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As always, it is a great joy to be able to minister the word of God to you. And we are coming close to the end of our study of the Book of Zechariah; and today we will examine the few verses that are in chapter 13, if you will take your Bibles and turn there, and we will do this under the heading "Israel's Final Purification." It's an amazing thing to realize that here, for example, at Calvary Bible Church, we are a celestial outpost of an eternal kingdom; we are awaiting the arrival of our King and all that he has planned for us, and he has revealed so much to us in his Word. And while we are unable to understand everything - because he doesn't give us clarity on everything - we can see that he has a plan for his covenant people,  Israel, that was sealed by covenant oaths - an amazing thing - as we look at history, it's overwhelming to me at times to realize all that he has planned for us and certainly for Israel, as well as the church, and we see this in the story line of Scripture.

In fact, it's interesting. This was always at the forefront of the Apostle Paul's mind as he went into synagogues to proclaim Christ to his kinsmen, the Jews. In fact, his love for them and God's purposes to them is illustrated in his apology to King Agrippa in Acts 26 who Paul declared as being in verse three, "an expert in all customs and questions among the Jews." Then he says this in verses six and seven,

"'And now I am standing trial for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers;

"'the promise to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly serve God night and day. And for this hope, O King, I am being accused by Jews.'"

And what was the promise made by God to his fathers? The promise to which our twelve tribes hope to attain as they earnestly serve God night and day? Not that the twelve tribes would be somehow immersed into the Christian church and become the true Israel. No, no, no. Rather that those tribes would experience the glorious kingdom promises God covenanted to them; the fulfillment of their national aspirations that were so clearly set forth in the Abrahamic the priestly and the Davidic covenants, all of which are mediated through the New Covenant. And of course, this was at the heart of Romans 9, 10, and 11. In Romans, nine, Paul speaks of Israel's election. In Romans 10, he speaks of their defection. In Romans 11, he speaks of their salvation, when Jews will be saved in mass once "the fullness of the Gentiles has come in" (Romans 11:25,), and that will be when God's mission to the Gentiles through the church is completed and he turns his focus once again to his covenant nation after the church has been removed in the rapture. And this is when the re-grafting of Israel will take place, the restoration of the nation under the auspices of the New Covenant. And this is why, in Acts one and verse six after, his disciples had been with the Lord 40 days where he's teaching them about the kingdom, they asked, "'Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?'" And indeed, this is what the purposes of God for Israel are all about. This is when it will come to fruition, consistent with Daniel 9:24, "seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city." Why? "To finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place."

And so it is no surprise, therefore, that the promise made by God to his fathers - the promise to which the twelve tribes hoped to attain as they earnestly served God night and day - is all about these magnificent truths. This is what they were awaiting. And we see this illustrated in many passages of Scripture. For example, in Isaiah 62 let me read just a couple of verses here, beginning in verse one,

"For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not keep quiet, until her righteousness goes forth like brightness, and her salvation like a torch that is burning.

"The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; and you will be called by a new name which the mouth of the LORD will designate.

"You will also be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

"It will no longer be said to you 'Forsaken,' nor to your land will it any longer be said 'Desolate'; But you will be called, 'My delight is in her,' and your land 'Married.' For the LORD delights in you, and to Him your land will be married.

"For as a young man marries a virgin, so your sons will marry you; and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so your God will rejoice over you."

But all of these oath sealed promises set forth in the Abrahamic and the priestly and the Davidic covenants will bring blessings upon national Israel, but they require the saving and sanctifying work of Christ, which is at the heart of the New Covenant. That's what Paul preached. That's what the Jews hated. Jeremiah 31 beginning in verse 31,

"'Behold, days are coming,' declares the LORD, 'when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

"'not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,' declares the Lord.

"'But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,' declares the LORD, 'I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.'"

Likewise, we read the same in Ezekiel 36 beginning in verse 24,

"'For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land.

"'Then 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.

"'Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

"'I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.

"'You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God.'"

