When It Is All Nothing But a Fabricated Lie

“Cleansing of the priesthood.”

Looking into the Old Covenant prophetic book of Zechariah chapter 3 in an utter amazement I saw the greatest mystery of our faith walk in Christ our Lord.

Prophet Zechariah in a vision from the Lord sees Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him. And the Lord said to Satan “The Lord rebuke you Satan, the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?”  “Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel”. The n He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him.” And to Him said the following words of comfort.

This He said “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes”. And I said “Let them put a clean turban on his head”. So they put a clean turban on his head and they put the cloths on him, and the Angel of the Lord stood by.

Then the Angel of the Lord admonished Joshua, saying. Thus says the Lord of Hosts;

“If you will walk in My ways and if you will keep My command Then you shall also judge My house, and likewise have charge of My courts; I will give you places to walk among these who stand here.

Hear, O Joshua, the High priest, You and your companions who sit before you, for they are a wondrous sign; For behold I am bringing My Servant the BRANCH. ..”

Zechariah 3:1-8

These are the words of the Lord to Joshua who was the rightful heir to the high priestly office, a direct descendant from Aaron via Eleazar. This was the history of this Man.

The last High Priest under the monarchy had been Jehozadak who had been carried away into exile by Nebuchadnezzar. One of Jehozadak’s sons was Joshua, but more than this, the vision undergirds the right he has to the office of High Priest. Should anyone doubt that Joshua is the rightful heir to all that was promised and given to the Aaronic line through his father, they should take note of the words spoken by God in the book of the chronicles and Leviticus and others. It is only Joshua who has been cleansed and it is only he who is called the ‘high priest’.

Haggai 1:1 would indicate that the people already regarded him as the successor to the office, but God here places His calling upon him by, first, cleansing him for office (Zech 3:1-5) and then, subsequently, commissioning him (Zech 3:6-10). ‘…all that remains from the furnace of the exile to the one who had received this privileged deliverance from God’s providential chastisements, all of these words and historical details brings us to the core of our message today, which is the opposing forces of evil towards the living God and His plan for the restored priesthood in all generations and also the prophetic utterance of  prophet Zechariah’s vision for the last days. The picture of this vision is very familiar to us in these final days. Satan being the accuser of the brethren is in opposition to God’s redemptive work of grace by accusing the high priest Joshua for being exiled to Babylon. This made him an object of God’s chastisement and ceremonially unclean for service according to the law of the commandments, but even from here the Lord speaks of him in regards to His grace. The Lord refuses to listen to Satan and refers to his accusations by having pronounced Joshua clean. Here we see the amazing work of grace over Joshua who also is the representative of all who would one day stand to minister to God by the virtue of grace. Through this the Lord speaks of the covenant of grace. Through this ofcource by no means He does not deny the filthiness of the garment of the priesthood, yet in it He reminds the accuser of our brethren the declaration of our righteousness through Christ’s futuristic atoning death for all.

Here we see a very great mystery unfold and that is the opposition that exists in all centuries for doing the will of God on the earth. From the building of the physical temple in the times of Ezra and Nehemiah until now this opposition exists. As the physical forces were hindering Ezra and Nehemiah in rebuilding the temple and the walls in and around Jerusalem, so it is today.

Except today the difference is this. Today we have all the spiritual hosts of the heavenly demonic realm fighting against us in numerous spiritual attacks. They see the final temple of the body of the Messiah being built by His grace and they try to stop and hinder

Us too. Satan who opposed God to His face in haven fell and became the number one opposing force here on earth. On this side of heaven many demonic obstacles began to hinder the work of God, yet by the atoning work of the cross of Calvary we began to understand the victory we have in Him. In making man a slave of sin and unrighteousness Satan inflicted guilt on man’s conscious and that through sin. Knowing this major deficit in the heart of men Satan uses sin in pointing to the guilt nature in man and by this silent weapon he tries to overcome many. Here in this vision the Lord says to the accuser of our brethren that this tactic of yours is no longer to succeed on those who are cleansed from the guilt of their original sin.  He also shows that the cleansing has been done by the Lord Jesus Himself. In this a final victory is pronounced in the heavenly places over a shamed base life.

This is what Joshua himself was unaware of. He was standing condemned before the Lord, yet he was acquitted by God through grace.

The same happened in Isaiah chapter 6 when the Lord touched the uncleanness of the lips of the prophet Isaiah. He was cleansed from the accusatory slanderous opposing work of Satan to a justified state of righteousness according to grace. Not only was that he now ready for his commission.  Here is the catch. Today too, unfortunately the serpent of old has the same tactic under his arms, and us not knowing our status in Christ fall for the lies of our adversary the devil. He is none but the accuser of the brethren for whom the Lord has died. You see in all his accusations the Angel of the Lord stood by Joshua who is the representative of all priesthood. Old and new covenant people. The same way He did remind Satan of the status of the priesthood in His presence even in the future.  Another wonderful thing that the Angel of the Lord said to the priesthood was the future place of the priesthood in ruling and reigning along side of Christ , if they would choose to walk uprightly after their justification by grace is revealed and appropriated upon their initial redemption.

Here after the angel talked with Zechariah about the restoration of the priesthood and removing all hindrances of ministry and being right with God in a renewed acceptance, through justification of grace, the angel showed him an awesome vision in which he declared the following statement.  A word for Zerubbabel the governor at the time who would complete the temple project “Not by might nor by power, but by the My Spirit Said the Lord of Hosts. Who are you O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring the capstone with shouts of Grace, grace to it”.

(Zech. 4:6-8)

By these words we see the prophet received a full picture of the grace to be poured out on all who would participate in this work of God in rebuilding His temple in all ages. In Isaiah chapter 40 verses 1 to 4 we read the same declaration that the Lord says “Comfort, yes comfort My people!” Speak comfort to

To Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned for she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” The voice of one crying in the wilderness; “ Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God, every valley shall be exalted and ever mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken” The voice said cry out ! And he said. “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass…. And so on. By these utterances the Lord confirmed that His grace is above of all powers or might that would end all hindrances of sin and accusations of the accuser in those who would be called to be the priesthood. No more accusations of condemnation for those who are in Christ.

That is why as you hear that voice accusing you of sin in condemnation remind him of your justification in Christ according to grace. This why in Genesis chapter 50 verses 15 to 21 when the brothers of Joseph come to him with a huge sense of condemning guilt in fear, Joseph reassured them of God’s forgiveness on their behalf. Guilt and condemnation has a voice that carry in us much longer than we could ever understand and the accuser of the brethren knows that about us. This is why he likes to whisper in our ears every day trying to hinder the building of our temple of faith within us through its nagging voice. However when Jesus said to Peter I will build my Church on this revelation of my Father and even the gates of hell and Hades cannot stand against its building. In saying that I want us to remember how to  prophet Zechariah in chapter 6 we hear the word of the Lord came saying  “ Behold, the Man whose name is the BRANCH from His place He shall branch out and He shall build the temple of the Lord, Yes He shall build the temple of the Lord. He shall bear the glory and shall sit and rule on His throne; So He shall be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both”.