Zechariah 13: A Contextual Study of Yeshua and Israel :: By Mark A. Becker

[Note: For a text color-coded emphasis on the entire passage that should help to enhance the student’s understanding of our study, please see Zechariah 13: A Contextual Study of Yeshua and Israel FaithWriters.com]

Zechariah 13 is a very unusual chapter and can be quite confusing for the Bible student. The central issue to comprehending this chapter, I believe, is to understand that there are three different prophetic focuses intertwined, and the passage contextually actually begins at Zechariah 12:10.

In attempting to make this study as simple as possible, we will break down Zechariah 12:10 through Zechariah 13:9 into these three divisions for the Bible student to consider. These three divisions can be understood with the following keys:

  1. Zechariah 12:10-14 and Zechariah 13:6 constitute a bracketed “[]” evaluation of Israel mourning Messiah Yeshua at His Second Coming as they witness the wounds of His crucifixion.
  2. Zechariah 13:1-5 is a parenthetical “()” notation of Israel being cleansed and purified of their sins as they went through the Tribulation and came to faith in Messiah Yeshuaand the ensuing Messianic Kingdom.
  3. Zechariah 13:7 is a second parenthetical “()” united with Zechariah 13:8-9that goes through Messiah Yeshua’s initial sacrifice for sins and the details of how many Israelites will be saved at the end of the Tribulation – essentially passing over the church age, except for a subtle allusion in Zechariah 13:7 that we will note.

Here is how the breakdown looks when separated into the three distinct divisions, using the keys above as the subheadings, with added commentary and additional Scriptural references. All underlined Scripture passages are my own emphasis.

  1. Zechariah 12:10-14 and Zechariah 13:6 constitute a bracketed “[]” evaluation of Israel mourning Messiah Yeshua at His Second Coming as they witness the wounds of His crucifixion.

“[And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” – Zechariah 12:10

This well-known verse speaks of Israel’s redemption when Messiah Yeshua pours out His “Spirit of grace and of supplications” onto “the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem” when He has His holy angels regather “His elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven” (Mark 13:27) and reestablishes them in the Promised Land following His Second Coming. This will be fulfilled when, as the Lord had declared to them at His First Advent…

“… Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” – Matthew 23:39

When this occurs – after scattered Israel finally accepts Yeshua as their Messiah at the end of the Tribulation – “they shall look upon [Yeshua] whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” Both the agony of their previous rejection of Him and truly and fully understanding what He did for them on the cross for the salvation of their souls will have this profoundly emotional response in the hearts of the chosen people of God.

“In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.” – Zechariah 12:11

We examined this verse in The Valley of Jehoshaphat and ‘Armageddon’ and noted the following when it comes to the idea of Armageddon taking place in Megiddo:

While Zechariah 12:9-10 are prophetic future, the reference to the Valley of Megiddo in verse 11 is a reminder of what happened in a past event and is not future. The event this passage refers to is when good king Josiah was killed in battle and “Hadadrimmon” was a town in the Valley of Megiddo:

“Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo. And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me away; for I am sore wounded. His servants therefore took him out of that chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had; and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.” – 2 Chronicles 35:22-24 

As we can see, Zechariah 12:11, “In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon” is using this past event as an analogy to the mourning that the people of Jerusalem will experience when she is regathered after Christ’s Second Coming and recognize Him as their Messiah, and nothing else. There is no end-time prophecy here regarding Megiddo.

This mourning that Israel will experience after Messiah Yeshua rescues them from their enemies as they are scattered throughout the nations, with a large remnant in the wilderness mountains of Petra/Mt. Seir following the Abomination of Desolation – and delivers the holy city of Jerusalem from Antichrist, the False Prophet, what’s left of the armies of the world (all who took The Mark of The Beast), and the spiritual forces of darkness that are waiting for the Lord’s return – is compared to the grieving that was experienced by Judah in the days that they lost good king Josiah. While the comparison of bereavement for good king Josiah and the King of kings and Lord of lords is understandable and relatable, I suspect that the mourning for the Lord will dwarf what Judah experienced for Josiah. So much so, that they will mourn apart.

“And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.]” – Zechariah 12:12-14

The families of David and Levi are obvious. However, the families of Nathan and Shimei are a little difficult to identify.

Our best estimate on the family of Nathan could be either Nathan, the son of David and Bathsheba (1 Chronicles 3:5), or Nathan, one of God’s prophets to David, who ironically was the prophet God used to confront David’s sin concerning Bathsheba and Uriah (2 Samuel 12:1-14).

