Zechariah 13 - Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible

12:1. The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heaven, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.

Note how this chapter begins: «The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel,» not against Israel. The gospel is always, to the true preacher of it, the burden of the Lord, but, to those who receive it, it is a burden of blessing, a load of mercy. To those who reject it, it will become a burdensome stone, crushing them to their eternal ruin. God grant, in his infinite mercy, that none of us may belong to the last class!

Zechariah 12:2. Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.

This is a promise of God's abounding mercy to his chosen people Israel. When he comes to their aid, they shall be a cup of trembling to their enemies. Those enemies will try to swallow them, but they will find that they are drinking a cup of poison, which will cause their own death. Oh that the day might soon come when God would remember his ancient people, the Jews, and bring them back to their own land, as he certainly will do in the fullness of time, and when he has done it, then it shall come to pass that all who fight against them shall find his people to be as a cup of trembling to them. This promise, which is to be literally fulfilled to God's chosen people, the seed of Abraham, is also spiritually true to all believers. Christian, your enemies cannot really hurt you. If they could drink you up, as men drink a cup of wine, you would be a cup of trembling to them, they would find that they had taken in more than they wanted. All the persecutors of the Church of God, in smiting this stone, have themselves been broken on it. They have found that they have undertaken a task which has ended in their own destruction. Woe unto the man who fights against the Church of the living God! Victory must always come to the Lord's people, for greater is he who is with them than all that can be against them.

Zechariah 12:3. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.

This is true literally, but it is also true spiritually. As the Church of God is to be a cup of trembling to its enemies, so is it also to be a burdensome stone. They do not like it, they cannot bear it. They would, if they could, get rid of the spiritual Church of God; but they cannot get rid of it. There it is: a stone, cut out of the mountain without hands, which will grow until it fills the whole earth, and breaks in pieces everything that opposes it. Those who set themselves against God, and against his Christ shall find themselves crushed to atoms by this mighty stone.

Zechariah 12:4. In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness:

The chief strength of Jerusalem's enemies lay in horses and chariots; but God bids his people not to fear them, for he knows how to overcome all power, whether it be the power of cavalry or the power of infantry. He knows how to smite every horse with astonishment, and every rider with madness, for, «as the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people, from henceforth even for ever,» and he can protect them against the most powerful foes that may assail them.

Zechariah 12:4. And I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah,

It looked as if the Lord had been asleep, but now he says, «'I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah,' I will look at them, and note their sufferings, pity their griefs, plan for their good, and come forth for their defense.»

Zechariah 12:4. And will smite every horse of the people with blindness.

Their enemies shall not be able to see them, but God will see them, and he will deliver his people and overthrow all their adversaries.

Zechariah 12:5-6. And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God. In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.

The literal prophecy is that the seed of Israel shall go back to their own land and shall prevail over their adversaries; but the spiritual meaning is that the Church of God shall have great power among the people of the earth. They shall have fire put into them, the fire of the Holy Ghost; and they shall be like a lighted firebrand amongst the wood, or as a flaming torch in a sheaf of corn; and you know how soon the sheaf would be burnt up. If God has put within you fire from heaven, you will be sure to burn, and those with whom you live will soon feel the flame. Place one really gracious man in any district and if he is thoroughly on fire with the Holy Spirit, it will be like throwing a blazing firebrand into a field of dry corn. What a conflagration will there be! The Lord send us many such blessed burnings!

Zechariah 12:7. The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah.

God will begin by saving the most defenseless. The tents of the people were easily swept away by their powerful foes. «Therefore,» says the prophet, «the Lord shall save the tents of Judah first.» As for the people in the strongly defended city of Jerusalem he would protect them, but he would do it in such a way that they should not take the glory to themselves. God is always very jealous of his own honour. He will save us, but it will be in a way that shall prevent our pride from glorying in it. He will never allow one saved soul to be able to say, «I saved myself,» or «I contributed to the merit which has brought me to heaven.» No; God must have all the glory, every jot and tittle of it; and all his people are glad that he should have it.

Zechariah 12:8. In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them.

What a blessed thing it is when the Lord strengthens all his people, so that the weakest amongst them are as strong as that ruddy-faced youth who smote Goliath, and the strongest of them are like the swift-winged angels of God, ready to do his bidding! Oh, that this church might be in that blessed state! You remember how it is written that, when Israel came up out of Egypt, «there was not one feeble person among their tribes.» When will the whole Church of Christ get to be in that condition? O ye feeble ones, lay hold upon the promise now before us, and do not rest till it is fulfilled in you! «He that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David, and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them.»

Zechariah 12:9-11. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.

No doubt these verses refer, primarily, to the great mourning when King Josiah fell in battle, when all the people wept and mourned for many days because their king had been slain by the arrows shot by the archers But this is also typical of the lamentation of a heart when it is broken on account of the death of Christ. Sorrow for sin is to be after the fashion of that great national mourning of which Jeremiah sang so plaintively in the book of Lamentations.

Zechariah 12:12. And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart;

For this was to be a personal sorrow, in which both husbands and wives must weep on their own account.

Zechariah 12:12. The family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart;

Perhaps these names are mentioned to indicate different classes and orders of persons; the family of the house of David the king shall mourn and the family of the house of Nathan the prophet shall mourn. Both David and Nathan had long since gone, but their descendants were still called by their names.

Zechariah 12:13. The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart;

The priests, as well as the kings and the prophets, were to be represented in this universal mourning.

Zechariah 12:13. The family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart;

Shimei, or Simeon, as the Septuagint gives it, which may either represent the scribes, or else may refer to the people in general. These shall all mourn, personally and separately, for him whom they have pierced.

Zechariah 12:14. All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.

Why these Chapter s were divided here, I cannot imagine, for it is clear that the passage should run right on.

