ZECHARIAH - CHAPTER 13 - False Prophets & Unclean Spirits
ZECHARIAH – CHAPTER 13
THE FALSE PROPHETS & THE UNCLEAN SPIRITS
Tuesday Morning Bible Study
September 31, 2019, the Year of Our Lord
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
UNCLEANNESS AOLISHED:
Zech.. 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.
In That Day is repeated eight times in Chapters 13 and 14. This again is a continuation of The Word of the Lord from Chapter 9. This passage is both apocalyptic and eschatological.
Eschatology
1 : a branch of theology concerned with the final events in the history of the world or of humankind
2 : a belief concerning death, the end of the world, or the ultimate destiny of humankind specifically : any of various Christian doctrines concerning the Second Coming, the resurrection of the dead, or the Last Judgment
Apocalyptic
1. describing or prophesying the complete destruction of the world.
2. resembling the end of the world; momentous or catastrophic
The fountain being opened to the house of David is metaphorical of Jesus Christ who came to the Jews as their Savior and Messiah to deliver them from sin, uncleanness and idolatry. I believe this is dualistic with a double meaning referring to the second coming of Jesus Christ when the Jews will return to and accept their Messiah. Only through the Blood of Jesus Christ can mankind be delivered from sin and uncleanness.
Rev. 21:6And He (Jesus) said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.
Psa. 36:9For with You (LORD) is the fountain of life;
In Your light we see light.
Ezekiel prophesied of the judgment of the Jews because of their sins and the Lord’s redemption through the clean water of life.
Ezek. 36:17“Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own ways and deeds; to Me their way was like the uncleanness of a woman in her customary impurity.
Therefore I poured out My fury on them for the blood they had shed on the land, and for their idols with which they had defiled it.
So I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the countries; I judged them according to their ways and their deeds.
When they came to the nations, wherever they went, they profaned My holy name—when they said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD, and yet they have gone out of His land.’
But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations wherever they went“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went.
And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD,” says the Lord GOD, “when I am hallowed in you before their eyes.
For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land.
Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols…”
“In the nineteenth century a spiritual revival took place among a remnant of the Jewish people. The revival was a return to Jesus. It was only after the spiritual return began that the physical return to the land was set in motion. The two returns were joined together, just as had been the two departures. Each return represented the reclaiming of a lost possession, the physical return to Israel’s physical possession, and the spiritual return to the nation’s spiritual possession.
The first spiritual return took place in London in 1867. It would be the first such gathering in two thousand year, the first such council of Messianic Jewish believers since the days of the disciples. They came from the nations, teachers, leaders, and emissaries to the city of London. There they worshipped, prayed, shared, and declared their identity, agreed on their purpose and mission, and arrived at a resolution. The gathering established the first known alliance of Messianic Jewish believers since the first disciples gathered in Jerusalem two thousand years earlier. One of the speakers at the event reminded the assembly of its ancient origins. He said this: ‘There was a meeting a long time ago, when Jews from every nation were gathered together, and the Lord poured out His Spirit upon them; that was the first Hebrew-Christian Alliance’ (Church of Jesus Christ)…Those were the Hebrew-Christian disciples, apostles and leaders in Jerusalem who were the first generation Church.
This council of disciples who convened in Jerusalem at the beginning of the age resulted in the faith going forth from Israel to the nations, from Jew to Gentile…As the first century neared its end and the days of the Book of Acts drew to a close, such gatherings of Jewish Christian believers disappeared from the world. But in the days of return (In that day) that which disappeared, must reappear.
So the council that convened in London would represent the reverse, the beginning of the return of the faith to the Jewish people, and the Jewish people to their Messiah.
The spiritual return of just a remnant of Jewish people was enough to usher in a physical return to the land. It was only a remnant of Jewish believers in the first century that changed the course of world history.” (Jonathan Cahn- The Oracle)
Zech. 13:2It shall come to pass in that day, says 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 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, You shall not live; for you speak lies in the name of the LORD: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesies.
The fountain of the water of life, Jesus Christ, will cleanse the names of all idols in the land. He will cleanse away all sins, uncleanness, false prophecy and unclean spirits from the people. This is unfulfilled prophecy; but just as so many of Zechariah’s prophecies have been literally fulfilled, we can rejoice that one day, this, too, will come to pass when all the idols will no more be remembered.
I was preaching on this Sunday. When people sin, the “glory” or “anointing” is lifted from their life. They still have their gifts, but they are prophesying from the uncleanness of their soul; not from the purity of the Holy Spirit.
Worship of idols indicates that the foremost place of God’s power has been given to other powers. These will be done away with. Priority of attention is given to false prophecy collectively described as the prophets and the unclean spirit. These are prophesying from their unclean spirit.
uncleanness
1. sexual
2. of filthy mass
3. ethical and religious
4. ritual
5. local (of nations)
Strong’s Definitions [?](Strong’s Definitions Legend)
טֻמְאָה ṭumʼâh, toom-aw'; from H2930; religious impurity:—filthiness, unclean(-ness).
