Zacarias 13
Charles Spurgeon · Citado em PreceptAustin
Zacarias 13
Spurgeon remarks "How much God can crowd into a single day!" (Ed: Of course this "Day" of the Lord is not just a single day but an extended period, but it is still a true statement that our omnipotent God can fill single day like no other. Are you allowing Him to fill your day to the brim with His Word and His Spirit?). Ebenezer Henderson writes that 'This verse is intimately connected with the subject of the concluding verses of the preceding chapter. It is designed to relieve the anxious and troubled minds of the penitents there described." (Zechariah 13 about which Charles Feinberg writes "One of the finest commentaries on the Minor Prophets, making splendid use of the cognate Semitic languages.") Warren
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Spurgeon adds that "According to the verse before us this provision is inexhaustible. There is a fountain opened; not a cistern nor a reservoir, but a fountain. A fountain continues still to bubble up, and is as full after fifty years as at the first; and even so the provision and the mercy of God for the forgiveness and the justification of our souls continually flows and overflows....The means by which sin and sinfulness can be put away are at this moment accessible to the sons of men. The atonement is not a fountain hid and concealed, and closed and barred and bolted, it is a fountain open.” A continually open fountain reminds us of John's teaching that "if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son (present tense = continually) cleanses us from all sin." (1 Jn 1:7-note) Have you gone to fountain? James Hamilton wisely wrote "You that have faith in the Fountain, frequent it. Beware of two errors which are very natural and very disastrous. Beware of thinking any sin too great for it; beware of thinking any sin too small. There is not a sin so little but it may be the germ of everlasting perdition; there is not a sin so enormous but a drop of atoning, blood will wash it away as utterly as if it were drowned in the depths of the sea." NET Note - This reference to the fountain opened up…to cleanse them from sin and impurity is anticipatory of the cleansing from sin that lies at the heart of the NT gospel message (Ro 10:9–10; Titus 3:5). Spurgeon on a fountain will be opened - What is this fountain that is said to be opened, and when and how was it opened? It is a fountain opened to the house of David and its inhabitants for sin and uncleanness. The blessing here spoken of deals with the greatest evils mankind is subject to—sin and uncleanness. We have all fallen; we have all proved our fall by our sinful practice; sin has separated us from God and brought on us his divine wrath. Uncleanness, which is a tendency to continue in sin, prevents our returning to our heavenly Father and entering into renewed fellowship with him. This great evil in its double form is, according to the text, distinctly recognized by God. It is not winked at; it is not treated as a trifle that may remain. Yet we may be beloved by God and be happy; preparation is made for evil’s removal. The text does not say that the filthiness is concealed, that the transgression is excused, but that there is a fountain opened for the effective removal of sin and uncleanness. In the gospel God never trifles with human sin; we proclaim full, free, immediate forgiveness to the chief of sinners, but it is not in a way that makes us think sin is trivial in God’s esteem. By the sacrifice of His Son, God renders it possible for Him to be merciful without being unjust (cf Ro 3:23-26). In the substitution of Christ Jesus, we see justice and mercy peacefully embracing and conferring double honor on one another (cf Ps 85:10). (CSB Spurgeon Study Bible) Spurgeon (Exposition) - They shall see that pardon when they have truly seen their sin. When once the foulness of their transgression is perceived, then the fount, sin of cleansing shall be perceived, too. No man ever knows the preciousness of the God given remedy till he has felt the force of the terrible disease. No one by faith plunges into the crystal fount of perfect cleansing without first lamenting the filthiness which needs to be removed. In his sermon on Zechariah 13:1 entitled The Open Fountain, C H Spurgeon has this introduction We do not grudge to the seed of Israel after the flesh (NOTE HE IS AFFIRMING ZECHARIAH IS WRITTEN PRIMARILY TO THE NATION OF ISRAEL AND NOT THE CHURCH REPLACING ISRAEL! THANKFULLY THIS GREAT PREACHER DID NOT ESPOUSE replacement theology!) the first application of this very precious promise. There will be a day when those (JEWS) who have so long refused to acknowledge Jesus as the Messias shall discern the marks of his mission, and shall mourn that they have pierced him. When the tribes of Israel shall lament their sin with holy earnestness, there shall be no mourning to exceed it, they shall weep even as in the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddo, when