Zacarias 13
Warren Wiersbe · Citado em PreceptAustin
Zacarias 13
Wiersbe - Isaiah had admonished the nation, “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes” (Isa. 1:16NKJV), but they refused to listen. Jeremiah had pleaded with his people, “O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved” (Jer. 4:14NKJV), but they wouldn’t obey. But now, in response to Israel’s repentance and faith, the Lord will wash them clean! (Be Heroic) A fountain will be opened - This verse is the basis for William Cowper's beloved hymn There Is A Fountain Filled with Blood (see lyrics below). Clearly this fountain that is opened is a figurative fountain, for the effect of this fountain is to cleanse from sin and impurity. No amount of external washing cleanses sin and impurity in our heart contrary to the false teaching that insists water baptism is necessary for cleansing and forgiveness (see note)! The Spirit of God had been poured out in Zechariah 12:10-note, opening their eyes to look upon their Messiah with faith and repentance and here we see that for opened eyes the Lord would provide an opened fountain, "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen." (Ro 11:36-note) Zechariah 13:1 is in effect a reversal of Israel's rejection of Jehovah's recorded so poignantly by the prophet Jeremiah... “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, The fountain of living waters (cf Zech 14:8-note), To hew for themselves cisterns, Broken cisterns That can hold no water. Matthew
Zacarias 13
Wiersbe - The Jews could cleanse their external ceremonial uncleanness by washing in water, but for internal cleansing the sinful heart of men and women can be cleansed only by the blood of the Savior (Lev 16:30-note; Lev 17:11-note). “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 John 2:2-note, NKJV). (Be Heroic) Sin (02403)(chattat/chattath) means wrong, iniquity, sin. Chattat, like it's NT counterpart (hamartia), means to miss or fall short of the mark (see this literal meaning "Out of all these people 700 choice men were left-handed; each one could sling a stone at a hair and not miss." Jdg 20:16-note), which ultimately is the will and plan of God as revealed in Scripture. The result of chattat/chattah is that man misses the goal God has for him by failing to observe the requirements of holy living and thus falls short of spiritual wholeness. Zechariah alluded to this cleansing from sin and impurity earlier (Zech 3:1–10,3 = filthy garments in Hebrew literally excrement-covered garments!), when Joshua the High Priest was cleansed of filthy robes as a symbol of Messiah’s end-time cleansing of Israel. In other words in Zech 3:4 the removal of filthy garments by the angels (“who were standing before him”) depicted the promised future forensic justification, the salvation of the nation (cf. Zech 3:9 where "stone" refers to Messiah; Zech 12:10–13:1; Ro 11:25–27). Ezra returning from exile in Babylon to Jerusalem sums up Israel's impurity (niddah) writing Now, our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken Your commandments, which You have commanded by Your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land (ISRAEL) which you (EZRA) are entering to possess is an unclean (niddah) land with the uncleanness (niddah) of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations (toebah) which have filled (Heb = male; Lxx = pimplemi) it from end to end and with their impurity (tumah). (Ezra 9:10-11) Impurity (uncleanness)(05079)(niddah from nadad = to retreat, stray) means filthiness and describes the condition of being ceremonially impure and unsuitable for religious worship or service. Niddah refers first to a woman’s flow of blood during her menstruation period (or childbirth), during which time she was considered impure and ritually unclean and had to be cleansed with water (Lev 12:2, 5-note, Lev 15:19-20,26-note; Nu. 19:9; Ezek 18:6; 22:10). Everything on which a menstruous women might lie or sit was pronounced ritually unclean (niddâh). Niddah came to mean anything polluted, detestable, or unclean (Lev. 20:21-note; Ezra 9:11; Lam. 1:17). The phrase hāyāh leniddāh means to become a detestable thing (Ezek. 7:19-note). Ezekiel applies the word to the menstrual period in his description of the righteous man who, among other things, does not have intercourse with a woman during the time of her period (Ezk 18:6; 22:10) (a law dependent on Lev 18:19). See also Ezk 22:10. Thomas McComiskey - Metaphorically, the concept of the ritual impurity of the menstrual period was used by Ezekiel to describe the nature of Israel’s sin (36:17). Basic to the metaphorical use of the term is the concept of abhorrence inherent in the physical origin of the term. It is used of useless currency cast into the streets like an abhorred thing (Ezk 7:19–20). It is applied to Israel’s most heinous sins (Zech 13:1; Ezr 9:11; II Chr 29:5).The word is used in the technical expression (IN AN ANTITHETICAL SENSE) “water of impurity,” (mê niddâ) a purifying water used in the ceremony of cleansing from the defilement of death (Nu 19:9, 13, 20–21, 31:23). (TWOT) Niddah - 29x in 24v - abhorrent(1), abhorrent thing(2), impurity(8), menstrual(1), menstrual impurity(7), menstrual period(1), menstruation(2), menstruation*(1), period(1), time(1), unclean(1), unclean thing(1), uncleanness(2). Lev. 12:2; Lev. 12:5; Lev. 15:19; Lev. 15:20; Lev. 15:24; Lev. 15:25; Lev. 15:26; Lev. 15:33; Lev. 18:19; Lev. 20:21; Num. 19:9; Num. 19:13; Num. 19:20; Num. 19:21; Num. 31:23; 2 Chr. 29:5; Ezr. 9:11; Lam. 1:17; Ezek. 7:19; Ezek. 7:20; Ezek. 18:6; Ezek. 22:10; Ezek. 36:17; Zech. 13:1 ADDENDUM - John Piper highly respected in reformed circles preached an interesting sermon in 1982 on Zechariah 13 entitled There Shall Be A Fountain Opened. Here are quotes from that sermon Here (Ro 11:12, 15) Israel is distinct from converted Gentiles and is promised a glorious future. So a few verses later, in Ro 11:25, 26, Paul says, "A hardening has come upon part of Israel until the full number of the Gentiles comes in, and so all Israel will be saved." In the context of Romans 11:12, 15, it is unwarranted to interpret "all Israel" here to mean anything other than corporate, ethnic Israel. So one of my guiding principles in reading Old Testament prophecy about Israel is that there is a glorious future ahead, when Israel will repent, turn to Christ, and be saved.... Finally we ask, for whom does this opened fountain provide cleansing? Who can read Zechariah and find personal hope in it? The most obvious answer is the Jewish people. Even though they have displeased God (1 Thessalonians 2:15) by rejecting his Son, their Messiah, to this day, God still promises mercy. He will one day lift the veil off their minds (2 Corinthians 3:14), take away the hardening of their hearts (Romans 11:25), and pour out a spirit of grace and supplication upon them, and they will turn to Jesus and confess him as Lord and Christ. We may even be seeing the beginnings of that final outpouring in the contemporary messianic Jewish movement. And we should pray for all our Jewish friends and associates, and speak to them with boldness about Christ. Now to be fair Piper does say "by faith in Christ Gentile believers become full partners in the promises made to Israel in the Old Testament." So he does not go as far as dispensationalists who say ethnic Israel will receive the land promises. Nevertheless, he clearly states Israel is distinct from converted Gentiles and is promised a glorious future. Steven
Zacarias 13
Wiersbe adds "But not only will their hearts be cleansed, but the land itself will be purged of all that is deceitful and defiling. The idols and the false prophets—two of Israel’s besetting sins—will be removed, as well as the very “unclean spirit” that caused people to turn from God. (See Zech. 5:5–11.) (Be Heroic)