5. What did Jehovah’s angel say to the one at Joshua’s side?

⁵ “And he proceeded to show me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of Jehovah, and Satan standing at his right hand in order to resist him.

Zechariah 3:1, 2.

6. (a) Who was that Satan? (b) Why was he resisting Joshua?

⁶ The Satan who is pictured here was no mere ecclesiastical “devil’s advocate” who was acting as a prosecuting attorney for Jehovah. He was the same Satan that appeared at the meeting of the angelic sons of God in heaven in the seventeenth century before our Common Era and wrongly accused the patriarch Job before the face of Jehovah God. (Job 1:6 to 2:7) But why, in that vision to Zechariah in the year 519 B.C.E. was Satan the Devil trying to resist the high priest Joshua before the angel of Jehovah? Because on the twenty-fourth day of the lunar month of Chislev of the preceding year High Priest Joshua had taken a decisive step for the worship of God. He and Governor Zerubbabel and the faithful remnant of Israel began working at the foundation of the second temple of Jehovah in Jerusalem. (Haggai 2:18, 19) High Priest Joshua was thus working for his reinstallation in the full service of Jehovah at a completed second temple. Such taking up of his duties at a completed temple would put Joshua in a new light.

7. (a) What was Satan trying to prevent in Joshua’s case? (b) Satan was trying to counteract whose prophesying, and how?

⁷ Satan the Devil, who fights the true religion, was out to resist High Priest Joshua on this score, so as to downgrade him and keep him out of his full service to Jehovah in behalf of the nation of Israel. That would keep Joshua in poor appearance because of a major deficiency in his service to God. To that end Satan would try to counteract the prophesying of Haggai and Zechariah and rouse up overwhelming opposition on the part of the enemies of Israel against the rebuilding of the temple. In that way he could charge High Priest Joshua with failure to discharge his full high-priestly duties, and this would result in reproach upon Jehovah.