On That Day
Repent and Return

Below is an automated transcript of this message

Good morning Eastgate! See, I got that right today. Let’s see if I can keep doing that. I am getting used to our new name.

I’m excited about this song that we just sang, aren’t you? Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide. That word, “Jireh,” in Hebrew, means “provision or provider.” He’s not only our provider in that He provides for our needs, but He, Himself , is our best provision, our deepest provision.

Let’s go to Him in prayer before we begin the message today. Lord, we do come to You, as provider, as Jehovah Jireh. We, first of all, come seeking Your hand. We come, because some of us have financial needs that we need for You to help us meet, Lord. You’re our provider. Some of us have physical needs, some of us have loved ones or, we ourselves, are having medical challenges. We have physical needs. Others are here and we have relational needs. There’s a marriage, a family relationship that we need Your hand, Lord. You are our provider; not only that, You’re enough. We seek Your face because all of our needs are met in Christ Jesus. Lord, now as we open Your word, speak to us. That’s our deepest need, really, is to hear from You. We seek Your face. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

We’re in part nine of our ten-part series in the book of Zechariah. Can you believe it? We are getting down to the last chapters. We have three chapters to go. We’re going to cover two of them today and that will leave one final chapter, chapter 14, for next Sunday, Palm Sunday. It’s going to be the perfect chapter for Palm Sunday.

We’re going to be in chapters 12 and 13. You’ll hear a repetitive phrase in these final three chapters. In the previous three chapters, chapters 9, 10 and 11, we covered the first oracle. There were two oracles, two burdens or two judgments that were given to the Prophet Zechariah from the Lord. The first one, we’ve already covered.

The previous three chapters revealed the first oracle of the LORD revealed to Zechariah, which described Christ’s first advent, His first coming. When you read chapters 9 through 11, you’re looking at the information that’s already happened. It was written 600 years before it happened, in 518 BC. It’s already happened, so, from our perspective, it happened 2000 years ago, at Jesus’ first coming.

In these final chapters, get your seatbelts on, because this is exciting stuff. Chapters 12, 13 and 14 is the second oracle. It’s primarily about the second advent, the second coming of Jesus. Here we have 2600 years ago, the Holy Spirit revealing to the prophet Zachariah what Jesus would do, has already done and that which He has yet to do. So, this is exciting stuff.

The repetitive phrase that keeps repeating in these final three chapters, is this little three word phrase, “on that day.” We’ve titled this message, “On That Day.” The recurring phrase, “on that day,” occurs seventeen times in these final three chapters. This second oracle gives details about Christ’s Second Coming. “On that day,” occurs ten times in today’s reading. “On that day” surely must refer to the day of the Lord, to the day of Christ’s coming. When we talk about this word, “day,” “the day of the Lord,” it doesn’t really mean a 24-hour day. Instead, it refers to all those things that will come to fulfillment at the end.

In fact, Peter tells us this about that day. 2 Peter 3:8-10 (ESV) “… with the LORD one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. …But the day of the LORD will come like a thief…” This day of the Lord will come and it will surprise most everyone, but not us, because we are God’s people. We’ve been informed, we’ve been made aware of His coming . We live in the last days now. There’s a day coming; a culmination of God’s plans for us is coming.

Paul talks about it like this in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6 (ESV) “Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the LORD will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.” We’re not to be surprised because we’ve been given the instructions in order to be ready.

I wonder, are you ready for Christ’s return? Are you ready? That’s what these two chapters that we’re going to be studying today are talking about; how to be ready when Christ comes again. Some of you are good at getting ready for stuff. Others of us are not so good at getting ready for stuff; we kind of just let life happen, but then life happens and then we wish we had been ready.

