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Christ’s Object Lessons
this a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with
filthy garments, and stood before the angel.”
Zechariah 3:1-3
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The people of God are here represented as a criminal on trial.
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Joshua, as high priest, is seeking for a blessing for his people, who
are in great affliction. While he is pleading before God, Satan is
standing at his right hand as his adversary. He is accusing the children
of God, and making their case appear as desperate as possible. He
presents before the Lord their evil doings and their defects. He shows
their faults and failures, hoping they will appear of such a character
in the eyes of Christ that He will render them no help in their great
need. Joshua, as the representative of God’s people, stands under
condemnation, clothed with filthy garments. Aware of the sins of his
people, he is weighed down with discouragement. Satan is pressing
upon his soul a sense of guiltiness that makes him feel almost hopeless.
Yet there he stands as a suppliant, with Satan arrayed against him.
The work of Satan as an accuser began in heaven. This has been
his work on earth ever since man’s fall, and it will be his work in a
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special sense as we approach nearer to the close of this world’s history.
As he sees that his time is short, he will work with greater earnestness
to deceive and destroy. He is angry when he sees a people on the
earth who, even in their weakness and sinfulness, have respect to the
law of Jehovah. He is determined that they shall not obey God. He
delights in their unworthiness, and has devices prepared for every soul,
that all may be ensnared and separated from God. He seeks to accuse
and condemn God and all who strive to carry out His purposes in this
world in mercy and love, in compassion and forgiveness.
Every manifestation of God’s power for His people arouses the
enmity of Satan. Every time God works in their behalf, Satan with his
angels works with renewed vigor to compass their ruin. He is jealous
of all who make Christ their strength. His object is to instigate evil,
and when he has succeeded, throw all the blame upon the tempted
ones. He points to their filthy garments, their defective characters.
He presents their weakness and folly, their sins of ingratitude, their
unlikeness to Christ, which have dishonored their Redeemer. All this
he urges as an argument proving his right to work his will in their
destruction. He endeavors to affright their souls with the thought that
their case is hopeless, that the stain of their defilement can never be