They shall call on my name. And the people that were Lo Ami in Hosea, not my people, become Ami, my people. From the midst of the fire, They see Jesus Christ and they call upon him and he looks and says, I will hear them. They will say, he is my Lord. Welcome to Grace to You with the Bible teaching of John MacArthur.
I'm your host, Phil Johnson. It's been said that there are more than 14,000 promises in the Bible, and God has not broken one of them. You'll see one of those promises today, a promise God made to Israel through the prophet Zechariah. The question is, why should you care about what God said to Israel thousands of years ago? What does that have to do with you today?
Consider that as John MacArthur continues his compelling study called The Return and Reign of Jesus Christ.
So if you're able, turn to Zechariah chapter thirteen as John begins to day's lesson. God has in mind a wonderful day coming for Israel. Zachariah calls it the cleansing of Israel. In chapter 13 and verse 1, he says, 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. Zachariah predicts a day when Israel is going to be cleansed of sin and uncleanness.
Now, as we come to the 13th chapter, Zachariah, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, outlines for us the elements of this cleansing. There are six. Let's just begin with the first one. First of all, Israel will be cleansed from the defilement of sin. Secondly, from the deception of sham prophets.
From the deception of sham prophets, P-R-O-P-H-E-T-S, sham or phony prophets. This is most fascinating. Verses 2 through 6. We're going to go by it pretty quick, so hang on. Let me just introduce it.
The two, now watch this one. This is a good historical note for you to remember. The two besetting sins of Israel have always been idolatry and false prophecy. The two besetting sins of Israel, idolatry and false prophecy. And I would point out: wherever idolatry existed, it existed as a result of false prophets.
Propagating it. The two besetting sins, idolatry and false prophets, or false prophecy, and false prophecy was really behind the scenes causing the idolatry. Phony prophets. with speaking lies. And believe me, Israel was populated by the boatload with false prophets.
Do you remember, for example, that in the apostate age of King Ahab, Ahab was the husband of Jezebel. In the apostate age of King Ahab and the time of Jehoshaphat, there were at least 400 false prophets and only one true prophet. It's kind of like we have in the world today. About 400 to 1 might be a little, we probably don't have that good. On Mount Carmel, One old prophet, Elijah.
Four hundred and fifty. Prophets of Baal. One to four hundred and fifty. The false prophets in the history of Israel have been the thing that dragged Israel down. They slew the true prophets and they listened to the false.
You say, why did they do that? Because you see, the true prophets called for right behavior and they didn't want to do that. They loved the orgies of the false prophets. They wanted a religion like the false prophets had because you could do anything you wanted. It was built on the sensual.
I mean, that kind of religion was big stuff, just like it is today.
So, the false prophets drew the people into idolatry, and God has always remembered this. And God knows too that in the end time, Israel is going to fall again to false prophets. The number one false prophet is Antichrist. The number two is his co-worker, the false prophet that you read about in Revelation 13. And there are going to be a whole lot of other phonies they're going to fall for in the end time.
But when Christ returns and he cleanses Israel from the defilement of sin, he is also going to cleanse them from the deception of all these sham prophets. And I want you to see what has to be one of the most fascinating looks of all that we have into this future time. Verse 2: It shall come to pass. In that day, It says the Lord of hosts or the Lord of armies. And whenever God wants to talk about conquering, He calls Himself the Lord of Armies.
That I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered, and I will clean, rather, I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.
Now, note something there. What is behind false prophecy? Did you see it there?
Some kind of a spirit, what kind? An unclean spirit. All the gods of the nations are demons, says the Old Testament. And behind every false prophet is an unclean spirit. Either Immediately or immediately?
The spirit, literally, it says the spirit of uncleanness. I will cause the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness.
Now, beloved, it's not just a pervading principle. This is an active agency in contrast to the spirit of grace and supplication in 12:10. When salvation comes, God brings the spirit of grace and salvation. But when false prophets come, it is the spirit of uncleanness. And the spirit of uncleanness is a reference to the agency of demons and Satan himself.
Who are behind it?
