Well, God bless you. Welcome everyone to the Bible classes of the Holy Scriptures in Israel. this meeting today, we are going to continue together, my dear friends and dear brothers and sisters, with the study of the prophecy of Zechariah, Zechariah. We are going to read today the third chapter. Hopefully, you have your Bibles with you. Turn with me to Zechariah, chapter three.

And first of all, we will pray, we will ask the Lord to bless the meeting, and then we will read the whole chapter, the ten verses that are found in Zechariah, chapter three. Our God and our Father, we ask your blessing upon the meeting as we study together the prophecy of Zechariah. We ask it in the name of Yeshua HaMashiach, our Lord Jesus the Messiah. Amen. Amen. So open your Bibles, please, and turn with me to Zechariah chapter three. Zechariah chapter three has, it's a short chapter, ten verses, and, let's read it together. We'll see if we can cover the whole chapter or at least a portion of it, for this meeting today. And so I'm reading.

Chapter three, verse one. And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to, resist him. And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan. Even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee. Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel, and he showed, he answered, and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garment from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with a change of raiment. Verse five.

And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garment, and the angel of the Lord stood by. The angel of the Lord protested unto Joshua, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts, If thou will walk in my ways, and if thou will keep my charge, then thou shall also judge my people, and shall also keep my courts, and I will give thee a place to walk among these that stand by. Hear now, O Joshua, the high priest, thou and thy fellows that sit before thee. For they are men wondered at, for behold, I will bring forth my servant the branch, Hatzemach.

For behold, the stone that I have laid before Joshua, upon one stone shall be seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave the groving, the roof, says the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. In that day, says the Lord of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbor under the vine and under the fig tree.

And I would stop here at the end of verse, ten of Zechariah. You remember, beloved brothers and sisters, when we began the study of the prophecy of Zechariah, to just remind you that as we begin with our study in chapter one and the first six verses, we have the introduction to the whole prophecy of this, man by the name of Zechariah. At about 520 BC to about 470 BC, we find out that the preexilic prophets were preaching, to the, people of Israel. Some fifty years Long was the prophecy of Zechariah to the people of Israel. In fact, I should say, from 520 all the way about 470, the post-exilic prophecy was given to Israel by Zechariah. So we have already mentioned, we have pre-exilic prophets, we have during the exile prophets, and we have prophets that were post-exile prophets, such as Zechariah and Haggai and Malachi. And what's happening here in the study of the prophecy of Zechariah, we have the post-exilic prophet Zechariah, after the Jewish people returned back to the land, after the 70 years of the Babylonian captivity, here Zechariah is ministering to the Jewish people, now that returned back to the land.

And as Zechariah was speaking to his people, to the returned remnant who were discouraged, who was opposed by the neighbor people around, the neighboring nations, Zechariah is encouraging the people of Israel to continue on to rebuild the temple in the city of Yerushalayim. He, as Haggai, together, they encourage the Jewish people that returned from Babylon to continue on to build the temple, the house of the Lord, and to continue to follow the God of Israel. Well, Zechariah received visions from the Lord. In fact, from chapter 1 and verse 7, all the way to chapter 6 and verse 15, we have the eight Visions that the Lord gave Zechariah, and through these visions he was speaking to the nation of Israel. To remind you, beloved brothers and sisters, we have already covered the first three visions that Zechariah received from the Lord in order to minister to the Jewish people. The horsemen among the myrtle trees in chapter 1 verse 7 to 17.

The horn, if you remember, and the four carpenters, chapter 1 verses 18 to 21. In chapter 2 we have covered that next vision, the third one, was the vision of the man with the measuring line. And that is the first three of the eight visions that Zechariah received from the Lord, and through these visions, he was promising to Israel that Israel will ultimately will be a restored nation, and a nation that will be blessed by the Lord, and through the nation of Israel, through the Jewish people who will repent eventually and turn to the Lord, there will be the promised Messianic kingdom will come to this world that is in so much need, and you can see it even today as we live here in this world. Well, This eighth vision, and I told you that the vision is different than a dream.