Do you remember when you first started school? Do you remember every year, at least for most of your school career, around August, you’d start getting your school supplies together. Maybe you would get some new tennis shoes or some new clothes and you’d lay them out the first couple of nights of school. You would be so excited to go to school. Of course, as the year goes on, that excitement wanes a little bit. Before, though, you’d get ready and your parents would help you get ready. Before you go to college , there’s some prerequisites. You have to get those things ready. You have to apply. You can’t just show up at class and hope to get a diploma. You have to get ready if you want to buy a house. Some of the young families here are trying to buy their first house. You’re often surprised by how much the bank expects you to get ready. Can you bring this? Can you bring that? We need a copy of this. We need this deposit. All of these things in life require getting ready. Why be surprised, then, that we must be ready for Christ’s return?

As we look at this passage, it’ll help us get ready for that day when He returns. In Zachariah chapter 12 and 13, the prophet received a second oracle from the Lord, revealing the promises that Jesus, the Messiah, would fulfill for Israel in the last days at his second coming . I believe, as we look at these promises that we can see that they are already available for us today. How can we receive these promises? The text gives us these four promises that we can see are available to us today. Let’s look at the text; we’ve got two chapters to read. We will take it in four portions. Let’s read the first nine verses of chapter 12.

Zechariah 12:1-9 (ESV) 1 “The oracle of the word of the LORD concerning Israel: Thus declares the LORD, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the spirit of man within him: 2 “Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples. The siege of Jerusalem will also be against Judah. 3 On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. All who lift it will surely hurt themselves. And all the nations of the earth will gather against it. 4 On that day, declares the LORD, Iwill will strike every horse with panic, and its rider with madness. But for the sake of the house of Judah I will keep my eyes open, when I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. 5 Then the clans of Judah shall say to themselves, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem have strength through the LORD of hosts, their God.’ 6 “On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a blazing pot in the midst of wood, like a flaming torch among sheaves. And they shall devour to the right and to the left all the surrounding peoples, while Jerusalem shall again be inhabited in its place, in Jerusalem. 7 “And the LORD will give salvation to the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not surpass that of Judah. 8 On that day the LORD will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them on that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the LORD, going before them. 9 And on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.” This is God’s word.

We’re looking at something that hasn’t happened yet. We’re looking at it, but we’re also looking at how we can learn about its promise to us today. Here’s the first promise that’s available to us today:

1. He gives salvation to those who believe in Him.

Christ gives salvation to all those who believe in Him. Let’s “unpack” these nine verses and see this promise revealed. I would, first of all, give you the setting. Remember, I’ve said to you, this is the second oracle. You see that in verse 2 of chapter 12; this is the second oracle and it refers to a day that has yet to come. The description here is of the day of the Lord, when the nations of the world will lay siege to Israel; the nations of the world will come against Israel. That is not that hard to believe, is it? It could happen. We already see the evidence of that today.

There’s a couple of things to think about here. If you would have been reading the bible, say in the early 1900’s, you would have thought, How is this going to happen? There’s not even a place called Israel anymore. There’s not a nation called Israel. Israel wasn’t a nation for 1900 years; not since 70 AD, when the Romans overthrew and destroyed the temple. The country and the people were dispersed throughout the land. It wasn’t until 1947 when Israel began to exist again as a nation. So, first of all, we had to have an Israel, which we do. Then, we have to have a world that turns against Israel and wants what Israel has; a world that wants to overthrow them. That hasn’t fully happened, although we see the evidence of it today. But that day is coming and then, at that time, on that day, the Messiah will return for the second time. King Jesus will return and He will defend them against the nations of the world. That’s what we’re looking at here in this prophetic language, which is filled with metaphor and symbols.

This is the overview here, these nine verses that the Lord Jesus will come and rescue Israel on this future day. We can see the evidence. Let me underline a few of those thoughts to help you.

