e Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a
brand plucked out of the fire? 3. 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. And unto him He said, Behold, I have caused
thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with
change of raiment. 5. And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon
his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him
with garments. And the Angel of the Lord stood by. 6. 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 also judge My house, and shalt also keep My
courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand
by, 8. Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows
that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I
will bring forth My servant The BRANCH. 9. For behold the stone
that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes:
behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of
Hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. 10.
In that day, saith the Lord of Hosts, shall ye call every man his
neighbour under the vine and under the fig-tree.'--ZECHARIAH iii.
1-10.

Zechariah worked side by side with Haggai to quicken the religious life
of the people, and thus to remove the gravest hindrances to the work of
rebuilding the Temple. Inward indifference, not outward opposition, is
the real reason for slow progress in God's work, and prophets who see
visions and preach repentance are the true practical men.

This vision followed Haggai's prophecy at the interval of a month. It
falls into two parts--a symbolical vision and a series of promises
founded on it.

I. The Symbolical Vision (vs. 1-5).--The scene of the vision is left
undetermined, and the absence of any designation of locality gives the
picture the sublimity of indefiniteness. Three figures, seen he knows
not where, stand clear before the Prophet's inward eye. They were shown
him by an unnamed person, who is evidently Jehovah Himself. The real and
the ideal are marvellously mingled in the conception of Joshua the high
priest--the man whom the people saw every day goin