True Church, True Prophets

Zechariah 13:1 (ESV) “On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.

The question Biblical scholars struggle with in Zechariah is whether the "on that day" prophesies are referring to Christ's first coming, in which He dies for our sins and the Jews grieve over Him as their only son, or does it point to a future return of the Lord as the day of atonement is cosmically fulfilled and sin is utterly washed from the land? 

Whatever side you land on, the good news is that both can be true. And prophecies often have a dual fulfillment in scripture. But we learn about the Lord's plan for us in these texts, both in Christ's first coming and in His second. 

First, He seeks to cleanse us from sin. Sin putrefies our lives. It's filthy, and we know it. Even when we struggle to obey, we understand the immediate mental consequence of darkening our heart and mind in sin. 

But second, Zechariah reveals the root of the problem that often leads many into sin. That of speaking lies in the Lord's name. 

Zechariah 13:2–3 (ESV) “And on that day, declares the LORD of hosts, I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, so that they shall be remembered no more. And also I will remove from the land the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness. 3 And if anyone again prophesies, his father and mother who bore him will say to him, ‘You shall not live, for you speak lies in the name of the LORD.’ And his father and mother who bore him shall pierce him through when he prophesies.

Not only is idolatry a problem in the human condition by which we substitute something or someone else for God in our lives, but listening to the false prophets is typically the means by which we get there. And these prophets can come from outside the community of faith in the form of celebrities, politicians, fake spiritualists, et al, AND they can come from within the community where preachers avoid the topics the people don't want touched. 

The future work of God in the hearts of His people will be an intolerance for false doctrine. This will be true of the TRUE Church. Jesus promised His sheep would know His voice and follow Him, that they would not follow the voice of a stranger. 

Among the true church, there will be a sacred honor for the institution of God's messenger. 

Zechariah 13:4–5 (ESV) “On that day every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies. He will not put on a hairy cloak in order to deceive, 5 but he will say, ‘I am no prophet, I am a worker of the soil, for a man sold me in my youth.’

One can hear James echoing the warning against desiring to be a teacher, knowing the judgment they would bear (James 3:1). 

Finally, Zechariah closes this section with another prophecy of Christ. 

Zechariah 13:6 (ESV) And if one asks him, ‘What are these wounds on your back?’ he will say, ‘The wounds I received in the house of my friends.’

Now, in Zechariah's time, false prophets would scourge themselves to show their devotion to God. And to avoid interrogation, they would claim the wounds were inflicted by friends. However, the scripture points beyond Zechariah's time to Christ's. 

Christ received wounds from His "friends", the house of Israel. But Christ was no false prophet. They were so blind, they regarded Him as demon-possessed and a blasphemer. 

Zechariah paints the picture well hundreds of years before Christ came, that the true Israel of God would follow the Lord, and the false would vilify and crucify Him. The true shepherd would be struck and the sheep would be scattered as the next verse outlines.

Zechariah 13:7 (ESV) “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who stands next to me,” declares the LORD of hosts. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; I will turn my hand against the little ones.

Christ's first coming scattered the sheep of Israel. Yet what did become of them? Some believed! And Zechariah shows us the plan laid out:

Zechariah 13:8–9 (ESV) In the whole land, declares the LORD, two thirds shall be cut off and perish, and one third shall be left alive. 9 And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’ ”

Those who know the Good Shepherd hate lies in the Lord's Name, are spared from judgment, purged by the fire of the Holy Spirit, refined by discipline, and proven as more precious than gold.