Zechariah – Part 5 of 5

The Purification of God

Zechariah 13:9 – And I will put this third [the remnant] into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’

The Lord wants a pure and holy people who will serve him fearfully and faithfully. The first step on that journey comes through repentance and an acknowledgement of the Christ who died for all sin. In chapter 12 verse 10, the Lord says:

“I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.”

For the majority of us, admitting we are wrong, or have done something wrong, does not come easy. This is why the Holy Spirit comes to convict us, for it is only through his prompting and revelation that we recognise the sin within us. Once we recognise it, we begin to understand the sacrifice of God the Son at Calvary. Understanding and acknowledging our sin allows us to be cleansed from it. The same was true for the remnant in Jerusalem.

“On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness” (13:1).

The next step on the journey is the refining process – as one refines silver – which is not painless and is not easy. We are refined by fire in order to take away all impurity and eliminate any imperfection. Just as every silversmith constantly watches the silver within the flame, the Father never takes his eye of us as we go through the fire. ‘For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried’ (Ps66:10). Then we are tested – as gold is tested – with the acid test; the trials, troubles and challenges of everyday life. Every situation tests our faith and also, our reliance on the Father for his strength to sustain us and grace to carry us.

Every day He is perfecting us and through it all, the Lord has promised – “They will call upon my name, and I will answer them” because we are his people and He is our God.