Zechariah 13:1–9

This chapter continues the subject of the previous one, and takes it a step further. In His grace, Jehovah is still dealing with the house of David and with the people of Jerusalem... The repeated words "In that day" show that the time is the same as in Zechariah 12. It is the day brought in by the appearing of the Messiah. God has marked out that day in His counsels, and He even waits for it. It will stand out for ever in the history of His earthly people, because then their relationships with Jehovah will be restored.

The opening of this fountain "to the house of David" and "to Jerusalem" must mean that the benefits of Christ's death are applied to them. There is no other fountain for sin and uncleanness. Eighteen hundred years have passed since Christ died, yet everyone must admit that Israel has not yet received its cleansing power. That is what this passage is about.

The fountain is open to the house of David, whose sin had ruined the people. That sin did not cancel God's rights or weaken His grace. It is open also to the people of Jerusalem, who were more than partners in the sins of their rulers.

It is not only that they will "look on him whom they have pierced." There is also the washing of water by the word. Scripture knows nothing of a fountain of blood, despite our own poet Cowper. To be cleansed with blood is not enough. We need to be bathed in water and to wash our feet also day by day. And all this we have in our Lord Jesus. "This is he who came by water and blood — Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood." He cleanses His people morally, and He also makes atonement for them.

The fountain the prophet speaks of is a fountain of water. The word is the same one found in Jeremiah: "They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters." At the close of the last chapter we saw the remnant brought under the power of the sacrifice, the value of the blood. As soon as they looked in faith on Him whom they had pierced, all their sins and transgressions were taken away, and their guilt was removed for ever. The moment that happens, another need arises: daily cleansing from sin and uncleanness. The fountain supplies it... The cross pictured this too, when the soldier pierced the side of the blessed Lord as He hung dead on the tree. Blood and water came out — the blood for atonement, and the water for cleansing.

The water of the Word of God will have a wonderful effect on the Jews. It will wash away their very attitude of disobedience. They will be cleansed from their guilt before God. They will also be cleansed in character as they receive the Word of God, which has wonderful power to purge away their unclean habits. The Hebrew word opened has a continuing force. That is, the Word of God will keep having its precious effect in their lives from that time onward.

If you trace in this prophecy how God will deal with that people in the future, you will find it is the same order in which He works in restoring grace now... First, the remnant feel in their conscience the condition they had fallen into. It is the same in every case — conscience first.

The LORD has removed the guilt of His people and opened up the sources of their daily cleansing. Next He goes on to cleanse His land.

The cleansing will spread over the whole land and will not be limited to Jerusalem. A spirit of holiness will be poured out in all hearts.

Idols and false prophets were Satan's two successful tools. He used them to lead both Judah and Israel away from the worship of the LORD their God… And wherever idolatry takes hold, false prophets are everywhere. So Jehoshaphat had already promised to go to war with the Syrians alongside Ahab. Then he wanted to quiet his uneasy conscience by asking "at the word of the LORD." Four hundred false prophets were found to prophesy what Ahab wanted, while there was only one prophet of the LORD. In that other scene on Mount Carmel too, Elijah had to face four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal.

A "lying spirit" drives false prophets. The problem is not just that they do not know the truth and follow the leaning of their own evil hearts. They are completely in the power and control of the evil one. There may be sincere men among them — men of thought and intellect, the leading minds of the time, "princes" of the age. But do not miss this: whatever the world thinks of them, they are energized and led by a "lying spirit."

Every student of Scripture will agree that the unclean spirit means idolatry, and that its worship is linked with demons instead of God… As a nation, Israel never fell into idolatry after the return from Babylon as they had before. Not that they were better men; the unclean spirit of idolatry was no longer their special temptation… Israel had put aside their idol-worshipping habits. They went to the synagogue every sabbath day… The house looked clean. Nothing on the outside would shock you if you looked at it. But the unclean spirit is to go back.

This part of chapter 13 makes it very clear. When the fountain is opened against sin and uncleanness, idols will have been in the land, and false prophets will be prophesying there right before the Lord appears from heaven. How could the names of the idols be cut off from the land if there were none there?

