seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Zechariah 13:1 “On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.
2 “On that day, I will banish the names of the idols from the land, and they will be remembered no more,” declares the Lord Almighty. “I will remove both the prophets and the spirit of impurity from the land. 3 And if anyone still prophesies, their father and mother, to whom they were born, will say to them, ‘You must die, because you have told lies in the Lord’s name.’ Then their own parents will stab the one who prophesies.
4 “On that day every prophet will be ashamed of their prophetic vision. They will not put on a prophet’s garment of hair in order to deceive. 5 Each will say, ‘I am not a prophet. I am a farmer; the land has been my livelihood since my youth.[a]’ 6 If someone asks, ‘What are these wounds on your body[b]?’ they will answer, ‘The wounds I was given at the house of my friends.’
7 “Awake, sword, against my shepherd,
against the man who is close to me!”
declares the Lord Almighty.
“Strike the shepherd,
and the sheep will be scattered,
and I will turn my hand against the little ones.
8 In the whole land,” declares the Lord,
“two-thirds will be struck down and perish;
yet one-third will be left in it.
9 This third I will put into the fire;
I will refine them like silver
and test them like gold.
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 our God.’”
against the man who is close to me!”
declares the Lord Almighty.
“Strike the shepherd,
and the sheep will be scattered,
and I will turn my hand against the little ones.
8 In the whole land,” declares the Lord,
“two-thirds will be struck down and perish;
yet one-third will be left in it.
9 This third I will put into the fire;
I will refine them like silver
and test them like gold.
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 our God.’”
a. Zechariah 13:5 Or farmer; a man sold me in my youth
b. Zechariah 13:6 Or wounds between your hands
It says here that he's going to remove the prophets and the spirit of iniquity. In other words [IMHO] when God takes the idols and the memory of idols away..... there will be no need for a prophet because there would be no reason to warn people about the future. Without the idols to worship and get off the path over.... there is no iniquity.... there is no more immoral or grossly unfair behavior. Everyone is getting along and following the rules..... and anyone who says differently [says judgement is still on the way] is a liar.... and their parents will even be the ones to destroy them.
But verse 8..... that's the troubling thought... right?
This is from enduringword.com.
His father and mother who begot him shall thrust him through when he prophesies: Zechariah prophesied a coming day when public opinion would not tolerate false prophets. There would be such a commitment to the LORD and His truth that even the family of a false prophet would condemn the false prophet.
Every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies: Those who had been false messengers of God would be ashamed of their message. They will put away the clothing of the prophets (a robe of coarse hair) and earn an honest living.
“Those who posed as prophets will so fear exposure that they will deny ever having made such a claim.” (Baldwin)
This does not say that true prophecy will cease; but only those who deceive have spoken lies in the name of the LORD.
This is from the easy English site.
These words remind us of Isaiah 53:10, ‘It pleased the LORD to bruise him.’ ‘My shepherd’ is ‘the man that is close to me’. For Christians, this shepherd and this man are both Jesus. The sheep are the LORD’s people. The death of Jesus scattered many of them, ‘Lift my hand’ means ‘hurt’ or ‘hit’. When Jesus died, it hurt Mary, Luke 2:35.
If we use the *historical, church, *eschatological (chapter 12) idea, then it may mean this. The Church will suffer difficult times before Jesus returns to the earth.
Verse 8 Bible students are not sure to what this refers. This verse may also describe the terrible time before Jesus returns.
People use fire to make gold and silver pure. Fire burns away the rubbish. Fire here means difficult times. It will be as if the fire is ‘burning away’ the rubbish from God’s people. They will suffer troubles. But God is working in their lives. He will make them more holy (1 Peter 1:6-7).
After Jesus was arrested, the disciples took off. After the crucifixion the people who had been following Jesus around for the food, healing and entertainment went back home and back to their old ways. After the word got out the Jesus had walked out of a sealed cave..... the people became zealous and created a church.... a bunch of churches because no one could agree on how to run their religions.... but the Roman government didn't want them to get together.... so they were dispersed and then they just stopped showing up..... and if they did show up... they were too afraid to learn anything.
Only a third of the people who claim to be Christians or descendants of Jacob [Israel] by blood will survive.... and those who do survive will be tested.... so that God will know that every trace of idol worship is gone.... and then .....
