Who was Joshua the high priest?

Answer

Joshua was the high priest when the Jews returned from the Babylonian captivity to Jerusalem. In the second year of their arrival at the house of God in Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, along with the remaining priests, Levites, and all those who had returned from captivity to Jerusalem, appointed the Levites, aged twenty years and older, to advance the work of the house of the LORD (Ezra 3:8). This Joshua is distinct from the Joshua who served as Moses’ second-in-command and led the Israelites into the Promised Land after Moses’ passing.

Joshua, the high priest, is the son of Jozadak. In the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Josedech, the high priest (Haggai 1:1). His name is also mentioned as Jeshua, and in Nehemiah 7:7, he is recorded as one of the individuals who returned from Babylon. The prophet Haggai also references Joshua the high priest: “In the second year of King Darius (537 B.C.), in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came through Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest” ((Haggai 1:1).

When the Jews returned from the Babylonian exile, they started constructing their own homes, but they overlooked the reconstruction of the temple. Through a message from the prophet Haggai, God summoned Joshua the high priest and Zerubbabel the governor to lead the rebuilding of the temple (Haggai 1:1-8). Haggai’s message convicted the people, and they commenced construction “Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him, and the people did fear before the LORD.”, (Haggai 1:12). Joshua the high priest was the spiritual leader who served alongside the Israelites and encouraged them as they worked to rebuild the house of the Lord (Haggai 1:13-15).

God also used Joshua the high priest as a symbol of the future Messiah “Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.”, (Zechariah 3:8). Zechariah witnessed a vision of the angel of the Lord giving Joshua the high priest clean garments in place of his filthy garments. This act symbolized the removal of Israel’s sin (Zechariah 3:3-4). The angel then informed Joshua of the Branch who will one day come to eliminate the sins of the people (Zechariah 3:8-9).
Another vision documented by Zechariah does not explicitly mention Joshua the high priest by name but hints at his position. Zechariah saw a vision where the angel of the Lord rebuked Satan and declared that the Lord had chosen Jerusalem. (Zechariah 3:2).

It is a golden lampstand and two olive trees, with the lampstand being fed oil from the trees (Zechariah 4:1-3). The angel explains that the two olive trees are symbolic of “the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth” «Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.», (Zechariah 4:14). The two anointed ones would be Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the high priest, through whom the Lord was accomplishing His work.

God also told the prophet Zechariah to make a crown of silver and gold and place it on Joshua’s head «then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest; », (Zechariah 6:11). Zechariah was to say, “Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord. It is he who will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne. And there will be harmony between the two” (Zechariah 6:12-13). The coronation served as an encouragement to Joshua in his work of rebuilding the temple and also as a prophecy of the future Messiah—the priestly king who will be “clothed with majesty.” Even Joshua’s name foreshadowed the Messiah. The name Joshua is the Hebrew equivalent of Jesus in Greek.

Joshua the high priest foreshadowed the coming Messiah who would be both high priest «whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.», (Hebrews 6:20) and

King “And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest.”, (Matthew 27:11). Jesus was the prophesied Branch who brought the forgiveness of sins for all who would believe, and Joshua the high priest served as a symbol of this promised Branch hundreds of years before the prophecy’s fulfillment.