The Lord of hosts will work in sovereign power to purge even the names of idols out of the land: their very memory will perish. The false prophets, energized by unclean spirits, will no longer have any place.

It will be a change, not merely of thought or attitude, but of spirit. An "unclean spirit" had been in the land (Zech. 13:2), now a "spirit of grace" is poured upon them.

God now weighs everything that offended His character... In the days of Antichrist the defilements, the uncleanness and the false prophesying had been many and grave! There were false Christs and false prophets everywhere then. God will now purge all of it away completely.

The cleansing will spread over the whole land and not stop at Jerusalem. God will pour out a spirit of holiness into all hearts. Even the closest family ties will not change this. The father and the mother will pierce their own children... They will not tolerate anyone using the name of the Lord to make room for the work of Satan, the father of lies.

In that day the truth will hold its rightful place in the hearts and consciences of God's people. It will be more precious to them than the dearest things on earth. The earth will see once more the sight of saints loving the Lord more than father or mother, husband or wife, or children. So they will hold fast to His word at any cost. As this scripture teaches, they will be the first to denounce anyone who tries to replace the truth of God with his own lying imaginations — even a person tied to them by the closest bond of all. (Compare Deuteronomy 13:6-11.)

God raised up prophets mainly because the priests in Israel had failed... Zechariah has shown us, however, that in the coming day there will be no more prophets. In that day, if anyone takes it on himself to prophesy, everyone will know at once that he "speaks lies" (Zech. 13:3). Christ Himself will take up the priestly work and carry it out in perfection. That will make the special gift or office of a prophet unnecessary.

When someone tries to pass as a prophet, his closest relatives must declare him false and be the first to pierce him through in solemn judgment. This shows that not everyone who enters the thousand years of blessing on earth will be born again. But judgment on acts of rebellion will be swift and decisive.

A lying spirit drives false prophets. They are not merely ignorant of the truth and following their own evil hearts; they are completely in the power and control of the evil one. Some may be sincere men of thought and intellect, the leading minds of the age. Whatever the world thinks of them, a lying spirit fuels and leads them... And who are these false prophets today? Those who deny what Scripture says about the atonement. Those who question whether the Scriptures are inspired. Those who are not sound on the truth of the person of our Lord. Those who in any way undermine the foundations of Christianity and try to put their own thoughts in the place of the truth of God. These are the false prophets of modern days.

"I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, so that they shall be remembered no more. And also I will remove from the land the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness." God now weighs everything that was offensive to His character... Think how many and how grave the defilements, uncleanness and false prophesying were in the days of Antichrist! False Christs and false prophets had abounded then. All this will now be completely purged out.

Zechariah 13:4-5 shows that a rough or hairy garment was the mark of a prophet. King Ahaziah was sick, and he asked what kind of man had met his messengers. They replied that "he wore a garment of hair, with a belt of leather about his waist" (2 Kings 1:8). The king knew at once that this described Elijah the prophet. John the Baptist also wore "a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist" (Matthew 3:4).

"Resist the devil, and he will flee from you". So when God's people set their faces against the false prophets, the false prophets will disappear. If any stay under the power of Satan and still have their visions, they will no longer boast of it as before. They will be ashamed, and will lay aside the garment of hair that marked their office. For in truth the calling of the prophet will be gone — and God's people will know it.

Elijah and John the Baptist wore such garments. With them the garment matched the stern self-judgment that marked them, and their genuine mourning over the state of the people they prophesied to. Prophecy usually came because the people were in a poor state. But prophecy and mourning will be out of place when the Lord Jesus brings in the thousand years of peace.

When the Messiah has come, and the law is written in the hearts of the people, and they receive a heart of flesh in place of the heart of stone, they will delight to walk in the ways of the Lord. Then the prophet will have no more place. So restored and converted Israel will know at once that anyone who claims to have seen visions is not a prophet of the LORD, and, having the mind of the Lord, they will carry out judgment on them.

But the prophets themselves will be ashamed of the part they have played. They dressed as true prophets — a hairy cloak — to do the work of Satan (v. 4). Sadly, such false prophets, with their look and their habits, are not only in Israel. They appear in our own day too, among all peoples to whom God has entrusted His name and testimony.

