ZECHARIAH CHAPTER 3:1-10
Chapter Outline:
Verses 1-3: God, Satan, and Joshua (Vision 4)
Verse 4-5: Iniquity Removed
Verses 6-7: God’s Message to Joshua
Verses 8-10: Messianic Prophecy
Focus: A little bit of context
Joshua was the high priest during the time that Zechariah was prophesying. The prophet has a vision about this priest and what God will do for His people. The rituals of this chapter prepare the people’s minds for what God would do when the Messiah arrives. The imagery for Joshua the prophet is steeped in Leviticus and the culture surrounding the priests of God for the People of Israel.
Focus: How does this draw us to God?
Sin and our disobedience do not catch God off-guard. He has a plan for our waywardness and will save us. Jesus was always the plan and Zechariah 3 is telegraphing the plan of God. Old sinful dirty clothes will be taken off and new clean righteous clothes will be put on. The imagery of this chapter is simple and yet has many spiritual ramifications. The taking off of the old and the putting on of the new will be a key theme in the New Testament for the Apostle Paul. Jesus is the cause of the change.
Focus: OT to the cross
This vision is clearly about the Messiah Who will come. The “Branch” in verse 8 is a direct prophecy about this One Who will come. His Name, in the future, we know to be Jesus. Jesus is the Greek version of the Hebrew name Joshua. It is the same name. It is no accident that the high priest at this time has this name and that the Messiah when He comes will be given the same Name. The One Who comes will remove the iniquity from the land (verse 9) in a single day. In a single day, Jesus of Nazareth the Christ indeed did this. Jesus/Joshua bears our sin. This is much easier to understand in retrospect, but important to see that God promised this salvation well before Jesus of Nazareth was born.
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Dwelling In Scripture 