Baptism by Fire

Preamble:

Zechariah 13:1–9 LSB

“In that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity. “And it will be in that day,” declares Yahweh of hosts, “that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered; and I will also cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass away from the land. “And it will be that 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 Yahweh’; and his father and mother who gave birth to him will pierce him through when he prophesies. “And it will be in that day, that the prophets will each be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies, and they will not put on a hairy mantle in order to deceive; but he will say, ‘I am not a prophet; I am a cultivator of the ground, for a man sold me as a slave in my youth.’ “And one will say to him, ‘What are these wounds struck here between your arms?’ Then he will say, ‘Those with which I was struck in the house of my friends.’ “Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd And against the man, My Associate,” Declares Yahweh of hosts. “Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered; And I will turn My hand against the little ones. “And it will be in all the land,” Declares Yahweh, “That two parts in it will be cut off and breathe their last; But the third will be left in it. “And I will bring the third part through the fire And refine them as silver is refined And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are My people,’ And they will say, ‘Yahweh is my God.’”

Pray

God Restores, Redeems, and Refines His People.

Intro:

God’s People are a Restored People

Zechariah 13:1 LSB

“In that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity.

Zechariah 13:2 LSB

“And it will be in that day,” declares Yahweh of hosts, “that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered; and I will also cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass away from the land.

God’s People are a Redeemed People

Zechariah 13:3 LSB

“And it will be that 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 Yahweh’; and his father and mother who gave birth to him will pierce him through when he prophesies.

Zechariah 13:4–5 LSB

“And it will be in that day, that the prophets will each be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies, and they will not put on a hairy mantle in order to deceive; but he will say, ‘I am not a prophet; I am a cultivator of the ground, for a man sold me as a slave in my youth.’

God’s People are a Refined People

Zechariah 13:7 LSB

“Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd And against the man, My Associate,” Declares Yahweh of hosts. “Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered; And I will turn My hand against the little ones.

Zechariah 13:8 LSB

“And it will be in all the land,” Declares Yahweh, “That two parts in it will be cut off and breathe their last; But the third will be left in it.

Zechariah 13:9 LSB

“And I will bring the third part through the fire And refine them as silver is refined And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are My people,’ And they will say, ‘Yahweh is my God.’”

Conclusion: