Zechariah Chapter 13
by Rod Jackson
All verses are quoted from the NASB anything in [square brackets] is added by me for clarity.
Between the end of the Old Testament and the start of the New Testament we have approximately a 400 year silence from God. God does not provide Israel with any more prophets to lead the people. This event is prophesied about in the book of Zechariah.
"And if anyone still prophesies, then his father and mother who gave birth to him will say to him, 'You shall not live, for you have spoken falsely in the name of the LORD'; and his father and mother who gave birth to him will pierce him through when he prophesies. Also it will come about in that day that the prophets will each be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies, and they will not put on a hairy robe in order to deceive; but he will say, 'I am not a prophet; I am a tiller of the ground, for a man sold me as a slave in my youth.' "Zechariah 13:3-5
This silence ended with John the Baptist. Jesus said about John -
"For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come." Matthew 11:13-14
"The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it." Luke 16:16
John is the last of the Old Testament prophets, since then the gospel is preached. Remember in the Zechariah prophesy it said -
"and they will not put on a hairy robe in order to deceive;" Zechariah 13:4b
This ended when John the Baptist came.
"Now John himself had a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey." Matthew 3:4
John wore a hairy robe and was a real prophet of God. So what would happen when John came?
"`In that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity. It will come about in that day,' declares the LORD of hosts, `that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered; and I will also remove the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land.'" Zechariah 13:1-2
A fountain for the house of David would be opened. The opening words of the gospel of Matthew are
"The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham:" Matthew 1:1
Here we see that Jesus is of the house of David. So the fountain that is opened will be from Jesus. Also in the book of Zechariah the prophecy continues by saying -
"And one will say to him, 'What are these wounds between your arms?' Then he will say, 'Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.' `Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, And against the man, My Associate,' Declares the LORD of hosts `Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered; And I will turn My hand against the little ones.'" Zechariah 13:6-7
On the night that Judas was to betray Jesus, Jesus prophesied to the 11 other disciples -
"And Jesus said to them [the 11 disciples], `You [11 disciples] will all fall away, because it is written, "I WILL STRIKE DOWN THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP SHALL BE SCATTERED."'" Mark 14:27
Here we see that Jesus quotes from Zechariah 13:7b. Jesus applies this passage to Himself as the Shepherd and to the 11 disciples as the scattering sheep. They would fall away when Jesus was arrested.
"But Peter kept saying insistently, `Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!' And they all were saying the same thing also." Mark 14:31
All the other 11 disciples denied that they would fall away from Jesus. Yet then they all fell asleep instead of praying to be kept from temptation (Mark 14:37-38). And so when the mob does come to arrest Jesus, the other 11 disciples are not spiritually prepared and we read -
"And they [the 11 disciples] all left Him [Jesus] and fled. A young man was following Him, wearing nothing but a linen sheet over his naked body; and they seized him. But he pulled free of the linen sheet and escaped naked." Mark 14:50-52
So they all deserted Jesus. One even had to leave his clothes behind to get away! And of course, Peter then denied Jesus 3 times before the cock crowed (Mark 14:66-72)
Zechariah chapter 13 finishes with these prophetic words -
"`It will come about in all the land,' Declares the LORD, `That two parts in it will be cut off and perish; But the third will be left in it. And I will bring the third part through the fire, Refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested They will call on My name, And I will answer them; I will say, "They are My people," And they will say, "The LORD is my God."'" Zechariah 13:8-9
It is interesting to note, that now approximately 30% of the world claims to be Christian!