Saved To Sin No More!

Jerusalem’s Enemies to Be Destroyed - Part 2

In the previous Blog, I left the reader with this question: Is this about ethnic Israel being restored and saved; or is the subject about the eschatological Israel of God, ultimately saved from her enemies?  Is it the Jerusalem of Palestine that is preserved; or is it the New Jerusalem - the Church?   It would be easy to just assume that "Israel according to the flesh" is the subject – and it might be.  But the flow of thought in this prophecy of Zechariah doesn't permit us to do that.

Chapter 11 is clearly an accounting of events relating to ethnic Israel and their demise.  So we would expect that when Chapter 12 talks of Israel it helps us understand their end.  What makes this difficult as Thomas McComiskey writes, "We have found however, that sections of this book adumbrate [foreshadow] the church and that is true here."[1]

Having said that the oracle clearly represents the physical city of Jerusalem and Israel as an historic nation. The view I take is not conclusive but I think it represents an honest exegesis of Zechariah 12-13:6 that presents an eschatological view somewhat like this graph:

What is prefigured is more distant, but it cannot be dismissed from the exposition.  Zechariah 12-13:6 enables us to see what is near.  This preserved remnant is mighty through the Sovereign God.  God will make the remnant (metaphorically speaking: Jerusalem) impregnable. “On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves. On that day I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness,” declares the Lord. “I will keep a watchful eye over Judah, but I will blind all the horses of the nations. Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘The people of Jerusalem are strong, because the Lord Almighty is their God.’” (Zechariah 12:3–5, NIV)

McComiskey explains that the phrase "when all the nations of the earth" is better translated "if all the nations of the earth."[2]    According to verse 10, the Lord's gracious activity to these people occurs because of their spiritual renewal. In a sovereign act of grace He will awaken their hearts giving them a new spirit. This cannot be anything but the fulfillment of the New Covenant.  “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26, NIV) .  As McComiskey says:

"This sovereign activity of God within their hearts will impel Jerusalem's inhabitants to look to this pierced figure in sorrow. That the mourning of this verse is not hopeless anguish over their rejection of him, but heartfelt repentance, is clear from the resultant cleansing from sin that the discourse goes on to describe (13:1-6)." [3]

““On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.” (Zechariah 13:1, NIV)  This is well worth the read:  "Likened to a gushing spring, this divine forgiveness cleanses from sin and uncleanness.  Not only are the people and their leaders cleansed of their overt disobedience to God, but also of the uncleanness that their disobedience created.  When this rushing fountain opens it will cleanse the land of all uncleanness."[4]   This, of course, leads to Chapter 14, which is unmistakably the eternal state: the new heavens and new earth.

There Is A Fountain [5]
Verse 1 There is a fountain filled with blood Drawn from Immanuel's veins And sinners plunged beneath that flood Lose all their guilty stains Lose all their guilty stains Lose all their guilty stains And sinners plunged beneath that flood Lose all their guilty stains	Verse 3 Dear dying Lamb Thy precious blood Shall never lose its pow'r Till all the ransomed Church of God Be saved to sin no more Be saved to sin no more Be saved to sin no more Till all the ransomed Church of God Be saved to sin no more

Saved to sin no more.  Father I cannot conceive of such joy. What must it be like!  Oh the blood of Jesus that cleanses from all sin.  Mercy that knows no bounds.  Hallelujah, what a Savior. Grant me the grace to live in light of that day -- IN THAT DAY!  With all my brothers and sisters, Jews and Gentiles, slaves and free, from every tongue, every tribe, every nation -- saved to sin no more.  Praise God!  And can it be that I should gain such interest in His blood.   The thought is beyond comprehension.  Thank You, Father.  Amen!

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[1] Zechariah, Thomas Edward McComiskey, The Minor Prophets, Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, Mich., USA, 1998, Page 1209.

[2] Ibid, Page 1210

[3] Ibid, Page 1215

[4] Ibid, Page 1218

[5] William Cowper, © Words: Public Domain, Music: Public Domain