passages. And biblically, this little phrase "standing before" is a technical term used to describe a priest that is engaged in worship and in service and intercession. For example, in Deuteronomy 10 and verse eight, we read, "At that time, the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the LORD..." and here it is, "...to stand before the LORD to serve Him and to bless in His name until this day." So here, Israel's high priest, which is the type and representative of Israel, he's basically impersonating Israel, is standing before the great high priest, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is ultimately the intercessor for the people. He is the only priest able to save, for example, in Hebrews seven, beginning in verse 23 we read, "The former priests... were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore, he is able also to save forever..."  That means altogether perfectly to utter completion and perfection. I believe the King James Version translates it "to the uttermost he saves, both eternally and completely," "...those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them."

And I might add that we see the same angel of the Lord that is Yahweh interceding for Jerusalem in the first vision. And in the third vision, he is pictured as the coming and comforting servant who would one day be the sacrifice for the people.

Now, notice again, "Then he showed me Joshua," verse one, "the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him." Satan, in the Hebrew, is essentially translated "enemy" or "adversary." And in the Greek, he is "the accuser." In fact, the literal Hebrew here says, "And Satan was standing at his right hand to satanize him." In other words, he's condemning Joshua, and therefore Israel, because Joshua is representing Israel, because of their sin. And by the way, this is Satan's MO is it not? To accuse us before the throne of God, to accuse us even to ourselves? It's amazing to think that even today, Satan has access to the throne of God. He's not somehow bound up in hell like you would hear, you know, people sing about or talk about. Revelation 12:10, speaks of that. And we're never told why God allows Satan to appear before him, or what role in general he plays in God's eternal purposes and his moral government of this world, but we do know that Satan does essentially two things: he seduces and then he accuses. He seduces us, and then he accuses us. And aren't we all under satanic attack constantly? That's why we are to wear the full armor of God in Ephesians, six and so forth.

But please understand that it's not merely Satan's hatred of Israel that's at play here. Rather, it's his hatred of God. You see, Satan's ultimate goal is to thwart the kingdom purposes of God in redemption, which he knows is rooted in God's plans for Israel, and thus they must be exterminated. And we've seen this played out all throughout history. There's no... you could take all of the people that have been persecuted in the world and combine them, and they wouldn't match the kind of persecution the Jewish people have endured. And fortunately, a day of judgment is coming for Satan, when he will be permanently cast out of heaven. We read about it, Revelation 12, verse 10, "Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, 'Now the salvation and the power in the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ has come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down; he who accuses them before our God, day and night.'"

So back to the vision. Basically, what we have here is a courtroom drama, and the high priest and therefore mediator of Israel, representing Israel is on trial. You might put it this way, Israel is on trial here. And Satan exposes Israel's sinfulness; their apostasy, their unworthiness to God; thus requiring God in his mind to condemn them, to abandon them, to forsake them permanently, to terminate all of his promises to them. So what hope does Israel have?

Israel is guilty, guilty as charged. And notice in verse three, "Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel." It's interesting, the word "filthy," there is no word in the Hebrew language that even comes close to describing what this term is describing. It could literally be translated, "excrement covered garment." In other words, the Hebrew root is that for dung or excrement. So this is filth of the most abhorrent nature, vile to the eyes, offensive to the nose. Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel. I mean, this is a disgusting scene, is it not? And it's depicting the abject, sinful corruption of Israel. It symbolizes the full gamut of Israel's apostasy.

Now also bear in mind that the ritual cleansing of the body for the high priest when he did his sacerdotal duties, not to mention the garments that he wore, were all well established in the Mosaic law. He couldn't even come in contact with anything that is unclean, much less be covered in that kind of filth. And any kind of physical impurity or soil on his attire would render him unclean, and then he would be unfit to represent the people before a holy God and intercede on their behalf. And so the point that we're seeing here is that no mortal priest was fit to stand in the presence of an infinitely Holy God. And since Christ's atoning work on the cross, no mortal priest is qualified to mediate between God and man. That's why we don't have a priest. I am not a priest. I'm just a man like you. I've just been called to be a shepherd, a pastor, teacher. There is one man and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, First Timothy two and verse five.

Moreover, back to the vision, no mortal, period, can stand in the presence of God apart from the efficacious intercession and imputation of the Messiah, of the Lord Jesus. So what's going to happen here? Will the Messiah, the angel of the LORD, intercede on their behalf, or will he agree with Satan and condemn them permanently, forever? Well, the answer is yes, he is going to intercede. 1000 times yes. And here, beloved, we see a foreshadowing of not only the future conversion of the nation of Israel, but also of all of the redeemed down through the ages, you and me. Romans, eight, verse 34 Paul says, "Who is the one who condemns?" And he goes on to answer it, "Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

So you've got Joshua just standing there. He is filthy, and he is guilty as charged, utterly dependent upon the Angel of Yahweh for mercy. Now notice the Messiah's work of intercession more closely. And my what a confrontation. This is verse two, "The LORD said to Satan, 'The LORD rebuke you, Satan!'" Now you must understand here, the Messiah, the second member of the Triune Godhead, the Son of God, the pre-incarnate Lord Jesus Christ, appeals to the authority of his Father, the first person of the Trinity, and asks him to rebuke Satan. And by the way, we've seen this interplay between the two of them before. We witness this, for example, in chapter two and verse eight, where we read that Yahweh sent Yahweh, and in chapter one, verse 12, where Yahweh addressed Yahweh. So that's what's going on here. And this term "rebuke," you must understand, doesn't simply mean kind of a mild scolding or even a strong scolding. What we see in Scripture is that when it's applied to God, it denotes an actual supernatural suppression. This is a crushing rejection, an act of divine judgment. You will recall, for example, in Luke nine, the father had had a son, his only son, and an evil spirit would seize him and cause him to scream and throw him into convulsions, and he would foam at the mouth and when the spirit would leave, the demon would maul him and so forth. And there we read in Luke 9:42, "While he was still approaching," it's referring to Jesus, "still approaching, the demon slammed him to the ground and threw him into a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked," there it is, "the unclean spirit and healed the boy and gave him back to his father." So this is what's going on here. Jesus is rebuking Satan. You will remember that God rebuked the sea in Psalm 106, and it dried up, referring to the Red Sea; and God rebuked the enemies of Israel, put them to flight in Isaiah 17, verse three; Psalm nine and verse five, we read this, "You have rebuked the nations. You have destroyed the wicked. You have blotted out their name forever and ever." So here, the Lord is rebuking Satan not because he made false allegations - because the allegations were obvious - because he was clothed in excrement, but he's rebuking Satan because of his motivation for making those accusations, which was ultimately to thwart the kingdom purposes of God in redemption.