Taking into account that David’s son, Nathan, was given in the genealogy of Jesus Christ in the gospel of Luke (Luke 3:31), it would seem that if this Nathan was the family God had in mind in Zechariah 12:12-14, there could very well be a subtle prophetic allusion to the Messiah in view.

As far as Shimei, a viable candidate is Shimei the son of Gershon, who was the son of Levi (Exodus 6:17, Numbers 3:18, 21). Though not of the priestly line of Kohath, Gershon’s family did minister as Levites for the Tabernacle and Temple. Of Shimei’s notable descendants was Asaph who wrote some of the Psalms and was in charge of music during the reign of King David (1 Chronicles 6:39-43).

Another possible candidate, interestingly enough, is Shimei or Semei who is also mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus Christ in Luke 3:26. If this Shimei or Semei is in view, this would be an additional confirmative prophetic allusion to the Messiah in this passage along with Nathan, the son of David.

Captivatingly, when considering that David, Nathan, and Shimei could represent the kingly line of Judah and Levi being in the line of the priesthood of Israel, we perceive these families as pointing to Messiah as both eternal King and high Priest. Even more fascinatingly, if the families of David and Shimei represent the kingly line of Judah, the families of Levi the priestly line, and the families of the prophet Nathan representing the prophets of Israel, then we can see Messiah as all three – eternal Prophet, high Priest, and coming King!

The final verse – “All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart” – would cover the rest of the families of the tribes of Israel who will “mourn, every family apart” when they are brought back from captivity into the Promised Land following the return of their once rejected Messiah who will have delivered them from their enemies and fulfill the promises of God to His chosen people, Israel, for the duration of the glorious Messianic Millennial Kingdom.

Continuing on, contextually from Zechariah 12:10 which reads, “they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn,” it is noted in Zechariah 13:6 that…

“[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.]” – Zechariah 13:6

Messiah Yeshua was certainly “wounded in the house of [His] friends” outside of Jerusalem as a Jewish son and the eternally divine Son of God. And He did it all for them and He did it all for us! What love!!

Therefore, the tie-in between Zechariah 12:10 and Zechariah 13:6 makes contextual sense and surrounds our parenthetical of Zechariah 13:1-5:

  1. Zechariah 13:1-5 is a parenthetical “()” notation of Israel being cleansed and purified of their sins as they went through the Tribulation and came to faith in Messiah Yeshua and the ensuing Messianic Kingdom.

Here begins our parenthetical.

“(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. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.” – Zechariah 13:1-2

The initial fulfillment of these verses took place after the Babylonian conquest and return to their land when Israel did forsake their idols and held to a superficial observance of God’s laws based on the traditions of men. Yet the future fulfillment will be at the end of the age as the nation and people of Israel today are largely secular with many adhering to all forms of humanism, atheism, various world religions, and orthodox religious schisms, that, again, are predominantly based upon the traditions of men.

This future “fountain” that shall be “opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness,” following their regathering back to the land of Israel, will be a direct result of their acceptance of Yeshua as their Messiah and Savior at the end of the Tribulation within that prophetic day. This fountain can be none other the indwelling Holy Spirit that all believers experience after conversion.

As a direct result of their national salvation – both physically and spiritually – there will be no more idols, including their once professed humanistic atheism that worshiped the creation rather than the Creator and even their return to animal sacrifices in the first half of the Tribulation that were fulfilled in the once for all sacrifice of the Lord at His First Advent, among a host of other idols they had in their lives, just as most people do today.

Additionally, all false prophets – that is, the Rabbis and religious leaders who taught against the Lord Messiah Yeshua – will never be found in Israel again, along with any unclean spirit that had once inhabited the land of Israel up until her last dispersion from the land of promise following the Abomination of Desolation through the end of the Tribulation.

“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.” – Zechariah 13:3

The initial fulfillment of this prophecy can be found in the return of Israel from their 70-year exile following the Babylonian conquest. At that time and going forward to the destruction of Israel and Jerusalem by the Romans in 70-135 AD, there is no record of anyone prophesying in Israel as the many false prophets in Israel and Judah had before the Babylonian exile.

However, the passages of Zechariah 13:3-5, in its ultimate fulfillment, can be seen as either a metaphorical application or a literal possibility in the Millennial Kingdom.

