Zechariah 3:10 Komentář

The vision in the foregoing chapter gave assurances of the re-establishing of the civil interests of the Jewish nation, the promises of which terminated in Christ. Now the vision in this chapter concerns their church-state, and their ecclesiastical interests, and assures them that they shall be put into a good posture again; and the promises of this also have an eye to Christ, who is not only our prince, but the high priest of our profession, of whom Joshua was a type. Here is, I. A vision relating to Joshua, as the representative of the church in his time, representing the disadvantages he laboured under, and the people in him, with the redress of the grievances of both. 1. He is accused by Satan, but is brought off by Christ (Zac 3:1, Zac 3:2). 2. He appears in filthy garments, but has them changed (Zac 3:3-5). 3. He is assured of being established in his office if he conduct himself well (Zac 3:6, Zac 3:7). II. A sermon relating to Christ, who is here called "The branch," who should be endued with all perfections for his undertaking, should be carried triumphantly through it, and by whom we should have pardon and peace (Zac 3:8-10).

INTRODUCTION TO ZECHARIAH 3 In this chapter, under the type of Joshua the high priest, is showed the state and condition of the priesthood, and of the church of God, in his times; and in it are various promises concerning the true High Priest, Christ, and of the efficacy and permanency of his priesthood. The vision of Joshua is in the form of a judicial process: Joshua is the person accused, and is described by his situation, standing before the Angel of the Lord; and by the filthy garments he had on, which were the ground of the charge against him, Zac 3:1 The accuser of him is Satan, who stood at his right hand; and his Judge is the Angel of the Lord, before whom he was, Zac 3:1. The sentence given against his accuser is by way of rebuke, enforced by the Lord's choice of Jerusalem, and merciful deliverance of this person; and, as given in his favour, is an order to take his filthy garments from him, and clothe him with change of raiment, and to put a fair mitre on his head; which were accordingly done, Zac 3:2 and a promise is made him, by way of protestation, that if he would walk in his ways, and keep his charge, he should judge his house, and keep his courts, and should have a walking place among those that stood by, Zac 3:6 and next Joshua, and those that were with him, are addressed as men wondered at; and are called upon to hearken to a promise of the Messiah, under the character of the Branch, Zac 3:8 and under that of a stone with seven eyes on it, and engravings in it, by whom the iniquity of God's people is removed, Zac 3:9 and the chapter is closed with an account of the prosperity, peace, and safety of the saints under the Gospel dispensation, Zac 3:10.

(Verse 10) Behold, I will plow her sculptured image, says the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the wickedness of that land in one day. On that day, says the Lord of hosts, each man will call his friend under the vine and under the fig tree. LXX: Behold, I will dig a pit, says the Almighty Lord, and I will investigate all the wickedness of that land in one day. On that day, says the Almighty Lord, each person will call their neighbor under the vine and under the fig tree. He had said above: behold the stone which I have given before Jesus, upon this one stone there are seven eyes. Now, accordingly, he preserves the metaphor from the stone, and says: I will engrave its sculpture; or I will carve its engraving. For what is written in Hebrew MaphatePhethee (), Aquila has interpreted as διαγλύψω ἄνοιγμα αὐτῆς, that is, I will carve its opening: Theodotion and Symmachus, I will carve its sculpture. And the sense is: I will make this stone be wounded by the key of the cross, and by the spear of the soldier, and in its passion I will take away the iniquity of the earth in one day, of which it is written: This is the day which the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it (Ps. CXVII, 24). On that day of the Passion of Christ, the man who is perfect in Christ will be called, and with the apostles he will ascend to the summit of the Lord's benevolence, his neighbor, whether they believe from among the Jews or certainly the multitude of the Gentiles, under the vineyard which is called Sorec, and of which he says in the Gospel: I am the true vine (John 15:1), and its fruit gladdens the heart of man, and under the fig tree, the most sweet fruits of the Holy Spirit, so that they may rest in eternal peace and, with the suppression of the world's turbulence and the bloodshed of warriors, know themselves to be under the reign of him whose mystical name in Solomon is peace. In the same session, the prophet Micah also mentions the vineyard and the fig tree, saying: 'In that day, each person will call their neighbor and their brother under the fig tree and their vineyard, and there will be no one to frighten them away' (Mic. IV, 4). And that which is written in the Septuagint: 'Behold, I will dig a pit,' we can understand as 'pit' or 'hole' for the carving of a stone, for everything that is carved is also dug. However, if someone does not want to interpret this more contentiously in reference to a stone, but rather to have its own beginning and its own opinion, let us say that God Almighty, on the day of the passion of His Son or (as the Jews believe, at the end of the world, when He comes to judge) will dig and bring forth each person's works and will touch the whole earth on the day of judgment; for this is the one day, and on that day each of the saints will call their companions and friends, who are also holy, to rest and to rejoice in the virtue of their works.

