Zechariah 13
COMMENTARY:
: 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. (4726 “fountain” [maqowr] means well-spring, source of life, joy and purification, descendants of Israel, with an associative with meaning of life and cleansing of association with clean water.)
DEVOTION: Zechariah is speaking of a future day when there was going to be a cleansing of sin from all of Israel. There will be a group of people who will have their sins and impurities removed. This group is called a “remnant” in other passages.
The future is so different from now. There is sin and impurity everywhere. We have to watch for it in our conversations with classmate or fellow workers or even in our own home. Language can be a problem.
Actions can be impure. We have to learn what actions the LORD approves of and those HE doesn’t. These rules are found in the word of God regarding relationships at work, play or home. If our actions are impure we have to correct them.
As believers we are waiting for the day when the LORD ends our present circumstances and gives us our future hope. Zechariah is stating the future hope of those who live in Jerusalem. Many generations have lived with this hope not coming to fruition. Our prayer has to be “Even come Lord Jesus.”
CHALLENGE: We are part of a faithful remnant of genuine believers who will one day meet the LORD for our reward. Our responsibility is to trust HIM to help us each day.
: 2 And it shall come to pass in that day, says 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. (2932 “unclean” [tum‘ah] means filthiness, pollution, or impurity.)
DEVOTION: We are still in the future time for Israel. During this time period the names of idols are going to leave. This means that their influence was over. They were going to not be counted on to help the people. People worship idols because they want to see who they are worshiping and feel that once they offer a sacrifice to an idol and something good happens it must be them. They were wrong.
Also the power behind the worship of idols is demonic. Satan and his army of fallen angels promote false worship. In the future there will be neither false prophets nor demonic influence. The LORD is going to deal with both.
Today we deal with both. We have many false prophets who are teaching things contrary to the Word of God because they have rewritten the Word of God to say what they want to teach. We have so many translations that it is hard to understand what a passage is teaching unless we go back to the original language. We have to compare Scripture with Scripture.
Demonic influence is all around us. The enemy likes to use things we think are safe when in reality we have to fight temptations that come from television, movies, money, sports, and our computer. Each day is a new challenge.
There is a future day coming when none of these will be present to tempt us away from the LORD. Israel is going to worship the LORD alone in the future. We will join them throughout eternity to worship and serve the LORD.
CHALLENGE: At present we have to watch out for the influence of idols in our life and the influence of demonic activity around us in the forms of what we read and what we watch.
: 4 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he has prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive: (3584 “deceive” [kachash] means lie, deny, fail, deal falsely, to disappoint, or to feign obedience.)
DEVOTION: Deception seems to be happening on a regular basis in the world of religion. Many false teachers know how to dress for the act. They put on a good show. They have all the right words. They have all the right surroundings. They have all the right music.
Their promises of health and wealth hit people where they are hurting. They promise them blessings. They promise them that the LORD will abundantly bless if they give to these teachers.
They say that the LROD spoke to them in a vision. They add to the Word of God something that will bring them profit. Many people are deceived into believing their lies.
It is because of these false teachers that many walk away from the LORD saying that it is just a con game. They are right in their evaluation of these false teachers. They get rich while those who listen to them get poorer. They have health because they can afford the insurance while those who think they are healed still suffer under the false belief that their faith is weak or they would be healed.
There will always be false teachers until the return of the LORD to set up HIS Kingdom. We have to be aware of this fact and test the spirits to see if they are coming from the LORD.
CHALLENGE: We are challenged to be faithful witnesses to the LORD and not those who are just putting on an act.
: 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. (974 “try” [bachan] means to examine, to prove, scrutinize, or trial.)
DEVOTION: When it gets to the end times we find that only one third of the children of Israel are going to be spared. They are going to be examined. The two words used are “refine” and “try.” To refine a metal it is put into a fire to separate the dross form the pure medal. Once this process is complete the medal is analyzed to see what it is worth. These individuals will be going through the fire of the Great Tribulation. Remember that two thirds are not going to make the grade of even going into the fire to be examined regarding their relationship with the LORD. Only one third of Israel will enter the Millennial kingdom of Christ. The trial will be hard but the reward will be greater.
We have to go through trials. The Christian life is not an easy life. It is a blessed life. We can call on the name of the LORD and HE will help us through each of our trials. HE will not end the trial but will be there with us through the trial. We are to call the LORD our God. We are to serve HIM only.
This world is the fire that we have to go through. There is another fire coming for those who take part in the second death. That fire is for eternity. Our fire or testing is only for our lifetime. Praise the LORD. We are here to warn our family and friends that the fire for eternity is real. It is great to be part of the chosen few that are written in the Lamb’s book of life. It is great to know that we were chosen before the foundation of the world. We don’t know who else was chosen, so we have to witness to all those in our world. We can hasten the return of the LORD by witnessing to the last one who is to follow HIM. Are we witnessing now? The time is coming!!!
CHALLENGE: Faith goes through fire. Our faith goes through the fire of temptations and trails that come our way each day. We need to come out of the trials as refined believers. No status quo with the LORD.
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