And so what happens? The angel of Yahweh, the Lord Himself, intercedes on behalf of Israel with an irresistible force, and here's why, the end of verse two, "'Indeed, the LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you!'" In other words, you want me to violate my covenant promises? Not happening. By the way, this is a repeat of what we read for example, in Zechariah one, in verse 17, "'Again, proclaim, saying, "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.'"'" And also in chapter two, verse 12, "'The Lord will possess Judah as His portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem.'" So the Lord is simply saying this: Israel's position before God has nothing to do with their righteousness, because obviously they have none. It's just the opposite, but it has everything to do with the immutable character and unwavering faithfulness and everlasting love of a sovereign God. You see, to abandon and destroy his people would dishonor his name. In fact, we read in First Samuel 12 and verse 22, "For the Lord will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the Lord has been pleased to make you a people for Himself." And folks, we can go all the way back to Deuteronomy chapter seven, for example, and read about how God set his love upon Israel, even as he has set his love upon us. Chapter Seven of Deuteronomy, beginning in verse six, "'You are a holy people to the Lord." In other words, you are a people set apart to me, "'You are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who were on the face of the earth. The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers.'"

And I might add that this is why I do not believe that God is finished with Israel; that somehow the church has replaced Israel because God's covenants were unilateral, irreversible, unconditional covenants that he made to Abraham and to David. And this is one of many reasons why I would personally reject supercessionism or Roman Catholic eschatology - that the church is somehow spiritual Israel. Also, never once in Scripture did we read that Israel has been permanently replaced by the church. Nor is Israel ever used as a synonym for the church. In Romans 11 and verse one, we read, "I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be!" Verse two, "God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew." The idea of foreloving; setting his love upon a people group. In verse 11, "...they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be!" You see, the whole purpose of God's sovereign choice in choosing Israel is to demonstrate to the world a graphic picture of his undeserved mercy and redeeming grace. In fact, both Jews and Gentiles are described in chapter nine and verse 22 of Romans, the objects of His mercy. And some will say, well, but what about what about their unbelief? Well, that's what we're seeing here; despite their sinfulness, which includes their unbelief, God is still going to intercede and impute righteousness. If we go back to Romans 11, verse 25 we read that a "partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in..." and then later it says, "all Israel will be saved..." when...."THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION," and "REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB."

I enjoy reading David Baron, he was a 19th century Russian Jewish convert to Christianity, a theologian and an author. And here's something that he said that really underscores what I'm trying to communicate here, what I believe this text is saying. He says, "God, having known and foreknown Israel, yea, with all their many and grievous sins and backslidings, has purposed in his heart to exhibit in and through them, not only his holy severity, as now in their unbelief, but even in a more wonderful way, his infinite grace and goodness and all the attributes of his character for the blessing of all the nations of the earth. He can never wholly cast them off." And we can see this affirmed as well in the Old Testament in Leviticus 26 for example, chapter 44 and following, I mean chapter 26 and verse 44 and following. It says, "'Yet in spite of this...'" and the context here, is in spite of all of their sordid iniquities, "'...in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, nor will I so abhor them as to destroy them, breaking My covenant with them; for I am the LORD their God. But I will remember for them the covenant with their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God. I am the LORD."'"

So obviously, Satan's accusations will not incite the Lord to violate his covenant promises and thus impugn his character; nor will it cause him to annihilate his chosen nation. We read this as well in Jeremiah 31 and verse 37, "'Thus says the LORD, "If the heavens above can be measured which they cannot be, and the foundations of the earth searched out below,"'" which cannot happen, "'" ...then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done,"' declares the LORD." The point is, it ain't happening. It ain't happening.

So back to verse two, "'Indeed, the LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you!'" And then he says, "'Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?'" What a fascinating figure of speech. And we know biblically that fire is a symbol of punishment, it's a symbol of purification, not a symbol of sin. In fact, it is used, for example, in Amos 4:11 to describe God's mercy when he saved Israel from extinction because of his judgment upon them, There we read, "'I overthrew you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a firebrand snatched from ablaze, yet you have not returned to Me,' declares the Lord." Now remember Zechariah's prophecies are a reminder to every reader that God is faithful to fulfill his promises. These are gracious and comforting words, and again, remember that they are given to a remnant here that had just recently been, shall we say, plucked out of the fire; the furnace of Babylonian captivity, when the Medes and the Persians came and took over and actually they were removed from the captivity of the Medes and the Persians as well.

Also, formally, they were plucked from the brand; they were the brand plucked out of the fire of the Egyptian bondage; Deuteronomy, four and verse 20, "The LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace from Egypt to be a people for His own possession as today." Now, I think it's important to understand that in a very real sense, this fire will continue to exist until Messiah returns. Prophetically, it's called the times of the Gentiles. But even in this prolonged "furnace of affliction," quote, unquote, Isaiah 481:0, the Lord's never going to forsake them, any more than he would ever forsake any of us that he has set his love upon. Isaiah 43 beginning in verse two, "'When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you, for I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.'"

Now to be sure, in the final days of Daniel's 70th week, also known as the Great Tribulation, Israel's sufferings of divine judgment will find their climax. But these will also be more than just fires of judgment. It will be purifying fires for the remnant that will believe. Isaiah speaks of this in chapter four, beginning in verse two, "In that day the Branch,” capital "B" "of the Lord," referring to the Messiah, "will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the adornment of the survivors of Israel. It will come about that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy - everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem. When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and purged the bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning..." Now, while this figure of a brand being "plucked from the fire" judgment refers to Israel and Zachariah vision, it can be applied to every sinner saved by grace. Has not the Lord all delivered us as brands from the fire? I mean, think about it, not only the eternal fires of hell, which is unimaginably horrific, but dear friends, also from the temporal punishment of sin itself. We reap what we sow. Do we not? Do we not all stand before the Lord with excrement covered garments, until that time that he cleanses us; that he intercedes for us and imputes to us the righteousness of Christ and clothes us with his righteousness, so that we are forever hidden in Christ. I think of all of the misery of my own sin down through the years, things that I thought and did were right, when down deep I wasn't sure, or sometimes things I thought and did that I knew were wrong, but I thought I could do it anyway, because after all, my good outweighed my bad. And then you end up singing the country song, "What was I thinking?" as you experience the misery of it all, the sorrow of it, all the regret of it, all.

