There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true. —Soren Kierkegaard. "…truth is true even if nobody believes it, and falsehood is false even if everybody believes it. That is why truth does not yield to opinion, fashion, numbers, office, or sincerity–it is simply true and that is the end of it" – Os Guinness, Time for Truth, pg.39. “He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God’s providence to lead him aright.” – Blaise Pascal. "There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily" – George Washington letter to Edmund Randolph — 1795. We live in a “post-truth” world. According to the dictionary, “post-truth” means, “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” Simply put, we now live in a culture that seems to value experience and emotion more than truth. Truth will never go away no matter how hard one might wish. Going beyond the MSM idealogical opinion/bias and their low information tabloid reality show news with a distractional superficial focus on entertainment, sensationalism, emotionalism and activist reporting – this blogs goal is to, in some small way, put a plug in the broken dam of truth and save as many as possible from the consequences—temporal and eternal. "The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it." – George Orwell “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” ― Soren Kierkegaard
1 Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.
34 I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. 2 My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad. 3 Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together! 4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. 5 Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. 6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. 8 Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! 9 Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! 10 The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. 11 Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. 12 What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? 13 Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. 14 Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. 15 The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. 16 The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. 17 When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. 18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. 20 He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken. 21 Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. 22 The LORD redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.
Great Is the Lord
Of David.
35 Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me! 2 Take hold of shield and buckler and rise for my help! 3 Draw the spear and javelin2 against my pursuers! Say to my soul, “I am your salvation!” 4 Let them be put to shame and dishonor who seek after my life! Let them be turned back and disappointed who devise evil against me! 5 Let them be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the LORD driving them away! 6 Let their way be dark and slippery, with the angel of the LORD pursuing them! 7 For without cause they hid their net for me; without cause they dug a pit for my life.3 8 Let destruction come upon him when he does not know it! And let the net that he hid ensnare him; let him fall into it—to his destruction! 9 Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD, exulting in his salvation. 10 All my bones shall say, “O LORD, who is like you, delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him, the poor and needy from him who robs him?” 11 Malicious4 witnesses rise up; they ask me of things that I do not know. 12 They repay me evil for good; my soul is bereft.5 13 But I, when they were sick— I wore sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting; I prayed with head bowed6 on my chest. 14 I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother; as one who laments his mother, I bowed down in mourning. 15 But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered; they gathered together against me; wretches whom I did not know tore at me without ceasing; 16 like profane mockers at a feast,7 they gnash at me with their teeth. 17 How long, O Lord, will you look on? Rescue me from their destruction, my precious life from the lions! 18 I will thank you in the great congregation; in the mighty throng I will praise you. 19 Let not those rejoice over me who are wrongfully my foes, and let not those wink the eye who hate me without cause. 20 For they do not speak peace, but against those who are quiet in the land they devise words of deceit. 21 They open wide their mouths against me; they say, “Aha, Aha! Our eyes have seen it!” 22 You have seen, O LORD; be not silent! O Lord, be not far from me! 23 Awake and rouse yourself for my vindication, for my cause, my God and my Lord! 24 Vindicate me, O LORD, my God, according to your righteousness, and let them not rejoice over me! 25 Let them not say in their hearts, “Aha, our heart’s desire!” Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.” 26 Let them be put to shame and disappointed altogether who rejoice at my calamity! Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves against me! 27 Let those who delight in my righteousness shout for joy and be glad and say evermore, “Great is the LORD, who delights in the welfare of his servant!” 28 Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness and of your praise all the day long.
22 “Brothers and fathers, hear the defense that I now make before you.”
2 And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew language,1 they became even more quiet. And he said:
3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel2 according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day. 4 I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women, 5 as the high priest and the whole council of elders can bear me witness. From them I received letters to the brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished.
6 “As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me. 7 And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ 8 And I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’ 9 Now those who were with me saw the light but did not understand3 the voice of the one who was speaking to me. 10 And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.’ 11 And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus.
12 “And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, 13 came to me, and standing by me said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And at that very hour I received my sight and saw him. 14 And he said, ‘The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth; 15 for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard. 16 And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’
17 “When I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance 18 and saw him saying to me, ‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ 19 And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you. 20 And when the blood of Stephen your witness was being shed, I myself was standing by and approving and watching over the garments of those who killed him.’ 21 And he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”
Paul and the Roman Tribune
22 Up to this word they listened to him. Then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live.” 23 And as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, 24 the tribune ordered him to be brought into the barracks, saying that he should be examined by flogging, to find out why they were shouting against him like this. 25 But when they had stretched him out for the whips,4 Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?” 26 When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said to him, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.” 27 So the tribune came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” And he said, “Yes.” 28 The tribune answered, “I bought this citizenship for a large sum.” Paul said, “But I am a citizen by birth.” 29 So those who were about to examine him withdrew from him immediately, and the tribune also was afraid, for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him.
Paul Before the Council
30 But on the next day, desiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews, he unbound him and commanded the chief priests and all the council to meet, and he brought Paul down and set him before them.
13:1 Zechariah speaks symbolically of a never-ending source of water for spiritual cleansing and thus for eternal life (cf. John 4:14; 7:38; Rev. 21:6). That the rejection of the Messiah could result in the gracious provision for salvation is a mystery, but its universal application to the church should not blind us to its original context as a promise to Israel (Rom. 11:11, 12, 15, 18, 21, 23, 24, 26).[1]
13:1 On that day. See note 12:3.
fountain … from sin and uncleanness. The picture of a cleansing fountain indicates the abundance of forgiveness (cf. Jer. 2:13). Ultimately we find that abundance of forgiveness in Jesus and the Spirit (John 7:37–39).[2]
13:1that day The Day of Yahweh was a day of judgment (Zech 12:2–3) as well as a day of restoration.
the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem Representative of the whole redeemed people.
cleanse them from sin and from impurity The people must be restored to a state of purity before God. Washing with water was one of the methods for restoring cleanness outlined in biblical law (e.g., Lev 13–14).[3]
13:1 house of David … inhabitants of Jerusalem. The totality of cleansing is noted by its effect on both royalty and commoners. a fountain … for sin and for impurity. A symbolic reference to the means of cleansing and purification through the atoning death of the pierced One (cf. 1Jn 1:7). This has direct reference to the New Covenant of Jer 31:31–34; Eze 36:25–32; Ro 11:26–29. So the storm that broke upon Israel for the crime of Calvary and has raged with unmitigated fury for long, tragic centuries, will suddenly end and salvation will turn sin into righteousness in the gladness and glory of the kingdom of Messiah Jesus.[4]
13:1 — “In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.”
God often uses a fountain to picture Himself as our source of salvation. As a fountain, He overflows with mercy and grace. As a fountain, He refreshes. And as a fountain, His love must be individually taken in.[5]
13:1 The fountain is an image of abundant, overflowing provision. Christ at the Cross made available cleansing from the impurity of sin. At the time of Christ’s second coming, the repentant and believing remnant of Israel will appropriate that provision and enter into the benefits of the New Covenant (Jer. 31:31–34; Ezek. 36:25–28). Paul anticipated this great day in Rom. 11:26.[6]
Provision Will Be Made for Cleansing from Sin (13:1)
The first verse of chapter 13 is closely connected with the preceding chapter. After the people of Judah and Israel have been brought to the place of repentance for their rejection of the Messiah, then will follow a great national day of atonement. The fountain for cleansing was opened at Calvary, but Israel nationally will not enter into the good of it until the Second Advent.[7]
13:1. That day refers to the future day of the Lord (cf. 14:1). The phrase “on that day” occurs 16 times in these three closing chapters (12:3–4, 6, 8–9, 11; 13:1–2, 4; 14:4, 6, 8–9, 13, 20–21). On the day of Christ’s crucifixion the fountain was opened potentially for all Israel and the whole world. At the Second Advent of Christ, the fountain will be openedexperientially for the Jewish nation. This spiritual cleansing of the nation is associated in other passages of Scripture with Israel’s spiritual regeneration and the inauguration of the New Covenant (e.g., Jer. 31:31–37; Ezek. 36:25–32; Rom. 11:26–27). The house of David (political leaders) and the inhabitants of Jerusalem include all the people of the land (cf. Zech. 12:10) who need cleansing. The terms sin and impurity can refer specifically to idolatry (cf. “impurity” in 13:2; Ezek. 7:19–20 speaks of gold being “unclean” and of idols being “detestable”), but they probably have a broader reference here to the total sinful condition of the people.[8]
13:1. Now that Israel has looked upon the Messiah with faith and repented of the years of rejection, the Lord will open a fountain to cleanse the nation of sin and … impurity (cf. Ezk 36:25–28; Jr 31:34). The word sin means “to miss the mark” (Jdg 20:16) of God’s righteous standard and refers to personal wrongdoing. The word impurity is rooted in the ritual defilement that comes from menstruation (Lv 12:5; 15:19–20, 26). The metaphorical sense, when describing sin, means “filthiness” or “that which is abhorred,” and is applied to Israel’s most wicked sins (Ezr 9:11; 2Ch 29:5). Zechariah wrote of this earlier (Zch 3:1–10), when Joshua the High Priest was cleansed of filthy robes as a symbol of Messiah’s end-time cleansing of Israel (see comments there).[9]
Ver. 1. In that day there shall be a fountain opened, &c.—The Fountain of Life:—
To what can the prophet refer but the exclamation of John, “Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world.”
I. Explain the promise.
1. The fountain. This image holds forth the Redeemer. In distinction from creatures, which are “cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water,” He may well call Himself the “Fountain of living waters.” He shall possess a plenitude Himself. The fulness of the Christian is derived and limited: it is the fulness of a vessel. The vessel is supplied from the fulness of a fountain. This fountain is the Lord Jesus. His fulness is original and boundless. It is the fulness of a spring.
2. The fountain was to be opened. A fountain sealed would be useless; it would only provoke desire. What would the Saviour’s excellencies and benefits be to us if unattainable and inaccessible? The fountain was actually opened in His sufferings. The apostles laid it open doctrinally, in their preaching and in their epistles.
3. This fountain is opened for sin and for uncleanness. There had been provisions for ceremonial pollution, under the Mosaic economy. The brazen sea. Ten lavers. See also the Pool of Siloam. Sin is uncleanness. Its very nature is contamination. Sin is a pollution the most deep and diffusive. The very conscience is defiled. It is the “abominable thing.” But there is a fountain that washes out even the stains of the soul,—and of sin. And it was opened for this very purpose.
II. To improve the truth contained in the promise. Five classes have a relation to the truth before us.
1. The ignorant. Such as cry, “Peace, peace, when there is no peace.”
2. The presumptuous. Antinomian perversion is worse than mere ignorance.
3. The self-righteous, who hope to cleanse themselves in some other way.
4. The fearful. For it is no easy thing to satisfy the conscience of awakened sinners.
5. Those who by faith have applied to the Saviour, and who know by experience that there is indeed a fountain opened for sin and uncleanness. (William Jay.)
The fountain for sin:—
I. What they needed. Two things: deliverance from guilt and condemnation, and deliverance from sin’s impurity. These are the very blessings for which our text represents provision has been made. The fountain is opened “for sin and for uncleanness.” The former meaning “guilt,” the latter “pollution.” The whole context prohibits our regarding the language as referring to anything ceremonial. The guilt, contracted, and requiring remission, is the guilt of “piercing,” that is, of putting to death the true, divinely promised Messiah, and the “uncleanness” points to those unholy and hellish principles and dispositions in the soul from which the guilt originated, by which the fearful act was prompted. The guilt was deep. The depth of moral debasement and violence was fearful from which they who had been guilty of it required to be purified.
II. How these blessings are provided for them.
1. What is the fountain? It is a twofold figure, comprehending the grace of Christ’s Spirit as well as the virtue of Christ’s blood, cleansing as well as forgiveness. These blessings are always found in union. Christ died that sinners might be both pardoned and purified; and the two designs were emblematically indicated by the mingling of the blood and water that flowed from His pierced heart. The fountain means at once the blood of Christ’s atonement and the grace of Christ’s Spirit; the one required for forgiveness, and the other for regeneration and cleansing: the two, however, being inseparable; the faith which interests in the pardoning virtue of the blood, being the product of the grace of the Spirit, and the grace of the Spirit effecting the renewal and sanctification of the soul by means of the doctrine which makes known the pardoning virtue of the blood: it being the same faith, under the agency of the same Spirit, which at once justifies and sanctifies. And it is thus that the blood is represented as the means of purifying as well as of procuring pardon.