So the spirit of uncleanness then as a collective Name for the wicked spirits that energize false prophets. They are unclean because they drive their victims into sexual and other impurities, and they are unclean because they defile with false religious systems.
Now let's go to verse 3. And it shall come to pass. This is a most interesting reaction now to this. That when any shall yet prophesy after this. Cleansing is done.
Anybody who tries to prophesy as a false prophet, then his father and his mother who begot him, and he throws that in to make you realize that this is a close filial relationship. This is a love bond. Naturally speaking, people couldn't be any more close than a father and a mother and a child. But when somebody prophesies, his father and mother who begot him will say to him, Thou shalt not live. We're gonna kill you, son.
For you speak lies in the name of the Lord. In other words, you say you're a prophet of God and you're a liar, and his father and his mother who begot him shall thrust him through when he prophesies. And the word simply means they'll stab him. to death. Thou shalt not live.
They'll stab him till he dies. A mother and a father will do that to their child. Because they'll have such a hatred. of false prophecy.
So that the hatred of false prophecy will overrule normal human. feelings. They will be the first to condemn the apostate to death. Verse four. And it shall come to pass in that day that the prophets shall be ashamed.
Everyone of his vision. when he hath prophesied. Neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive.
Now When this all happens, and God begins to destroy this whole thing, Anybody who's a prophet is going to become so ashamed. that he doesn't want to be known as a prophet. And so he will no longer wear a rough garment. You say, what does that mean? The rough garment was the sign of a prophet.
That basically came from the days of Elijah. Elijah wore a rough garment, a mantle, you remember? The literal Hebrew says a hairy garment. This could mean that it was a goat skin, kind of a leather thing with the hair on it, but it probably means that it was woven out of camel's hair, which was what they did. We still have camel's hair clothes today.
That would be woven from camel's hair. And this particular mantle became the clerical garb of the prophet in that day. If you wore that, you were signifying that you're a prophet. And he's saying here that prophets themselves won't even want to be identified as such. because they'll be so fearful.
Because they see what's going to happen. They'll deny that they're even prophets. They'll disclaim any association whatsoever with prophecy. Because they see what's happening. And verse 5, this is what they're going to say.
They shall say, I'm no prophet, I'm a farmer. Worked on the farm all my life. For man taught me to keep cattle from my oh, you must have another guy in mind. I've been a farmer. Oh, my God.
All I ever know is the cattle. Just an old farmer.
So they're going to denounce it. You must have me confused with somebody else. I'm just a farmer. Never been anything else since I was just a kid. And so while this guy is saying, I'm no prophet, I've just been a farmer.
I'm not in any of that pagan stuff. I'm just a farmer. Somebody's going to say to him, Well, why are you all cut up then? And literally, the Hebrew says this: What are these wounds between thy hands?
Some have stated anywhere on the arms and across the torso would be where these pagans would cut, or it could mean actually in the hand. But pagans cut themselves in their religion.
So the question is: if you're not a false prophet, why are you all cut up? And he's caught and he says, well. These are the wounds with which I was wounded in the house of my lovers. Asher in Hebrew, lovers, literally. Say what are the lovers?
I agree with Leupold, commentator who says the lovers are the idols that he loved. These are the wounds of my idolatry. See, he can't escape it. He has to admit it. I was wounded in the house of my lovers.
I was wounded in idolatry. There's no alibi. There's no way out when God begins to deal with the sham prophets. In the day of Israel's cleansing.
So Israel will be cleansed from the defilement of sin and the deception of sham prophets. Thirdly. And this changes the whole complexion here. Israel will be saved not from something, but through something. Point three, Israel will be cleansed through the death of the shepherd.
through the death of the shepherd. Another element in her cleansing, verse 7. This is amazing text. Awake, O sword! Against my shepherd and against the man who is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts.
And then comes this statement: smite the shepherd. Stop right there.
Now from the false shepherds wounded in the idle houses, The Spirit of God turns to the true shepherd. He's just as much apart. of Israel's cleansing is anything. He is the sine quinon. He is the absolute necessity.