Chazon is a vision. Chalom is a dream. Chazon is something that you literally see, and through what you see, there is a message that is given to the nation of Israel. Chalom is something that you dream at night. You close your eyes, you are sleeping, and then many dreams were given in days of old to various individuals concerning the future, including Nebuchadnezzar.

But visions were given specifically, and you can see that, beloved brothers and sisters, were given to the prophets of Israel, and we can see it in Daniel received visions, Zechariah received visions, and there are many others who received visions. In fact, even the apostles Yohanan John saw the Lord, the glorified Messiah in a vision when he was on the island of Patmos. Well, to remind you once again that in the first three visions, the vision of the horseman upon the, among the myrtle trees, spoke about the merciful way in which the Lord dealt with the city of Yerushalayim and his people. The second vision was the vision of the four horns and the four carpenters, which speaks about the powers, not as the powers that will, that scattered Judah and the eventual uprooting of these powers by the Lord. That was the second vision.

The third vision, the vision of the man with a measuring stick, chapter 2, verses 1 to 13, is speaking about the surveyor, which will testify of the Lord's protective power over his people, and he ultimately will restore the nation. Of Israel to himself. But now notice that in chapter three, we have a fourth vision. And that fourth vision, beloved brothers and sisters, is the vision of the clean garment for Joshua, Israel's high priest. The vision of the clean garment for that was given to Joshua, Israel's high priest. And now notice that in this fourth vision, Israel, a future cleansing from sin and a reinstatement as a priestly nation in the future day, and Joshua is really representing the nation of Israel before the Lord. Now, in chapter 3, verses 1 to 10, we can say that this chapter is divided into two sections.

Verses 1 to 5, it is the vision itself, which Zechariah sees, representing Joshua standing before the Lord. And standing before the Lord on behalf of the nation of Israel. And then verses 6 to 10, the word of the angel of the Lord to Joshua, concerning Joshua and concerning the people of Israel. I have to pause here to mention this fact. Always remember when we're studying the Tanach, that is the Hebrew Scripture, the church age was not yet at its beginning. And therefore, whatever we read in the Old Testament or the Hebrew Scriptures in the Tanach, always have a reference to the nation of Israel in relationship to the Lord Jesus the Messiah in his first coming and ultimately in his second coming.

We don't have the church in the, what is known, the Old Testament, the Hebrew Scripture, although we have some, we can say, glimpse about the time when the church will be born. But the main message it is given to us in the Hebrew Scriptures, specifically in the prophets, is in relationship to the nation of Israel, to God's earthly people. The church was a mystery. According to Ephesians chapter 3, the church as a mystery was hid in God and was not revealed to the sons of men until Christ, the Messiah, came.

He was born, he lived a perfect life, he died a substitutionary death, he was buried and he rose again, he went to heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit of God, he formed what we know to be the body of Christ, the body of Messiah, and even then it took a little bit of time before the revelation of the mystery of the church age was given to the apostles, specifically to the apostles Shaul Paul, which you and I have the knowledge of it today in the light of the New Testament, the New Covenant.

But we don't see here the church in the Tanakh, we see God's dealing specifically with his earthly people of And that's why you notice how many times Joshua is speaking about Judah, Zion, Yerushalayim, Jerusalem, Israel. He's speaking about his earthly people and the future restoration of the people of Israel. There is a blessing for Israel as there will be a blessing for the assembly, the ekklesia, the church, the heavenly company. And God in his wisdom giving us this information. So now notice this. In chapter 3 of Zechariah, verses 1 to 5, we have the fourth vision itself. What is that vision that Zechariah sees? Notice verse 1, and I'm reading verse 1. And he, this is God, he showed me Joshua the high priest, standing before the angel of the Lord. And Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.

Now notice that Zechariah sees a vision, he sees Joshua, Joshua, the high priest of Israel during those days, when Israel returned back to the land. And then what happened, he, that high priest, he sees in that vision that Joshua is standing before the angel of the Lord. That angel of the Lord, again, just to understand, it may, it's malach in Hebrew, malach Yehovah, is really the pre-incarnate Messiah, as we have already mentioned, that he is the one that the angel of the Lord, often time when you use this expression, the angel of the Lord, it has an emphasizing of the, to the Lord Jesus the Messiah before his incarnation. But it may be an angel or the angel of the Lord, here we see Joshua is standing before the one that is examining him. And you notice what happened? We find out that at the same time that Joshua, the angel, the high priest of Israel representing Israel before God, we have at the same time Satan.

