Bible Commentaries
Zechariah 13

Verses 1-9

1. WATER OF CLEANSING! (13:1-6)
   1. A FOUNTAIN! (1-6)
   2. (1) There was a man in England in the early 1700’s. His mom died when he was only 6, he said everyday he mourned his mothers death. He studied Law, when it came for his final before the bar it frightened him so bad it caused him mental breakdown & he even attempted suicide.
      
      Later he was placed in an insane asylum for 18 months. 1 day while detained he read in Rom.3:25 (regarding Jesus Christ)“set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;” Through reading he realized a personal relationship w/Christ& a sense of forgiveness of sin at age 33. Soon after his conversion he experienced mental recovery.
      1. He went on to write hymns & teamed up w/John Newton(the former slave trader, who wrote Amazing Grace) His name William Cowper(Kooper). One of the hymns was taken from 13:1…can you guess the title? “There is a Fountain”!
      2. Cowper always struggled on whether God would ever turn his back on him. On his death bed, however, it is said that his face lit up as he uttered these last words, “I am not shut out of heaven after all!”
   3. Unlike Pontius Pilate who tried himself to wash away the stain of guilt & sin, only to find that when he dried them off…the stain remained!
      1. Most humans sense the need for cleansing…finding the water that will truly cleanse; now that is the more difficult task!
      2. Some try the water of Religion; others bathe in the waters of self-abasement; other still the waters of worldly sorrow.
      3. Q: What water of cleansing did you 1^st try before you found the true fountain?
   4. (2,3) False prophet clean up committee!
   5. (4,5) This is called “ The false prophet back peddle!”
      1. They try to disavow all association w/their prophetic trade.
      2. I didn’t share that vision(4a).
      3. They quickly change clothes to avoid detection(4b)
      4. A prophet? no way! - We’ve been farming in my family since my pappy’s pappy day(5).
      5. These wounds on my back? Parental discipline when I was younger of course(not self-inflicted, no way)
   6. (6) I always thought these were Messianic, but this runs cross grains w/the context.
      1. 1 of the hallmark of false prophets of that time was self-inflicted wounds from pagan frenzy on their bodies.
      2. Like, in 1 Kings 18:28 in the competition of Elijah & the 450 prophets of Baal it said, “So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them.”
      3. Deut 14:1 prohibited this, “You are the children of the LORD your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave the front of your head for the dead.”
   7. ​​​​​​​A SHEPHERD! (7-9)
   8. To save the flock the Shepherd had to be smitten!
      1. "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” Jn.10:11
      2. Ch.11:12 talked about a Shepherd sold for silver. Now we have a Shepherd being struck by a sword.
      3. This was fulfilled in Mark 14:27 “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: 'I will strike the Shepherd, And the sheep will be scattered.”
      4. Of course taking place in the garden of Gethsemane.
   9. (8,9) 2/3 & 1/3? – Possible statistics of death in the tribulation.
   10. (9a) Remnant! – He always leaves a remnant.
   11. (9b) Refinement!
       1. “Do not wish to be deprived of trials, if they are the necessary attendants of spiritual advancement!”
       2. (Spurg) In the ancient times, a box on the ear given by a master to a slave meant liberty--little would the freedman care how hard he was struck, when the blow meant release. By a stroke from the sword the warrior was knighted by his monarch--it was a small matter to the new knight if the royal hand was heavy. When the Lord intends to lift his servants into a higher stage of spiritual life, he frequently sends them a severe trial; he makes his Jacobs to be prevailing princes, but he confers the honor after a night of wrestling, and accompanies it with a shrunken sinew[sin-yu] in the thigh. So we should not wish to be deprived of trials if they are the necessary attendants of spiritual advancement.
       3. Amy Carmichael warned - The tests are always unexpected things, not great things that can be written up, but the common little rubs of life, silly little nothings, things you are ashamed of minding [at all].
       4. Lear a lesson from the little Rubber band! A rubber band is made to stretch. When it is not being stretched, it is not doing what it was made to do. When it stretches, it is enlarged and it does what it was made to do. God created you to stretch!
       5. ​​​​​​​“But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.” Job 23:10