And it is this national cleansing - this in mass purification, if you will - of future Israel, that is the subject of our text here this morning; a work of grace that every twice born saint understands. And this is actually the first part of the second oracle that we have here that extends through, or actually, it began in chapter 12, verse one, and extends through chapter 13. And you will recall the last time we were together, we examined the effusion and the efficacy, in other words, the cause and the effect of the Spirit of grace and supplication that will result in Israel's national conversion that is so clearly articulated in Zechariah 12 verses 10 through 14; and that will prepare the way for Israel's final purification, the subject of our text this morning.

So let me read this to you. Zechariah 13.

"'In that day, a fountain will be open for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity.

"'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 prophets and the unclean spirit from the land.

"'And if anyone still prophesies, then his father and mother who gave birth to him will say, "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.

"'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;

"'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."

"'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,"

"'Away, O sword, against My Shepherd, and against the man My Associate,' declares the LORD of hosts.

"'Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered; and I will turn My hand against the little ones.

"'It will come about in all the land,' declares the LORD, 'That two parts in it will be cut off and perish; but the third will be left in it.

"'And I will bring the third part through the fire, refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. 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 my God."'"

I want us to examine this text this morning under four very simple headings. We're going to look at the prophecy, the provision, the preparation and the purpose of Israel's final purification. You know, I marvel at the age in which we live. Like no other time in history, we are seeing the stage being set for our Lord's return - the final drama of world history. We see it in the regathering of Israel to their land, preparations for the building of the temple in Jerusalem, the escalating antisemitism, the Russian/Arab alliance that will eventually come down upon Israel - as we see in Ezekiel 38 and 39 -  the rise of false prophets, the rise of false religions, widespread war and lawlessness, increased persecution of Christians, and on it goes. And while we don't know the day, we know the constellation of prophetic signs are pointing us to a time that could be very, very near.

Now let's look, first of all, here at this text, under the heading "The Prophecy of Israel's Final Purification." Notice verse one, "'In that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity.'" Now, in what day? Well, as we look at the context, it's in that day when the effusion of the Spirit of grace and supplication will result in Israel's national conversion. In the previous verses, chapter 12, verses 10 through 14, "in that day a fountain," or it could be translated, "a spring," a figure denoting a perennial, and a permanent, an abundant source of cleansing water that is going to be open. And the implication here is that it's now currently shut. Not that salvation isn't available to them, but because of the partial hardening of God's judgment upon them, because the veil is still over their eyes, they have not experienced that cleansing; but that fountain will be opened for the house of David.

The water used for the cleansing, purification of the Levites, and their consecrating ritual, seems to be at play here. The term "water" can be translated "sin water," or "water of expiation," as we see in Numbers eight and verse seven. In fact, the priestly prophet Ezekiel probably had this figure in mind when he described Israel's future cleansing, as we read earlier in Ezekiel 36:25 it says, "'Then 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.'" And we can read in Numbers 19, in verse nine, "'"Now a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place, and the congregation of the sons of Israel shall keep it as of water or as water to remove impurity; it is purification from sin."'" In other words, it's a means of removing sin.

But we must understand that what is pictured here in Zechariah's prophecy is something far greater than merely the purification of the body or ceremonial defilement. Here, what we see is, God is opening a fountain unto the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem that will cleanse them from the guilt and the moral defilement of sin itself - an amazing thought - a fountain that is obviously linked to the eternal efficacy of the blood of Christ, which cleanses us from sin. That will be the time when they finally see the one "whom they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him," as we read in verse 10 of chapter 12. It's interesting, perhaps they will remember that blasphemous prayer of their ancestors, when in their ignorance and unbelief they cried out for Jesus' crucifixion; and you will remember what they said in Matthew 27 verse 25, "'His blood shall be on us and on our children!'" What a paradox. By God's grace, their curse became a blessing, because it was the very atoning blood of Christ that purchased their redemption, that cleansed them from sin; and we see the astounding glory of this truth revealed in Hebrews nine, beginning in verse 13,

"For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh,

"how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit, offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

"For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance."

