Now listen, Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who are sitting in front of you—indeed they are men who are a symbol, for behold, I am going to bring in My servant the

Branch.

Take silver and gold, make an ornate crown and set it on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest.

then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and the prophets of God were with them supporting them.

In the second year of Darius the king, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying,

But now

take courage, Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord, ‘take courage also, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all you people of the land take courage,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work; for I am with you,’ declares the Lord of hosts.

Standing

At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord

to serve Him and to bless in His name until this day.

“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.

The men of Beth-shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? And to whom shall He go up from us?”

My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand before Him, to minister to Him, and to be His ministers and burn incense.”

Therefore He said that He would destroy them,
Had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him,
To turn away His wrath from destroying them.

Therefore, thus says the Lord,
“If you return, then I will restore you—

Before Me you will stand;

And if you extract the precious from the worthless,
You will become My spokesman.
They for their part may turn to you,
But as for you, you must not turn to them.

Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the house and ministering in the house; they shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them.

But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

The angel

The angel who has redeemed me from all evil,

Bless the lads;

And may my name live on in them,
And the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;
And may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”

The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.

“Behold, I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared.

Yes, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed;
He wept and sought His favor.
He found Him at Bethel
And there He spoke with us,

“Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will

clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the

messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts.

“After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning thorn bush.

Resist him

And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her seed;

He shall bruise you on the head,

And you shall bruise him on the heel.”

General references

while I was standing between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord; for you were afraid because of the fire and did not go up the mountain. He said,

so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.