For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Zech 13:1-9

1“On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.

2 “On that day, I will banish the names of the idols from the land, and they will be remembered no more,” declares the Lord Almighty. “I will remove both the prophets and the spirit of impurity from the land. 3 And if anyone still prophesies, their father and mother, to whom they were born, will say to them, ‘You must die, because you have told lies in the Lord’s name.’ Then their own parents will stab the one who prophesies.

4 “On that day every prophet will be ashamed of their prophetic vision. They will not put on a prophet’s garment of hair in order to deceive. 5 Each will say, ‘I am not a prophet. I am a farmer; the land has been my livelihood since my youth.’ 6 If someone asks, ‘What are these wounds on your body?’ they will answer, ‘The wounds I was given at the house of my friends.’

7 “Awake, sword, against my shepherd,
    against the man who is close to me!”
    declares the Lord Almighty.
“Strike the shepherd,
    and the sheep will be scattered,
    and I will turn my hand against the little ones.
8 In the whole land,” declares the Lord,
    “two-thirds will be struck down and perish;
    yet one-third will be left in it.
9 This third I will put into the fire;
    I will refine them like silver
    and test them like gold.
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 our God.’”

A. Find Out

1. What next happens in Jerusalem? v.1
2. What will the Lord do with the Land? v.2
3. What wrong will He also address? v.3
4. To what effect? v.4-6
5. Who, strangely,  does the Lord speak against? v.7
6. What will happen to a majority in the Land? v.8
7. What will happen to the minority? v.9

B. Think:

1. What, generally (v.1), will happen?
2. What things will be changed?
3. How extensive will this be?

C. Comment:

This chapter, continuing on from the previous one, reveals that the weeping and mourning that was previously referred to, is only the preliminary to the cleansing and purging that will now take place in Jerusalem (v.1). Idolatry and false prophecy will both be removed from the Land (v.2,3).

The repentance that was previously implied will strike the prophetic community who had falsely spoken and they will be ashamed (v.4) and even go on to completely reject any aspirations to be a prophet and return to what we might call their secular jobs (v.5) and will acknowledge the disciplining they have been through (v.6).

Now in what follows the timing is unclear and so there is uncertainty about whether this refers to the past or the future. We would suggest that it did not have a present application as those in leadership within the returned remnant seem to have the present blessing of the Lord on them (see Ch3). First (v.7) comes a warning of discipline on a leader (shepherd) and on the people. In fact the Land will suffer severe judgment with two thirds of the people destroyed (v.8) and the remaining third will suffer severe cleansing discipline to bring them back to the Lord (v.9).

Again one is left wondering how these present prophecies from Zechariah impact the returned remnant for these are not encouraging words but words of severe warning. Perhaps the purpose is to keep them holy.  

D. Application:

1. God removes those whose hearts are too hard to repent.
2. God disciplines those whose hearts are open to be changed.