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.
I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered. Such are the consequences of pardon; not indolence, but the extirpation of sin.
Names of the idols. Their very names were not to be mentioned: thus the Jews, instead of Mephi-baal, said Mephi-bosheth (bosheth meaning a contemptible thing), (Exodus 23:13; Deuteronomy 12:3; Psalms 16:4), The "idols" х haa`atsabiym (H6091)] here answer to the Seraphim in Zechariah 10:2 (margin), where the are associated with "the diviners" [haqowcmiym]. Malachi (Malachi 3:5), too, speaks of the "sorcerers [mªkashipiym]. Josephus ('Antiquities',
viii. 2, sec. 5) proves that such dealings with evil spirits and magic were prevalent among the Jews.
Out of the land. Judea's two great sins, idolatry and false prophecy, have long since ceased. But these are types of all sin (e.g., "covetousness, which is idolatry," Colossians 3:5; Ephesians 5:5; a besetting sin of the Jews now). Idolatry, combined with the "spirit" of "Satan," is again to be incarnated in "the man of sin" who is to arise in Judea (2 Thessalonians 2:3-12), and is to be "consumed with the Spirit of the Lord's mouth." Compare as to Antichrist's papal precursor, "seducing spirits ... doctrines of devils," etc., 1 Timothy 4:1-3; and "false prophets ... false teachers, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies," 2 Peter 2:1.
And I will also cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land - Hebrew х ruwach (H7307) haTum'aah (H2932)], of spirit of uncleanness (cf. Revelation 16:13, "Three unclean spirits like frogs ... out of the mouth of the dragon ... the beast and ... the false prophet: they are the spirits of devils working miracles"); opposed to "the Spirit of holiness" (Romans 1:4), "the Spirit of error" (1 John 4:6). One assuming to be divinely inspired, but in league with Satan.