"The connection between chapters 12 and 13 is so close that a chapter division is really uncalled for. The same people, the same subject, and the same time are in view in both chapters. The relationship between 12:10-14 and 13:1-6 is not only logical but chronological as well. Once Israel is brought to a penitent condition and is brought face to face with her crucified Messiah, then the provision of God for cleansing will be appropriate."266
13:1 In that day God would open a fountain for the complete spiritual cleansing of the Israelites, both for their moral sins and for their ritual uncleanness (cf. Ezek. 47). The figure of a fountain pictures abundant cleansing that would continue indefinitely. This will be the fulfillment of God's promise to forgive the sins of His people Israel in the New Covenant (3:4, 9; Jer. 31:34; Ezek. 36:25; cf. Zech. 3:4, 9; Rom. 11:26). "The blood of Jesus . . . cleanses us from all sin"(1 John 1:7). The cleansing is available now, but God will cleanse multitudes of Israelites in the future, after they turn to their Messiah in faith (12:10-14).
13:2 At that time the Lord also promised to remove idolatry, false prophets, and unclean spirits from the land. There would be external cleansing as well as internal. The Jews would "no longer ascribe supernatural powers to mere things, nor worship them as divine"(cf. 10:2-3; Jer. 23:30-32; 27:9-10; Ezek. 13:1-14:11).267False prophets, as is clear from the context, would not mislead the people (cf. Matt. 24:4-5, 11, 15, 23-24; 2 Thess. 2:2-4; Rev. 9:20; 13:4-15). The unclean spirits are the diviners, mediums, and demons who confused and afflicted the people in the past.
"The reference to the banishment of the unclean spirits out of the land . . . is the only passage in Scripture which explicitly refers to the imprisonment of demons during the kingdom age. But since Satan is remanded to the abyss (the prison house of evil spirits) during this era, as is clearly declared in Revelation 20:1-3, it is a necessary corollary that his demon aids shall also share the same fate."268
13:3 If anyone would try to play the part of a false prophet, his own parents, those closest to him, would put him to death. This was what God had commanded the Israelites to do to false prophets (Deut. 13:6-9). They would pierce the false prophets fatally as they had formerly pierced the Messiah fatally (12:10).
13:4-5 This dangerous situation for the false prophets would lead them to hide their identity as prophets. They would not identify themselves in traditional ways (cf. 2 Kings 1:8) but would deny that they were prophets. They would go so far as claiming to have been sold into slavery as field hands when they were only boys, so they could not possibly be prophets.
13:6 Sometimes false prophets cut themselves to arouse prophetic ecstasy, to increase ritual potency, or to identify themselves with a particular god (cf. Lev. 19:28; 21:5; Deut. 14:1; 1 Kings 18:28; Jer. 16:6; 41:5; 48:37). If someone saw such marks on a false prophet's body in that future day, the false prophet might claim that he had received his injuries by accident in a friend's house.269
Though some expositors believed this verse describes Messiah and His wounds, the preceding context and lack of any New Testament citation of the verse in relation to Messiah argue against this view.270
"As is always the case with genuine conversion there are both negative and positive aspects. The positive consists of the restoration to fellowship that takes place when sin has been forgiven (v. 1). The negative involves the removal of those habits and attitudes that occasioned the interruption of fellowship between God and His people in the first place (vv. 2-6)."271
13:7 Zechariah now returned in a poem to the subject of the Shepherd that he had mentioned in chapter 11. He also returned to the time when Israel would be scattered among the nations because of her rejection of the Good Shepherd.
Almighty Yahweh personified a sword, the instrument of violent death, which he commanded to execute His Shepherd, the royal Good Shepherd of 11:4-14.272Yahweh further described this Shepherd as the man who was very close to Him, even His Associate.
"The expression who stands next to me' is used elsewhere only in Leviticus (e.g.6:2; 18:12) to mean near neighbour'; similarly the shepherd is one who dwells side by side with the Lord, His equal."273
In 11:17 it was the worthless shepherd whom the Lord would strike, but here it is the Good Shepherd. The one doing the striking is evidently God Himself since "strike"is masculine in the Hebrew text and agrees with "the LORD of hosts."If so, Zechariah presented Messiah's death as God's activity (cf. Isa. 53:10; Acts 2:23) as well as Israel's (12:10-14).
The striking (death) of the Shepherd would result in the scattering of the Shepherd's sheep (i.e., Israel, 11:4-14). The Lord Jesus quoted this part of the verse, claiming the role of the Shepherd, when he anticipated the scattering of His disciples following His death (cf. Matt. 26:31, 56; Mark 14:27, 50).
The last line of the verse is capable of two different interpretations both of which came to pass. Perhaps a double entendre was intended. God Himself would scatter even the young sheep and would show mercy to them (cf. Mark 13:19, 24; Luke 2:35; Rev. 11:3-10).274
"The divine witness to the death and deity of the prophesied Messiah makes this verse one of the most significant in the entire Old Testament."275
13:8-9 The scattering of the sheep would result in two-thirds of the flock dying and one-third remaining alive. The Lord would refine the surviving one-third in the fires of affliction (cf. 3:2; Ezek. 5:1-12). This remnant must be the same group of Israelites, described in 12:10-13:1, who would turn to God in repentance. Evidently two-thirds of the Jews will perish during the Tribulation and one-third will live through it and enter the Millennium. This surviving remnant then must include the 144,000 of Revelation 7:1-8 and 14:1-5. The one-third will call on the Lord's name in supplication for forgiveness (12:10). The Lord will respond to their cry by reaffirming His new covenant relationship with them, and they will agree to it (cf. Ezek. 20:37).
