In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; And the pots in the Lord’s house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD OF HOSTS: And all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: And in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts (Zechariah 14:20–21).
The Book of Zechariah
Zechariah, a priest and prophet, returned to Judah with the other Israelite exiles after their expulsion from the land. King Cyrus of Persia allowed an estimated 50,000 Israelites to return to their homeland to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem (Ezra 1:1-4). Zechariah’s ministry was during Ezra’s restoring of the Temple, and Nehemiah’s rebuilding of the city walls. Zechariah was also a contemporary of the prophet Haggai, and together they ministered to the people of Judah.
Jerusalem and Judah had been previously ransacked and destroyed by Babylonian invaders, and Zechariah’s ministry involved encouraging the people of Judah with the task of rebuilding their homeland and reestablishing their identity.
Bible commentator, John MacArthur notes, “Zechariah joined Haggai in rousing the people from their indifference, challenging them to resume the building of the temple. Haggai’s primary purpose was to rebuild the temple; his preaching has a tone of rebuke for the people’s indifference, sin, and lack of trust in God. He was used to start the revival, while Zechariah was used to keep it going strong with a more positive emphasis, calling the people to repentance and reassuring them regarding future blessings” (MacArthur Bible Handbook, 2003).
The Loss of God’s Glory and Israel’s Holiness
After Jerusalem was destroyed, and duringIsrael’s exile, the prophet Ezekiel said that the glory of the Lord had departed the Temple (Ezk. 10:1-19). Ezekiel also prophesied that God’s glory would return to the Temple once it had been restored (Ezk. 43:1-5). When the Israelites returned to Jerusalem and began to rebuild the Temple under the direction of Ezra, they realized the task was more challenging than they first thought. The altar was rebuilt first, along with the foundation stones (Ez. 3:1-4:24). But the Temple would take much longer to rebuild.
Zechariah wanted to encourage the people to continue building, because along with their rebuilding of the Temple, their identity as God’s people was being restored. Zechariah’s book opens up with a reminder of why they were in this position in the first place.
“The Lord hath been sore displeased with your fathers. Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord of hosts, And I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: But they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the Lord” (Zechariah 1:2–4).
The former generations rebelled against God and His Word, which led to their demise, and the loss of their holiness. The Assyrians destroyed Samaria and the Northern Tribes of Israel, and the Babylonians demolished Jerusalem, and took the last two tribes in Southern Kingdom captive (2 Kings 17:5-23; 25:8-21; 2 Chr. 36:17:20). Before their expulsion from the land, for nearly two hundred years the prophets of Israel preached against Israel’s disobedience, and the ugliness of their sin. The prophets of Israel and Judah wanted nothing more than for God’s people to turn and repent. If Israel would turn and repent, then God would turn to them. All Israel had to do was forsake their sin, and God would in turn return with His glory and give them their distinct identity being God’s holy people.
As God’s people, Israel was to be set a part. They weren’t to live like they nations that surrounded them. Instead they were to be different. When Israel was brought out of Egypt, and the Lord met with at Sinai, the covenant given was about becoming God’s set apart people.
“And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel” (Exodus 19:6).
Israel wasn’t to be isolated, rather they were to be distinct from the rest of the world in which they lived. Their laws, lifestyle, worship, and commitment to the Lord was to be unrivaled. Israel was to be a connection between God and man. Israel was to be the priestly nation. As a priest connected God to man, a priestly nation connects humanity to God. Israel was to be the channel through which God’s word came to man, through which access to God was made available. They were the preaching, proclaiming, witnessing nation. Instead of being the kingdom of priest, and a holy nation, the people and their false worship around them, became a snare to them. Israel were continually tempted to become like the nations around them. From Judges to Nehemiah the story is a never ending roller coaster of faithfulness, and faithlessness.
Israel’s relinquished their holiness when they bowed to anything other than the Lord. Israel’s inability to keep her covenant with Yahweh. Paul says it this way:
“But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone” (Romans 9:31–32).