2. When was this fountain opened? When Christ died; when His blood was shed on the cross, for the remission of sins; when the blood and the water flowed in union from His pierced side. While strictly and properly, the fountain was opened then,—it might be said to have been opened from the time when it came first to be needed,—from the time when man sinned. It was then opened by anticipation. The first promise opened it. The moment man became a sinner he needed the two blessings of pardon and sanctification.
3. How is it here said to be opened “in that day”? The answer is, that although there have now and then, since the judgments of God overtook the Jewish people for their unbelief, been instances of Jews brought to acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah and Saviour, and to obtain salvation by faith in Him; yet to the large mass of that dispersed, and for the time divinely abandoned people, the fountain has not been open. It has been sealed; sealed by themselves, and for their unbelief judicially sealed by God. When the time of mercy arrives the fountain shall, in God’s providence and by God’s grace, be opened for their cleansing from their guilt and their pollution. It is said of them, “They shall look on Me whom they have pierced, and shall mourn.”
4. For what purpose? Two—the washing away of guilt, and the washing away of moral defilement. Both these purposes were in the mind of God, as to be alike effected by the mediation of the Son. That the guilt of sin might be fully taken away, and thus the sinner escape its punishment, atonement was necessary.
5. For what persons? not simply for the restored of Israel,—but for the “house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.” The idea thus conveyed is that of all ranks, from the royal occupants of the palace to the tenants of the meanest dwelling. All shall be stricken through with the conviction and alarm; all shall feel the bitterness of contrition; all shall mourn. And for all, in like manner, the fountain shall be opened. All shall need it. All shall have access to it. All shall avail themselves of it. (Ralph Wardlaw, D.D.)
The best fountain:—
It is a beautiful thing to see a fountain playing. Fountain in the text is the best fountain. What is meant by this fountain? It means the blood which Jesus shed when He hung upon the cross. It is in consequence of what Jesus then suffered—the blood He shed, and the death He died—that God pardons the sins of men, and saves their souls. It is the best fountain—
1. Because it is easy to get at. No long journey is needed. You may find it everywhere.
2. It never changes. Other fountains are sometimes in full play, and sometimes very feeble. Illustrate by the Pool of Bethesda. This is always the same.
3. Because of its wonderful powers. Some fountains cure diseases and restore health. This is designed for the souls of men. This has a wonderful cleansing power, and a wonderful healing power, and a wonderful preserving power against the worms of pride and selfishness that may imperil our souls, as they do the good ships; a wonderful beautifying power, and a wonderful saving power. (R. Newton, D.D.)
Christ our fountain:—
I. Wherein is Christ a fountain? When it is said Christ is our fountain, it holds forth two things:
1. Fulness. A fountain is not like a cistern; a cistern may be full, but the fulness of it may be emptied; so may the fulness of a fountain too, but then a fountain, or a spring, fills itself again immediately. So doth not a cistern. A cistern may be full, but it doth not rise up and run over, as a fountain doth, and that continually. For this reason the corrupt nature in us is compared to a fountain (Jer. 6:7)—bubbling up in vain thoughts, inordinate desires, corrupt affections. Now, in Jesus Christ there is a fulness, and it is a fountain-fulness (Col. 1:19), fulness—all fulness, and all fulness dwelling, and by the good pleasure of the Father. What is He full of? The two things that our poor souls have most need of towards the making of us happy. Merit and righteousness for justification; and spirit and grace for sanctification. He hath merit enough; His merit is of infinite value, sufficient to take away all sin (Heb. 7:25)—able to save. He hath Spirit enough, to sanctify us throughout, to break the power of every lust, to strengthen us to every good word and work. He is such a fountain as can open in us a fountain, springing up into eternal life (John 4:14; 1:16).
2. Uses—fulness. A fountain is of great use. What striving was there in Abraham’s time, and Isaac’s time, and Jacob’s time, about wells of water (Gen. 21 and 26). When Achsah was to ask a boon of her father Caleb, Give me, said she, springs of water (Judg. 1:15). Were we to ask but one thing of our heavenly Father, there were reason it should be, Lord, give us a fountain. Why, blessed be His name, He hath given us one. Not only springs of water, useful for our outward man, a land of springs, like Canaan, but a Christ, a Christ for our souls. A fountain of water is useful for three things:
(1) For quenching of thirst. How glad is the weary traveller, or labourer, of a spring of water; though it be but fair water. Oh, says he, it hath saved my life. The Israelites in the wilderness, when there was no water, what an affliction was it to them. When they had it, it was sweet as honey and oil (1 Cor. 10:4). Now, this fountain is very useful for this purpose. Is thy soul athirst?—athirst for peace, pardon, life, salvation, for grace, strength? Here is a fountain for thee, come and drink (Isa. 55:1)—buying frightens; therefore, come freely. Thou art called (John 7:37; Rev. 22:15). See the discourse of our Lord Jesus with the woman of Samaria (John 4:10–14). Alas! the most of men know not what this means—they are sensible of no need, and therefore of no desire, but (Psa. 42:1) “As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God.”
(2) For washing away filth. Water cleanses; we could not tell what to do without it—to make our bodies, our clothes, comfortable. This fountain also is cleansing. Sin defiles, leaves a blot, a stain, upon the soul. It is uncleanness. The guilt of it is so: from that we are washed by the blood of Christ, satisfying God’s justice and making atonement; also purging the conscience (1 John 1:7; Rev. 1:5; Heb. 9:14). The corrupt nature, which is the root and principle of it, is so (Psa. 14:3). From this the Spirit of Christ washes in the laver of regeneration (Tit. 3:4, 5; 1 Cor. 6:11).
(3) For watering the earth and making it fruitful. They use to have fountains for that purpose in their gardens, to be ready in a dry season to fetch water to refresh the plants. Herein also Christ is our fountain. Did He not water us every moment, grace in us would languish and die (Isa. 27:3; 44:3, 4). Now, it is the second of these especially that this text speaks of—Jesus Christ is a cleansing fountain; we have need of Him as such, for we are filthy and defiled.
II. What kind of fountain is the Lord Jesus? As a cleansing fountain He hath these properties.
1. He is full, He hath enough wherewithal to cleanse us; merit enough, spirit enough. Under the law they had cleansing appointments as to ceremonial pollutions, but ours is beyond theirs. They had blood, but it was but the blood of bulls and goats, and that in a bason only; but we have the blood of the Son of God, not in a bason, but a fountain full of it. They had water; one particularly, called the water of purification, made of the ashes of a red heifer. Open and free as to terms. We say—What is freer than a gift? He is the gift of God (John 4:10), the free gift (Rom. 5), the unspeakable gift (2 Cor. 9:15). Though thou hast no worthiness, no matter, He is worthy. Cordial acceptance makes Him ours. He forgives freely (Isa. 43:25).
2. The only fountain. Besides Him there is no other (Acts 4:12). We may think, perhaps, as Naaman—“Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean?” (2 Kings 5:12). But no other fountain will do.
III. The application, in four particulars.
1. Here is matter for thanksgiving to God, who—
(1) Appointed this fountain in the counsel of His will from all eternity (John 3:16).
(2) Opened it in the fulness of time, after it had been shut for four thousand years (Gal. 4:4).
(3) Opened it to us; to us of this nation, country, neighbourhood, of this present age and generation. We are within hearing of the joyful sound.
(4) And specially, that He hath brought us to it and washed us in it. This is certainly the mercy of mercies,—“Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood” (Rev. 1:5). This is more than angels can say. When ten lepers were cleansed, only one returned to give thanks (Luke 17).
2. Here is matter for conviction. Convincing! Of what? Of your need of this fountain to wash in. That which is unclean doth certainly need washing; but thou art unclean, I mean, thy soul, thy mind, thy conscience; inwardly, spiritually. I am sure thou wast so by nature; born in guilt and filth; like an infant weltering in blood and pollution (Ezek. 16). And art thou washed? When, and how? And by whom, and with what? I am sure that every sin thou hast committed hath added to that original pollution, and hath made thee more and more filthy (Psa. 106:39; Matt. 15:19–20). Even vain thoughts (Jer. 4:17). So is the world also (Jam. 1:27). Nay, our best duties have their pollutions (Isa. 64:6). But there is one particular kind of sins, those against the seventh commandment, that is especially called uncleanness. And have we been in no sort guilty of that, neither in thought, word, nor deed? (Philip Henry.)
The fountain opened:—
I. A fountain. Water is much valued in the East. We cannot wonder that spiritual blessings are so often exhibited to us in Scripture under images borrowed from water. These images found their way at once to the understandings and feelings of Jewish men. The Lord Jesus is meant by the text. He is represented as a fountain for a particular purpose; not for the thirsty to drink from, but for the unclean to wash in. Here again the text carries us into eastern climes. Bodily ablutions are much more common there than among us. With the Jews, too, they partook sometimes of a sacred character. The prophet mentions two things, sin and uncleanness, but he has only one in his mind—sin under the figure of uncleanness. Does uncleanness degrade whatever it touches? So has sin degraded us. Is uncleanness a disgusting and loathsome thing? If there is anything disgusting in the universe, it is sin. When God calls it by this name, He represents it as something which He cannot bear to look upon. In the text is a remedy for this hateful evil. It is a suitable, a real, effectual remedy for it. It is a fountain that can remove uncleanness, and is intended to remove it. This fountain is nothing else than the precious blood of God’s own dear Son. That blood was shed for us. As water removes uncleanness from the body, so does this blood remove the guilt of sin from the soul. It does away with it, frees the soul from it, makes our condition as safe, and in the end as happy, as though we had never sinned. This effectual remedy for sin is here described as an abundant, lasting remedy. Thousands may wash in it, and it will be as everflowing as ever, able to cleanse thousands and thousands more.
II. For whom this fountain is intended. For the Jews first, then for all others.
1. The utter insufficiency of all rites and ordinances to cleanse the soul from sin. Who were these men? The very men to whom pertained the law, with all its sacrifices. When guilt oppressed or conscience disquieted them, they could in a few minutes be in their temple, and sharing in its sacrifices and service. But the text addresses them as if they were the very heathen. All their legal ordinances could not expiate their guilt. I is the same with our Christian sacraments. God has ordained them, not to take away sin, but to keep us mindful of it, and of that blood which can take it away.
2. We are taught here the all-sufficiency of Christ’s blood to cleanse the soul. There is no guilt too great for the blood of Christ to wash out, no sinner whom He cannot recover and save.
III. The time when this fountain shall be opened to these sinful men. “In that day.” The day of our Lord’s crucifixion. They point also to a day yet to come, when the Jews as a nation shall be brought to repentance and the reception of Christ. Learn—
1. There can be no real knowledge of Christ without repentance.
2. Wherever there is real repentance there also will God give in the end a real knowledge of His salvation. Would that we might all learn from this Scripture to seek for ourselves a deeper consciousness of sin, a more heartfelt and abiding sorrow on account of it! (C. Bradley.)
The fountain for sin and uncleanness:—
The prophet leads us to consider the legal uncleannesses so much and so fully developed in the Old Testament, and leads us through them to look at the great disease of sin—the leprosy of the soul.
I. The great uncleanness—the spiritual leprosy of the soul. This is that that defileth a man. It is not poverty; it is not sickness nor disease—however terrible or however sinful. That which defileth a man. This inward leprosy maketh a man an offence to God. This evil pervadeth the world, and yet men are as insensible of it as if there were no truth in it.
II. A fountain open for sin and for uncleanness. The fountain is the blood of Jesus. A bubbling fountain, ever full, ever abundant.
III. This fountain is said to be opened. Formerly, this fountain exclusively belonged to the priests and to the Jews; now, it is for the whole house of David, and for all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. There it stands, a fountain without cover, open and free for the very vilest. (J. H. Evans.)
