BIG IDEA:
THE REJECTION OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD LEADS TO A REFINING PROCESS WHERE THE REMNANT OF ISRAEL IS EVENTUALLY CLEANSED AND RESTORED TO ITS LOYAL COVENANT RELATIONSHIP
INTRODUCTION:
What does the future hold for the nation of Israel? Many Christians believe that God is finished dealing with Israel as a nation. They would attribute some type of allegorical interpretation to passages like this – making reference to God’s dealing today with His church. But the details revealed here must be given full weight and not spiritualized away. After Israel rejects her Messiah and the Good Shepherd has been pierced through with the sword, there will be a time of blindness and hardening upon the nation. But her setting aside will not be permanent. In the end times, the fountain of the Lord’s mercy and forgiveness and cleansing will be abundantly opened for the remnant of the nation of Israel. There will be a painful process of refining in the crucible of God’s judgment. But the end result will be restoration of the nation to its loyal covenant relationship.
I. (:1) SUMMARY: CLEANSING AVAILABLE FOR ALL ISRAEL = THE FOUNTAIN OF GOD’S MERCY
A. Anticipated Timeframe = Coming Day of the Lord
“In that day” = special emphasis in this whole section
B. Imagery of Abundant Cleansing
“a fountain will be opened”
– Fountain provided by the Lord; false fountains cannot cleanse
– Fountain available to all but the Lord must prepare the heart
– remove spiritual blindness
– initiate the response
– God’s mercy and grace in forgiving and cleansing is abundant; endless supply
C. Target Beneficiaries = All of Israel
“for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem,”
D. Need for Cleansing = Filthy Transgression
“for sin and for impurity.”
– No salvation apart from confessing sin and impurity; must call sin what it is
– No one excluded because they are too sinful; the fountain is sufficient
– Holy Spirit must convict of sin
II. (:2-3) RADICAL JUDGMENT OF ALL INIQUITY PURGES THE LAND
A. Anticipated Timeframe
“’It will come about in that day,’ declares the Lord of hosts”
B. Radical Purging of Idolatry
“that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered”
C. Radical Purging of False Prophets
“and I will also remove the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land.”
These were the two main areas of transgression for Israel = idolatry and false Prophecy
False doctrine always associated with unclean living
D. Radical Support from the Parents of False Prophets
“And if anyone still prophesies, then his father and mother who gave birth to him will say to him, ‘You shall not live, for you have spoken falsely in the name of the Lord’; and his father and mother who gave birth to him will pierce him through when he prophecies.”
III. (:4-6) THE ASHAMED FALSE PROPHETS TRY TO HIDE THEIR IDENTITY
A. Anticipated Timeframe
“Also it will come about in that day”
B. Despising Their Role as False Prophets
“that the prophets will each be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies”
C. Denying Their Identity as False Prophets
1. Disguising Their Appearance
“and they will not put on a hairy robe in order to deceive”
Cf. the mantle all the prophets wore around the neck = distinguishing characteristic
2. Denying Their Occupation
“but he will say, ‘I am not a prophet; I am a tiller of the ground, for a man sold me as a slave in my youth’”
3. Lying About Their Past Participation
“And one will say to him, ‘What are these wounds between your arms?’ Then he will say, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.’”
IV. (:7-9) PROVIDENTIAL REFINING PURIFIES A LOYAL REMNANT FOR THE GOOD SHEPHERD
A. (:7) The Role of the Good Shepherd
1. Relationship to God the Father
“’Awake, O sword, against My shepherd,
And against the man, My Associate,’
Declares the Lord of hosts.”
2. Rejection of the Shepherd and its Effect on the Nation of Israel
“Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered”
3. Rejection of the Nation of Israel for the Times of the Gentiles
“And I will turn my hand against the little ones.”
Mackay: “little ones” = They are the Lord’s “little flock” (Lk. 12:32).
The Lord is going to subject His people Israel to a time of rejection and blindness before the nation will be regathered, restored and cleansed.
B. (:8) The Remnant of Israel Protected from Destruction
“’It will come about in all the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘That two parts in it will be cut off and perish; but the third will be left in it.’”
C. (:9s) The Refining of God’s People = a Painful but Necessary Process
“And I will bring the third part through the fire,
Refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested.”
D. (:9b) The Reciprocal Loyalty Between God and His People
“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 my God.’”