Zechariah 3 gives us prophetic visions of the past and the future. It also raises a few questions and shows us when Zechariah began his ministry. And, we will yet again see a direct connection with the Book of Revelation, as well as a few interesting translation errors.
We will see one of the few conditional prophecies, as well as phrases that are hard to pin down. Timing is everything, and there are a couple of phrases here that I bet have tripped up many people.
Oh, and the unfulfilled prophecies database has a new home.
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Zechariah Part 4
Before I get into the discussion of Zechariah 3, I want to point everyone to the new home of the Unfulfilled Prophecies database. It’s here:
Prophecies Unfulfilled
https://propheciesunfulfilled.com
That has been added to the Books and Guides page here:
The Revelation Six Books And Guides
https://revelationsix.com/books/
As always, everything is free – except if you what a physical copy. Even then, I price everything as close to cost as possible. This is actually not a very good marketing decision, since giving a book a higher price makes people think that it has greater value. My hope is that you will overlook this marketing faux pas, and read them anyway.
I have yet to receive a bad review, which is not good. I need at least SOMEONE to say something bad about my writing. No one is perfect, especially me.
Now, back to our scheduled programming…
Zechariah 3:1 provides us with our first conundrum:
Zechariah changes the name of the High Priest from ישוע (Yeshua) to יהושוע (Yehoshua). We know that he was called Yeshua (Jeshua) in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. However, Joshua (Yehoshua), the leader of Israel who brought them into the Land, after Moses died… Nehemiah also calls him Yeshua (Jeshua). You can see that here:
And all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths: for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness.
– Nehemiah 8:17 (KJV)
And, if you want to see all the times where Jeshua (Yeshua) was used as a name, you can see that here:
Jeshua
https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=Jeshua&version=KJV&resultspp=250
You will find that Jeshua is mentioned only twice outside of Ezra and Nehemiah. We also know that Yeshua was a rather common name at the time of Christ. People were looking for salvation, and named their children after that desire.
The problem comes from the intellectual Christians who like to find some bit of knowledge that they think they can use to establish some personal greatness. And, they forget that the way that Hebrew characters were written, dramatically changed right around the time of Ezra and Nehemiah.
Notice the change in characters, here:
| Letter name |
Variants | |
|---|---|---|
| Contemporary | Ancestral | |
| Alef | א |  |
| Bet | ב |  |
| Gimel | ג |  |
| Dalet | ד |  |
| He | ה |  |
| Vav | ו |  |
| Zayin | ז |  |
| Chet | ח |  |
| Tet | ט |  |
| Yod | י |  |
| Kaf | כ |  |
| Final Kaf | ך | |
| Lamed | ל |  |
| Mem | מ |  |
| Final Mem | ם | |
| Nun | נ |  |
| Final Nun | ן | |
| Samekh | ס |  |
| Ayin | ע |  |
| Pe | פ |  |
| Final Pe | ף | |
| Tsadi | צ |  |
| Final Tsadi | ץ | |
| Qof | ק |  |
| Resh | ר |  |
| Shin | ש |  |
| Tav | ת |  |
The above came from my discussion about the Fall of Babylon and the Handwriting on the wall, here:
Daniel 5 – And How Babylon Fell To Cyrus
https://revelationsix.com/a-biblical-overview-of-daniel/#Babylon_Fell
Now, notice the difference between the Hebrew that changed during the time of the Babylonian Exile. Here is what the current Hebrew text shows:
מנא מנא תקל ופרסין
(Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin)
And, the text that Moses and most of the prophets knew:
And no, I can’t read that. I can read the “מנא מנא תקל ופרסין”, but I can’t read the original Ancient Hebrew characters. However, Daniel could. And he did.
So, as I asked before…
Why did the Israelis change the character set for written Hebrew?
The words didn’t change. The content of the Bible didn’t change. Just the way that the characters were written. And, I’m not sure that we can trust the biased sources that we have, that might describe why this change happened. But, I’m very curious about this, even though it really doesn’t matter much. Nothing was changed in the Bible, except the shape of the letters it was written with.
Now, does this explain the confusion over Yeshua vs Yehoshua?
I don’t know, but it’s the best guess that I have. The scribes writing for Ezra and Nehemiah might have gotten a little choked up over the issue, but Zechariah wasn’t. Zechariah knew that the name of the High Priest was Yehoshua (Joshua), not Yeshua (Jeshua).
