Zechariah 13 (Contemporary English Version)
- In the future there will be a fountain, where David's descendants and the people of Jerusalem can wash away their sin and guilt.
- The LORD All-Powerful says: When that time comes, I will get rid of every idol in the country, and they will be forgotten forever. I will also do away with their prophets and those evil spirits that control them.
- If any such prophets ever appear again, their own parents must warn them that they will die for telling lies in my name--the name of the LORD. If those prophets don't stop speaking, their parents must then kill them with a sword.
- Those prophets will be ashamed of their so-called visions, and they won't deceive anyone by dressing like a true prophet.
- Instead, they will say, "I'm no prophet. I've been a farmer all my life."
- And if any of them are asked why they are wounded, they will answer, "It happened at the house of some friends."
- The LORD All-Powerful said: My sword, wake up! Attack my shepherd and friend. Strike down the shepherd! Scatter the little sheep, and I will destroy them.
- Nowhere in the land will more than a third of them be left alive.
- Then I will purify them and put them to the test, just as gold and silver are purified and tested. They will pray in my name, and I will answer them. I will say, "You are my people," and they will reply, "You, LORD, are our God!"
Along with the cleansing from idolatry will be a removal of false prophets. This comes also with the removal of "the unclean spirit from the land." It would seem the two go together. Deuteronomy prescribes the death penalty for false prophets and that seems to come into play here where the closest of kin, the parents, enforce this law. Verse 3 says of the false prophet, "His father and his mother who bore him will say to him: You cannot remain alive because you have spoken falsely in the name of the LORD." Actually, verse 2 says, "I will remove the prophets," as if all prophets will be removed. But then, at Christ's Second Advent there will be no need for prophecy and it may be that any prophet will be a false prophet. The attitude at that time will be so strong against prophecy that no one will want to even have the appearance of a prophet.
Verses 7-9 seem to move backward in time to Christ's First Advent. Verse 7 speaks of the Lord striking His shepherd which may be a reference to Christ's crucifixion. Following this striking of the shepherd the sheep, Israel, will be scattered and the Lord will turn His hand against them. This is thought to refer to events following Christ's crucifixion on up to His Second Advent. During this intervening period Israel will be scattered, two-thirds will be cut off and die, and a third will be left. This remaining third will be purified by fire as silver and gold are refined.
It is difficult with the jumping around of time periods and events to get a concise picture of events, but if we unite this scenario with the conclusion of chapter 12 and the opening of this 13th chapter it may be this remaining one-third of Israel that is present at Christ's Second Advent when Jerusalem is surrounded by all the nations and Israel is delivered by the Messiah and mourns over their previous rejection of Him. It is even possible that the siege of Jerusalem is a part of this trial by fire that purifies the people.
From the time of the Lord's covenant with Abraham He envisioned the time when Israel would "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." Although there were glimpses of this during the Old Testament period, they were short glimpses. But following Christ's Second Advent and the purifying of Israel by fire and her mourning over her rejection of the Messiah at His First Advent, God's vision for Israel may finally be fulfilled.
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