Expulsion of Impurity

“‘And it will come about on that day,’ declares the Lord of armies, ‘that I will eliminate the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered; and I will also remove the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land’” (v 2). “On that day” (the time of the battle of Armageddon), following the cleansing of the people of Israel (v 1), the land of Israel will also be cleansed. (1) Idols will be completely removed. As a result, not only their existence, but also their influence and fame, will be entirely forgotten. (2) Next, the false prophets will be driven out. (3) Furthermore, the evil spirits will be expelled. “The unclean spirit” refers to demons.

Removing the false prophets

Next, the focus turns to the false prophets (v 3-6). “‘And if anyone still prophesies, then his father and mother who gave birth to him will say to him, “You shall not live, because you have spoken falsely in the name of the Lord”; and his father and mother who gave birth to him shall pierce him through when he prophesies’” (v 3). The false prophet will be put to death and removed by his own parents. This was also commanded by the Law of Moses (Deut. 13:6-10). “‘Also it will come about on that day that the prophets will each be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies, and they will not put on a hairy robe in order to deceive; but he will say, “I am not a prophet; I am a cultivator of the ground, because a man sold me as a slave in my youth”’” (v 4-5). If even one prophecy failed to come true, that person was a false prophet (Deut. 18:20-22). Fearing to be judged by such a strict standard, the false prophets would stop wearing the hairy mantle that prophets had formerly worn in order to conceal their identity. The hairy mantle was, so to speak, a distinctive cloak of the prophets (like the cloak worn by Elijah; ref. 1 Kings 19:13; 2 Kings 1:8; 2:8). They also deny being prophets and claim to have been farmers from their youth in order to avoid the death penalty. “‘And someone will say to him, “What are these wounds between your arms?” Then he will say, “Those with which I was wounded at the house of my friends”’” (v 6). The person asking the question assumes that the wounds on the false prophet’s arms were self-inflicted during idol worship rituals. However, the false prophet falsely claims that they were wounds received in the house of his friends (or lovers). Notice that the cleansing of the land follows the cleansing of the heart. Repentance must bear concrete fruit. Let us make every effort to put the truths we have learned into practice.