John Calvin Commentary Zechariah 13:9

"And I will bring the third part into the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried. They shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people; and they shall say, Jehovah is my God." — Zechariah 13:9 (ASV)

Zechariah proceeds further here, stating that when God will cut off two parts of the people, he will still save the third for this purpose: that it might be proved by various kinds of trials and be made to bear many afflictions. With regard to the two parts, the Lord did not afflict them in order to turn them to repentance, but resolved completely to destroy them. The third part then is reserved for salvation; and yet it is still necessary for them to be cleansed through many afflictions.

This doctrine is very useful, for from it we conclude two main points:

1. Firstly, that many, not only from the world but also from the bosom of the Church, are led into perdition. For when three hundred profess to worship God, Zechariah says, only one hundred will be saved. There are always many hypocrites among the people; indeed, the grains lie hidden in the midst of much chaff and refuse. It is therefore necessary to devote to ruin and eternal death a larger number than those who will be saved. Let us therefore not envy the ungodly, though their prosperity may disturb us and cause us to grieve (Psalms 37:2). We think them happy; for while God spares and supports them, they deride us and triumph over our miseries. But in this circumstance, the Holy Spirit exhorts us to bear our afflictions patiently; for though for a time the happiness of the ungodly may goad us, God himself declares that they are fattened in order to be soon slain, when they have gathered much fatness.

2. Secondly, that after the greater part, both of the world and of the Church (at least those who profess to belong to it), are destroyed, we cannot be kept in our position unless God often chastises us. Let us therefore remember what Paul says: that we are chastised by the Lord so that we may not perish with the world. The metaphors the Prophet uses here serve the same purpose, for he says, I will lead them through the fire.

He speaks here of the faithful whom God has chosen for salvation, and whom he has reserved so that they might remain safe: yet he says that they will be saved through fire, that is, hard trials. But he explains this even more clearly, He will prove them, he says, as silver and gold. The stubble and the chaff, as John the Baptist teaches us, are indeed cast into the fire (Matthew 3:12), but without any benefit; for the fire consumes the refuse and the chaff, and whatever is corruptible.

But when the gold and the silver are put in the fire and are purified, it is done so that greater purity may be produced, and also that what is precious in these metals may become more apparent: for when the silver is drawn out of the mine, it does not differ much from what is earthy. The same is the case with gold. But the furnace so purifies the gold and silver from their dross, that they attain their value and excellence. Therefore Zechariah says, that when God casts his faithful people into the fire, he does this according to his paternal purpose in order to burn out their dross, and thus they become gold and silver who were before filthy and abominable, and in whom much dross abounded. We see therefore that the elect of God, even those who may be rightly counted his children, are here distinguished from the reprobate, however much they may profess God’s name and worship.

Now this passage is not inconsistent with that in Isaiah.

I have not purified you as silver and gold, for you have been completely consumed.
(Isaiah 48:10).

Though God tries his elect by the fire of afflictions, he still observes moderation; for they would completely faint if he were to purify them to the core. However, it is necessary to pass through this trial about which the Prophet now speaks: and thus the state of the Church is here described—that it ought to always and continually be cleansed, for we are altogether unclean; and then, after God has washed us by his Spirit, still many spots of uncleanness remain in us; besides, we contract other pollutions, for it is inevitable that much contamination is derived from those vices by which we are on every side surrounded.

He now adds, He will call on my name, and I will answer him. With this consideration God mitigates what was in itself hard and grievous. It is hard to see so many dreadful evils, when God treads underfoot the greater part of the world, and when his vengeance bursts forth upon the Church itself, so that his severity on every side fills us with fear. But this also is added—that we are daily to feel the fire, as though God meant to burn us, while still he does not consume us. Therefore, the Prophet shows how these miseries are to be sweetened to us, and how sorrow does not become too grievous; for we are tested by the cross and the scourges and chastisements of God so that we may call on his name. Hearing follows calling; and nothing can be more desirable than this. The Prophet therefore proves from the happy effect, that there is no reason for the faithful to murmur against God, or to bear their evils impatiently, because, being purified, they can now truly flee to him.

If anyone were to ask whether God can by his Spirit only draw the elect to true religion, and if so, why this fire of affliction and hard trial is necessary, the answer is that he does not speak here of what God can do, nor should we dispute the subject, but we should be satisfied with what he has appointed.

It is his will, therefore, that his own people should pass through the fire and be tried by various afflictions, for this purpose: that they may sincerely call on his name. We must at the same time learn that this is the true preparation by which the Lord brings back the elect to himself, and forms in them a sincere concern for religion, when he tries them by the cross and by various chastisements; for prosperity is like mildew or rust.

We cannot, therefore, look to God with clear eyes unless our eyes are cleansed. But this cleansing, as I have said, is what God has appointed as the means by which he has resolved to render his Church submissive. It is therefore necessary that we should be subject, from first to last, to the scourges of God, so that we may call on him from the heart; for our hearts are enfeebled by prosperity, so that we cannot make the effort to pray.

But this consolation is always to be applied to ease our sorrows, when our flesh leads us either to perverseness or to despair; let this remedy occur to us, that though chastisement is hard while it is felt, yet it ought to be estimated by what it produces, as the Apostle also reminds us in Hebrews 12:11.

Let us especially know that the name of God is then seriously invoked when we are subdued, and all ferocity, and all the indulgence of the flesh, are corrected in us: for we are like untamed heifers, as Jeremiah says, when God indulges us (Jeremiah 31:18). Therefore, the discipline of the cross is necessary, so that earnest prayer may become strong in us.

Finally, he shows how God can be invoked, for we are taught that he will be kind and propitious to us whenever we call upon him. Indeed, it would not be enough for us to groan under the burden of afflictions, and to be thus awakened to prayer, unless God himself allured us and gave us hope of favor.

Therefore, the Prophet adds, I will say, My people they are; and they will say, Jehovah our God is he. In short, the Prophet means that unless the promises of God shine on us and invite us to prayer, no sincere prayer can ever be drawn from us. How so?

Because we first come to God by faith alone, and this opens the gate to us, and all prayers not founded on faith are rejected; furthermore, we know that men naturally dread the presence of God, and will do so until he gives them a taste of his goodness and love.

Therefore, what Zechariah says here is especially noteworthy: that God’s word precedes, so that we may follow with confidence and be able to enter through the gate opened to prayer, for unless he first says, “You are my people,” we cannot claim the privilege of entering into his presence and say, “You are our God.”

For who has bound God to us, that he should be a God to us? He himself; for he has bound himself to us when he promised that we will be his people. Therefore, as I have said, there is no right beginning to prayer until we are taught that God is ready to hear our prayers, as it is said in Psalm 65:2, You God hear prayers, and all flesh will come to you.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that as you see that we are full of so many sinful desires, which defile whatever purity you have conferred on us by your Spirit — O grant, that we may daily profit under your scourges, and so submit ourselves to be ruled by you, as to become resigned and obedient, even when you deal with us with unusual severity; and may we ever taste of the sweetness of your goodness in your greatest rigor, and know that you thereby provide for our safety, and lead us towards perfect purity, from which we are as yet far distant, so that we may be obedient to you in this world, and become hereafter partakers of that victory which Christ has procured for us, and enjoy with him his triumph in your heavenly kingdom. Amen.

[Exposition continues from previous day's lecture]