Zechariah 13:1
We sometimes sing about the “fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel’s veins.” God and sin can no more co-exist than fire and gasoline. So something had to be done about the sins of us all, both Jews and Gentiles, One person was qualified to take away our sins – Immanuel (God-With-Us) himself. God the Son would bleed and die in human form, but as the eternal Son he was infallible and indestructible. God honoured and accepted the sacrifice of the Son. Only trust in Jesus’ death for you, and you will always live with him who is now alive forever.
Getting Rid of Idols and False Prophets
In the future there will be a fountain, where David’s descendants and the people of Jerusalem can wash away their sin and guilt. The LORD All-Powerful says: When that time comes, I will get rid of every idol in the country, and they will be forgotten forever. I will also do away with their prophets and those evil spirits that control them. If any such prophets ever appear again, their own parents must warn them that they will die for telling lies in my name–the name of the LORD. If those prophets don’t stop speaking, their parents must then kill them with a sword.
Those prophets will be ashamed of their so-called visions, and they won’t deceive anyone by dressing like a true prophet. Instead, they will say, “I’m no prophet. I’ve been a farmer all my life.” And if any of them are asked why they are wounded, they will answer, “It happened at the house of some friends.”
The LORD All-Powerful said: My sword, wake up! Attack my shepherd and friend. Strike down the shepherd! Scatter the little sheep, and I will destroy them.
Strike Down the Shepherd
Zechariah 13:7
Jesus apples this verse to himself when he predicts that he is soon to be rejected (see Matthew 26:31). So we know that everything happens to Jesus according to God’s plan. Jesus knew the weakness of his followers. He knew they would scatter when he was arrested. But it was all in God’s plan to use the sinful weakness of men to accomplish his goals. The Son of God must be taken by the hateful political powers and be nailed to the cross. There he would die, even for his tormentors. The price for our forgiveness was his unjust and cruel death.
A Wounded Shepherd and Scattered Sheep
Nowhere in the land will more than a third of them be left alive. Then I will purify them and put them to the test, just as gold and silver are purified and tested. They will pray in my name, and I will answer them. I will say, “You are my people,” and they will reply, “You, LORD, are our God!”
Read The Bible In
One Year: Jer. 29-32
Plus Daily Chapter: Acts 8
