I’ve definitely had those moments. You know the moments I’m talking about. The moments where you feel as though your future – your life – hangs in the balance… maybe there’s a touch of anxiety that has taken up residence in your mind… or maybe you’ve simply messed up. Maybe you’ve experienced enough in this life that you’re tired, you’re second-guessing yourself, and you’re starting to think that God may not be on your side after all.
Or maybe the truth is that the voice of the accuser has been yelling so long that it’s become difficult to hear God’s voice. Is grace really real? Here’s a popular saying that’s been floating around social media that you might have heard: the devil knows your name but calls you by your sin… God knows your sin, but He calls you by your name.
It’s a pretty cool saying, but it’s not quite complete.
In Zechariah 3:1-7, we read about a different Joshua than the one who walked around Jericho to make the walls fall down. This Joshua was a high priest. That means that he acted as mediator between men and God. A high priest was expected (required) to be superior to all others in dignity, his wisdom, material wealth, and even his physical appearance. He certainly had to look and act the part of having it all together.
But in this passage, Joshua is standing before God, clothed in filthy rags, with Satan standing next to him to accuse. Oh, yes! I’m sure you know all about the different things Satan can hurl as an accusation. Even back then, he was always ready to point a finger at all the ways we fall short.
Joshua, high priest that he was, stood before God looking nothing like a high priest. He stood accused, wearing filthy rags, before the King of Kings. Can you see it? Can you feel it? Shoot, if a high priest is standing before God in filthy rags, I can only imagine what I might be wearing if it were me.
Too many times, I have heard the voice of unworthiness growing louder and louder. Always pointing a condemning finger at all the things I’ve done… all the things I haven’t done but should have… and all the instances that are represented in the rags I see myself clothed in.
I took a tone with my husband. I was overly harsh with my kids. I didn’t do what I knew I should and I did what I knew I shouldn’t have. I took one path when I knew God was directing me to take a different one. And that’s just in the last few days.
Rag. Rag. Rag. At every turn, I see rags assembling together to make up my wardrobe.
That accusatory finger that is pointing out every disqualifying moment, every failure where I should have chosen differently, is making a very convincing argument before God. Look at how she snaps at her husband! Look at how she loses her patience with her kids! She picked up her phone a lot more than she picked up her Bible! Have You seen her thoughts? How can she call herself a Christian?
We can’t help but brace ourselves for what we clearly deserve – that accuser knows how to accuse, doesn’t he?
But instead of seeing the truth in the accusations, instead of telling Joshua to clean himself up and come back when he has a better wardrobe that he’s earned, God rebukes the accuser!
Years back, before I was sober, I was sneaking around to hide my problem of drinking and smoking. Definitely not a time that I look back over with any kind of fondness… except for two individual moments. The most obvious was when God broke me free of the addictions completely, but this other one helped make it possible.
I was crying. I wanted to quit – to be what I knew my husband wanted – but every time I stopped, I just seemed to fall back into the old habits. I was afraid that if I wasn’t successful, I would lose everyone I loved. But I was also an addict, so I was going to have that next drink.
I remember feeling so lost and so hopeless. My husband and I had been talking about my struggles and then came the silence. As I sat there crying, my husband put his hand on mine and told me that whether I quit or not, he would love me and stay with me.
Those words, sincerely spoken, broke something inside of me. It was a good breaking. It was a breaking that offered a relief that I didn’t see coming. I didn’t have to change (even though I needed to) – my husband would still love me and wouldn’t leave me.
After God rebuked Satan, I can imagine how Joshua felt. But God didn’t stop there. No, He then ordered that the filthy rags Joshua wore to be removed and replaced with something new. Not earned. Not worked for. Not deserved. Joshua did nothing but stand there and allow God to strip off the old, filthy rags, and clothe him with something new.
And Joshua’s new attire wasn’t just any new threads. We read in Zechariah 3:4-5 that God clothed Joshua in festal robes and that He placed a clean turban on his head. Words are important – the inclusion and exclusion of them. God could have simply called them clean, but He specified festal.
Festal robes are special garments that symbolize purity and righteousness, and they are often associated with honor and divine favor. Couple that with the clean turban – another symbol of purity, but also of restoration – Joshua was now clothed in divine approval. For a priest, the clean turban symbolized righteousness, authority, and sanctity – indicating Joshua’s holiness before God.
Whoa!
The Old Testament is full of these pictures of what Jesus would accomplish on the cross. Unfortunately, many people understand the cross to simply be a second chance for us to try harder to earn God’s approval. Just like my post a few weeks ago, Let the Tree Die, the victory at the cross wasn’t simply wiping the slate clean – it was removing the slate completely.
If you’ve accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you are already clothed in festal robes, you’ve already been accepted and tucked in close, and there’s nothing you can do – and nothing the accuser can say – that can override what Jesus accomplished.
Because of the cross it’s not about performance. We’re not trying to earn His approval; we’re living from it. We’re not standing before God dressed in filthy rags; He’s already removed the filthy garments and dressed us in robes of righteousness.
Oh, grace is real all right… and God is most definitely on our side.