(REFLECTIONS ON Zechariah 13:1-9)

1 “In that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity.”

A fountain for cleansing, for on that day the Lord will cut off the names of the idols from the land and remove the false prophets and the unclean spirit from the land.

A fountain of cleansing for the hearts of the people of God where false prophets will no longer be able to speak their deceit and lead people astray.

There is a cleansing, a time of refreshing, a time of renewal, a revival in the land. However, who will be the ones that will be cleansed and revived?

7 “Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd,
And against the man, My Associate,”
Declares the Lord of hosts.
“Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered;
And I will turn My hand against the little ones.
8 “I will come about in all the land,”
Declares the Lord,
“That two parts in it will be cut off and perish;
But the third will be left in it.

The Lord’s Shepherd, the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior, will be struck down that the sheep may be scattered, but the Lord will come about in all the land and the third will be left in it.

Who are the third? They are the ones that are preserved by the Lord despite Christ’s death, waiting and looking towards the resurrection and life in Him.

They are the ones that will wait in expectation for Christ to come again, to bring the new heavens and new earth, and dwell in new Jerusalem with their God.

They are the ones that will be refined by fire,

9 “And I will bring the third part through the fire,
Refine them as silver is refined,
And test them as gold is tested.
They will call on My name,
And I will answer them;
I will say, ‘They are My people,’
And they will say, ‘The Lord is My God.'”

Preserved by the Lord, refined by fire, gathered together after being scattered. This reminds us that our faithfulness and steadfastness is not based on our own ability to remain in Him as others scatter, but it is at the mercy and grace of God.

Yes, we cannot remain faithful and steadfast based on our own strength and determination, so let us bow down to the Lord our God and Maker, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, as Paul writes in Romans 13:14, and hope with fear and awe that the Lord will refine us in the fire.

Perhaps this doesn’t give us an overwhelming sense of comfort and peace, but let us also not then turn our faith into something else so that we can avoid the discomfort. It is in the midst of the discomfort that we will find that in wrath, the Lord will also remember mercy and be merciful to us that seek after Him.

We can’t force our way into the Kingdom, but we can walk through Christ, by the Holy Spirit, towards God and the Kingdom, with hopeful expectation in the Lord’s mercy and grace. Yet in the end, He is sovereign, He is faithful and just, and He is God.

Pastor Michael Lu
Enduring Word Bible Commentary: Zechariah 13