First of all, I would point to verse seven that says, 7 “And the LORD will give salvation…” Do you see that word? Salvation? That’s where we get our first promise. He’s going to deliver Israel, but this promise is already available to us today. The thing about what happened 2000 years ago was the Jewish leaders. The priest describes the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Jewish leaders, the so-called shepherds, which we’ve read about in previous chapters who rejected Jesus. Only a small remnant of Jews believed in Jesus, and that was the foundation of the church . The first disciples and the early believers were all from the Jews, but then that was it. Then, it went out to the world and the Gentiles largely became the ones who believed in Jesus and have followed Jesus to this day. Ever since then, there’s been a hardness, like a blindness to the Jewish people that they just couldn’t see Jesus as belonging to them as their Messiah. This prophecy says, there’s a day coming when the nations of the world will lay siege to Jerusalem. You can see this if you look up at verse two, 2 “Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples. The siege of Jerusalem will also be against Judah.” So, it won’t just be Jerusalem; all of Judah, all of Israel will be surrounded by the nations of the world. Then, the Messiah will come and save them, rescue them.

So let’s look at some of the images here, just to see how He will rescue them. . The first thing I would take note of is in verse one, we see that the Lord wants to give us His credentials, so that we can recognize that He has the authority. This is kind of unique here in scripture. He wants to go back to creation because He’s about to do something new that He’s never done before. He’s about to come as King. He’s about to establish His kingdom. But, He first has to do battle against those that are enemies of His kingdom and so, He gives us His credentials.

He gives three credentials: (1) Thus declares the LORD, who stretched out the heavens. By the way, He says that He is the one who laid the universe in place. He set all of the stars and planets in orbit. He is the creator God. (2) He founded the earth. He created this place called Earth. He created it with its seasons, its animals and its plant life. All the details. He is the Creator God who made these things. But He’s not finished. (3) He formed the spirit of man within him, which sounds like Genesis, when it says, “And the Lord formed man from the dust of the earth and he breathed on him and man became a living soul.” He says that this is who I am. Then, He starts using creation words, “behold, I’m about to make,” that’s a creative word, isn’t it. I’m about to do something creative here. I’m the Creator God. I’m still doing something here.

Verse 2, “Behold, I am about to make…” You see that word, “make,” in verse two and you see it again in verse three, “On that day I will make…” Then, you see it again in verse six, 6 “On that day I will make…” Do you see the repetition? This is the Creator God. He’s about to make a new kingdom. He’s about to do something new. He’s already made it available to us. When we’re saved, we become a new creation. He’s about to make all things new. But it first involves a battle. He says, I’m going to do this with Israel.

First of all, he says, 2 “Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples.” What’s that? He is going to make the nations taste of this, drink it and it’s going to make them drunk. It’s going to make them stagger. They’re going to become foolish about this, they’re going to come against Israel, but they’re going to be like one who is staggering. Like someone who is drunk.

There’s four images here that He will make of Israel. The first is a “cup of staggering” in verse two. Then in verse three, “like a heavy stone.” It’s the kind of stone from a weightlifting contest that is the idea in the Hebrew language here. ”I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples, all who lift it will surely hurt themselves.” Ladies, I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to lift something and it hurt you, but every guy in the room will admit that they’ve tried to lift something and it hurt them because somebody said, ‘I don’t think you can lift that.’ We men would say, ‘Yes, I can.’ Then you try.

Our church was portable for 19 years. Some of you were around during those days. We would set up and tear down every Sunday, so we rented places. We rented the Forest Hills Middle School auditorium for 15 years; we rented the auditorium at Community Christian school for four years. Add that up and that’s 19 years of backing trailers up every Sunday morning, unloading the stuff, setting the church up with all of the chairs, all the sound equipment and all the nursery equipment. When church was over heavy stone that the world is going to want to try to to pick up and it’s going to break their back.

Then, He gives a third image in verse six, “On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a blazing pot in the midst of wood.” It’s like a furnace with coals that you put in dry wood. The nations are the wood and Israel’s the blazing pot.

He’s not finished with that imagery. He gives a fourth image here, “a flaming torch among sheaves.” If you’ve been alive for a while, back in the day, they used to stack the corn sheaves or they would stack hay in a certain way. Now, we have these huge bales that we use, but then it would be sheaves of hay or sheaves of wheat. If you would put a torch to that, it is dry and would burn right up. The nations would be like the sheaves and Israel would be like the flaming torch.