The fountain opened:—
The text contains one important prediction which was fulfilled in Christ. It relates to the consequences of His death, with regard to His people, and shows of what great importance this event was to the whole Christian Church. The accomplishment shows with what confidence and comfort we may rely on the great doctrine of the atonement which it involves.
I. The promise of provision to be made against the effects of sin.
1. The prophet speaks of a fountain to be opened. A fountain is properly the source or springhead of waters. Springs or fountains are called, “living,” when they never cease or intermit, but are always sending forth their streams.
2. The blood of Christ was shed expressly, by appointment of God, and by covenant with the Son of God, for the expiation of human guilt, and for the cleansing and purifying of sinful men.
3. There is an inexhaustible fulness and sufficiency of merit in this blood of the Redeemer for the complete expiation of human sin. In its atoning and cleansing properties, the blood of Immanuel is as infinite as the mercy of God which it procures for sinners, and for the exercise of which it prepares the way.
4. This blood of Jesus Christ may be appropriated to the case and wants of any sinner that comes. Sinners may apply believingly to this blood, and obtain from it, not only the cleansing they require, but also plenteous forgiveness, substantial peace, and animating hope.
II. The persons for whom this provision against the effects of sin is promised.
1. By this expression the prophet intended primarily God’s ancient people, the Jews. But the Jews, as the peculiar people of God, were a type of Christians, and His people everywhere. It is no presumption in us to conclude, as we have already assumed, that this promised provision is intended for us.
2. The double phrase may denote both rich and poor in God’s Church.
III. The time when the promise was to be verified. The promise was actually fulfilled on the day of the Saviour’s crucifixion on Calvary. (J. Jaques, M.A.)
The opened fountain:—
The application of this prophecy to Messiah is beyond all doubt. It contains the announcement of a divinely appointed and effectual remedy for the guilt and misery of man.
1. The certainty of this provision. “There shall be a fountain.”
2. The perpetuity of this provision.
3. The freeness of this provision.
4. The sufficiency of this provision. (W. G. Barrett.)
The Lord Jesus Christ a fountain:—
I. In what sense may the Lord Jesus be depicted as the fountain opened? In opposition to those many broken cisterns of human invention to which men are prone to apply. In opposition to those rivulets, those brooks, which are occasionally good, but which soon flow away and are lost. Under the law there were various lavers prepared for the purpose of purifying from ceremonial guilt and pollution. Jesus is a fountain in opposition to all these types and images. The Lord Jesus is the fountain, because He Himself in His own power, in His own essence, contains inexhaustible and perpetual fulness.
II. For what purpose the Lord Jesus is this fountain. For sin and for uncleanness. All sin is uncleanness. Repeating the expression gives more enlarged views of the efficacy of faith, and the grace of our Lord. For the purpose of giving comfort and peace to the believer the terms are doubled. This fountain cleanses not only from the guilt of sin, but also from the accusing and terrifying power of sin in the conscience.
III. To whom is it opened? “The house of David and inhabitants of Jerusalem.” In the East there were often contentions over fountains; this one is free to all. An open fountain, to which all ranks, all stations, all ages, all conditions, may repair. (Archdeacon Law.)
The fountain opened:—
I. The fountain that is opened.
1. The plenitude of Divine grace. It is not a wasting stream, that soon exhausts its store, but a never-failing fountain, ever flowing in plenteous supplies for every demand. The Lord Jehovah is emphatically styled, “The God of all grace.” Millions have been refreshed by this fountain, and still it is undiminished. There is “enough for all, and enough for evermore.”
2. The freeness of Divine grace. It is not a fountain sealed up, and forbidden; but freely opened and accessible to all. None are excluded from participating its richest blessings (Rev. 22:17). No personal merit, or moral worthiness, is required in its willing recipients.
II. The period when it was opened. “In that day,” &c. When this expression occurs in the prophetic writings, it generally refers to the actual appearing, or spiritual reign of the Messiah. But we ought to notice respecting this fountain, that—
1. It was virtually opened in the original scheme of redemption. According to God’s gracious promise to mankind, Christ is called, “The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”
2. It was actually opened in the mediatorial work of the Redeemer. When the fulness of time was come, Christ was manifested in the flesh, to accomplish the will of God, and procure the salvation of sinners. He then fully opened this fountain, by fulfilling all righteousness in His own person—becoming the propitiation for our sins—rising again for our justification—ascending to heaven to be our Advocate with the Father—and diffusing an enlarged dispensation of the Holy Ghost; it was ministerially opened in the labours and writings of the Apostles, as “ambassadors for Christ” (1 Cor. 1:23, 24, 30); and it still continues open.
III. The people to whom it is opened. “The house of David, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.” It is very evident—
1. This fountain was primarily opened to the Jews. To the Jews Christ was promised, and to them He came as His own people, according to the flesh. His personal ministry was generally confined to them; and He commanded His apostles to open their commission at Jerusalem, and preach the Gospel first to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Luke 24:46, 47).
2. This fountain is now graciously opened to the Gentiles. The blessings of the Messiah were not to be confined to the Jewish Church. He was sent to be a light of the Gentiles, and for salvation to the ends of the earth.” “By the grace of God He tasted death for every man.”
IV. The purpose for which it is opened. It is “for sin and for uncleanness.” This implies—
1. A fountain is opened for the expiation of sin. The death of Christ was a perfect sacrifice, by which an atonement was made for the sins of mankind.
2. A fountain is opened for the destruction of sin. It must not only be sacrificially expiated, but personally destroyed. The Son of God effects this destruction by the merit of His death, and the operation of His grace (Titus 2:14). All sin is moral uncleanness, and spreads its infectious disease through every power, both of body and soul. The ceremonial purifications under the law were emblematic of the efficacy of this fountain (Heb. 9:13, 14). (Skeletons of Sermons.)
The fountain opened:—
The fulfilment of this prophecy has never yet taken place, and will probably be considerably posterior to our times. Though not fulfilled to the Jews, yet, to us the fountain is opened.
I. What is this fountain? The ancient Jews had their sacrifices, and purifying oblations. They have now been long without a sacrifice and a priesthood. We are not to understand that these Levitical fountains will be opened again, as some have dreamed. The blood of animals might be an instituted means of taking away a ceremonial guilt, which yet left the sinner as he was before, in regard to the Governor of the world; but it had no fitness to take away moral guilt, because it failed in the two great principles of a true atonement,—a manifestation of the evil of sin, and a demonstration of God’s righteous government. These meet in Christ, who is the true fountain.
II. Its efficacy. In the removal of “sin and uncleanness.”
1. Sin is the “transgression of the law.” The law is transgressed in three ways,—by a violation of its precepts, by a neglect of its injunctions, and by a defect in its observance. Bringing all under the penalty of death.
2. Uncleanness (margin, “separation for uncleanness”). Allusion to arrangements in the Levitical system; typical of the manner in which sin separates between the soul and God.
III. The day when the fountain is opened. The day of our Lord’s crucifixion. The day when the Gospel is first preached in a heathen land. The day when a “Spirit of grace and supplication” is poured out. Whenever a penitent mourns. In every means of grace, that pardon may be repeated, and our sinful nature cleansed. We need never attend any of the ordinances of religious worship without receiving a renewed application of the blood of Christ, and a fresh communication of sanctifying grace. (R. Watson.)
The fountain opened:—
In the text the prophet anticipates the personal manifestation of the Messiah, and the unspeakable benefits to mankind from His atoning sacrifice.
I. The fountain that is opened. Fountain is a metaphor. It represents the mediatorial character of Christ, as the source and medium of salvation to the human race. A fountain opened implies—
1. The plenitude of Divine grace. It is a never-failing fountain, ever flowing in plenteous supplies for every demand.
2. The freeness of Divine grace. It is not sealed, but freely opened, and accessible to all.
II. The period when it was opened. “In that day.” This expression, in the prophetic writings, generally refers to the actual appearing, or spiritual reign of Messiah. It refers to Christ’s assumption of our nature, and sacrifice for our sins.
1. It was virtually opened in the original scheme of redemption.
2. It was actually opened in the mediatorial work of the Redeemer.
III. The people to whom it is opened.
1. This fountain was primarily opened to the Jews.
2. It is now graciously opened to the Gentiles.
IV. The purpose for which it is opened. It is “for sin and for uncleanness.” This implies—
1. A fountain is opened for the expiation of sin. The death of Christ was a perfect sacrifice, by which an atonement was made for the sins of mankind.
2. A fountain is opened for the destruction of sin. The ceremonial purifications under the law were emblematic of the efficacy of this fountain. (C. Simeon, M.A.)
The new economy of grace:—
It is not to the advent of a person, or to the occurrence of any historical event, that the prophecy in the beginning of this section refers: what is announced is the establishment of the economy of grace, the bringing in of the kingdom of God, free access to which should be given to all, small and great. There was provision made for the cleansing from sin and uncleanness of all without respect of persons; the Jew first, but also the Greek. The manifestation of this was by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who came to take away sin by the sacrifice of Himself; but it is the thing done rather than the doer of it that is here announced. It is for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem that this fountain is said to be opened. They seem to err grievously, however, who infer from this that this prophecy refers to the final conversion of the Jewish people. The prophets are wont to describe the new dispensation in language borrowed from the condition and usages of the old, and we interpret them aright when keeping this in view, we understand their descriptions, not as representations of simple historical facts, but as serving as the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, and as finding their fulfilment in crises and conditions of the kingdom of God on earth. They go upon the presumption that the Israel of God was never to be abolished, that its continuity was never to be interrupted, that though the outward national Israel might be cast off, because of their rejection of the Good Shepherd, the true Israel, the reality of which the other was but the symbol, the Israel that was really Israel, should continue for ever. This idea our Lord and His Apostles adopted, and in their teaching and administrations carried out. (W. L. Alexander, D.D.)
A fountain for sin:—
Remission of sins and sanctification, purging away the guilt of sin by the grace of God in forgiving sins through Christ’s blood, and the virtue of His blood applied by the Spirit, and laid hold upon by faith, for purging all uncleanness of sin; this is compared to a springing fountain made open to all, in opposition to the small measure of water carried into the temple for legal washings. This benefit will be very conspicuous toward converted Israel, when the Redeemer shall turn iniquity from Jacob.
1. The great and chief privilege of the Gospel is remission and purging of sin, which, as they are only attainable through faith laying hold on Christ’s blood and the grace of God offered through Him in the Gospel, so without these, no other advantages by the Gospel will avail much, or be comfortable.
2. The free grace of God toward lost man, and the virtue of Christ’s blood is a treasure inexhaustible, and which cannot be overcome, with the greatness and multiplicity of sin in those who flee unto it, for it is a fountain or spring.
3. Pardon and virtue for purging of sin is not only purchased, and the way to it made patent, by the death of Christ, giving access unto God through Him; but is held forth in the offer of the Gospel and ministry of the Word, that none may pretend ignorance, nor any who need it seclude themselves from so free an offer, “A fountain opened.”
4. As the greatest must be in Christ’s reverence for this benefit, even those who have greatest gifts and are rulers of others, so the meanest in the Church, however they be not equal to others in gifts, yet have a like interest with them in this saving benefit.
5. When the Lord pours out upon His people the spirit of repentance and humiliation, it is a forerunner of ample manifestations of the grace of God, in opening up the treasures of the Gospel by the ministry of the Word, and in granting of pardon, and growth in purity. For, when “the land shall mourn,” “in that day there shall be a fountain opened.” (George Hutcheson.)
