Zechariah 13:9

9 I will bring that group through the fire and make them pure. I will refine them like silver and purify them like gold. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘These are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The LORD is our God.’”

Zechariah 13:9 Meaning and Commentary

Zechariah 13:9

And I will bring the third part through the fire
Into tribulation, as the Targum explains it; or into great distresses, comparable to fire, as Kimchi observes; this is the hour of temptation that will be in the Philadelphian church state, ( Revelation 3:10 ) . Daniel's time of trouble, such as there never was since there was a nation, ( Daniel 12:1 ) and the time of the slaying of the witnesses, ( Revelation 11:7-9 ) : and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as
gold is tried;
their graces, principles, and profession, will be tried; their dross and tin will be removed, and they will be purged and purified; a more pure and glorious state of the church will take place, in which there will be great purity of Gospel worship, discipline, and conversation; when the word will be more purely preached, the ordinances more purely administered, and the saints will live more holy lives and conversations, signified by the witnesses ascending up into heaven, ( Revelation 11:12 ) : they shall call on my name;
which includes the whole of divine worship, and particularly designs prayer, that pure offering and incense, which shall now be offered to the name of the Lord in every place, ( Malachi 1:11 ) hence it follows, and I will hear them;
accept their prayers, and give an answer to them: so the Targum paraphrases the words,

``he shall pray in my name, and I will receive his prayer:''

I will say, It [is] my people;
the Lord will make it appear to themselves and others that they are his special, peculiar, and covenant people, by calling them out of Babylon; by bestowing his favours upon them; and by granting his presence with them, as well as by the witnessing of his Spirit to them; see ( Revelation 18:4 ) ( 19:1 ) : and they shall say, The Lord [is] my God:
they shall know him to be their covenant God and Father, and claim their interest in him, and acknowledge him as such; which is the greatest happiness that can be enjoyed, ( Psalms 144:15 ) ( Revelation 21:3 ) .

Zechariah 13:9 In-Context

7 “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, the man who is my partner,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. “Strike down the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn against the lambs.

8 Two-thirds of the people in the land will be cut off and die,” says the LORD . “But one-third will be left in the land.

9 I will bring that group through the fire and make them pure. I will refine them like silver and purify them like gold. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘These are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The LORD is our God.’”