Standing at his right hand, and what does Satan do? He resists him. Notice, he's standing at his right hand to resist him. The Hebrew word to resist is lestano, lestano. In other words, to accuse him, and really to accuse the brethren, to accuse Israel before God. And when Joshua is the high priest, to remind you, the high priest in Israel history representing God's people before God. Let me remind you that the high priest was a holy priest standing before God representing Israel, but also the high priest when he comes out from the presence of God, he representing God before the nation.

In fact, you and I are called today as believers in the Lord Jesus the Messiah, according to the book of Peter, we are called a holy priesthood today, and we are also called a royal priests. We stand before God to represent God's people, and we stand before the people to represent God. And so here we see Joshua is representing Israel before God. So what we learn here that Joshua is in the presence of God, in the vision that Zechariah receives, but also Satan is there.

Now the word Satan simply means to accuse. A Satan, a soten, is the one that the, the opposer, the resistor, the one who is against God's people. In fact, if you just turn with me for a moment to Revelation chapter 12, and in Revelation chapter 12, Satan is called, listen to the word that we read in Revelation chapter 12 and verse 9, Satan is called the great dragon in verse 1, in verse 9. He was cast out, the old serpent he is called. He is also called the devil and Satan. Notice this full name that we have. He is called the dragon, the serpent, the devil, and Satan. And every one of these names, the dragon represents his viciousness.

The serpent represent he's, he's a liar, he's a, he's a, he's a serpent, he lies, he doesn't speak the truth. The devil, he's the accuser, and Satan, he's his adversary. He is the vicious one, the lying one, the accusing one, and the adversary one, the against one, the one who is against God's people. In fact, in Revelation, chapter 12, he's called the accuser of the brethren. And in Revelation 12, he's called the accuser of the brethren, because the Revelation chapter 12, the Jewish people are seeing during the tribulation period. And during the tribulation period, beloved brothers and sisters, Satan is accusing the Jewish people before God, and in fact, Satan is accusing the believers today before God. He is the accuser of the believers. And so we find now, Joshua, in chapter, Zechariah chapter 3 and verse 1, the high priest, he is before the angel of the Lord, and what happened is that at the same time that he is before the angel of the Lord, Satan is standing at the right hand to resist him.

Now let me remind you, beloved brothers and sisters, that when we study the Word of God, even in the time when we read from the book of Job, when Job was in the presence of the Lord, you remember that, beloved brothers and sisters, who came there, right there, when the angels of the Lord came there before the Lord, and Job was the subject, Satan was right there. You remember we read in chapter 1 of Job, verse 6, and there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them. Satan, in Job chapter 1, came among the other angels, and he accused Job. He accused Job.

And now we find out here in Zechariah chapter four, chapter three, I'm sorry, in verse one, that Satan is there where Joshua is there representing the nation of Israel. He's the high priest, and the high priests represent his people before, before God. And you notice that, beloved brothers and sisters, Satan is there, and his purpose is to resist. You notice the word here at the end of verse one, he is standing at his right hand to resist him. The Hebrew word le-sitno.

Satan and sitno, the same words. To resist, to accuse. To seek to find fault, to seek to find something wrong with God's people and to accuse them before God himself. Well, while Satan is there, let me just one more thing before we're going to move on. You know, the Bible teaches us that Satan is, sometime is coming, is, is, appearing as the roaring lion. First Peter chapter, chapter, five and verse eight, I want to read this verse, Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, is a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.

