Zechariah 13: The Fountain

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Intro:

This morning we continue on though this last oracle of Zechariah. As you could hear from Jake’s reading we are sticking with the theme of this messianic shepherd figure who we know to be Jesus Christ. In Chapter 11 we were introduced to this man as the shepherd who would be rejected by his own sheep, then in chapter 12 we saw this figure pierced by his people and yet in His mercy God caused the very ones who pierced Him to look on Him and mourn for their sins and turn in repentance. This then leads directly to our passage for today as we the first of two distinct images, that of a fountain opened for cleansing.

Now before we get to this fountain it is important that we again review our hermenutical strategy for interpreting this text. As we have noted often, this is a difficult passage. It is important to understand that we cant read this text in a vacuum, even as we seek to understand the text as it would have been understood by its original audience we still must understand that those who have witnessed the fulfilment of a prophecy have a far greater ability to see clearly what was intended when the prophecy was given. We talked last time about how much easier it is to decipher a reflection in a disturbed puddle when you know what object is being reflected in the surface of the water. When you are in the know you have an unmistakable advantage over someone who is looking at the same reflection with absolutely no idea of what they are trying to make out.

So it is with us and the OT’s reflections of the coming Christ. While some try and argue differently there really is no mistake that this passage concerns Christ. From the continued used of the phrase “on that day” which we have seen if a reference to the days and times of the long promised Messianic Kingdom to the most clear pointer of all, that being that Jesus Christ Himself quoted the next section of this passage to His disciples on the night that he was to be betrayed. We read in Matthew 26:31

Matthew 26:31 ESV

Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’

Clearly Jesus viewed what happened to him that night as a fulfilment of Zechariah’s prophecy over 400 years before and so we ought not look for anything different.

Additionally we must also remember that what we are seeing here in these prophecies is not a timeline of the events surrounding the life and times of our Lord. Rather, these are like snapshots of truth about what sorts of things will accompany this period of time in which the messiah will come and reign and set up this long promised messianic Kingdom as He reigns at long last from the throne of David.

We will see this in this chapter as the first two sections that we will cover today deal with the cleansing fountain opened up for God’s people in the messianic kingdom and the latter half of the chapter deals with the striking of the Shepherd and the refining of the people.

So lets take a moment to pray and then we will take a look at the first half of this relatively short yet powerful chapter.

PRAY & READ

The Fountain

As we jump in here I had thought to take the whole chapter together but this imagery in the first half of the chapter just seems to warrant its own consideration. These first two sections of the chapter, verse 1 and then verses 2-6 form a unit as they describe the cleansing of God’s people and the results of that cleansing as it results in a zeal for God and for the truth.

Now if you have been here for much of our time in the minor prophets and for Jake’s messages in revelation you will know that the theme of a cleansing fountain or stream is a very familiar one in the prophets.

The prophet Jeremiah had described YHWH as Israel’s fountain:

Jeremiah 17:13 ESV

O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living water.

We saw in Joel the first instance of a promise that:

Joel 3:18 ESV

“And in that day the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the streambeds of Judah shall flow with water; and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the Lord and water the Valley of Shittim.

Most notably we see in Ezekiel 47 a wonderful description of a river that gives life that trickles out from below the threshold of the temple and becomes a deep river that can not be passed lined with trees and full of life.

This is certainly imagery that John then picks up in Revelation 22 when he writes of the river of the water of life issuing from the Temple in the New Jerusalem:

English Standard Version Chapter 22

22 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

Now it should come as no surprise then for us that we find, here in the midst of this imagery of the coming messiah who will deliver His people from their sins that we find this image of a fountain:

Zechariah 13:1 ESV

“On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.

Now one of the unique aspects of this fountain that we see is that it will be a fountain that cleanses God’s people from both sin and uncleanliness. Now there may be some parallelism here but these are also two distinct words associated with the law and what it meant to be defiled. The word for sin speaks of moral wrongdoing, either intentional or unintentional, wrongs or offenses committed against God or another individual. This is what we most often associate with sin, wrongs and offenses.

