A Prophecy of Esau and Jacob

The vision of Zechariah is in the form of a judicial process: Joshua is the person accused, and is described standing before the Angel of the Lord; and by the filthy garments he had on, which were the ground of the charge against him. The accuser is Satan who stood at his right hand; and his Judge is the Angel of the Lord, before whom he was the Branch.

Also, the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven eyes of the Lord sent forth “to and fro” into all the earth; only a Divine Being could have seven eyes of the Lord “which run to and fro through the whole earth,” thus testifying that Zerubbabel is prophetically the Son of God, the Messiah.

Zechariah 3

¹ 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. — the high priest Joshua is to be considered typically representing the Judean community after the exile;

— and which was very low and mean, under the second Temple; which the high priest, were representatives of; and now, standing before the Angel of the Lord pictured as the Judge in a court of law, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him;

— to accuse him: to accuse him because Joshua’s sons were married to heathen women, as it is written in Ezra 10:18, “And it was found of the sons of the priests who had taken foreign wives, of the sons of Joshua the son of Jozadak …”

² And the Lord said unto Satan, “The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord who hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee! Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?”

— and the Lord, (יְהֹוָה Yehovah), for he is also the Angel of the Lord, the Son, said unto Satan, The Lord (יְהֹוָה) rebuke thee, O Satan, the adversary and accuser being condemned instead of him whom he wanted to condemn,

— even the Lord (יְהֹוָה the Father) that hath chosen Jerusalem, rebuke thee; he has accepted the believers as his people and will not permit Satan with his choice.

— is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? A brand is a burnt, burning, or smoldering piece of wood. His people had been at the very brink of destruction, but the Lord had interfered before it was too late; therefore Joshua also, standing before the Lord as the representative of the sinful people, is shielded from condemnation.

³ Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the Angel. — “Joshua the High Priest” he was wearing filthy garments:

— this is also explained according to the Targum: he had sons who had married women who were unfit to marry into the priesthood, and Joshua was accused because he did not interfere with his sons’ marriages;

Ordinary priests may NOT marry:

• a divorced woman
• a zonah (a woman who had prohibited sexual relations)
• a ḥalalah (a woman born from an invalid priestly union)

These categories are not moral judgments — they are legal statuses that determine whether a woman may enter the priestly family.

The High Priest has even stricter rules:
He may marry only a virgin, and may not marry:

• a widow
• a divorcee
• a previously sexually active woman
• any woman with a disqualifying status

— but in Zechariah 3, the issue is not Joshua’s own marriage; it is his sons’ marriages, which affect the purity of the entire priestly household.

⁴ And He answered and spoke unto those who 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.”

— and he, the presiding Angel of God, the Son answered and spoke unto those that stood before him, some of his ministering angels; or as the Targum paraphrases it, “and he said to them who ministered before him;”

— the Targum says

“And he answered and said to those who minister before him, saying; and they said to him, ‘Remove the women who are not fit for the priesthood from his house.’ And he said to him, ‘See, I have removed your sin from you, and I will clothe you in pure garments.’”

— saying, Take away the filthy garments from him, their wives removed, not authorised to be married to the priest hood; and unto him He said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, that is, by an act of complete forgiveness, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.

The Targum is another source of the Bible. Started by Ezra for those returning from Babylon and for these returnees they could only understand in Aramaic; hence the Targum is as if Ezra is speaking to us from the verses quoted;

⁵ And I said, “Let them set a clean miter upon his head.” So they set a clean miter upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord stood by.

— and Zechariah said, the prophet here suddenly interposing in his eagerness to have, the work of cleansing completed, Let them set a fair miter upon his head, that the priesthood be restored, that once more borne on the turban of the high priest;

— the Targum says

“And I said, ‘Set a pure turban on his head,’ and they set a pure turban on his head, and they brought to him a woman who is fit for the priesthood, 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 ordinance, then thou shalt also judge My house, and shalt also keep My courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these who stand by.

— thus saith the Lord of hosts, If thou wilt walk in my ways, as a true witness of God, and if thou wilt keep my charge, performing every part of the law with due faithfulness,

— then thou shalt also judge my house (the Father’s house), have charge of the Lord’s Temple, and shalt also keep my courts, in observing every provision of all the Law concerning worship, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by;

— the Targum very agreeably paraphrases the words

“Thus says the Lord of Hosts: If you will walk in the ways that are right before Me, and if you will keep the charge of My word, then you also shall judge those who minister in My Temple, and you shall guard My courtyard, and I will bring you among those who stand here, and I will give you attendants who walk among these ministering angels.”