Many earnest believers are led astray when the followers of a movement put on a costume of extreme piety. But the word of God warns us not to be deceived by it. Ravenous wolves will come in sheep's clothing (Matthew 7:15). False prophets wear a hairy cloak to deceive (Zechariah 13:4). Servants of Satan disguise themselves as servants of righteousness (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).

This may be a simple enough meaning; but it certainly gives a poor sense of verse 6. Others therefore apply it to Christ. This is a difficult passage, because it brings in Christ so abruptly.

At first it would seem that the words "he shall say" referred to the false prophets in the previous verse. But the language that follows makes this impossible. The question then arises: who is the speaker? Look at the sixth verse, and you see at once that it could be no other than the Messiah Himself... The mention of the false prophets brings Christ forward. He is the One through whose work, tied as it is to His rejection, all these blessings will be inherited. He is also the One who had been the Prophet among them, according to Deuteronomy 18, but whose words they would not receive.

Amos said, "I was no prophet" — he became one later (Amos 7:14-15). Christ did not speak that way. He said, "I am no prophet." This means that He acted here in an entirely different character. Beyond doubt, Christ has been a prophet, just as He has been a teacher and evangelist. He combined in His person all spiritual gifts.

In verse 5 read, "I am no prophet, but a worker of the soil; for man [Adam] has acquired me as a slave from my youth." That is to say, Christ takes the humble position of One devoted to the service of man. He takes that place in the condition sin brought Adam into — that is, in His position as a man living in this world.

He presented Himself here, and Jehovah called Him "My Shepherd." He was willing to subject Himself to the results of sin. He took the place given to man because of his disobedience. With sorrow He did His work, suffered hunger in the wilderness, felt tired and thirsty at Sychar's well... He humbled Himself and took the form of a slave (Philippians 2:7). He became the slave of man — the very man He had created, who was in rebellion against God! He let man buy Him, giving man rights over Him even from His youth, so as to serve man. Never was such self-denial seen!

Refused from the very start, He became a farmer — a sower of seed (Matthew 13), a vinedresser (Luke 13). In a word, He became the servant of man for the glory of God.

Even the position of Joseph under an Egyptian master may remind us of Zechariah's words: "Man acquired me as a slave from my youth." I believe, with others, that these words are meant of Christ. Here, notice, it is not Israel: the lowly service to which He has stooped has the widest scope. Of course He is at the same time, and always, Jehovah's perfect servant. Far from clashing with His service to man, that is what involved it.

The Lord Jesus, in marvellous grace, devoted Himself from the outset to the service of man. He took the slave's place so that He could truly serve those He loved. But wounds and bruises were His reward. His hands were pierced in the house of those He had so devotedly befriended. The cross was man's shameful answer to unselfish love that only wanted to serve.

Verses 5 and 6 present a difficult problem. Some take them as referring to one of the false prophets, just mentioned. Others go back to the true Shepherd, spoken of in the previous chapter and again very clearly in verse 7. We are inclined to agree with this second view.

Who is the person mentioned in verse six? In Studies in Zechariah we call this man the counterfeit Christ, who imitates the true Christ. But after more careful thought we have concluded that this view cannot stand. It is Christ Himself. He is here contrasted with the false prophets. It is the Pierced One.

Man had acquired Him as a slave from His youth. Compare the Hebrew servant in Exodus 21. He was the slave of all, all the more because He was the perfect servant of God.

Here we see that He will personally present Himself to His own. Earlier they had seen Him through faith, Him whom they had pierced (Zech. 12:10). Just as Thomas once did after His resurrection, they will be able to touch Him, for they will see Him in His resurrection body. They will confirm what the prophet said of Him: "They have pierced My hands and My feet" (Ps. 22:17).

What a contrast! In love He had become the servant of man. For His love He received hatred, rejection, and crucifixion — and this, as He explains, in the house of His friends. According to the flesh, He was a Jew, Son of David, heir of the promises. As such He came into the house of His friends… He cannot hide His love for His people. He shows the wounds He received while among them, and still says, "the house of my friends." Truly, blessed Lord, Your love is both unchangeable and unquenchable!

What did He get? Wounds! He was wounded in the house of His friends… In this expression, "the house of My friends," we see His unalterable love for His people. How often a flood of light comes out in a single word.

