Reflections on Zechariah 13

 Zechariah 13  (Contemporary English Version)

1. In the future there will be a fountain, where David's descendants and the people of Jerusalem can wash away their sin and guilt.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Those prophets will be ashamed of their so-called visions, and they won't deceive anyone by dressing like a true prophet.
5. Instead, they will say, "I'm no prophet. I've been a farmer all my life."
6. And if any of them are asked why they are wounded, they will answer, "It happened at the house of some friends."
7. 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.
8. Nowhere in the land will more than a third of them be left alive.
9. 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!"

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Zechariah began an oracle in the previous chapter that continues into chapter 13. The phrase, "On that day," continues to be used frequently in the oracle, a phrase that refers to the day of the Lord at the end of time. In the previous chapter we read of the Lord's protection for Israel through a time of great tribulation when all the nations of the world are against the nation. As we come to this chapter, that time is past and it is now a time of cleansing from sin for Israel. For the cleansing "a fountain will be opened for the house of David." (V. 1) This fountain was opened at Calvary, but Israel will be just then, on the day of the Lord, taking advantage of it. Witnessing the amazing way God delivers them through the time of tribulation, they are ready to accept Jesus as their Messiah.

Israel's cleansing will include ridding the nation of idolatry and false prophets, sins that have greatly plagued Israel. On that day, the Lord will "erase the names of the idols from the land." There will be no more remembrance of them. Also on that day, false prophets and unclean spirits will be removed from the land. As prescribed in Deuteronomy 18:20, in that day, false prophets will be put to death. The vigilance against false prophets will be so great that any who have practiced it will lie and say they are farmers if asked what he does.

Verse 7 is thought to be a Messianic reference. The Lord commanding the sword to strike "My shepherd" being reference to offering His Son on the cross. When He died the sheep were scattered. This scattering could be a reference to the scattering of the Jews in A.D. 70 when Jerusalem was destroyed by Rome. And they have been scattered ever since. The refining of Jews described in Vv. 8 & 9 with only a third surviving suggests that the awakening of the Jews on that day to accept Jesus as Messiah will happen for only a third of them.