As we observe religious Jews today, it's very sad to see their obsession with self-righteousness, with trying to somehow earn their salvation. This is why Paul was so discouraged. He said in Romans 10, beginning in verse three,

"For not knowing about God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.

"For Christ is the end of the law, for righteousness to everyone who believes."

So this fountain is going to cleanse that, it's going to purify that. Also "impurity" can be translated "uncleanness, that which is to be shunned." And the term is used in the Old Testament, for example, of the ceremonial impurity of women in menstruation and of ceremonial defilement because one has touched a corpse. But the point here is impurity speaks of that polluting stain of sin that prevents a person from entering into the presence of a holy God. And in that day, this cleansing fountain is going to be open to Israel, and they will actually experience the great redeeming work of their Messiah, when the Spirit of God applies his blood and righteousness to them. As the prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah 35:5, "Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped."

 Let me pause for a moment, friends. Do you remember that day, that season in your life, when you actually saw who Christ really was? And in light of that, you saw your sin for what it really was. Do you remember that day? I do. It may not be a specific day for everyone, but it's certainly a season in your life; and you can look back on it and praise God for what happened here, when you saw the atoning value and the efficacy of his sacrifice on your behalf, and the radical change of heart and mind that it produced; that spiritual resurrection from the dead to spiritual life. As Paul said in Second Corinthians 5:17, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things pass away; behold, new things have come." Oh, the marvel of that cleansing fount that we have experienced as believers. I think of what we sing so often, "What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus; What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus; Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow, no other fount I know; nothing but the blood of Jesus."

But notice what else will be washed away. God is going to eliminate the besetting sins of Israel that have wrought such destruction upon them; such divine judgment upon them down through the centuries. As we will see, it's going to be idolatry and false prophets and unclean spirits, literally demons that author and inspire and promote deceptions; that seduce the naive and the ignorant and the unregenerate to believe these things. Notice verse two, "'It will come about in that day,' declares the Lord, 'that I will cut off...'" It could be translated, "totally eliminate"; "'...the names of the idols from the land.'" Now remember, rather than remaining separate from the evil culture that surrounded them, they immersed themselves in it, like we see in evangelicalism today. So many people today that name the name of Christ, refuse to obey what is said in Romans 12:2, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Rather than allowing themselves to be molded into the ways of the world, we should allow the Word of God to renew our minds and to be careful not to immerse ourselves in the things of the world. Second Corinthians six, you remember it says that we are to come out, come away from them, to be separate from them. And we see this, for example, in Psalm 106, where you have a rehearsal of of Israel's sordid history, but yet God's mercy upon them. Let me just read a portion of it. Psalm 106, beginning in verse 34,

"They did not destroy the peoples, as the LORD commanded them,

"but they mingled with the nations and learned their practices,

"and served their idols, which became a snare to them.

"They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons,

"and shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with the blood.

"Thus they became unclean in their practices, and played the harlot in their deeds.

"Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against His people, and He abhorred His inheritance.

"Then He gave them into the hand of the nations, and those who hated them ruled over them."

Now we might ask, as we look at Zechariah prophecy, what might be some of the idols, the false religions that his people would be a part of when the Lord returns. Well, there's multiple things, multiple examples of this; and certainly, if you understand anything about Judaism today, you will see there's a full gamut of false religions amongst them, everything from atheism to secularism, from apostate Judaism to mysticism to Kabbalah. Apostate Judaism worships a counterfeit Yahweh. It reminds me of the golden calf, as you will recall, that the Israelites erected when Moses was on Mount Sinai. And do you remember what they called the golden calf? They called it Yahweh. Look how people worship political leaders today and false teachers and counterfeit Jesus. But the most severe form of idolatry during the time of the tribulation for the Jewish people will be the worship of what is called in Zechariah 11, "the worthless Shepherd," the Antichrist, the one who Paul says in Second Thessalonians 2:4 "...opposes and exalts himself above every so called God or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God." In Revelation 13, beginning in verse four, we read what will happen during that age.

"...they worship the beast, saying, 'Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?'

