Zechariah 13:1-9

God remembers his promises

Zechariah

Gordon Churchyard

Chapter 13

v1 ‘In that day, a fountain will become open. (It will be) for the family of David and for everybody that lives in Jerusalem. It will remove their *sin and whatever makes them unholy.

v2 And this (is what) will happen in that day’, says the *LORD of Everything. ‘I will destroy the false gods in the country. People will not continue to remember them. And I will make the *prophets and the bad spirits leave the country. v3 And if anyone still *prophesies, his father and his own mother will say this. “You must die, because you told lies in the name of the *LORD.” When he *prophesies, his father and his own mother will *pierce him. v4 And this will happen on that day. Every *prophet will become ashamed of his *prophecy. And he will not wear rough clothes in order to cheat people. v5 He will say, “I am not a *prophet. I am a farmer. I have worked on my farm since I was young.” v6 If anybody asks him, “Where did you get these injuries on your body?” he will say (this). “I got them at the home of my friends”.’

Notes

Verse 1 This verse links Zechariah 12:10-14 to 13:2-6. It mentions the family of David (12:12). And it mentions the evil things in the country (13:2-6). The *Hebrew words suggest that water will flow from the fountain continuously. It will never stop.

So the people will become holy again. It will be as if God was washing away the *sin of murder from people, Zechariah 12:10. And they will not remain unholy, Zechariah 13:2-6. ‘Unholy’ is a technical word in the *Hebrew Bible. For example, the birth of a baby made women unholy, Leviticus 12:2; Ezekiel 18:6 tells us that there were also other reasons that made people unholy. It was not a *sin. But unholy people could not go to the *temple. There are things to do in Leviticus to remove this unholy state.

The fountain shows us that God will forgive the people. And he will make them holy.

Verses 2-6 The words ‘false gods’ and ‘bad spirits’ in verse 2 suggest that the *prophet is a false *prophet. He says whatever the bad spirits from the false gods tell him to say. When the *LORD destroys the false gods, the false *prophet pretends that he is a farmer! Even his parents say that they will kill him. *Prophets wore rough clothes, like Elijah, 2 Kings 1:8 and John the *Baptist, Matthew 3:4. The injuries on his body probably came from a meeting of false *prophets. The *Hebrew Bible says that these injuries are ‘between his hands’. False *prophets would cut each other with knives as they became excited! No *New Testament writer says that this is a *prophecy of the injuries in Jesus’ hands. Jesus was not a false *prophet.

v7 This is what the *LORD of Everything says (to his sword). ‘Sword, wake up against my *shepherd! (Wake up) against the man that is close to me! Strike the *shepherd and scatter the sheep. And I will lift my hand against the little ones.’

v8 And the *LORD says, ‘In the whole country, an enemy will strike two out of every three (people) and kill them. Only one in every three (people) will remain in (the country).

v9 I will bring this one-in-three into the fire. And I will make them as pure as (people make) silver (pure). I will test them as (people) test gold. They will pray to me and I will answer them. I will say, “They are my people.” And they will say “The *LORD is our God”.’

Notes

Verse 7 These words remind us of Isaiah 53:10, ‘It pleased the *LORD to bruise him.’ ‘My *shepherd’ is ‘the man that is close to me’. For Christians, this *shepherd and this man are both Jesus. The sheep are the *LORD’s people. The death of Jesus scattered many of them, ‘Lift my hand’ means ‘hurt’ or ‘hit’. When Jesus died, it hurt Mary, Luke 2:35. Notice the *Hebrew poetry, where the second line says the same as the first:

Strike the *shepherd	And scatter the sheep
I will lift my hand	Against the little ones

If we use the *historical, church, *eschatological (chapter 12) idea, then it may mean this. The Church will suffer difficult times before Jesus returns to the earth.

Verse 8 Bible students are not sure to what this refers. This verse may also describe the terrible time before Jesus returns.

Verse 9 People use fire to make gold and silver pure. Fire burns away the rubbish. Fire here means difficult times. It will be as if the fire is ‘burning away’ the rubbish from God’s people. They will suffer troubles. But God is working in their lives. He will make them more holy (1 Peter 1:6-7).

Something to do

1. Study these verses about fountains and rivers:

• the fountain (or waters) of life, Psalms 36:10;

• the fountain of *living water, Jeremiah 2:13;

• the river of life, Ezekiel 47:1-12; Joel 3:18; Psalms 46:4; Zechariah 14:8.

2. Read Psalms 12 about how silver becomes pure.

3. Add to your *table after chapter 9 (Something to do number 2) Matthew 26:31 and Mark 6:34.

4. Read John 10:1-42. Then try to answer this question: Did Jesus think about Zechariah 13:7 when he said this?

sin ~ something that is against God’s rules; or to do what is against God’s rules; evil deeds.
lord ~ someone in authority; ‘my lord’ means ‘sir’. With a capital L, a name for God.
LORD ~ the covenant name for God that his servants use.
covenant ~ an agreement. God’s covenant with his people was a special agreement.
prophet ~ someone who tells people what God is saying.
prophesy ~ tell people what God is saying.
pierce ~ stick a knife or a sword into.
prophecy ~ words that a prophet speaks.
prophet ~ someone who tells people what God is saying.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke.
Jew ~ a person who is born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
temple ~ a special house for God (in Jerusalem) or a house for false gods (in places like Babylon).
prophet ~ someone who tells people what God is saying.
Baptist ~ a Baptist puts a person under water or puts water on a person; it is to show that they want to obey Christ.'New Testament ~ the second part of the Bible, which the writers wrote after Jesus came.
shepherd ~ a sheep farmer.
historical ~ about past events.
eschatological ~ about what will happen when Jesus returns to earth at the end of time. Eschatology is the study of this.'living water ~ water that gives life. See Psalms 46:4-5; Ezekiel 47:1-12 and John 7:38.
table ~ a number of boxes to show information clearly.