The Fountain – Zechariah 13:1

“In that day, a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.”

We see in the last three chapters of Zechariah many references to ‘in that day.’  Most scholars concur that the phrase ‘in that day’ refers to the latter part of the Great Tribulation which culminates in the day of the Lord’s return.  As we have seen in Chapter 12, there will come a day when the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem “will look upon Me whom they pierced.  Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.” (Zechariah 12:10)

We know that angels celebrate every time one single person sees Christ for who He is, repents of their sin and surrenders to His Lordship.  “I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.”  (Luke 15:7)  How great the celebration will be when a nation comes to Christ!  It will be a glorious time indeed, in Heaven. 

                                                              

So do you think this fountain is just then opened up?  Friends, it was opened on the day that Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose again.  “God, the everlasting Word, was made flesh and dwelt among us, and in fullness of time the weight of human sin was laid on him. In order to put that sin away he must die, for death was the penalty for guilt; up to the cross he went through agonies unspeakable, and at the last he yielded up his soul; and when he did so sin was put away, and the fountain for the cleansing of sin was effectually opened.”  (Charles Spurgeon)

When we are finally overcome by the bitterness of repentance for our sins against Jesus; when we mourn because we realize the incredible price our Savior willingly, and lovingly, paid for our sins; it is then that our eyes are opened to that fountain of grace.  The fountain existed all our lives, but until we saw our need for repentance – and repented – we could not see this precious fountain.  “The sinner does not find a Savior until he bewails his sin; when he sees his own filthiness then it is that the way to have that filthiness removed is made clear to him. God is always willing to forgive, but we are not always willing to be forgiven. The fountain is experimentally opened to each one of us when we spiritually discern it, believe in it, and are made partners of its cleansing power.” (Charles Spurgeon)

The fountain is open for sin AND for uncleanness.  God makes a distinction in His Word between these two.  The Hebrew word for sin here is “chatta’ah” (Strong’s 02403) has a root word “chatta’” (Strong’s 02398) which means ‘to sin, miss, miss the way, go wrong, incur guilt.’  “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)  Whereas the Hebrew word for uncleanness is “niddah” (Strong’s 05079) has a root word “nadad” (Strong’s 05074) which means ‘to retreat, flee, depart, move, wander abroad, stray, flutter.’  David uses this term in is prayer “Indeed, I would wander far off, and remain in the wilderness.”  (Psalm 55:7)  “Sin has separated us from God and brought upon us the divine wrath; uncleanness, which is a tendency still to sin, a defilement of our nature, prevents our returning to our heavenly Father, and entering into renewed fellowship with aim. This great evil in its double form is, according to the text, distinctly recognized by God; it is not winked at, it is not treated as a trifle that may remain, and yet man may be beloved of God and be happy; no, but the evil being there, preparation is made for its removal. The text says, not that the filthiness is concealed, that the transgression is excused, but that there is a fountain opened for the effectual removal of sin and uncleanness. In the gospel God never trifles with human sin. We proclaim full, free, immediate forgiveness to the very chief of sinners, but it is not in a way which makes men think that sin is trivial in God's esteem, for there is coupled with the declaration of pardon a description of the way in which God by the sacrifice of his Son renders it possible for him to be merciful without being unjust. In the substitution of Christ Jesus we see justice and mercy peacefully embracing, and conferring double honor upon each other.” (Charles Spurgeon)

Lastly, the fountain is inexhaustible.  What a relief to know that such grace continues to flow, undefiled.  No generation can pollute it.  No amount of sins can deplete it.  “There is a fountain opened; not a cistern nor a reservoir, but a fountain. A fountain continues still to bubble up, and is as full after fifty years as at the first; and even so the provision and the mercy of God for the forgiveness and the justification of our souls continually flows and overflows.”  (Charles Spurgeon)

Whether you are a Jew or a Gentile, if you have not repented of your sin and confessed your need for the Savior Jesus Christ, you will not get to experience the fountain awaiting you.  If you have repented of your sins and surrendered to Jesus, but have succumbed to your sin nature and therefore become estranged from God, there is a fountain awaiting you.  Ask Jesus, and He will wash away your tendency toward that old sin.  Abide in Christ and He will make you new.  “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new.”  (2 Corinthians 5:17)

There is a fountain open, and it is waiting.

May you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Worthless Shepherd – Zechariah 11:16-17

“For indeed I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for those who are cut off, nor seek the young, nor heal those that are broken, nor feed those that still stand.  But he will eat the flesh of the fat and tear their hooves in pieces.  Woe to the worthless shepherd, who leaves the flock!  A sword shall be against his arm and against his right eye; his arm shall completely wither, and his right eye shall be totally blinded.”

