In verse 2 of Zechariah 13 God speaks of a time when there shall be no more idolatry in the land, and when prophets and unclean spirits will cease to be. We have learned in past studies that this will not be until the time when they shall have completed their work of deception, and the deceptions are made manifest, for they are to work even under the sixth plague. That this text deals with false prophets, and not with true, is shown in the fact that the ones here spoken of have worn a rough coat to deceive, which no true prophet would do.
In Isa. 8:19 there is brought to view a time when men shall be urged to seek unto those who have familiar spirits, and to wizards that peep and mutter; and in Rev. 16:14 we find that these deceptions will be carried on until the whole world is taken in the snares. In 1 John 4:1 we are told to try the spirits to see whether they be of God, for many false prophets are gone out in the world.
From all this we learn that these deceiving spirits manifest themselves through prophets, and in that time these prophets will resort to all kinds of means to deceive, even to wearing rough garments, or dressing as nearly as possible as did the ancient prophets; and by these the multitudes of earth will be deceived. But the elect, clinging to God’s Word, and putting the prophets and spirits to the test of that Word, will not be deceived. In the eighth chapter of Isaiah, after speaking of this time as quoted above, the Lord gives a test by which we may know the false prophets. He says: “To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them.” But we have found that, by their work of deception, the inhabitants of earth will be led to accept Satan as the Christ, and, by so doing, Satan becomes their king and god. He is the king of darkness, and so they really have no light. Therefore we read in the following verses in Isaiah 8:—
“And they [the deceived ones] shall pass through it, sore distressed and hungry; and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their god, and look upward. And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.” Isa. 8:21, 22.
The Plight of the False Prophets.
It is in this time, when the deceptions are laid bare, and when the deceived ones shall curse Satan, their king and god, that the following words shall be fulfilled:—
“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. 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; but he shall say, I am no prophet, I am an husbandman; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.” Zech. 13:3-5.
These prophets are ashamed of their visions because God has caused them to fail. And when the people see that they have been deceived, and turn against Satan, so that they shall curse him, then shall they also hate those who were his agents. As the hatred of the people shall be manifested, some of these false prophets will deny that they ever did prophesy, and will attempt to show that they have all their lives followed some quiet occupation, such as keeping of cattle or tilling the soil.
Individual Conviction.
In chapter 13:1 it is stated that there is to be a fountain opened in the house of David for sin and uncleanness. This fountain is the blood of Christ, which has power to cleanse from all unrighteousness. But before this cleansing can take place there must come to each individual a deep conviction of his present sins. He must see himself as the one who put Christ to death; he must realize that it was his individual sins which nailed Him to the tree, piercing His hands, His feet, and His sides. Then he will say, He died for me. I slew Him. In harmony with this thought we read in verses 10 and 11 of chapter 12:—
“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 first-born. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.”
The mourning of Hadadrimmon was a mourning for the king of Israel who was slain. So when the Holy Spirit brings a deep conviction of sin to the hearts of God’s people, they will not say that it was the Jews who pierced Christ, but each one will feel that He has slain the only Son, the First-born of every creature, even their lawful King. This is no national affair applying to the Jews, but Jerusalem and Judah are symbols of God’s people; and the prophet, to show that this is an individual work, speaks, in the following verses, of each family sitting apart to mourn. But this is not sufficient, for even the closest tie on earth is to be separated; for the wife is to sit apart from her husband, and mourn for her sins which have pierced her Saviour. As they view His wounded hands they will sense the fact that these wounds He received in the house of His friends, as stated in verse 6. For “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.” John 1:11. This experience is not confined to the Jews, for every soul is His own by the rights of both creation and redemption, and it is this coming to the heart of each one which is here referred to; hence we read in the following verse: “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.”
Since we first believed, and claimed to be His friend, have we not been unfaithful, and thus wounded our Saviour, perhaps again and again? But as we see His wounds in this light we will come to hate the sins which made Him mourn, and will banish them from the heart, and yield to Christ’s control. By this process of deep repentance, by the washing in the fountain, and by the trials which will come, the third part will be refined as silver, and tried as gold.
Verse 7 reads:—
“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.” Zech. 13:7.
The Shepherd was smitten at the time of His rejection and crucifixion, and His flock was scattered. So will it be again when Christ shall be rejected by the world, His Word set aside, His law made void, His children condemned to death. In these acts the Shepherd is again smitten, and His sheep scattered and brought into great distress.
But through it all, and out of it all, God’s little ones will come forth precious as the golden wedge of Ophir, and ready to shine as stars in His crown of rejoicing.
