Zechariah 13 | National Israel Refined

1“On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.

• The remnant of Israel (see ch. 12) will be saved in the same way as the church, through faith in Jesus who cleanses them from sin and impurity
• Whereas before their hearts had been hardened and the way to salvation blocked, a way will now be opened through the cleansing work of Jesus Christ.

2“On that day, I will banish the names of the idols from the land, and they will be remembered no more,” declares the Lord Almighty. “I will remove both the prophets and the spirit of impurity from the land.

• When Christ returns, He will remove the idols, prophecy and spirit of impurity from the land, even the whole world
• He will become the only one that is worshipped, the only one that is told about and will cleanse all from impurity
• 1 Corinthians 13:8 “..But where there are prophecies, they will cease” – when the perfection of Christ comes, there will be nothing more to prophesy about as all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in Him

3And if anyone still prophesies, their father and mother, to whom they were born, will say to them, ‘You must die, because you have told lies in the Lord’s name.’ Then their own parents will stab the one who prophesies. 4“On that day every prophet will be ashamed of their prophetic vision. They will not put on a prophet’s garment of hair in order to deceive. 5Each will say, ‘I am not a prophet. I am a farmer; the land has been my livelihood since my youth. a ’ 6If someone asks, ‘What are these wounds on your body?’ they will answer, ‘The wounds I was given at the house of my friends.’

• All false teachers, whether religious or secular will become ashamed of their teaching and prophecy, because it will be evidently clear that what they proclaim are lies.
• Wounds – indicative of prophets who would cut themselves to please and hear from their gods and idols (1 Kings 18:28)

7“Awake, sword, against my shepherd,
against the man who is close to me!”
declares the Lord Almighty.
“Strike the shepherd,
and the sheep will be scattered,
and I will turn my hand against the little ones.

• Amidst talking about the second coming of Christ, God, through Zechariah, turns his attention once more to Jesus’ rejection by the people, which was the start of God ‘cutting off’ these people from Himself, to one day graft them back in.
• ‘My shepherd / man who is close to me’ being Jesus
• The shepherd will be struck (Jesus crucified), and God will turn his hand against his people and scatter them, talking of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans.

8In the whole land,” declares the Lord,
“two-thirds will be struck down and perish;
yet one-third will be left in it.
9This third I will put into the fire;
I will refine them like silver
and test them like gold.

• At the hand of the Romans, many of the people will be killed. The siege of Jerusalem left many dead and even more enslaved to die in the gladiator rings
• Even so, God will reserve a remnant for himself whom through the ages he will refine through suffering.

They will call on my name
and I will answer them;
I will say, ‘They are my people,’
and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’ ”

• These chapters speak of the day when Christ will return and graft these people back into Him.
• He will declare, “These are my people”, and they will respond “The Lord is our God”

Summary

When Christ comes again, a spiritual fountain will be opened to national Israel to cleanse them from sin and impurity, and he will do away with idolatry and prophecy. But before that God will refine in the fire his people who rejected the messiah when he first came.