Hosea Chapter One s1

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ZECHARIAH

CHAPTER 13 – PURIFICATION FOR THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE

Zechariah 13

1 IN THAT day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem [to cleanse them from] sin and uncleanness. 2 And in that day, says the Lord of hosts, I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they shall no more be remembered; and also I will remove from the land the [false] prophets and the unclean spirit. 3 And if anyone again appears [falsely] as a prophet, then his father and his mother who bore him shall say to him, You shall not live, for you speak lies in the name of the Lord; and his father and his mother who bore him shall thrust him through when he prophesies. 4 And in that day the [false] prophets shall each be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies, nor will he wear a hairy or rough garment to deceive, 5 But he will [deny his identity and] say, I am no prophet. I am a tiller of the ground, for I have been made a bond servant from my youth. 6 And one shall say to him, What are these wounds on your breast or between your hands? Then he will answer, Those with which I was wounded [when disciplined] in the house of my [loving] friends. 7 Awake, O sword, against My shepherd and against the man who is My associate, says the Lord of hosts; smite the shepherd and the sheep [of the flock] shall be scattered, and I will turn back My hand and stretch it out again upon the little ones [of the flock]. [Matthew 26:31,32.] 8 And in all the land, says the Lord, two-thirds shall be cut off and perish, but one-third shall be left alive. [Hosea 2:23; Romans 11:5.]

9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined and will test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will hear and answer them. I will say, It is My people; and they will say, The Lord is my God. AMP

Zechariah 13:4; Zechariah 13:6

Cleansing and Refining

13:4. prophet's garment of hair. The distinctive prophet's cloak was most likely made of animal skin and was hairy in appearance, though not all cloaks were so made. Very little is said about prophetic garb in the ancient Near East, so comparison is difficult. It may be of interest that Assyrian inscriptions beginning at this period portray a few individuals wearing lion-headed cloaks. These individuals seem to be involved in ritual activities (dance) and accompany deity. It is guessed that they may be exorcists.

13:6. wounds on prophet's body. Self-laceration is evident in 1 Kings 18:28 as part of a mourning ritual performed by the prophets of Baal. In the Ugaritic literature the gods are portrayed as lacerating themselves when they hear of the death of Baal. Additionally an Akkadian wisdom text from Ugarit compares the blood-letting of mourning rites to that practiced by ecstatic prophets. Marks of self-flagellation would be indicative of practicing prophets.

Zechariah 13:6

a [And one shall say] The Messiah is here spoken of in contrast with the false prophets of Zechariah 13:1-5. This will yet be literally fulfilled when He will refer such people to the time of His sufferings and death, the time when these wounds were received (John 20:25; Colossians 2:14).

b [What are these wounds in thine hands?] Question 27. Last one in Zechariah.

ZECHARIAH CHAPTER THIRTEEN

c [wounded in the house] Several scriptures speak of the wounding of the Messiah (Isaiah 53:5; Colossians 2:14-17; 1 Peter 2:24).

d [my friends] What friends!

e [friends] Two kinds of friends:

1. Real and actual friends who follow and obey (John 15:13-15)

2. Potential friends — those who can become actual friends through the wounds given Him. Christ accepted these wounds and the sufferings of the cross to make it possible for them to become actual friends.

Fellow of Jehovah (Zech 13:7)

This verse stands wholly unconnected, unless we see it in the light of looking back from future glory to the time of His rejection and sufferings, when Isaiah 53 was fulfilled. The sword was to touch the life of One who was a Man and a Fellow of Jehovah (Zechariah 13:7). The Hebrew: for "fellow" is

(OT:5997), from a primitive root meaning to associate with; companionship; comrade; kindred man; another fellow of the same kind and nature. It proves that there is more than one manifestation of the Godhead.

Only here is the word translated "fellow"; elsewhere it is translated "another" (Leviticus 19:11; 25:17); and "neighbor" (Leviticus 6:2; 18:20; 19:11,15,17; 24:19; 25:14,15); but even these renderings uphold the idea that the reference is to another person of the same kind and nature. In this passage both persons are called "Lord" (Zechariah 13:7; 14:9). In Zechariah 13:6-7 Jehovah speaks of what Israel will say concerning the Messiah; in Zechariah 13:7 Jehovah calls the Messiah My Shepherd, the Man that is My Fellow, and says: smite the Shepherd (My shepherd, not Me) and the sheep shall be scattered: and I (the Lord of Hosts) will turn Mine hand upon the little ones. If the Lord calls another person My Shepherd and My Fellow, then there must be two manifestations of the one invisible God referred to.

Note: In the beginning God created a being called ‘The Word’ […the beginning of the creation of God; Revelation 3:14 and …with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. John 17:5] and by this being called the Word, God [the only one] created all things in existence [John 1:1, 3, 14; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:2] so by these verses we see that the Father [God] used the Word [who we now call Jesus] to create all things from heaven, hell to earth including mankind. It was the Word who created Adam and Eve and walked with them in the garden. John tells us in 1:14 that this word became flesh. And now we turn to the last page of the book and read, ‘And there shall be no more curse: but the throne [only one] of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him [not them, only him the one true God who as spirit fills the universe, but who as a man will sit on that throne.] Revelation 22:3. Jesus said ‘if you have seen me you have seen the Father.’ I believe Him. God said in the Old Testament, ‘there is no other god beside me, I know not of any.’ I also believe this. There is only one God who is manifested as:

1. The Father – the One true God.

2. The Son – God manifested in a human form.

3. The Holy Spirit – God’s Spirit that now fills us.

I think we do God disrespect by saying that there is three or two persons who are called God. What a foolish thought. Paul the Learner

ZECHARIAH CHAPTER THIRTEEN

13:2-6 Away with the prophets.