These four images all point to the destruction of every enemy that comes against Israel during this time. This little bitty nation that shouldn’t be able to even exist, the Messiah will come and rescue, deliver and save them. This is going to happen on that Day. That’s what the scripture says; it’s coming and all the pieces are in place.

He uses some more words here. He says in verse four, “On that day, declares the LORD, I will strike every horse with panic, and its rider with madness. But for the sake of the house of Judah I will keep my eyes open, when I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.” I will cause blindness and total chaos. He says in verse nine, “And on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.”

Who is this warrior? It’s the Messiah, King Jesus. He’s coming again on that day. Here’s the good news that’s in the future; He’s going to defend Israel and prove who He is to Israel. Right now, here we are. We’re the church. He’s already offered us salvation and promised salvation right now.

Have you received Jesus? It says in Romans 1:16 (ESV) “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” This is Paul speaking.

Do you believe in Jesus? How do you get ready for the second coming of Jesus? How do you get ready? The first step is to believe the promise that He died for you and He’s the Savior of the world. Have you received Him as your Savior? Do not reject Him, my friend, and do not postpone it because the pieces of the puzzle are falling into place now. Have you received Jesus as Savior? He’s coming again.

Let’s keep reading. We’ve got much to read; verses 10 through 14 of Chapter 12. Let’s read.

Zechariah 12:10-14 (ESV) 10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. 11 On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12 The land shall mourn, each family by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; 13 the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the Shimeites by itself, and their wives by themselves; 14 and all the families that are left, each by itself, and their wives by themselves.”

Here’s the second promise that we see revealed here:

2. He pours out His Spirit to enable our repentance.

Look at verse 10, “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy…” He’s not talking about water here. He’s not talking about a liquid, although water is often the image or the metaphor for the Holy Spirit in the bible. He says, “I will pour it on the House of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit.” I believe this should be capitalized here, certainly. It’s talking about the spirit of grace and pleas of mercy. Who brings this but the Spirit of God? The LORD promised to pour out on Israel the spirit of grace and pleas of mercy so that they would mourn and repent that they had rejected “Him whom they have pierced.” That’s to ask for repentance and to say, ‘God, forgive me.’ He is going to pour out His Holy Spirit on Israel in the last days. They’re going to be defended by the Messiah and then they’re going to look up to Him and say, ‘Wait a minute. You’re the one who was crucified.’ They’re going to recognize Him. Where do you see that Gary? Look, He says, in verse 10, “when they look on me.” This already happened in the past that He was pierced for our transgressions. But this event in the future, when Israel looks on Him and recognizes Him, is yet to come. Now we’re seeing evidence of it already happening. It will come to pass that they will look and say, ‘Wait a minute, that’s our Messiah. He already came and we rejected and crucified Him.’ It says that He’s going to pour out His Spirit. “When they look on me,” this is God speaking. Then he changes to “on him.” You see that shift because now He’s pointing to Jesus, the Lord of Hosts. “When they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.” This is Christ Jesus; He’s defended the people of Israel.

I believe that what we saw in those first nine verses points to the Battle of Armageddon. It points to that big battle that takes place. We’ll see reference here to Megiddo as we look down in verse 11. I’ve been on Mount Carmel and I’ve looked over the plain of Megiddo. I’ve seen that vast plain. Many, many modern generals have looked at that place and said, ‘that’s the perfect place for a battle.’ It’s an amazingly flat plain, where you could see for miles and miles.

They look at Jesus and their hearts are pierced because they pierced Him and they weep. You see it over and over again the word, “mourn;” it appears five times in this passage. There is weeping.

