In Place of Victory

 Read Zechariah 3 

"And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of fire?"
        —Zechariah 3:2 (KJV)

As I had my morning devotion, I was praying that the Lord would touch and talk to my heart like what He did with the past week when I attended a youth retreat in Lucena, Quezon. I reluctantly opened my Bible and found myself looking in Zechariah chapter 3. I read it once, yet I know I missed something big in this chapter. So I read it again, and opened my laptop to help me understand this chapter.

After reading all the commentaries and further meditating on it, I was overwhelmed with all the information and wisdom I got from this chapter alone. It was a mixture of salvation, promise, and protection that God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ gives to His children during their daily walk with Him.

 

I want to share what I learned and found out in Zechariah chapter 3:

1. Satan is ready to accuse you of your sins.

It was clearly stated in verse 1 which quotes, "...and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him."  

Even before, the pulpit had been preaching that Satan knows every weakness we have and Satan will do everything to oppose the good things God is doing in our lives as well as continuously accusing us in front of Heaven's trial court to prove we are underserving of God's Salvation which we received. He is always by our side, watching our every move, so that He can testify to God that we made a mistake. We are unworthy in His presence. 

Now that I have experienced the accusations of Satan in my mind, it was so hard to not believe them. It was a half truth. take note, Half truth. Yes, we have sinned, numerous, countless times, but we know we are forgiven of them (Hebrews 8:12). 

We need strong faith to battle the darts Satan throws at us each time we feel unworthy, undeserving, guilty, and unlovable in God's eyes. It is just our emotions but I admit, at that point, it was so hard for me to believe that God is faithful and more than willing to forgive my sins if I repent and come back to Him.

2. God does not allow Satan to attack us without Him having the last word. 

In verse 2, which quotes, "And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee:"

The Lord God, as He promised to us, never fails and is always by our side. he does not allow His children to be attacked and harassed by Satan. He strictly regulates what Satan is allowed to do. Take another note on, "Regulates what Satan is allowed to do". We have seen this in Job's life, therefore, Satan is a defeated foe. Satan cannot do anything more than what God will say he can do. 

But why is it that sometimes, we are defeated by Satan's lies and deception? We lack faith. I remember myself when I was in that situation wherein I believed all the lies Satan put in my mind. I felt ashamed of myself. I felt defeated. And that's what he wants us to feel. He wants us to feel useless, defeated, unloved, unworthy, and guilty of what we did in our lives. 

But with faith, I believe we can easily tell Satan that we have Jesus Christ to defend us. We have a Christ who shed His blood on Calvary over 2000 years ago, and we received this precious sacrifice of His. We became loved, valuable, free from the bondage of sin, and welcomed in newness of life. 

3. When Satan accuses, Christ pleads.

Imagine yourself in a court, and you are under trial. The prosecutor is Satan, who holds tons of files that you know you can never deny in front of the Judge—God the Father. As Satan lays all of your sins, mistakes, pride, lust, greed, and failures, you start to think you'll lose in this trial. But we neglect that our defense attorney—the Person who stands by our side—is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. He is God's Son, who else can fight and overthrow the Judge's Son! 

Always remember that whenever Satan throws attacks, lies, failures, and even brings up our past in Heaven's court, our defense attorney, the Lord Jesus Christ, would simply smile, stand up from His seat, show His Father His nail scarred hands, and simply say, "I have already paid the debt of this child of mine."

4. We are a brand plucked from the fire.

Verse 2 says, "...is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?" 

The brand that is mentioned here in this chapter speaks about a burnt, burning, or smoldering piece of wood. It is like a wood that is almost black and if you do not get it out at the right time, it will all turn to ashes. It hasn't much worth in it and it will all be consumed if only it wasn't plucked from the fire. 

A brand represents how we are in God's sight. Without His love and grace, we will all be turn to ashes. Thankfully, God removed us and saved us from our eternal damnation. We have no worth to brag in His presence. We should only fill our hearts with praises and glorifying His name for removing us from the fire.

This not only shows our worth, but it also protects us from Satan. God, saying this to Satan, while Joshua the high priest is standing in the midst of them, means that we are now adopted and welcomed into a new family. It may sound sarcastic and it will be a slap for Satan.

5. Our sins have been removed.

Verse 3 and 4 says, "Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel. (4) And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with a change of raiment."

We can see in verse 3 and 4 that God changed Joshua's clothes. That means that God only has the power to make us clean in His sight. Our good works, or religion can never change and clean us. Only Christ Jesus our Lord can truly give us new clothes to wear on in our new life with Christ. 

This also speaks about our sins forgotten and removed. It was as if we have never sinned against God. Once we accepted Him as our Lord and personal Savior, our sins were blotted out and was remembered no more. Most importantly, our names were written in the Book of Life.

6. God's promise to His children.

Verse 6 and 7 quotes, "And the angel of the LORD protested unto Joshua, saying, (7)Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt judge my house, and shalt keep my courts, and I will give thee places among these that stand by."

It was clearly stated that if we follow and continue to obey His commandments and walk with Him, He will give us the opportunity and privilege to rule and encourage His people. God also promised Joshua that he is privileged to have a closer access to God, which implies also in us. When we became God's child, we have been given an opportunity to pray for whatever we ask in a personal, public, or intimate way. 

If you will continue to study the chapter, I believe God will also give you extra learning from the things mentioned above. I pray that you have learned something from this short insight of mine. Let's continue to study God's word and become a Conqueror's Daughter.💛

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Note: Some information are based from Guzik, D., (2018). ZECHARIAH 3—THE CLEANSING OF JOSHUA THE HIGH PRIEST. Enduringword.com. Retrieved, July 09, 2022 from https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/zechariah-3/