Beloved, what a wonderful truth to know that we're not only saved from the penalty of sin, but from its power. And someday, from its very presence. And are we thankful that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God, that if God be for us, who can be against us?  John MacArthur has said it this way, "God will not go back on His promises. Though Satan constantly accuses the elect, pointing out their failures and unworthiness, there is one who intercedes on their behalf. He is none other than the great High Priest, the Messiah. Where no sinner can stand, He will intercede before the judgment seat of God, triumphing over the accused, so that His people are pardoned and declared righteous.  In the courtroom of heaven, the Father remembers the mediatorial work of His Son by which the redeemed of all ages are justified."

So we've seen the Messiah's priestly work of intercession. What about his work of imputation? Well, we see this beginning in verse three. "Now Joshua was clothed with the filthy," excrement, "covered garments and standing before the angel." In other words, imagine the contrast. Here you have the ineffable glory of Yahweh in contrast to what Joshua is wearing. And by the way, the participles here of "clothed" and "standing" denote a continued state of moral corruption. So you know, guilty as charged. So there he stands utterly helpless in front of Yahweh, depending upon Yahweh's intercession and imputation. An imputation is the judicial reckoning, and shall we say the forensic transfer of one person's sin or righteousness to another. We read, for example, in Second Corinthians 5:21 that, "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." So our sin was imputed to him, his righteousness was imputed to us. And in the great doctrine of justification, whereby he declares us to be righteous, we are pronounced or declared to be righteous, and we're accepted; we're treated as such. Not because we are, but because we're clothed in the righteous robes of Christ. Romans four speaks of this, remember in chapter two or chapter four, verse two, "For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For, what does the Scripture say? 'ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.'" There's the imputation. "Now to the one who works, His wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness."

Dear friend your salvation and mine is all of grace from beginning to end, from eternity past to eternity future. So it's the Messiah's priestly work of imputation that we see here. Joshua there standing guilty, legitimately accused, representing Israel. He stands before the angel of Yahweh, Yahweh himself. And notice in verse four, it says, "He," that is the pre-incarnate Christ, "spoke and said to those who were standing before him," obviously, there are other angels that are there with him, prepared to do his bidding. And here's what he said, "'Remove the filthy garments from him.'" The point being all of the corruption must be totally removed; all of the contamination must be permanently discarded. And he said to him, "'See, I,'" that is, Yahweh alone, "'I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes.'" Point is, you didn't have anything to do with this. It's all my work. I have done it. "Festal robes," robes fitting for a celebration. You remember the parable of the wedding feast in Matthew 22, you couldn't be admitted to the wedding feast of the son without having the proper clothes that he would supply.

So here we have an amazing picture of the imputation of righteousness to sinners. You have Joshua, and thus Israel, and all the redeemed, contributing nothing to this work of cleansing, and this removing of the garments and putting on the festal robes, reminds me of Romans five. Remember, there we read that sin entered the world through one man and death through sin. And in this way, death came to all men. And you go back to that day in the garden when you have Adam and Eve, when they lost their innocence, and their innocence was replaced with guilt and with shame. And what did they do? Well, they frantically tried in vain to soothe their conscience by covering themselves with the fig leaves of their own efforts. But that didn't work. God cursed them and all who would come from them. And although Adam and Eve should have died, God set into motion that day, his mercy and his grace. And there we read that "the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them." Of course, the great picture there is that man could never cover his sin on his own; his best efforts would never satisfy divine justice. But rather an innocent substitute had to die to cover sin; to appease the just and the holy wrath of God.

And with that first sacrifice, we see a shadow of a coming Redeemer that would one day make atonement for sin. So God himself provided an innocent substitute, an innocent animal that was killed; the first blood to be spilt. And as its blood was spilt upon the ground, his great mercy and grace was first pictured; and there he provided a garment to cover their guilt and shame; and this is what we're seeing pictured here in this vision as well.

We also see the need for positional righteousness here in Zechariah three, verse three, though Joshua was still a sinner, positionally, he was declared righteous because he was now clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Here we also see that, apart from justification, we will never be able to stand in grace, stand in the presence of a holy God. Romans, five, two.  We see here the need for spiritual cleansing and for the imputation of righteousness. Here in verse four, here we see the glorious change in a sinner's status before a holy God in verse five. It reminds me of Jude's great doxology, "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you..." what? "...stand in the presence of his glory, blameless with great joy." Well, who is that? "To the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority."

I mean, what a glorious scene, dear friends. I mean, think about this, despite the full fury of Satan's malignity, Satan's accusations are of no use against the fortress of sovereign grace; for it was because of God's grace that Israel was chosen, and it's because of that same grace that they will be, one day, be reconstituted as a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation," Exodus 19 six. And we go on to read in verse five. "Then I said, 'Let them put a clean turban on his head.'" So "they" referring to the angels attending him, "...put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments while the angel of the LORD was standing by." He was not repulsed. He stood by, as he will always stand by. And it's fascinating that the Hebrew term "turban" that is used is not the typical term for the turban, the headdress of a priest, but rather of a princely person or of a king. And you see this not only signified the fact that he had a turban now, it not only signified his complete reinstatement for his duties, but also portrayed Joshua as a priest king, which no Israelite could ever be, a position they could not hold.

And later on, in chapter six, Joshua, the high priest, receives a crown on his head. So what does this represent? Well, I believe it's fair to say that this prefigures the Messiah, the priest King. For example, in Hebrews seven, beginning in verse 15, we read how this is another priest. There's going to be another priest, "heteros," which means another; another of a completely different kind; "another priest" that will arise "according to the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become such, not on the basis of a law of physical requirement..." In other words, a priest that's not a descendant of Aaron, but also a man without any disqualifying physical blemishes or deficiencies, "...but according to the power of an indestructible life, for it is attested of Him, 'YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK.'"