When I was growing up, I used to hear my mom refer to someone getting saved. She would say, ‘did you see that how that person was really touched with the tears of repentance?’ She would talk about tears of repentance. I started thinking, ‘well, I guess you have to cry to get saved.’ Don’t leave here and say, ‘Pastor Gary said you have to cry to get saved.’ But I do believe that repentance is necessary for salvation. You might say, ‘Well, which one comes first, salvation or repentance?’ That’s a good question. For some, you start believing first and then you feel the Holy Spirit convict you and you repent of your sins. But, sometimes the Holy Spirit starts convicting you of your sins and then you ask to get saved. So, I guess the answer to which one comes first is that they both come first, they both kind of come together and it depends on how the Lord’s working in your life, but both are necessary for salvation. There’s a “feel good” kind of salvation that some preach and that some falsely receive. It believes that you just need to pray the magic prayer and and you don’t have to say that you are sorry for your sins.

He promises to save us as the result of seeing what He did on the cross for us when we look at Him, whom we have pierced, and by the way we did it. It wasn’t just the Jews looking and saying, ‘we did that;’ it’s me and it’s you. Our sins put Him there and that’s the ugliness of sin. Our sins put Jesus on the cross and pierced Him. When you look upon that, the Holy Spirit gives you the power or the insight to repent.

There are two kinds of repentance that the bible talks about. One is Godly repentance and one is worldly repentance. We all are born with the ability to perform worldly repentance. What does worldly repentance look like? It’s simple. If your mama catches you, when you’re a little kid, doing something you’re not supposed to do, and she says to you, “I’m going to spank you.” You’re sorry, but you’re not sorry for what you did, that you hit your brother, you’re sorry that you’re about to get a spanking. That’s worldly repentance. You are sorry you got caught. That’s worldly repentance. You are sorry that you are about to get punished. You are about to get put in “time out.” That’s worldly repentance.

Godly repentance is I’m sorry that I hit my brother. I’m sorry that I disappointed my mother. That’s Godly repentance. Do you see the difference? Here’s what the scripture says in 2 Corinthians 7:10 (ESV) “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” Why does worldly sorrow bring death ? Because it’s not real repentance.

I sense here, as we look at this passage, that a large revival breaks out in Israel on this future day. On that day. They look and say, ‘Wait a minute; the whole world is against us, but the Lord is protecting us.’ They were turning to the Messiah.

Then, you see all of these households. You see David’s household and you see Levi’s household. It’s like he listed all of the “community groups” in Israel; they all went back to their “community groups,” they broke into prayer groups, the women prayed over here and the men prayed over there. They all wept and said they were grieved that we rejected the Messiah. Now they believed and repented.

Isaiah 53:5 (ESV) “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” This imagery of one pierced was attributed to the Messiah. He was pierced through His hands and through His feet and in His side. He was pierced for our transgressions.

There’s a revival already at work in Israel today. Did you know that? It’s already unlike any other generation. There are generations of people coming to faith in Jesus as Messiah. I’m gonna pop up the websites you can go to and look at some of the testimonial videos. One is treeoflifeisrael.org or oneforisrael.org You can go to either of these and be amazed at the testimonies of Jewish people believing in Jesus as Messiah. The tree of life for Israel site is particularly of interest because they have someone that does street interviews. They will say, ‘I want to see if you can guess a famous leader; one of the most amazing leaders that has ever lived.’ Then, he’ll hand them cards and have them read quotations and descriptions of this leader. Finally, at the end, he asks them to guess who this leader is. They might guess a famous Rabbi’s name or they would say that they didn’t know. At the very end, he tells them that it’s Yeshua; this is Yeshua. It’s amazing that they don’t recognize Him. Any one of us would say that it’s Jesus. Then, some of them, you’ll see their heart turning and some will go and turn away. There’s not really what you’d call a “middle of the ground” response. They respond very emotionally. one way or the other. Watch some of those videos if you have time. I’m saying to you that we live in the last days. We’re already seeing the clock ticking, the puzzle pieces falling into place for the fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy in Christ’s return.

Are you ready? Have you been saved? Have you received Christ as Savior and have you repented, which means to turn away from your sins? Saying, ‘I am sorry I offended You, God, and I repent.’ For me, it always involves tears. It doesn’t matter how manly you are or how strong you are. When you look upon the cross, it moves you to tears and mourning for what we’ve done to the Lord.