If He is simply a servant, why such wounds? The one who asks clearly knows nothing of the crucifixion of this blessed Servant of God, who had served man so kindly in his deepest need. The question could not come from Judah. Judah was guilty of Christ's crucifixion, and Zechariah 12:10-14 shows Judah in deep repentance before anyone asks this question. So it seems likely that the question comes from among the ten tribes who will return to the land about this time.

In chapter 13:5 we see Christ, the servant of man, the rejected one of the Jews, and the smitten of Jehovah… It then appears that it was among His friends that He had been wounded in His hands. And the great secret of all comes out: He is Jehovah's fellow, and smitten of Him. Note: where people acknowledge Christ as God, He calls the saints His fellows; and where, as here, He is in deepest humiliation, God calls Him His fellow.

Oh, what brokenness of heart and moving of love this will give… This will be the grand moment of discovery for Israel. Their glorious Messiah is the very Jesus who died for their sins. Oh, think of the hour of His sufferings. Then think of these words of love: "Those I received in the house of my friends." These burning words of love will melt every heart. Reader, it is through this same precious Jesus that forgiveness of sins is preached to us. The same precious blood cleanses us from all sin.

Then a still more solemn voice is heard. It is not wolves now, but God... The "sword" here is no harder to understand than in Zechariah 11:17, where it stands for the judgment of the worthless shepherd. In both places it pictures a violent end of life. But how deep the contrast! Jehovah Himself gives Him up to complete humiliation and rejection... We must remember that the hatred of the Jews against the Messiah, however great, could have achieved nothing unless Jehovah allowed it for His own mighty purposes. And this He did.

Of whom is Jehovah of hosts speaking? Of His beloved Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ... Jehovah calls Him "My fellow." He is therefore divine. In no sense and at no time was He ever inferior to Him. "I and My Father are one," He said in the days of His flesh — one in majesty, power, wisdom and glory. But Jehovah of hosts calls Him "the man." He became this in His grace.

This prophetic word was certainly spoken about our Lord Jesus Christ, for He quoted it and applied it to Himself on the night of His betrayal... The Lord of Hosts speaks of Him as "the Man that is My fellow," which surely carries the meaning of equality. But I suggest it means more than that; it means absolute accord with God's thoughts and will. He was God's Fellow, answering to every desire in the heart of God, as a well-tuned harp answers to the touch of a master's fingers.

But the smiting of the Shepherd expresses His utter humiliation as Messiah, cut off and having nothing. "I will smite" refers to God giving the Lord up to feel the reality of His rejection and death. "Smiting" is a broader term. Christ takes it from God, yet His enemies did the deed... Does that mighty work of suffering for our sins, does the atonement, "scatter" the sheep? Is it not, on the contrary, the only righteous foundation on which they are gathered?

Israel as a nation were God's sheep, and their sins and turning away had a twofold effect. It stirred up God's governmental retribution in this world, and the prophet had much to say about that. It also raised the far more serious matter of God's eternal judgment in the life to come. The true Shepherd was to meet that in such a way that Jehovah's sword was to awake against Him. The persistent sins of the faithless sheep had awakened that sword, and it was to smite not them but the holy Shepherd.

First, the sheep are scattered. This came true to the letter on the night He was arrested. All His disciples, the men who had acknowledged Him as the Shepherd of Israel, left Him and fled. In another way, we cannot doubt, it has also come true in the scattering of the Jews across the whole earth... He came to gather His sheep. But the people refused to listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd, and He was smitten. So God in His government scattered the flock.

What a sweet thought it must have been to the Lord's heart, that if He was smitten, God would turn His hand upon the little ones. If wrath came on Him and the sheep were scattered, there was that drop of sweetness at the bottom of the cup... God's hand turned on the little ones — not one of them ever lost. Where were Mary, John, Peter? God knew where they were, and they would all turn up unharmed. God gave them to this Shepherd, and kept them for Him.

If we turn to Isaiah 1:25 we find the same expression, "I will turn My hand." The context there shows that the turning of His hand means blessing, while for His adversaries there is judgment. If we read the closing chapters of the Gospels and the opening chapters of Acts, we see God turning His hand in blessing on the "little ones."