the well beloved Josiah was slain (Zech 12:11-14-note). Discovering that their nation rejected the Son of God, when they crucified Jesus of Nazareth their deeply religious spirit shall be filled with the utmost bitterness of repentance, and each man and each woman shall cry for pardon to the Lord of mercy. Then, close upon the heels of the weeping shall come the full and complete forgiveness; the transgression of the tribes shall be put away in one day; they shall perceive that the very side which they pierced has yielded a fountain to cleanse them from their sin; joyfully shall they behold on Calvary the brazen serpent lifted up for their healing (Nu 21:9, Jn 3:14-15, Jn 12:32, 33), the Paschal Lamb slain for their redemption (1 Cor 5:7, John 1:29), the sin-offering sacrificed in their stead. What a blessed day will that be when “all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.” (Ro 11:26-27-note) O that you and I might live to see that happy era when all the Jewish race shall behold their Messiah; for then shall the fullness of the Gentiles be gathered in (Ro 11:25-note). (AMEN AND AMEN!) Our history is wrapped up with theirs. “Through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fullness? (Ro 11:12KJV-note)” (The Open Fountain) Chambers has an interesting note on the image of a fountain in relation to other OT teachings - The reference appears to be to a twofold usage in the Mosaic ritual; one, the sprinkling of the Levites at their consecration with “water of purifying,” lit., sin-water, i. e., for purification from sin (Nu 8:7), and the other the sprinkling of persons contaminated by contact with death, with the water prepared from the ashes of the red heifer, called the water of uncleanness, i. e., which removed uncleanness. In both these cases the impurity denoted the defilement of sin, and the outward purification was a symbol of the inward. So the water which flows from the fountain in the text, is a water of sprinkling by which sin and uncleanness are removed. It does not need to be renewed from time to time, as was the case with the Levitical waters, but issues from a living well-spring. For sin and impurity - Sin is the "missing" and impurity the "mess", "the former having to do with lack of conformity to the divine will and the latter with the condition or state of defilement brought about by any breach of the principles of holiness. One is more an active expression of sin and the other a passive result. Here in the passage both have to do with the matter of idolatry and false prophets. " (Merrill) This promise in Zechariah 13:1 is paralleled in Ezekiel's prophecy where God promises "I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols" (Ezekiel 36:25-32-note). Sprinkling in Ezekiel, a fountain in Zechariah. The purpose of the fountain being opened is for spiritual cleansing from sin and uncleanness. Sin is uncleanness or impurity before the Lord. Praise God for the "open fountain" available to believers today, so that we can have full assurance of full cleansing for "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 Jn 1:9-note) When was the last time you specifically (not generally, but naming them one by one) confessed your sins to Jehovah? We do well to note that the verb confess is in the present tense, calling for confession to be a lifestyle, a habitual practice, a daily practice (for we sin daily , cf Mt 6:12-note), something that can only be empowered by the indwelling Spirit Who convicts of sin (Jn 16:8).
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Spurgeon - Where there is pardon, there is sure to be sanctification. The idols must fall, and the false prophets must go. We cannot have our sins and have a Saviour too. If we have Christ to blot out our sin, we must have the same Christ to remove sin as to its authority, and power, and dominion over us. Cut off (destroy) (03772)(karath) literally means to cut, to cut off or to sever an object from its source or cut into parts and implies a violent action. For example, Zipporah "cut off her son’s foreskin." (Ex 4:25) or the Jews "cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes." (Nu 13:2-24, cf Dt 19:5, 20:19-20, Jdg 9:48-49, 1Sa 5:4, 17:51, 24:4-5,11, 31:9, 2Sa 10:4, 2Sa 20:22) In another literal use as punishment to Israel for breaking the Mosaic covenant (cf Dt 29:25, 31:16), God says He will "cut down (karath) your incense altars" (Lev 26:30, cf Jdg 6:25-26, cf 1Sa 28:9). A sacrificial animal was not to be offered if it was "cut" (karath) (Lev 22:24). We can gain a good sense of the severity of this word by noting that the verb karath is used often in the OT for cutting a covenant, which was in fact often instituted by cutting an animal in two and the covenant partners walking between the animals indicating "May God do so to me if I do not keep this covenant." We see this for example in Jer 34:18-20 I will give the men who have transgressed My covenant, who have not fulfilled the words of the