The other word here, uncleanliness speaks of impurity or pollution that certainly comes through outright sin but also can be the result of any number of polluting factors like coming into contact with a dead body or even the act of being born. Impurity and uncleanliness was able to spread and there were provisions in the law to cleans one from uncleanliness.

Now it is interesting that in general sins were washed or covered with blood, the sacrifices for sins, both intentional or unintentional required blood to be shed. However, when we read of uncleanliness we often read of pure water being used as the antidote that could cleanse and make that which was unclean or impure clean and pure.

So these two words cause us to, perhaps, ask, what kind of fountain is this. Is it a fountain of blood or a fountain of water?

The Pierced Side

This is where i believe we can find a connection that is as Jake likes to say “geeky cool.”

Bible scholars often argue whether verse 1 belongs to the previous passage or the following one. There is a case that can be made both ways as we have already said the next verses will deal with the results of this cleansing of the people however the subject matter also connects well with the repentance that is seen as a result of the pierced One in the previous section. Now I would argue that this verse belongs with both and forms a transition from the last passage to the next and here is where it gets really cool, you see John, you know the same guy that picks up the river imagery from Ezekiel in the book of Revelation, that same John is the man who also looked at the soldiers piercing Jesus’s side with a spear and connected that event with the previous section, with the pierced One.

John tells us in verse 35-37 that:

English Standard Version Chapter 19

He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. 36 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” 37 And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”

It is interesting that we see it is at this point, the point of the spear that John references the passage from Zechariah, now it makes sense that he would reference the passage about the breaking of bones to explain why a spear was used to avert the breaking of Jesus’ legs and how that fulfilled prophecy but what about the spear and the piercing? After all, Jesus had been pierced with thorns, He had been pierced with nails and now He had been pierced with a spear, what is it about the spear that give John pause to think back to the book of Zechariah? Well look what we read right before:

English Standard Version Chapter 19

34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.

When that spear was pulled from the side of Jesus body there immediately gushed forth a flow of both blood and water. INTERESTING! John sees this flow and he immediately thinks back to the pierced One and the fountain that was going to be opened up in the days of this pierced One that would both cleanse from sin, blood, and from uncleanliness, water!

Now you will hear that medically what actually came out was blood that had separated into red blood cells and plasma and that this meant that Jesus had been dead for some time, this I do not deny, however, John would have had no knowledge that this separation of blood into its consummate parts meant that Christ had been dead for some time and nothing in the text seems say that John was overly concerned with how long Jesus had been dead.

No, I believe that as John reflected back on the sight of that spear being pulled from Christ’s side and that flow that burst forth after it, that the sight of that separated blood threw his mind back to this passage and the fact that through the death of Christ on the cross this fountain had now been opened up and made available to God’s people and there, in the last act of the cross we see quite literally this amazing picture of a fountain filled with both blood and water that began to flow! John saw this and John knew exactly what had happened! The pierced one had indeed been pierced and the fountain had indeed been opened up!

What was accomplished at the cross we understand has the power to cleanse a sinner from all of their sin and uncleanliness! This long promised flow that would bring perfect and complete cleansing for the people of God had begun and like Ezekiel’s river from that moment on it continues to grow and grow, to get deeper and wider.

We can see this from the language used in Zechariah. When Zechariah says that the fountain will be opened the grammar points to the fact that not only will this fountain begin to flow but that it is a fountain that can not be stopped and will never be closed!

Propitiation & Expiation

Another way that we can explain what happens when God’s children are brought to this cleansing fountain is through some important theological terms. Now don't loose me here just because we are taking up some words that might be new, they are truly foundation words for understanding the work that Christ accomplished for us there on the cross and we will take the time to explain them as best we can.

The first word is propitiation. To propitiate is to turn aside anger and wrath by satisfying it. John Stott said of the wrath of God:

“The wrath of God … is his steady, unrelenting, unremitting, uncompromising antagonism to evil in all its forms and manifestations.”

