as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away 1 This is a true picture of Israel's moral condition before God. But in contrast to the past and the present there are other pictures painted for us by the prophets of Israel's future, based on the fact of God's election of this nation to be a peculiar people unto Himself, and on the exceeding great and precious promises given to the fathers. The Lord shall wash away " the filth of the daughter of Zion," and cleanse her from all her defilements, " and it shall come to pass that he that is left in Zion, and he that remainet/t in Jerusalem, sJiall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem" (Isa. iv. 3, 4; Ezek. xxxvi. 1632). Then, in contrast to the "polluted garment,"[1] the same prophet sings: " I will greatly rejoice in Jehovah, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decked himself with ornaments (or, with his priestly head-dress or turban ), and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels"
(Isa. Ixi. 10).
Now this same glorious truth, so clearly announced in I verbal prophecy, is here realistically set forth to Zechariah j in symbol. The symbol, however, is immediately inter preted by the Angel of Jehovah Himself, who, after com manding the attendant angels " who stood by," saying, I " Take away the filthy garments from him," addresses the comforting words to Joshua himself: " Behold I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee" (which, as already pointed out, answers to the glorious promise in ver. 9: " / will remove the iniquity of the land in one day "), " and I will clothe thee with rich apparel"; which, in brief, answers to the garments of salvation and pure robe of Messiah's own perfect righteousness, in which Israel shall then be attired.
But the word nwnp, machalatsoth, which is in the plural, translated in the Authorised Version " change of raiment," and in the Revised " rich apparel " and which is
- ↑ Not "filthy rags," as rendered in the A.V. of Isa. Ixiv. 6.
