Don’t Forget The Fountain
Bible Text: Zechariah 13:1 | Speaker: Pastor Jerry Irwin | DON’T FORGET THE FOUNTAIN
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.
2 Peter 1:9
But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins
The title of the Book bears the name of its Author, Zechariah. This prophet we would categorize as “minor”, says he is the son of Berechiah the son of Iddo. A very peculiar name for such an important character Iddo was head of the priestly families coming back from exile (Neh 12:4,16). Having this ancestry would make Zechariah a priest and a prophet, and a part of the leadership in the restoration effort in God’s holy city of Jerusalem. His ancestry would also explain his emphasis on the temple and numerous priestly matters in the book His ministry began between Haggai’s second and third message so he would be considered a contemporary of Haggai. We all know that Haggai is informing us about the rebuilding of the city, more specifically the temple. Zechariah also writes about those same things. Zechariah, means “Yahweh remembers.” What does Yahweh, the Creator God remember? His covenant! Iddo, his grandfather, means “at the appointed time”, and Berechiah means “God will bless”. God remembers and at the appointed time He will bless them. The names of the prophets are a summary of their messages Because God remembers, a message of hope is given for the people of Israel. God will remember His covenant with them recorded in Deuteronomy 28-30 and will keep His promises Zechariah was written to comfort, encourage, and give hope to that returning remnant. They are told to repent of their evil ways, to return to the Lord and to rebuild the temple The people who had just returned from the exile were weak and felt like their efforts were insignificant and the future was uncertain. They had lost their status as an independent nation, and were no longer a people Zechariah’s message focuses on the future and proclaims that God would send the Messiah to establish His Kingdom.
The walls of Jerusalem were torn down, and the remnant of those who remained were under great shame and reproach. There returning exiles could find nothing but despair and disappointment. The situation in Jerusalem in particular was deplorable. This once great and proud people and their way of life had been destroyed. The Temple and the city walls had been reduced to rubble. Their enemies made fun of this fact.
In Nehemiah 4:2
their enemies, Sanballat and Tobiah laughed them to scorn, and ridiculed their efforts, and in verse ten, the Israelites bemoaned their situation:
10 And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall
Thousands had died in battle, others in famine, still more through disease and pestilence. God had sorely punished the people for their sins and rebellion, and for failing to remember Him.
How sad the commentary that tens of thousands more had been carried into captivity. Solomon’s temple was desolate, and just a memory of the former glory. Only the elderly who returned with Nehemiah and Ezra could even remember its former glory. There is a very poignant moment in Ezra chapter 3 that describes the feelings of these older believers when saw the new temple:
Ezra 3:12
But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice…
They knew that God had dealt with them severely, and their present afflictions were the direct result of their disobedience and rebellion. The outlook was bleak, and hope was but a glimmer, but then God sent them a message of hope in our text. Listen to it again:
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
A FOUNTAIN!
Friend, Zechariah can be speaking of no one else but Jesus Christ, The Savior of The World. God told his prophet to tell these feeble Jews that there is a future hope for their present despair! A time will come when healing, cleansing, and refreshing shall once more flow like water from a fountain, and a way shall be opened up for the sin curse to be taken out of the way, transgressions forgiven, and fellowship with Good Restored.
Why is this fountain opened up? Because sin and uncleanness is the issue that has separated you from God, and stolen your identity, and brought you so much pain and suffering. We are so blessed to live in the days of an open Fountain. I’m here this morning to tell you that walk in desert places of loneliness and a barren wasteland of hurtful memories THERE IS A FOUNTAIN! YOU CAN GET PAST YOUR PAST.
It was a dark day for every one of us when man was driven from the presence of God. When Adam sinned in the Garden, we all suffered a great loss. By his transgression we all were made sinners.
Romans 5:19
For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
We were born with a responsibility to accept God’s gracious offer of salvation through His Son Jesus.
NO Jesus
No Peace!
KNOW Jesus
Know Peace!
But even in the Garden before Adam left, God informed him of a time that would come when God would provide a remedy. In what theologians call the Protoevangelium, God gave His word in Genesis 3:15 that the “seed of the woman would bruise the serpent’s head” and for 6,000 years God had been waiting, waiting to keep that promise.
It was a common saying of the Lord Jesus that as He taught and preached, He would often say ..”My time has not come”, but on His way to Jerusalem, He startled the disciples by telling them, “…my time has come…” knowing His destiny, He set his face like a flint because of the Father’s promise to open up a fountain.
You see,He was there when sentence was passed on the guilty pair and the first Adam was driven out of the Garden, and for this purpose He came into the world that He might destroy the works of the devil, and make peace with God available to all mankind. Palestine was a “land of brooks of water, fountains, and depths that spring out of valleys and hills.”
Deuteronomy 8:7
For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;
These fountains, bright sparkling “eyes” of the desert, are remarkable for their abundance and their beauty, especially on the west of Jordan. All the perennial rivers and streams of the country are supplied from fountains, and depend comparatively little on surface water. “Palestine is a country of mountains and hills, and it abounds in fountains of water. The murmur of these waters is heard in every dell, and the luxuriant foliage which surrounds them is seen in every plain.” Besides its rain- water, its cisterns and fountains, Jerusalem had also an abundant supply of water in the magnificent reservoir called “Solomon’s Pools” (q.v.), at the head of the Urtas valley, whence it was conveyed to the city by subterranean channels some 10 miles in length What comes to mind when you think of a fountain? When I think of a fountain the first thing that comes to mind is that it is a source of water and the connection between water and life. You cannot have life without water. Water to drink; to quench thirst, water to wash one’s hands and faces; to refresh and cleanse and water to make crops grow. In this metaphor the emphasis is on water for cleansing, and the cleansing mentioned is both internal and external.
The accessibility of the fountain
Notice that the prophet says that the fountain is open; that it is accessible. But there always has been a fountain open. There has always been a remedy for sin and it is revealed in type and symbol throughout God’s Word. That fountain was opened when God slew some animals and provided clothing to cover the nakedness and shame of Adam and Eve. It was opened in the book of Exodus when God instructed a captive people to slay a lamb and paint it’s blood on the doorposts of their homes so that when the death angel passed over Egypt that night he would “passover” all those in that house, and in Leviticus when God instituted the system of sacrifices and offerings whereby people could come to the high priest at the tabernacle and later the temple and offer a sacrifice for their sin and uncleanness the fountain was open. Across hundreds of years and through millions of sacrifices God was declaring that the fountain was open till finally on a hill called Calvary God Almighty opened up the hands, and feet, and back, and brow and side of His one and only Son and blood mixed with water came out and He declared once and for all that there “is a fountain open!” About our main verse Clarke states: “The source of mercy in Christ Jesus; perhaps referring to the death he should die, and the piercing of his side, when blood and water issued out.
One of the great hymns of the church states that “There is a Fountain”
(1) “There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.
(2) The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day,;
And there have I, though vile as he, washed all my sins away.
Hebrews 9:12
12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us
I Cor. 6:9-11
9 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,
10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
11 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