the one who trusts will never be dismayed’” (Is. 28:16). God symbolized Jesus as a stone.

God said to Joshua, “See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it, and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day” (Zech. 3:9).

Now, let’s analyze this. As I explained before, Joshua, the high priest, was not clean when God showed him to Zechariah. When Satan made Joshua filthy, an angel was standing there, but could not prevent him from getting filthy.

Do you think a human can cleanse sin by himself? No, not at all. But God wanted to prepare the way to cleanse the filthiness. To do that, he had to bring his servant, the Branch (Jesus), and give the stone (Jesus) seven eyes.

After that, God will engrave an inscription on the stone, and remove the sin of this land in a single day. God wanted to show that some people would be cleansed, just like the associates of Joshua at that time.

Dear people, was there any way to be cleansed before Jesus came? He came into this world to establish the necessary condition for the cleansing. After he was crucified on the

cross as a sacrifice, God was able to create a fountain of living water that can cleanse us from sin and impurity (Zech. 12:10, 13:1).

Therefore, it was impossible to cleanse the filthy clothes on Joshua in the time of Zechariah. Therefore we can know that Joshua was a symbolic character. Many Christians have believed that the two Olive Trees are Joshua and Zerubbabel. They are not the Olive Trees, but they are the shadows of the Olive Trees. John the apostle prophesied that the two Olive Trees will be Jesus’ witnesses (Zech. 11:3-4). Therefore anyone in Old Testament days cannot be the Olive Trees.

What does Joshua have to do after he has the clean clothes? He has to walk in God’s ways and meet his requirements, which means he should do his duty according to God’s order. After finishing his duty, he will govern God’s house and have charge of his courts (Zech. 3:7). What a tremendous promise! How important must the task of the spiritual Joshua, the Olive Tree, be if God will give him such an amazing power? His task is to make his associates be seated before him.