Word of Salvation – Vol. 46 No. 43 – November 2001

A Brand and A Branch

Sermon by Rev. M. Flinn on Zechariah 3

Scripture Readings: Jeremiah 23:1-8; Zechariah 3

Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

A Dutch theologian by the name of A A van Ruler once said that the New Testament is nothing but a commentary on the Old Testament, and a pretty short one at that.  He was overstating the case to make a point, to be sure, but his point was a good one and one that needs to be made in today's evangelical climate where the New Testament is well known but the Old Testament is increasingly foreign material.  The New Testament would not exist without the Old Testament.  It would not make any sense without the Old Testament.  So much of the content of the New Testament reaches back into the pages of the Old Testament, and the reason for this is that God is a God of history.

His plan to save mankind from the effects of the fall reaches right back into the days of Adam and Eve.  It moves up through Noah and through Abraham to the calling of the Jewish people out of Egypt and their entrance into the promised land.  Aspects of that plan of salvation are revealed in Israel's priesthood and in the sacrificial system; others are revealed in the judges and then in the kingdom itself and in the various kings, all of whom pointed in some way to the King who was coming to save the world.

God's covenant relationship with His people is one and the same in both Testaments, and the apostle Paul does not hesitate to say that if we belong to Christ, we are Abraham's seed, heirs according to promise.  If you believe in Christ, you are Abraham's descendants.  You have been grafted in to his line by adoption and you are part of the fulfilment of the promises he received.  The New Testament without the Old Testament is like a leaf or flower without a tree to nourish or sustain it.

With that introduction this morning, let's examine a portion of the great trunk of this tree from the book of Zechariah.  In fact, we can stay with our tree image because this next vision that the prophet receives introduces us to two people, one of whom is described as a brand, a burning stick snatched from the fire, and the other is called by the name Branch, a man who is described as the Lord's servant in verse 8.

Who are these people?  Well, the first is a man called Joshua, not to be confused with the Joshua who led the people of Israel into the land of Canaan.  This is Joshua the high priest in the days of Zechariah the prophet, and he appears in this vision as standing before the angel of the Lord.  He is clothed in filthy garments, and Satan is standing at his right side to accuse him.  This is a courtroom scene.  A prisoner who was on trial in Israel would have to stand before the judge and the typical place for the prosecutor to stand was on the right side of the prisoner.

Joshua's clothing fits that of a criminal brought from the holding cells, standing before the judge in rather a sorry and miserable state.  But remember also that Joshua is the high priest and as such, he represents all the people of God.

What about the statements of Satan, the accuser of the brethren that he is?  Well, from the devil's point of view, the case for the prosecution is open and shut.  After all, could he not say to God that his people had deserved the judgment in the captivity, and wouldn't he be absolutely right?  Well, it is only one small step from there to say: "Look at them now.  What a miserable lot these remaining believers are.  Their hearts are the same, and the sins that they are now committing are only different by way of degree.  Look at him!  And beyond this man, look at your people!  They are clothed in filthy garments and if you are going to act consistently, in all your splendid holiness, you will cast them off.  Reject them.  Have nothing to do with them.  Judge them.  Let the condemnation fall."

But as the text unfolds, the devil's plan to accuse and condemn God's people is cut off at the knees by God himself.  We read in verse 2: "The Lord said to Satan, 'The Lord rebuke you, Satan!  The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you!  Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?'"

In other words, this remnant of the children of Israel have been saved from the fire of God's judgment.  They are like a burning stick that a person has plucked out of the fire before it was entirely consumed.  They have been spared.  And why is this?  Well, it is because the Lord has chosen these people.  These people, for all their faults, are God's elected people.  And therefore God takes in a highly personal manner any nasty accusation that the devil makes against them.

We see further that Joshua's filthy garments are removed and he is clothed in rich garments, the clothes befitting a high priest in the service of God.  Then he is told this by the angel of the Lord in verse 7, "This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'If you walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here.'"