You see friends, the only high priest that can forgive sins and save is the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 10 speaks of this so clearly. He alone is the one who can intercede for his own; he alone is the one who can clothe us in his righteousness. And because of this, we can join with Isaiah, chapter 61, and verse 10, and say, "'I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.'"

Oh dear Christian, we have much to celebrate. Aren't you thankful that we have a great high priest that intercedes for us and that has imputed to us his righteousness? If you're here today and you don't know Christ, I would plead with you as a minister of the gospel, you need to get serious about your own sin, lest you perish in it and be forever separated from the God of mercy, who would so easily and quickly save you by his grace, if you would but repent and place your trust in him. I pray that will happen even this day. Let's pray together.

Father, we're so thankful for this passage of scripture that illustrates the profound realities of intercession and imputation, and Lord, to know what that meanAfter a number of weeks, we now return to our study of Zechariah's prophecy. So if you will take your Bibles and turn to Zechariah chapter three; in a few minutes we will look at the first five verses, and I'd like to do so under the heading "The Messiah's Priestly Work of Intercession and Imputation." Wonderful truths that can bring such tremendous joy and encouragement to the heart of every believer; and certainly, we all need that, especially in these dark days. The Islamic jihadist terrorist attack in New Orleans is yet another reminder of the sheer evil that exists in this world; the danger of satanic deception. Frankly, none of us are safe. None of us know when we will breathe our last, but that day will come, and so we all need to be ready, and we can only be ready through faith in Christ and his saving grace.

It struck me once again this week, and you hear this phrase all the time, when something tragic happens, people will say, "Our thoughts and prayers are with the families." We kind of understand what that means, but how much better it would be to say we are praying that God will comfort each family and that he will reveal his presence to them through the power of the gospel. People today are without hope. They are without purpose. They are without joy. They can only deaden the pain of a meaningless life and the fear of death through alcohol and drugs and anger, activism, short lived pleasures, false religions, on and on it goes. People need the Lord. People need the Lord. And I think of what Jesus said in John 6:35, "Whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst." And this is why we as believers, can rejoice come what may in our lives.

Scripture tells us in Philippians four verse four, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Psalm 37 four, "Delight yourself in the Lord." Psalm 32:11, "Be glad in the Lord and rejoice." And we know, according to Psalm 16 and verse 11, that "In His presence there is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore." And therefore, we can all gladly submit to the command in First Corinthians 10:31 that says, "Whether then you eat or drink or whatever you do, do, all for the glory of God."

So as we return once again to the prophecy of Zechariah, we will find this text to be inspiring; it will be encouraging; it will be humbling and convicting, and hopefully motivating. For here, we are reminded again of what God has done in eternity past, in the present, what he's going to do, not only for his covenant people Israel, but for all whom he has set his love upon in eternity past.

Now, let me give you a bit of a review, because it's been a while since we've immersed ourselves in this great prophetic book. Remember, there were about 50,000 Jews that returned to the rubble and ruin of their homeland in Judea, Jerusalem, after 70 years of captivity in Babylon. Their temple was destroyed, and when they came back, they were met with violent opposition from The Samaritans that lived there - people that were part Jewish and part pagan - and they experienced God's judgment over that 70 years because they disregarded his word. They ignored the words of the prophets. They did not obey what God had commanded them to do. They allowed the culture to mold them into its particular image. They were apathetic towards the laws of God. In fact, the 70-year captivity was calculated based upon their violation of the Sabbath rest for the land that was required that's described in Leviticus 26.

And now this morning, is the fourth vision in a series of eight visions that was given to young Zechariah about 2500 years ago. And collectively, the purpose of these visions is to bring clarity and to bring comfort to the dispersed and the demoralized exiles that had come back into their land; to reassure these beleaguered people that God had not forgotten them, that God had not abandoned his future kingdom promises; all that he had promised them in his covenants. But these particular visions also remind every single believer that God is faithful to fulfill all that he has said. In fact, in chapter one and verse 13, we read that these are "gracious and comforting words."

Now, these eight prophetic visions point to, ultimately, the consummation of all of Israel's sorrows and the inauguration and of the nation's prominence and millennial glory when Christ establishes his kingdom. And I also want to remind you that these visions are arranged in what's called a "chiasm," that comes from the Greek word Chi, t looks like our "X". And a chiasm is really a structural pattern, or a literary technique, that's frequently seen in Scripture, where concepts will repeat or echo or explain each other, and each parallel builds to a key focal point in the passage. For example, here in these eight visions, the first and the last vision are paralleled, and the second and the seventh are paralleled, the third and the sixth, and finally, the fourth and the fifth, which would be the most important parallel. And certainly, as we look at this today, we will see the emphasis on the Messiah, and therefore this is the focal point of all of the visions, because it reveals just the supremacy of the Messiah.

Now briefly, may I remind you that in the first vision, we were reminded of God's love for Jerusalem, his anger against the nations that have persecuted them so viciously. It's a reminder of his sure return to Jerusalem with mercies to rebuild and ultimately expand the temple. It's summarized well in chapter one verse 17, "Again proclaim saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem."'"

And then the second vision, he expands upon those gracious and comforting words by promising certain destruction upon all of the godless nations that so violently attacked them and dispersed them and caused them to suffer. And this will not only include Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome, but also a revived Roman Empire during the time of the tribulation that's symbolized by the 10 horns on the head of a great monster. This will be a great federation of Gentile powers that will re-emerge under the rule of 10 kingdoms. And these 10 kingdoms you may recall, correspond to the feet and the toes of the colossus that we see in Daniel two and Daniel seven and Revelation 13:1 and so forth. Then an 11th horn, you will recall, will appear, and it's a little horn that comes up after them, which is revealed to be the final Antichrist. And then eventually, at Christ's second coming, he will vanquish all of Israel's enemies, and he will publicly display his glory in Millennial reign. Why is that? So Israel? All of Israel will know, and all of the world will know, who he is; that he is the Lord, and to show to the world that he is faithful to his covenant promises that he made to ethnic Israel, his chosen people.

