Zechariah 13:3  And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the LORD: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth.
4  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive:
5  But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am an husbandman; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.
6  And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.

It is interesting to listen to the ungodly talk about the war between Israel and Hamas. Even military “experts” cannot see the uniqueness of this situation. Israel is different from all other nations. We can see from the Bible that God worked in Israel in unique ways. The fact that Israel is still in existence and still thriving is a testimony to the reality of the true God. There are other nations still in existence as well, such as Egypt and Syria. However, they have not faced the attacks that Israel has faced. Israel is in a dark era of its existence right now. Not everything Israel does is according to God’s will. God is still going to keep His promise that He made to Abraham. Those who are saved need to be reminded of God’s hand in all things.

In verse 3 of our text we see the seriousness of truth.

Deuteronomy 13:1  If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
2  And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
3  Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
4  Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.
5  And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.

In Deuteronomy 13 we have Old Testament law. Today we are not told to kill false prophets. However, we are told not to entertain them.

II Timothy 3:1  This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2  For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3  Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4  Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5  Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

Ephesians 5:11  And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

There is a great reluctance to reject false teachers today. One of the big reasons for this is because few people actually believe the Bible is the Word of the LORD. If the Bible is the Word of the LORD, then anything else is not the Word of the LORD.
In our opening text God told Zechariah to record that “in that day”, which we noted yesterday, there would be no tolerance for false prophets. The nation of Israel has entertained false prophets for hundreds of years. They chose to listen to the Pharisees and Sadducees during the time of Christ. The apostle Paul warned of false teachers in his time.
The devil has been busy since Genesis 3 in attacking the Word of God. He knows that if he can remove the foundation from us, then he has us. God declares that we have a sure foundation and He also declares that He has preserved His Word from the time He gave it and for ever. That is God’s promise.
The saved that enter the Millennium will know when they hear a lie. They will be saved individuals and they will want the truth and only the truth.
In the Millennium Jesus Christ will rule on earth. His Word has been settled for centuries. The saints will know where the truth is and they will not be interested in the lies.
In verse 4 we read that the false prophets will be ashamed of their visions. It will be different than now. The false prophets get on T.V. or the Internet and they boast of their visions. They have discovered there are multitudes of people who are hungry for a “good story”. They have discovered they can get rich telling their lies.
As we have mentioned, no lost person will enter the Millennium. However, every person born in that time will still be born a lost sinner. Thus false prophets will be there. However, the saved will have no interest in these deceivers. There will be a boldness for truth as is rarely seen today.
In verse 4 we see as well that the false prophets will understand what the proper garb is for a prophet. They will dress like the prophets, but they will be “empty suits”. The saints will not be deceived by outward appearances.
Verse 5 tells us that good men will not aspire to be prophets. As we already noted, there will be no need for prophets. They will be content to be farmers and whatever else is needed at that time. They will acknowledge that they were not called of God to be prophets. They will have been raised on the farm. Interestingly, the wicked plot of today, where environmental wackos try to tell us that cattle are dangerous and destroying our earth, will be gone. There will be cattle on earth during the Millennium. There will be no concern about “climate change” at that time. The earth will have gone through quite a major change during the Tribulation and then a further change at the end of the Tribulation. It will be much different then than it is now. The biggest change will be the fact that Jesus Christ will take charge of the government of that time.
In verse 6 the subject changes somewhat. Now the attention is turned to another person. Now the attention is turned to the Messiah. It speaks of one who will recognize that the Lord Jesus Christ will be there and there will be wounds in His hands and will question where these wounds came from. Jesus will give answer to the question. The wounds in HIs hands are ascribed to the house of His friends. Jesus Christ came unto His own and His own received Him not. His own familiar friend, Judas Iscariot betrayed Him. The religious leaders of that time convinced the people to demand that Jesus be crucified. Jesus Christ laid down His life for His friends.
We hear the saying: “with friends like that, who needs enemies?” Jesus Christ is the friend of sinners. He willingly laid down His life for His friends. He knew there was no other hope for mankind. His sacrificial death was necessary to provide salvation for Jews and Gentiles. Those who will turn to Him in repentance will be saved. As we have already noted, the Jews alive at the end of the Tribulation will mourn as they realize they nailed Him to the cross. He will forgive them and He will embrace them. They will know the peace of God’s forgiveness. It will be a blessed time for them.
The offer of God’s salvation is open to all today. God is still seeking the lost today. He still provides forgiveness and His peace to all who will turn to Him in repentance and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Where are you at today? Are you a true child of God today? Does His peace rule in your heart?
Pastor Bartel