covenant which they made (karath) before Me, when they cut (karath) the calf in two and passed between its parts (Jer 34:15)– 19 the officials of Judah and the officials of Jerusalem, the court officers and the priests and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf– 20 I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life. And their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth. Karath is translated here in the Septuagint with the verb exolethreuo which means to to eliminate by destruction, to utterly destroy, root out, completely cut off (e.g., Acts 3:23). George Klein makes an excellent point writing that "The word choice offers a not so subtle irony for Zechariah’s audience. The common English expression, “the sword cuts both ways,” touches the point of the irony. The “cut” that established the Lord’s gracious covenant with his people would also “cut off” everyone who rejected the holiness of the God who had “cut” a covenant with Israel (Lev 7:20; Nu 9:13; Isa 9:14). Zechariah leaves no room for doubt concerning who will conduct this purge—the Lord himself will complete the task." (New American Commentary - Zechariah) Idols (06091)(atsab from atsab = to shape, fashion, only in Job 10:8, Jer 44:19) is a masculine noun always in the plural in the OT "idols" and It always refers to a false god represented by an idol or image. Notice the origin is the verb ʿāṣab̠, meaning to form or fashion, and emphasizes the fact that these idols (so-called "gods") were formed by human hands ("man-made gods" so to speak! Woe!). Atsab can allude to idols in general (Hos. 4:17); idols of silver (Hos. 13:2); or idols of gold and silver (Hos. 8:4). Atsab appears in parallel with massēk̠āh, meaning a molten image (Hos. 13:2); and gillûl, meaning idols (Jer. 50:2). Second Chronicles gives a statement of the relationship of the Chosen People to idols - "They abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served (Lxx = douleuo in the imperfect tense = over and over, again and again! = NOTICE THEY DID NOT JUST "WORSHIP" THEM BUT WERE SERVANTS TO THEM - IDOLS WERE THEIR "MASTERS!") the Asherim and the idols (atsab); so wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their guilt."19 Yet He sent prophets to them to bring them back to the LORD; though they testified against them, they would not listen. 20 Then the Spirit of God came on Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest (not to be confused with Zechariah, son of Berechiah Zec 1:1; Mt 23:35]; and he stood above the people and said to them, “Thus God has said, ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD and do not prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He has also forsaken you.’” (2 Chr 24:18-20) Hosea writes And now they sin more and more, And make for themselves molten images, Idols (atsab; Lxx = eidolon) skillfully made from their silver, All of them the work of craftsmen. They say of them, “Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves!” (Hos. 13:2) Atsab - 17x in 17v - idols(13), images(4). 1 Sam. 31:9; 2 Sam. 5:21; 1 Chr. 10:9; 2 Chr. 24:18; Ps. 106:36; Ps. 106:38; Ps. 115:4; Ps. 135:15; Isa. 10:11; Isa. 46:1; Jer. 50:2; Hos. 4:17; Hos. 8:4; Hos. 13:2; Hos. 14:8; Mic. 1:7; Zech. 13:2 And I will also remove the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land - I will = God's sovereignty, authority and omnipotence are reiterated once again (6x in 3v - Zech 13:2, 7, 9). Notice it does not call them "false prophets" but the contextual associations (idols, unclean spirit) make it clear that they are false and the Lxx translates the Hebrew word nabi (prophet) with pseudoprophetes or false prophets (plural). There will be no need for prophecy for God's revelation will have been completed. This "external" cleansing of impurity from the land would match the "internal" cleansing of the Jews who would be inhabiting the land. It would be an almost "Eden-like" clean start in the Millennium. Eugene Merrill elaborates on the unclean spirit - they are not motivated by the spirit of YHWH but by an “unclean spirit,” unclean both because of its inherent nature as demonic and because it inspires the prophets to proclaim lies and other misleading and unclean speech. A classic illustration of this combination of a false prophet and an unclean spirit occurs in the heavenly scene described by the prophet Micaiah (1 Ki 22:19–23) who tells Ahab and Jehoshaphat that he saw YHWH surrounded by His royal court and seeking their counsel as to how to confound Ahab. Finally a “lying spirit” (שֶׁקֶר רוּחַ, rûaḥ šeqer) volunteers to inspire Ahab’s prophets to advise him to go to battle and to assure him of victory. According to Jdg 9:23 God sent an “evil spirit” רָעָה רוּחַ, rûaḥ rā`â) between Abimelech and the Shechemites. Its task was to cause the Shechemites to become traitorous toward Abimelech and turn on him. An “evil spirit” (also rā`â) from YHWH also came upon Saul once the spirit of YHWH had left him (1 Sa 16:14). This