A word full of Gospel:—
The twelfth chapter of Zechariah is principally occupied with the indications of some particular day. Thus, we read again and again: “In that day” (ver. 3); “In that day” (ver. 4); “In that day” (ver. 6); “In that day” (ver. 8); “In that day” (ver. 9); and “In that day,” in the opening of the thirteenth chapter—“In that day there shall be a fountain opened.” The reference is not in reality to some particular day; the day was not the same, the calendar was filled with that particular day, and yet the day was singular from all other days round about it. In all the previous instances we find nothing equal to the music that is discoverable in the opening of the thirteenth chapter. We read, “In that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone”; “In that day I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness”; “In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf”; “In that day shall there be great mourning in Jerusalem”; but now, in the thirteenth chapter, “In that day there shall be a fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness”—a fountain of water, a living fountain, hidden all the time in the rock; not a new fountain, the fountain was always there, but not always open; its existence was recognised by many a ceremonial action. We read of water in the Book of Numbers that is known in the literal Hebrew as “the sin-water,” that is to say, the water that was applied to the cleansing of moral and spiritual offences. We delight to give an evangelical interpretation to this fountain. We call Jesus Christ the Son of God, the fountain that was opened for sin and for uncleanness. He offered to make men clean, He offered to refresh the souls of men with living water; He is described as the Water of earth, or the Water of heaven. David did not open the fountain, the fountain was opened in his house; the very grammar suggests an external and superintending act. In this living fountain we recognise God’s supreme miracle. For whom is the fountain opened? For a special class, and for that class only. It is not opened for Pharisees, righteous persons, or those who would carve their own way to heaven. This fountain is opened for sin and for uncleanness. Is any man conscious of sin? Here is the fountain. Has any man sat down by rivers of water and taken to him soap and nitre, and tried to cleanse his life of sin stains, and has consciously and pitiably failed in his attempt? Here is the fountain opened for uncleanness. Have we tried this fountain? Until we have tried it we cannot condemn it; until we have gone to it and sat beside it and invoked the spirit of its Creator, we cannot tell what virtue it possesses. (Joseph Parker, D.D.)
The fountain of life:—
Old mythology tells of one who discovered in his wanderings a fountain of peculiar qualities, and on bathing in it, found himself endowed with immortality. In the Holy Scripture this fiction is turned into solid fact. The Saviour’s fulness is original and boundless; the fulness of a spring always flowing and never diminished. The whole abundance of God’s free grace is poured unto us from this unfailing source. The fountain of life was opened on the day when the Divine Redeemer suffered and died for us. During the brief period of our Saviour’s ministry, the fountain flowed in partial streams, but at His death it was fully and for ever opened. The Mosaic law had made ample provision for ceremonial pollution, and there were pools, like that of Siloam, where bodily disease might be cured, but the soul must be washed in another fountain. The stains of sin were so deep and so pervading, that even the conscience itself was defiled, and “the everlasting benediction of God’s heavenly washing,” could alone render the soul meet for His presence and glory. Such provision, accordingly, has been made, and a fountain has been opened for sin and for uncleanness. There are those who hope to cleanse themselves by some methods of their own. Would God have opened this fountain, if any other would have sufficed? The fountain stands open in the means of grace; in the invitations of God’s Word; in the nearness, the power, the grace of our adorable Lord and Saviour. (John N. Norton.)
The gospel age:—
I. It is a “day” for the abounding of sin cleansing influences.—To the Jews, washing from sin and ceremonial impurity was an idea with which they were well acquainted. It was enjoined by the law (Numbers 8:7, see also Ezekiel 36:25). That sin and uncleanness are in the world. This is a fact written in all history, patent to every man’s observation and consciousness.
2. The removal of sin is the world’s great necessity. Its existence is the cause of all the miseries of the world, physical, social, political, religious.
3. Provision for its removal abounds. “A fountain opened.” Sin and uncleanness are not an essential part of human nature. Men have lived without sin, and men in heaven do now. It is a mere stain on human nature, separable from it, and the means of separation are provided, provided in the Gospel. It is a fountain. This implies—
1. Abundance. It is not a rill, a brook, a lake, but a fountain. What is the fountain? Infinite love. This implies—
2. Freeness. Flowing, ever open to all. This implies—
3. Perpetuity. The hottest sun does not dry up the fountain. It has an under connection with the boundless deep.
II. It is a “day” in which idolatry shall be utterly abolished. What a blessed age will that be, when all men on the face of the earth shall have their souls centred in love and devotion on the one great and common Father of us all!
III. It is a “day” in which all false religious teachings shall cease. “And I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirits to pass out of the land,” &c.
1. False religious teachers are great curses to a community. This is implied in the promise here of their destruction. They deceive souls on the most vital of all points.
2. False religious teachers may become objects of indignation even to their nearest relations. Thank God there is an age of reality coming, an age when men will recoil from shams as from “demons vile.”
3. False teachers will on this “day” be ashamed to exercise their mission. If any false prophets should continue to exercise their function, they will have to do it—
(1) in secrecy;
(2) and disclaiming their profession. Should their disclaiming be questioned, they will take shelter in falsehood. “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.”
Christ cleanses as well as forgives:—
A criminal, condemned by our law to die, can only be spared by the King empowering the Home Secretary to reprieve or pardon. Even then to remove the stain that must always rest upon that person’s character is utterly beyond the power of them both. How different with Jesus. His power is unlimited. He not only is able to forgive sins, but He can cleanse away every trace of guilt, and present us faultless unto God.
The cleansing fountain:—
“A fountain,” says James Bailie, “not a stagnant pool or a sluggish canal, but a torrent, a waterfall. God’s love flows forth like a great river over the Rock of Ages. Men bathe in that fountain, and their sins are swept away into the dead sea of God’s forgetfulness. God has pardoned transgressions, the very recital of which would have utterly destroyed our faith in human nature. One of the strongest proofs of Divine origin of Christianity is that it has received in its embrace liars, swindlers, and adulterers, and having cleansed and purified them, made them ornaments of society.
The remedy near at hand:—
Do you know that the wound that Hedley Vicars received before Sebastopol was not necessarily fatal? It was a wound that was very common, and a wound over which the surgeons had complete control, yet he died. How was it? It was because, in the hurry and haste of the march in the grey morning from the heights of the Crimea, the tents where the stores were, were left behind. Had there been a bandage near, had there been lint and cotton-wool near, Hedley Vicars would have been saved; but he bled his life away before they could reach the tents. Ah, David tells you to-day that the tents where God’s supplies are, are never too far away. Blessed be God, the bandages, and lint, and healing efficacy of the blood of Christ, are not confined to Calvary, where it was shed. Here it flows. Oh, plunge into the fountain that was opened for sin! (John Robertson.)
The sense of sin:—
The sense of sin, we are told, is weaker to-day than it once was. Are we quite sure, if we could penetrate beneath the crust of men’s reserve? An American humorist has put it, but oh! so truly, “In his heart of hearts no man can have much respect for himself.” In our heart of hearts, in our moments of colloquy with ourselves, when we feel ourselves to be in the presence of another whom we cannot name, we accuse ourselves, and there is no escape from the accusation and its penalty. The sense of sin may be outwardly weaker, but you are always upon safe ground if you appeal to the condemned conscience that is in every man. We have seen our life is marred by the presence of sin; and that mournful fact is not partial but universal. Touch the man and you touch one who has been seared and scored by the presence of an enemy, and that enemy is sin. (R. J. Campbell, B.A.)[10]
13:1. The word fountain refers to a spring or flowing water source that is tapped or unleashed. The metaphor signifies an ‘artesian well’ that gushes forth pure water to provide cleansing and purification. Later, Zechariah describes the continuous flow of this spring or fountain as living water (Zech. 14:8). In the NT, Jesus proclaimed himself to be the source of this living water (John 4:14), and John’s vision of the new heaven and the new earth describes a river flowing with the water of life coursing out of the throne of God and the Lamb (Rev. 22:1–2; cf. Ezek. 47:1–12). The verb be opened suggests that the fountain or spring is readily available; it only needs to be tapped. The participial form of the verb ‘implies that the fountain is to be opened continuously’.
The purpose of this fountain is to cleanse them from sin and impurity. This kind of thorough cleansing or purification was symbolized in the ritual washings and sacrifices of OT worship practices (cf. Exod. 30:17–21; Heb. 10:1–2). Such cleansing was a provision of the new covenant promised by Jeremiah (Jer. 31:34) and Ezekiel (Ezek. 36:25). The word sin is a general term for human misconduct in the form of disobedience to the laws of God (cf. Deut. 9:18). The term to cleanse is an infinitive verbal form, with the object implied (cf. NJPS, ‘a fountain … for purging’). The word impurity (Heb. niddâ) often describes sexual impurity and ritual impurity (cf. Lev. 15:19; Ezra 9:11; Ezek. 18:6; 36:17). This fountain of cleansing may foreshadow the forgiveness of sin in the new covenant era (cf. Jer. 31:34; Ezek. 36:25). The two terms are connected with water in the book of Numbers in contexts associated with the ritual purification of priests (Num. 8:7) and the cleansing of unclean persons contaminated by contact with polluting substances. Zechariah has reworked familiar texts, replacing the ‘waters’ passages of Numbers ‘with the “cosmic fountain opened by Yahweh” … that enables this passage to achieve its effect of assuring that the past deeds of the restored rulers and bureaucrats have been duly admitted (12:10), mourned (12:10–14), and now washed away’. Taken together, the two words indicate that the Hebrews will experience a complete moral and spiritual cleansing as a result of their sorrow and mourning over their sin (Zech. 12:10–14).[11]
13:1. Whatever had been the motivation behind the crime, an aspect not touched on in the text, it had been deliberate and premeditated. All the more remarkable then that there shall be a fountain opened … to cleanse them. This was a cleansing unknown in the pre-Christian era, though it was promised by Ezekiel (Ezek. 36:25), and illustrated by Zechariah in the removal of Joshua’s filthy robes (Zech. 3:4, 9). This fountain was to cleanse even from the murder perpetrated on the Lord’s representative; indeed the crime would be connected with the possibility of cleansing, as this little section teaches (cf. ‘on that day … mourning’, 12:11, with ‘on that day … a fountain’, 13:1).
Sin (Heb. ḥaṭṭaʾt) is the general term for human misconduct, while uncleanness (Heb. niddâ) covers ritual and sexual impurity; the latter is a favourite word with Ezekiel (e.g. Ezek. 36:17, 25), who, in company with other prophets, included idolatry under the figure of adultery. For this reason the word may have prompted the prophet’s next theme (verses 2–6). If Ezekiel’s ‘sprinkling with water’ suggested the fountain for cleansing, Ezekiel’s river (Ezek. 47), flowing out of the sanctuary and bringing healing, was to be referred to also (Zech. 14:8), to symbolize the wonder of forgiveness, cleansing, restoration, for a guilt-ridden world.[12]
From this verse we again learn, that Zechariah promised the spirit of repentance to the Jews, so that they would find God still propitious to them, when their circumstances were brought to the verge of despair: for it would not have been enough for them to feel sorrow, except God himself became propitious and merciful to them. He had said indeed that the Spirit of grace and of commiserations would be poured forth; but he had not as yet taught clearly what he now adds respecting remission and pardon. After having then declared that there would be felt by the Jews the bitterest sorrow, because they had as it were pierced God, he now mentions the fruit of this repentance. And hence also appears what Paul means by sorrow not to be repented of; for it generates repentance unto salvation. When then our sorrow is blessed by the Lord, the end is to be regarded; for our hearts are thereby raised up to joy. But the issue of repentance, as Zechariah declares here, is ablution: and he alludes to the legal rites when he says,
A fountain shall be opened to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. We know that formerly under the law many washings were prescribed to the Jews; and when any one had become defiled, to wash himself was the remedy. It is certain that water was of no value to cleanse the heart; but the sins of men, we know, are expiated by the death of Christ, so that true ablution is by the blood which he shed for us. Hence the types of the law ought no doubt to be referred to this blood. The meaning is—that God would be reconciled to the Jews when they became touched with sincere sorrow, and that reconciliation would be ready for them, for the Lord would cleanse them from every defilement.
He speaks of a fountain opened; and he no doubt intimates here a difference between the law and the gospel. Water was brought daily to the temple; but it was, we know, for private washings. But Zechariah promises here a perpetual stream of cleansing water; as though he had said, “Ablution will be free to all, when God shall again receive his people into favour.” Though remission of sins was formerly offered under the law, yet it is now much more easily obtained by us; not that God grants a license to sin, but that the way in which our filth is cleansed, has become more evident since the coming of Christ. For the fathers under the law were indeed fully assured that God was so propitious as not to impute sins; but where was the pledge of ablution? In the sprinkling of blood, and that blood was the blood of a calf or a lamb. Now since we know that we have been redeemed by Christ, and that our souls are sprinkled with his blood by the hidden power of the Holy Spirit, it is doubtless the same as though God had not only set before our eyes our ablution, but also placed it as it were in our hands, while to the fathers it was more obscure or shown to them at a distance.