Satan is like a roaring lion. He want to devour God's people. He is not happy when God's people are walking with God. He is not happy to see God's people living for God. And he is trying to find fault in God's people. He is trying to find fault in your life, in my life. He is trying to find fault here in Zechariah chapter 3, in Israel's life. Look, God, look at these people, the people of Israel. He is the accuser. But you know, beloved brothers and sisters, Satan is not only an accuser, but you know that Satan is also appearing sometime as the angel of light. If you turn to 2 Corinthians, please with me, and you notice what we read concerning Satan in 2 Corinthians chapter 11. Here we read in verse 13, For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves as the apostles of Christ, of the Messiah. And oh marvel, no marvel, we read, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their work. So Satan is sometime coming as a roaring lion. Against God's people, and at times he appearing as an angel of light to trick and to deceive God's people. But now, in that vision, Chazon, that Zechariah sees, what does he see? Joshua, the high priest, representing his people Israel before the Lord, by that angel of the Lord. And Satan is standing right there to resist him, to accuse Joshua. And when he's accusing and resisting Joshua, he's accusing and resisting the people of Israel.

Look at them. What kind of a nation they are. Look at their failure. Look how bad and evil and dirty they are. Look at the sins that they are committing. Look what kind of people are they. As he's accusing you and I today when we, he, he, you might say, accusing you and I before God. Look at these people, look at them.

And so notice now in verse two, what we read, in verse two, Jehovah's words to Satan, the opposer of the, of the, of the people of God, of Joshua representing the people of Israel. And you can just imagine, it's a, it's a, it's a scene of a court session. What you really see here, beloved brothers and sisters, is like a court session. Here you have the, the, the accuser that is coming, and here you have the, you might say the Sanhedrin, the one who is the, the representing, the paraclete, coming to help, to aid, and you have the judge there, and one, and the one who is, you might say, guilty, and the accuser coming and saying, he is guilty, Israel is guilty, look at these people, look at these men, look at these high priests representing the nation of Israel. And so we do read now, listen to that, in verse two, look at the response of Jehovah to the accuser, to Satan.

It says in verse two, and the Lord said unto Satan, the Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, even the Lord who has, now notice that, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke thee. Is it not a brand plucked out of the fire? You see what the Lord is saying to Satan. Actually, when the accuser of the brethren, in this context is the Jewish brethren, when the Satan, the accuser of the Jewish people, come before God and accusing them, look at the nation. What kind of a nation you have chosen? Look at their failure. Look at their sins. Look at their disobedience. Look at how they live.

And he's accusing today the assembly, the believers, the true church of God. Look at these people. What kind of a people are they? You can see how they live, their failure, their disobedience, their lifestyle. Look at them. Satan is accusing you and I today, as he accused Israel in past history, and will accuse them in the future, during the tribulation period. What kind of a people are these? But you see what the Lord does here, and that is very precious. You know, there is so much to accuse Israel. There is so much to accuse the church. There is so much to accuse you and I, because we are sinners by nature, failing people. But you know what the Lord does? What does He do in verse 2 of Zechariah chapter 3? The Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, even who, who is the Lord to rebuke you, Satan? The Lord, notice then, the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem.

He rebuked thee. Now, I just want to pause here. Remember, beloved brothers and sisters, that Jerusalem, Israel, the Jewish people, were chosen people. They're not better than other people. Israel, the Jewish people, are sinful like other nations. In fact, you and I are, as believers who are part of the ekklesia, of the body of Christ, the body of Messiah, we are also a chosen people. We were chosen in the Messiah, in Christ, before the foundation of the world, Ephesians chapter 1, verses 3 and 4. We are not better than other people.

You and I are not in because there was something good in us. We are in Christ, in the Mashiach, in the Messiah. Because of Him. It is the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, who paid for our sins. It is the Lord Yeshua HaMashiach who died on a shameful Roman cross for the sin of this world. And God, in His wisdom, have elected a people for Himself. He have chosen an earthly nation, Israel. He have chosen a heavenly people, the assembly, the church. There's no room for pride in anyone. In fact, if we realize that we have been elected and chosen by God, it ought to humble us and to cause us to be before the Lord, to be to lay, to say to the Lord, Lord, I'm so thankful I don't deserve what you have brought me into.

And so, beloved brothers and sisters, it is interesting that in verse two, The Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan. But he doesn't stop there. He's emphasizing not only that the Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, but even the same Lord that has chosen Jerusalem, He rebuke you. Do you think I did not know that Jerusalem, who Jerusalem is, who are the people of Israel? You think that I have chosen some people who are perfect? I know whom I have chosen.

