Zechariah 13:1 In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. The twelfth chapter of Zechariah is principally occupied with the indications of some particular day. Thus, we read again and again: "In that day" (ver. 3); "In that day" (ver. 4); "In that day" (ver. 6); "In that day" (ver. 8); "In that day" (ver. 9); and "In that day," in the opening of the thirteenth chapter — "In that day there shall be a fountain opened." The reference is not in reality to some particular day; the day was not the same, the calendar was filled with that particular day, and yet the day was singular from all other days round about it. In all the previous instances we find nothing equal to the music that is discoverable in the opening of the thirteenth chapter. We read, "In that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone"; "In that day I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness"; "In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf"; "In that day shall there be great mourning in Jerusalem"; but now, in the thirteenth chapter, "In that day there shall be a fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness" —a fountain of water, a living fountain, hidden all the time in the rock; not a new fountain, the fountain was always there, but not always open; its existence was recognised by many a ceremonial action. We read of water in the Book of Numbers that is known in the literal Hebrew as "the sin water," that is to say, the water that was applied to the cleansing of moral and spiritual offences, We delight to give an evangelical interpretation to this fountain. We call Jesus Christ the Son of God, the fountain that was opened for sin and for uncleanness. He offered to make men clean, He offered to refresh the souls of men with living water; He is described as the Water of earth, or the Water of heaven. David did not open the fountain, the fountain was opened in his house; the very grammar suggests an external and superintending act. In this living fountain we recognise God's supreme miracle. For whom is the fountain opened? For a special class, and for that class only. It is not opened for Pharisees, righteous persons, or those who would carve their own way to heaven. This fountain is opened for sin and for uncleanness. Is any man conscious of sin? Here is the fountain. Has any man sat down by rivers of water and taken to him soap and nitre, and tried to cleanse his life of sin stains, and has consciously and pitiably failed in his attempt? Here is the fountain opened for uncleanness. Have we tried this fountain? Until we have tried it we cannot condemn it; until we have gone to it and sat beside it and invoked the spirit of its Creator, we cannot tell what virtue it possesses. (Joseph Parker, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. |
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