Zechariah 13:9

And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. IN ALL THE LAND, SAITH THE LORD, TWO PARTS THEREIN SHALL BE CUT OFF ... BUT THE THIRD SHALL BE LEFT. Two-thirds of the Jewish nation were to perish in the Roman wars, and a third to survive (Henderson). Probably, from the context (Zechariah 14:2), which has never yet been fulfilled, the destruction of the two-thirds [ piy (H6310) shªnayim (H8147)] - literally, the proportion of two, or, the portion of two-and the saving of the remnant, the one-third, are still future, and to be fulfilled under Antichrist. Verse 9. And I will bring...

Zechariah proceeds further here, that when God shall cut off two parts of the people, he will yet save the third for this end — that it might be proved by various kinds of trials, and be made to bear many afflictions. With regard to the two parts, the Lord did not afflict them in order to turn them to repentance, but resolved wholly to destroy them. The third part then is reserved for salvation; and yet it is necessary even for them to be cleansed through many afflictions. Very useful is this doctrine; for we hence first conclude that many, not only from the world, are led into perdition, but also from the bosom of the Church: for when three hundred shall profess to worship God, one hundred only, says Zechariah, will be saved. There are always among the people many hypocrites; nay, the grains lie hid in the midst of much chaff and refuse; it is therefore necessary to devote to ruin and e...

7-9 Here is a prophecy of the sufferings of Christ. God the Father gave order to the sword of his justice to awake against his Son, when he freely made his soul an offering for sin. As God, he is called "my Fellow." Christ and the Father are one. He is the Shepherd who was to lay down his life for the sheep. If a Sacrifice, he must be slain, for without shedding of the life-blood there was no remission. This sword must awake against him, yet he had no sin of his own to answer for. It may refer to the whole of Christ's sufferings, especially his agonies in the garden and on the cross, when he endured unspeakable anguish till Divine justice was fully satisfied. Smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. This passage our Lord Jesus declares was fulfilled, when all his disciples, in the night wherein he was betrayed, forsook him and fled. It has, and shall have its accomplishment...

Verse Zechariah 13:9. _I WILL BRING THE THIRD PART THROUGH THE FIRE_] The _Christian Church_ shall endure a great fight of afflictions, by which they shall be refined-not consumed. _THEY SHALL CALL ON MY NAME_] In this way shall they offer all their prayers and supplications to God. _I WILL SAY, IT_ IS _MY PEOPLE_] The Church that I have chosen in the place of the Jews who have filled up the measure of their iniquity. _AND THEY SHALL SAY, THE LORD_ IS _MY GOD_] And thus _communion_ shall be established between me and them for ever. Thus there shall be a general restoration....

I WILL BRING THE THIRD PART THROUGH THE FIRE - Such is always God’s ways. “Thou hast proved us, O God; Thou hast tried us, like as silver is tried. Thou broughtest us into the snare, Thou laidest trouble upon our loins: we went through fire and water, and Thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place” Psalms 66:9. “I have refined thee, but not with silver, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction” Isaiah 48:10; and, “Through much tribulation we must enter into the kingdom of God” Acts 14:22. Dionysius: “In adversity virtue is most tried, and it is shown what advance a person has made; for ‘patience’ hath ‘a perfect work’...

EXPOSITION ZECHARIAH 13:1 § 3._ This repentance will lead to purification from past defilement, and a reaction against idolatry and false prophet._ ZECHARIAH 13:1 IN THAT DAY. At the time when the great mourning (Zechariah 12:1.) takes place, or, more generally, in the Messianic period, when all these things shall be fulfilled. SHALL BE A FOUNTAIN OPENED, etc. Shah be opened and continue open. The allusion is to the lustral rites practised in the consecration of the Levites, who were to have "water of sin" sprinkled on them, and to "the water of separation," or "water of uncleanness" (the word found i

AND I WILL BRING THE THIRD PART THROUGH THE FIRE,.... Into tribulation, as the Targum explains it; or into great distresses, comparable to fire, as Kimchi observes; this is the hour of temptation that will be in the Philadelphian church state, Revelation 3:10. Daniel's time of trouble, such as there never was since there was a nation, Daniel 12:1 and the time of the slaying of the witnesses, Revelation 11:7: AND WILL REFINE THEM AS SILVER IS REFINED, AND WILL TRY THEM AS GOLD IS TRIED; their graces, principles, and profession, will be tried; their dross and tin will be removed, and they will be purged and purified; a more pure and glorious state of the church will take place, in which there will

Zechariah 13:1. _In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and uncleanness._ They shall see that pardon when they have truly seen their sin. When once the foulness of their transgression is perceived, then the fount, sin of cleansing shall be perceived, too. No man ever knows the preciousness of the God given remedy till he has felt the force of the terrible disease. No one by faith plunges into the crystal fount of perfect cleansing without first lamenting the filthiness which needs to be removed. Zechariah 13:2. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets

CHAPTER 13 _ 1. The cleansing (Zechariah 13:1) _ 2. The blessed results of the cleansing (Zechariah 13:2) 3. The smitten Shepherd (Zechariah 13:7) 4. Salvation and condemnation (Zechariah 13:8) Zechariah 13:1. This verse is misplaced; it belongs to the preceding chapter. It is a prophecy of the cleansing of the repenting portion of God's earthly people. The fountain of cleansing, so beautifully expressed by Cowper: There is a fountain filled with blood, Drawn from Immanuel's veins, And sin

A short fragment, parallel partly to Zechariah 11:15 and partly to Zechariah 14. The man of the Lord's fellow ship can scarcely be anyone but a High Priest. For smite read as in Mark 14:27, I will smite. There is no actual condemnation of the shepherd, and it is difficult to say whether Onias or Menelaus is referred to. In Zechariah 13:8 f. the harrying of the Jewish population in the Maccabæ an struggle is described. The writer esti mates that two-thirds perished. The survivors had indeed passed through the fire, and their fiery trial had not been in vain. From 141 B.C. onward there was no fear of Judah's lapsing into idolatry....