The metaphorical application is that Israel will no longer have these situations in their land during the Messianic Millennial Kingdom, though the impulses may be present. After all, Creator Messiah Yeshua will be in Israel’s midst teaching exclusively the Word and Words of God, so there will be no need for any prophets to prophesy. In other words, this parenthetical would be more of a warning to those living in flesh and blood bodies during the Messianic Millennial Kingdom that this is the prescribed order of things if they were to ever act upon these evil thoughts of usurping the Lord’s spiritual and physical rule that may come into their minds.

The literal possibility is that these situations will unfortunately occur, though seemingly rare, in the Messianic Millennial Kingdom due to mankind’s inherent sin nature that all will still inherit in their flesh and blood bodies as mankind’s population increases. Therefore, if this situation were to ever occur in the Messianic Millennial Kingdom, unlike Israel in the past, the parents would certainly kill their own children for “speaking lies in the Name of the Lord” – lies which have as their foundation a rebellious and unregenerate heart – as they were once commanded (Deuteronomy 13:1-10).

“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: But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am an husbandman; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.)” – Zechariah 13:4-5

These verses conclude this parenthetical insertion regarding Israel and any false prophet that may or may not arise in Israel during the Messianic Millennial Kingdom. This would also certainly apply to any nation on Earth. Any so-called prophet will deny they are one, for they know the punishment thereof.

  1. Zechariah 13:7 is a second parenthetical “()” united with Zechariah 13:8-9 that goes through Messiah Yeshua’s initial sacrifice for sins and the details of how many Israelites will be saved at the end of the Tribulation – essentially passing over the church age, except for a subtle allusion in Zechariah 13:7 that we will note.

The scene then shifts to our second parenthetical verse beginning with Messiah Yeshua’s prophetic fulfillment of what happened in the Garden of Gethsemane.

“(Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.)” – Zechariah 13:7

This prophetic passage of course was fulfilled in the gospel of Matthew:

“Then saith Jesus unto them [His disciples], All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.” – Matthew 26:31

The last phrase, “… and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones,” seems to be a subtle allusion to the Gentiles, along with Israeli believers (especially the disciples who would scatter that night), as “the little ones,” who would come to the Lord for salvation by grace through faith in the finished work of Messiah on the cross in the church age.

The Hebrew for “the little ones” is צֹּעֲרִים “haṣṣōʿărîm” from 6819 צָעַר “ṣāʿar” and means insignificantto be or grow insignificantgrow smallto be smallbe brought lowignoble, all of which brings to mind the following passages.

“For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the fleshnot many mightynot many nobleare called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the worldand things which are despisedhath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.” – 1 Corinthians 1:26-29

“At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudentand hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.

“All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:25-30

Zechariah 13:8-9 concludes by jumping over the church age to the end of the Tribulation when Messiah Yeshua comes back at His Second Coming.

“And it shall come to pass, that in all the land [Earth], saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.” – Zechariah 13:8-9

As many have pointed out, this prophecy certainly implies that two-thirds of Israel will die in the Tribulation, yet God always has His remnant, in which one-third will be brought “through the fire, and [God] will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried,” and all Israel will be saved at that time (Romans 11:26) when remnant Israel finally comes to the end of themselves and realize that Messiah Yeshua is their once rejected Messiah. Hence the immense mourning remnant Israel will experience after the Lord’s Second Coming when they see Him and His eternal resurrected body that had been pierced for them and the sins of the world.

Conclusion

Here is the entire passage of Zechariah 12:10 through Zechariah 13:9 with the bracketed “[]” and parenthetical “()” aids, [and with a text color-coded emphasis on the entire passage, please see Zechariah 13: A Contextual Study of Yeshua and Israel FaithWriters.com], in helping to break down and contextualize this extremely unique portion of Scripture, keeping in mind what we have observed above.

[And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

“In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.

“And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.]” – Zechariah 12:10-14

(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. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.

“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.

“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: But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am an husbandman; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.)” – Zechariah 13:1-5

[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.]” – Zechariah 13:6

(Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones).

“And it shall come to pass, that in all the land [Earth], saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.

“And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.” – Zechariah 13:7-9

Final Thoughts

So, why does God do this? Why does God in His Word often have passages that encompass many different blended and multifaced prophecies? I can think of two very important and practical reasons.

The first is to keep God’s enemies, from Satan to the fallen angels to fallen mankind, from understanding His Word. This privilege is meant only for Spirit indwelt believers.

