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Zechariah, Prophet of God's remembrance, part 37

Zechariah 13:1 says,

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

In what day? The prophecy does not clearly distinguish between the first and second works of Christ, though both are relevant in this way. It takes two works of Christ to complete the work of justification and glorification, as we see from the two birds (Leviticus 14:1-7) and the two goats (Leviticus 16:1-10). So also, this “fountain” of cleansing for sin and impurity was established by Christ’s death on the cross but not completed until the birthright issue is resolved at the time of His second coming.

Zechariah is unclear as to the two Jerusalems and the two houses of David, and the prophecy is equally unclear when it does not distinguish between the two works of Christ. It is left to the readers to discern the difference by combining it with the other prophetic writings. Zechariah leaves some rather enormous gaps, and this has been the cause of much confusion.

The “fountain” that is established at the cross seems to apply on the level of individual sinners. At the end of the age, however, this is extended to the Kingdom being established. The crucifixion of Christ at the end of the Passover Age (from Moses to Christ) was followed by the Pentecostal Age until the Kingdom could be established in the Tabernacles Age.

Saul’s Kingdom

The Pentecostal Age has seen an interim kingdom that was imperfect and corrupt. The nature of this kingdom was the kingdom of Saul, who preceded David. Saul was crowned on the day of wheat harvest (1 Samuel 12:17), that is, the feast of weeks, or Pentecost, when the priest offered up the new meal offering of wheat (Exodus 34:22). Saul, therefore, was a prophetic type of the church in the Pentecostal Age. Though he had a genuine calling, he proved to be rebellious, and so his house did not endure. Instead, he was replaced by David, the overcomer.

So also the church in the Pentecostal Age became corrupt, ensuring that it would be stripped of Kingdom authority and replaced by the overcomers who would be given the birthright. There are some who teach what is often known as “kingdom now,” believing that the full Kingdom of God was manifested at the cross and that we ought not to look for a future Kingdom. King Saul did indeed have a kingdom, but it was in rebellion against God and certainly not David’s Kingdom.

The need for a cleansing “fountain” is seen in Zechariah 13:2,

² “It will come about in that day,” declares the Lord of hosts, “that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered; and I will also remove the [false] prophets and the unclean spirit from the land.

This describes a land where prophets preach by the power of an “unclean spirit.” This, of course, perfectly describes Saul himself, the Pentecostal type who prophesied, of whom the proverb was spoken, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” (1 Samuel 10:12). He started out as a godly man and a true prophet, but when he later disobeyed God without repentance, God forsook him permanently (1 Samuel 15:26-29) and chose David to replace him.

1 Samuel 16:13, 14 says,

¹³ Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah. ¹⁴ Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord terrorized him.

Some time later, we read in 1 Samuel 18:10 KJV,

¹⁰ And it came to pass on the morrow that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house…

In other words, under the anointing of “the evil spirit from God,” Saul prophesied. No doubt he thought he was prophesying by the Holy Spirit, but in fact he was prophesying by an evil spirit from God. He did not know the difference, because both of these spirits were “from God.” It is difficult for most Christians to comprehend the significance of this. Surely, they say, God would never send an evil spirit upon anyone. But it is what it is.

The result of this prophecy is then seen:

¹⁰ … and David played [music] with his hand, as at other times; and there was a javelin in Saul’s hand. ¹¹ And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, “I will smite David even to the wall with it.” And David avoided out of his presence twice.

The evil spirit from God caused Saul to try to kill David “twice.” In the end, David had to abandon Saul’s court and live as a fugitive in the hills. This foretold the time when the church would persecute the overcomers and run them out of the church. Every time this sort of thing occurs, it gives evidence of the work of “the evil spirit from God.” Zechariah tells us that the purpose of the “fountain” is to cleanse the land of its “unclean spirit,” remove the “idols” from the heart, and to “remove the prophets.”

Idols of the Heart

Idols in the land were fashioned from the imagination of carnal hearts as artists expressed their misguided understanding of the nature of God. Ezekiel 14:1-10 gives us a longer commentary on the problem of heart idolatry. This too is difficult for most Christians to understand.

Ezekiel 14:4 summarizes the problem this way:

⁴ Therefore speak to them and tell them, “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Any man of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, puts right before his face the stumbling block of his iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the Lord will be brought to give him an answer in the matter in view of the multitude of his idols’.”

Hence, if men come to inquire of God having already come to a conclusion, it is clear that they are not truth seekers; they come only to obtain God’s approval for their own opinions. In such cases, God questions Ezekiel as to how He should answer such inquirers. God tells the prophet that He will indeed give them an answer, but that answer will not be His truth but will simply confirm the carnal opinions of the people with heart idolatry. God’s answer will satisfy them, and the people will believe it and be destroyed—along with the prophet who gave the word!

This is very strong meat, and few preachers and prophets dare to teach from Ezekiel 14.

Yet this is what Zechariah was confirming when he spoke of the eradication of idols and of the fountain that was to cleanse the land and remove the prophets.

The False Prophets Repent

Zechariah 13:3 says,

³ And if anyone still prophesies, then his father and mother who gave birth to him will say to him, ‘You shall not live, for you have spoken falsely in the name of the Lord’; and his father and mother who gave birth to him will pierce him through when he prophesies.”

This verdict combines two laws: Deuteronomy 18:20-22 (regarding false prophets) and 21:18-21 (regarding a stubborn and rebellious son. Deuteronomy 18:20 says,

²⁰ But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.

Deuteronomy 21:18 says,

¹⁸ If any man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father or his mother, and when they chastise him, he will not even listen to them, ¹⁹ then his father and mother shall seize him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gateway of his hometown.

This presumes that the parents are in the right and that the son is indeed rebellious. The elders would have to make that determination. If that son is indeed guilty and still refuses to repent, then he could be stoned (Deuteronomy 21:21). We have no biblical examples of this actually happening, because under such threat, only a very foolish son would refuse to repent.

Zechariah applies this law to prophets in the last days, telling us that they will indeed repent. Zechariah 13:4, 5 says,

⁴ Also it will come about in that day that the prophets will each be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies, and they will not put on a hairy robe in order to deceive; ⁵ but he will say, “I am not a prophet; I am a tiller of the ground, for a man sold me as a slave in my youth.”

This shows a humble attitude, recognizing his failure as a prophet and taking up farming instead.

A “hairy garment” was probably made of goat skin, often worn by the prophets.