And he showed me Joshua the high Priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. (Zachariah3:1)
Zechariah 3 talks of a vision shown by God Almighty to the prophet Zechariah concerning Joshua who was the High Priest at the time. The job of Joshua as the High Priest is to connect the people to God by generally praying and interceding for them.
It therefore means that in carrying out this duty, Joshua must approach God in righteousness because the God we are talking about is a God whose eyes are so pure that they cannot behold iniquity. But here, Joshua was standing before God in filthy garments.
WHAT GARMENT ARE YOU WEARING?
Filthy garment can be termed a dirty garment; it is a garment that is stained. It is a garment of unrighteousness, a garment of sin. It is a garment of faithlessness and doubt. The only thing that can separate us from God, making us not to have an experience with Him is sin. For anyone to successfully serve God holiness is not an option, it is critical as well as compulsory. It does not matter who a man is, whatever title he holds; whether in the political scene or religious setting, if that man lives in sin, God will never have pleasure in him.
Zech 3:1 tells us that Joshua was standing before God. Brethren, the phrase "standing before God" gives us the idea of priestly service. Joshua was not in God’s presence as a bench warmer, neither was he there as a spectator or commentator, but as a ministering priest. But Satan was there to oppose him by pointing at the filthy garments, and declaring forcefully that Joshua was unfit to stand before the Lord in this capacity.
It is very important that we understand that Satan did not oppose him just because of the filthy garments but because Satan hated the whole scene. He hates it when God’s people comes into the presence of the Lord to minister unto Him and the only thing Satan could raise as an objection to the whole process was the filthy garments Joshua the High Priest was clothed with. Child of God, what garments are you wearing?
The devil is our adversary; he is always there to accuse us before God, always wanting to capitalize on that unguided hour to get hold on us. It is based on this that Satan was there to make sure that Joshua, the High Priest did not enjoy divine encounter with God. In Zech 3 vs 2, we see the Lord rebuking Satan.
Brethren, Satan may attack by striking and harassing God’s people but God will always strictly regulate what Satan is allowed to do. We must observe that the rebuke came at the right time, that is the mercy of God at work.
This mercy of God will continue to speak for us, that even when Satan rises to accuse us; because that is the only thing he knows how to do, Jesus will always be there to plead on our behalf in the name of Jesus. He will never wait till the case has gone to our disfavour but he is always a very present help in time of trouble.
Satan accused Joshua on a seemingly solid grounds - Joshua has been weighed by Satan and found guilty of standing before God in filthy garments of unrighteousness. Satan was determined to stop, humiliate and even destroy Joshua because John 10:10 says “the thief cometh not but to steal, to kill and to destroy”.
Nevertheless, God took control of the problem by cleansing Joshua and taking away the filthy garments of unrighteousness. Peradventure, we are putting on filthy garments, making us not to access heaven or making us not to have sweet fellowship with our heavenly father, my prayer is that God, whose mercies endures forever will clean us up and take every filthy garment away, in the name of Jesus.
Filthy garments are works of unrighteousness which are also works of the flesh which does not profit the Spirit. These works of the flesh are stated in Galatians 5:19-21 as adultery, fornication, uncleanness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, quarreling, jealousy, outburst of anger, selfish, division, envy, drunkenness, to mention but a few. Brethren, this means that anytime we live our lives engaging in any of these sins or any other kind of sins not mentioned here, we are putting on filthy garments.
If we go further in that same Galatians 5, we will realize that whosoever live this kind of life will not inherit the kingdom of God, while Revelation 21:27 tells us that nothing unclean shall in any wise enter into the kingdom of God except those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Brethren, for our names to be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life which is the only qualification for any man to inherit eternal life, we must put away every filthy garment of sin or unrighteousness, this include those sins known to people around us and those ones known to you alone because even our secret sins will be subjected to judgment. As Christians, the seriousness of making heaven on the last day should motivate us to let go of every life style, character and habit that signals unrighteousness, even when some of them are difficult to let go, we must pray that God should take them away from us by force.
Revelation 19:7-8 tells us of the kind of garments God wants us to be clothed with. It is the garment that has been well taken care of, not carelessly kept; it is that clean garment suitable for the wedding feast of the Lamb. It talks of a righteous life, a life consecrated onto righteousness, a man prepared to meet his God.
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