Passaic City record., 1893-01-21
SABBATH SCHOOL
INTERNATIONAL LESSON FOR
JANUARY -.
Lesson Text: Joshua the High
Priest" Zech. iii, 1-1O-Gold
en- Text. Hebrews iv..
14-Commentary.

was resumed. Then he had other messages
for them in the seventh and ninth months
of the same year (Hag. il, 1, 10. 20. The
first message came to Zechariah in the
eighth month of the same year tZech. j., II,
and on the night of the twenty-fourth day
Of the eleventh month he receives a series Of
seven or eight visions which are recorded in
chapter l.. z. to vi, Is. Our lesson is tho
fourth of these visions, the first three teach
ing that the hosts of heaven act ON behalf of
Gods people; that for every destroyer there
is repairer, and that God, having chosen
Jerusalem. win surely perform all His pleas
ure concerning her.
l. "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." A prophet represents God
to the people, while priest represents the
people before God. This high priest repre-
sents the nation of Israel as appearing before
God for q blessing. and the great adversary
is there also to prevent this blessing il he
possibly can. suppose that no individual
or nation ever came to God without know.
ing something of the resistance Of the adver.
sary. .4
2 sand the Lord said unto satan: The
Lord rebuke thee, o satan; even the Lord
that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee. Is
not this brand plucked out of the firep
See chapter il, IL; Ps. cxxxii., 13. God had
chosen Israel and Jerusalem, and that set
tied it. Ananias thought that Saul of Tar
sus was too desperately wicked to expect
anything good from, but Gods s'Go thy
way, for he is chosen vessel unto Me"
settled all that (Acts tx, 15). God knows
His instruments before He chooses them.
and is prepared to cleanse and qualify for
His service at any cost.
3. SNow Joshua was clothed with filthy
garments and stood before the angel.~
Here is the ground Of satan's resistance
Israel could not deny her filthy garments;
no more can we. We must cry out with
Isaiah, "Woe is me, for am man of un-
clean lips" nsa. VII, 81, and with Job. 81 abb
eousnesses lour very. best things are as
filthy rags lisa. Xiv. 6). Every mouth
must be stopped and all the world plead
''guilty" before GOD Rom. ill.,, 19l.
4 Take away the filthy garments from
him. And unto him He said, Behold, I
have caused thine iniquity to pass from
thee, and yill clothe Jnee with change of
raiment." Thus He will yet remove the in
iquity of that land and Of that people in one
day tverse 81. and they shall be all righteous
lisa. TX, 2l,. Thus He now forgives sins
and says to every true penitent who con-
fesses all and hides nothing, 'Son, daughter,
thy sins are forgiven thee'' (Math. tx, Q, 29.
Ali our efforts at goodness are like Adam
and Ewes fig leaf aprons compared with the
garments OF light which they lost But the
Lord God provides garments of salvation,
and we have only to drop our fig leaf aprons,
cast aside all our own Righteousness and
gladly accept Gods provision, and then sing
lisa, Xxi. 10.
5. $50 they set fair miter upon his
head and clothed him with garments, and
the angel OF the Lord stood BY" The inter
was the linen headdress worn by the priest,
the most conspicuous part of which was the
golden plate or crown, upon which was in.
scribed, Holiness Unto the Lord" (Ex.
xviii, 36-38. In the days of Israers res.
toration ana salvation Jesus, their king,
will be IA Priest Upon His Thronen tchap.
ter vi, 13), priest king after the order Of
Melchizedec. The church will reign with
Him as priests and kings, for such are we
even now by faith in Him REV. ", 9, 10; l.,
o.
6. a. Sand the angel of the Lord protested
unto Joshua, saying. Thus saith the Lord OF
Hosts, If thou wilt walk in My ways and
if thou wilt keep My charge" Salvation
alone is the author and the finisher, and we
are the recipients But being plucked from
the burning and cleansed and separated unto
God, Israel is to walk with Him and show
forth His power and glory. So with the be-
lever. He is saved not simply to escape the
wrath of God and reach heaven at death, but
to abide here in mortal body amid conflict
and trial as long as it please the Lord, show
ing forth the life of Jesus in His mortal flesh
III Cor. iv.: 10. III. This is to the natural
man impossible; but " hat Christ has done in
a mortal body lie can surely do again, and
one of the Christians notices is, ''Not !,
but Christ, WAC liveth in me'' fGal, il, 20,
8. "Hear, now, 0 Joshua, the high priest,
Behold will bring forth My sfvanr, The
Branch" While the words OF the Book have
to do with the time when the words were
spoken, there is always looking forward to
the grand consummation when Jesus shall
come in power and glory for the complete
overthrow of all enemies and the permanent
establishment of His kindom on the earth.
In connection with His name The Branch, I
hope you will look up chapters vi, II; Isa.
iv., Q; Jer. xiii, 5; xxxiii., Is. Here He is
the servant fully seen in Marks Gospel; in
Jer. xiii, 5, He is the King Of Matthew's
Gospel; in Zech. vi. He is the man of Luke's
Gospel while in lisa. w.. 2, He is the beauty
omega, the altogether lovely one, in whom
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily.
g. "For behold the stone that have
laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be
seven eyes" He is the stone of Israel, de.
spised by the builders and rejected, and
yet to be head cornerstone. He is the stone
cut out without hands who shall break in
pieces all kingdoms and fill the earth with
His glory tGen. Xix, "a; Ps. xviii, Q; lisa.
vii IA; xviii, 16, I Pet. H., 6-s; Math.
xxi, AZ: Dan. H., A, 45). The seven eyes
suggests omniscience, as the seven horns and
eyes of Rev. ", g. suggests both omnipo-
tence and omniscience. The engraving sug.
gests the Righteousness of the law craven by
God upon tables of stone, and which was
| fulfilled in Him and shall be in Israel when
their iniquity shall be taken away
| 10. I'm that day, saith the Lord OF
Hosts. shall ye call every man his neigh.
Dor under the vine and under the fig tree"
| In Kings w., 25, this language describes
the peace and prosperity OF the kingdom
under Solomon. Here and in Mic. iy., 4, il
| describes the tranquil prosperity and
millennial blessedness of the coming kin g
j dom under greater man than Solomon, OF
the increase of whose government and peact
! there shall be no end upon the throne o.
David and upon his kingdom, to order \
and to establish it with Judgment and with
| justice. from henceforth even forever. The
seal Of the Lord Of Hosts will perform thil
lisa. tx. 1.---Lesson Helper.