God said this to Israel already long time ago in the book of Deuteronomy before Israel have entered into the promised land. If you remember Deuteronomy chapter 7 and verses 6 and 7, God said to Israel in chapter 6 and 7, I'll read Deuteronomy. chapter, seven, verses six and seven, we read, For thou art a holy people, unto the Lord thy God, for the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people, in Hebrew, Am Segula, unto himself above all people that are upon the face of this earth. The Lord did not love thee, the Lord, the Lord did not send his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people, for ye were the fewest of all people.

But because the Lord love you, and because he would keep his oath which he had sworn unto your father, here, as the Lord had brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeem you out of a house of bondage from the hand of Pharaoh the king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God, He is a faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him, and keep His commandment to a thousand generations. Beloved brothers and sisters, Israel was a chosen nation by God.

And so God is directing His word to Satan, who resisted Joshua, resisted the one who represent the nation of Israel, stood there to accuse Israel, to accuse Joshua representing Israel before God, and the Lord gave him an answer. And He said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke you, O Satan, even the one that have chosen Jerusalem. He rebuke him. But then He said, listen, He said at the end of verse two, and I think it is very precious, He says, is not a brand. A brand is simply a piece of wood.

A brand plucked out of the fire. In other words, beloved brothers and sisters, the nation of Israel deserve the fire of God's judgment, just like all the nations of the world, all of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And the fire of God's righteous indignation against sin should fall upon every person. But the Lord had plucked that nation out of the fire of God's wrath against sin. In doing so, he has elected a people for himself. And you notice those are the three things that we find out in verse two. Number one, the Lord rebuke thee, rebuking Satan. Number two, the Lord have chosen Jerusalem. And number three, Jerusalem, Israel, is a brand that is plucked out of the fire.

And let me just remind you, if you turn with me for a moment to, the book of Corinthians, just to show you something, 1 Corinthians chapter 5, just to remind you that it's apply as well to believers in this present day of the church age. In 1 Corinthians chapter 5, there was a man who committed grievous sin, and the assembly at Corinth did not judge it. And so when our pastor Shaul Paul is writing to the believers about the condition that existed in the local assembly at Koren, who were saints, they were chosen people, part of the assembly, the ekklesia, they belonged to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Yeshua HaMashiach.

But you see, the Lord has said to the assembly, he's saying to them, and I'm reading, he said to them in verse four of 1 Corinthians chapter five, he said, in the name of the Lord Jesus, when ye gather together in my spirit with the power of the Lord Jesus Christ to deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, listen, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. In other words, this believer lived in sin, put him away from the fellowship, but, because he belongs to the Lord, in the day of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, he will be delivered, because it's like a person that was to, a believer that needed to be disciplined, but because he was a child of God, his soul will be saved in the day of Jesus Christ, of the Lord Jesus.

You see, beloved brothers and sisters, also in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, you remember with the, Apostle Paul is speaking, to the believers at Corinth concerning how we build, how we live our lives. And our lives as believers, often time we are not building with, gold, silver, gold, and precious stone, but we live our life with, building with, woods, stubble and hay, and everything that we don't do for the Lord will be burned, but we as believers, whatever we done for the Lord will remain because we belong to Him, because of the work that He finished for us when He died for us on the cross. And so Israel and Jerusalem, according to verse 2 of Zechariah chapter 3, is not this a brand that is plucked, out of the fire?

He's saying to Satan, he's not Israel, he's not Jerusalem, he's not Joshua that's representing the nation of Israel. He's like a brand, like a piece of wood that is plucked out from the fire. And the word, a brand, plucked, in the Hebrew word, ud, in Hebrew, ud mutzal mi'esh, ud mutzal mi'esh, a brand that is plucked out of the fire. That is the lesson that we learn here, beloved brothers, concerning, the accusation that he found against the people of Israel. Just one more verse I want to read. In, in chapter four of, the prophecy of Amos in verse eleven, I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning, yet have ye not returned unto me, says the Lord. This is in the prophecy of Amos in chapter four in verse eleven. Ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning.