The other guess, is that God changed the name of the High Priest in the vision that Zechariah was given. It doesn’t explain the change of the name of Joshua ben Nun to Jeshua ben Nun, so that makes it a half-guess.
But, to those intellectual Christians who wish to argue the point, there’s the door. Don’t let it hit you one the way out. I have no tolerance for intellectuals. They are a stain upon our faith and a curse upon our society. I wish them ill will until they repent and turn back to a pure faith, not corrupted by carnal foolishness.
The name of Jesus was Yeshua (ישוע). Every evangelical Christian Israeli understands this. Every Biblical Archeologist understands this. Those that don’t understand this might need to see their doctor.
Whew. All that from just a reference to the first verse.
Verse one goes on to speak of Joshua the High Priest standing before the Angel of the LORD with Satan standing to oppose him. And, all of us are in that position. We stand before God as we go about our lives in service to Him, but we are opposed by Satan at every turn. And, it is only God who protects us for Satan’s desire to destroy us. But, verse two adds something interesting:
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?”
– Zechariah 3:2 (NKJV)
The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem.
Think about how much of the Bible is about this choice. There is no place on earth that benefits from this special status as chosen by God. Yes, the Land of Israel is important, but the most important is Jerusalem. David had to reign there. Jesus had to save us from our sins there. And one day, after the Redemption of Israel has happened, a man that we will call the Antichrist will seek to place his image there. Then, when the Millennium comes, which we will get to in chapter 14, Jesus will rule the world from there.
Why is Jerusalem so important?
I can give you many theories, and they all have merit. But, nothing I can tell you will make any difference. God chose Jerusalem for reasons that He did not tell us. So, we accept it as truth.
What are these theories?
It is at the bridge between Europe and Africa and Asia. With God placing His city and His Temple at Jerusalem, every place in the world would have heard about God. In ancient times, information flowed along trade routes, and everyone would have heard about Jerusalem at one time or another.
Jerusalem is also the hardest city to get to, unless you are coming from the south. No one would EVER go to Jerusalem, unless it was to worship God.
It is a place that can only exist if God is there. Israel is located at the meeting points of empire. Every empire from Africa to Asia to Europe fought in Israel and sought control of Jerusalem, or at least its neutralization.
Yet, no empire has ever ruled from Jerusalem. Every empire ruled the area of Israel from Damascus. Always. The Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Persians and every Islamic empire all ruled the region from Damascus.
God specifically chose a place that made no strategic sense, but a very spiritual reason.
Okay, so that’s Jerusalem, but why is Joshua spoken of as a brand plucked from the fire. The word used isn’t like the iron brands that you mark cattle with. No, this is a wooden stick that you use to stir up a fire. If you leave it in, it burns up.
So, God is speaking of Joshua the High Priest as one who has been rescued from being burned up. And, he came to the temple from Babylon. But, when you read through Ezra and Nehemiah, everyone was in spiritually bad shape. They had been corrupted by Babylon, and God was rescuing them from spiritual annihilation. And, we see this with the next verses:
3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel.
4 Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him.” And to him He said, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.”
5 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 clothes on him. And the Angel of the Lord stood by.
– Zechariah 3:3-5 (NKJV)
That’s you and me. God has taken our corruption and sinfulness and removed it from us, by the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross.
How did God remove the filthy garments and the iniquity of Joshua the High Priest?
The exact same way. Every person in the Bible who had their sins taken away and their filthiness cleansed, did so through the final sacrifice of our Lord and Savior on the Cross and the anointing of His blood in the holy place of the Temple in heaven. Without that, none could be saved. Without that you and I cannot be saved.
The Conditional Prophecy
The next part of chapter two speaks of Jesus, a future removal of the iniquity of the Land of Israel, and an admonition to the High Priest that he would be blessed as long as he followed God’s commandments. And, as you probably already guessed, that didn’t last very long.
6 Then the Angel of the Lord admonished Joshua, saying, 7 “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.
– Zechariah 3:6-7 (NKJV)
Did Joshua the High Priest even follow God properly for any length of time?
No.
Here we see that his sons had taken pagan wives:
18 And among the sons of the priests who had taken pagan wives the following were found of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah. 19 And they gave their promise that they would put away their wives; and being guilty, they presented a ram of the flock as their trespass offering.
