Zechariah 13:8,9

And 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.

In all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off ... but the third shall be left. Two-thirds of the Jewish nation were to perish in the Roman wars, and a third to survive (Henderson). Probably, from the context (Zechariah 14:2), which has never yet been fulfilled, the destruction of the two-thirds [ piy (H6310) shªnayim (H8147)] - literally, the proportion of two, or, the portion of two-and the saving of the remnant, the one-third, are still future, and to be fulfilled under Antichrist.

Verse 9. 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 - the fire of trial: implying at once the narrowness of their escape, "as a firebrand plucked out of the burning," and also the purifying effect of the fiery ordeal (Psalms 66:10; Amos 4:11; 1 Corinthians 3:15; 1 Peter 1:6).

They shall call on my name, and I will hear them. It hence appears that the Jews' conversion is not to precede, but to follow, their external deliverance by the special interposition of Yahweh; which latter shall be the main cause of their conversion, combined with a preparatory inward shedding abroad in their hearts of the Holy Spirit (Zechariah 12:10); and here, "they shall call on my name," in their trouble, which brings Yahweh to their help (Psalms 50:15).

I will say, It is my people; and they shall say, The Lord is my God - (Jeremiah 30:18; Ezekiel 11:19; Hosea 2:23).

Remarks:

(1) The "fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness" (Zechariah 13:1) is the "pierced" (Zechariah 12:10) side of the Saviour. It is not a mere cistern, but an ever-flowing fountain. The laver between the tabernacle and the altar (Exodus 30:18), wherein the priests washed their hands and their feet before they ministered in the tabernacle, needed to be replenished with water from time to time. But the blood of Jesus is always all-powerful at once to justify believers from the guilt, and to cleanse them from the pollution of sin.

(2) The fountain of justification and of sanctification is always open, and has been so ever since Christ died for us. But the eyes, not only of the Jews, but of all unbelievers, are closed to the virtue and the preciousness of its healing and purifying waters. The Jews, like Hagar in the wilderness, have been long within reach of it, but have had their eyes blinded to it. The day is soon coming when "the vail" that is "upon their heart, shall be taken away" (2 Corinthians 3:15). Then shall the fountain be no longer sealed, but "opened" to them.

(3) "The unclean spirit" shall be forced to "pass out of the land" (Zechariah 13:2), when the good "Spirit of Grace" shall be poured out (Zechariah 12:10). A subtler form of idolatry (Revelation 13:15) shall be revived in the last days; and sorcery shall again prevail. Already we discern premonitory symptoms of this characteristic of Antichristianity, not only in the lying miracles of Rome, but in the widespread prevalence of so-called spiritualism, mesmerism, and such like unlawful arts. Compare Acts 19:13, "Sorcerers shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death" (Revelation 21:8; Revelation 22:15). But, in the coming day of grace to Israel, all unwarranted pretensions to superhuman knowledge shall be renounced (Zechariah 13:3). Love to God shall outweigh every other consideration. Parental affection itself, the strongest of natural instincts shall yield to the higher instinct of zeal for the honour of God. Even the dearest "friends" shall not spare him who falsely claims to be regarded as a prophet (Zechariah 13:5). Let us ever remember that, while we are bound to love our earthly relatives and friends in their proper place, yet, if we love "father, mother, son, or daughter more than Christ," we are not worthy of him (Matthew 10:37).

(4) The false prophet "thrust through" (Zechariah 13:3) "between the hands" (Zechariah 13:6) answers in the way of contrast to Messiah, who is the true Prophet, but who was condemned as a false prophet, and "pierced" between the hand "in the house of his friends." "He came to His own, but His own received Him not" (John 1:11). Even still He and His holy cause often receive the sorest wounds in the inconsistencies of professing Christians who form the visible Church, which ought to be "the house of his friends"

(5) How dreadful is the guilt of sin, when its expiation needed nothing short of the sword of divine justice awaking against "the man who is fellow of the Lord of hosts!" (Zechariah 13:7.) The "sword" is the symbol of the execution of justice. In giving it the charge against the Divine "Shepherd" God pronounced the sentence of His judicial wrath against man's sin. Therefore the Lord Jesus, in bearing its terrible stroke, has not merely left us an example of meekness under undeserved sufferings. but has endured the deserved penalty of our sin, though in Him was no sin. God spared not His own co-eternal Son, when His Son undertook to bear the sinner's guilt.

(6) Yet how wonderfully, too, does the love of God herein shine forth! For it was the Father's love that provided for the sinner's ransom Him whom He so infinitely loved, and whom He calls "My Shepherd," but whom He, for our sakes, spared not. How can we ever enough love Him who first loved us?

(7) When the Shepherd was smitten, "the sheep were scattered" (Zechariah 13:7). Christ bore the whole weight of the stroke alone. No apostles, no disciples, no saints, no angels, nor the Virgin Mother, helped in His redeeming work: for "He has trodden the wine-press alone" (Isaiah 63:3).

(8) Times of persecution are sifting times (Zechariah 13:7, end). The storm winnows the chaff from the wheat. But the Lord has always had a chosen remnant of "little ones." Whereas He turned His hand in judicial visitation upon Messiah for the imputed guilt which He bore, and upon the Jewish nation subsequently for their awful guilt personally in shedding Messiah's blood, God "turns his hand" in loving-kindness upon the humble who seek salvation through the Redeemer.

(9) A portion of the Jewish nation shall survive the fiery ordeal, and shall learn "in the fires" to "glorify the Lord" (Isaiah 24:15). Sore trouble shall, through the Spirit's inward operation, drive them to earnest prayers to Him who alone can "deliver in the day of trouble." We may bless God for those afflictions which lead us to "call on the name of God." Though we pass "through the fire," if we be believers, we shall not be consumed, but "refined," as gold and silver purified of their dross in the furnace. And when trials shall have accomplished their end fully, they shall be forever removed, in that perfect world wherein God shall say of His redeemed Church, "It is my people; and they shall say, The Lord is my God" (Zechariah 13:9).