“Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him. 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?’
Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel.
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.’
‘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.”
Zech. 3:1-5
In many places in Scripture we see someone called the Angel of the LORD, who is identified also as the LORD (Gen. 22). We studied this idea of theophanies or appearances of the pre-incarnate Christ previously (in Genesis).
In this instance we have a vision of a courtroom scene. Satan is at the right side in the role of prosecuting attorney, which is appropriate since he is also called the “accuser of the brethren” (Rev. 12:10). The Angel of the LORD is the Judge and Joshua the High Priest clothed in filthy garments.
Joshua appears as one polluted, but he is purified. We are filthy in God’s sight until we are washed and sanctified.
God sees our filthiness but He doesn’t send us away or overlook it. He does something about it. He clothes us in the righteousness of another, Jesus Christ. White robes signify the righteousness of the saints.
The LORD rebukes Satan, claiming Joshua as a brand plucked from the fire. He then orders his servants to remove Joshua’s filthy garments (which represent his sin), and then He clothes him with rich robes and a clean turban. These represent the righteousness of another imputed to him.
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Cor. 5:21
“And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses.” Rev. 19:14
“And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.” Rev. 19:8
He pronounces him justified. Jesus is our Advocate before the Father, so when Satan accuses us before God, and points out our filth, which we have, Jesus claims us as clothed in His righteousness and hidden in Him.
“My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” 1 John 2:1
In Zechariah, Jesus is the Angel of the LORD interceding for His people in court
28 NovJesus as Commander of the LORD’s Hosts
17 Nov
Read Joshua 5: 13-15
The words command/commanded/commandment appear 47 times in this book.
God commanded Moses, God commanded Moses and Joshua, Moses commands Joshua, Joshua commands the people, Joshua commands the priests and the elders and officers.
But the most significant commander is the LORD Himself, when He appears to personally encourage and commission Joshua just before they are to cross the Jordan.
Joshua sees a Man standing by Jericho with a sword drawn in His hand. This is similar to the Man who withstood Balaam (Num. 22:23). As the leader, Joshua approaches Him to ask whether He’s a friend or foe.
This is when you expect a different response. Surely He’ll say He’s on the side of Israel. After all, He’s promised many times that He would fight for them (Deut. 3:22, Josh. 23:10)
But His response immediately reveals who He is. He’s in charge of a greater army than any on earth. He is in charge of the hosts (army) of the LORD. This includes all of the heavenly hosts (angels) and any other creatures in the unseen realm (like the four living creatures in the book of Revelation 4:8).
As soon as Joshua hears this, he falls on his face in worship before this One. The fact that He accepts the worship informs us that Joshua is correct. Then he asks for His orders, like the boy Samuel did, in 1 Sam. 3:10, “Speak, LORD for your servant is listening,” and like the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus. (Acts 9:5,6) Once they recognize Who is speaking with them, they want to know what to do. Paul asks, “Who are you, Lord?” then “Lord, what do you want me to do?” This is a good model for us to follow as well.
Before He tells Joshua what he is to do, He tells him to remove his shoes because he is standing on holy ground. This should immediately remind us of a similar incident with Moses, Exodus 3:5 when God tells him the same thing. This act of obedience shows reverence and humility before God.
Then the record is quiet. We are not told what the Commander of the LORD’s hosts said to Joshua after this. Was it related to the crossing of the Jordan, or the conquest of the land of Canaan, or was it encouragement and strengthening for the task ahead. We don’t know, it’s something we can ask Joshua when we meet him.
Several places in the Old Testament Scriptures we find God, Himself making an appearance in the lives of His people. Examples are when He walked with Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, when He came down to see the building project at Babel, when He appeared to Abraham, when He appeared to Samson’s mother, and then to both his parents, and when He wrestled with Jacob, as a few examples.
We know God is spirit, and doesn’t have a body. Yet these instances where a representative of God is in human form and yet is worshipped as God, in the Old Testament, is referred to as a Theophany. It’s a physical manifestation of God in the flesh before Jesus came. Sometimes, they are called Christophanies, if it’s believed to be the Son, like as the fourth man in the fire with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel 4.
This is clearly an example of a theophany.
Jesus Typified in the Life of Joshua
16 Nov
Joshua’s name corresponds to the Hebrew name, Yeshua, or the Greek name, Jesus. It means Yahweh is salvation. This name is symbolic of the fact that although he is the leader of the Israelite nation during the conquest of Canaan, the LORD is the Conqueror. In Deuteronomy 31, they are promised, “The LORD your God Himself crosses over before you,” and then adds, “Joshua himself crosses over before you.”
He is representative of the LORD who saves His people and brings them into their rest in the Promised Land, as Moses represented the Law. Just as the Law cannot inherit the promises, so Moses was unable to enter the Promised Land.
Moses’ failure to speak to the Rock the second time they were to get water was a picture for us, of how Christ was smitten (struck by the rod of God) in death, and since He is not to be crucified again (Heb. 9:26) speaking to the Rock signified prayer. How wrong it is for the Roman Catholics to re-sacrifice Christ every time they do the mass. It is FINISHED! All that’s needed now is prayer to our Rock.
Moses’ rebellion to the clear command of God would have made us miss this symbolic type if not for God’s response. We had to see how seriously God took this violation, in order to understand why Moses could not enter the Promised Land.