Previously in Zechariah, God had described a pitiable people with no shepherd.  The people remained disobedient and then the rulers of the people continued to worsen.  In short, a prophecy prior to this passage describes the arrival and rejection of the Great Shepherd, Jesus Christ.  God dismisses three bad shepherds, commonly considered to be the king, priests and scribes (law makers).  God then comes as a shepherd to His own people, and they reject Him.  He asked for His worth to them and they counted out 30 shekels of silver, the price of a slave, which Zechariah says throw to the potter. (Sound familiar? See Matthew 26:15).  The people do away with Jesus for a paltry 30 pieces of silver.  After that, they seek a shepherd that is not of God.  A shepherd of their own design.  A shepherd who comes in his own name.  After rejecting Jesus, what they get and will continue to get is what God calls a ‘worthless’ shepherd.

We see the rulers, priests and law makers getting worse as time goes on.  They take advantage of the people.  “Such a thing has always, and continues to be an abomination in the eyes of the Lord. God help any man who seeks to profiteer off of people's desire to know God and have fellowship with God, and would actually stand in the way and be a middleman to make a profit or to reap a profit off of the desire of people to know God. It angered Jesus then. It angers Jesus now. He is not any more tolerant toward those who today are profiteering off of the innate religious desires within people than He was in that day.  So the Lord in prophecy here speaks out against these shepherds who actually were destroying the people, but didn't feel any guilt over it all.” (Chuck Smith)

Once a person or a people reject Jesus, they will chose another leader to follow.  As Jesus said:  “I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.”  (John 5:43)  Zechariah’s prophecy can be applied outside of Israel.  Right now, our country, our world is not blessed with great leaders, not even good leaders.  The more Jesus the Christ and the truth of God are rejected, the worse the rulers, priests and law makers chosen to replace Him.  “It was the economic problems of Germany that gave rise to Hitler. When your whole economy begins to just fall apart, government has totally failed, then the people in desperation are open to anybody who seems to have sensible, plausible answers. And they will follow even one as Hitler with all of his bizarre ideas, because he promises to the people the solutions.” (Chuck Smith)

These worthless leaders will not care for ‘those who are cut off,’ but a wise and godly shepherd will seek after the lost.  The worthless leaders will not ‘seek the young.’  They may steal the young from their parents to train the children up in lies, but a godly shepherd knows the young need to train up in the ways of the Lord.  The worthless leaders will not ‘heal those that are broken,’ but God’s shepherds will use the love of God and His Word to mend broken hearts.  The worthless leaders will not ‘feed those that still stand,’ but God’s shepherds will continue to build up and keep healthy those that still stand.  Not only will the worthless shepherds not care, seek, heal or feed the sheep, but they will ‘eat the flesh of the fat and tear their hooves in pieces.’  It would be difficult to describe a more worthless leader for the people.  Ruthless.  Hateful.  A wolf in sheep’s clothing.  Yet when the people reject Jesus, when they reject the truth, the only thing left to choose is deception.  These bad choices will escalate until the choosing of the ultimate bad leader, the anti-christ.  The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul gives us a glimpse into the coming of this ultimate worthless shepherd:  “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.  And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.  The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.  And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”  (2 Thessalonians 2:7-12)

The important thing for us to focus on is not this anti-christ.  Jesus consumes that lawless one with the ‘breath of His mouth’ and destroys him with the ‘brightness of His coming.’  We know how this ends.  No, our focus needs to be on receiving ‘the love of the truth’ of Jesus Christ.  Once you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, He will send the Holy Spirit to dwell in you.  When you yield to the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit will give you discernment of the truth as well as untruth.  But if you have ‘pleasure in unrighteousness’ you will ‘not believe the truth,’ which leaves you open to all kinds of deception.

My friend, where do you stand?  Have you rejected the truth of the Good Shepherd?  Then you have rejected the Good Shepherd.  God’s Word has shown us that any alternative to the truth is not in your best interest.  Any alternative comes in its own name and is not of God.  Any alternative will not care for you, heal you, feed you or protect you from those who want to tear you to pieces.  Any alternative will ultimately end in tears. 

Those of us who have chosen Jesus are dumbfounded by those who reject Him.  We are bewildered because we have experienced, and continue to experience, a deep love and deep joy and deep peace, all of which are beyond our ability to describe.  Words fail.  We try to talk about it, we try to express it in song, but it all falls short.  We might conclude that whatever the reason people have for rejecting Jesus must be borne of a lack of knowledge of Jesus.  Let us pray that Jesus reveal Himself to these people so they can see themselves for who they are and then recognize Jesus for what He has done.  Let us pray that they abandon their brutal and worthless shepherds and surrender to the only Good Shepherd.  Let us pray that it may someday be said of them: “Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith – the salvation of your souls.”  (1 Peter 1:8)

May you help others grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Take This Cup – Mark 14:36

“And He said, ‘Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.’”

