Have you ever felt deep remorse and regret for anything that you had done or said? Perhaps this remorse was so strong that you have even wept when thinking about your earlier actions. You might have wished that you could go back and undo what you had done. In our Scripture today we look at a passage from the Prophet Zechariah, as he describes such a great regret. Let’s see what God is saying in this Scripture.
In this passage from the Prophet Zechariah, he speaks of events that will occur when the Lord Jesus returns to earth at the end of the Great Tribulation period. Right prior to His return, a major battle will occur, and many nations will come against Israel. Things will be going very badly for Israel, and it will look like it is the end for them. However, at that time Jesus will return, and He will defend the nation (vs. 8). God, in His own perfect time, and by His own power, will sovereignly act to save Israel. He will defend Jerusalem and the house of David. Even the lowliest of them will become like David, the greatest soldier in Israel’s history.
Then, at this time, the people of Israel, the Jewish people, will see Jesus when He returns, and they will truly see and understand that Jesus is indeed the Messiah that God had sent (vs. 10-11). They will realize that they had been wrong, and that they had put to death the One God had sent to redeem them and all of mankind. They will see the nail prints in His hands, and the gash in His side, and know that they had killed the Messiah, and they will be grief-stricken.
Everyone, Jews in particular, but Gentiles as well, will realize that Jesus, the One who was pierced and killed, is indeed, the Messiah. There will be an awakening, with sorrow for sin and genuine revival. The crucified Messiah will be clearly revealed. There will be great mourning on that day, when the Jewish people realize their centuries of rejecting their true Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. They killed their own Son, their Firstborn, so the family line could not continue as far as the Old Covenant was concerned. However, the Son, the Firstborn rose from the dead. Though they did not accept Jesus then, they will accept Him on that day when He returns. Israel’s repentance and salvation will come because they look in faith to Jesus, the One whom they rejected and crucified, at His Second Coming.
We also see here in verse 10, that Jesus, the One who was pierced, the One who was crucified, was more than just a good man, more than just a good teacher and religious leader. The Prophet Zechariah is speaking for God, and he is speaking the words of God here. As God is speaking, He uses the personal pronoun of “Me”. He says, “They will look on Me whom they pierced.” When God says they pierced “Me”, He is affirming the deity of Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity.
The Prophet Zechariah continues on, and he describes that following that great day when Jesus returns, a fountain will be opened for the people (vs. 1-2). This is a fountain of cleansing from sin and defilement, that is made possible through the atoning death of the Pierced One. When Jesus returns, He will cleanse Israel from their sins and defilement. He will cleanse all nations from the deception of false prophets and demonic religions. For people to enter God’s new kingdom, there must be a cleansing. All evil must be eliminated. Idols must be destroyed, and false prophets and preachers abolished.
There will be a never-ending supply of God’s mercy, forgiveness, and cleansing power. The picture of a fountain is used in Scripture to symbolize God’s forgiveness, such as when Jesus described Himself as being the fountain of living water (John 4:7-14). When we truly understand our sin and guilt, we sense the need for cleansing. Sinners may hope for pardon and cleansing in this fountain, the shed and cleansing Blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God.
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