Zacharias 13:2

2 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, I will utterly destroy the names of the idols from off the land, and there shall be no longer remembrance of them: and I will cut off the false prophets and the evil spirit from the land.

Zacharias 13:2 Meaning and Commentary

Zechariah 13:2

And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of
hosts
In the latter day, at the time of the conversion of the Jews, when they shall turn to the Lord, and their sins shall be forgiven, and washed away in the fountain of his blood; for this refers not to the times of the Babylonish captivity, and their deliverance from that, which was now over, when idolatry ceased among that people; nor to the times of Christ, when soon after the false prophets among the Heathens, and their lying oracles, ceased, and Paganism in the Roman empire was destroyed; but to the times before mentioned, of which it is predicted by the Lord, saying, [that] I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and
they shall no more be remembered;
meaning the idols of gold, silver, brass, and wood; images of the Virgin Mary, and saints departed, worshipped by the Papists, ( Revelation 9:20 Revelation 9:21 ) for at this time mystical Babylon will fall, the idolatry of the church of Rome will be at an end, and will never be revived more: and also I will cause the prophets, and the unclean spirit, to pass
out of the land;
by "the prophets" are meant false prophets, as the Targum explains it, even all the Popish hierarchy, pope, cardinals, archbishops, bishops, priests all that wretched body, which goes by the name of the false prophet, who at the battle of Armageddon will be taken, and with the beast cast alive into the lake of fire, ( Revelation 19:20 ) and by "the unclean spirit", or "spirits", the singular for the plural, are meant the three unclean spirits like frogs, and which are the spirits of devils, that come out of the mouth of the dragon beast, and false prophet, the Jesuits, monks, and friars; these shall be no more then on the earth, after these times, ( Revelation 16:13 Revelation 16:14 ) . Jarchi and Kimchi interpret "the unclean spirit" of the corruption of nature; but that will not cease as long as men are in a mortal state. This prophecy is, by the ancient Jews, ^F16 applied to the times of the Messiah.

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FOOTNOTES:

F16 Zohar in Gen, fol. 53. 4. & 73. 1.

Zacharias 13:2 In-Context

1 In that day every place shall be opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for removal and for separation.

2 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, I will utterly destroy the names of the idols from off the land, and there shall be no longer remembrance of them: and I will cut off the false prophets and the evil spirit from the land.

3 And it shall come to pass, if a man will yet prophesy, that his father and his mother which gave birth to him shall say to him, Thou shalt not live; for thou has spoken lies in the name of the Lord: and his father and his mother who gave him birth shall bind him as he is prophesying.

4 And it shall come to pass in that day, the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision when he prophesies; and they shall clothe themselves with a garment of hair, because they have lied.

5 And shall say, I am not a prophet, for I am a tiller of the ground, for a man brought me up from my youth.