That's what, how you came to me. That's how I have chosen you. You were chosen out of the fire of the judgment that you deserve to receive. I've taken you out of the judgment and brought you to myself. Live for me. God wanted Israel to live for him. And so now, if we are back, please, beloved brothers and sisters, to chapter At three of Zechariah in verse three and four and five, notice in what we read in verse three about Joshua's condition. Joshua's clothes were filthy garments, were dirty. We read in verse three, Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and he stood before the angel. You see, Joshua represented the nation of Israel. His garments were dirty, and they were dirty because it really represent sin. It represent the sin of the nation that were filthy because of sin. And so when his garment, as he says here in verse three, his clothes were filthy, he had a filthy garment as he stood before the angel of the Lord, it really show us, beloved brothers and sisters, that God sees everything.

Satan may accuse us, but it doesn't, no sin of ours, no condition of ours is hidden from him with whom we have to do. God knows everything about us. You know, this is also so precious, because God knows everything about you, you know everything about me, and he still loves us. That's the beautiful thing about the grace of God. The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared in the person of the Lord Jesus the Messiah. That is so precious to get a hold of. Every one of us have to remember that God knows our heart. You and I might hide our hearts from one another, but God knows everything about us.

And so when Joshua is standing before God, his garment that's supposed to be clean is dirty, representing the sins of the nation of Israel. And God, what God is going to do, beloved brothers and sisters, he's going to provide for the nation of Israel a clean garment. He's going to cleanse the nation, representing by Joshua, to remind you that we read in chapter, 64 of the prophet Isaiah, beloved brothers and sisters, we read in verse 6, he says, but we all are as unclean thing.

All on our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and we all do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. God sees it. In the future day, when Israel will return to the Lord, Israel will repent using this expression here in Isaiah chapter 64 verse 6, but we are all as unclean thing. And all our righteousnesses, even the good thing that we do, are as filthy rags before the Lord. And we all do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Joshua is standing before the angel of the Lord. Satan is right here beside him, accusing him. And no wonder. He can accuse him because his garments is filthy, representing the sins of the nation of Israel.

And so notice what the Lord does, and that is very, very precious. In, just want to mention here to remind you and I that the, the Scripture always reveal before us the truth of our nature. We have a sinful nature. You see, we are not sinners because we sin, but we sin because we are sinners by nature.

And when the fall came in the Garden of Eden, Gan Eden, the Garden of Delight, when Adam fell into sin, when he sinned, you sinned, I sinned. All the descendants of Adam and Eve have inherited the sin nature, and we are filthy before God. We can't cleanse ourselves on our own. We can't improve ourselves. We may try, but God knows our hearts. Jeremiah said elsewhere, the heart is deceitful above all things. Who can know it? And the Lord says, I know. I know your thoughts are far off. I know your heart. I know your need. I know your condition. And can you imagine, here is Joshua. In that vision that Zechariah sees in the fourth vision of Zechariah chapter three, he's standing before the angel of the Lord according to chapter three and verse three, and he has filthy garments as he stood before the angel. He's filthy, he's dirty. And him there before the Lord representing Israel, the nation before the Lord, sinful, sinners.

And you and I today, when the Lord sees us by our own sinful nature, he sees sinners. But we are called saints today because we are washed by the blood of the Lamb. We are cleansed because of what the Lord Jesus the Messiah has done for us. And Israel as a nation will be cleansed. Because of the same Yeshua HaMashiach, the same Lord Jesus, what he have done for the nation of Israel. So in verse 4, now go to verse 4, Jehovah now is clothing Joshua with a changed raiment.

You see what he does? He says, while Satan is accusing him, look at him, look at him, look at him, look how dirty his clothes representing the nation. He's filthy, he's guilty, I'm against him, God be against him. And God said, no, no, Satan, he says, I rebuke you, Satan, I rebuke you, Satan, I'm the one who chose Jerusalem, I'm rebuking you, he's like a Israel, Jerusalem, the Jewish people like a brand that is plucked out of the fire, although they are seen here in a dirty clothes, yet I will give them a garment that is clean. And so in verse For we read, And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, Take away, notice that, how beautiful, take away the filthy garment from him, take it away. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thee, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will close thee with a changed raiment.

