Let Down Your Cloth

Zechariah 3: 1-7

(NIV Translation)
Then he showed me Joshua ^[a] the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan ^[b] standing at his right side to accuse him. 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?"
 ³ Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. ⁴ The angel said to those who were standing before him, "Take off his filthy clothes."
      Then he said to Joshua, "See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you."
 ⁵ Then I said, "Put a clean turban on his head." So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the LORD stood by.
 ⁶ The angel of the LORD gave this charge to Joshua: ⁷ "This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'If you will 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.

Joshua, lived in Egypt, where he endured hard slavery and witnessed the miracle of Israel’s escape from the Egyptians with the parting of the Red Sea. We can see that Joshua had a gift of leadership as he led the troops of Israel to victory over the Amalekites (Exodus 17: 8-13). He also accompanied Moses when God spoke to Moses to go to the mountains where the holy tablets (commandments) were received (Exodus 24:13-14). Before Moses died, God instructed him to turn everything over to Joshua ( this was after the Israelites were condemned to death in the desert).

We see here in Zechariah that Joshua was coming before God, ready to take on his responsibility. You see, you have to go to God to get cleaned in order to do the works of HIM. Now it says in Zechariah 3: 1 that Joshua was standing before the Lord and Satan was standing on his right hand. Now in this verse Satan represented all of Joshua’s mishaps, all of his accusations, and all of his wrongdoings and sin. And that’s how Satan is. He is waiting for you to come to God….just as you are…waiting to throw out all these accusations of what you did in the past, what you might be doing now, or what you will be doing in the future. But I tell you today, that God is a forgiving God. He isn’t concerned about your past and he knows your future and he will work with you where you are at today! And although Satan was waiting to accuse Joshua of all his sins (Say aloud…all his sins) God said, in Zechariah 3:2, “ The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan….Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?” Read that verse again! Just when Satan was ready to start making accusations about Joshua, God cut him off and told him that yeah he may be a man caught in fire and may have done some wrong, but I will snatch him up out of fire!!!

Ha Ha! The devil thought he could bring you down, accuse you of how you use to be, but GOD will snatch you up from the fire. Throw on new garment, and make you whole again!!!!!!
So when Joshua came to God he was in filthy garments (Zechariah 3:3). Those filthy garments represent sin (Say aloud... Sin). BUT in Zechariah 3:4 God told Joshua to take off those filthy clothes for I will clothe thee! Who wants to be clothed by God?!! Who wants to shed those old clothes of sin, and be clothed by the Holy Spirit?!

Then he gave Joshua a charge. Charge in this verse means to “assume as a bearing.” So he charged Joshua saying (Zechariah 3:7) “'If you will 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.” Govern my house. Govern means to influence (Say aloud…influence). House means God’s people (Say aloud… people). So God is telling Joshua that if you walk in me and let me work through you, I will give you influence over my…people. He also said he will give Joshua a place standing… here. Where? …Here. Where is here?…With HIM! So what does this all mean? God will snatch you out of the fire, clean your garments of sin, give you new garments in HIM, allow you influence over his people and eternal life in HIM, WHEN you walk in HIS ways and keep HIS requirements.