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 uncleanliness.

Zechariah 12:10-14. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; all the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.

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. And it shall come to pass in that day,

How much God can crowd into a single day!

Zechariah 12:2. 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.

God will not only destroy the idols, but he will cut off the very names of them out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered.

Zechariah 12:3. 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.

It was a part of the law of God in the Book of Deuteronomy that any man who professed to be a prophet, and who sought to turn the people aside to the worship of idols, should be put to death; and it is here declared that, when God had cleansed the land, there would be no false prophets; and, if any man pretended to be a prophet of the Lord when he was not sent of God, his own father and mother would be the first to execute judgment upon him.

Zechariah 12:4. 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:

Imitating Elijah's garb. the false prophets hoped to win the attention of the people by the roughness of their dress; but all this would be dropped for the people would be so well instructed that they would refuse to hear the false prophet.

Zechariah 12:5. But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am an husbandman; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.

They shall be so ashamed of it that, to have kept cattle shall seem to be a far more noble employment than to have falsely set up to be a prophet of the Lord.

Zechariah 12:6. And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands?

«You wear the marks usually seen in God's servants; you have scarred yourself as his prophets were accustomed to do, you have, as it were, tattooed yourself with the name of your God, what does it all mean?» But he shall be so ashamed of it that-

Zechariah 12:6. Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.

He shall say anything rather than confess that he is a false prophet, he shall be so ashamed of himself. What a mercy it is when God makes men ashamed of sin, and when he makes them so ashamed of false doctrine that they cannot bear it, and will not any longer proclaim it! Oh, that that day were already come!

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 51:1; and Zechariah 12:10-14; Zechariah 13:1-6.

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 uncleanness.

They shall see that pardon when they have truly seen their sin. When once the foulness of their transgression is perceived, then the fount, sin of cleansing shall be perceived, too. No man ever knows the preciousness of the God given remedy till he has felt the force of the terrible disease. No one by faith plunges into the crystal fount of perfect cleansing without first lamenting the filthiness which needs to be removed.

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.

Where there is pardon, there is sure to be sanctification. The idols must fall, and the false prophets must go. We cannot have our sins and have a Saviour too. If we have Christ to blot out our sin, we must have the same Christ to remove sin as to its authority, and power, and dominion over us.

Zechariah 13:3. And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy,

When any false prophet shall still pretend to prophesy,

Zechariah 13:3. 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.

So intense shall be the hatred of false prophets, that men shall not spare even their own children. They shall abhor them when they stand up against the Lord of hosts and against his truth.

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:

They shall give up this wicked employment at once and for ever. Just as when one, who has pretended to tell fortunes, is converted, and he forsakes that evil occupation; so converted men must never be in association with those who are familiar with the spirits of the dead, and who practice sorcery and the like abominations. Everything of the kind is to be, abhorred by godly men, and they must turn away from it with holy horror and disgust.

Zechariah 13:5-6. But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am an husbandman; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth. And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands?

What are these marks of the idol gods and goddesses? Have you not been branded with them? Did you not belong to the accursed fraternity that worship idols, and receive the sigmate in their hands?

Zechariah 13:6. Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.

Idolatry shall become so detestable a thing that he will say anything rather than acknowledge that he has had aught to do with idols. Those very marks in which the false prophets once gloried, they shall loathe. The Brahmin shall throw away his sacred thread, and those who have been tattooed is honour of other false gods shall hate the marks of shame that are upon their persons. Now, brethren, inasmuch as the heathen prophets received in their bodies the marks of their gods, we understand something of what Paul meant when he wrote to the Galatians, «From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.» He regarded his baptism as a kind of water-mark that could not be removed. He looked upon the marks of the scourge, with which he had been beaten again and again for Christ's sake, as being proofs that he belonged to Jesus. They stamped him with the broad arrow of the great King, so that all men might know that he was dedicated to him and to his service, tattooed with marks in his flesh that were indelible, and never to be re moved.

Zechariah 13:7-8. 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. 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.

So, in the times of God's fiercest judgments, he has a remnant according to the election of grace who shall escape the sword, because that sword has been awakened against him who was their Representative, their Surety, and who stood as Substitute in their place.

Zechariah 13:9. And I will bring the third part through the fire,

«Saved; yet so as by fire.» This is true in a certain sense of all the righteous. They shall certainly be saved, and though the fires of persecution should rage around, the Lord will bring them through the fire. They shall not perish in it, but they shall even derive good from it; «I will bring the third part through the fire,»

Zechariah 13:9. And will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried:

If you are God's people, you will certainly be tried and tested. As surely as ever God has put you in the third part that he will save, he has also ordained that you should pass through the fire. You shall have, both within and without, that which shall test your sincerity, and prove whether your faith is of divine origin or not. There is no easy road to heaven.

«The path of sorrow, and that path alone,

Leads to the land where sorrow is unknown.»

Yet we who believe in Jesus are not an unhappy people. The character of God's saints is still according to Paul's paradoxes; «As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.»

Zechariah 13:9. They shall call on my name, and I will hear them:

What a precious little sentence: «they shall call on my name»! And God will give ear to their prayer: «And I will hear them.» The «shall» and the «will» are put close together, and the one is as much the work of God's grace as the other is: «They shall call on my name, and I will hear them.»

Zechariah 13:9. I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.

Note these quick responses, echoes, as it were. They call and God hears. God speaks, and they reply. God says, «It is my people.» They answer, «The Lord is my God.» Blessed are you if you can join in these heart-echoes, or can say, with the spouse, «My Beloved is mine, and I am his.» Is there this mutual interchange of love between you and the all-glorious Lord? If so, thrice happy are you; but if not, God grant that you may speedily enter into this secret of the Lord! May he bless to every one of us the reading of his Word, for his dear Son's sake! Amen.