"There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty two months was given to him.

"And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven."

Well, the point here is that all of these things will one day be purged from the land when Christ returns, when he purifies his covenant people and establishes his kingdom.

Back to Zechariah13, verse two, "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.'" I'm sure that will be the case. Imagine, the Lord has returned, he has restored the earth to some form of Edenic splendor, he is reigning in Jerusalem. You're too busy glorifying Christ to remember all those ridiculous things that you once they'll pray to. And he says, "...and I will remove the prophets." This refers to those deceptive messengers, the wolves in sheep's clothing. I sometimes call them predators in pulpits. And he says, "the unclean spirit from the land." And of course, this is always at the heart of these deceptions. Satan uses his minions to promote his lies. In Deuteronomy 32 we have an example, beginning in verse 17. It says,

"'They sacrificed to demons who were not God, to gods whom they have not known, new gods who came lately, whom your fathers did not dread.

"'You neglected the Rock who begot you and forgot the God who gave you birth.'"

O child of God never, ever underestimate the seductive powers, the genius of Satan, to deceive and to seduce; and know that you are a target. He wants to destroy your life. He wants to destroy your marriage. He wants to destroy your family. Satan is the father of lies, and demons are his foot soldiers who influence and indwell false teachers that promote false doctrines. All of this is inspired by doctrines of demons. Paul warned about this in First Corinthians, 10:20, he says, "...I do not want you to become sharers in demons." And in First Timothy four and verse one, he says, "But the Spirit explicitly says that in latter times some will fall away from the faith,  paying attention to deceitful spirits..." "Paying attention" carries the idea of devoting one's life or efforts to deceitful spirits, "...and doctrines of demons by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron." In other words, religious false teachers are not bothered by the lies that they promote. They're like psychopaths or sociopaths. Their conscience is seared. I think of the destruction caused by idolatry even today, and the false prophets that have been inspired by deceitful spirits, by doctrines of demons. I think of Hitler for example. He promoted what was called, quote, "positive Christianity." Well, that sounds nice, doesn't it? Who wouldn't want that? And of course, it rejected true Christianity. He said, for example, that Jesus was a quote, "Aryan fighter who struggled against the power and pretensions of the corrupt Pharisees and Jewish materialism." Folks, demon inspired false religions and cults are everywhere today, and it will be that way until the Lord returns and removes them.

And I might add that there are three things that all false religions, all cults, will have in common. Number one, they will attack the person and work of Christ. And secondly, they will have their own version of truth; their own scriptures, and then thirdly, they will attack Biblical Christianity. I mean, think of Islam. Think of the Roman Catholic Church. Think of Mormonism that believes that Jesus and Satan are brothers. Think of the Jehovah's Witness, Christian Science, apostate Judaism, the prosperity gospel, the whole word of faith movement. And it's interesting that progressive Marxist liberalism, which is essentially taken over the Democratic Party has given us a new form of Christianity called "Progressive Christianity," which is Christianity for non-Christians who will never enter the kingdom. They deny the inerrancy and the authority of the Bible. They reinterpret scripture to address issues of social justice and environmental concerns, human diversity, including the affirmation and the inclusion of the whole LGBTQ community. Of course, we see the outworkings of that even this last week, where you have another self-loathing, demonic, transgender young man that murdered people in Minnesota. This religious system that is so demonic, if you look at it, they reject the doctrines of sin and wrath and hell and divine justice and salvation by grace, through faith; and Jesus, to them, is merely a moral example, he is not the Son of God that bore our sins in his body; the one that we should worship and praise.

But most fundamentally, bear in mind that all of the false religions - the ones that will be removed one day - deny John 14:6 where Jesus said, "'I am the Way and the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father but through Me.'" But when the Lord returns during Israel's final purification, God will even use the people's zeal for holiness, their zeal for truth, to oppose every form of idolatry and false religion and wickedness that will surface even in the millennium. Notice the hypothetical example that God gives us through his servant, Zechariah, to emphasize the severity and the scope of this zeal.

