Zechariah Chapter 13 "Evil is Removed" This Bible
Study is written by Roger Christopherson, and it's
transcription/ location is provided by http://www.theseason.org Zechariah 13:1 "In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness." "In that day", is a day in the future when this prophecy will take place. In both the thirteenth and fourteenth chapters of Zechariah we will see how Jesus Christ will return to earth, and where His return will be. The "fountain" that is opened, is the return of Jesus Christ. His blood that flowed from the cross of Calvary, is the fountain that will cleanse the sin from anyone that will just repent of their sins, and believe the He is the Son of the Living God. There is no sin that this fountain of Christ's precious blood cannot cleanse, not murder, stealing, adultery, or even sodomy; Christ's blood covers it all, and makes it white as the purest snow. Through repentance, our Lord will take the most depraved soul and cleanse it, and place within it His substance, which gives that soul eternal life. The Hebrew word describing this fountain is "Hayah", which means eternal [without end]. Zechariah 13:2 "And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land." For this passage to be history, Jesus Christ should be with us now. However it is written for the Millennium age, and God is saying that in the Millennium age no idols will exist, nor will they even be remembered. As we look around today, idols are everywhere; in our homes, and even in our churches and even on the street corners. Zechariah 13:3 "And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the Lord: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth." God will remove all evil, even the false prophets from the land, when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. Revelation 19:20 tells us where the final destination of these false prophets will be. It will be in the "lake of fire". Revelation 19:20 "And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone." This verse in Zechariah 13 also refers us back to Deuteronomy 13:6-11, which pertains to the laws dealing with false prophets, and how the Law requires that false prophets are to be put to death. False prophets will not exist in the Millennium age, for all souls will know exactly what God has said in His word, and they will understand it fully. Physical handicaps will not exist either, nor will the limitations of memory and memory loss that many have now, for all souls will have changed into their new incorruptible bodies. Our incorruptible bodies will not age nor be deformed in any manner during that thousand year reign of Jesus Christ's Millennium kingdom. Those saved in this earth age have immortality for their souls also in that Millennium age. However, at the close of the Millennium age each individual soul will either have immortality, or they shall perish. The Millennium age is a time of teaching and discipline. The age of salvation by faith doctrine is in this earth age of the flesh only, when we have the grace of God extended to each of us that will repent "in Jesus' name" and believe on Him. Zechariah 13:4 "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive:" The clue to understanding this verse is, "his vision"; the vision of the false prophets. If a minister talks of things, and says "God told me thus", and it does not come to pass, he is a false prophet. God's prophets are all true, and what they say will come to pass. Many of the TV prophets today make their crystal ball prophecies, and when they don't come to pass, they change their story, and write a new book, updating the changes. The fact that changes are made, and what they had said did not come true; God says marks him or her a false prophet. The prophet's garment of old was the skins of an animal, a rough and back woods type of clothing. Most prophets of today think they must look like a million bucks, and talk with authority from "his own vision"; not the Words from God's. Then for the garbage they spew from their mouth, they become common beggars for your money. The air waves and the book stores are full of the trash from these fake preachers, however in the Millennium, all teachers will be of God or they simply won't be there. Zechariah 13:5 "But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am an husbandman; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth." God is saying here that no one will claim to be a prophet, or advance any idea that his words are of God, when it was not. Every teacher in the Millennium age can be trusted to be of God, or they will not be there. Zechariah 13:6 "And one shall say unto him, `What are these wounds in Thine hands?' Then he shall answer, `Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.' " This is going back to the last day of this earth age, the "Day of the Lord". This verse is directed at the "Kenites", those claiming to be Jews, and are not; and they will be dealt with at the start of the Millennium age. "The house of my friends" are the "true blood Jew of the tribe of Judah", while the ones doing the wounding of Jesus Christ were the