Day 6. First Principle of Freedom
Questions 1 and 2
“I’ve finally understood the need to wash at the cross. I picture Jesus dying on the cross and me under the cross, where all the blood is dripping down. I wash in it, and it seems all the blood is covering all my sins and removing all my guilt! This is both cleansing and freeing! Thank you, Jesus!” - Laura
In the last lesson, we began talking about the first of three principles of freedom, called “Washing at the Cross.” We briefly looked at this passage:
On that day, a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity. "On that day, I will banish the names of the idols from the land, and they will be remembered no more,” declares the Lord Almighty. “I will remove both the prophets and the spirit of impurity from the land."
Zechariah 13:1-2
Question 1. According to Zechariah 13:1-2, what is it that would cleanse people from impurity and remove idolatry from the land?
Zechariah was written around 500 B.C. to the people of Judah, who had returned from 70 years of exile in Babylon, but notice how our passage points forward to a certain “day” when a fountain would be opened.
Reading in context, we see that the “day” is defined in Zechariah 12:10. It was a “day” when “an only child” would be “pierced.” This is a reference to God giving His “only Son” (John 3:16) to come to this world and suffer on a cross, being pierced in His hands, feet, and side for the forgiveness of our sins.
And so, this certain “day” was when an “only child” would be "pierced,” and this piercing would open a fountain.
Today, let’s just look at the passage that shows us how to be washed and cleansed, and then we’ll talk about it more in the upcoming lessons:
Question 2. According to Zechariah 13:1-2, what would happen when God opened a fountain?