Verse three, "'And if anyone still prophesies, then his father and mother who gave birth to him will say to him, "You will 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.'" The point here, in this hypothetical example, is that their zeal for the Messiah, and for his law, will exceed even normal parental affection that tends to excuse and ignore wickedness in children; and this kind of wholehearted devotion to the Lord that exceeds even the loyalty of one's own family was actually part of the Old Testament law. Remember Moses declared in Deuteronomy 13, beginning in verse six, "'If your brother, your mother's son, or your son or daughter, or the wife you cherish, or your friend who is as your own soul, entice you secretly saying, "Let us go and serve other gods" (whom neither you nor your fathers have known,

"'of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end),

"'you shall not yield to him or listen to him; and your eyes shall not pity him, nor shall you spare or conceal him.

"'But you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.'"

Now, to be sure, this kind of zeal for the truth, this kind of zeal for holiness that brings glory to God, is virtually nonexistent in evangelicalism today. By the way, I'm not saying here, - nor is the scriptures teaching now- that we are to execute offenders. Christ has paid the penalty on the cross. We live under grace, not under law. But our zeal for holiness, for righteousness, should remain the same. As I was contemplating this last week, I rehearsed in my mind and went to Scripture, there are actually 16 crimes worthy of the death penalty in the Old Testament law. Let me just read them to you without giving you all of the passages that speak of this: premeditated murder, kidnapping, striking or cursing parents, magic and divination, bestiality, sacrificing to false gods, profaning the Sabbath, offering human sacrifice, adultery, incest, homosexuality, blasphemy, false prophecy, incorrigible rebelliousness, fornication and rape. And thankfully, because of Christ, as I say, we live under grace not under law, but the moral character of God has not changed. Therefore, our zeal to do what honors him should not change either.

Now back to verse three, to speak "falsely," as it says, "in the name of the LORD"; I mean, that is a terrifying form of hypocrisy. To say that "the Lord told me to say this," and now what you're about to say has nothing to do with anything than either a figment of your own imagination or some demonic spirit that has communicated this to you; and yet you see this all the time, and that was worthy of death under the Old Covenant, and many people do this today. Most of them are unwitting false teachers. God addressed this in his law, for example, in Deuteronomy 18, beginning in verse 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.

"'You may say in your heart, "How will we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?'"

And here's the answer,

"'When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.'"

Now as we come back to the text, notice a second hypothetical scenario in the kingdom age after Israel's final purification; verse four, "'Also it will come about in that day that the prophets...'" again is referring to the phony, self-appointed, demonically inspired false teachers, "'...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...'" that would have been the garb of a prophet that the people would have understood - the external appearance of a messenger of God - he, "'...will not put on a hairy robe in order to deceive.'" In other words, he's not going to do anything that would expose himself as a false teacher. I think of the ostentatious religious garb of false religious leaders trying to draw attention to themselves seeking honor and power. If you want a little glimpse of what the Pharisees would have looked like, look at the clerical garb of the leaders in the Roman Catholic Church. Remember Jesus used the metaphor of wolves in sheep's clothing. What would happen is, the false prophets would dress like the prophets who often wore sheep's clothing. And that's why Jesus said in Matthew 7:15 "'Beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.'" Well, how are we going to know them if they're so well disguised? He answers that by saying, "'You will know them by their fruits.'" When you examine their lives do they demonstrate Christ likeness? When you hear their words is it consistent with biblical truth? Do you see the fruit of the Spirit, in Galatians five, growing on the vine of their life? Or are they no different than the people of the world? Because actually, they have nothing to restrain the flesh, because the Holy Spirit does not live within them.

Now notice, to conceal their true identity, in verse five, 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." And one will say to him, "What are these wounds between your arms?"'" Literally, between your hands, referring to "what's that on your chest?" And this, this would have been indicative of the self-flagellation of the pagan rituals in the ancient Near East that Zechariah's audience would have been familiar with. There was an identifying mark, is the point, that would connect them with the false teacher, the pagan teacher. And, "Then he will say, "Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.'" In other words, whatever the mark might be that would indicate that they're part of the false teacher of that day, they will be so terrified of exposure that they will come up with even the most ridiculous, flimsy excuse to avoid detection.