Let’s keep reading. Zechariah 13:1-6 (ESV) 1 “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. 2 “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. 4 “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.’ 6 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.’

Here’s the third promise that Jesus makes available to us today: 3. He offers His blood to cleanse us from our sins. Look at that first verse of Chapter 13, 1 “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.” David is the human king of Israel, but there’s a son of David coming and He’s the fountain. He’s the fountain and that fountain is already open. It’s already open for business. There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins and all those who come to Him are cleansed. It’s open now, but there’s like an “out of order” sign on the side that faces Israel. It’s like they’re under a blindness, with a hardness of heart and they don’t see the fountain that’s already there. But, there’s a day coming when it will be open to them and their eyes will be opened. Their hearts will be open to this fountain, this fountain which represents the blood of Jesus that cleanses us.

You know, we were already using the imagery of “poured out” for the Spirit. Here, we have imagery of a fountain that talks about the fountain of God’s cleansing power from Christ’s sacrifice. I sometimes have people come to me, especially people that are just starting to consider Christianity or maybe they’re young in their faith. They start reading the bible and they start at Genesis, the first book. The bible is not an ordinary book, so you don’t necessarily want to start there. I usually tell new believers to not start at Genesis but start with the book of John and learn about the Gospel of Jesus; learn about The Good News. When they finish John, then read James because they need to get ready for hard times. The book of James will get you ready for hard times. The book of John will get you ready so that you know that you’re a believer. The book of James will help you get through difficult times; then, take on some other books .

I wouldn’t necessarily tell a new believer to start at Genesis and start reading because what’ll usually happen is they’ll come to me early on and say, ‘Boy, there’s a lot of blood back there in the Old Testament. All of those sacrifices are hard to keep up with.’ They’ll get kind of overwhelmed with it. Here’s a simple way to think about this for just a second. All of those sacrifices and all of those levitical laws back in this day are like checks written on a future deposit, not one of them is worth a thing, not one of them is worth the paper they’re written on unless somebody makes a deposit in the “bank of righteousness” over here somewhere and makes those sacrifices of all those lands they had if they were of any worth, if they would have counted at all, they wouldn’t have had to keep doing it day after day and year after year. They were waiting for the Messiah to come and make the deposit of the sacrifice that would make them all good.

That fountain is Christ Jesus and His sacrifice. Matthew Henry says this, “This fountain opened is the … blood of Christ, and God’s pardoning mercy in that blood, made known in the new covenant, are a fountain always flowing, that never can be emptied.” This is the fountain we’re talking about.

Then, he says that it will cleanse them from sin and uncleanliness. We’re talking about sanctification now; salvation and repentance. We’re talking about this cleansing power that God gives. We say, “Come as you are;” that’s our invitation, “and be forever changed by the love of Jesus.” Don’t leave as you are; let Jesus cleanse you; let His sacrifice clean you up.

He says that there’s a day coming when He’s going to do this for Israel. It’s going to look like this; He’s going to cut off idolatry. Look at verse two,“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.” He’s going to cut off false prophets. There will be no more false preaching. It gets detailed here; it basically refers to a Levitical vehicle law that says that parents are not supposed to let their children be heretics. Verse 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.” It’s rough language there, but it’s familiar to the Jewish audience.

Verse four says, 4 “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.” The prophets will be ashamed of the kind of prophecy they used to preach. They’ll take off their hairy cloaks.

Hairy cloaks were what a prophet wore in those days. Think back to Elijah over here in the New Testament. He was wearing a camel’s fur. I’m glad prophets and preachers don’t have to wear hairy cloaks anymore; that seems like it would be itchy. But, they quit wearing the cloaks, which was a mark of a prophet . The prophets begin to dress like farmers. Verse 5 says, “but he will say, ‘I am no prophet, I am a worker of the soil, for a man sold me in my youth.” Basically he says, I’m a worker of the soil.

