Judge – walklikejesus

We all know the feelings of guilt and shame. We all know that voice hurling accusations at us in our moment of weakness. “You blew it again!” “Can’t you keep it together?” “When will you get it right?” “Disappointment!” “Disgrace!” “Disqualified!”

How can you pray with these feelings? How can you come before God with this voice in your head? What would it take to silence the Accuser?

I find tremendous freedom in a vision shown to the prophet Zechariah. It was when the first exiles returned from Persia to rebuild Jerusalem (520 BC). Along with Haggai, Zechariah was exhorting the people to rebuild the temple to allow the Jews to worship God again.

The vision of the court (Zachariah 3)

In this vision, Zechariah saw Joshua, the high priest standing before the Lord, with Satan accusing him. The accusation? Joshua was standing before the Lord with his ceremonial clothes covered in filth. What’s the big deal? The high priest was the one man in Israel who had the privilege and responsibility of atoning for the sins of Israel once a year, reconciling the people to God.

Only on the day of Yom Kippur (see Leviticus 16), the high priest could enter the most holy place to offer sacrifices to YHWH. The custom was that the high priest would fast and pray the 24 hours leading up to Yom Kippur, confessing all his sins and cleansing himself in the presence of God, with groups of priests supporting him in prayer throughout the day. The next morning, he would wash himself, get dressed and enter the most holy place to offer a bull to atone for his personal sins. He would walk out all bloodied, wash himself and get dressed in his next clothes. Then he would return to offer a ram to atone for the priesthood. He would wash and get dressed again to atone for the sins of Israel by offering a goat. Whenever he would enter the most holy place, he would have bells on his clothes and a rope around his ankle so that if he had unconfessed sins and died in the presence of God, the people could drag him out. God is holy.

Here we have Joshua standing before the Lord covered in filth, guilty and shamed. Joshua was the high priest that year – the one man who should keep it together so that Israel would have an example of godliness and a mediator before God. And Satan did well to remind Joshua of that. The accuser screams, “He is unfit!” “He is unholy!” “He is sinful!” “Disappointment!” “Disgrace!” “Disqualified!” “Throw him in the fire!”

Not disgraced, disappointed or disqualified

SHAMED

To Joshua’s surprise, the Lord did not strike him dead. The Lord did not seem surprised that Joshua was covered in filth. He did not rebuke or strike Joshua. Instead, the Lord rebuked the accuser, reminding him of three things:

Joshua was a man that was destined to the fire (condemnation), but the Lord had pity on him and saved him from the fire.
The Lord had chosen Joshua and his people Israel for himself – he has favour on Joshua and his people.
The Lord has chosen Jerusalem as his dwelling place and has therefore instituted the priestly order with Joshua, to mediate between him and his chosen people.

In short, the Lord has compassion for Joshua, has chosen Joshua, and set him apart as the high priest. Joshua has not earned this prized position through his holy living – it is all grace.

Therefore, the Lord orders that Joshua’s filthy clothes be removed and that he be clothed in new high priestly clothes. The Lord Himself has removed the sins from Joshua.

Then the Lord assures Joshua that his failure has not disqualified him from his priestly privileges. Surprisingly, the Lord assures the man that if he continues to seek and serve God in his role, he will continually have access to his presence. Moreover, Joshua will see the restoration of Israel and the coming of the Messianic reign. He has the privilege to play a part in this fulfilment!

A friend in need

One of the most beautiful moments in this scene is Zachariah’s response. When he sees how graciously the Lord responds to his shamed friend, Zachariah gets excited and cries out, “Give him a clean headdress!” Seeing his friend’s failure, the prophet did not join in the slandering of the accuser. Nor did he stand by passively to see what happens next. Rather, Zacheriah joined in the Lord’s effort to restore and encourage the fallen priest. “Give that priest new clothes to work with!”

A Mirror to my reality

I am a husband, a father, and a pastor of a congregation. I am a leader, an example to others of how to walk in godliness. Yet I fail. Often. I can deeply identify with Joshua’s sense of shame in the presence of God. I know what it feels like to stand before God with dirty garments. I have heard the words of the accuser ringing in my ears “You blew it, again!” “Can’t you keep it together, man?” “Failure!” “Hypocrite!” “Disgrace! “Disappointment!” “Disqualified!”

Accusation and shame are familiar companions to all the children of Adam and Eve who ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Their aim in life is to persuade you and me that we are a disgrace and disappointment to God, and that God has disqualified us to come before him. The accuser wants you to stay away from God and to give up on your purpose.

But Satan is a liar.

A Window into God’s Kingdom

Therefore I find so much comfort in how the Lord responds to Satan’s accusation of Joshua, God’s priest. God tells Satan to keep quiet, to keep out of his business, to leave the priest alone. Why? Because Joshua is God’s chosen priest, appointed by God to serve God by atoning for God’s people.

The whole chapter is framed in covenant language. YHWH (the LORD, Israel’s covenant God) has chosen and redeemed Israel for himself to participate in His redemption and renewal of all creation. God knows that all people are flawed – he remembers that he made them from dust. That is why God has instituted the priesthood, and why he chose Joshua to serve him as high priest: to atone for Israel’s sins and make peace between God and his people.

Yet God knows that even the high priest is only a man. He speaks of another High Priest called The Branch or The Stone (the foundation of his true temple), who will atone for Joshua’s sins. Now Joshua can experience mercy and get cleansed by God.