And beloved as you think about this, bear this in mind that the greater our zeal for the truth, the greater our hatred for deception. I have to say, I find my blood boiling when I hear these false teachers, and I pray that God will use every means necessary to silence them; to pour out his wrath on their unholy head. The effect of their lives is so horrific in this life for all who believe. I have counseled hundreds and hundreds of people who have been seduced by these deceptions, and I've encountered the absolute dumpster fire of their life; and many of you have as well. It's as if, when you deal with them, you are joining them in just a septic tank of accumulated evil. We've all had to smell the stench of rotting marriages and families and endure the vitriol of their rejection when you confront them with biblical truth. Sin is such a wicked thing. Indeed, as Proverbs 13:5 says, "A righteous man hates falsehood, but a wicked man acts disgustingly and shamefully." Well, a zeal for holiness and the truth and the glory of God will be the mark of Israel's final purification.

So we've seen the prophecy of Israel's final purification. We move secondly to the provision of Israel's final purification. And notice the abrupt shift here, as the Lord now refers to the true Shepherd in contrast to the false shepherd, he says in verse seven, "'Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, and against the man,'" denoting his humanity, "'My Associate,'" which is really a synonym for brother in the Hebrew Bible, in Leviticus; so it denotes fellowship and equality. "'Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, and against the man, My Associate,'" literally "the man that is my fellow." It carries the idea of "my nearest one." In other words, the sword will come against the one who is near to God, referring to Christ. And this is the prediction of the true shepherd. This is a prediction of the Messiah, the one that would endure the sword of divine wrath to save his people. And also bear in mind that this speaks of the two-fold nature of Christ, the one who is both human and divine and is equal to the one who says, "Awake, O sword against My Shepherd." This is the one "whom they pierced," the one who was pierced for his people (Zechariah 12:10). Christ Jesus is the one according to Hebrews 9:26, who has been "manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself."

Well, this is the provision now of Israel's final purification. In other words, through the suffering of their Messiah, though he would be rejected as their Shepherd, he would be ultimately their redeeming Savior. Having seen the prophecy and the provision of Israel's final purification, notice, thirdly, the preparation of Israel's final purification. And I want you to notice here the result of the Lord summoning his sword of divine wrath against his shepherd. In verse seven, it says, "'Strike the Shepherd,'" which obviously points to the crucifixion, "...that the sheep may be scattered.'" Scattered - the point here in the original, and we can even see it in the English here, is that the result of the shepherd being struck will cause the sheep to scatter, which they did. Remember at the night of his arrest, what happened to the disciples? They scattered in fear and after his death and resurrection, God scattered his fearful followers, spreading the gospel throughout the ancient world. And really that was a gracious providence that refined them and purified them to walk in a manner worthy of their calling; and later as a judgment against Israel's unbelief, the Jewish people were scattered at the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.

But isn't it fascinating now there is a regathering to the land. In fact, I watched a video of what happened on Friday, there were 50,000 Jews that had gathered to the Western Wall Plaza in Jerusalem for the second Selichot event. It means forgiveness, which is a time where they recite prayers in the days leading up to Yom Kippur. It's a corporate asking of God for forgiveness for the sins of the nations and so forth. And they blew the sound of the shofar in the speakers, and it will absolutely send chills up your spine. And the point with all of this is to see how sad it is that they are praying for forgiveness, and they will celebrate Yom Kippur, but they have no understanding of who the Messiah is. But beloved, that day will change when the Lord returns. This is his promise.

Again in verse seven, "'Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered; and I will turn My hand against the little ones - "ṣāʿar" - the little ones, the humble ones, those who appear as little, those who make themselves small. This is his preserved remnant. He's going to turn his hand against them. This is similar to the poor of the flock in Zechariah 11:7. The Lord will scatter them and refine them in his judgment. We see the same figure, by the way in Isaiah 1:25, "'I will turn My hand against you. I will smelt away your dross as with lye and remove all your alloy.'"