And then the third vision, you will remember, he explains how the Israel is his gracious choice, to be his chosen nation; the nation through which he would reveal the Messiah that he would bless all of the families of the earth, and he speaks of his promise to protect and deliver them and to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem so they can share in millennial blessings. And that brings us now to where we're at today in the fourth vision. And here we are going to see his promise to intercede and cleanse and restore his people by the person and the work of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ; Israel's great High Priest, the ultimate King, who is, frankly, the centerpiece now of all of Zechariah's visions. So here we marvel at the high priestly work of Christ, the work of intercession and imputation that I will explain in more detail later. So let me read this passage to you, and this is really the first part of the fourth vision that we will look at in these first five verses.

"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.

The LORD said to Satan, 'The LORD rebuke you, Satan! Indeed the LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?'

Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel.

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.'

Then I said, 'Let them put a clean turban on his head.' So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments, while the angel of the LORD was standing by.'"

I want us to examine this passage under two very simple headings. We're going to see the Messiah's priestly work of intercession and his priestly work of imputation. And what you must understand, and I'm sure you will as the as the hour goes by, is that this is necessary for spiritual restoration to occur, for there to be reconciliation between sinful people and a holy God, between God and his people, Israel. And frankly, all of his elect. In fact, every Gentile who has trusted in Christ as Savior can celebrate with the remnant of believing Israel and these two priestly works of the Lord Jesus Christ, because he is also our Savior. He is our king. He is our advocate before God's bar of justice in the courtroom of heaven.

Now it's also important to bear in mind that God's immutable promises concerning Israel's future to make them a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, Exodus 19, six, all of that is anchored in the elective purposes of his sovereign grace. In fact, he has said in Second Chronicles six and verse six, "'I have chosen Jerusalem that My name might be there.'" And sowhat we see all through Scripture, is that despite Israel's grievous sins and idolatry and moral defilement and utter unworthiness, God, in his mercy, saves them, as he has us. And there's many passages that attest to this. Jeremiah three, beginning in verse 16, we read, "'It shall be in those days,'" referring to the millennium, "'...when you are multiplied and increased in the land,' declares the LORD, 'they will no longer say, "The Ark of the Covenant of the LORD."  And it will not come to mind, nor will they remember it, nor will they miss it, nor will it be made again.'"

By the way, the reason for this is because the Messiah himself will be on his throne in Jerusalem. He goes on to say, "'At that time, they will call Jerusalem "The Throne of the LORD," and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the name of the LORD; nor will they walk anymore after the stubbornness of their evil heart.'" But again, none of this can be accomplished apart from the Messiah's high priestly work of intercession and imputation.

Now let's look closely, first at his work of intercession. Verse one, "Then he showed me Joshua the high priest, standing there before the angel of the LORD and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him." My what is going on here? It's fascinating. Is it not here we see God compelling Zechariah to look at something very important. Joshua, who was Israel's high priest was, of course, God's chosen representative to, as all the priests were, to mediate Israel's relationship with God through the sacrificial offerings that would symbolically atone for sin. And his role, and his integrity are crucial in maintaining a proper relationship with God. And he, essentially, as all the priests would do, would, shall we say, impersonate Israel in his holy office. And so the guilt of Israel, and his guilt were, shall we say, one and the same. He bears Israel's sin, for example, when he enters into the Holy of Holies. And you will recall, in the Day of Atonement on Yom Kippur, the high priest would go into the holy of holies and sprinkle the blood upon the mercy seat; the place of propitiation and symbolically atone for the sins of the people; and thus receive God's blessing for that coming year.

Now the big question in the minds of the exiles at this point in history was, essentially, this, is God still with us? Yes, we're able to come back to the land, but is God still with us? Has he abandoned us? After all, we're experiencing a whole lot of turmoil here with the Samaritans. And theologically, what we are going to see here is the answer to the great theological question, which is essentially this: How can an infinite, infinitely holy God show mercy to sinful people without violating his holiness? And what we're going to see is this kind of restoration requires divine efficacious - meaning effective, successful intercession - as well as imputation, which can only be accomplished by the great high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ.

So here Joshua is standing before the Lord; the Angel of Yahweh, who is Yahweh Himself; the Lord Himself, as we have studied in other passages. And biblically, this little phrase "standing before" is a technical term used to describe a priest that is engaged in worship and in service and intercession. For example, in Deuteronomy 10 and verse eight, we read, "At that time, the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the LORD..." and here it is, "...to stand before the LORD to serve Him and to bless in His name until this day." So here, Israel's high priest, which is the type and representative of Israel, he's basically impersonating Israel, is standing before the great high priest, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is ultimately the intercessor for the people. He is the only priest able to save, for example, in Hebrews seven, beginning in verse 23 we read, "The former priests... were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore, he is able also to save forever..."  That means altogether perfectly to utter completion and perfection. I believe the King James Version translates it "to the uttermost he saves, both eternally and completely," "...those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them."

And I might add that we see the same angel of the Lord that is Yahweh interceding for Jerusalem in the first vision. And in the third vision, he is pictured as the coming and comforting servant who would one day be the sacrifice for the people.

Now, notice again, "Then he showed me Joshua," verse one, "the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him." Satan, in the Hebrew, is essentially translated "enemy" or "adversary." And in the Greek, he is "the accuser." In fact, the literal Hebrew here says, "And Satan was standing at his right hand to satanize him." In other words, he's condemning Joshua, and therefore Israel, because Joshua is representing Israel, because of their sin. And by the way, this is Satan's MO is it not? To accuse us before the throne of God, to accuse us even to ourselves? It's amazing to think that even today, Satan has access to the throne of God. He's not somehow bound up in hell like you would hear, you know, people sing about or talk about. Revelation 12:10, speaks of that. And we're never told why God allows Satan to appear before him, or what role in general he plays in God's eternal purposes and his moral government of this world, but we do know that Satan does essentially two things: he seduces and then he accuses. He seduces us, and then he accuses us. And aren't we all under satanic attack constantly? That's why we are to wear the full armor of God in Ephesians, six and so forth.