They can't be cleansed from the defilement of sin. They can't be cleansed from the deception of sham prophets unless they are cleansed through the death of the shepherd. And so God speaks in verse 7. The Lord Jehovah is the speaker. And Jesus Christ is the one spoken of.
And God says, awake, O sword. God is going to move in judgment. God is unsheathing his sword. And he's going to smite the shepherd. I just want you to know something.
That the death of Jesus Christ was the plan of God. Did you see that there? Who calls to the sword? God does. Awake, O sword.
Against my shepherd, against the man who is my fellow, saith the Lord of armies, smite the shepherd. Listen, who called for the death of Jesus Christ then? Who did? God did. God did.
You know, Jewish people, and I understand. What they feel in their hearts have for years wanted to make sure nobody blamed them for the death of Christ. I don't know why. God even takes the responsibility himself. Right here.
The envy, the hatred of Satan. The blind fury of the chief priests, the contempt of Herod, the guilty cowardice of Pilate. All of these things put together. Only accomplished what God had designed to do from the very beginning before the foundation of the world. He was the lamb slain.
So God did it. And then, people, there's a fantastic statement following that. You got to get it. Against the man, my fellow.
Now, in the Hebrew, you don't really see what until you know the Hebrew, I should say, you don't see what this is saying. The word man here is an uncommon word for man in the Hebrew. It doesn't just mean man, it means a strong man or a mighty man.
So we're not just talking about an ordinary man. He says, take the sword against the strong man, the mighty man, and then the phrase, my fellow, is literally of my union. Take the sword against the strong, mighty man of my union. I say, what do you mean by of my union? The Hebrews could be translated this way: the man, the mighty man, who is co-equal with me.
The man, the mighty man, who is my equal. The man, the mighty man, associated with me in equal status. That's what the Hebrew really means. What a fantastic statement about the deity of Jesus Christ. Take the sword against my shepherd.
the mighty man, my equal. That's what he's saying. My equal. This is a prophecy, beloved, of the wonderful statement that Jesus fulfilled when he said, I. And the father?
Or one. The mighty man my equal. Listen, Jesus is God. He's God. How else can you have him be Micah's baby born in Bethlehem and Isaiah's the father of eternity?
Unless he is God. Jeremiah calls him Jehovah Tzedkinu. Jeremiah chapter 23, verse 6. He is the man who is equal to God. He is Jehovah.
Siddique nu. And what that means. is powerful. The Lord Our Righteousness. He is God.
Israel, in order to be cleansed, Must have a sacrifice for sin. The shepherd must be smitten.
So Zachariah shows, first of all, Israel's cleansing from the defilement of sin, from the deception of sham prophets, and through the death of the shepherd. And now. Fourth. From the dispersion of the sheep. You know, Israel's been scattered all over.
But they're going to be saved even from that. Look at verse 7 again. And the sheep shall be what? Scattered. And I'll turn my hand on the little ones.
Israel is going to have to be brought back. Because they were scattered. Listen. After Jesus died, this immediately was quoted by Jesus, I should say the night in which he was betrayed, before he died. Jesus said in Matthew 26, 31, Smite the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered.
He quoted Zachariah 13. Seven. And it was true. First of all, we saw it that when Jesus died, who were the first that were scattered? The disciples, weren't they?
They were scattered. But it was far beyond that that he spoke. Because a few years later, in 70 AD, when Titus came in and conquered Israel, the whole nation of Israel was scattered. They were leaderless. They were confounded, they were confused, they had spurned the Messiah.
They had no direction and they were scattered all over the world. And so when God cleanses Israel. It's going to be a cleansing from the dispersion of the sheep. They're going to be all brought back. You know, it just so happens that we live in a time when we can begin to see this happening.
Isn't that right? It's an exciting, fantastic thing to realize. We see them coming back even now. The verb to scatter here means to break in pieces. Literally disintegrate them all over the world.
And it happened in 70 AD, and they've just come back and reconstituted their nation, and they're beginning to come to their land. And then he adds an interesting note at the end of verse 7, I will turn my hand on the little ones. Who are the little ones?