These words were spoken by Jesus when He prayed in the olive grove referred to as the Garden of Gethsemane.  This was the location of the olive press, the place of crushing – a description that should not be lost on us.  It was a time of great agony for Jesus, by His own words, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.” (Mark 14:34)  Jesus was so distressed that He fell on the ground and prayed this prayer.  He prayed that this cup be taken away.

In the Old Testament, ‘the cup’ referred to the fury of God.  “Awake, awake! Stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of His fury; you have drunk the dregs of the cup of trembling, and drained it out.” (Isaiah 51:17)  “For thus says the LORD God of Israel to me: ‘Take this wine cup of fury from My hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it.’” (Jeremiah 25:15)  Jesus, the One who knew no sin, was about to become sin for all of us.  He was about to become the sacrificial lamb that would receive the fury of the wrath of God for the sin of the world, for your sins and for mine.  Jesus knew His purpose on earth.  “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’?  But for this purpose I came to this hour.” (John 12:27)  He would become sin for us and be judged accordingly and made to drink the cup of His Father’s fury.  Yet He prayed to His Father, if it be possible, to take this cup away. 

“Can we ever entertain a favourable or so much as a slight thought of sin, when we see what impression sin (though but imputed) made upon the Lord Jesus? Shall that sit light upon our souls, which sat so heavy upon his? Was Christ in such an agony for our sins, and shall we never be in an agony about them? How should we look upon him whom we have pressed, whom we have pierced, and mourn, and be in bitterness! It becomes us to be exceeding sorrowful for sin, because Christ was so, and never to make a mock at it. If Christ thus suffered for sin, let us arm ourselves with the same mind.”  (Matthew Henry)

After Jesus made His prayer request to remove the cup, He followed it with ‘nevertheless.’  Jesus surrendered His will to the Father’s will.  Was Jesus’ prayer answered?  Yes.  And the answer is:  There is no other way.  All other methods or means of salvation are eliminated.  If there was another way, Jesus would not have had to die on the cross.  But He knew what He had to do, He knew His purpose.  It was through this prayer that Jesus gained victory and was able to come to the hour.  He overcame and was able to endure.

“I believe that at this moment of agony there in the garden, as Jesus is saying, "Father, all things are possible for You. Take away this cup." I believe that the Father at that point gave to Him a vision of that glorious day in heaven, when the redeemed of the earth are gathered around the throne of God, and as He takes the scroll out of the right hand of Him who is sitting upon the throne, and the elders are offering their golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of the saints, and the saints break out in that glorious song, "Worthy is the Lamb to take the scroll and loose the seals, for He was slain and has redeemed us by His blood, out of every nation, tribe, tongue and people, and has made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign with Him on the earth." I think as He saw that glorious moment in heaven and saw the redemption complete in your life and in my life, He then continued His prayer.  And there He won the victory. How? By surrendering. Surrendering to the will of God. As long as you are fighting the will of God for your life, you're destined for defeat. It's paradox, I know. But the way to victory is by surrendering, by giving up. When you give up your will to God, in that moment you triumph, you conquer; you've come to the path of victory. And He came to that point of surrendering Himself to the will of the Father. "Father, all things are possible for You. Take away this cup from Me." Many times we pray that. "Father, we know that all things are possible with You. Touch now and heal now, Lord. We know that all things are possible with You, Lord. Now we want You to do this." But oh, how wise it is to complete the prayer and say, "Nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will." Surrender it. Surrender that situation. Surrender it to God tonight. And if you will just surrender it over to the Lord, you will experience real victory in your life.” (Chuck Smith)

Jesus surrendered to His Father’s will and had victory over sin on the cross and victory over death in the resurrection.  Jesus showed us that it is acceptable to be open with God about what we desire, but most importantly it is necessary to surrender what we want and ask what God wants.  Surrender in prayer and God will show you the path to victory.  What happens after that is simply following the path that God has laid out for you. 

This intimate view we have been given of our Savior’s honest prayer with the Father reveals not only His surrendering to the path for victory, but it is abundantly clear that there was no other path by which our souls might be saved.  Because of what Jesus did on the cross, those who have surrendered to Jesus will not have to drink from the cup of God’s wrath and reside eternally in hell.  On this side of Heaven, we may drink from a cup of discrimination or even persecution, but we have victory in Jesus over sin and over death.  “In any case, our cup can never be as deep or as bitter as was his, and there were in his cup some ingredients that never will be found in ours. The bitterness of sin was there, but he has taken that away for all who believe in him. His Father’s wrath was there, but he drank that all up, and left not a single dreg for any one of his people.” (Charles Spurgeon)

May you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.