But please understand that it's not merely Satan's hatred of Israel that's at play here. Rather, it's his hatred of God. You see, Satan's ultimate goal is to thwart the kingdom purposes of God in redemption, which he knows is rooted in God's plans for Israel, and thus they must be exterminated. And we've seen this played out all throughout history. There's no... you could take all of the people that have been persecuted in the world and combine them, and they wouldn't match the kind of persecution the Jewish people have endured. And fortunately, a day of judgment is coming for Satan, when he will be permanently cast out of heaven. We read about it, Revelation 12, verse 10, "Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, 'Now the salvation and the power in the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ has come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down; he who accuses them before our God, day and night.'"

So back to the vision. Basically, what we have here is a courtroom drama, and the high priest and therefore mediator of Israel, representing Israel is on trial. You might put it this way, Israel is on trial here. And Satan exposes Israel's sinfulness; their apostasy, their unworthiness to God; thus requiring God in his mind to condemn them, to abandon them, to forsake them permanently, to terminate all of his promises to them. So what hope does Israel have?

Israel is guilty, guilty as charged. And notice in verse three, "Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel." It's interesting, the word "filthy," there is no word in the Hebrew language that even comes close to describing what this term is describing. It could literally be translated, "excrement covered garment." In other words, the Hebrew root is that for dung or excrement. So this is filth of the most abhorrent nature, vile to the eyes, offensive to the nose. Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel. I mean, this is a disgusting scene, is it not? And it's depicting the abject, sinful corruption of Israel. It symbolizes the full gamut of Israel's apostasy.

Now also bear in mind that the ritual cleansing of the body for the high priest when he did his sacerdotal duties, not to mention the garments that he wore, were all well established in the Mosaic law. He couldn't even come in contact with anything that is unclean, much less be covered in that kind of filth. And any kind of physical impurity or soil on his attire would render him unclean, and then he would be unfit to represent the people before a holy God and intercede on their behalf. And so the point that we're seeing here is that no mortal priest was fit to stand in the presence of an infinitely Holy God. And since Christ's atoning work on the cross, no mortal priest is qualified to mediate between God and man. That's why we don't have a priest. I am not a priest. I'm just a man like you. I've just been called to be a shepherd, a pastor, teacher. There is one man and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, First Timothy two and verse five.

Moreover, back to the vision, no mortal, period, can stand in the presence of God apart from the efficacious intercession and imputation of the Messiah, of the Lord Jesus. So what's going to happen here? Will the Messiah, the angel of the LORD, intercede on their behalf, or will he agree with Satan and condemn them permanently, forever? Well, the answer is yes, he is going to intercede. 1000 times yes. And here, beloved, we see a foreshadowing of not only the future conversion of the nation of Israel, but also of all of the redeemed down through the ages, you and me. Romans, eight, verse 34 Paul says, "Who is the one who condemns?" And he goes on to answer it, "Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

So you've got Joshua just standing there. He is filthy, and he is guilty as charged, utterly dependent upon the Angel of Yahweh for mercy. Now notice the Messiah's work of intercession more closely. And my what a confrontation. This is verse two, "The LORD said to Satan, 'The LORD rebuke you, Satan!'" Now you must understand here, the Messiah, the second member of the Triune Godhead, the Son of God, the pre-incarnate Lord Jesus Christ, appeals to the authority of his Father, the first person of the Trinity, and asks him to rebuke Satan. And by the way, we've seen this interplay between the two of them before. We witness this, for example, in chapter two and verse eight, where we read that Yahweh sent Yahweh, and in chapter one, verse 12, where Yahweh addressed Yahweh. So that's what's going on here. And this term "rebuke," you must understand, doesn't simply mean kind of a mild scolding or even a strong scolding. What we see in Scripture is that when it's applied to God, it denotes an actual supernatural suppression. This is a crushing rejection, an act of divine judgment. You will recall, for example, in Luke nine, the father had had a son, his only son, and an evil spirit would seize him and cause him to scream and throw him into convulsions, and he would foam at the mouth and when the spirit would leave, the demon would maul him and so forth. And there we read in Luke 9:42, "While he was still approaching," it's referring to Jesus, "still approaching, the demon slammed him to the ground and threw him into a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked," there it is, "the unclean spirit and healed the boy and gave him back to his father." So this is what's going on here. Jesus is rebuking Satan. You will remember that God rebuked the sea in Psalm 106, and it dried up, referring to the Red Sea; and God rebuked the enemies of Israel, put them to flight in Isaiah 17, verse three; Psalm nine and verse five, we read this, "You have rebuked the nations. You have destroyed the wicked. You have blotted out their name forever and ever." So here, the Lord is rebuking Satan not because he made false allegations - because the allegations were obvious - because he was clothed in excrement, but he's rebuking Satan because of his motivation for making those accusations, which was ultimately to thwart the kingdom purposes of God in redemption.

And so what happens? The angel of Yahweh, the Lord Himself, intercedes on behalf of Israel with an irresistible force, and here's why, the end of verse two, "'Indeed, the LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you!'" In other words, you want me to violate my covenant promises? Not happening. By the way, this is a repeat of what we read for example, in Zechariah one, in verse 17, "'Again, proclaim, saying, "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.'"'" And also in chapter two, verse 12, "'The Lord will possess Judah as His portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem.'" So the Lord is simply saying this: Israel's position before God has nothing to do with their righteousness, because obviously they have none. It's just the opposite, but it has everything to do with the immutable character and unwavering faithfulness and everlasting love of a sovereign God. You see, to abandon and destroy his people would dishonor his name. In fact, we read in First Samuel 12 and verse 22, "For the Lord will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the Lord has been pleased to make you a people for Himself." And folks, we can go all the way back to Deuteronomy chapter seven, for example, and read about how God set his love upon Israel, even as he has set his love upon us. Chapter Seven of Deuteronomy, beginning in verse six, "'You are a holy people to the Lord." In other words, you are a people set apart to me, "'You are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who were on the face of the earth. The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers.'"