We judge it clear that the whole present interval of grace comes in between the seventh and eighth verses. Judgment, and terrible judgment, did fall on the Jewish nation some thirty or forty years after the death of Christ. But nothing then happened like the bringing of a third part through the fire into relationship with God. So we must look for this word to be fulfilled in the future, when the Jews are back in their land in unbelief and God takes up His dealings with them again... Then God will deal with them for their sin in rejecting their Messiah.

In Ezekiel 20:34, 38, we learn how God will deal with the people scattered throughout the nations, purging them before He brings them into the land for blessing. Here we learn what He will do to such as may be left "in all the land", in the last days. Judgment will fall on two-thirds of them, and only a third will come through into blessing.

There is almost universal decline and apostasy. The Jews as a whole give up all the truth that was their own. Yet despite the idolatry among them, and the terrible power of the enemy against them, led by the antichrist and the beast, God has, as He always will have, a witness to Himself in this "third part."

Scripture does teach that Jacob, or Israel, is chosen for the earth. It teaches that they will be blessed as a nation, since God never takes back His gifts and His calling. But that says nothing about their souls being saved. The plain testimonies point the other way... Zechariah 13:8-9 is just as clear: only a remnant is spared from the great tribulation. And note, these statements belong to the time when it is said that all Israel — not all the Israelites — will be saved.

It is humiliating to read the comments even of a man like Calvin. He starts by wrongly confusing the church with the Jews in a passage like this: "For when three hundred shall profess to worship God, one hundred only, says Zechariah, shall be saved." Not so. Only a mistaken interpreter says that. He applies to the church in general what is really said of the Jews in their final crisis.

The dross must perish, and what is precious must be refined and tried. God's people must go through trouble.

Here God deals with Judah in the land for the rejection of Christ. This is not like Israel, who, as we have seen, was dealt with for idolatry... "They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, 'They are my people' (Ammi); and they will say, 'The LORD is my God.'" This cancels the earlier sentence: "Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God" (Hosea 1:9).

We judge it clear that the whole present time of grace belongs between verse seven and verse eight. Terrible judgment did fall on the Jewish nation some thirty or forty years after the death of Christ. But nothing then brought a third part through the fire into relationship with God. So we must look for this word to come true in the future. By then the Jews will be back in their land in unbelief, and God will take up His dealings with them again.

God clears the transgressors out of the ten tribes before they come into the land (Ezek. 20:33-38). He clears the transgressors out of the Jews while they are in the land (Zech. 13:8-9, and many other passages).

This only expresses the full confidence they reach after purification. But He refines them because they are already "silver." No one ever refined into silver something that was not silver, and that is not what happens here.

The hand of God will be on them in severe chastening, as a father chastens his child. This is to refine the silver, for that is what fire does. It separates the dross from the true silver or from the gold. Then the pure metal can shine in all its brightness and delight the great Refiner… The same fire that refines and purifies believers will burn up unbelievers, for there is nothing of pure silver in them.

The dross must perish, and what is precious must be refined and tried. His people must go through trouble… It is humbling to read the comments even of a man like Calvin. He starts with a mistake, confusing the church with the Jews in a passage like this: "For when three hundred shall profess to worship God, only one hundred, says Zechariah, shall be saved." Not so. Only a mistaken interpreter says that. He applies to the church in general what is really said of the Jews in their last crisis.

This third part will go through the fire of the Great Tribulation, of which the Psalms and the prophets so often speak. Then they will call upon Him out of the depth.

He will hear them and answer with the cheering word, "This is My people." For centuries God had disowned Israel for their rebellion and called them "not My people" (Hosea 1:9). Then Israel will say with a whole heart, "The Lord is my God." They once rejected the Lord Jesus, but they will say what Thomas said when he saw His wounded hands and side: "My Lord and my God" (John 20:26-28).

Two-thirds are killed, while the remaining third pass through a fire of tribulation heated seven times over. Those are the circumstances in which "the remnant" will come to call on Jehovah's name, and He will acknowledge them as His people. At last, when these troubles reach their worst, the Lord appears. He overthrows the adversaries, He delivers the remnant, and millennial blessedness comes in.