Israel’s lack of faithfulness led to their stumbling. Such could be said of many today. Lack of faith produces a lack of righteousness. Holiness is indelibly linked to faith. Sin is the poison of the soul. Whether its disobedience, rebellion, false worship, or a myriad of other shapes and forms that sin takes, it will rob you of your joy, and holiness. The lies that sin promises only leads to misery.
A friend told me that those who struggle with addiction, seems to always forget the misery. They only remember the short moments of tranquility, and forget the long-term effects of addiction, such as misery, shame, guilt, and the wreckage that sin causes. In the wilderness wanderings Israel only could remember the leeks and onions, and the flesh pots of Egypt. The forgot the whips, chains, and slavery. The leeks and onions took on different forms throughout Israel’s history. The church today is to be a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation
The Righteous Branch and the Fountain of Salvation
Zechariah’s messages to Judah as they returned to their homeland included many visions and dreams of coming days. Israel needed more than just a better commitment than the previous generations. Trying harder wasn’t going to be the way to holiness. Over and over again Zechariah looks to a new day, a day in which Israel longed for. The majority of Zechariah’s prophecy include the statement, “On that day.” The day of the Lord was Messianic. The promised Messiah was going to come, and he would bring salvation and judgement. Salvation to those who believed, and judgment to those who refused to believe.
The Righteous Branch
“Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, And thy fellows that sit before thee: For they are men wondered at: For, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH. For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; Upon one stone shall be seven eyes: Behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts, And I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day” (Zechariah 3:8–9).
“And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; And he shall grow up out of his place, And he shall build the temple of the Lord: Even he shall build the temple of the Lord; And he shall bear the glory, And shall sit and rule upon his throne; And he shall be a priest upon his throne: And the counsel of peace shall be between them both” (Zechariah 6:12–13).
The Righteous Branch would remove iniquity, the Temple would be rebuilt, the glory would return, and holiness would be restored. The future held an even greater blessing, the coming of my servant the Branch, which would result in the complete and instantaneous removal of the iniquity of this land. “The Branch” refers back to the prophecies of Jeremiah. The Lord promised to raise up a righteous “Branch” for David, who would reign with justice and establish salvation for his people.
The Fountain of Salvation
“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” (Zechariah 13:1).
The repentant people need to be cleansed from their iniquity, so God will open up for them a fountain, from which will flow the running water necessary for ritual purification (see Lev. 14:5; cf. Ezek. 47:1–12; Rev. 22:1–2). The people’s uncleanness came from their worship of idols (Zech. 13:2; cf. Ezek. 36:25).
Israel, and all of the world, would need the Branch and the Fountain to bring forth healing, and cleansing. The removal of their sin would result in holiness being restored. The Righteous Branch, would lead Israel to repentance, and the fountains of cleansing would be opened up.
Bells on Horses and Vessels in God’s House
When we get towards the end of this amazing book we find restoration in its fullness.
The people to whom Zechariah ministered to could look back at a history full of shame. God’s people, and even those who Zechariah ministered to in Jerusalem, had come short of God’s glory. They were even presently discouraged with the difficulty of rebuilding that which was torn down. Many here can look at their past, troubled with a guilt and embarrassment of past failures and mistakes. They see the brokenness, and the wreckage in their present life, and wonder if there’s any hope. Can God offer any hope in the future with a renewed purpose?
The prophet Zechariah’s ministry can be summed up like this: The Lord reveals His will; The Lord calls men back to Himself, and provides the way fo their coming; The Lord promises that if they will return, He will return to them, and He does so in the power and might of His own Holy Spirit. Which brings us to the this concluding outcome at the end of his book:
In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; And the pots in the Lord’s house shall be like the bowls before the altar.
Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts: And all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: And in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts (Zechariah 14:20–21).
Bells on Horses
“In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD” (Zech. 14:20a)
The text deals with horses which were unclean under the Mosaic law (Lev. 11:3-8). In Deuteronomy seventeen, there are instructions concerning the future kings of Israel (Deut 17:14-20). One of the laws for the king was that he was not to multiply horses unto himself. Because there was only one place to buy horses and that was Egypt (Duet. 17:16).