While the Jews were rebuilding their temple, their adversaries endeavored to stop the work, Ezra 5. This vision is therefore calculated to give them the strongest encouragement that God, after plucking them as brands out of the fire (or captivity of Babylon), would not now give them up, but would continue to prosper and favor them; and that notwithstanding the interruptions they should meet with, the work should be finished under the gracious superintendence of Providence; and their high priest, clothed in his pontifical robes, would soon officiate in the holy of holies, Zac 3:1-7. The subject is then, by an easy transition, applied to a much greater future deliverance and restoration, of which Joshua and his companions, delivered now, are declared to be figures or types; for that the Messiah or Branch, the great high priest typified by Joshua, would be manifested; and, like the principal stone represented in the vision, become the chief corner stone of his Church; that the all-seeing eye of God would constantly guard it; and that by his atonement he would procure for it peace and pardon, Zac 3:8-10.

Shall ye call every man his neighbour - See on Isa 36:16 (note). Every one shall be inviting and encouraging another to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ; and thus taste and see that God is good. See on Isa 2:2 (note), Isa 2:3 (note). And there shall be the utmost liberty to preach, believe on, and profess the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ.

FOURTH VISION. Joshua the high priest before the angel of Jehovah; accused by Satan, but justified by Jehovah through Messiah the coming Branch. (Zac 3:1-10) Joshua as high priest (Hag 1:1) represents "Jerusalem" (Zac 3:2), or the elect people, put on its trial, and "plucked" narrowly "out of the fire." His attitude, "standing before the Lord," is that of a high priest ministering before the altar erected previously to the building of the temple (Ezr 3:2-3, Ezr 3:6; Psa 135:2). Yet, in this position, by reason of his own and his people's sins, he is represented as on his and their trial (Num 35:12). he showed me--"He" is the interpreting angel. Jerusalem's (Joshua's) "filthy garments" (Zac 3:3) are its sins which had hitherto brought down God's judgments. The "change of raiment" implies its restoration to God's favor. Satan suggested to the Jews that so consciously polluted a priesthood and people could offer no acceptable sacrifice to God, and therefore they might as well desist from the building of the temple. Zechariah encourages them by showing that their demerit does not disqualify them for the work, as they are accepted in the righteousness of another, their great High Priest, the Branch (Zac 3:8), a scion of their own royal line of David (Isa 11:1). The full accomplishment of Israel's justification and of Satan the accuser's being "rebuked" finally, is yet future (Rev 12:10). Compare Rev 11:8, wherein "Jerusalem," as here, is shown to be meant primarily, though including the whole Church in general (compare Job 1:9). Satan--the Hebrew term meaning "adversary" in a law court: as devil is the Greek term, meaning accuser. Messiah, on the other hand, is "advocate" for His people in the court of heaven's justice (Jo1 2:1). standing at his right hand--the usual position of a prosecutor or accuser in court, as the left hand was the position of the defendant (Psa 109:6). The "angel of the Lord" took the same position just before another high priest was about to beget the forerunner of Messiah (Luk 1:11), who supplants Satan from his place as accuser. Some hence explain Jde 1:9 as referring to this passage: "the body of Moses" being thus the Jewish Church, for which Satan contended as his by reason of its sins; just as the "body of Christ" is the Christian Church. However, Jde 1:9 plainly speaks of the literal body of Moses, the resurrection of which at the transfiguration Satan seems to have opposed on the ground of Moses' error at Meribah; the same divine rebuke, "the Lord rebuke thee," checked Satan in contending for judgment against Moses' body, as checked him when demanding judgment against the Jewish Church, to which Moses' body corresponds.

under . . . vine . . . fig tree--emblem of tranquil prosperity (Kg1 4:25). Type of spiritual peace with God through Christ (Rom 5:1); and of millennial blessedness (Mic 4:4). Next: Zechariah Chapter 4