Daily Manna, Year Two · Day 17 · January 17
A Brand From the Fire
“And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?”
"The LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?"
Zechariah is shown a courtroom. Joshua the high priest is "standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him." The right hand is where an accuser stood. Psalm 109 asks for exactly this against a wicked man: "let Satan stand at his right hand." So the accuser has taken his place, and he is ready to make his case.
Notice what the answer leaves out. Nobody offers evidence for the defence. Nobody speaks up for Joshua's good name or argues that the charge goes too far. The next verse explains why: "Joshua was clothed with filthy garments." The high priest of Israel stands in court in dirty clothes, and the text does not soften it. The case against him is sound.
What is said instead is God's own name and what God has done: "the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee." Joshua's whole defence rests on God's choice.
Then comes the question: "is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?" A brand is a stick that has already been burning. It was well into the fire when someone reached in and pulled it out. Amos used the same picture for a people who had barely survived God's judgment: "ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning." The picture is honest about the scorch marks, and it makes clear who did the pulling.
Then the ruling is given: "Take away the filthy garments from him." And to Joshua himself: "Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment." He is not left standing in the old clothes. They are taken off him, and he is dressed new.
Think of the accusation you replay when you are driving alone. Write it down in one line, in your own handwriting. Then write the Lord's answer beside it. Notice that His answer never once argues with the charge. It says who pulled you out of the fire, and it gives you clean clothes.
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year one reading for day 17 is Stronghold (Nahum 1:7).