But notice in verse eight, "'It will come about in all the land,' declares the LORD, 'That two parts in it will be cut off and perish; but the third will be left in it." And certainly, this speaks of the holocaust of the pre-kingdom judgments, the end of the tribulation. He's going to preserve for himself a remnant which he has always done. This, you might say, is even the holy seed described in Isaiah six, verse 13. And he adds this, "'And I will bring the third part through the fire, and refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested.'" Ezekiel speaks of this in Ezekiel 22 verse 20, "'"As they gather silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into the furnace to blow fire on it in order to melt it,'" God says, "'...so I will gather you in My anger and in My wrath, and I will lay you there and melt you. I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you will be melted in the midst of it. "'As silver is melted in the furnace, so you will be melted in the midst of it; and you will know that I, the LORD, have poured out My wrath on you.'"

You know verses eight and nine here in Zechariah 13 is such an astounding, such a thrilling promise. Again, think about this. The day is coming when all rebellion is going to be eliminated, and the believing remnant will be purified. What an amazing promise. And this brings enormous hope to Jewish believers. A number of them are friends of mine, and when I hear them talk and I see the joy in their heart and the sadness in their heart for their people, I can rejoice with them, especially those who are living in the land of Israel today and watching the whole world turn against them. By the way, dear friends, we know nothing of that kind of vulnerability. We know nothing of that kind of vulnerability. When you've got people around you that want to do, every day, what Hamas did on October 7. There's such comfort in the scriptures; as I was talking with one, he reminded me of Deuteronomy 30, beginning in verse one. "'So it shall be when all these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind in all nations where the Lord your God has banished you,

"'and you return to the LORD your God and obey Him with all your heart and soul according to all that I command you today, you and your sons,

"'then the LORD your God will restore you from captivity, and have compassion on you and will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you.

"'If your outcasts are at the ends of the earth, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there he will bring you back.

"'The LORD your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers.

"'Moreover, the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.'"

Well, finally, we see the purpose of Israel's final purification. There in verse nine, "'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 my God."'" Beloved, this was the relationship God had wanted all along with his people, and this was the certain goal of all of his covenant promises. And I trust that you can say the Lord is my God. You want to ask yourself, is that true? Is the Lord your greatest delight? Is Christ the object of your greatest affection? MacArthur made this statement as we draw this to a conclusion this morning, quote, "Throughout its history, the nation never experienced pure and perfect fellowship with the Lord. But as Zechariah prophesied, the day will come when Israel experiences such a relationship with Yahweh for the duration of the millennial kingdom and into the eternal state, the national conversion and spiritual cleansing of Israel will testify to the power and fidelity of God's promise and grace." My friends, I would challenge you this morning to ask yourself what I just said a moment ago. Can I truly say that the Lord is my God? If so, you will have a zeal for the truth. You will have a zeal for holiness; you will have a hunger for the Word of God. You will have a passion to know and to serve the living God. Do you have an honest, sincere, passionate commitment to not be conformed to this world? Or is that something that you never even think about? Do you have a hatred for the things of this world that oppose Christ? I trust that you do. Remember in First John two, verse 15, we are warned,

"Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

"For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world."

Then he adds this, "The world is passing away, and also it's lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever." My friend, I would ask you if these truths have a hollow ring to them in your heart; even if you find yourself mildly offended with all of these things that are being said, or if you dismiss them as if they really have no application to your life, there is something terribly deficient with your faith in your so called "love for Christ." Even if you claim to have that. And oh, dear Christian, may I challenge you, let's don't walk in the darkness. We are people of the light, right? Let's walk in the light, and let's live our lives in the light of the Lord's promised coming and pray that he will come quickly. Amen. Let's pray together,

Father, thank you for the eternal truths of your word. May they find lodging in our heart that they might grow into a magnificent plant that manifests fruit to the praise of your glory. We commit it all to you, and we thank you, and we praise you for the hope that is ours in Christ. And it's in his name that I pray, amen.