Zechariah 3:6-8 - If you will walk in my ways ...

3:6,7

Now Joshua is given a charge, a task or command. When we come to Jesus it is not just a matter of having our sins forgiven, we become a new creation, we have a new purpose in life, a new mission. In fact, in some ways it is an old mission. Right back in Genesis man told to be fruitful and multiply, and to have dominion over the earth. Because of sin we were not fit to fulfil this task, but now we are cleansed of our sins we are fit for the task. And we see that here with Joshua. First note that while his sins have been taken away he is still required to obey the Lord. If we think that because of forgiveness obedience does not matter anymore then we are badly mistaken. If he does this, then Joshua will “govern” God’s house, and have a place among “those standing here”. Those must be those standing and serving in the presence of God.

3:8

Here the Lord states explicitly that Joshua “and his associates” were symbolic of things to come, and then talks of His servant the Branch. Jeremiah also talks of the Messiah as the branch (Jer 33:15).  Looking at things in this light is a vital key for understanding much of the Old Testament, and is something that is done in much of the New Testament when looking back at the Old. What happened in the Old Testament mattered, it was real, but it was not the complete fulfilment of a prophecy, nor the end of the story. The Jews themselves knew that the return from Babylon and the second temple, while they were were important, could not be the complete fulfilment of God’s promises.