We come now to Zechariah 13, a chapter on the divine provision and the sovereign preparation for the household salvation of Israel.
This divine provision includes a Redeemer with His redemption (vv. 1-7a).
God has provided the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem with an opened fountain (Christ's pierced side—John 19:34, 37) for sin and for impurity. "In that day there will be an opened fountain for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity" (Zech. 13:1). The piercing of Christ has opened such a fountain. This is a matter of redemption.
God will cut off the names of the idols and will cause the false prophets and the unclean spirit to pass from the land (vv. 2-4). He will clear up these negative things so that the people of Israel might be emptied to receive Christ.
Christ came to be the real Prophet (Matt. 13:57) but was rejected and wounded in His side in the house of Israel, His relatives in the flesh (Zech. 13:5-6; 12:10); and the wound became the base of their redemption accomplished for them in His death (John 19:34, 37; Rev. 1:7).
Zechariah 13:5 says, "But He will say, I am no prophet; I am a tiller of the ground; for a man sold Me in My youth." Verses 2 through 4 speak of God's causing the false prophets to pass from the land. This cleared the way for Christ to come in as the real Prophet. However, according to verse 5, He said that He was not a prophet but a tiller of the ground. This means that He was not the kind of prophet, a false prophet, mentioned in the preceding verses. He came as the real Prophet.
Verse 6 goes on to say, "Someone will say to Him, What are these wounds between Your arms? And He will say, Those with which I was wounded in the house of those who love Me." In this verse the phrase "those who love Me" refers to Christ's relatives, the children of Israel. The children of Israel killed Him, but He counted their action as wounds from those who loved Him. This is very sweet.