Here is the priesthood restored.  The temple will be rebuilt and Joshua will have charge of the house of God.  He will have a place among those standing in this vision, a place among the angels who serve God.  This is not only a brand plucked from the fire.  This is a glorious, wonderful thing: the high priest, the representative of God's people, in the very courts of God, clothed with glory and serving the Lord with the angels of heaven.

Imagine this escaped remnant of God's people, beaten down by the Babylonians, mindful of their own sin and failure, hearing something like this.  And please bear in mind, this would not be achieved by their own efforts.  From beginning to end, it was the work of God.

But we must not stop there because the text does not allow us to stop.  We must go on to verse 8: "Listen, O high priest Joshua and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch.”

Joshua and his associates are symbolic.  They are signs of what God will do in the future.  The name "Joshua" means The Lord Saves.  It is the same word as "Jesus" in the New Testament.  So Joshua, the brand plucked from the fire of God's wrath, and given festal robes and a glorious position of rule over the house of God, is symbolic of a greater Saviour, a servant of the Lord, who is called the Branch in this passage.  The brand points to the Branch.  And the work that God will do through him will be far greater and more wonderful than anything Joshua would achieve.  Zechariah was not the first to use this image.  Jeremiah had used it before him.  He spoke of the Messiah in Jeremiah 23 as a righteous Branch, raised up to David.  He would reign wisely and all Israel would be saved and live in safety.  And his name?  It would be, "The Lord, Our Righteousness."

Consider with me the nature of His work and what He does for His people.  First, there is the gift of forgiveness for sins committed.  We must start here because we all come before God as people who are sinners.  And we must realise that this makes us totally unworthy to come into God's presence.  We are like Joshua, the high priest, clothed in filthy garments and the accuser of the brethren has every right point to our sins and our failures and call down the judgment of God upon us.  He knows that is exactly what we deserve.

I wonder how often we stop to think of sin in this way.  Certainly people in our society have no such concept of sin if they think about this at all.  Sin is a medieval word, a word that Roman Catholic priests used to use to frighten choirboys into submission and obedience.  Away with that barbaric, ill-conceived nonsense!  We all have our standards, you see, and because they are our standards, we most often live by them.  We are comfortable living the way we are.  We have a suit of clothes that is tailor made and that fits us perfectly.  If we let ourselves down and violate our own standards, well, that's not too serious a thing.  All we have to do is alter the cut of the cloth we are wearing slightly and then it will fit again.

But the Bible teaches that the best of our actions are as filthy rags in the sight of God.  We have broken His commandments countless times.  We fall short of His standards every time we get up in the morning.  We have cut ourselves off from Him and told ourselves that we will do things our way.  He is our Creator.  We owe Him everything.  But we have turned out backs upon Him.  And that makes us filthy in His sight.  Not in ours.  In His!  And we are worthy of His judgment.

Do not flinch from this, brothers and sisters.  Do not feel like covering your ears when you hear of the judgment of God and His hatred for sin.  If we do not preserve the Bible's teaching about God's wrath, we can never understand or appreciate His love and the work of His servant, the Branch.

In the vision, Joshua's filthy garments are removed and when he is given new clothes, God says, "See, I have taken away your sin."  And later on, in connection with the work of the Branch, God says, "I will remove the sin of this land in a single day."  And what day was that?  That was the day in which the Branch became a burning brand.  That was the day on which the Branch placed himself in the fires of God's wrath and God did not stay His hand.  How can we ever understand the mercy and forgiveness of God unless we understand the price that He paid to secure it?

Someone has illustrated it this way.  In the prairies in the United States, in the height of summer, the fire risk is immense.  If the grass catches fire, with a wind behind it, the fire can travel faster than a horse can gallop.  Those who have settled on the prairies know there is no way they can outrun a raging fire.  So what they do is burn a large swath of grass in front of the path of the fire and then for safety, they go and stand in the centre of the land that has already been burned.  When the fire arrives, it cannot harm them, because there is nothing left to be burned.

There is only one place where the fires of God's judgment have already burned, and that is on the little hill outside Jerusalem where Jesus was nailed to a cross.  If you want to escape the fire when it comes, you have to stand on the place where the fire of wrath has been exhausted.  And we do that by faith, trusting and believing in Christ as our Saviour, knowing that only in Him is there cleansing from sin.