A Door to God’s Kingdom

How should I respond? How can I participate in this heavenly court scene? There are two people here, and I am invited to play the roles of either Joshua or Zachariah in this vision.

When I hear the accuser condemning me, I see myself in the place of Joshua. The accused priest does nothing except to:

hear the Lord’s rebuke of Satan
hear the Lord’s forgiveness
receive the new clean clothes,
and hear that he is not disqualified – he must continue confidently in his ministry!

This scene does not lure me to passivity. Whenever I hear the accuser, I am invited to see myself in this scene before the Lord and wait until he rid me of the accusations, to declare me clean and acceptable in his sight. I wait on the Lord as David did in Psalms 62 and 130.

Secondly, I am invited to imitate Zachariah in this scene. When I see a friend bent over under the burden of guilt and shame, I am invited to participate in the gracious Lord’s restoration. I am urged to mirror the mercy of God: to announce a clean slate and encourage my friend to continue serving God with confidence in this fallen world.

When you stand in the presence of the Lord today, who do you feel like?

Are you Joshua, burdened by shame and whipped by Satan’s accusations? Are you yearning for the Lord’s deliverance and loving restoration?	“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne room of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16
Or will you imitate Zachariah the prophet, seeking out that friend to encourage with the mercy of God?	“A bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench.” Isaiah 42:3

With this last chapter of Revelation, John focuses again on Jesus and his centrality to all of God’s creation and redemption. A recording of this post is available on the Shofar Durbanville YouTube channel.

The Bible begins and ends with the description of a paradise garden in which there is a tree of life and a life-giving river. In this last chapter of John’s Apocalypse, John shows how God’s restoration and renewal of all things are brought to completion. In this final vision of the Revelation of Jesus Christ (1:1), we see the Gospel of God beautifully painted.

Jesus is life (22:1-5). Continuing with the scene of the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21), John describes the River of Life flowing from the throne room of God and the Lamb. The picture of the life-giving river alludes to Eden (Genesis 2:7-10) and Ezekiel’s vision (Ezekiel 47:1-12). This River of Life flows in the middle of the street of this Holy City. On its banks is the Tree of Life, bearing fruit all year long, with “its leaves for the healing of nations” (22:2; Ezekiel 47:7,12).

After Adam and Eve rebelled and ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God removed them from the Garden “lest [they] stretch out [their] hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever” in their fallen state (Genesis 3:22-24). But access to the Tree of Life is a sign that there is no more sin, no more darkness, “for the Lord God will be their light” (22:5), and those who dwell therein will forever reign. This garden image is a compelling picture of Christ’s full redemption and restoration of mankind, where mankind will live in communion with God, share in his life, and reign over his creation with goodness (Genesis 1:26-27). Here, life is as it always should have been.

The symbolism is beautiful and meant to be both hope-giving and instructive to the readers. Christ is the source of all light and life (John 1:4-5; 11:25; 14:6). The Life-giving River “which make glad the city of our God” (Psalm 36:8; 46:4) depicts the nature and work of the Holy Spirit – the “Spirit of Life” (Romans 8:2, 11) who satisfy believers to “never thirst again” (John 4:13; Isaiah 55:1), even to overflow with “rivers of living water” (John 7:38-39). The street in the Holy City is “the Highway of Holiness” (Isaiah 35:8), “the Way” of life Jesus taught of and made possible by his blood (Acts 24:14,22, Hebrews 10:19-20). The Tree of Life is the church, God’s redeemed creation, who in turn is God’s redemptive gift to the world. It is the tree that grows from the Gospel seed (Matthew 13:31-32), that is planted next to the River of Life and therefore “yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither” (Psalm 1:3; Jeremiah 17:7-8). Through the reigning of the Lamb and the nourishing of his Spirit, the church now and forever reign (Revelation 5:9-10; Romans 5:17).

Put together, the church is those renewed and sustained by the Spirit of God, who walks in the Way of Holiness as they submit to the reign of God and the Lamb. By drawing from the water of the Spirit, the church bears fruit that gives life and healing to the nations, displacing evil. This is as much a picture of the church today as it points to Christ’s coming kingdom.

Jesus is the judge (22:12). Four times in this chapter, John records the words that Jesus’ return is “soon”, and hears Christ’s admonition to “hear the words of this prophesy and keep it.” (22:7). The angelic warning about the end on the river-bank pictures a strong allusion to Daniel 12. But in contrast to Daniel, who was told to “seal up” and “shut up” the prophecy “until the last days”, John is now instructed to “not seal up the prophecy, for the time is near” – implying the Day of the Lord, the Day of Judgment is near (22:10; Daniel 12:4, 9). Alluding to Daniel’s vision (22:10; Daniel 12:10) the angel says:

“Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy,

[let] the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”

This does not imply that the time of grace is over. John writes that doing proceeds from being. In keeping with the rest of the prophecy to the seven churches, John urges believers, if indeed they have been redeemed and sanctified by the Blood of the Lamb (5:9-10), that they then act in accordance with their standing. Since you are holy, do righteous deeds! Do not live in the filthy ways of Babylon because Jesus is coming soon as the judge “to repay each one for what he has done” (22:12; Isaiah 40:10).

Jesus is the goal (22:13). [Read the full commentary of Revelation in Faithful to the End]