This
is uniquely speaking to and of High Priest Yahusha the Messiah "the
Branch". It could not be any clearer. Almost every scholar believes this
to be a prophecy of Yahusha III (the Messiah’s grandfather). I actually know of
no one else that sees this as the Messiah. I'm just giving someone out there
the benefit of the doubt here. There is zero chance this could be speaking of
anyone other than the Messiah Yahusha who is the Eternal High Priest. Let’s
examine this prophecy in more detail in light of the life of Yahusha the
Messiah.
In this one prophetic vision, Yahuah reveals
clearly His Plan
of Salvation
through the High Priest Yahusha. We see Yahusha standing before "the Angel of Yahuah' who
was acting as Yahuah's proxy speaking for Him. Yahusha is standing next to
Satan who is accusing Yahusha vigorously saying probably something to the
effect "look how dirty this lowly man is, covered in sin!"
We know for a fact, Yahusha was not born perfect but had to be perfected
through trials and tribulation. We know Yahusha did not live obedient to Yahuah
his entire life because he had to “learn obedience through suffering”. So here
is Yahusha standing before the Angel of Yahuah covered in "filthy
rags" which is symbolic of "sin". Not only "possibly"
his own but Yahusha is carrying the sin of the world on his shoulders as well:
Isaiah 64:6
6 All of us have become like one
who is unclean, and all our Righteous acts are like filthy rags.
But,
when did this vision occur in Yahusha’s life? It occurred just after John the
High Priest consecrated (through Mikveh) Yahusha as High Priest in
succession. The ritual of Mikveh had just washed away Yahusha’s prior life, and
as Yahuah said "He had taken away his sin" and removed the sin of the
world (dirty rags) from him. Yahusha then fled into the desert like the
scapegoat. After spending 40 days/night in the desert sun starving to death,
Yahusha literally looks like a "burning stick(branch) snatched from
the fire" of the desert sun. Now, after just being cleansed of sin through
Mikveh (baptism), Yahusha is stripped of his "filthy rags" or sin of
the world, and clothed in the garments of a High Priest. Yahusha was literally,
by blood, the successor to John the Baptist; who succeeded High Priest Yahusha
III, who restored the House of Zadok to the Office of High Priest in the Second
Temple.
Yahuah then declares "See (as I promised you in the Torah concerning Mikveh),
I have taken away your sin, and put fine garments on you". The
prophecy then goes on to describe the garments of The High Priest that were put
on Yahusha. We see Yahuah tell Yahusha to "listen", because
Yahuah would bring about (in Yahusha) his servant, the Branch, which is
an obvious reference to The Messiah. In other words, Yahuah would make THIS
High Priest His Messiah! And if Yahusha "will walk in obedience to Me and keep My requirements (the Torah), then you will govern My House and have charge
of My
Courts,
and I will give you a place among these standing here".
This is an "if... then..."
statement. If Yahusha will keep the Torah, then Yahuah will
engrave in stone that He (Yahuah) will “remove the sin of this land in a
single day”. Yahuah promises to forgive sin, because of Yahusha's piety.
The Apostle Sha’ul taught the exact same "conditional" role; that
Yahuah heard Yahusha BECAUSE of his piety, not because Yahusha was the
second member of a pagan Babylonian Trinity.
Hebrews 5:7
During the days of Yahusha's life on Earth (as a human), he offered up prayers and petitions with
fervent cries and tears to the one (Yahuah) who
could save him from death, and he was heard (by Yahuah
as Yahuah promised in Zechariah 3) because of his reverent submission (to the covenant made in Zechariah Chapter 3 to walk with “no
sin” as High Priest).
Looks
like Sha’ul knew Zechariah Chapter 3, as well he should as a Nazarene and keeper of
the Torah! So Yahusha through reverent obedience to the Torah would become
qualified as The Ruling Zadok through inheritance just like I have shown
so far. He then could offer himself up as the first born son and proper
sacrifice for sin. Doing away with the yearly “substitute” of a physical lamb,
and fulfilling the prophetic portrait of Abraham sacrificing Isaac but this
time with no substitute!
In that one Passover Day of Yahusha’s
obedience unto death, Yahuah fulfilled His promise in Zechariah to “remove the
sin of this land in a single day”. Not because Yahusha was “God”, not because
he was “perfect”, but simply because Yahusha was the heir, he was obedient,
and because of his piety! Think about what this says! Think about the
significance of it! This is an entirely different view of The Messiah Yahusha
than is taught anywhere else that I know of. I needed to bring this prophecy to light for
several reasons. We need to better understand who Yahusha was, as we move
forward in this book. First let me explain what Zechariah was seeing.