I have felt like that on Mondays sometimes, after working really hard the past week. Sometimes, on Mondays, I don’t think I want to be a preacher anymore. I think I will be a farmer. But then, within 24 hours, the Lord reminds me that He called me. Maybe, you sometimes have a Monday where you feel like there’s gotta be a simpler life.

The Lord is cleaning up the religious house. He’s cleaning up the idolatry. He’s cleaning up everything. Verse six is kind of hard to describe what it means. because some people land in the camp that contextually this sounds like the false prophets that are talking about being wounded. Verse 6, “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.’ What does it mean when the scripture says, ‘What are these wounds on your back?’ Most translations, especially the King James translation and others say, ‘What are these wounds on your hands?’

The thing about Hebrew is it’s kind of a flexible language. It could be hands or it could be that which is between your hands, which is your torso. But, I like hands. I like that that’s where they tend to land, where the older church fathers landed on scriptures like this.They believed it was hands. So, when you look at this, if it’s contextually the false priest, then he was cutting himself probably in order to express his religiosity. It was a thing that prophets used to do; they would do self immolation or self cutting, in order to prove their virtue. I don’t think that’s what it means. I land where Dr. Unger lands. Unger argues that that the Hebrew does not indicate self-inflicted wounds as some commentators suggest. Although there are various interpretations, we believe this to point to Jesus who was “wounded in the house of His friends.” Verse six is a Messianic prophecy; He was wounded. His hands were wounded and they asked Him how it happened. He said that He received it in the house of His friends. His own people wounded Him. His hands were pierced and His feet were pierced. That’s where I land. I agree with Dr. Unger. J. Vernon McGee and I could list others that land there.

If you’re doing study on your own, you’ll encounter both interpretations. I try to be honest with you about that difference. Here’s what I want you to think about; I want you to go back to verse two. This is the thing when I am preaching this many verses; I can’t dig down very deep on each one, but I try to pull out that part that I feel like the Holy Spirit wants us to hear. Here’s the thing I want you to hear; have you been washed in the blood? I don’t like that language. It’s because you don’t understand it. That’s the only way to be cleansed of sin is to accept the sacrifice that Jesus died for us. So, we see that He’s offered His blood for us.

It says in 1 John 1:6-7 (ESV) “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”

Oh, it makes me want to sing, “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 fountain I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus.” He’s opening a fountain on that day for the Jews, but it’s already opened on this day for us. Have you had your sins washed away? I don’t like that language. You need to understand that language; that’s the cost. The wages of sin is death. He died in our place.

Well, we’ve got a few more verses to read and then we’ll talk about them. Verses seven through nine; we’ve switched from prose to poetry again. It’s such a beautiful passage. I think that the Holy Spirit inspired Zechariah to use more Hebrew poetic language.

Zechariah 13:7-9 (ESV) 7 “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. 8 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.’”

Here’s the fourth promise we see revealed in Zachary’s prophecy. 4. He refines our character to make us truly His people.

You can see it in verse nine,” and refine them as one refines silver.” He’s a refiner. He’s going to produce the character of Christ in us. Now, there’s a day coming when He’s going to do this for Israel, but He already makes it available for us today. He says, 7 “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.” You know that sounds familiar, because on the night that Jesus was betrayed, the night that Judas betrayed Him and the night before His crucifixion, He quotes Zechariah.

Imagine this 600 years before Jesus came, His spirit inspired Zechariah to write this down and He already knew when He was going to say it. He knew when that day was coming. It’s recorded in Matthew 26:31-32 (ESV) Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” That’s the part in Zechariah that He told them. He told them that they would scatter; even burly Peter who said, “I’ll die for you, Lord.” Jesus tells him that he will deny me three times before the rooster crows. I’m going to go. I’m going to rise up and I’ll join you in Galilee.