Can you imagine how Joshua felt when he's standing there before the Lord? God is speaking to him, to Joshua, in that vision, remember it's a vision, it is a chazon that Zechariah is seeing. And the Lord is speaking to all those that were there. Satan was there, the angel of the Lord was there, and all the angels, whoever was there to see that special, unique vision, the Lord is speaking, or does he answer, he's speaking to those that stood before him. And he said, take away. Take away the filthy raimen from him. You know, brothers and sisters, it's so wonderful to know that we are washed and we are cleansed, guilty before God by nature, but cleansed by the blood of the Lamb.

Just turn with me for a moment to Isaiah once again, to Isaiah 61. Isaiah 61, there we read Israel in a future day when Israel will be a restored nation. And it is a national restoration of the nation of Israel. Israel need to be redeemed by the blood of the Messiah on the basis of the finished work of the Lord Yeshua Jesus the Messiah. According to Isaiah 61 and verse 10, Israel will rejoice in a day when they will be cleansed as a nation. Individuals within the nation and the collective restored nation of Israel we read in Isaiah 61 and verse 10, I will greatly rejoice in my, rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God. Why? Why my soul shall be joyful in my God? Here's the reason.

For he has clothed me with the garment of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness. As the bridegroom decketh himself with ornament, and as the bride adorned herself with her jewels. For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so the Lord will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. See, one day when Israel, our people in the future day, will be a restored nation, it will be evident to all the world.

God will cleanse his people, Israel, and Israel will be a restored nation that will be a light to the Gentiles. Because God had purposes in his heart, not your thoughts or my thoughts. It's not your will or my will, it is the will of the Lord on the basis of his written word, just as it is for the assembly, the church. It is the will of the Lord, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against the ekklesia, the assembly. And so we learn, beloved brothers and sisters, and it's very interesting, I just would like to remind you, when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, you remember what happened? Adam and Eve covered themselves with the garment of fig leaves, of works, of their own merit, but they didn't avail because they still felt dirty before God and sinful before God. That's why Adam and Eve hid behind the trees.

So God, who loved them, and chose them to be a people through whom he will bring the all humanity into this world, he had to close them with another garment. And you remember what we read in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 21? We read, and I will, notice I just want to read Genesis chapter 3 and verse 21, just that we will have this before us. We do read, and I'm reading verse 21, it says here, unto Adam and unto his wife did the Lord God made coats of skin, and he clothed them. These coats of skin came from an animal that was killed.

An innocent animal that was killed, its blood atoned for their sins, for their soul, and the skin covered their bodies. And it's a representation of what the Mashiach would do when he would come in the fullness of the time. God sent forth his son made of a woman, made under the law. Why? In order to redeem them which were under the law. The law condemn us, and the law judge us because we are guilty, and the holy law of God only condemn us, but God provided a way.

And the way was, praise God, through the person of the Messiah Jesus, our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who loved us and gave himself for us. And so, beloved brothers and sisters, now quickly, I'll just at least go to verse five for this ministry meeting. In verse five now, Notice that, that we learn of the placing of pure mitre on Joshua's head. And not only that, it says in verse four, take away the filthy garment from him, and unto him he said, behold, I have caused thine iniquities to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with a change raiment. And that change raiment in the Hebrew text, it's very interesting, because that change raiment is habgadim hatzoim, to take away, and he used the word machlatsot. It's a change raiment, machlatsot. It's really speaking of something that is fresh and new and clean.

But not only that, in verse five we read, And I said, this is the Lord speaking. So let them set a, notice, a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre, a mitre upon his head, and they clothed him with garment, and the angel of the Lord stood by. Notice what happened? Joshua, Yehoshua, representing the people, the Jewish people, the people of Israel before God. He was there standing before God.