spirit terrified him and could be controlled only when David played soothing music on his harp (1 Sa 16:23). Though not involving prophesying in these cases, the notion of harmful, evil spirits is very much at home in the OT. It is in light of the ultimate sovereignty of YHWH over all creation, including the spirit world, that these instances must be understood. Though not the source of the wickedness that these unclean spirits purvey, YHWH could and did release them to accomplish His own mysterious purposes of judgment and discipline. Even Satan, the epitome of the evil spirits, could become a servant of YHWH, testing and evaluating the character of godly Job (Job 1:6–12; cf. 1 Chr 21:1). It is evident, then, that the unclean spirit of our passage is a spirit inspiring the false prophets who prophesy lies in the name of YHWH. He allows them to carry out their pernicious ministry, but when the time of repentance and renewal comes, He banishes them from the land (Zech 13:2). If any persists in prophesying (clearly as a false prophet, as Zech 13:3 shows), the ancient Mosaic penalty must be brought to bear: his father and mother must put him to death (Dt. 13:6–11; cf. Dt 18:20–22). Though the penalty of Deuteronomy is in immediate connection with false prophets who urge the people to follow other gods (Dt. 13:1–5), those who speak lies in YHWH’s name are subject to the same judgment (Dt. 18:20). (Exegetical Commentary) The unclean spirit - This phrase is found 23 times in the Scripture but this is the only OT use. Remembering that this is a prophecy of the end times, we find that the phrase unclean spirit is found in Rev 16:13 and in Rev 18:2 so certainly they will be present in the last days. The implication is that they are in the land. In any event they will not last long in the the land because God will remove (Heb = abar; Lxx = exairo = to remove someone from a group, drive away) them. Unclean spirit recalls Paul's teaching to the church at Corinth on the nature of idolatry and relationship to demons (unclean spirits)... What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God (see Dt 32:17, Ps 106:37, Lev 17:7-note, 1 Ti 4:1); and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than He, are we? (1 Cor 10:19-22) John records that in the period immediately preceding the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom men will worship demons to a degree never seen in the history of the world... The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts. (Rev 9:20-21-note) Tony
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Spurgeon remarks "They shall be so ashamed of it that, to have kept cattle shall seem to be a far more noble employment than to have falsely set up to be a prophet of the Lord. He shall say anything rather than confess that he is a false prophet, he shall be so ashamed of himself. What a mercy it is when God makes men ashamed of sin, and when he makes them so ashamed of false doctrine that they cannot bear it, and will not any longer proclaim it! Oh, that that day were already come! Zechariah 13:6 "And one will say to him, 'What are these wounds between your arms?' Then he will say, 'Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.' What are these wounds between your arms: 1Ki 18:28 Rev 13:16,17 14:11 Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friendss: Ps 22:16 Pr 27:5,6 Joh 18:35 19:14-16 FALSE PROPHET'S FALSEHOOD ABOUT THEIR SCARS And one will say to him, 'What are these wounds between your arms?' - This verse is NOT referring to the wounds of Messiah on the Cross, but to the scars on the bodies of the false prophets. They had cut themselves in an attempt to appease their so-called gods, a practice clearly condemned in the OT.... Leviticus 19:28 ‘You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead nor make any tattoo marks (NOTE) on yourselves: I am the LORD. Deuteronomy 14:1“You are the sons of the LORD your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave your forehead for the sake of the dead. 1 Kgs 18:28 So they cried with a loud voice and cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out on them. The false prophet betrayed his true identity by these graphic and ineradicable marks. This reminds me of Nu 32:23 which says "if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out." Eugene Merrill on wounds between your arms - Such translations for this last phrase as “between the arms” or the like are much too literal. Comparative Semitic evidence has been very helpful in clarifying the idiom. The OT itself makes clear that it is the thorax that is intended, for in 2 Kings 9:24 the arrow Jehu shoots at King Joram of Israel strikes him “between the arms,” piercing his heart. Incisions on the body were characteristic of many of the religious practitioners of the ancient Near East, particularly among the Canaanites. The OT, in response to this sign of paganism, warns the priest and prophets of Israel (and, indeed, the people at large) to