And he says, To the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. He had before restricted God’s favour to that city, that he might goad the Jews, who had preferred their outward gratifications to so great a happiness; for they thought themselves happy in their exile, because they inhabited a pleasant and fruitful country, and enjoyed quietness and peace; and thus it happened that they despised the deliverance offered to them. Hence the Prophet promises here to the citizens of Jerusalem and to the royal family a fountain in which they might wash away their filth; for from Sion was the law to go forth, and from Jerusalem the word of the Lord. (Is. 2:2.) And we know that from thence were taken the first-fruits of the new Church. What we have before seen respecting God’s favour being extended farther, is no objection; for both events were in their due order fulfilled, as God blessed the tribe of Judah, who trusted in his promises and returned to their own country, and afterwards extended wider his favour, and gathered into one body those who had been dispersed through distant parts of the world.
He adds, For sin and for uncleanness, or as some read, “for sprinkling,” which is by no means suitable, except the word “sin” be taken for expiation. The word is derived from נדד, nedad, but it often means sprinkling, sometimes uncleanness, and sometimes the uncleanness of women, and so some render it here. The verb signifies to remove or to separate; and hence נדה, nede, is the removal of a woman from her husband during her uncleanness, but it is applied to designate any uncleanness. It might indeed be taken here for the uncleanness of women, as an instance of a part for the whole; but I am led by the context to render it uncleanness. Now if we translate חטאת, chethat, sin, then נדה, nede, must be rendered uncleanness; but if the first be expiation, then the second may be sprinkling: and this meaning I am disposed to take, for under the law sins were cleansed by sacrifices as well as by washings.
The import of the whole then is—that though the Jews had in various ways defiled themselves, so that they were become filthy before God, and their uncleanness was abominable, yet a fountain would be prepared for them, by which they might cleanse themselves, so as to come before God pure and clean. We hence see that it was the Prophet’s object to show, that the repentance of which he had spoken would not be useless, for there would be a sure issue, when God favoured the Jews, and showed himself propitious to them, and already pacified, and even provided for them a cleansing by the blood of his only-begotten Son, so that no filth might prevent them to call on him boldly and in confidence; for instead of the legal rites there would be the reality, as their hearts would be sprinkled by the Spirit, so that they would be purified by faith, and would thus cast away all their filth.[13]
Ver. 1.—In that day. At the time when the great mourning (ch. 12) takes place, or, more generally, in the Messianic period, when all these things shall be fulfilled. Shall be a fountain opened, etc. Shall be opened and continue open. The allusion is to the lustral rites practised in the consecration of the Levites, who were to have “water of sin” sprinkled on them and to “the water of separation,” or “water of uncleanness” (the word found in our passage), used for purposes of legal purification (see Numb. 8:7; 19:9). Instead of this merely ceremonial cleansing, there should be in the Christian Church the cleansing of the soul by the blood of Christ (1 Pet. 1:2; 1 John 1:7). Septuagint, Ἔσται πᾶς τόπος διανοιγόμενος, “Every place shall be opened.” The house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem represent the whole nation, as in ch. 12:10; the cleansing is as universal as the sin (see the announcement in Ezek. 36:25; 47:1–12; Joel 3:18). For sin and for uncleanness. The latter word is used for the separation on account of uncleanness (Lev. 15:20, etc.); and the two terms together comprise all guilt and pollution.[14]
1. If by faith, as the Prophet wrote, the Reader is led now to contemplate the mercy here promised, he must take his stand at the foot of the cross, and behold the soldier’s spear, as the instrument opening the fountain in the heart of Christ, as Jehovah appointed, for sin and for uncleanness. I need not again repeat what hath been so often observed through all the writings of the Prophets; namely, that the day here alluded to, is the day of the Gospel, Christ’s day and glory. Looking at Jesus on the cross, we do indeed behold the Lamb of God, as John the Baptist cried out in his ministry, taking away sin by the sacrifice of himself. John 1:29. And, Reader! do not fail to observe, that this sacred laver for cleansing, is a fountain, not a stream, but a fountain, springing from itself. So the Church sung. Song 4:15. And observe yet further, for whom it is opened, namely, the same as in the following Chapter, the spirit of grace and supplications were to be opened upon the house of David, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Jesus’ whole family, both Jew and Gentile, for all are alike unclean, and all need cleansing. Hence the Church in heaven are represented as having washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Rev. 7:14. Reader! sit down by faith around this crimson fountain, and contemplate the whole Church as made clean only by the washing in this one laver; and when yon have duly pondered the vast and momentous subject, look up, and bless Jehovah, Father, Son, and Spirit, for this unequalled gift, whereby alone all our uncleanness, filthiness, and sin, could be done away. 1 John 1:7; 1 Cor. 6:11; Ezek. 36:24–32.[15]
13:1. ‘In that day, a fountain will be opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem to remove guilt and defilement.’
The repentant people need to be cleansed from their iniquity, so God will open up for them ‘a fountain’, or ‘spring’, from which will flow the running water necessary for ritual purification (see Lev. 14:5). Like the purifying waters that resulted from the sacrifice of the red heifer in Numbers 19, this flowing spring of purification would effectively cleanse away their guilt and defilement.[16]
13:1 / For the last time in the book of Zechariah God makes a promise regarding the house of David. The promise also includes the inhabitants of Jerusalem. This is the eighth of seventeen promises in chapters 12–14 that begin with the phrase, on that day. A fountain will be opened in Jerusalem. Ezekiel 47:1–12, Joel 3:18, and Zechariah 14:8 describe an eschatological water source that will flow out of the temple and water the land. This fountain in 13:1 has a ritual purpose to cleanse [the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem] from sin and impurity. Water purifies people and objects from uncleanness that results from contact with the dead, according to the torah in Numbers 19 and 31:23. The water of cleansing prepares the Levites for service by making them ceremonially clean (Num. 8:7). God promises to gather Israelite exiles from the nations and to cleanse them from impurities and idols by sprinkling them with clean water (Ezek. 36:25). None of these purification rituals include animal sacrifices. The Lord, who is “the spring [or fountain] of living water” (Jer. 2:13; 17:13), is the ultimate source of the cleansing water and the purification that it accomplishes.[17]
1 The depiction of the deep mourning in 12:10–14 is followed by the revelation that provision will be made for the cleansing of the sins, possibly past and future, of those mentioned at the outset of 12:10: the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. This cleansing is facilitated by the opening of a spring. The verb opened (pāṯaḥ Qal) is used for opening up sources of water in Isa. 41:18, where it refers to rivers and springs, and Ps. 105:41, where it refers to opening up rock for water to flow. The term used for spring (māqôr) appears alongside maʿyān (“spring”) in Hos. 13:15 and Prov. 25:26. It is used to describe the Euphrates River or its source. It is contrasted with cisterns in Jer. 2:13 because it refers to a source of fresh water, that is, water of life (running water; cf. Jer. 17:13). Such water flowing from a “spring” is used for ritual cleansing in priestly texts (e.g., Lev. 14:5, 50). Zechariah 14 also depicts a new water source in Jerusalem, but there the impact of the water is on that which lies outside Jerusalem, since rivers flow to the east and west, emptying in the seas (14:8), while here in Zechariah 13 the impact of the water is focused on those who reside within Jerusalem. See further on 14:8 for the association between Jerusalem, the temple, and the source of water on earth.
This spring’s purpose is related to sin and impurity. The first term (sin, ḥaṭṭāʾṯ) is a more general term for sin, while the second (impurity, niddâ) often refers to the menstrual bleeding of a woman or to touching a corpse,4 but in some cases has a more general sense of defilement.
The language used in 13:1 suggests close connections with the priestly worldview. Priestly legislation focuses on the movement between the categories of holy, common, clean, and unclean (Lev. 10:10, 11; cf. Ezek. 22:26; 44:23). Various priestly rituals, including sacrifice, anointing (with blood, oil, water), shaving, laundering, and bathing, facilitate the movement from the state of unclean to clean (a process understood as “cleansing”; ṭāhar Piel), or from clean to holy (a process understood as “sanctifying”; qāḏaš Piel). Sin and impurity initiate the opposite movement from holy to clean (a process understood as “profaning”; ḥālal Piel), and from clean to unclean (a process understood as “defiling”; ṭāmēʾ Piel). The distinction between physical ritual impurity and moral sin is often fuzzy in the priestly legislation. Thus, the remedy for the infractions described in Lev. 5:1–4 is a sin-purification offering (ḥaṭṭāʾṯ) rendered for “his sin which he has sinned” (ḥaṭṭāʾṯô ʾašer-ḥāṭāʾ; 5:6), even though the infractions listed there include both moral violations (5:1, 4) and accidental breaches of the ritual priestly code (5:2, 3). This sin-purification offering is legislated for cases of ritual uncleanness rather than moral infractions in Lev. 12:8 and 14:19 (cf. 14:22, 31; 15:15, 30). Furthermore, moral violations have an impact on ritual purity, seen not only in the Day of Atonement legislation in Leviticus 16, but also in cases where there is defiant disregard for ritual purity laws (Lev. 7:20, 21; 20:18; 22:3; Num. 19:13, 20). Defiant moral violations clearly are linked to impurity in priestly texts, in particular sexual sins (e.g., Lev. 18:24–30), idolatry (e.g., Lev. 19:31; 20:1–3), sacrifice to Molech (e.g., Lev. 20:2–5), and bloodshed (e.g., Num. 35:33–34).
Here in 13:1 water is used for dealing with sin and impurity. The water from this spring could be related to anointing, laundering, or bathing. Reference to sin and impurity probably indicates the full breadth of priestly infractions, including moral violations and ritual impurity, although it is possible that it is ritual impurity that is in view. If moral violations are in view, the water provided through this spring transcends any function of water in the priestly legislation, which was effective for dealing with physical impurity but not for moral sin.9 If this moral sin was deliberate, high-handed sin, there was no remedy available within the priestly system, which provided only for inadvertent errors and minor deliberate sins (Num. 15:22, 31; cf. Lev. 5:1, 20, 26[6:1, 7]).10 In the OT there were two remedies for deliberate, high-handed sins which would include moral infractions, such as murder or illicit sexual actions, and religious infractions, such as idolatry and false prophecy. On the one side, Yahweh could forgive the individual or group by divine fiat, and this may be related to a penitential response (affections, words, or actions) by the offending party or not. On the other side, the Torah legislated capital punishment for such offenses. What precedes 13:1 in 12:10–14 reflects the former approach, in which Yahweh grants the community a spirit of favor and of pleading for favor, so that the people experience the grace of God and are motivated to seek this grace through faithful mourning over their past actions against Yahweh. What follows 13:1 in 13:2–5 reflects the latter approach, as Yahweh deals with the deliberate infractions of idolatry and false prophecy through capital punishment. The use of water here to bring cleansing for this impurity, however, most likely reflects Ezekiel 36, where the sin of idolatry which brought impurity (36:17) is cleansed by Yahweh sprinkling clean water on the restoration community (36:25).[18]
13:1 The repentance at the end of the previous chapter leads to what Perowne, 134, calls worthy fruits of repentance in vv. 1–6. But v. 1 also contains new-covenant terminology. In Jeremiah 31:33–34 God promised Israel these provisions: (1) enablement through his Spirit to obey his law (v. 33a; cf. Eze 36:26–27); (2) an intimate personal relationship and fellowship (v. 33b); (3) a saving knowledge of himself (v. 34a; cf. Ro 11:26a); and (4) the forgiveness of sins (v. 34b; cf. Eze 36:25; Zec 3:4, 9). It is clear from the NT (e.g., Lk 22:20; 1 Co 11:25; Heb 8–10) that the church—Gentiles and the spiritual remnant of Israel (Ro 11:1–16)—is today the recipient of the benefits promised to Israel in the new covenant. The church’s receipt of those benefits is made possible only by God’s sovereign, gracious grafting of Gentiles into that place of blessing (Ro 11:17–24).
