Old Testament

Zechariah 3

Joshua Accused, Cleansed, and Charged

4 passages

Overview

In a heavenly courtroom vision, Zechariah sees the high priest Joshua silenced of Satan's accusation, stripped of filthy garments and re-vested in clean priestly robes by divine command, and then solemnly commissioned to faithful stewardship — a sequence that unfolds as an enacted parable of God's gratuitous purification and points forward through three symbols to a coming Branch, an engraved Stone, and the complete removal of Israel's sin in a single day.

Passages

1–2The Accusation of Satan and the Defense of Yahweh 3–5The Reclothing of Joshua: Purification and Priestly Restoration 6–7The Angelic Charge to Joshua: Conditions of Faithful Priestly Stewardship 8–10The Branch, the Stone, and the Day of Atonement: A Portrait of the Coming Messiah

Study Resources

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Zechariah 3

¹He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before Yahweh’s angel, and Satan standing at his right hand to be his adversary. ²Yahweh said to Satan, “Yahweh rebuke you, Satan! Yes, Yahweh who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Isn’t this a burning stick plucked out of the fire?”

³Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the angel. ⁴He answered and spoke to those who stood before him, saying, “Take the filthy garments off him.” To him he said, “Behold, I have caused your iniquity to pass from you, and I will clothe you with rich clothing.”

⁵I said, “Let them set a clean turban on his head.” So they set a clean turban on his head, and clothed him; and Yahweh’s angel was standing by.

⁶Yahweh’s angel solemnly assured Joshua, saying, ⁷“Yahweh of Armies says: ‘If you will walk in my ways, and if you will follow my instructions, then you also shall judge my house, and shall also keep my courts, and I will give you a place of access among these who stand by. ⁸Hear now, Joshua the high priest, you and your fellows who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign; for, behold, I will bring out my servant, the Branch. ⁹For, behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua: on one stone are seven eyes; behold, I will engrave its inscription,’ says Yahweh of Armies, ‘and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. ¹⁰In that day,’ says Yahweh of Armies, ‘you will invite every man his neighbor under the vine and under the fig tree.’”

Zechariah 2 Zechariah 4