⁸ Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou and thy fellows who sit before thee; for they are men wondered at. For behold, I will bring forth My Servant the Branch.

— hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou and thy fellows that sit before thee, his fellow-priests; for they are men wondered at, literally, “men of wonder are they,” that is, men about whom one might marvel;

— for, behold, I the Father, will bring forth my Servant, the branch, the Son, Cf Jeremiah 23:5-6; Isaiah 11:1. This Branch, of whom the priests of the Old Testament were but types, is the Servant of God in a most singular sense, who was to carry out the will of God concerning the redemption of the world. Cf Isaiah 53;

— the Targum identifies the Branch as the Messiah, says

“Now hear, Joshua the High Priest, you and your companions who sit before you—they are worthy men for whom miracles will be performed—for behold, I am bringing My servant, the Messiah, and he shall be revealed.”

⁹ For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua: upon one stone shall be seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave the engraving thereof,’ saith the Lord of hosts, ‘and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.

— for behold the stone that the Father have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes, also seven spirits, the number of perfection, would be directed upon him, the loving care of Yehovah being indicated, as he observes his people, the believers in him;

— the seven eyes parallel the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars of Revelation 5:

“And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne and the four living beings, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth.” Revelation 5:6

¹⁰ In that day,’ saith the Lord of hosts, ‘shall ye call every man his neighbor under the vine and under the fig tree.’” — in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbor under the vine and under the fig-tree,

— inviting him in Godly fellowship, doing Godly-work in calling others to enjoy the blessings of the kingdom of God. We thus have the entire plan of God in his seven thousand years plan outline in this one vision, a Godly message which might well be heeded by all men in our days.

Zechariah 4

¹ And the angel who talked with me came again and waked me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep, — and the Angel that talked with me (identified earlier as the Son in chapter 1);

— he who intercedes between the Father and man in making known the message concerning the future, came again and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep; the Angel had evidently left Zechariah for a short while and now returned for the purpose of interceding further visions.

² and said unto me, “What seest thou?” And I said, “I have looked and behold, a candlestick all of gold with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps which are upon the top thereof;

— and said unto Zechariah, What seest thou? thus calling the prophet’s attention to a new vision, whereas in the other instances Zechariah had asked for information. And Zechariah said, he have looked, he was even then observing very closely;

— and behold a candlestick, a menorah, all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, a round vessel, or reservoir, for oil, and his seven lamps thereon and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof, the candlestick in general being formed after that in the Tabernacle, Exodus 25:31-37;

³ and two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.” — and two olive-trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl and the other upon the left, this being a new feature, indicating the source of the oil for the lamps.

⁴ So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, “What are these, my lord?” — so Zechariah answered, and spoke to the angel that talked with him, saying,

— What are these, my lord (‘āḏôn)? Zechariah could not quite grasp the significance of it all, as if he thought as one who has just wakened out of his sleep, not realizing he was speaking to the Son, but just an angel;

— second, a further possibility is that the emphasis of the Son is to be shifted away from that of an interceder to that of Zerubbabel, the governor, the builder and the finisher for the building of the Temple of God.

⁵ Then the angel who talked with me answered and said unto me, “Knowest thou not what these be?” And I said, “No, my lord.”

— the angel that was surprised that a man of Judah, a Zechariah of priestly descent, should not find some meaning in the vision of such a candlestick. But Zechariah said, No, my lord (‘āḏôn not Yehovah יְהֹוָה so he appeared as an ordinary angel to Zechariah).

⁶ Then he answered and spoke unto me, saying, “This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ saith the Lord of hosts.

— then the angel answered Zechariah, saying, This is the word of the Lord (יְהֹוָה) unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, that is, the force of armies, nor by power, namely, that of any earthly agency, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts;

— the candlestick of the Tabernacle was a type of the congregation of Israel, which was supposed to be a light shining in the darkness of the world. Its oil was a type of the holy spirits, and the high priests of the Covenant received the strength for the performance of the duties of their office from the Spirit symbolized in the light of the great candlestick;

— moreover, Zerubbabel, the governor of the people, was to be informed that the great work which he was to perform could be carried on only through the spirit of the Lord.