forgo such things in the interests of maintaining pure faith toward YHWH (Lev. 19:28; Deut. 14:1). The purpose of these self-lacerations is not entirely clear, but they apparently had something to do with sympathetic rituals undertaken to induce certain action by the gods. A biblical case no doubt is that of the contest between Elijah and the Baal prophets at Carmel. After those prophets had prayed and pleaded for Baal to ignite their sacrifices, with abysmal lack of success, they became frenzied and began to cut themselves until the blood poured from their veins and arteries (1 Kings 18:28). The objective was to impress the deity with their act of wholesale devotion and self-denial so much that Baal would have no recourse but to be moved to send the fire from heaven for which he was so famous. (Exegetical Commentary) POSB - They inflicted these wounds upon themselves in a vain attempt to appease their so-called gods or to win their favor. This is what the prophets of Baal did in the contest with Elijah. When they failed to get Baal to consume their sacrifice by fire, they began to cut and slash themselves in an attempt to get their false god’s attention (see 1 Ki 18:16–45, 28 = "they cried with a loud voice and cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out on them"). Naturally, Baal did not hear them and could not answer them because he was not real. He did not exist. Likewise, false prophets in the end times will bear similar scars. And when confronted by the righteous in Israel, they will lie about these wounds. Zechariah went on to say that they will claim the wounds were inflicted by friends or family members as discipline or in rough play. These false prophets who made their living by deceit will keep on trying to deceive until the very end. Then he will say, 'Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends - This is not a prophecy of the Crucifixion (as some commentaries propose) but is a continuation of the false prophet theme. Stephen Ger on wounds between your arms - These false prophets will be ashamed of their activities and for fear of judgment will seek to cover them up on the pretense of being merely farmers, but the self-inflicted chest lacerations characteristic of their office betray them (Zech 13:3–6).(Zechariah: Minor Prophet With A Major Message - Conservative Theological Journal 03:8 Apr 1999) Spurgeon - Idolatry shall become so detestable a thing that he will say anything rather than acknowledge that he has had aught to do with idols. Those very marks in which the false prophets once gloried, they shall loathe. The Brahmin shall throw away his sacred thread, and those who have been tattooed is honour of other false gods shall hate the marks of shame that are upon their persons. Now, brethren, inasmuch as the heathen prophets received in their bodies the marks of their gods, we understand something of what Paul meant when he wrote to the Galatians, “From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.” He regarded his baptism as a kind of water-mark that could not be removed. He looked upon the marks of the scourge, with which he had been beaten again and again for Christ’s sake, as being proofs that he belonged to Jesus. They stamped him with the broad arrow of the great King, so that all men might know that he was dedicated to him and to his service, tattooed with marks in his flesh that were indelible, and never to be re moved. Charles Feinberg refutes the interpretation that this verse refers to Christ - Some hold that the one in verse 6 is Christ because of the mention of wounds between the arms. This view, though held somewhat generally, has nothing to commend it except a superficial reference to wounds. It is an untenable position for several reasons. In the first place, Christ was not wounded between His arms with a number of wounds. His wounds, blessed evidences of a finished redemption, were in His hands and feet and the spear wound in His blessed side. It takes some juggling of the wording of the passage to make this wounds between His arms. Second, He was not wounded in the house of His friends but on a cross of Roman devising. Third, at what place after His resurrection could He be questioned by an inquirer as indicated in this text? We know from Scripture that He never appeared to the world after His death and resurrection; it was always to His own for confirmation of their faith and instruction (Ac 1) in the truth of God. Furthermore, there are other reasons which militate against understanding the passage of Christ. Fourth, Christ could not and would not say He was not a prophet. He was not only a prophet, but the Prophet, and the Prophet of prophets. (See Deu 18:15-18; Jn 1:18; Ac 3:22; 7:37; and Rev 1:5.) Fifth, Christ could not and would not say that He was a tiller of the ground. Doubtless, He aided His legal father, Joseph, in the carpenter shop in Nazareth in His youth, but this was not the work of a farmer. Sixth, Christ could not and would not say that He had been a slave from His youth, or that a man had bought Him for service from the days of His youth. How could any one of the untrue statements already mentioned ever be attributed to the Christ who is the truth? Finally, the position under discussion pays no attention to the context as to time or circumstances. It stems from the most superficial type of Bible interpretation, yet it lives on because we like to cling to an accepted view. But this one has nothing to commend it, and it does grave injustice to our blessed Lord. (The Minor Prophets) Here is one of the expositors that feels this is a reference to Jesus, an interpretation with which I do not agree - Henry
