Emmanuel's Veins

In that day a fountain will be opened for the house [beth] of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity. Zechariah 13:1

Zechariah 12 is God's prophecy of judgment against all those who attack Judah, in preserving the life of the house/lineage of David according to His unfailing covenant, and leads the inhabitants of Judah to prematurely fulfill the words of Ezekiel 36:25-32--

"...Then [after ransoming Israel from exile]
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean;
I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.


Moreover,
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and
I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and
you will be careful to observe My ordinances.
You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so
you will be My people, and I will be your God. 


Moreover,
I will save you from all your uncleanness; and
I will call for the grain and multiply it, and
I will not put a famine on you.
I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that
you will not receive again the disgrace of famine among the nations. 


Then
you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and
you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations.
I am not doing this for your sake,"
declares the Lord GOD,
"let it be known to you.
Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house [beth] of Israel!"
Ezekiel 36:25-32


The people of Jerusalem repented when God saved them, not the other way around.

It's sometimes sticky to explain to people seeking to be "politically correct" who question why the true and living God is masculine. William explained it quite well when he said that "God is so masculine, everything else is feminine before Him."

This is why (traditionally) men have been initiators in romantic relationships, because (even subconsciously, they know that) God initiates salvation. And where would we be, as a fallen race, if God Almighty waited for us to take the first step?

The ferry into Hades costs only an obol! 

But I digress. A friend of mine says that I'm in danger of missing things if I constantly see metaphors to marriage in the pages of scripture. But for the romantic in me, I bring this defense: God ordained marriage, the closest human covenantal relationship, to give us children a tiny glimpse of His love for us. His love is inseparable, relentless, and Almighty. And I will confess, reader, that however strong my affections are for the symbolism found in marriage, I only hope this doesn't throw blinders up toward other truths and insights found in Scripture.

It's also interesting that the verse states that the fountain will be opened for the "house of David." I wrote the word "beth" in parenthesis because that's the Anglicization of the Hebrew word  "house," and it carries other nuances which add to its meaning. For instance, it could represent (as I believe it does here) a lineage or a family, rather than an architectural structural. Besides human "houses" having this reference, the phrase "the house of God" gains more of an understanding! Psalm 23 ends verse 6 with

And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.


Does this mean that David's comfort would be to stand in the Temple of Jerusalem for the length of his days? Is he referring to heaven's eternal dwelling with God? Perhaps both of these things! But I'd argue that with the added nuance of "family," David is referring to being restored in this life to the community and love of the fellowship of faithful believers in Israel, c. 1000 B.C.

In light of Christmas, here's another "house" reference, found in the gospel of Christ, according to Luke: (underlining mine)

Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. 
Luke 2:4-5


Luke spells out the connection between house and lineage for us Gentiles.

But before I get too sidetracked on the amazing topic of the "house" found in the Bible, I'll wrap this post with the purpose I began it--to demonstrate the believer's response to being told the foolishness of the cross and the salvation through suffering, of victorious triumph through "defeat," of Life in death. As Naaman was furious at the counsel of Elisha to bathe in the filth of the Jordan (2 Kings 5), so John the Baptist was confused at the request of Jesus to be baptized in the waters of deliverance, as He crossed the threshold of His life of service. Naaman's story is not so different from our own, valiant men of the twenty-first century, who scorn the idea of needing to be cleansed from unrightness, for our scars are much deeper than the skin. Oh, how I pray that the LORD would make our sins as manifest as they were! Yet, reader, do not mourn, for the law of God is that mirror that reveals our filth and impurities that loosen us from being bound in honor with the grace of God.

Today, if you hear His voice, don't harden your hearts. See the folly of your ways--see the outcome of your sin in the penalty endured by Jesus, beginning at His birth. We celebrate the birth of Jesus as the beginning of His sufferings, all for the sake of the albino sheep that He cleanses with His very blood being that new fountain opened for the sins of His people.

There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins
and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.
The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day;
and there have I, though vile as he, washed all my sins away.
Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood shall never lose its power
'til all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more. 
E'er since, by faith, I saw the stream Thy flowing wounds supply,
redeeming love has been my theme and shall be 'til I die. 
Then in a nobler, sweeter song, I'll sing Thy power to save
when this poor lisping, stammering tongue lies silent in the grave.