“For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” John 1:17
“…but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law.” Rom. 9:31,32
“…knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.” Gal. 2:16
Christ as the Scarlet Cord of Rahab
11 Sep
Read Joshua 2:1-24 and Joshua 6:15-25
The Bible is an honest book, stating things as they are. It says Rahab was a harlot, a woman who sold her body for money. Some people try to downplay this by saying she was just an inn-keeper. However, in those days, only men were innkeepers. In written bills of that time, the cost of the bed is listed as a girl, whose services would have been included. Rahab may have been in such a place. It was therefore natural for the spies to lodge there as it would have been the only place to stay in a small place like Jericho.
Somehow, the king of Jericho heard there were Jewish scouts in the city and called for their immediate capture. They were probably not dressed like people in Jericho, so they would have stood out. Meanwhile, Rahab had become aware of the true identity of her guests, and had hidden them on her roof under stacks of flax. Her house would have been built on the double city wall, so it would have been higher than any other, preventing it from prying eyes. The spies were safe.
Rahab misled the king’s messengers. Then, while they were searching the countryside, she talked with the spies. She told them she knew that God had given them the land. Her people had heard about the miracle God had done for them, in parting the Red Sea, and this was forty years after the fact! She said the men of Jericho had lost courage to face the Israelites because of their God.
She was a wise woman who acted in light of proper information. She used discretion in talking about them and shrewdness in hiding them. She was hoping that in light of what she had done for them, they would do something for her. “Since I have saved your lives, will you in turn save mine and that of my relatives?” She makes them swear by God because she knew then they would keep their promises.
She was sure that when the people of Israel attacked, her people didn’t have the slightest chance against them. She had heard what they had done to the kings, Og and Bashan.She asked for a sign that they would save her when their armies returned to take the city. They told her to put a scarlet cord on her window and no one who was inside with her would be harmed.
Some commentators think this scarlet cord represented her occupation. It was her ‘red light’ in the window, and therefore would not arouse suspicion. That may or may not be true; but it represented an agreement between the two parties. As soon as they left, she bound the cord. She took it seriously and didn’t want there to be any mistake.
I’m sure as the Israelites marched around the city, she checked and rechecked that it was still there and clearly visible, for her life would soon depend upon its being seen. Her faith was so strong that she was able to convince her relatives to come and stay with her. Every one of them was spared. Compare that to Lot, whose sons-in-law mocked him when he warned of coming judgment.But notice that although her family members’ lives were spared, they did not believe in the God of the Israelites, like Rahab did. “…she lives in Israel to this day.”
Faith is a fixed and profound trust in God and the Word. Rahab had this kind of faith. Therefore, God took her tarnished portrait, cleansed it and hung it next to Sarah in the gallery of the heroes of faith (Heb. 11:1, 30, 31). These two women are the only two females in a long list of men. Rahab, like Sarah, a heroine of the faith? Yes, for God is no respecter of persons. There are no impossible cases with Him. He justifies the ungodly.
This was only the beginning. She lived in Israel,gave up her former way of life, married an Israelite named Salmon, and became the father of Boaz, the husband of Ruth. Rahab becomes the great-grandmother of King David.
Scripture doesn’t tell us the names of the two spies sent to Jericho, but the romantic in me likes to think one of them was Salmon, who eventually became her husband. I believe he was impressed with her faith in a God she had only learned about from afar. It was the original two spies who were the ones who personally retrieved Rahab and her family from Jericho.
It seems Joshua didn’t need the report of the spies in order to know to attack the city. So why were they sent? Because a sovereign God was searching out a particular woman to be saved.
The reason Rahab was protected? Because she protected the spies. Her whole family was saved physically, but only Rahab chose to continue to live among the Israelites.Only she had true faith. But notice they needed to be inside the house to be protected. Likewise, merely knowing that Christ is our shelter from judgment does us no good on its own. We must be in Christ. And like Rahab, we must hurry to secure our eternal safety.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ.” Rom. 8:1
The scarlet cord is a symbol that’s often used when speaking of how Christ is hidden in the Old Testament, woven into the familiar stories, hinted at in symbols and types and shadows. The whole Bible, both Old and New Testaments together, speaks of Christ. From the first promise of a coming Messiah in Gen. 3:16 to the Passover Lamb and the Manna from heaven, and the rock smitten to provide water for the people of Israel, to the bronze serpent on the pole, to the sign of Jonah in the depths for three days; He is there, until he appears in the New Testament in fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament. He is the Scarlet Cord that saves those who believe what He says. We must be ‘in Christ’ to be safe from judgment.
Prayer– “Father, thank You for this word picture of a scarlet cord, which reminds us of Your covenant with us, to save us from Judgment if we are in Christ. Thank you for searching us out in love, and for Your faithfulness and mercy toward us.”
Question– How do you think Rahab would have been accepted in Israel? How comfortable are you in dealing with people who have been saved from a sordid or scandalous past? Do you only associate with people who are ‘like you’?
Response– Research a group like International Justice Mission or Carey Outreach Ministries. Prayerfully consider how you can help (prayer/financial support) of the aftercare of women rescued from human trafficking for sexual purposes. These organizations provide counselling and teach life and job skills. The women are also redeemed (bought back) from their abductors/pimps.
The Scarlet Thread 