Yahuah gave Zechariah a vision so that we
would know the "conversation" that occurred after Yahusha was
baptized by John and went in the desert for 40 days and fasted. Believing
himself to be the Messiah, Yahusha fulfilled the metaphor of the Scapegoat
covered in "dirty rags" as the sins of the world had just been placed
on his shoulders by John laying hands on him. Yahusha then ran into the desert
to seek confirmation from Yahuah that he was in fact “The Messiah”.
Yahusha knew the prophecies concerning his birth, the Torah requirements to be
The Messiah, the Zadokite requirements, and the bloodline to David needed and
they fit him uniquely. But to actually live the role of The Messiah,
Yahusha needed direct confirmation from Yahuah. He would rather die in that
desert than emerge without the confirmation from Yahuah and become yet another
“false Messiah” of that time.
Yahusha was brought to the point of death by
starvation and dehydration in the desert after 40 days and nights. He simply
was willing to die if he was not The Messiah and Yahuah had not confirmed it to
him yet. At the point of near death, Satan came to Yahusha and tried to
convince Yahusha that he wasn't the Messiah. Satan explained that Yahuah didn't
answer him with confirmation that he was the Messiah and left him to die in the
desert because, as Satan reasoned, Yahusha wasn’t the Messiah. Satan then
proceeded to offer Yahusha the Kingdom of Israel by force if Yahusha would bow
before him. Satan argued that since he wasn't the Messiah (after all he was on
the verge of death with no confirmation), Satan would grant him everything
promised the Messiah and save his life.
Yahuah was testing Yahusha's Faith that he was in
fact the prophesied Messiah even to the point of death. It is understandable
now why Yahuah waited until Yahusha was near death before confirming he was The
Messiah. This was because death would be required of the Messiah, and only one
who was willing to die was worthy of the calling. Once Yahusha proved he would
rather die than face the reality he wasn't the Messiah, and would never take by
force what Yahuah had given the Messiah by birth... Yahuah then sends
The Angel of Yahuah to minister to Yahusha in the desert. This is where the vision of Zechariah Chapter 3 begins.
There with Satan at his side accusing him, Yahusha stood before the Angel of
Yahuah. We see Yahusha covered in the sins of humanity (filthy rags) lying in the desert
(looking like a burning stick taken out of the fire) and Satan so
angry that Yahusha refused his offer, that Satan (knowing Yahusha is the
Messiah) resorts to accusing Yahusha before Yahuah. We see Yahuah confirm Yahusha's Mikveh by
John. Then cleansing him of his sin (that is what Mikveh is for), and
confirming to Yahusha that he was in fact The Messiah (the Branch). Yahuah then
takes away the sins of humanity (filthy rags) and Yahuah lays out what is
required of Yahusha and the rewards if Yahusha obeys. This is
where Yahuah and Yahusha enter into covenant and become “one” in mind, will,
purpose, Spirit, and family as Father and son.
We all know the rest, Yahusha came out of the
desert with the confirmation he was seeking and the rest is history.
Yahusha emerged from that event with the full backing of Yahuah; that he was
the prophesied Messiah, High Priest, and King of Israel. Zechariah Chapter 3 gives us a
front row seat in what actually took place there in the desert.
I’m sure this conversation with his Father was his source of strength when he
was being beaten, tortured, and executed on that stake!
The so-called “scholars and teachers” of
today, try to divert our attention away from this amazing look into the life of
the Messiah Yahusha. They try changing his name (to Jesus), attributing the
vision to be of his grandfather Yahusha III, or just avoiding it all together.
Think about it, have you ever been taught this vision in Zechariah Chapter 3? I
haven't. There is no chance this vision is of anyone other than The Messiah.
The events in Yahusha’s life prove it, and the words of the vision prove it all
the way down to his name. We know exactly when it occurred in his life. There
is no other Eternal Judge and King of Creation and there is no other
"Branch"... I know not one. No other “High Priest Yahusha” who
encountered Satan in the desert, and was tempted and offered Jerusalem. Only
one… that is Yahusha the Messiah, THAT is the High Priest prophesied in Zechariah Chapter 3, no other.
Yahusha III (the favorite candidate for this
vision by most, if not all, scholars) was a historical High Priest in Israel after
this vision but his life was not significant enough to warrant such a
"vision" from Yahuah to a Major Prophet. In every case of such a
vision, the subject of the vision is a major player in the Plan of Salvation. Almost all
of these visions foreshadow or give us a glimpse of who Yahusha the Messiah
will be. There is no mention of Yahusha III by the Messiah or his disciples and
apostles. There is no event in Yahusha III’s life that coincides with this
vision. Yahusha III was not “the Branch”, he was not “given charge of all of
Yahuah estate” etc. This applies uniquely to The Messiah, no one else. The
promises to rule over Yahuah's House (Kingdom) in that vision are Messianic (Isaiah 9:6)
and they do not apply to Yahusha III.