⁷ Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain; and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, ‘Grace, grace unto it!’” — this phase “0 great mountain” only used once in the Bible;

— who art thou, 0 great mountain? the building of the Temple being thus represented. Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain, he would easily overcome all the difficulties connected with the completion of this momentous work;

— and the angel shall bring forth the headstone thereof, the uppermost stone of its walls, the headstone in the building up of his church, fulfilled only by the Messiah;

— with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it! that is, May God grant grace to this stone and to the building which it represents, so that it may stand forever!

The Targum indeed paraphrases the ending words thus,

“and he shall reveal his Anointed [or the Messiah], whose name is said from eternity, and he shall rule over all kingdoms;”

— thus the Targum testifies that Zerubbabel is prophetically the Messiah (Ezra, the one who inspires the translationof the Sacred Text into the Targum, also knows about Zerubbabel being the Messiah!).

⁸ Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

⁹ “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it. And thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you.

— the Targum paraphrases in this sense,

“The hands of Zerubbabel began to build this house and his hands shall complete it, and you shall know that the Lord of Hosts has sent me to prophesy to you.”

— thus together with Zechariah 4:7 Targum it testifies that Zerubbabel is one sent from God, the Father; hence Zerubbabel is the Son of God, the Messiah;

— the hands of Zerubbabel, the Messiah, have laid the foundation of this house during his first coming, his hands shall also finish it, whence it follows that the entire situation has a deeper significance than that of a mere earthly Temple, namely, that the Lord, in the Word that was made flesh, was coming to complete the Temple of the Kingdom of God;

Remember, laying side by side along with the Masoretic Text, the Targum is another source of the Bible. Started by Ezra for those returning from Babylon and Persia, these returnees they could only understand in Aramaic; hence the Targum is as if Ezra is speaking to them in ancient times and to us today from the Hebrew Text quoted.

¹⁰ For who hath despised the day of small things? For they shall rejoice and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven. They are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth.”

— for who hath despised the day of small things? It seemed indeed that the days in which the original church was then of insignificant things, only 12 disciples living in deepest poverty and contempt; yet those days were the forerunners of the most momentous period in the history of the world;

— for they, the people concerned, shall rejoice and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel, as the chief builder of the spiritual Temple, with those seven, they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth, Cf Zechariah 3:9;

— but if the eyes of God’s majesty rest upon this building with such evident joy and satisfaction, it surely must be a Temple of the greatest importance; “the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven” and these seven are “the seven eyes of the Lord” which are also the seven spirits of God, sent forth “to and fro” into all the earth; Revelations 5:6;

— the Targum says

“For who is he who despises this day of smallness? Behold, he shall yet return and rejoice when he sees the plumb‑stone in the hand of Zerubbabel — these seven tiers — before the Lord, who sees the deeds of human beings throughout all the earth.”

— only a Divine Being could have seven eyes or seven spirits of the Lord “which run to and fro through the whole earth,” thus the Targum testifies that Zerubbabel is a Devine Being, the Son of God, the Messiah.

¹¹ Then answered I and said unto him, “What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof?”

— then Zechariah asked the angel, What are these two olive-trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? The candlestick was in the center with its arms extended on either side.

¹² And I answered again and said unto him, “What be these two olive branches, which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves?”

— Septuagint, and Zechariah asked again, What be these two olive-branches, literally, “ears,” because they were bunched to resemble ears of grain, which through the two golden pipes, so that the oil was fed directly from the trees into the pipes connecting with the reservoir of the candlestick.

¹³ And he answered me and said, “Knowest thou not what these be?” And I said, “No, my lord.”

¹⁴ Then said he, “These are the two anointed ones, who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”

— then said the angel, these are the two anointed ones that stand by the Lord of the whole earth as his servants; these are probably the two witnesses of Revelation 11:

3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.”

4 These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks, standing before the God of the earth. Revelation 11:3-4

— anointed by God for the performance of witnessing to the whole world for the work of perfecting the Kingdom of God;

— the meaning for our day is clear; the saints with the spirits of God are the Lord’s candlesticks, Matthew 5:14, and therefore has a great and important duty to fulfil in this world. This duty may not be performed by the power and might of mere men, but solely through the spirits of the Lord to his two specially anointed.

~ by Joel on December 29, 2025.

Posted in Minor Prophets