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Spurgeon - “Saved; yet so as by fire.” (cf Jude 1:23) This is true in a certain sense of all the righteous. They shall certainly be saved, and though the fires of persecution should rage around, the Lord will bring them through the fire. They shall not perish in it, but they shall even derive good from it; “I will bring the third part through the fire,”—If you are God’s people, you will certainly be tried and tested. As surely as ever God has put you in the third part that he will save (AS HE DID WITH THE ELECT OF ISRAEL), he has also ordained that you should pass through the fire. You shall have, both within and without, that which shall test your sincerity, and prove whether your faith is of divine origin or not. There is no easy road to heaven. Application - Are you currently in the Refiner's fire? See Refiner's Fire POSB - The nation of Israel as a whole (cf "all Israel will be saved" Ro 11:26) will be cleansed because the unfaithful will be removed. Individuals, too, will be refined through the fire of affliction, the trial of the Great Tribulation. Through the refining process, only the truly faithful will remain, and they will be made stronger and more pure.... the purging of Israel also speaks to the purging of the church. Not everyone who is a member of a church will be saved. Nor will everyone who calls him- or herself a Christian be saved. There are many people who are church members or Christians in name only; they have not truly believed in Christ nor committed their lives to Him (See Mt 7:21-23-note). A METALLURGY METAPHOR Zechariah metaphorically describes the spiritual cleansing and salvation of the third. Refine them as silver is refined - Our English word refine means to reduce to a fine, unmixed, or pure state, to separate from extraneous matter or cleanse from impurities. That's in the physical sense, but God is a Refiner of hearts and when He refines the third, He will bring them forth pure, righteous, holy, fit for entrance into His Kingdom. As Warren Wiersbe once said “When God puts His own people into the furnace, He keeps His eye on the clock and His hand on the thermostat. He knows how long and how much.” God is not an arsonist, but a Refiner! Refine...refined (smelt, test) (06884)(tsaraph) means to refine, test, try, purge away. As a participle tsaraph was used for goldsmiths and silversmiths. Tsaraph describes the process of refining metals before worked into fine vessels (Pr 25:4). Tsaraph means to test, examine, refine, to try to learn the information about the true nature or moral purity of an object, as a figurative extension of refining metals (Jdg 7:4; Ps 17:3; 26:2; 66:10) Tsaraph means to purify, purge, figuratively to be or become morally pure and without moral blemish through a process of testing or trial (Isa 1:25; Isa 48:10; Jer 6:29, cf Da 11:35, 12:10, Zech 13:9) A significant use of tsaraph is to describe the Word of God as flawless, perfect, pure, formally, tested and refined, i.e., to be pure and without flaw, with a focus on moral purity (2Sa 22:31; Ps 18:31; Pr 30:5). Refine is the Hebrew word tsaraph and is translated in the Septuagint with puroo meaning burn with fire. Tsaraph describes the process of melting precious metals in order to purify the metal by precipitating any impurities as in (Ezek 22:17–22). George Klein adds that "Several other prophetic texts express comparable messages (Isa 1:21–26; 48:10; Jer 6:27–30; 9:6). The promised heat from the Lord’s refining fire anticipates the ultimate sorrows and victories surveyed in Zech 14." (New American Commentary - Zechariah) John Hartley - "Various aspects of the refining process are vividly used for judgment on and purification from sin; e.g. a blazing furnace, bellows, lead, dross, refuse silver (e.g. Isa 1:25; Jer 6:27–30; Ezek 22:18–22). God seeks to remove from his people all wickedness and sin so that they can endure his holy presence. Man has the responsibility of purifying himself so that he can be refined; i.e. he must respond obediently to God’s word in order to experience cleansing (Dan 12:10). Further, when his people are wayward and violate the covenant, God seeks to bring them back by refining them (Jer 9:7). God tries them in the furnace of affliction (Isa 48:10). Although they have