Zechariah 3:2

And the Lord said unto Satan,....

The power of God is engaged for the making of the grace of Christ effectual. " The Lord restrain thy malicious rage, reject thy malicious charge, and revenge upon thee thy enmity to a servant of his" Note, those that belong to Christ have him ready to appear vigorously for them when Satan appears most vehement against them.

Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? - The Jews were nearly destroyed because of their sins; a remnant of them is yet left, and God is determined to preserve them. He has had mercy upon them, and forgiven them their sins. Wouldst thou have them destroyed? It is God that hath justified them; who art thou that condemnest them? The Lord rebuke thee! God confound thee for what thou hast done, and for what thou desirest farther to do!

THE original intention of this vision was to foretell the revival of the Jewish state after its long depression through the Babylonian captivity. Joshua, the high priest, with his tattered garments, must be looked upon as the type of the Jewish people in their deep distress. He was ministering before the Lord in worn and filthy garments, to show at once the sin of Israel and the poverty into which they had fallen.

If the issue rested on Jerusalem's merit or demerit, condemnation must be the award; but Jehovah's "choice" (Joh 15:16) rebuts Satan's charge against Jerusalem (Zec 1:17; Ro 8:33, 34, 37), represented by Joshua (compare in the great atonement, Le 16:6-20, &c.), not that she may continue in sin, but be freed from it (Zec 3:7). brand plucked out of . . . fire-- (Am 4:11;

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

THE original intention of this vision was to foretell the revival of the Jewish state after its long depression through the Babylonian captivity. Joshua, the high priest, with his tattered garments, must be looked upon as the type of the Jewish people in their deep distress. He was ministering before the Lord in worn and filthy garments, to show at once the sin of Israel and the poverty into which they had fallen. They were so poor that the service of God could not be conducted in suitable apparel, but the high priest himself appeared before the altar in robes unfit for his sacred work. The set time to favor Zion is according to the visions most near at hand. And Satan, the old adversary of the chosen race, bestirs himself to resist them and turn away the favor of God from them. But that same Angel of the Covenant who led the people through the wilderness and carried them all the days of old, stands before the Throne as their Advocate and at His request Jehovah rebukes Satan and begins to bless the people. Joshua, their representative, receives a change of clothes, in testimony that the people's sin is forgiven and that God accepts their worship. The vision then sweeps on to the day of the Lord Jesus and the heart of the Prophet Zechariah is cheered by a sight of the whole land restored to its former peace and happiness under the reign of the glorious One who is called, "My servant, THE BRANCH." While we have been interpreting the other visions of Zechariah, we have tried to derive present comfort and profit from them. We will endeavor to do so on this occasion. We may very properly take Joshua as a type of all the people of God as they stand in their sense of sin and natural faultiness, subject to the accusations of Satan, but delivered by their ever gracious Lord.

[Another Sermon by Mr. Spurgeon on verses 1 to 5 is Sermon #611, Volume 11—ZECHARIAH'S VISION OF JOSHUA THE HIGH PRIEST.] IT may be well to explain these words, for simple as they are, a few words of exposition may be useful to open up the metaphor and enforce the thrilling Truth of God that underlies it. There is mention of a fire. A cry of "FIRE!"has something fearful in it. When a fire begins to get the upper hand with us, it is terrible in its destructiveness.

[Another Sermon by Mr. Spurgeon on verses 1 to 5 is Sermon #611, Volume 11—ZECHARIAH'S VISION OF JOSHUA THE HIGH PRIEST.] IT may be well to explain these words, for simple as they are, a few words of exposition may be useful to open up the metaphor and enforce the thrilling Truth of God that underlies it. There is mention of a fire. A cry of "FIRE!"has something fearful in it. When a fire begins to get the upper hand with us, it is terrible in its destructiveness. The fire here meant is more awful than any flame that makes havoc of matter, and its devastations are ten thousand times more appalling! It is the fire of sin. It blazed in the heart of an angel and he became a devil. Its sparks fell into the bosom of mother Eve and into the heart father Adam—and Paradise was burned up and the world became a wilderness. Sin is a fire which destroys the comfort of mankind, here, and all the joy of mankind hereafter. It is a flame which yields no comfortable warmth. The sinner may dance in the light of it for a moment, but in sorrow will he have to lie down in it forever! Woe unto those who have to make their bed in this fire—to dwell with these consuming flames for a term that knows no ending! There is, further, mention of a brand. Nothing can be more suitable to burn in the fire than a brand. It is not a branch just taken from the tree, fresh and full of sap—it is a brand—dry, sere timber, fit for the burning. It is not a mass of stone or iron, but a combustible brand. And what does this indicate but man's natural heart which is so congenial to the fire of sin? Our heart is like the tinder—Satan has but to strike the spark and how readily does the spark find a nest within our bosom! As the firebrand fits the fire, so does the sinner fit in with sin. When sin and the sinner come in contact, it is, "Hail fellow, well met!" They are bosom companions.

And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee - Jerome: “This they so explain, that the Father and the Son is Lord, as we read in the Psa 110:1-7, “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand.” The Lord speaketh of another Lord; not that He, the Lord who speaketh, cannot rebuke, but that, from the unity of nature, when the Other rebuketh, He Himself who speaketh rebuketh. For “he who seeth the Son, seeth the Father also” Joh 14:9. It may be that God, by such sayings , also accustomed people, before Christ came, to believe in the Plurality of Persons in the One Godhead. The rebuke of God must be with power. “Thou hast rebuked the nations, Thou hast destroyed the ungodly” Psa 9:5. “Thou hast rebuked the proud, accursed” Psa 119:21. “They perish at the rebuke of Thy Countenance” Psa 80:16. “At Thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse are cast into a deep sleep” Psa 76:6. “God shall rebuke him, and he fleeth far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind” Isa 17:13. “He rebuked the Red Sea and it dried up” Psa 106:9. “The foundations of the world were discovered at Thy rebuke, O Lord” (Psa 18:15, add Nah 1:4). He “rebuked the seed” Mal 2:3, and it perished; the devourer” Mal 3:11, and it no longer devoured. The rebuke then of the blasted spirit involved a withering rejection of himself and his accusations, as when Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and he departed out of his victim Mar 1:25-26; Mar 9:25; Luk 4:35; Luk 9:42. The Lord hath chosen Jerusalem - Joshua then is acquitted, not because the accusation of Satan was false, but out of the free love of God for His people and for Joshua in it and as its representative. “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth?” Rom 8:33-34. […]