If you want to be a brand plucked from the fire, there is only one way in which you can stand before God and that is by placing your faith and trust in the Branch who entered the fire for you.  He has achieved salvation and it is free.  But you have to trust in Him.  You have to believe.

There is a second aspect to His work, and that is the establishment and government of the church.  Verse 7: “This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'If you walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here.' ”

Ah, but it was a big 'if'.  How can Joshua walk in God's ways and keep his requirements?  We have just seen that he was clothed in filthy garments before the Lord.  Oh, well, to be sure, he might work hard at things and try to serve God with diligence.  Relative to other high priests in Israel's history he might even stand out and be one of the greater ones.  You and I might look at Joshua and say, there goes a righteous and obedient servant of God.  Ah, but we are still looking at things from our point of view.  No matter how righteous this brand was, he was still a sinner.  Looked at from the point of view of God's standards, he was still one whose life fell short of what was required.  Where will we ever find a high priest who, on the basis of his obedience, can establish and govern the church?

You know the answer already, brothers and sisters, but I want to speak of it anyway.  The Bible says that Jesus learned obedience through the things that He suffered.  He was obedient to God at every point, even to the point of death on a cross.  Here is the Branch who has the right to establish and govern the church.  He can have charge over the courts of God and He has the place of supreme honour and rule.

At this point we need to mention the stone that is placed in front of Joshua in verse 9.  Most scholars believe that this is a reference to the foundation of the temple that had been laid.  On the stone there are seven eyes, a reference to the constant watchfulness and care of God for His house.  The house will be established on the basis of the person and work of the Branch.  "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God," said Peter.  Jesus said: "On this rock I will build my church and the gates of hades shall not overpower it."

When a church is being established, there is always plenty of work to do.  That work takes energy and commitment and faithfulness and sometimes we get tired in the tasks that need to be done.  But we must realise, brothers and sisters, that it is a great privilege to serve our Saviour.  He has laid down His life to establish the church, and right now He rules as the Supreme Head of His people.  He is the Shepherd and we are His sheep.  The church in our day is not finished.  The gates of hades are no stronger now than they were when Jesus spoke to Peter and the seven eyes of God's watchfulness and care are still upon us.

What we have to do is think about serving, serving the Branch and adorning His work with our praise and labour like leaves or flowers on that branch.  Children and young people, with all the knowledge and skill that you are gaining, you must think about serving the Saviour.  To serve this king is an immense privilege.  Don't try to buy God off with a few good deeds here and there and faithful, though begrudging, attendance at church services.  Give your life to Him, for He has given His for you.  Older people, don't ever give up serving.  Even if you are struggling in your latter years with various forms of ailment or trial, you are still serving the King and your service does not go unnoticed by Him.

There is one other aspect of the work of the Branch, and we have time to only highlight it briefly.  We can speak of it as joyous and peaceful celebration.  It is another aspect of God's gift to His people through the Work of His Son.  We have it in verse 10: "In that each of you will invite s neighbour to sit under his vine and fig tree, declares the Lord Almighty."

It is an image of God's people at rest, enjoying the fruit of fig and of vine, secure in the provision of God and thankful for His blessings.  Our God bestows every good gift from above, as James tells us.  We have many blessings from God, and we should enjoy them.  God's Son has died for this world.

It still exists now because of what He has done on the cross, and the blessings we receive in this life are also given on the basis of Christ's death and resurrection.  God has not given us this life so that we can be penny pinching and miserly.  We are not supposed to be Scrooges who are constantly worrying about economic security and welfare.  When we invite people into our homes to share our food, and it is good food, we are allowing them to share in the blessing God has given us and that prayer that we pray before meals is a reminder that everything we have comes from God.  We can be joyful and we can celebrate for all this has come to us through God's Son.

Free forgiveness for sin, the establishment and government of the church and the blessing of peace and security in life; all these things we have from God.  Praise Him, thank Him and serve Him.  Be a leaf or a flower that truly adorns the Branch.

Amen.