These blessings will yet be experienced by ethnic Israel at the second advent of their Messiah (Ro 11:25–29), thus preparing the priestly nation for the Lord’s service (ch. 3). The cleansing referred to in v. 1 is related particularly to the fourth provision of the new covenant (see above) and is ultimately made possible through the atoning death of the Pierced One (12:10).[19]
[1] Criswell, W. A., Patterson, P., Clendenen, E. R., Akin, D. L., Chamberlin, M., Patterson, D. K., & Pogue, J., eds. (1991). Believer’s Study Bible (electronic ed., Zec 13:1). Thomas Nelson.
[3] Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., Whitehead, M. M., Grigoni, M. R., & Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Zec 13:1). Lexham Press.
[8] Lindsey, F. D. (1985). Zechariah. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 1568). Victor Books.
[9] Rydelnik, M. A. (2014). Zechariah. In M. A. Rydelnik & M. Vanlaningham (Eds.), The moody bible commentary (p. 1434). Moody Publishers.
[17] Goldingay, J., & Scalise, P. J. (2012). Minor Prophets II (W. W. Gasque, R. L. Hubbard Jr., & R. K. Johnston, Eds.; pp. 301–302). Baker Books.
[18] Boda, M. J. (2016). The Book of Zechariah (R. K. Harrison & R. L. Hubbard Jr., Eds.; pp. 722–725). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
[19] Barker, K. L. (2008). Zechariah. In T. Longman III & D. E. Garland (Eds.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Daniel–Malachi (Revised Edition) (Vol. 8, p. 819). Zondervan.
2 Chronicles 5:3 — Notice that they assembled for a feast. There are times where it is appropriate to celebrate and not to fast (Mark 2:19). Even though we have incredibly detailed records of other items, we cannot number the amount of sacrifices that were made to celebrate this building in order to glorify the LORD!
2 Chronicles 5:10 — What was within the Ark that was so holy that it killed Uzzah (2 Samuel 6:7) and the seventy of Beth-shemesh who looked inside (1 Samuel 6:19)? The two tables of the Mosaic Covenant containing the Ten Commandments written with the finger of God. The physical mark of the divine covenant with a designated human response.
2 Chronicles 5:14 — The glory of the LORD had returned! This is the first time the glory had been observed in roughly 450 years. Interestingly, during the Exodus, 5 of the 8 times the glory of the LORD appeared was in conjunction with the wrath of God against the murmuring of Israel, while the other 3 times were in coordination with the explanation of the tabernacle, the dedication of the tabernacle, and the first use of the tabernacle.
It appeared in the cloud at the introduction of manna in the wilderness (Exodus 16:10) following the murmuring of Israel (Exodus 16:2)
It appeared atop Mount Sinai at the explanation of the tabernacle to Moses (Exodus 24:17)
It appeared in the Tabernacle at the dedication of the tabernacle (Exodus 40:35)
It appeared in the Tabernacle at the first burnt offering (Leviticus 9:23)
It appeared in the Tabernacle after the spies returned and the Israelites wanted to stone Moses, Aaron, Joshua, and Caleb (Numbers 14:10)
It appeared at the door of the Tabernacle during Korah’s rebellion (Numbers 16:19) before the earth swallowed Korah and the fire consumed 250 (Numbers 16:32, Numbers 16:35)
It appeared in the Tabernacle when the Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron for killing Korah (Numbers 16:42) before 14,700 died (Numbers 16:49)
It appeared at the door of the Tabernacle (Numbers 20:6) when the Israelites murmured (Numbers 20:1) before God told Moses to speak to the Rock (Numbers 20:8)
Now we see the glory of the LORD (1 Kings 8:11, 2 Chronicles 5:14) at the start of the dedication as well as the end (2 Chronicles 7:1-3).
What do we know about the glory of the LORD?
It endures forever (Psalm 104:31)
It is great (Psalm 138:5)
Distant lands will see it (Isaiah 35:2)
All flesh shall see it (Isaiah 40:5)
It is the “rereward” (KJV) – meaning our rear guard (Isaiah 58:8)
It will arise (Isaiah 60:1) and bring the Gentiles to its light
It made Ezekiel fall on his face (Ezekiel 1:28, Ezekiel 3:23)
It left the Temple (Ezekiel 10:4, Ezekiel 10:8) and went to the Mount of Olives (Ezekiel 11:23).
The Chronicler is with the Exiles who had returned and had read in Ezekiel’s prophecies that the glory was gone. But it had been there on Mount Moriah 500 years ago. About a hundred years before the Chronicles, the glory went from Mount Moriah to the Mount of Olives. But the glory of the LORD would return! It would appear less than 500 years later to those who prepared some special things for Mount Moriah. The glory of the LORD would return to Mount Moriah and once again go to the Mount of Olives. Now 2000 years after that, we behold that same glory (2 Corinthians 3:18)!
2 Chronicles 6:6 — Chronicles points out a word of the LORD that was not recorded in Kings – God’s declaration to David that He had chosen Jerusalem. Other references to His choosing Jerusalem fill the historical books, but the Scripture records the LORD communicating specifically to Solomon (1 Kings 11:13) and Jeroboam (1 Kings 11:32, 1 Kings 11:36). Unfortunately, Jeroboam rejected that message even though it was doubly communicated to him; he opted instead for evil counsel (1 Kings 12:28) that made the people sin (1 Kings 12:30).
Romans 7:12 – Yes, those two tablets contained within the Ark of the Covenant that we read about (2 Chronicles 5:10) are not sin (Romans 7:7) but the way to life (Romans 7:10) and holiness (Romans 7:12). Yet, no one can keep the holy Law, so it was found to be death (Romans 7:10). But now that we are dead to the death of the Law (Romans 7:4) and married to Christ, we can bring forth fruit!
Psalm 17:3 — When we are right with the LORD, following His way with His power, we have His salvation (Psalm 17:7). We are kept as the apple of His eye and under the shadow of His wings (Psalm 17:8).
Psalm 17:15 — We shall not just behold the glory of the LORD, we will awake “with thy likeness.” What does this mean? Check 1 Corinthians 2:9!
Proverbs 19:23 — The fear of the LORD is the way of life that leads us to see the glory of the LORD. It also protects us as we read about in Psalm 17:9.
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Then this age ends, the Lord Jesus will come as the great judge and establish a new order. The end of the world is the next event to occur in Redemptive history. We live in the time when the gospel call goes out to draw people into the kingdom. During this time the church is not only called to spread the good news of Jesus Christ, but its members are also called to live self-controlled and sober-minded lives. Why is this so? Because we are weak in ourselves; the devil and this wicked world continue to actively tempt us to live for the things of this world rather than for our Lord. They also seek to bring false teaching into our lives and the church so that we would forsake our Lord.
Peter encourages us to have a devoted prayer life, praying for the ability to honour God’s name with our lives, while living for His Kingdom according to His Word. Peter adds that we have to do this together, as a Christian community, exhibiting great love for each other, and be willing to forgive each other. When we truly show love for each other, we will not only be a hand and foot for each other, but we will be able to forgive each other for our many sins. In this we will truly be ready for the end of all things and be able to encourage each other, showing the world what the good news of Jesus Christ can do to a community.
Suggestion for prayer
That in knowing the end of all this is at hand, we as a church community would be a faithful loving community.
Pastor Richard Bultje is a missionary and pastor of the River of Life church plant in Niagara Falls Ontario. It is a church plant under the oversight of the Wellandport United Reformed Church. Pastor Richard and his wife, Yukyung moved to Niagara Falls in November 2012 with their three children, Calvin, Isaiah and Gloria. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com.
If Jesus Himself told us that Scripture is the infallible Word of God, the debate over the Bible’s authority would be over. Today, R.C. Sproul shows that Christ has done just that, delivering the final word on God’s Word.
“Now in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces … in the third year of his reign he gave a feast for all his officials and servants. The army of Persia and Media and the nobles and governors of the provinces were before him, while he showed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor and pomp of his greatness for many days, 180 days.”
The book of Esther presents King Ahasuerus to us as a big deal. He is a big deal textually: his name comes up time and time again throughout Esther. He is also a big deal politically: India and Ethiopia, the scope of his reign, represented the extreme boundaries of the then-known world. And the picture of his greatness only builds as he is shown giving a celebration that lasts for six months! The longevity of this party attended by so many nobles was a status symbol. In all of history, under any standards of kings, dominions, authorities, and powers, this king stands out as significant.
Clearly, Ahasuerus was a big deal. But when we take all the notions that describe this king and compare them to Jesus, the King of kings, we see that only Jesus is the real deal.
King Ahasuerus “reigned … over 127 provinces”—quite a lot of territory! Yet our heavenly Father says to the Messiah, “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession” (Psalm 2:8).
King Ahasuerus was seated upon his throne while hundreds of nobles came to give their respect—a significant display of authority. But that fades into obscurity when we read, “And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new … It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end’” (Revelation 21:5-6). The authority of King Jesus reaches to the ends of the earth, forever and forever.
King Ahasuerus put together a banquet that lasted for 180 days—a party to rival any other in history. But the marriage supper of the Lamb is a banquet that will be eternal (Revelation 19:6-9). In the meantime, He has left us little feasts of remembrance so that we may pause together as His subjects and come to His table to acknowledge that Christ is the King who died in our place (Luke 22:19).
Ahasuerus sat on a splendid earthly throne, but where is all his finery, majesty, and authority now? It’s buried. Jesus, meanwhile, continues to be seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven, the ascended King and reigning Lord. The big deals of the world, whether they’re from the 5th century BC or the 21st century AD, will eventually bow before His authority. He is the real deal—and yet He invites us to come and meet Him!
It is easy to be captivated, impressed, and directed by those men and women of this world who are a big deal. But take a few moments to reflect on the significance of Jesus. As you come before the presence of the one and only truly great King, bow and acknowledge His worth, and let His majesty and holiness and kindness lead you to submit with joy to His kingly rule.
According to a document released by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the FBI was already aware of President Joe Biden’s Ukraine business dealings before the “Laptop from Hell” reporting surfaced. The document in question is an FD-1023 form, dated June 20, 2020, and the information was sourced on June 26, 2020.
The FD-1023 form contains allegations that both Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden received $5 million each from Mykola Zlochevsky, the founder of Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian energy company. The alleged payments were said to have been made after Joe Biden reportedly threatened to withhold aid to Ukraine unless President Petro Poroshenko dismissed a prosecutor who was investigating Burisma.
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Senator Rand Paul declared Wednesday that the U.S. cannot afford to keep sending money and ammo to Ukraine in order to fight a war with Russia, because the country has run out of both.
Appearing on Fox Business, Paul responded to the almost weekly announcement now that the Biden administration is sending another billion dollars in aid to Ukraine.
“From a fiscal conservative perspective, it makes no sense to borrow money from China to send it to Ukraine,” Paul urged, adding “It’s not like we’re sending them surplus funds. It’s like, ‘Oh, we have surplus ammo around.’”
“We’re actually out of ammo now, we’re out of money. And so, there’s no real sense in continuing to do this,” Paul further emphasised.
Biden himself admitted recently that the reason he is sending horrific cluster bombs to Ukraine is that “we’ve run out of ammunition.”
“This war can go on forever,” Paul continued, adding “I don’t think the Russians are ever leaving Crimea. I don’t think the Ukrainians have the might to push them out.”
“If the endpoint is Russia has to leave Crimea and all other parts they occupy of Ukraine then the war goes on, it will be a war of attrition over many, many years and the Ukrainian people are suffering horribly,” Paul further explained.
The Senate voted down an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act Wednesday that was introduced by Paul in an effort to clarify that Article 5 of the NATO treaty does not take precedence over the need for Congress to declare war.