God justly hates sin and He declared that the result of sin is death and so for sin there must be blood. Hebrews 9:22 tells us:

Hebrews 9:22 ESV

Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

And Paul tells us in Ephesians 1:7

Ephesians 1:7 ESV

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,

At the cross Christ took on himself all of the wrath of God for all of the sins of God’s children. He bore that in our stead and as such He has propitiated the wrath of God for the people of God and when we are covered with His blood we find that the wrath of God against us has been averted, has been turned from us to Christ, and as such, though we more than any other understand the weight and magnitude of the holiness of God and of our sins offense against Him yet we have no cause to fear Him because Christ has taken the wrath due to us upon Himself! For the child of God the wrath of God has been propitiated, it has been turned aside and fallen on another!

There is however, another word that describes the second aspect of this fountain that we find in Zechariah. Expiation. As one commentator said:

“If God’s wrath is the object of propitiation, sin’s defilement is the object of expiation.”

In expiation our sins are washed away, we are made holy before a holy and righteous God. You see if God’s wrath was averted and yet the stain of our sin remained we could never bear to stand in the holy presence of God. This is what we have seen in the imagery of the High Priest Joshua having his filthy rags removed and being clothed in righteous white garments.

Now, sinners don't give any thought to how it is they will stand before God, they often think they will barge up to God and boldly declare themselves just enough to enter His presence.

But oh how disastrously wrong they are! Even if His wrath were some how averted long enough that they were not immediately consumed the sight of His perfect holiness and their utter filthy wretchedness would be enough to cause them to flee from His sight.

No, in order to stand in God’s presence our sins must be washed clean, our impurity and uncleanliness removed, we must be clothed in the white robes of Christ’s righteousness or we like the man in the kings feast without the festal garment will be thrown from the room.

And yet here we find that this fountain figured by that gushing side of the crucified Christ has the power to both propitiate and expiate. To turn aside the wrath of God and wash us clean from all our sin!

This is the precious promise held out in the gospel, the true gospel, a gospel that has the power to deliver those who place faith in Christ from the wrath of God and the wretchedness of their own uncleanliness.

Cleansing Results: Zeal for Truth

Now as we move forward in our text to the second section we are going to take up this morning we see now the results in the people of God that accompany a trip beneath this cleansing flow.

We read:

English Standard Version Chapter 13

2 “And on that day, declares the LORD of hosts, I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, so that they shall be remembered no more. And also I will remove from the land the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness. 3 And if anyone again prophesies, his father and mother who bore him will say to him, ‘You shall not live, for you speak lies in the name of the LORD.’ And his father and mother who bore him shall pierce him through when he prophesies.

4 “On that day every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies. He will not put on a hairy cloak in order to deceive, 5 but he will say, ‘I am no prophet, I am a worker of the soil, for a man sold me in my youth.’ 6 And if one asks him, ‘What are these wounds on your back?’ he will say, ‘The wounds I received in the house of my friends.’

We see here that the people of God, in this messianic age are going to be freed from the twin stumbling blocks that had always beset Israel. Idolatry and False Prophecy.

We see first that God is going to cut off the names of the idols from the land, or from amongst his people. Now important to realize here is that this language is used often of judgement against people where they die and are no longer able to produce offspring to carry on their name. In other words they are fully cut off with no possibility of having their name and legacy carried on in their children. As such here this implies not only the removal of the idols but a removal of any course back to such idols. Those who have been born again through the blood of the new covenant and so cleansed from their sins by this life giving flow will never again return as Israel had don to that which they had previously worshiped. The names of those false gods, those idols will be forever cut off.

False Prophecy

The bulk of this text though deals with false prophecy.

