(4) And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy
garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will
clothe thee with change of raiment.
(5) And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and
clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD stood by.
(6) And the angel of the LORD protested unto Joshua, saying,
(7) Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then
thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among
these that stand by.
(8) Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men
wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.
(9) For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I
will engrave the graving thereof, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one
day.
(10) In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under
the fig tree‖. (Zech 3:1-10)
Those who claim to follow the Messiah, and expect to be priests in His Kingdom one day, should take heed
to previous warnings that YHWH gave on this subject:
―My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject
thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy
children‖. (Hosea 4:6)
The Kingdom and the lesson to always be prepared
Lastly, the following parable with its lesson on always being prepared is especially interesting, as there is a
similar story found in Jewish literature:
―(1) Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to
meet the bridegroom. (2) And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. (3) They that were foolish took
their lamps, and took no oil with them: (4) But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. (5) While the
bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. (6) And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the
bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. (7) Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. (8) And
the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. (9) But the wise answered,
saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for
yourselves. (10) And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with
him to the marriage: and the door was shut. (11) Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord,
open to us. (12) But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not‖. (Mat 25:1-12)
Here is the teaching from the Midrash Rabbah on the book of Ecclesiastes. This teaching seems to be a
synthesis of the parables in Matt 22:1-14 and 25:1-12, above:
Midrash Rabbah – Ecclesiastes IX:7: ―To a king who made a banquet to which he invited guests. He said to
them, ̳Go, wash yourselves, brush up your clothes, anoint yourselves with oil, wash your garments, and
prepare yourselves for the banquet‘, but he fixed no time when they were to come to it. The wise among
them walked about by the entrance of the king's palace, saying, ' Does the king's palace lack anything?‘ The
foolish among them paid no regard or attention to the king's command. They said, ̳We will in due course
notice when the king's banquet is to take place, because can there be a banquet without labour [to prepare
it] and company?‘ So the plasterer went to his plaster, the potter to his clay, the smith to his charcoal, the
washer to his laundry. Suddenly the king ordered, ' Let them all come to the banquet‘. They hurried the
guests, so that some came in their splendid attire and others came in their dirty garments. The king was
pleased with the wise ones who had obeyed his command, and also because they had shown honour to the
king's palace. He was angry with the fools who had neglected his command and disgraced his palace. The
king said, 'Let those who have prepared themselves for the banquet come and eat of the king's meal, but
those who have not prepared themselves shall not partake of it‘‖.