Although the removal of the idols is mentioned, the obvious emphasis is on the removal of the prophets. It is likely that a particular group or type of prophets is means. 4: The hairy mantle is an allusion to Elijah (see 2 Kings 1:8). 5: The language seems to allude in (Amos 7:14), but with a most significant shift that results in a possible association with Cain (see Genesis 4:2). 6: Possibly a reference to ecstatic prophecy. Jewish Study Bible

13:1 In that day a fountain shall be open to the House of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem for purging and cleansing. 2: In that day, too – declares the Lord of Hosts – I will erase the very names of the idols from the land; they shall not be uttered any more. And I will also make the “prophets” and the [unclean spirit – To which abnormal human behavior was attributed.] vanish from the land. 3: If anyone “prophesies” thereafter, his own father and mother, who brought him into the world, will say to him, “You shall die, for you have lied in the name of the Lord;” and his own father and mother, who brought him into the world, will put him to death when he “prophesies.” 4: In that day, every “prophet” will be ashamed of the “visions” (he had) when he “prophesied.” In order to deceive, [he – Hebrew “They.”] will not wear a hairy [mantle,- In imitation of Elijah; cf. 2 Kings 1:8]. 5: and he will declare, “I am not a ‘prophet;’ [I am a tiller of the soil; - I.e. I was addicted to wine like Noah, the tiller of the soil (cf. Genesis 9:20-21).] you see, [I was plied with the red stuff – Connecting ‘adam with ‘adom “red” (cf. Proverbs 23:31);] from my youth on.” Tanakh Hebrew Text in English

Zechariah 13:1-6

The penitential supplication of Israel will lead to a thorough renewal of the nation, since the Lord will open to the penitent the fountain of His grace for the cleansing away of sin and the sanctifying of life. V. 1. "In that day will a fountain be opened to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and uncleanness." As the Lord Himself pours out the spirit of supplication upon Israel, so does He also provide the means of purification from sin. A fountain is opened, when its stream of water bursts forth from the bosom of the earth (see Isaiah 41:18; 35:6). The water, which flows from the fountain opened by the Lord, is a water of sprinkling, with which sin and uncleanness are removed. The figure is taken partly:

1. From the water used for the purification of the Levites at their consecration, which is called chaTaa°t meey, sin-water, or alter of absolution, in Numbers 8:7,

2. And partly from the sprinkling-water prepared from the sacrificial ashes of the red heifer for purification from the defilement of death, which is called nidaah meey, water of uncleanness, i.e., water which removed uncleanness, in Numbers 19:9.

Just as bodily uncleanness is a figure used to denote spiritual uncleanness, the defilement of sin (cf. Psalms 51:9), so is earthly sprinkling-water a symbol of the spiritual water by which sin is removed. By this water we have to understand not only grace in general, but the spiritual sprinkling-water, which is prepared through the sacrificial death of Christ, through the blood that He shed for sin, and which is sprinkled upon us for the cleansing away of sin in the gracious water of baptism. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7; compare 5:6).

Verse 2-6. The house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem represent the whole nation here, as in Zechariah 12:10. This cleansing will be following by a new life in fellowship with God, since the Lord will remove everything that could hinder sanctification. This renewal of life and sanctification is described in vv. 2-7.

ZECHARIAH CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Zechariah 13:1-6

The new life in righteousness and holiness before God is depicted in an individualizing form as the extermination of idols and false prophets out of the holy land, because idolatry and false prophecy were the two principal forms in which ungodliness manifested itself in Israel. The allusion to idols and false prophets by no means points to the times before the captivity; for even of gross idolatry, and therefore false prophecy, did not spread any more among the Jews after the captivity, such passages as Nehemiah 6:10, where lying prophets rise up, and even priests contract marriages with Canaanitish and other heathen wives, from whom children sprang who could not even speak the Jewish language (Ezra 9:2 ff.; Nehemiah 13:23), show very clearly that the danger of falling back into gross idolatry was not a very remote one.

Moreover, the more refined idolatry of pharisaic self-righteousness and work-holiness took the place of the grosser idolatry, and the prophets generally depict the future under the forms of the past. The cutting off of the names of the idols denotes utter destruction (cf. Hosea 2:19). The prophets are false prophets, who either uttered the thoughts of their hearts as divine inspiration, or stood under the demoniacal influence of the spirit of darkness. This is evident from the fact that they are associated not only with idols, but with the "spirit of uncleanness." For this, the opposite of the spirit of grace (Zechariah 12:10), is the evil spirit which culminates in Satan, and works in the false prophets as a lying spirit (1 Kings 22:21-23; Revelation 16:13-14).

The complete extermination of this unclean spirit is depicted thus in vv. 3-6, that not only will Israel no longer tolerate any prophet in the midst of it (v. 3), but even the prophets themselves will be ashamed of their calling (vv. 4-6). The first case is to be explained from the law in Deuteronomy 13:6-11 and 18:20, according to which a prophet who leads astray to idolatry, and one who prophesies in his own name or in the name of false gods, are to be put to death. This commandment will be carried out by the parents upon any one who shall prophesy in the future. They will pronounce him worthy of death as speaking lies, and inflict the punishment of death upon him (dâqar, used for putting to death, as in c. Zechariah 12:10). This case, that a man is regarded as a false prophet and punished in consequence, simply because he prophesies, rests upon the assumption that at that time there will be no more prophets, and that God will not raise them up or send them any more.