Well, it's hard to be positive about this, but I think the best answer is this: the little ones are the believing remnant of this age. And of the church age. You know, there were some Jews that turned to Christ, weren't there?
Some of them were apostles, and some of them were in that early church in Jerusalem. And by the third or fourth, fifth chapter, you have at least 20,000 of them. And there's still Jews today who are saved. But from the very beginning, there were some little ones. They're the same as the poor of the flock in chapter 11, verse 7.
They're the believing remnant. And while the whole thing is scattered and they're all scattered, it says God is going to put His hand, turn His hand on the little ones. You say, what does it mean?
Now listen to me. That phrase, Turn his hand upon. is uniformly, without exception, used in the Old Testament to refer to chastening and judgment.
Now you tell me. What happened? to the early church. What was the first thing that happened to them once they got grounded? Against the church.
Paul breathed out Threatening and what? Slaughter. What was characteristic of the early church? Persecution. And God says, even the little ones.
are going to be persecuted. The idea of placing his hand on them, as I said, is uniformly used. Check it in Amos 1:8. Psalm 81, 15, Isaiah 1.25, and Ezekiel 38, 12. In those places, uniformly it's used to speak of chastening.
So God then is going to scatter the whole flock of Israel, and even the little ones, even the poor of the flock, the believing remnant, they're going to hit the persecution. You remember in John 15? Just after Jesus had made such wonderful promises to his flock, And told them that he would do so many wonderful things for them. He would cause them to bear fruit. He would give them his spirit.
He would give them his peace. And all this, then he says this to them: if the world hates you, know that it hated me before you. And then he says, If they persecute you, remember they persecuted me. And then he says in verse 2 of chapter 16, They shall put you out of the synagogues. The time comes that whosoever kills you will think that he does God service.
You're going to get it, he says, just like I did. The little ones were persecuted.
So the message is simple. Shepherd's going to die. And when the shepherd dies for the sins of his people, they'll be scattered because of their rejection. And even the little ones the Lord will allow to go through suffering and persecution, that the church at its birth might be pure. And then, in the day of cleansing, God's going to gather all that scattered group right back.
So we see that they'll be cleansed from the defilement. From the deception. from the dispersion. all through the death of the Saviour. Fifthly, They're going to be cleansed from what I call the devastation of slaughter.
Verse 8, the devastation of slaughter. It shall come to pass that in all the land, saith the Lord, now we're up in the tribulation time. Two parts in it shall be cut off and die. But the third shall be left in it. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will test them as gold is tested.
Now, you know that in the Battle of Armageddon, we studied in chapter 12, there's going to be a terrible slaughter. And here the prophet Zachariah says that that slaughter is going to take the lives of two out of every three in Israel.
Now some do not take that literally, and it may not be an exact two-thirds. There is a text in Isaiah that talks about a tenth being spared. That may have a different connotation. But this is a general thought. The majority of those people in the Armageddon battle are going to die, and just a portion, seen here as a third.
are going to remain. This is the indestructible Third. The holy seed. You can't destroy Israel. They have a holy seed.
The Old Testament says that. And so they're indestructible. And there's an attempt by the Antichrist and the armies of the world to wipe the whole nation out, but they are only able to wipe out some of them. Two-thirds will die, and one-third is left, and they will be purified and refined like silver and like gold. You say, who is this third?
Well, I'll tell you what it is. I'll tell you exactly who it is. It is identical with those in 1210. who look on Christ At his return. Two-thirds of the people are killed.
They're not even there when Christ comes back. Christ returns, the one-third, or however many it is, those remaining, that remnant remaining, are going to see Christ, they're going to repent, they're going to mourn, they're going to weep, they're going to look on him who was pierced, they're going to be saved, they make up that third. I'm sure some of them might be the 144,000. They are the survivors. They are the pure, the people whose hearts were prepared.
People who believe the remnant. And they are the third that enter the kingdom in their physical bodies to populate the earthly kingdom. They'll be refined. I mean, they're going to go through a refining process you can't believe.
So. Cleansing from defilement. Cleansing from deception, cleansing from dispersion. cleansing from devastation. All through the death of the shepherd.