And I might add that this is why I do not believe that God is finished with Israel; that somehow the church has replaced Israel because God's covenants were unilateral, irreversible, unconditional covenants that he made to Abraham and to David. And this is one of many reasons why I would personally reject supercessionism or Roman Catholic eschatology - that the church is somehow spiritual Israel. Also, never once in Scripture did we read that Israel has been permanently replaced by the church. Nor is Israel ever used as a synonym for the church. In Romans 11 and verse one, we read, "I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be!" Verse two, "God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew." The idea of foreloving; setting his love upon a people group. In verse 11, "...they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be!" You see, the whole purpose of God's sovereign choice in choosing Israel is to demonstrate to the world a graphic picture of his undeserved mercy and redeeming grace. In fact, both Jews and Gentiles are described in chapter nine and verse 22 of Romans, the objects of His mercy. And some will say, well, but what about what about their unbelief? Well, that's what we're seeing here; despite their sinfulness, which includes their unbelief, God is still going to intercede and impute righteousness. If we go back to Romans 11, verse 25 we read that a "partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in..." and then later it says, "all Israel will be saved..." when...."THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION," and "REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB."

I enjoy reading David Baron, he was a 19th century Russian Jewish convert to Christianity, a theologian and an author. And here's something that he said that really underscores what I'm trying to communicate here, what I believe this text is saying. He says, "God, having known and foreknown Israel, yea, with all their many and grievous sins and backslidings, has purposed in his heart to exhibit in and through them, not only his holy severity, as now in their unbelief, but even in a more wonderful way, his infinite grace and goodness and all the attributes of his character for the blessing of all the nations of the earth. He can never wholly cast them off." And we can see this affirmed as well in the Old Testament in Leviticus 26 for example, chapter 44 and following, I mean chapter 26 and verse 44 and following. It says, "'Yet in spite of this...'" and the context here, is in spite of all of their sordid iniquities, "'...in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, nor will I so abhor them as to destroy them, breaking My covenant with them; for I am the LORD their God. But I will remember for them the covenant with their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God. I am the LORD."'"

So obviously, Satan's accusations will not incite the Lord to violate his covenant promises and thus impugn his character; nor will it cause him to annihilate his chosen nation. We read this as well in Jeremiah 31 and verse 37, "'Thus says the LORD, "If the heavens above can be measured which they cannot be, and the foundations of the earth searched out below,"'" which cannot happen, "'" ...then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done,"' declares the LORD." The point is, it ain't happening. It ain't happening.

So back to verse two, "'Indeed, the LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you!'" And then he says, "'Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?'" What a fascinating figure of speech. And we know biblically that fire is a symbol of punishment, it's a symbol of purification, not a symbol of sin. In fact, it is used, for example, in Amos 4:11 to describe God's mercy when he saved Israel from extinction because of his judgment upon them, There we read, "'I overthrew you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a firebrand snatched from ablaze, yet you have not returned to Me,' declares the Lord." Now remember Zechariah's prophecies are a reminder to every reader that God is faithful to fulfill his promises. These are gracious and comforting words, and again, remember that they are given to a remnant here that had just recently been, shall we say, plucked out of the fire; the furnace of Babylonian captivity, when the Medes and the Persians came and took over and actually they were removed from the captivity of the Medes and the Persians as well.

Also, formally, they were plucked from the brand; they were the brand plucked out of the fire of the Egyptian bondage; Deuteronomy, four and verse 20, "The LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace from Egypt to be a people for His own possession as today." Now, I think it's important to understand that in a very real sense, this fire will continue to exist until Messiah returns. Prophetically, it's called the times of the Gentiles. But even in this prolonged "furnace of affliction," quote, unquote, Isaiah 481:0, the Lord's never going to forsake them, any more than he would ever forsake any of us that he has set his love upon. Isaiah 43 beginning in verse two, "'When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you, for I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.'"

Now to be sure, in the final days of Daniel's 70th week, also known as the Great Tribulation, Israel's sufferings of divine judgment will find their climax. But these will also be more than just fires of judgment. It will be purifying fires for the remnant that will believe. Isaiah speaks of this in chapter four, beginning in verse two, "In that day the Branch,” capital "B" "of the Lord," referring to the Messiah, "will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the adornment of the survivors of Israel. It will come about that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy - everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem. When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and purged the bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning..." Now, while this figure of a brand being "plucked from the fire" judgment refers to Israel and Zachariah vision, it can be applied to every sinner saved by grace. Has not the Lord all delivered us as brands from the fire? I mean, think about it, not only the eternal fires of hell, which is unimaginably horrific, but dear friends, also from the temporal punishment of sin itself. We reap what we sow. Do we not? Do we not all stand before the Lord with excrement covered garments, until that time that he cleanses us; that he intercedes for us and imputes to us the righteousness of Christ and clothes us with his righteousness, so that we are forever hidden in Christ. I think of all of the misery of my own sin down through the years, things that I thought and did were right, when down deep I wasn't sure, or sometimes things I thought and did that I knew were wrong, but I thought I could do it anyway, because after all, my good outweighed my bad. And then you end up singing the country song, "What was I thinking?" as you experience the misery of it all, the sorrow of it, all the regret of it, all.

Beloved, what a wonderful truth to know that we're not only saved from the penalty of sin, but from its power. And someday, from its very presence. And are we thankful that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God, that if God be for us, who can be against us?  John MacArthur has said it this way, "God will not go back on His promises. Though Satan constantly accuses the elect, pointing out their failures and unworthiness, there is one who intercedes on their behalf. He is none other than the great High Priest, the Messiah. Where no sinner can stand, He will intercede before the judgment seat of God, triumphing over the accused, so that His people are pardoned and declared righteous.  In the courtroom of heaven, the Father remembers the mediatorial work of His Son by which the redeemed of all ages are justified."

So we've seen the Messiah's priestly work of intercession. What about his work of imputation? Well, we see this beginning in verse three. "Now Joshua was clothed with the filthy," excrement, "covered garments and standing before the angel." In other words, imagine the contrast. Here you have the ineffable glory of Yahweh in contrast to what Joshua is wearing. And by the way, the participles here of "clothed" and "standing" denote a continued state of moral corruption. So you know, guilty as charged. So there he stands utterly helpless in front of Yahweh, depending upon Yahweh's intercession and imputation. An imputation is the judicial reckoning, and shall we say the forensic transfer of one person's sin or righteousness to another. We read, for example, in Second Corinthians 5:21 that, "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." So our sin was imputed to him, his righteousness was imputed to us. And in the great doctrine of justification, whereby he declares us to be righteous, we are pronounced or declared to be righteous, and we're accepted; we're treated as such. Not because we are, but because we're clothed in the righteous robes of Christ. Romans four speaks of this, remember in chapter two or chapter four, verse two, "For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For, what does the Scripture say? 'ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.'" There's the imputation. "Now to the one who works, His wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness."