The reference is probably to small metallic plates suspended from the necks or heads of the animals for the sake of ornament and making a tinkling noise when striking against each other. These plates may have had the names of the owners inscribed on them. The inscription “HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD” was that which appeared on the miter of the high priest (cf. Exod 28:36).
In essence, that which was previously considered unclean, was now considered clean. What was once detestable is now holy. When something is designated “Holy to the Lord” it is given sacred status as part of that which is purified for service within the sacred space of the temple where the Lord’s presence dwelt.
In the day spoken of in the text, the horses themselves shall be purged from commonness or uncleanness, and their harness shall be dedicated to God as certainly as the vestments of the High Priest himself.
Throughout Zechariah’s prophecies the horse was used in war like events. Upon the horse was a warrior ready to do battle, and shed blood (Zech. 1:7-17; 6:1-8). A horse that was formerly used to cause blood shed, is now ridden, not by a warrior, but by a worshiper.
If bells on horses can be made clean, and considered holy, what of the sinner? If the Righteous Branch can make bells on horses holy, can He not make the sinner holy? Can that which was once considered detestable be made holy? Yes!
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God (1 Corinthians 6:9–11).
Vessels in God’s House
“And the pots in the Lord’s house shall be like the bowls before the altar” (Zech. 14:20b).
These common vessels will become as holy as the “sacred bowls” at the perimeter of the altar. These bowls held the blood collected from the offering that was in turn sprinkled on the altar to symbolize the purification that the blood effected (Exod 27:3). They were of inferior kind. Those pots, however, would become like “the bowls before the altar,” i.e., vessels of superior sanctity. These golden bowls held the sacrificial blood for sprinkling upon the altar and they were also used for other libations. The prophet is using comparisons which would be familiar to those who first heard him in order to make his point about the holiness of spiritual Jerusalem.
These particular pots were once considered inferior to other vessels in God’s Temple. The Righteous Branch can take that what may feel insignificant and make it holy, and useful.
You may feel inferior to others, but upon you will be inscribed HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD. You have a purpose, but more importantly you are washed and sanctified.
Vessels in Your House
“Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts” (Zech. 14:21a).
Bible Commentator, Jame Smith, writes, “All distinction between sacred and secular shall be a thing of the past. Every vessel (possession) used throughout Messiah’s realm would be devoted to the service of the king. Common, ordinary vessels would be suitable for sacrificial purposes. The basic idea here is that old Levitical distinctions in degrees of holiness in society (priests, Levites, people), temple (outer court, holy place, holy of holies), animals (clean, unclean) would disappear. All shall now be equally holy. Thus Zechariah is making clear that he was not anticipating a restoration of the Mosaic system in the messianic age. Rather he envisions an entirely new worship system” (Smith, J. E., 1994).
The unclean, the common, and the insignificant will be made holy. This is the cleansing power of Jesus Christ at work. The Israelites looked back at a history of faithlessness, and the present ruin that their past behavior brought about, and seen a future of holiness. Restoration brought about through the Righteous Branch, and the Cleansing Fountain.
I want to conclude with a comment made on this text from Charles Spurgeon:
“The simple meaning of the text is just this, that the day shall come when in common life holiness shall be the guiding star, when the ordinary actions of human existence shall be as much the worship of God as the sacrifice of the altar or the mission of the high priest when he went within the vail. Everything, that which was most despised—the horses, the places which seemed the least likely to be consecrated—the stables, and those things which seemed the least holy, even the horses’ harness,—all shall be so thoroughly used in obedience to God’s will that everywhere there shall be written, “Holiness unto Jehovah.” Common things, then, in the day spoken of by Zechariah, are to be dedicated to God and used in his service.”
You may feel as if you will never be forgiven, then I urge you to come to the cleansing fountain tonight. You may feel as if you will never have a significant role in God’s kingdom again, I urge you to come to turn to the Righteous Branch tonight. You may feel insignificant and overlooked, I implore you to come to the King of the sitting on his throne.