Daily Thoughts from Zechariah: Pierce the Piercers (Zechariah 13:2-9)

“And on that day, declares the LORD of hosts, I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, so that they shall be remembered no more. And also I will remove from the land the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness. And if anyone again prophesies, his father and mother who bore him will say to him, ‘You shall not live, for you speak lies in the name of the LORD.’ And his father and mother who bore him shall pierce him through when he prophesies.

“On that day every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies. He will not put on a hairy cloak in order to deceive, but he will say, ‘I am no prophet, I am a worker of the soil, for a man sold me in my youth.’ And if one asks him, ‘What are these wounds on your back?’ he will say, ‘The wounds I received in the house of my friends.’

“Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who stands next to me,” declares the LORD of hosts.

“Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; I will turn my hand against the little ones.  In the whole land, declares the LORD, two thirds shall be cut off and perish, and one third shall be left alive.  And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested.  They will call upon my name, and I will answer them.  I will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’” (Zechariah 13:2-9, ESV)

The process for bringing Israel to repentance over piercing God (12:10), so that they can withstand the invasion of the nations and come out victorious, will involve the ending of idolatry in the land.  Idolatry is the major sin of God’s people.  It is the attempt to manipulate God for our own purposes, often through a shaping of Him into an image we feel gives us insight into who He is and how to get Him to serve us.

Yahweh will rid the land of idolatry by allowing His good shepherd to be struck down (this happened with Jesus crucifixion) and the sheep, the people of Israel, scattered.  The result will be the death of a large proportion of Israel.  Their deaths will be used like a refiner’s fire that  scrapes off the dross that floats on the surface and leads to a purified precious metal.  The people will realize just how precious their covenant relationship with Yahweh is and submit to Him.

This return to Yahweh will enable the people to stand against false prophets who endorse idolatry.  As Deuteronomy 13 taught, false prophets will be put to death, executed for high crimes against the nation and against Yahweh.  Whereas before the people were happy to hear false prophets, now the prophets’ own parents will be more passionate for the Lord than for their children and pierce their own child for prophesying falsely.  The people had been piercing Yahweh figuratively speaking and then literally in the person of Jesus, but now they will pierce false leaders.  False prophets will now try to hide themselves and the scars they received in pagan rituals so they will not be discovered as false prophets.  Even the names of idols will be cut off from Israel.

It may be hard for us to imagine slaying our own child because of idolatry, but this shows just how deadly it is to allow such falsehood in our lives.  We want God to submit to us.  We want ways to make sure He dances to our tune and gives us what we think we need.  And we will be disappointed in Him or even angry with Him if He doesn’t come through for us as we demand.  O God, put to death such arrogance and idolatry in our hearts.  Pierce us through and slay us so that we might truly live.