His garments were filthy. Satan accused him, and he's guilty. But God turned around and he said to Satan, I rebuke you. I have chosen Jerusalem. I have chosen Joshua represent Israel, the people of Israel. And although he have a filthy garment, I know that, but I still have chosen him. And what I'm going to do, I'm going to cleanse him, I'm going to wash him, I'm going to give him a clean garment, a changed raiment, but I'm also going to give him that mitre on his head. And if you remember the mitre that, the, the, the high priest had, you remember he had this, on his mitre where it says holiness unto the Lord, kadosh leYehovah, kadosh leAdonai. It represent the fact that now the nation of Israel will be ultimately a set apart nation, a holy nation, as we read in Deuteronomy chapter seven, set apart for God, used to be a vessel for the Lord, to be a light to the nations of the world.

And so in verse five, we read of the placing of a pure mitre, a pure mitre. The priests, Joshua, he represent Israel before God as a holy priesthood and as a royal priesthood, a nation that is to represent God before, the, before the world and to present the world before God in the future day. Specifically in connection with the Messianic kingdom, with the thousand years reign of the Messiah. What a wonderful lesson we learn, beloved brothers and sisters, from Zechariah in chapter three and verse five. That fair mitre in Hebrew is called tzannif tahor. Sanif et Ahor, it's the mitel that is presented there and before the Lord. I just want to read one more verse and we're going to close today. If you turn with me to Exodus chapter 28, just to read this final verse for us in conclusion of the first five verses of Zechariah chapter 3.

In chapter 28 and verse 4 of the book of Exodus we read, it says in verse 4, These are the garments which they shall make, a breastplate for an ephod, a robe, and a broidered coat, and notice, a mitel and a girdle. And they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother and his sons, that he may minister unto me as in the priest's office.

In verse thirty six of the very same chapter we read, listen to what we read in verse thirty six and verse thirty seven and verse thirty eight of Exodus chapter twenty eight. And thou shalt make a plate, listen to this, a plate pure of pure gold, and a grave upon it like the engravement of a segment, holiness to the Lord.

Set apart to the Lord, and thou shalt put it on the blue lace, that it may be upon the mitre, upon the front, the forefront of the mitre it shall be, and it shall be upon Aaron's forehead, and Aaron may bear the iniquity, iniquity of the holy things which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts, and it shall be always upon his forehead that they may be accepted before the Lord. In other words, when Aaron, according to Exodus chapter 28, came before the Lord with that mitre that was saying, kadosh le'Adonai, kadosh le'Yehovah, holiness unto the Lord, he's presenting the children of Israel before God as he enter into the holy place. Ultimately to the Holy of Holies.

And he's making atonement for the nation. The blood had to be shed. The blood, first of all, for himself and for his family, and then for the nation of Israel. And here, beloved brothers and sisters, in conclusion, we see the high priest of Israel, Joshua, representing Israel before the Lord. Satan is accusing them. And yet, in that vision that Zechariah sees, he sees how God is cleansing the people of Israel, and he's saying to Satan, the Lord rebuke thee, Satan, even the Lord that have chosen Jerusalem, he rebuke thee.

And that is precious. For us to understand as we study the prophecy of Zechariah, this is the fourth vision that we learn from this prophecy of Zechariah, and the vision is in chapter 3, verses 1 to 5, and then we will find out now in chapter 3, in our next meeting together, verses 6 to 8, the words of the Lord to Joshua concerning the ultimate cleansing of the nation of Israel on the basis of the coming one, the Messiah Himself, who is called the branch, the branch, the tzemach. We will speak about it in the will of the Lord in our next meeting together, as we will continue, beloved friend, with the study of the prophecy of Zechariah. Well, may the Lord bless His word to you, may the Lord encourage you.

And again, to remind you, if you are not yet a believer in the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, I challenge you. Turn your heart to Him, because on your own, you and I, we are all sinners by nature. Israel is a sinful nation. The people of the church are by nature sinful. We all come in on the basis of the grace of God. And you need to trust in the only Savior, the only Mashiach, the only Redeemer, whose name is Yeshua Jesus. May the Lord help you to see that. So our God and our Father, bless your word, we pray, for we ask it in Yeshua, in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. My dear friend, God bless you. Until the next time, we say shalom, shalom. Bye-bye.