One last point. I call it They'll be cleansed. through the decision of the souls. The end of verse 9. They shall call on my name.
And I will hear them. I will say He is my people in the Hebrew. And they shall say, The Lord. Is my God. Notice folks.
This will never happen. This will never happen. As a sovereign act of God. until it is a decision of the souls of the hearts of Israel. It'll never happen until, listen, they shall call.
on my name. Do you see it? It'll never happen. God does not sovereignly redeem a part from faith. And the people that were low ami.
In Hosea, not my people. become a me. My people. From the midst of the fire, They see Jesus Christ and they call upon him, and he looks and says, I will hear them, and I will say, He is my people, and they will say, He is my Lord. The decision of the soul consummates it.
And then Isaiah says, Shall the ransomed of the Lord return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy on their heads? They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing. shall flee away. What a blessed consummation. Beloved, I would say this in closing: God is a God of forgiveness.
God will forgive his people Israel, even though they were. A part of those that Killed his son. God will forgive you because that's his nature. Who is a pardoning God like that? Do you know any other?
Do you know any other God on the face of this earth? who pardons and forgives those who kill him. No other god.
So pardon me. Because we are the sinners we are, we cannot tolerate a God less than that. Because only He can take away our sin. The fountain is open for you. No need to wait.
Some people of Israel They wait too long. They may be in the slaughter of Armageddon and never get to the fountain that's opened at the end. Don't you worry. You're listening to Grace to You, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur. Thanks for joining us today.
Well, it's clear that our current topic, the return and reign of Jesus Christ, has been the cause of much speculation in the church. Lots of people have predicted when Christ will return, even claim to know the exact date. But John MacArthur always stayed away from that kind of speculation, and in fact, he considered it spiritually harmful. Here's how John explained it. It's spiritually harmful because it's irresponsible.
It misinterprets scripture. Obviously, it's hugely disappointing to the people who get trapped in these cultic kind of ideas. We need to live in the light of the reality that Christ could come any moment. Look, the next event. On the calendar is the rapture of the church, the Lord snatching his church away.
And it's going to happen in a moment in the twinkling of an eye, and the church is going to be gone, and then God unleashes the judgments of the tribulation on earth. We don't know when that rapture will take place. That is a signless event. But you have to understand that. Once the rapture takes place, then what follows, those events that come subsequent to the rapture are detailed in the book of Revelation.
They're laid out chronologically and in specific terms. But the trigger for all of it is the rapture of the church. And we don't know when that event is.
So understanding the next event, which is the rapture of the church, and all the subsequent events, I think is critical for a believer. If anybody ever tells you this is the time the Lord is coming to take his church, You can probably be sure it's not, because he said it would be in an hour when you think not. That's right, friend, and that's the kind of discernment about future events that comes from diligent study of God's Word. To help you develop that discernment, I want to remind you about John's commentary on Zechariah. It takes you deep into that prophetic book, helping you know the true joy that's found in understanding God's plan for the future.
To order a copy of John's Zechariah commentary, contact us today. You can call us here at 800-55 GRACE. Or place your order at our website, gty.org. The Zechariah commentary costs $25 and shipping is free. Again, to order, call 80055 GRACE.
or shop online at gty.org. And thanks also for letting us know how John's teaching is helping you grow to be more like Christ. Perhaps you've been encouraged by one of the many free resources at gty.org. Or maybe the recent radio series called Restoring Marriage has helped you cultivate a stronger relationship with your spouse.
However God has used grace to you in your life, Let us know when you email us at letters at gty.org. That address again, letters at gty.org. Or you can write to us at gracetoyou. Post Office Box 4000, Panorama City, California. 91412.
And now for the entire Grace DU staff, I'm Phil Johnson. Thanks for making time for today's broadcast and be back tomorrow as John MacArthur focuses on Zechariah 14. It's a chapter filled with amazing details. about Christ's return, details that are found nowhere else in the Bible. We're continuing John's series called The Return and Reign of Jesus Christ.
with another 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time. on Race to You.