to endure difficult circumstances, as long as their faith in him remains firm, they will eventually experience deliverance (Ps 66:6–12). Between the promise and its fulfillment, the word itself tests and refines the one who has heard it (Ps 105:19). However, sometimes the people become so obstinate that no matter how intense the refining fire becomes, it is in vain (Jer 6:27–30). Then God must come against his people in judgment. But in the midst of this judgment, God is still preparing a people for himself. Those who undergo the judgment as a refining shall turn to God and enter into covenant with him once again (Zech 13:9). According to Malachil, God shall refine the Levites as gold and silver; then they will offer the sacrifices correctly and these sacrifices will be accepted (Mal 3:2ff.). The climax of God’s refining process will result in the establishment of a city over which he has complete rule; that city shall be called “the city of righteousness, the faithful city” (Isa 1:25f.). (TWOT) Tsaraph is used in a similar text in Isaiah 48 “Behold, I have refined (tsaraph) you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. “For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; For how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another.(Isaiah 48:10-11) MacArthur Study Bible - Since Isaiah’s time, Israel’s testings have included the Babylonian captivity and present worldwide dispersion from her Land; unlike silver purged in the furnace, the purging of Israel is not complete, and they are not refined. But God keeps up the afflictions until they are, so His name is not defamed through the destruction of Israel. The nation will be purged (cf. Zec 13:1). God’s plan is such that He alone, not man or man-made idols, will receive credit for Israel’s salvation (Isa 42:8; cf. Ro 11:25–27, 33–36). The adversaries of God are never to be given legitimate reasons for scoffing at God and His work. Moody Bible Commentary - Refinement through affliction is a common occurrence throughout the OT (cf. Ps 66:10; Jr 9:7; Zech 13:9; Mal 3:3). This refinement process is designed to purify the people of Israel and to strengthen their faith in the Lord. God does not do this for Israel but rather for His own sake and for His own reputation (Isa 48:11). God does not want His name to be defiled by Israel in rebellion or by the nations in their disdain. He will not share His glory with another (Isa 48:11; cf. Isa 42:8). And test them as gold is tested - Whereas the refining above is to remove the "spiritual dross," the testing is to "assay" the purity of the product in order to approve it. Job 23:10 shows the verb in an illustrative context: “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.” God will put the people to the test, not to punish, but to judge and to effect their purity, that is, their ability to serve in God’s kingdom. Thus, the Lord’s purpose in putting his people through times of suffering has a positive objective for the nation and especially for the kingdom. Test...tested (0974)(bachan/bahan) means to examine, to try, to prove, to scrutinize. Bachan is a primary (or root) word which depicts examination to determine (and bring out) the essential qualities of something, and in the moral realm speaks particularly of a person's integrity (think of integer = indivisible - undivided ~ think undivided heart or single minded focus/purpose). In Scripture bachan is used almost exclusively in this moral/spiritual sense meaning to try, search out, examine or prove one's spiritual heart or character. This verb bachan is used in an instructive passage in Job 23 “But He knows the way I take; When He has tried (bachan) me, I shall come forth as gold. (Job 23:10-note) Just as God did not put Job to the test to destroy him but to purify him, so too God will do with the third of the nation of Israel in the last days. Gilbrant adds "The figurative or metaphorical sense of the verb describes various aspects of the refining process used for judgment on and purification from sin (Isa. 1:25; Jer. 6:27-30; Ezek. 22:18-22; Dan. 11:35; 12:10). God sought to remove all wickedness and sin from his people so they could endure his holy presence. However, sometimes the people became so obstinate that no matter how intense the refining fire became, it was in vain (Jer. 6:27-30). At this point, God must come against his people in judgment. However, in the midst of this judgment, God is still preparing a people for Himself (ED: Exactly what Zechariah 13:8-9 is describing). The Septuagint (Lxx) translates bachan in Zech 13:9 with dokimazo which means to assay, to put to the test, to make a trial of, to discern to approve. Dokimazo involves not only testing but determining the genuineness or value of an event or object. That which has been tested is demonstrated to be genuine and trustworthy. In the present case the third will be genuine "gold," true followers of the Messiah. They will call on My name - The verb “call” (qara - 07121) is often