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by Bill Seng

“Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him.” Zechariah 3:1

Last week I discussed the origin of evil. God was good, his creation was good, and even mankind was good. Despite the purity of the original creation, the knowledge of good and evil in the spiritual realm opened up the possibility that sin could enter the world. I am referring, of course, to the angels. A rogue angel, Satan, became obsessed with his own splendor and sought to over throw God. Satan has always known that he does not have the power to overcome God, so he has instead opted to steal away the pinnacle of God’s creation, mankind, for himself; thus the infamous words of the serpent, “You will be like God” (Genesis 3:5).

Nonetheless, this kingdom of Satan would not be like God’s creation. This kingdom would need to be stolen. In order to steal God’s creation, Satan had to create a divide between God and creation. This divide is known as sin, which is defined as lawlessness. And yet, in order for Satan to establish a kingdom that would last he had to maintain his position as an angel (which is a ministering spirit according to Hebrews 1:14). This meant that he himself could not fall under condemnation if he wished to rule over a kingdom apart from God. Henceforth he became the divine tattletale.

In the book of Job, we are presented a situation that shows what Satan does. God asks Satan to consider Job, who is blameless and hates evil (Job 1:8). Because Satan could not find fault in Job, he first tells God that Job has been protected and that if God would allow him to suffer then, “he will surely curse you to your face” (Job 1:11). He is the accuser. He is our enemy. Because he was a ministering spirit, he had to know the difference between good and evil in order to minister effectively and then (apparently) report to God.

The sad part is that Satan’s accusations had historically been correct. The scripture at the top of this article exemplifies Satan accusing the High Priest Joshua of sin and rightly so! Zechariah 3:3 says that Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes. Joshua was not only being accused of sin, he was guilty of sin. But the angel of the LORD called Joshua a “burning stick snatched from fire” (3:2). After causing Joshua to take off his filthy clothes, the Lord then declared that, “I have taken away your sin” (3:4). Furthermore, he puts clean garments on Joshua. It is only through the LORD our God that we can be made clean and be declared clean despite Satan’s accusations.

Are you a sinner? Do you feel condemned by the evil of your past? All of us could, if we put our faith in our own righteousness. Although Satan was correct about mankind’s wickedness, God did something that he could not comprehend. God forgave the sins of the world and extended grace.