Today I offered an amendment to the NDAA that would have clarified that Article 5 of the NATO treaty does not supersede the constitution. https://t.co/KfEwvY81Rv
As things stand, if NATO declared it was under attack, the U.S. as part of the alliance would be duty bound to form part of the collective defense commitment.
The power to declare war is the most important power and the most important vote that any legislator will ever entertain. See how your senator voted: https://t.co/mkMgPRhdfD
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has released a bombshell FBI document dated July 30,2020, in which a respected confidential human source (CHS) alleged that then-presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden received $10 million in bribes.
The document, a FD-1023 form, also alleges that the boss of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy firm which employed Hunter Biden to the tune of $80,000 per month, thought Hunter was a moron.
Hunter Biden “was stupid, and his (Zlochevsky’s) dog was smarter,” but the Burisma boss “needed to keep hunter [sic] Biden (on the board) “so everything will be ok.””
Burisma's CEO said, "It cost 5 (million) to pay one Biden, and 5 (million) to another Biden," to fire the prosecutor investigating Burisma.
"Hunter will take care of those issues through his dad."
As the Epoch Times notes, the CHS said he traveled to Burisma’s office in Ukraine in 2015 or 2016 with a man named Oleksandr Ostapenko. During the meeting, Vadim Pojarskii, chief financial officer of Burisma, told the source that the company hired Hunter Biden “to protect us, through his dad, from all kinds of problems.”
Burisma contacted the source to seek assistance in buying an American company to merge with in the hope that it could go public in the United States.
After an investigation of Burisma by Ukraine Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin was disclosed in 2016, the source told Mykola Zlochevsky, the owner of Burisma , that the disclosure would have a negative impact on the prospective initial public offering. Mr. Zlochevsky replied that Mr. Hunter Biden “will take care of all of those issues through his dad,” according to the document.
Mr. Zlochevsky was also cited as saying that it cost $5 million to pay one Biden, and $5 million to pay another Biden.
The source replied that payments to the Bidens would complicate matters and the Bidens did not have experience with the oil and gas sector, according to the document. Mr. Zlochevsky said his dog was smarter than Mr. Hunter Biden but that he needed to keep him on the board “so everything will be okay.” Both Mr. Hunter Biden and Mr. Joe Biden had told Mr. Zlochevsky that Hunter Biden needed to remain on the board, Mr. Zlochevsky said.
Around the same time, Mr. Joe Biden, the U.S. vice president at the time, was pressuring Ukrainian officials to fire Mr. Shokin. “We’re leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor’s not fired, you’re not getting the money,” Mr. Joe Biden said at a public event about the interaction, referring to a $1 billion loan guarantee he threatened to withhold. “Well, son of a [expletive]. He got fired.”
Mr. Shokin has said that the threat was cited when he was ousted. He said in a sworn statement that then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko “asked me to resign due to pressure from the U.S. presidential administration, in particular from Joe Biden.”
The FBI source, whose report was hidden by corrupt FBI agents, told the agency that Burisma's founder had 17 recordings of his bribery conversations with the Biden's. Two of the recordings included conversations with Joe Biden himself, while 15 were with Hunter Biden.… pic.twitter.com/52SVsc24Tp
The FBI source told the bureau that he gleaned from the conversation that payments had already been made to the Bidens, presumably to deal with Mr. Shokin.
Read the entire release below:
In May, House Republicans laid out evidence of a vast network of Biden family dealings which reek of corruption – including;
The Biden family received, and tried to hide, over $10 million in payments from foreign nationals
A previously undisclosed $1 million in Romanian-linked payments
Ties to Romanian ‘influence peddling’
A ‘web’ of 20 LLCs created while Joe Biden was Vice President with a ‘complicated corporate structure’
‘At least 15’ of the LLCs were formed after Biden became VP in 2009 – several of which were owned or co-owned by Hunter
These LLCs accepted payments ranging from $5,000 to $3 million
The committee wants to know what legitimate business the Biden family was in
“Biden family members and business associates created a web of over 20 companies—most were limited liability companies formed during Joe Biden’s vice presidency,” reads a memorandum. “Bank records show the Biden family, their business associates, and their companies received over $10 million from foreign nationals’ companies. The Committee has identified payments to Biden family members from foreign companies while Joe Biden served as Vice President and after he left public office.?
“These complicated financial transactions appear to conceal the source of the funds and reduce the conspicuousness of the total amounts made into the Biden bank accounts. Chinese nationals and companies with significant ties to Chinese intelligence and the Chinese Communist Party hid the source of the funds by layering domestic limited liability companies,” according to Chairman James Comer.
Two veteran IRS agents with impeccable records have now testified under oath that federal officials not only slow-walked the Hunter Bidenprobe, but nixed efforts to investigate President Joe Biden’s role in the family business.
And though legacy media are conveniently apathetic about the developments, they seem somewhat newsworthy to me.
On Wednesday, we learned the identity of “Whistleblower X.” Joseph Ziegler, a self-proclaimed Democrat who has worked at the agency since 2010, told the House Oversight and Accountability Committee that he handled 95% of the evidence in the Hunter Biden tax investigation.
Ziegler testified that throughout the five-year investigation, he felt “handcuffed,” “hamstrung,” “marginalized” and ultimately stopped from moving forward in the manner he would for any other scofflaw.
Ziegler wrote a 99-page memo laying out the case for felony charges, wholly consistent with the IRS guidelines governing charging in tax-evasion cases. He maintains that every investigator and prosecutor on the case agreed felonies were in order — all of which should be easy enough to find out.
Sure, it’s fun to talk about salacious parts of the Hunter Biden case, but the far bigger concern should be finding out why companies operating in authoritarian nations sent the Bidens $17 million. It would be a fair question even if there had been no criminal investigation.
Now, I’m not saying the feds were covering up proof of Joe Biden’s illegality — though circumstantial evidence and common sense say the family business couldn’t function without his participation. I’m saying it’s increasingly clear the Justice Department didn’t want to find out if there was any evidence.
No one wanted a replay of the Hillary Clinton illegal server scandal. And that’s how Hunter Biden got his sweet deal.
“Any time we potentially wanted to go down the road of asking questions related to the president, it was, ‘That’s gonna take too much approvals. We can’t ask those questions,’” Ziegler told CBS News. “And I mean, it created an environment that was very hard to deal with.”
Gary Shapley, the second whistleblower, also testified that every time prosecutors wanted to talk to Joe Biden’s grown grandchildren or others who were receiving payments from foreign companies connected to the “big guy,” investigators shut them down.
Shapley told the committee that every step of the way “decisions were made that benefited the subject of this investigation.” That included the Justice Department stretching out the investigation to allow the statute of limitations to expire.
Shapley says a U.S. attorney for D.C. appointed by Joe Biden was the one who had the final call on whether felony charges were brought against Hunter. U.S. Attorney David Weiss, he testified under oath, told a room filled with five other senior FBI and IRS agents that he was “not the deciding person on whether charges are filed.”
Maybe Congress should get everyone else under oath and find out?
Not that any of this mattered to committee Democrats, who rarely even attempted to debunk the testimony. Most of them merely prattled on about the evils of Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani, which is usually enough to placate their constituents. A few Democrats ludicrously argued that the president’s son, a man who allegedly tried to write off sex club memberships, prostitutes and fancy hotel rooms for drug dealers, was the victim of zealous over-prosecution.
Though occasionally, they inadvertently made important points.
Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., for instance, went on and on about the corruption of the Trump years, bringing up Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, two people convicted of engaging in similar behavior to Hunter Biden, who was allowed to skate.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., tried to excuse Hunter Biden’s actions by noting that he had fallen into crack addiction and whoremongering after his brother’s sad death. Ziegler helpfully pointed out that Hunter Biden had committed tax fraud after he was supposedly fully sober and married.
Any real political journalist with access would be pressuring the White House daily to explain what services Joe Biden’s son, brother and grown grandchildren — and virtually every other member of his family — rendered for foreign entities in Romania, China and Ukraine that were worth more than $17 million.
The president could make this all go away by explaining the situation.
Frankly, I don’t expect to ever find out. It is what it is, but please stop telling me no one is above the law.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — After concerns arose previously over President Joe Biden’s overall health when the public learned of his use of a CPAP machine at night, White House medical personnel expressed positive feelings about how well Biden is now sleeping without assistance.
“He’s really sleeping better, even during important meetings,” said Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the president’s physician. “When I saw him zonk out while speaking with the Israeli President, I knew he was showing real signs of improvement with his natural sleeping ability. Shoot, he may even be feeding himself here before you know it.”
Public concern over Biden’s health reached a new level recently after administration officials disclosed the president had begun using a CPAP machine to treat his sleep apnea. Those concerns were relieved during Biden’s summit with Israeli President Isaac Herzog this week, with the president falling unconscious right in front of the assembled media in the Oval Office.
Though White House sources were quick to deny Biden was sleeping during the meeting, the president’s doctors were privately encouraged. “Yeah, I know they’re trying to claim he wasn’t asleep,” said Dr. O’Connor, “but let’s be real. What else was he doing? Praying? Resting his eyes?” Please. I’m just glad he’s getting better rest, even if it’s in the middle of a public meeting with another head of state.”
At publishing time, Dr. O’Connor had prescribed a glass of warm milk and a nice warm blanket to be given to President Biden immediately before any important meeting with a foreign leader.
General Florg of the planet Graxon V has visited Earth – but he’s having trouble understanding humans as he’s never encountered a species with so many genders.
A bombshell information dump Thursday is giving the world an unprecedented, inside look at Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine.
The Biden-Ukraine controversy began back in late 2020 when the New York Post published communications straight from Hunter Biden’s personal laptop.
The communications, some dating to 2015, revealed Hunter Biden had set up a meeting between his father, Joe Biden, and Burisma executive Vadym Pozharskyi.
At the time, Hunter Biden served on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian oil company, earning a salary of $50,000 a month, and his father was serving as vice president of the United States.
The explosive news Thursday came with the release of an unclassified FBI document detailing the firsthand knowledge of a confidential human source (referred to as “CHS” within the document). The “highly credible” source worked directly with the Burisma board, according to the FD-1023 form.
Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley released the document via legally protected disclosures, saying in a news release, “While the FBI sought to obfuscate and redact, the American people can now read this document for themselves, without the filter of politicians or bureaucrats, thanks to brave and heroic whistleblowers.”
The following article contains the document in its entirety, along with highlights summarizing its most important revelations.
The FBI informant first met with Burisma executives in order to help facilitate the company’s potential purchase of a U.S.-based oil and gas company.
During the meeting, Burisma’s board of directors became a point of discussion.
This led to Pozharskyi revealing that Hunter Biden’s purpose on the board was to “protect us, through his dad, from all kinds of problems.”
When pressed, Pozharskyi refused to elaborate further.
In a meeting that took place two months later, former Ukraine Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin and his investigation into Burisma were mentioned as potential deterrents to any U.S.- based acquisitions. Shokin had reportedly been investigating the possibility that Hunter Biden was laundering money through Burisma (recently, the president’s son pleaded guilty to tax crimes).
Mykola Zlochevsky, Burisma’s founder, said of the investigation (the following is noted as a paraphrasing in the document), “Don’t worry Hunter will take care of all of those issues through his dad.”
Burisma Already Paid Both Bidens
When the CHS pressed Zlochevsky to confront the Shokin situation directly rather than through potentially illicit means, Zlochevsky said “its too late to change his decision.”
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“CHS understood this to mean that Zlochevsky … already had paid the Bidens, presumably to ‘deal with Shokin,’” the document reads.
Sometime later, Zlochevsky directly claimed he had made the payments — and was “forced” to do so.
“Zlochevsky stated he didn’t want to pay the Bidens and he was ‘pushed to pay’ them,” the document reads.
Shokin was fired from his position sometime after Joe Biden openly called for his ousting, though many mainstream outlets claim Biden’s comments played no role.
Hunter Biden ‘Not Smart’
After discussing Hunter Biden’s involvement with the company during the first meeting, the CHS questioned why he or she was needed at all.
Pozharskyi replied that Hunter Biden “was not smart,” and given that fact, additional help was required.
At the second meeting, Zlochevsky said Hunter Biden was “stupid” and Zlochevsky’s dog “was smarter.”
