in which Jehovah acted ? Were not rather the manifestations of his mercy and love pledges and earnests of yet further bless- ings? Thus was Satan confounded before him, and Joshua comforted with the hope of ultimate success.
Satan being thus baffled, the angel proceeds to impart more fully to Joshua the assurance he so much desired. The temple not being rebuilt, Joshua had none but old and " filthy gar- ments " wherein to minister before the Lord : the Lord Jesus therefore commands that these be taken from him, and ex- changed for others more worthy of the office which Joshua was called to execute. And, as a mitre was no less requisite for the high priest than pure and holy garments, he orders " a fair mitre to be put upon his head." This signified two things ; first, the removal of all guilt from Joshua and those whom he represented, so that they might stand with acceptance before God ; and next, the restoration of the temple service in all its excellency and glory. These were the points which Joshua had been 'pleading for before the angel; and these were the points assured to him in this vision.
The attendant angels were employed in executing Jehovah's purpose in relation to these things : and " the Angel of the Lord," the Lord Jesus Christ, "stood by," to see that completed, which, by his effectual mediation, he had obtained.]
This appears to me to be the primary and pro- phetical import of the vision before us. We proceed to notice,
II. Its secondary and mystical import —
As individuals, no less than the Church at large, are the temple of Jehovah, so every true believer, no less than Joshua, is a priest unto his Godd. Hence we may fitly consider Joshua as the representative of individual saints ; all of whom minister before the Lord from day to day, under diversified discourage- ments, but with certainty of ultimate success. See here,
1. Their discouragements —
[The state of the Jews at that time may not unfitly be re- garded as characterizing the state of a believer in the earlier stages of his progress. He has been delivered indeed from bondage ; but he is still in a very low and destitute condition, and is ready to doubt whether the work that has been begun within him can ever be perfected. He goes before his God
d 1 Pet. ii. 9. Rev. i. 6.