The
reason no one has the foresight (or nerve) to even try and understand the
prophecy in Zechariah,
is because the High Priest Yahusha is ritually cleansed of sin and
consecrated High Priest through Mikveh. No one wants to be the one to have to
explain why The Messiah had to be cleansed of sin, or why he is covered in sin
(filthy rags)!
However,
if we understand Mikveh, we can come to the understanding of Yahusha's state of
Righteousness vs. Sin at his execution and it helps define the vision Zechariah had. All sin had
been washed clean at his Mikveh. So from that point forward, he was sinless and
spotless before Yahuah. We should properly put our faith in the promise Yahuah
made through Mikveh and properly credit this vision of Zechariah to The Messiah.
Everyone
else may want to deny this obvious prophecy of The Messiah, because they can’t
explain it. But this book will do what others before me have failed to do, and
demonstrate it was, in fact, The Messiah who Zechariah saw. "The
Branch" referred to in Zechariah 3 is the same "Branch" in Isaiah:
Isaiah 11:1-2
“And there shall come forth a rod out of the
stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of
Yahuah shall rest upon him, the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding, the Spirit
of Counsel and Might, the Spirit of Knowledge and of the Fear of Yahuah”
Again
here we see The Messiah is not Yahuah but a human from the "stem or Righteous Branch of Jesse" and
this man will embody the fullness of deity or rather be FULL OF
THE HOLY SPIRIT. Fullness of deity does NOT mean Yahusha was God as is taught:
Colossians 2:9
For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells
in bodily form.
We
too, like Yahusha, can achieve the "fullness of deity". This
revelation is found in love that surpasses knowledge (at least that of the
Christian Church):
Ephesians 3:19
19 and to know this love that
surpasses knowledge—that you (like Yahusha) may
be filled to the measure of all the fullness of deity.
Yahusha
was not "God in the Flesh", and what Yahusha was is clearly
defined as the "Spirit" of Yahuah resting fully on and
anointing the Messiah in wisdom, Understanding, Council, Might, Knowledge, and
the fear of Yahuah” as Isaiah prophesied. It does not define The Messiah as
some demi-god (a half man/half god), a composite pagan deity of Rome (Jesus H.
Christ)… The prophecies that Yahusha fulfilled never, not once, say anything
like "Yahuah would come to Earth in the form of a man", or “Yahuah
incarnate” as we all have been taught by the Christopagan Church. That Spirit
of Incarnation is being brought out of Christianity into the Messianic
movement, the Hebrew Roots movement, almost all teachers are filled with that
false Spirit.
In
fact, these prophesies foretell of the exact opposite, and Yahuah
clearly denies this false doctrine of incarnation.
Numbers 23:19
19 Yahuah is not a man, that he should lie,
neither the "son of Man" (Yahusha was called
the son of man 87 times and was baptized for repentance by John), that
he should repent (Yahusha was Mikveh'd by John for
repentance): Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and
will He not make it good?
So
while Yahuah said He would make good on His declaration/vow that He is not a
man or the "son of man"; we turn right around and
declare the man "Yahusha, the son of man" to be Yahuah
in the flesh, which is blasphemy.
This is extremely important if we are to understand The
Plan of Salvation. Nowhere does it define that plan as Yahuah having to
come to Earth to die.
That
Plan was defined first in The Heavenly Scroll as a “strong MAN” as David
declared in Psalms 119. Then clearly, in His Word, the Plan is laid out as
Yahuah would send a human High Priest in the order of Zadok, Yahuah would
purify him, and anoint him as the Passover Lamb, and then that human High
Priest would offer himself as a SIN OFFERING to Yahuah; thereby defeating the
Law of Sin and Death. That man would become, through resurrection, Yahuah's
firstborn son. As first born son and heir to all things, Yahusha was made King
to govern the House of Yahuah/Kingdom of Yahuah and Eternal Judge (of His
courts) as promised in Zechariah Chapter 3.
We need to trust the prophetic words
concerning the Messiah and have faith in Yahuah's ability to fulfill His
promises found in the Torah even if we do not understand it. We do not
need to "create for ourselves gods that are not gods” (Jeremiah 9). In
fact, we need to package all these "false doctrines" back into the
nice little pagan packages they came in, and ship them along with the pagan
demi-god Constantine created (Hesus Horus Krishna aka Jesus H. Christ) back to
Babylon from which they came! Once we finally do that then, with a clean slate,
we can come to know Yahusha the Messiah and align our doctrine with Scripture not human tradition.
Mark 7
8 You have let go of the Commands
of Yahuah and are holding on to human traditions ... 13 Thus you
nullify the word of Yahuah by your tradition that you have handed down. And you
do many things like that.
In
short we need to come out of her (Mystery Babylon) and get back to the truth
found in the Torah, Prophets, and the true Messiah. Now, let's look further at
Yahusha the High Priest so that we understand fully who the Priest was that
Zechariah saw in his vision.