– Ezra 10:18-19 (NKJV)
(Remember Jeshua in Ezra = Joshua in Zechariah.)
Now, you might make a case that corruption happened BEFORE Zechariah began to prophesy. But, that’s a really weak argument, when you look at when this would have happened in the Book of Ezra. Zechariah was prophesying to continue the building of the Temple in Ezra 5 – which is the first time that we actually see Zechariah in the Book of Ezra.
This means that Joshua did NOT walk in the ways of the Lord, because he allowed his sons and brothers to marry pagan women. So, in all of this chapter, there is an understanding of how Israel will fail and continue to fail.
The Coming Of Jesus
But, in the midst of all this failure, we still have the promise of redemption through Christ:
8 ‘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 forth My Servant the BRANCH.
9 For behold, the stone
That I have laid before Joshua:
Upon the stone are seven eyes.
Behold, I will engrave its inscription,’
Says the Lord of hosts,
‘And I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
10 In that day,’ says the Lord of hosts,
‘Everyone will invite his neighbor
Under his vine and under his fig tree.’ ”
– Zechariah 3:8-10 (NKJV)
TRANSLATION NOTE: the BRANCH spoken about here is not a branch, but a sprout/bloom/bud. I do not understand why Hebrew translators can’t get this right. What’s wrong with them? This isn’t a difficult Hebrew word. In modern Hebrew, a צמח (tseh-mach, ‘ch’ as in Bach) is a plant or sprout. And, the same goes for Ancient Hebrew, צמח IS NOT A BRANCH.
Seriously, where do these Bible translators come from?
Now, in verse eight, you might not have understood where this prophecy was going, but verse nine would have told you everything that you needed to know, if you’ve been reading the Book of Revelation.
Remember the Lamb with Seven Eyes?
Well, let me allow Revelation to describe Him for you:
1 And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. 2 Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?” 3 And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it.
4 So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it. 5 But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.”
6 And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.
– Revelation 5:1-7 (NKJV)
So, the Stone with Seven Eyes is Jesus Christ, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and the Root of David. And, the Seven Eyes are the Seven Spirits of God that are sent out into all the earth. But wait, Zechariah refers to a stone and not a lamb, well we have plenty of verses about that, but I like what Peter had to say:
4 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,
5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
6 Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.
7 Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,
8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.
– 1 Peter 2:4-8 (KJV)
Jesus is our Cornerstone. He is our head. He is our foundation. Without Him, our house is built on sand.
Now, you’ll notice that translators will capitalize the word Branch, because they know that this is Jesus Christ, but they didn’t capitalize the word ‘stone’. Bible translators don’t know that this Stone is also Jesus Christ.
Now, there’s one last bit that we haven’t covered. Zechariah 3:9 says, “Behold, I will engrave its inscription,’ Says the Lord of hosts.” So, there’s an inscription. But, it’s a little unclear. The inscription upon The Stone is probably this:
‘And I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.’
However, you could also say that we don’t know what the inscription is, or that it’s this one:
‘Everyone will invite his neighbor
Under his vine and under his fig tree.
Whichever choice you make as to what the inscription is, we can say that the prophecy “I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day” has not taken place. In fact, at no time since the last kings of Israel, has the iniquity of the land been removed.
When will the iniquity of the Land of Israel be removed?
When the Redemption of the Children of Jacob finally comes.
In fact, there are more passages about the Redemption of Israel in the Last Days, than about any other subject about the Last Days. If you are interested in reading those 109 passages, go here:
Prophecies Unfulfilled – The Redemption of Israel
https://propheciesunfulfilled.com/category/redemption-of-israel/
That site currently hosts 166 unfulfilled prophecies, but that number will increase when I get the time to pull prophecies from the other writings of the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
שאלו שלום ירושלים
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My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you… Hosea 4:6
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Keep this ministry alive with a donation.
Subscribe for free to Revelation Six and receive my articles in your inbox:
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And, read my books and guides for free:
https://revelationsix.com/books/
I created five Android Apps that will help you read through the Bible in a Year. You can find them here:
https://revelationsix.com/android-apps/
If you miss my rantings about geopolitics, idiocy, resource collapse and incompetent globalism, follow me on Twitter.
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