Kenites, the ones who sat in the seat of Moses and claimed to be Jews, when in fact they were the very blood offspring of Satan [the Kenites]. Jesus is saying that He is going to remind them of what they did to him, while He was on the earth at the first advent. He will show them His nail print hands, and require an answer from them. Jesus knew exactly who the Kenites were, and He identified them as he faced them in John 8:43, 44. John 8:43 "Why do ye not understand My speech? Even because ye cannot hear My word." John 8:44 "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it." The Kenites took over the duties of the scribes and priests coming out of Babylon captivity. They are the ones that substituted their traditions for the Words of God from the prophets of God. These Kenites are also the ones that plotted the death of Jesus, and had the same mind of their fathers, Satan and Cain. The Kenites had the lust of their father the devil [Satan], and the murdering mind of their father Cain. Once you understand what happened in the garden of Eden, and exactly who Cain was, you can start understanding who Zechariah is addressing here. It was the Kenites that were the Jewish religious leaders that plotted and had Jesus hung to the cross. The time is coming when they will see that their actions in committing Jesus Christ to the cross marked the death of their own father, Satan, as well as their kind. They will know Jesus Christ by the nail prints in his hand. Zechariah 13:7 "Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones." This seventh verse is one of the most difficult to understand in the Scriptures. It has a twofold meaning, for only those who know there are two shepherds, Jesus Christ and the Antichrist, can see that there are two shepherds which is spoken of here. Most Christians simply don't understand that it is our Heavenly Father that raises both shepherds up; both the false and the good Shepherds. The subject is set, with the sign of the true Christ being the wounded hands. This is the seal of the true Christ; being His nail pierced hands. God will "turn his hands on the little ones"; for "to turn" as stated here is translated "to save", while His "little ones" are "God's elect". They are saved by the fact they know the warning God gave them in His Word, and they refuse to worship the first Christ coming to earth [the Antichrist]. Most Christians don't realize that they will not see Jesus Christ in their earthly physical body; their flesh and blood body. That is what Paul was trying to get across to us in I Corinthians 15:50-54. If you are ever tempted to worship anyone, and your still in this flesh body, which is able to feel physical pain, and with all it's age spots and markings, it is not Jesus Christ, and that act is a sin. "Man that is my fellow" is what the Almighty Father said; and He is referring to the only One that is on equal status [fellow] with Himself. Of course that is His very Son, Jesus Christ our Messiah. Now let's apply this to the "fake shepherd". In Zechariah 11:16 we read where it was God who raised up a false shepherd, and we know that he is Satan. It is the sword [words from Christ's mouth] that shall destroy Him, as we saw in verse 11:17. That sword is the Word of the Living God, which is the sharp two edged sword [of Revelation 1:16]; and because of it's piercing effect, there is much conflict amongst scholars concerning this seventh verse of Zechariah. They just can not make up their minds as to who this "whom" is referring to. This is because to accept the truth, they must reject much of their traditional thinking that their doctrine is based upon. There are terms applying to each shepherd, and this should tip off the Bible student that there are two Messiahs also. Do you know the difference? The Antichrist comes first, and the true Christ [Jesus] comes last. All parts and things of this flesh age are finished and over when Jesus Christ comes back at the seventh trumpet. Zechariah 13:8 "And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein." This verse speaks of the six seals of deception, that are written in Revelation 6 and 7. A very lot of people are going to be deceived and taken in by Satan, his children the Kenites, and those fallen angels that come with Satan. Zechariah 13:9 "And I will bring a third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God." "For our God is a consuming fire" [Hebrews 12:29]. God will bring His own through the testing, and a third part of them will be strong and unshaken. Each of God's elect will know the true Messiah from the false messiah, and their worship and prayers are to the Heavenly Father, in Jesus name. There is no doubt to this matter, for they know exactly who Satan is, and how he works to confuse and deceive. God is committed to you, when you repent of your sins and believe on Jesus Christ. Then when you study God's Word preparing you to stand against the Antichrist, or any of his forces, you have the unlimited, immeasurable power of God on your side, and you will stand. The Lord is my [your] God.
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