The second reason is for the maturing of His children. If a believer was to read the Scripture front to back and have total understanding of God’s Word on the very first reading, this would invariably produce a mindset that the child of God would have no need to further study the Bible. After all, God speaks directly through His Word to His children with the guiding and leading of His Holy Spirit, and this would be impossible unless the believer would diligently seek God’s voice through His Word on a daily basis as he or she matures in the Lord.

When we consider how God put together the Holy Scriptures in this unique way, Paul’s admonition to Timothy makes much more sense!

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing [cutting straight] the word of truth.” – 2 Timothy 2:15

I pray this study has helped the Bible student in their own evaluations of this profound and unique portion of Scripture.

***

May we all keep Answering the Call of The Great Commission, and giving an answer to every man and woman who so desperately needs Jesus and asks us, “Why Am I Here and What Is It All About?

Love, grace, mercy, and shalom in Messiah Yeshua, and Maranatha!

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➢    I am still taking questions for the Questions from the Body of Christ series. If you or someone you know has a question pertaining to the Word of God – theology, difficult passages, eschatology, etc. – I would really like to hear from you.

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Arriving at the Spiritual Fork in the Road :: By Dave Hubley

I have included a special message at the end of this article for those who have reached that point where the burden of evidence that the world is spinning out of control is overwhelming. I hope you will read and take to heart what God requires in order to give His gift of eternal life, as He has declared is His will for all who trust in Him.

“The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance(2 Peter 3:9). Emphasis added.

Let me begin by saying that the Word of God, the Bible, in its reliable translations (meaning that some of the more modern-day translations are only pre-purposed, Godless propaganda and completely inconsistent with the nature of God and they are not included), has been proven to be empirically true by virtue of the 100% accuracy of already fulfilled prophecies that were recorded hundreds, and in many cases thousands of years prior to being fulfilled in minute detail.

No written propaganda, recitations, or “scriptures” of the world’s many man-imagined religions dare approach the declaration of prophecy – the revelation of the “end from the beginning.”

Only the Word of the One True God, given by the One True Holy Spirit of God, can do and has done this supernatural act, and this, in turn, confirms His Sovereignty.

“Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is no one like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose                                                                                        will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’” (Isaiah 46:9-10).

That said, there is absolutely no legitimate reason to believe that the balance of these prophecies will not also be minutely fulfilled. Indications all over the natural world as well as the alignment of nations in the present political world indicate very strongly that they will soon be fulfilled and in rapid succession.

THAT having been said, there is also no basis – despite the emergence of Trump and his efforts to “make America great again,” his promise to bring about a new American “Golden Age,” and his determined efforts to restore the rule of law and bring peace to the world – to bet one’s eternal life on this current resurgence of patriotism for Americans, but also of hopefulness in residents of much of the the rest of the world who are investing their hearts and eternal souls in a world leader who appears to have the power to “fix things.”

I say this only because I have always loved America, and still do. I served her and agree that it is necessary for these restorative efforts to happen because – whatever the motivations by Trump and those who are honestly trying to undo the damage done to our country truly are – these efforts constitute an opposition to evil and as evil is the ally of all the debauchery, lawlessness and secular humanism that has been advancing thus far with no real opposition, it is a noble and necessary effort.

However, I also know the Truth that is contained in God’s Word: These human-inspired efforts will ultimately fail.

Willful sin has undermined the foundation of moral and ethical conduct commanded by God to the extent that reforming and repairing are no longer possible.

His Word makes that outcome as clear as it is possible to make it.

These are simple truths borne out by history and confirmed by scripture.

God’s Word also warns of a man who will appear at the end of the age who will seem to possess all the wisdom and knowledge that will bring about “peace and safety” but will instead bring disaster, war, misery, and unbridled evil (see 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12).

I am not saying that Trump is the antichrist, but I only point out that the Word of God foretells that the rebellious world will desperately seek answers in a human leader, and that will ultimately lead to His end-of-the-age judgments.

That is the reality of the future when the Word of God is taken on its face, and it is necessary to do that in order to face the eternal future that awaits every person who has ever lived and is alive today. Those who mock and reject that Word do so at great peril.

God has warned all who will “hear with their ears and see with their eyes” of certain empirical realities that are evident in real time today. There is much His Word has to say in the way of counsel, warning, and, in turn, admonishment, placed there for those who choose to ignore these counsels and warnings.