used in the OT of calling on God in prayer. In Jeremiah 33:3-note God invites His people to "‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’" (cf 1 Chr 16:8, 2 Chr 14:11) For example in Ge 4:26 we read "To Seth, to him also a son was born; and he called his name Enosh. Then men began to call upon the name of the LORD." Several other times in Genesis we see this same pattern in the live of the godly patriarchs Abraham and Isaac, where the call is also linked with building of an altar indicating an attitude of worship... Genesis 12:8 Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the LORD and called upon the name of the LORD. Genesis 13:4 to the place of the altar which he had made there formerly; and there Abram called on the name of the LORD. Genesis 21:33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God. Genesis 26:25 So he (ISAAC) built an altar there and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well. Exodus 34:5 (MOSES ON MOUNT SINAI) The LORD descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the LORD. Psalm 99:6 Moses and Aaron were among His priests, And Samuel was among those who called on His name; They called upon the LORD and He answered them. Psalm 105:1 Oh give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples. (cf Ps 116:4,13, 17) Lam 3:55 I (JEREMIAH) called on Your name, O LORD, Out of the lowest pit. (A GOOD PLACE TO CALL FROM!) Joel prophesies that "it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the LORD Will be delivered; For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem There will be those who escape, As the LORD has said, Even among the survivors whom the LORD calls." (Joel 2:32-note) So here in Zechariah 13:9 we see they call on the name of the LORD and are delivered in fulfillment of Joel's prophecy. The Psalmist prays "Revive us and we will call on Thy Name." (Ps 80:18). The prayer of Asaph in Psalm 79 is instructive for in this prayer he links not knowing God and not calling on His Name... Pour out Your wrath upon the nations which do not know You, And upon the kingdoms which do not call upon Your name. (Ps 79:6, cf Isa 64:7, Isa 65:1, Jer 10:25) In light of the truth in Psalm 79:6, the fact that the third call on God's Name underscores the fact that they know Him, they are intimate with Him, and have entered into covenant (the New Covenant) with Him. Zephaniah prophecies of this same event as Zechariah 13:9 writing “For then (IN THAT DAY - JUST AS IN ZECHARIAH 12-14) I will give to the peoples purified lips (cf Zech 13:1), That all of them may call on the name of the LORD, To serve Him shoulder to shoulder. (Zephaniah 3:9-note) And I will answer them - God answers the callers indicating that they have entered into covenant with Him and are in union and communion with Him because of their mourning and repentance in Zechariah 12:10-14-note and the cleansing fountain in Zechariah 13:1. George Klein on answer them - God’s promise to “answer” (ʾeʿĕneh = 06030) employs an important Old Testament verb that often carries great theological weight (see 1 Kgs 18:24–26, 36–37). When God is subject of the verb ʿānāh, it signifies that the Lord listens attentively to the needs of His people. Isaiah 30:19 portrays the idea well: “O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious He will be when you cry for help! As soon as He hears, He will answer you” (cf. Zech 10:6). (Ibid) POSB - Many people in days of Tribulation will turn to the antichrist for their deliverance. Tragically, this will ensure their doom. Rather than being delivered, they will be among the two-thirds who are destroyed, for only those who call on the name of the LORD will be saved. Spurgeon - What a precious little sentence: “they shall call on my name”! And God will give ear to their prayer: “And I will hear them.” The “shall” and the “will” are put close together, and the one is as much the work of God’s grace as the other is: “They shall call on my name, and I will hear them.” Note these quick responses,—echoes, as it were. They call and God hears. God speaks, and they reply. God says, “It is my people.” They answer, “The Lord is my God.” Blessed are you if you can join in these heart-echoes, or can say, with the spouse, “My Beloved is mine, and I am his.” Is there this mutual interchange of love between you and the all-glorious Lord? If so, thrice happy are you; but if not, God grant that you may speedily enter into this secret of the Lord! May he bless to every one of us the reading of his Word, for his dear Son’s sake! Amen. I will say, 'They are My people,' And they will say, 'The LORD is my God.' - This is further proof that the third has entered into the New Covenant in His blood by grace through faith. Both God and the third use the possessive pronoun "MY." They now are the permanent possession of Jehovah, and He is their God forever. Earlier in Zechariah God had given a similar prophetic promise which include a geographic regathering and a spiritual regathering. As