Zechariah 13:1-9

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 for uncleanness.

In the day that Christ died for his people, the fountain of living water would be opened for all the Elect of God.  And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.  (Revelation 21:6)  It is the water of the gospel which will go forth from the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Christ. It will go throughout the whole world.  The house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem are referring to the true believers.  Christ was in the lineage of David who was in the lineage of Abraham.  And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.  (Ezekiel 37:24)  Ezekiel was written about 400 years after David had died so here David is another name for the Lord Jesus Christ.  The inhabitants of Jerusalem are all the believers in the world who will become saved which makes them part of the New Jerusalem.  The gospel has the ability to remove sins and clean up the souls of all the Elect readying them for Heaven the moment they become saved.  As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.  (Psalm 103:12) It is also interesting to note that the body of believers is also called “a house.”  But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.  (Hebrews 3:6)  So every true believer is in the house of David since the name David is also another name of Christ.  David means “beloved.” 

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 and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.

In ancient times there was always a plethora of idols such as Moloch, Astarte, Baal and many others which the Israelites had followed but there is going to come a time when the true gospel will be preached and those who are the elect within national Israel will come to the truth and realize that these false idols are nothing but the imagination of the people and when they go to serve the Lord, then those idols will not even be thought of since they had the truth in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Then those false prophets who will continue to harass the people with false gospels and even trying to Judaize the church by making them follow the law of Moses in circumcision which is adding works to grace will be cut off from the land and the unclean spirit which is Satan himself will pass out of the land which can also be a synonym of being expelled from the hearts and lives of those who are truly saved.  Demon possession will also be a thing of the past as the indwelling Holy Spirit will free every true believer who was previously demon-possessed.

Zechariah 13:3

And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the LORD: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth.

Then there is going to come a time when the truth of the gospel will be much more important than family ties.  If a member of a family who is saved begins to start believing and teaching false doctrine then the parents of that person will remove them from the home since speaking lies, which false doctrines are, must be challenged and dealt with.  In ancient times, false prophets were dealt with harshly even killed just like Hananiah who prophesied to Judah that the Babylonian captivity would only be two years instead of seventy.  God struck him and he died that same year.  So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.  (Jeremiah 28:17)  False gospels always come to the people in the name of the LORD just as the cults do today when they twist the scriptures and then say God said this or God said that.  The ultimate death for those who follow the false gospels will be eternal damnation.

Zechariah 13:4

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive:

When the false prophets begin to prophesy their false visions and when those visions do not come to pass they will be caught speaking false teachings and they will be shamed.  They may also be placed in a state of confusion simply because Satan will continue to give false visions as he does today.  Many in the charismatic movement believe they have visions and dreams but when they do not come to pass, they will be shamed and confounded and be found to be false teachers.  The ancient prophets did not come in soft clothing or drive a BMW like the false prophets do today but they wore clothing which was commensurate with their calling.  The false prophets of ancient days would try to wear the same outfits that John and Elijah wore to make themselves seem authentic.  The wardrobe of Elijah and John the Baptizer are below:

And they answered him, He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.  (2 Kings 1:8)

And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.  (Matthew 3:4)

Zechariah 13:5

But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am an husbandman; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.

Then the subtlety of the false prophet will come out as they claim that they are not prophets but instead they are husbandmen which work in the fields and with their hands for a living.  They will try to imitate the true prophet Amos who was called by God out his profession as a herdsman.  The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.  (Amos 1:1)  Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit:  (Amos 7:14)  The false prophet will proclaim that he has been a keeper of cattle and that has been his only profession since he was a child.

Zechariah 13:6

And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.

This verse is not a reference to Christ because the thread is speaking about a false prophet who is trying to gain ascendency among the people.  The question which is being posed is about the wounds in his hands.  One of the tenets of false religions is they believe in bloodletting.  When Elijah challenged the 450 prophets of Baal, one of the most glaring parts of their ceremony in trying to contact Baal was the fact they cut themselves till they bled.  And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.  (1 Kings 18:28)  That is why this person is being questioned about the wounds in his hands because the people want no more to do with false religions and idol worship.  This person will then deny that anything associated with false religions had caused these wounds.  He will claim he received those wounds from friends he associated with.  In ancient times a person may have grief in their life and will cut themselves.  For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped: upon all the hands shall be cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth.  (Jeremiah 48:37)  Even the day we live in there are people who cut themselves and when they face grief they cut themselves more profusely.

Zechariah 13:7

Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.

Now Zechariah makes a prophecy about the time of the cross as he speaks about the sword coming against the shepherd.  Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.  (Matthew 26:31)  God the Father here is referring to Christ as “my fellow” as he is also stating that he is basically commanding the sword to go against his fellow.  “Awake” would refer to the fact that the time has come and now it is time to smite the shepherd so the fountain will be able to go forth from Jerusalem.  Once the shepherd was smitten, then all the disciples who followed Christ in Jerusalem had scattered and went into hiding until the time of the resurrection and then Pentecost.  God then states that he will turn his hands upon the little ones which means that those in Christ will find favor in his sight in his love and although many may be martyred, there will be many who will take the message of the gospel out of Jerusalem and into the world.

Zechariah 13:8

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.

Here we read a verse which is pointing to the destruction of Jerusalem which will take place in 70 A.D.  The two thirds or the (.666) refer to all the unbelievers in Jerusalem at that time and the one third (.333) refer to the believers.  The one third and two third paradigm is used in the book of Revelation.  According to Josephus, all the true Christians left Jerusalem as the Lord had previously commanded them.

{16} Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:  {17} Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:  {18} Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.  (Matthew 24:16-18)

Since all the Christians had obeyed the Lord’s prophecy and command, not one Christian perished in the entire siege of Jerusalem.  Those Jews who rejected and hated the Lord Jesus Christ suffered greatly in the siege of Jerusalem and over a million Jews were killed and many taken to be slaves.

Zechariah 13:9

And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.

Here is a definite description of the true believer.  The third part is a synonym for the true believers who will go through the fires of judgment and the one who went through the fires of judgment was the Lord Jesus Christ.  And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.  (Revelation 1:15)  When silver is refined it goes through a process whereby all the tin and dross is removed and that is through fire.  This means that the true believer will face many trials and tribulations in their life but each one will refine them and make them a greater asset for the kingdom of God.  Each trial will create a purer Christian.  Then the Christian will be tried as gold.  The word “tried” carries with it the meaning of “investigated or examined.”  Gold is tried to make sure it is true gold and not fool’s gold which in this case would mean a false Christian.  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:  (1 Peter 1:7)