NOVEMBER 27
Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord.
(Zechariah 3:1)
In Joshua, the high priest, we see a picture of every child of God who has been brought near by the blood of Christ and taught to minister in holy things and enter into that which is within the veil. Jesus has made us priests and kings unto God, and even here upon earth, we exercise the priesthood of consecrated living and hallowed service.
But this high priest is said to be “standing before the angel of the LORD,” that is, standing to minister. This should be the perpetual position of every true believer.
Every place is now God’s temple, and His people can serve Him just as truly at work as in His house. They should always be ministering, offering the spiritual sacrifice of prayer and praise, and presenting themselves as “a living sacrifice.”1
But notice where Joshua stands to minister—it is before the angel of Jehovah. It is only through a mediator that we poor, defiled ones can ever become priests to God.
I present what I have before the messenger, the angel of the covenant, the Lord Jesus. Through Him, my prayers find acceptance wrapped up in His prayers. My praises become sweet as they are bound up with bundles of fragrant spices from Christ’s own garden.
If I can bring Him nothing but my tears, He will put them with His own tears in His own bottle, for He once wept; if I can bring Him nothing but my groans and sighs, He will accept these as an acceptable sacrifice, for He once was broken in heart and sighed heavily in spirit. Standing in Him, I am accepted in the Beloved, and all my polluted works, though in themselves only objects of divine displeasure, are so received that God smells a sweet savour. He is content, and I am blessed. Consider, then, the position of the Christian—“a priest . . . standing before the angel of the LORD.”
- Romans 12:1
