This week we are studying the third chapter of Zechariah, the prophet’s fourth vision out of a sequence of eight. The end of Zechariah’s third vision segues into the opening scene of the fourth vision. At the close of Zechariah 2, the prophet called for silence from “all flesh” out of reverence for Yahweh who “roused himself from his holy dwelling” (2:13). In chapter three, the prophet awakens to find that he has been transported to what seems like a heavenly throne room. Among the divine council, Zechariah identifies three characters: Joshua the high priest, the Angel of the Lord, and the accuser.
Joshua is the first historical character introduced in Zechariah’s visions. Joshua is known from other biblical books as one of the returnees in 538 BCE (Hag. 1:1, Ezra 2:2, Neh. 12:1). Even before the vison, Joshua was well known to the prophet Zechariah as they were both leaders of the postexilic community. In the vision, Joshua was standing before the Angel of the Lord (3:1). When the Bible uses the Hebrew verb for “standing before,” it often has a courtroom connotation. The person “standing before” someone is usually being judged. This verb is the reason most commentaries discuss Zechariah’s fourth vision as if it was a tribunal.