The first picture we get of what happens with false prophecy as a result of this cleansing fountain that has been opened up is actually drawn from the law. In the law when someone had committed idolatry or lead Israel into idolatry it was the relatives closest to that person up to and including the father and mother who were to take up stones first and stone the perpetrator. That is why we see the father and mother here pierce the false prophet. The zeal for God’s true word will so consume the people of God that those who presume to speak falsely in the name of the Lord will find that even their own parents are zealous to be rid of their wickedness. It is likely zeal that causes the use of piercing here rather than stoning, it was zealous Phinneas that had pierced through the sinning Israelite man with the Moabite woman he had taken into his tent in the midst of the camp.

As we consider false prophecy here is is important I think for us to understand that while there is a category for true prophecy in the OT and that category is defined as speaking words for God that are 100% true and without error. True prophecy never fails.

However, when we consider false prophecy what it is is a claim to be speaking the words of God or the truth of God but doing so falsely and on false pretenses. This means that while I, for instance would not do as some modern preachers will do and equate preaching (the declaring and expounding of the truths of God) as the same thing as modern day prophecy I do think you can draw a parallel if not a solid line between false preaching and false prophecy.

False preachers and false prophets ought to tremble as they see what is happening here in these verses. These people who have passed beneath the cleansing flow now are so zealous for God and His true word that they will no longer bear with that which is false!

While at the outset it may seem like these verses are about idols and false prophets they are actually about God’s people and the fervor and zeal they will have for the truth! (REPEAT) A zeal that will not permit the remembrance of their past idols and that will cause even a loving mother to set herself against a son who becomes a false prophet.

In verses 4-6 we see this zeal of God’s people illustrated in another way.

In former times false prophets had gained quite the standing among God’s people. They would put on clothing that designated them as prophets and they would at times even wound themselves in their service of their false gods or as a way of trying to deceive the people and falsely show that they bore the marks of persecution that were so often found on God’s true prophets.

However, we see here that as the truth of God is made manifest among his people that those who speak falsely will be ashamed of themselves and what they have sought to do.

They will no longer cloth themselves like a prophet.

They wont claim to have been called of God from their youth, they will say they were farmers and slaves.

They wont seek to pass off their marks any more as the marks of a prophet wither but rather they will admit that they were marks recieved in the houses of their close companions, likely the places where they met to plan heir deception.

In our day there are yet those who presume to speak for the LORD and yet are either false prophets or false teachers. They don't dress up in hairy cloaks any more, unless you count a fancy wool suit as a hairy cloak, but they do everything they can to look the part of what they believe a prophet should look like in order to deceive the people of God. False prophets and false teachers seeking to gain as wide of an audience as possible to lead the people of God into all kinds of heresy and error all the while more often than not enriching themselves.

We ought not believe that this text will necessarily be worked out in an instant. No, this text is focused on the nature and character of the people of God. As a result of the cleansing flow and the coming of the New Covenant the people of God will have such a love for Him and a zeal for the truth that they will no longer bear with that which is false, they will zealously confront false prophets and false teachers, those who pretend or p[resume to speak for the LORD and will put these false ones to open shame!

Warning to be very careful with those who claim to be prophets and especially those who would claim that “modern day prophecy” can be a mixture of truth and error and a caution to those who teach the word to make every effort in the Lord to teach that word truthfully and faithfully!

Don’t play around with prophecy and take great care when you are in the position of speaking and expounding the Lord’s words!

Closing

As we draw to a close this morning and as we keep in mind what we have see about what ought to be our zeal for the worship of God and for His truth I also want to reflect back on the fountain that we saw earlier, the fountain that has resulted in the zeal that we have just considered and I want us to consider one last aspect that we see in scripture about this fountain imagery.

We read in John chapter 7 that:

John 7:38 ESV

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”

When we have come to this fountain and been cleansed from our own sin and uncleanliness it is then that we are filled with this zeal for God and for the truth and one of the major affects of this will be that we will begin to see this fountain pour through us to the world. We take the gospel to those around us and in this way that flow continues to grow and expand in the world. We do not become the fountain, that is important, but the fountain does flow through us as we faithfully hold the word of the gospel out to a fallen world in desperate need to receive cleansing that we have been given.

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