11/1 Zechariah 3:2

² And the LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, O Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?"

Zechariah prophesied during the restoration and rebuilding of the Temple. His book is filled with visions and prophecies. In the vision we are studying today, Zechariah saw the high priest Joshua standing before the angel of the Lord. At the angel's right was Satan who was ready to fling accusations about Joshua. "Satan" means "accuser." We see a similar scene at the beginning of the book of Job (Job 1:9).

When Lucifer, which is another name for Satan, fell from his lofty state because of pride, one of his main occupations became accusing those whom God loves. It is his way of trying to punish God. He still has access to the heavenly realm and brings accusations against us all. There is certainly plenty for which he can accuse us. The angel of the LORD, who is referred to as the LORD, and whom I understand to be Jesus, said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, O Satan!" In the New Testament book of Jude, we read that we should not try to deal with Satan on our own but rather follow the example set here in Zechariah (and apparently by the archangel Michael also) by asking the LORD to rebuke Satan (Jude 1:9).

Then the angel of the LORD told Satan that Joshua is a brand plucked from the fire. The famous evangelist John Wesley's mother rescued him from a house fire when he was just a small child. She sometimes referred to John as "a brand plucked from the fire." All those in Christ Jesus are all brands plucked from a fire. We were destined for judgment. Satan had plenty of material with which to impugn us. But we were snatched from the fire and given the righteous robe of Jesus and a mission to serve the LORD. Like the servants of God that came out of the fiery furnace of Babylon (Daniel 3), the LORD has rescued us that we might be His instruments to rescue others.

Consider: Satan is always ready to sling accusations about you, but you have a defense attorney, Christ Jesus (1 John 2:1). He plucked you from the fire and gave you His righteousness. How should we then live?