Dear friend your salvation and mine is all of grace from beginning to end, from eternity past to eternity future. So it's the Messiah's priestly work of imputation that we see here. Joshua there standing guilty, legitimately accused, representing Israel. He stands before the angel of Yahweh, Yahweh himself. And notice in verse four, it says, "He," that is the pre-incarnate Christ, "spoke and said to those who were standing before him," obviously, there are other angels that are there with him, prepared to do his bidding. And here's what he said, "'Remove the filthy garments from him.'" The point being all of the corruption must be totally removed; all of the contamination must be permanently discarded. And he said to him, "'See, I,'" that is, Yahweh alone, "'I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes.'" Point is, you didn't have anything to do with this. It's all my work. I have done it. "Festal robes," robes fitting for a celebration. You remember the parable of the wedding feast in Matthew 22, you couldn't be admitted to the wedding feast of the son without having the proper clothes that he would supply.

So here we have an amazing picture of the imputation of righteousness to sinners. You have Joshua, and thus Israel, and all the redeemed, contributing nothing to this work of cleansing, and this removing of the garments and putting on the festal robes, reminds me of Romans five. Remember, there we read that sin entered the world through one man and death through sin. And in this way, death came to all men. And you go back to that day in the garden when you have Adam and Eve, when they lost their innocence, and their innocence was replaced with guilt and with shame. And what did they do? Well, they frantically tried in vain to soothe their conscience by covering themselves with the fig leaves of their own efforts. But that didn't work. God cursed them and all who would come from them. And although Adam and Eve should have died, God set into motion that day, his mercy and his grace. And there we read that "the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them." Of course, the great picture there is that man could never cover his sin on his own; his best efforts would never satisfy divine justice. But rather an innocent substitute had to die to cover sin; to appease the just and the holy wrath of God.

And with that first sacrifice, we see a shadow of a coming Redeemer that would one day make atonement for sin. So God himself provided an innocent substitute, an innocent animal that was killed; the first blood to be spilt. And as its blood was spilt upon the ground, his great mercy and grace was first pictured; and there he provided a garment to cover their guilt and shame; and this is what we're seeing pictured here in this vision as well.

We also see the need for positional righteousness here in Zechariah three, verse three, though Joshua was still a sinner, positionally, he was declared righteous because he was now clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Here we also see that, apart from justification, we will never be able to stand in grace, stand in the presence of a holy God. Romans, five, two.  We see here the need for spiritual cleansing and for the imputation of righteousness. Here in verse four, here we see the glorious change in a sinner's status before a holy God in verse five. It reminds me of Jude's great doxology, "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you..." what? "...stand in the presence of his glory, blameless with great joy." Well, who is that? "To the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority."

I mean, what a glorious scene, dear friends. I mean, think about this, despite the full fury of Satan's malignity, Satan's accusations are of no use against the fortress of sovereign grace; for it was because of God's grace that Israel was chosen, and it's because of that same grace that they will be, one day, be reconstituted as a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation," Exodus 19 six. And we go on to read in verse five. "Then I said, 'Let them put a clean turban on his head.'" So "they" referring to the angels attending him, "...put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments while the angel of the LORD was standing by." He was not repulsed. He stood by, as he will always stand by. And it's fascinating that the Hebrew term "turban" that is used is not the typical term for the turban, the headdress of a priest, but rather of a princely person or of a king. And you see this not only signified the fact that he had a turban now, it not only signified his complete reinstatement for his duties, but also portrayed Joshua as a priest king, which no Israelite could ever be, a position they could not hold.

And later on, in chapter six, Joshua, the high priest, receives a crown on his head. So what does this represent? Well, I believe it's fair to say that this prefigures the Messiah, the priest King. For example, in Hebrews seven, beginning in verse 15, we read how this is another priest. There's going to be another priest, "heteros," which means another; another of a completely different kind; "another priest" that will arise "according to the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become such, not on the basis of a law of physical requirement..." In other words, a priest that's not a descendant of Aaron, but also a man without any disqualifying physical blemishes or deficiencies, "...but according to the power of an indestructible life, for it is attested of Him, 'YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK.'"

You see friends, the only high priest that can forgive sins and save is the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 10 speaks of this so clearly. He alone is the one who can intercede for his own; he alone is the one who can clothe us in his righteousness. And because of this, we can join with Isaiah, chapter 61, and verse 10, and say, "'I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.'"

Oh dear Christian, we have much to celebrate. Aren't you thankful that we have a great high priest that intercedes for us and that has imputed to us his righteousness? If you're here today and you don't know Christ, I would plead with you as a minister of the gospel, you need to get serious about your own sin, lest you perish in it and be forever separated from the God of mercy, who would so easily and quickly save you by his grace, if you would but repent and place your trust in him. I pray that will happen even this day. Let's pray together.

Father, we're so thankful for this passage of scripture that illustrates the profound realities of intercession and imputation, and Lord, to know what that means for us, causes us to just bow before you in adoring worship. While we cannot fathom all of the complexities of your thinking and what your plan is, you have given us enough to cause us to be overwhelmed and to celebrate your goodness and grace in our lives. Help us, Lord, to live out the magnificent truths of the gospel, so that we can enjoy all that you have given us in Christ, and so that others can see Christ in us the hope of glory. For it's in his name that I pray, and for his sake, amen.s for us, causes us to just bow before you in adoring worship. While we cannot fathom all of the complexities of your thinking and what your plan is, you have given us enough to cause us to be overwhelmed and to celebrate your goodness and grace in our lives. Help us, Lord, to live out the magnificent truths of the gospel, so that we can enjoy all that you have given us in Christ, and so that others can see Christ in us the hope of glory. For it's in his name that I pray, and for his sake, amen.