I don’t know if they heard that last part, They certainly remember the first part. They all scattered and ran. We see it here in the scripture; He’s going to test them on this future day. He’s going to test them; He’s going to refine them. We see here, in verse 8, that two thirds of them will still reject them. Even in the future. Two thirds will reject Him but one third will believe. We see that a large remnant, a great revival will happen in the last days among the Jewish people; not all, but a large remnant. A third will be put through fire. That doesn’t sound pleasant. I want to follow Jesus, so my life will be easier. Well, it will be easier. But it won’t be without trouble. Jesus, in fact, promises us that, in this world, there will be trouble, but if you keep reading He says, “yet I have overcome the world.” He is with us, but there’s still trouble in this world. These go through the fire, but, as a result, they come out like gold, like silver. They come out calling to God and He answers them. He says, in verse 9, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’” Those are My people. They have the character of My Son . They’re saying that’s my God and they come out changed.

You kind of think of these two chapters as going together. I wanted to try to preach just one of those chapters without the other, but they fit together like “hand in glove.” There’s salvation, repentance, cleansing of sin and then, character. You have a transformed life; you are one who calls the Lord God and God calls you His people. So you see that this all fits together. These four beautiful promises that belong to Israel in the future but belong to us already.

We see that this day is coming when there will be a great revival among the people. It says in 1 Peter 1:6-7 (NIV) “In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refinedby fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

Friends, when you go through trials, you can either become bitter or better. You’ll become bitter if you try to get out of it on your own and you don’t give glory to God. You can become better if you go through trials by faith and you say, ‘Lord, I don’t know why this has happened to me, but I know that it says in the book of Romans that You cause all things to work together for the good that love him and are called according to his purpose. I’m going to trust You with even that bad stuff that I did that was self-inflicted to my life. I’m going to trust You to bring it together for good.’ We go through trials, but if we trust the Lord Jesus, we come out better and we’re more like Jesus. It’s like it “burns off.” Applying to myself, it’s like it burns off Gary and leaves nothing but Jesus behind , which is what I want. I want less of me and a million more of Him. I’ve had enough of me. I want more of Him.

We see that He refines Israel but we, also, see the picture that’s the character He wants to form in us. I want you to think about it today. Are you ready on that day? It’s surely coming. Are you ready? Have you got your bags packed? Are you ready? He’s coming soon. Are you ready? Have you been saved? Have you repented of your sins? Have you been washed in the blood of Jesus so that you’re born again, you’re cleansed of your sins and it’s the holy spirit at work in your life, transforming your life and making you more like Jesus? That’s how you get ready. Zechariah is telling us that a great day is coming to Israel, but it’s already available to us right now.

Let’s pray. Lord Jesus, we thank You for Your word. We thank You that 2600 years ago, You inspired the prophet Zechariah to write this down. We’ve seen the fulfillment of Your first coming and now we see the prophecy saying you’re coming again. We believe it. I pray, right now, for that person that came in the door today that is far from You. They came in on a thin thread. They barely got here, but they’re here and they’ve heard You speak. Is it you my friend? Is the Holy Spirit stirring your heart right now? Is the spirit being poured out on you so that you have a heart for repentance, so that you’re ready to say, ‘I’m sorry for my sin.I want to change but I can’t do it. ’ Would you pray right now? ‘Dear Lord Jesus, I’m a sinner, but I believe You died on the cross for my sin, that You were raised from the grave and that You live today. Come and live in me. I invite You to be my Savior and my Lord. Transform my life. I don’t want to stay the same. I want to be a Christ follower. I want to be a child of God and I want You as my Savior and Lord.’ If you’re praying that prayer, believing, He will save you and He will change your life. You can start a new day today. Others are here today and you’ve received Jesus as Lord and Savior and you’re a follower, but there’s so many distractions. You’ve been distracted by so many cares and concerns. Right now, would you say, ‘Lord forgive me. There are things that are out of order in my life right now that I would not want You to catch me doing. I know You’ve forgiven me Lord, but I haven’t been busy about Your work. Forgive me. I repent, Lord. Wash me afresh and make me new. Give me a new passion so that on that day, when You return, I’ll be doing Your work and busily waiting for You to return. Oh Lord, we love You. We prayed it all in Jesus’ name. Amen