This was a revelation for me. According to Strong's, this is a religious spirit of religious impurity: This brings "light" to the strife created by religious spirits.
uncleanness
1. sexual
2. of filthy mass
3. ethical and religious
4. ritual
5. local (of nations)
Strong’s Definitions [?](Strong’s Definitions Legend)
טֻמְאָה ṭumʼâh, toom-aw'; from H2930; religious impurity:—filthiness, unclean(-n
Even with discernment, spiritual powers are not always so easy to distinguish. The Lord has restored the Office of the Prophet to the Church in the 20th and now the 21st Century. The Holy Spirit has given us grace to be guided by prophets. Yet we must know those who labor among us.
1Co 2:10God has revealed them to us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knows no man, but the Spirit of God.Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Ghost teaches; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
We are to know one another by the Spirit. The distinction lies in severing all associations with the spirit of impurity in contrast with the Spirit of God.
In that day,
Zech. 13:4It shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he has prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive. But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am a husbandman; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.
The result of this total rejection of false prophecy will be that the work of the prophet will no longer be of “professional” status. The “rough garment” will count for little. Ancient prophets wore rough camel skins for garments. The words may even suggest that it will be recognized as a uniform of disgrace. Men will avoid rather than clamor for the popularity of the prophetic gifts and/or Office, saying I am not a prophet. Amos in defense of his call from the Lord did not boast of his ancestry and pedigree.
Amos 7:14Then Amos answered, and said to Amaziah:
“I was no prophet,
Norwas I a son of a prophet,
But Iwas a sheep breeder
And a tender of sycamore fruit..
Then the LORD took me as I followed the flock,
And the LORD said to me,
‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel’”
Zech. 13:6And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in your hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.
Because of my preference, I am going to apply this verse to Jesus Christ in contrast to the false prophets. Not all commentators apply it as such. Some apply to false prophets who have been attacked.
Because the time in Zechariah moves forward from when it was written, to the first coming of Jesus Christ and then just as swiftly to the second coming, I prefer this interpretation, not because I know, because I don’t, but the time is in agreement with verse 7 regarding his crucifixion. When he returns, people will ask him about his nail scarred hands. I have seen the holes in his hands, not in his flesh, but in his glorified body.
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.
This Shepherd is Jesus Christ. We are left in no doubt so far as the New Testament is concerned. The substance of this verse fell from the lips of Jesus who clearly saw in its words a presentation of himself as the true Shepherd of Israeli. He foresaw the flight of the disciples in the face of danger. He said: You will all fall away, for it is written, I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered. (Mk. 14:27)
The man that is my fellow means the man who is close to me. This is the king who is close to God as He to whom He has delegated divine authority to rule. We can identify this with Servant of the Lord in Isaiah, who gives his back to those who beat him (Isa. 50:6), and who indeed was smitten by God Himself.
Zech. 13:8And 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. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.
The oracle looks further ahead still. Two-thirds of the population of the land perish, and the remainder are purified as silver and gold are refined in the fire. The result of this cataclysmic judgment is to be seen in a people who, in consequence of the purifying intervention of the Lord, more readily and more fervently testify of the glory of the name of God. We call on his name, and his answering voice re-assures us that we are indeed his people.
“The fate of Israel and the fate of the world are bound together. Israel is a microcosm of the world, and the world, the macrocosm of Israel.” Israel is God’s stage and his “hearth” where He plays out before the whole world what He is doing in the earth.
“Two thousand years ago, the center of Western civilization and world history was the Roman Empire. Into that empire came the word of God, the gospel of Jesus Christ. The empire was transformed, its faith, its culture, its institutions, its ethics and values, its worldviews. The Word of God that went forth from Jerusalem altered the course of Roman history, Western history, and world history. As Western civilization expanded to become more and more synonymous with world civilization, its biblical underpinnings became part of world culture.” (Jonathan Cahn – The Oracle)
Rom 11:11I say then, have they (the Jews) stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles.
Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!
For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them.
For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?
For if the first fruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, Do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.
You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.”
Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear.
For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either.
Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness,[fn] if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.
And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.”
So just as we are seeing Jews return to their Messiah, Jesus Christ; we are watching as the Gentiles are becoming more and more Pagan and our churches are becoming apostate with no fear of God, lacking in Holiness and power.
The spirit of the false prophets and the unclean spirits are in our churches. There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled. But, like Israel of old one third will go through the fire and be purified as gold and silver. Lord let me and my house and those you have given me to shepherd be part of that number.
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries Church
Scripture from N.K.J.V – I entered into the labors of Jonathan Cahn – The Oracle as indicated; Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible; F.F. Bruce Bible Commentary. Comments and conclusions are my own and not meant to reflect the views of those who I entered into their labor.