$5 Million For One Biden, Another $5 Million for Two
At one point during the second meeting between the CHS and Zlochevsky, the latter said the following:
“[I]t cost 5 (million) to pay one Biden, and 5 (million) to another Biden.”
The CHS did not know whether these payments had been made already or were planned.
Joe Biden Asked the Burisma Board to Retain Hunter Biden
Ignoring ethical concerns brought up by the CHS, Zlochevsky maintained he would be retaining Hunter Biden as a board member.
When questioned further, Zlochevsky said both Hunter Biden and his father asked the company to retain the former.
After Trump Elected
A third meeting, conducted via a phone call, occurred between Zlochevsky and the informant just after Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election.
Zlochevsky was “not happy Trump won the election.”
Recordings Exist Proving Biden-Burisma Payments
According to Zlochevsky, numerous recordings exist proving the Bidens had forced the Burisma founder to pay them in return for dealing with Shokin.
Recordings held by Zlochevsky include text messages and “recordings.”
Proof of President Joe Biden’s Involvement
The CHS later informed the FBI of the exact number of recordings Zlochevsky said he had: 17.
He said 15 recordings are of Hunter Biden, and two include the current president of the United States.
Suspicious Wire Transfers
According to the CHS, it appears that wire transfers might exist linking Burisma to the Bidens.
The CHS warned Zlochevsky it would be difficult to explain such transfers.
He replied that “it would take them (investigators) 10 years to find the records (i.e. illicit payments to Joe Biden),” according to the document.
Podmazat
Toward the end of the document, concerns regarding the potentially suspicious nature of how openly the Ukrainian executives admitted to crimes were addressed by the CHS.
“Regarding the seemingly open and unsolicited admissions by [Pozharskyi] and Zlochevsky about the purpose for their retention of Hunter Biden, and the ‘forced’ payments Zlochevsky made to the Bidens, CHS explained it is very common for business men in post-Soviet countries to brag or show off,” the FBI document reads.
“Additionally, it is extremely common for businesses in Russia and Ukraine to make ‘bribe’ payments to various government officials.”
In other words, in the informant’s view, there was nothing particularly unusual about the conversations directly regarding bribery.
The line-item term “Podmazat” is typically used on the financial reports of many such companies as a stand-in for bribery, per the CHS who has reportedly seen this first-hand.
The term roughly translates to “oil, lubricate, or makes things run smoothly,” according to the CHS.
If you are trying to sell your home right now, I feel so sorry for you. Thanks to the Federal Reserve, mortgage rates have risen to very alarming levels, and this has scared millions of potential homebuyers out of the market. Compared to two years ago, the average potential homebuyer is facing mortgage payments that are close to $1,000 per month higher. I don’t know about you, but I certainly wouldn’t want to pay $1,000 more each month for the exact same house. So most potential homebuyers are staying out of the market until interest rates come down, and that could be a while, because officials at the Fed do not plan to reduce rates for the foreseeable future.
On Thursday, we learned that sales of pre-owned homes fell 3.3 percent last month. Overall, they have now dropped to the lowest level that we have seen during the month of June since 2009…
Sales of pre-owned homes dropped 3.3% in June compared with May, running at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 4.16 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Compared with June of last year, sales were 18.9% lower. That is the slowest sales pace for June since 2009.
In June 2009, we were right in the middle of Housing Crash 1.
Now Housing Crash 2 is here. Over the first six months of this year, only about one percent of all pre-existing homes in the U.S. changed hands…
House sales have reached their lowest level in over a decade, with only one percent of properties changing hands in the first half of the year.
Fresh analysis by real estate brokerage RedFin shows that just 14 out of every 1,000 homes across the US were sold in the last six months.
If you are planning to purchase a home, it is going to cost you a lot more than it would have a few years ago.
As I noted above, average homebuyers are now facing potential mortgage payments that are extremely high thanks to soaring interest rates…
An average homebuyer is now facing mortgage payments nearly $1,000 per month more expensive than two years ago as interest rates hover around 7 percent.
As a result households report feeling ‘locked into’ their current property due to their cheap deals. Last week, Dailymail.com revealed there has been a surge of ‘accidental landlords’ as owners are opting to rent out their homes rather than sell.
If you work in real estate, this is going to be a really tough time for you.
And I am not just talking about residential real estate.
As I keep warning my readers, we have entered the worst commercial real estate crisis in U.S. history, and prices are absolutely plummeting all over the nation…
On Tuesday, we asked: Is this the start of a commercial real estate firesale in crime-ridden Baltimore City?
And to our surprise, it appears so.
Let’s begin with our report on Tuesday when The Baltimore Sun revealed a 30-story office tower at One South Street in downtown Baltimore that was sold in June for $24 million, a 63.6% discount versus the tower’s 2015 sale of $66 million.
This is already happening even though we haven’t even “officially” entered a recession yet.
But a recession is certainly coming.
For the very first time since 2007 and 2008, the Conference Board’s index of leading economic indicators has fallen for 15 months in a row…
“The Leading Index has been in decline for fifteen months—the longest streak of consecutive decreases since 2007-08, during the runup to the Great Recession. Taken together, June’s data suggests economic activity will continue to decelerate in the months ahead. We forecast that the US economy is likely to be in recession from Q3 2023 to Q1 2024. Elevated prices, tighter monetary policy, harder-to-get credit, and reduced government spending are poised to dampen economic growth further,” said Justyna Zabinska-La Monica, Senior Manager, Business Cycle Indicators, at The Conference Board.
That is not good news at all.
And it is being reported that the overall rejection rate for credit applicants has just skyrocketed “to its highest level since June 2018″…
The New York Fed reported that the overall rejection rate for credit applicants rose to its highest level since June 2018, standing at 21.8 percent, a jump from 17.3 percent in February.
Researchers noted that the rise in the application rejection rate “was broad-based across age groups and highest among those with credit scores below 680.”
Do you remember when I warned you that a credit crunch was coming?
That’s starting to happen already, with more than 120 big bankruptcies in the US alone already this year. Even so, less than 15% of the nearly $600 billion of debt trading at distressed levels globally have actually defaulted, the data show. That means companies that owe more than half-a-trillion dollars may be unable to repay it — or at least struggle to do so.
This week, Moody’s Investors Service said the default rate for speculative-grade companies worldwide is expected to hit 5.1% next year, up from 3.8% in the 12 months ended in June. Under the most pessimistic scenario, it could jump as high as 13.7% — exceeding the level reached during the 2008-2009 credit crash.
The trends are very clear.
Everyone should be able to see what is coming.
The short-term outlook is horrible, and the long-term outlook is even worse.
But many Americans will just continue to believe the talking heads on television that are assuring them that everything will be just fine.
And when you consider his track record, you have got to believe that very “interesting” times are just around the corner.
Michael’s new book entitled “End Times” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.
About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “End Times” is now available on Amazon.com. In addition to my new book I have written six other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned) When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends. Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible. I have also started a brand new Substack newsletter, and I encourage you to subscribe so that you won’t miss any of my articles. I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article. The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions. I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is definitely a great help. These are such troubled times, and people need hope. John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.
Most people that live in the western world don’t realize that global hunger has been absolutely exploding and has now become a major worldwide issue. According to the UN, 2.4 billion people do not have enough food to eat on a consistent basis, and 900 million of them are facing severe food insecurity. Unfortunately, things are about to get a whole lot worse. The deal between Russia and Ukraine that had allowed so much grain to be shipped through the Black Sea has completely broken down, and now both sides are threatening to attack any transport ships that come through the area.
When the war between Russia and Ukraine began, wheat prices quickly soared to the highest level that we have ever seen.
But then a miracle happened. A deal that was agreed to in July 2022 allowed vast amounts of grain to be safely transported through the Black Sea.
Since it was implemented, nearly 34 million tons of grain has been shipped out to the rest of the world.
On Thursday, Moscow’s defense ministry declared that “all vessels sailing in the waters of the Black Sea to Ukrainian ports will be regarded as potential carriers of military cargo,” a warning that has sent wheat prices rising.
“Accordingly, the countries of such vessels will be considered to be involved in the Ukrainian conflict on the side Kyiv, the defense ministry said in a Wednesday statement. It added that several pockets of international water are “declared temporarily dangerous for navigation,” and vessels have been warned that there are no longer safety guarantees.
Needless to say, the Russians are not bluffing.
They mean it when they say that the shipping of Ukrainian grain is done, and they have already conducted military strikes against key port facilities in southern Ukraine…
Russian forces have launched extensive missile and drone attacks against port and grain infrastructure in southern Ukraine in recent days.
The Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based think tank, said Wednesday that it believes the recent attacks were likely to reaffirm Russia’s objections to the renewal of the Black Sea grain deal and hinder Kyiv’s ability to export agricultural commodities.
Ukraine’s Agriculture Ministry said Wednesday that recent attacks on Ukraine’s southern port of Odesa and other cities had destroyed 60,000 tons of grain as well as crucial infrastructure.
Ukraine is one of the most important breadbaskets on the entire planet, and normally the Ukrainians export grain to dozens of different nations.
On the other side, the Ukrainians have decided to make similar threats. From now on, any ships that are heading for ports controlled by Russia will be fair game…
Ukraine, however, went on to issue its own measures in response to Moscow’s initial escalation. Kyiv’s defense ministry said that beginning on Friday, any vessels heading to ports in mainland Russia and in Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine — like in Crimea or along the Sea of Azov — may likewise be viewed as transporters of military cargo.
Russia normally accounts for more than 20 percent of all global wheat exports.
So this is really bad news.
Exports from both Russia and Ukraine will be substantially reduced from this point forward, and wheat prices are already soaring…
Global inflation is finally coming down, but heightened geopolitical tensions could mean that food is about to get a lot more expensive.
Wheat futures soared by nearly 9% on Wednesday and are on track to hit their highest level in three weeks as tensions in Europe rise following Russia’s surprise decision to pull out of a crucial deal allowing the export of grain from Ukraine.
Corn futures were also nearly 2% higher on Tuesday as traders feared an impending supply crunch of the staple foods.
The last time grain prices spiked like this, it was just a temporary phenomenon because the grain deal of July 2022 was the miracle that the world desperately needed.
But there isn’t going to be a miracle this time around.
So I would very much encourage you to stock up on storable wheat while prices are still relatively low.
Right now, global food production is being hit by one disaster after another.
In California, some of the most important farmland in the entire state is now underwater because Tulare Lake has filled back up for the first time in 40 years…
Tulare Lake, which refilled for the first time in 40 years after atmospheric river storms pummeled California with snow and rain, is now receding, but it will take at least a year to evaporate entirely, experts said.
“We are still going to have a Tulare Lake next year,” said Jeffrey Mount, a senior fellow at the Water Policy Center of the Public Policy Institute of California.
The sudden reappearance of the lake, which was drained for farmland in the late 1800s, has caused hundreds of millions of dollars in agricultural losses and will require a substantial cleanup effort once the water has gone, as flooded farm buildings, vehicles, homes and electrical infrastructure still lurk within its waters.
California is the most important agricultural state in the entire country.
They grow more of our fruits and nuts than anyone else by a very wide margin, but now all of the flooding that has occurred is going to hamper production for quite some time to come.
You may have noticed that I write about this new global food crisis quite a bit.
Most people don’t realize this yet, but it is going to become such a huge story in the years ahead.
No matter what decisions our leaders make now, there will be global famine.
There are multiple long-term trends that are going to make it increasingly difficult to produce enough food, and meanwhile global demand for food just continues to increase.
Our leaders know this, and they will even talk about these things when they gather for conferences, but they don’t want to alarm the general public.
We are transitioning from an era of plenty to an era of great suffering, but most people in the general population still have absolutely no idea what is coming.
Michael’s new book entitled “End Times” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.
About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “End Times” is now available on Amazon.com. In addition to my new book I have written six other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned) When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends. Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible. I have also started a brand new Substack newsletter, and I encourage you to subscribe so that you won’t miss any of the latest updates. I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article. The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions. I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is definitely a great help. These are such troubled times, and people need hope. John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.
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