O what a Day!

Read Zechariah 3.

Among those leading the return of the Jews from Babylon was Zerubbabel, the appointed governor of Jerusalem, and the High Priest, Joshua.  Vision #4 reveals God's plan for the eventual spiritual cleansing and restoration of the Jews when Messiah comes to reign as king.

The rampant and unrepentant sins of Israel and Judah brought their downfall.  Scattering the northern tribes and sending the southern kingdom into exile did not make them perfect.  So, when God's plan to initiate their return began to unfold, Satan himself hurled accusations against the Jews.  One can imagine the diatribe.  How could God work with such disobedient people?  Since the Jews had forsaken their commitments to the LORD, why should He keep His promises to them?

The name Satan means opponent, adversary, or accuser.  Any purpose or people of God has and will experience this opposition.  It is in fact a non-stop spiritual war.  Revelation 12:10 refers to him as "the accuser of our brothers...who accuses them day and night before our God."  In addition to attacking our weaknesses and failures, he will plot against those who live godly lives.  See Job 1.  But he is a defeated foe and he knows it.  All he can do is to wreak havoc and create questions against the truth.

God rebuked Satan (v.2).  He knows the Jews are not perfect.  He called them "a brand plucked from the fire."  The LORD is in the rescue business.  It is the exercise of His grace that saves people who do not deserve it.  That would include all of us.  Joshua spiritually represented the nation.  As he stood before the LORD, his garments were dirty.  What the LORD rescues, He cleanses.

Beyond the immediate applications of restoring the Jews to their homeland, there are promises of the prophetic restoration of the nation in verses 8-10.
1. "I will bring my servant the Branch,..a single stone with seven eyes." 
Jesus, the Messiah is coming.
"For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many." (Mark 10:45)
"Behold the man whose name is the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD...and shall sit and rule on this throne." (Zechariah 6:12-13)
"Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame." (1 Peter 2:6)

2. "I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day." 
This looks forward to an eventful occasion when "the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.  And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, 'The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob; and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.'" (Romans 11:25-27)

3. "Everyone of you will invite his neighbor to come..."
In response, Israel will be the welcoming place for the nations to come to under the umbrella of Messiah's leadership and to worship Jesus on His throne.