JMD Devotional 201 Zechariah 3 A Brand Plucked Out of the Fire

THEN [the guiding angel] showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at Joshua's right hand to be his adversary and to accuse him.
And the Lord said to Satan, The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! Even the Lord, Who [now and habitually] chooses Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this [returned captive Joshua] a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and was standing before the Angel [of the Lord]. And He spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And He said to [Joshua], Behold, I have caused your iniquity to pass from you, and I will clothe you with rich apparel. And I [Zechariah] said, Let them put a clean turban on his head. So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with [rich] garments. And the Angel of the Lord stood by. And the Angel of the Lord [solemnly and earnestly] protested and affirmed to Joshua, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in My ways and keep My charge, then also you shall rule My house and have charge of My courts, and I will give you access [to My presence] and places to walk among these who stand here. Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your colleagues who [usually] sit before you--for they are men who are a sign or omen [types of what is to come]--for behold, I will bring forth My servant the Branch.
For behold, upon the stone which I have set before Joshua, upon that one stone are seven eyes or facets [the all-embracing providence of God and the sevenfold radiations of the Spirit of God]. Behold, I will carve upon it its inscription, says the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity and guilt of this land in a single day.

I credit Neil Anderson in his book, The Bondage Breaker, for making this passage come alive for me. In Zechariah’s vision, Joshua (representing Israel) is standing before the Holy of Holies in filthy garments, which according to the Law, God could have struck him dead! But notice who is accusing Joshua; it is Satan. When God’s representative speaks, He (pre-incarnate Christ Jesus) rebukes Satan and not Joshua. It is said that our self-made ‘righteous deeds’ are but filthy garments before God; we have mixed motives, we are full of duplicity and deceit, fit for hell. However, God is pleased to pluck brands from the fire (a brand is a partially burnt piece of wood). We cannot earn our salvation, but we can humbly receive the salvation that God freely offers. He redresses us in the righteousness of Christ, pure, gleaming clothing without stain or blemish. In Christ we stand without fault before a Holy and uncompromising God. The Stone set before Israel is Christ, the Corner Stone; we are made or broken by how we respond to Him. Redemption is God’s idea; remember next time you slip and Satan is accusing you; that God rebukes the Devil and desires to give you clean clothes. Meditate on His grace!

Dear God,
I am a brand plucked from the fire; oh, how close I came to total destruction! Eternal damnation was measuring for my coffin! Thank You for reaching in and saving me! May I ever rejoice in my salvation and praise Your name. How precious is Your grace and desire to bless.
Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)

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