I believe it is God’s intention for us to understand these verses in the context of a choice we all must make – that we should either put our eternal trust in and belief in Him, or invest them in human efforts, promises, and declarations which, by contrast and by the historical record have only resulted in failure, war, death and misery.

Here in 2025, man’s ability to obliterate himself has become an appalling reality and if left to his own devices, that is exactly what the end result would be.

God confirms this in His Word that He must intervene, or the human race would cease to exist.

“And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake, whom He chose, He shortened the days” (Mark 13:20).

This failure is because these human efforts will be undertaken without regard for, and by open rebellion against God. Instead, the world will embrace evil as He has foretold. The final judgments He has prophesied in His Word will then become necessary in order to finally eradicate this evil that continues to grow (See Psalm 146:3).

God has given man all that is necessary to choose the right (as He has defined it) and reject the wrong (also as He has defined it), but man’s rebellion continues unabated.

These are but a few of the many verses to consider in order to understand the gravity of man’s failure to police himself and God’s foreknowledge of it:

Put no more trust in man, who has only the breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he? (Isaiah 2:22).

“But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these” (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

“There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12 / 16:25).

“Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the LORD” (Jeremiah 17:5).

God has given men and women free will to choose which fork they will take in their path of life. Every one of us will have to choose one or the other, and as He has established, there are only two. This choice must be made in our living years.

“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19). Emphasis added.

There are some who mistakenly attempt to separate the God revealed in the Old Testament from Jesus, but this is not possible: This verse, as all of God’s Word, comes from Him who declared, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM” (John 8:28).

Now to the crux of this article.

God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill? (Numbers 23:19).

God reminds the world of His Sovereignty with an obviously rhetorical question:

  “Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?” (Isaiah 43:13).

His Word also describes the difference in thought and nature between any person who rejects him and anyone who has received eternal life in Jesus Christ.

“The mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:6).

Our path through life divides at some point in our individual walk. The right fork, which leads to eternal life in Jesus, God’s Son and chosen vessel of Salvation; The other, the flesh, rebellion, hopelessness, and separation from God (eternal death).

Which path we will choose must be determined by us while we are in our living years.

Electing not to choose is choosing to reject God’s Mercy and Grace.

Christianity, the Truth of Jesus Christ, is not a religion. It is a relationship between the One True God and His creation for whom He died in order to provide salvation for all who will receive Him as their only Savior and Lord.

Please do not accept my word for these things; instead, if you are in earnest, ask God to reveal His Truth to you and search the Scriptures based on His promise to you:

“And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

I hope and pray that you will choose the fork that leads toward life.

The special message I promised you:

For anyone who may read this article and has not trusted in Jesus Christ and therefore has no hope or peace in your life.

You can have hope. You can have the peace that Jesus has promised to all who have made Him their Lord and Savior. The peace that passes understanding.

It requires that you come before God on His terms and that you do so in your living years.

And, what are His terms according to His Word?

  • Genuine repentance (turning to God instead of continuing to reject or ignore Him).
  • Confession of sins (that you are a sinner and acknowledge that to God).
  • That you understand that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).
  • To acknowledge to God that you are unable to pay that debt.
  • Belief that Jesus Christ paid your death sentence for you on the cross and rose from the grave three days later, conquering death, just as He promised.
  • To believe that Jesus is the Way, the only Way, that God has established by which humans may be saved from the consequences of their sin and rebellion.

God has made it absolutely clear that there is no one who comes before Him, under His terms, that will be refused.

  • No one: no race, no color, no country of origin, regardless of any previous belief system: no one.
  • No matter what your past sins have been, God can and WILL forgive you because He says He will.
  • Salvation is available to everyone without any exceptions.

If you put all your trust for salvation in Jesus, and Him only, you can follow that prayer up by simply saying, “Thank you, Father God, for hearing my prayer and saving me,” because we can trust Him to keep His Word. He always has. He always will.

“Truly, Truly, I say to you that he who hears My words and believes the One who sent Me has eternal life and will not be condemned. He has crossed from death to life” (John 5:24).

There are no answers and there is no hope in the world by governments, organizations, politics or politicians. There are only lies and deception. But you can have the Truth and the peace you seek.

The answers are in the Word of God—The Bible. If you ask God, with all your heart, He will hear you.

“And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

Pro Salvator Vigilans                      

To contact me: canoeman96@gmail.com