Zechariah 3 Commentary: So far in our study of the book of Zechariah, we’ve seen three visions.
The first was a vision of horses. And the message to
Zechariah and his people through that message was that God was aware that his
people were suffering while those who oppressed them were doing just fine. And
therefore, God was going to return to Jerusalem and his people with compassion.
The second vision featured four horns and four craftsmen.
And the emphasis there was that God was going to destroy the enemies of his
people – these nations that had oppressed the Jews.
The third vision had a man with a measuring line. And what
we saw in that vision is basically a combination of the first two visions and
then a progressing beyond them. There was more emphasis on God choosing Israel
and determining to punish the nations that had oppressed them. But then he went
further and promised to dwell in their midst and that Gentile nations would
join themselves to the Lord at that time when God himself dwells in the midst of
And that brings us to the fourth vision in the book of
Zechariah. So, let’s turn our attention to the 3rd chapter of the
Old Testament minor prophet Zechariah – Zechariah 3.
We’re going to study the first five verses in this chapter,
but we’ll read the entire chapter to get the full context.
Zechariah 3 Commentary: Intro w/ 5 Characters (1)
So, to begin with, Zechariah sets the scene which he saw on
that one night around 520 BC. And he identifies five characters that he saw in
his night vision. See if you can pick them out as we read the first verse one
KJV Zechariah 3:1 ¶ [And/Then/Next] [he shewed me/I saw] Joshua [LXX: Jesus] the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, [and/with] Satan [LXX: Devil] standing at his right [hand/side] to [resist/accuse] him.
So, who are the five characters introduced in this verse?
Zechariah 3 Commentary: Angel that Spoke with Zechariah
Well, the first character we become aware of in this vision
is relatively minor. But he’s a player nonetheless. And that’s the angel that
spoke with Zechariah. Now, he’s not identified by his full title in this
vision, but we see him referred to as “he” – the second word in verse 1.
Who showed Zechariah these things? It’s this communicating
angel – the angel that spoke “with” or even “in” Zechariah on this one night in
520 BC. He’s the first of five characters introduced in this verse.
Zechariah 3 Commentary: Zechariah
The second character in order of appearance is Zechariah
himself. He says that the angel showed “me.” Of course, that’s the prophet
himself. And he plays a small but important role in this vision – both by
receiving and then communicating the vision to us – and by suggesting that some
action be taken later on in this vision. So, Zechariah is the second character
Zechariah 3 Commentary: Joshua
The third character is Joshua. He’s the high priest at the
time of Zechariah’s ministry. This man is mentioned only in this book and in
the book of Zechariah’s contemporary – Haggai. He’s not the son of Nun – Moses’
assistant. He’s the son of Jehozadak – and he’s the high priest during this
period when Judah was trying to rebuild their temple and their walls and their
nation. So, this Joshua the high priest is the third character in this vision.
Zechariah 3 Commentary: Angel of the Lord
So, our fourth character is the angel of the Lord. And we’ve
seen in this series that sometimes thi
