PM Home Bible Study Group; October 26, 2011

Zechariah 12:1-14
Theme: The Future of the World Powers, Israel, and the Kingdom of Messiah (9:1-14:21).

(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)

IV. The Future of the World Powers, Israel, and the Kingdom of Messiah (9:1-14:21).

B. The Second Burden (12:1-14-21).

1. Israel’s Conflict and Deliverance (12:1-14).

1 The burden[a] of the word of the LORD against Israel. Thus says the LORD, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him:

2 “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem.

3 And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it.

4 In that day,” says the LORD, “I will strike every horse with confusion, and its rider with madness; I will open My eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.

5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in the LORD of hosts, their God.’

6 In that day I will make the governors of Judah like a firepan in the woodpile, and like a fiery torch in the sheaves; they shall devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left, but Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place—Jerusalem.

7 “The LORD will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not become greater than that of Judah.

8 In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the LORD before them.

9 It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

10 “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.

11 In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.[b]

12 And the land shall mourn, every family by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves;

13 the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of Shimei by itself, and their wives by themselves;

14 all the families that remain, every family by itself, and their wives by themselves.

Footnotes:

a. Zechariah 12:1; Or oracle

b. Zechariah 12:11; Hebrew Megiddon

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The later half of the book of Zechariah is concerned with two “burdens” or “oracles” (that is, “heavy sayings”). The first of these two burdens ran from chapters 9-11; and it detailed the ways that God promised to deal with the enemy nations that surround His people Israel. That first burden centered on the first coming of the Messiah (see 9:9-10). And now, we begin to consider the second burden. It runs from chapters 12-14; and details the ways that God will deal with the disobedient hearts of His own people. And its main focus is the second coming of the Messiah (see 12:10-14).

This second burden is characterized by the frequent reference to an event called “that day”. This particular “day” (probably meaning a short period of time in which important events occur, rather than a literal, 24-hour day) is mentioned in 12:3, 4, 6, 8 (twice), 9, 11; 13:1, 2, 4; 14:4, 6, 8, 9, 13, 20 and 21. In 14:1, it is called “the day of the LORD”; and in 14:7, it is described as “one day which is known to the LORD . . .” It’s a day in which the Lord will be exalted, but when the pride of man will be humiliated (Isaiah 2:12-18). It’s a day of destruction from the Almighty (Joel 1:15); and of trembling for the inhabitants of the land because of the coming of the Lord (2:1)—a day in which the Lord will have prepared a sacrifice, and will have invited guests (Zephaniah 1:7).

The prophets who spoke in detail of this day spoke of it as a day of great trouble; but one in which God would gloriously deliver His people. The prophet Jeremiah wrote; ““For thus says the LORD: ‘We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. Ask now, and see, whether a man is ever in labor with child? So why do I see every man with his hands on his loins like a woman in labor, and all faces turned pale? Alas! For that day is great, so that none is like it; and it is the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it” (Jeremiah 30:5-7). Daniel told his Jewish kinsmen what was revealed to him about it. He was told, “At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, every one who is found written in the book” (Daniel 12:1). Our Lord spoke of it and said, “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened” (Matthew 24:21-22); but He then also said, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (vv. 29-31).

It will not be a day of rejoicing for all who pretend to look forward to it, though. As God said to the wicked through His servant Amos; “Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! For what good is the day of the LORD to you? It will be darkness, and not light. It will be as though a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him! Or as though he went into the house, leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him! Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light? Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it?” (Amos 5:18-20). But even though this is so, it will nevertheless be a great day for God’s elect. Most marvelous of all, it will be a day in which the centuries-long blindness of the Jewish people—whose vision of their Messiah has been obscured until “the fullness of the Gentiles has come in”—is at long-last lifted; with the result that “so all Israel will be saved . . .” (Romans 11:25). What a glorious day that will be! As Paul wrote, “For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” (v. 15).

That great coming “day” is the subject of Zechariah’s word of encouragement to his kinsmen in Zechariah 12:1-14.

* * * * * * * * * *

Note, then, how that day will be characterized by . . .

I. THE FRUSTRATION OF ISRAEL’S ENEMIES (vv. 1-4).

A. This passage begins by making it clear that this is another “burden”—distinct from the previous one (v. 1). It is a burden “against”—or as it is better translated in the New International Version—”concerning” Israel. It speaks of something that is utterly contrary to the flow of this world in that it promises God’s glorious future for His people Israel. Even today, Israel is hated by many mighty forces in the world—all of whom wish to drive her into the sea. And yet, God here declares His purpose for her—a purpose that will not be thwarted though the whole world will come against her. The authority of this purpose is shown in four ways: (1) it is a “burden” or “oracle”; (2) it is said to be “of the word of the LORD”; (3) it is begun with “Thus says the LORD”; and(4) it is given by the Creator God “who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundations of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him . . .” Note in this that the false god of deism is denied by this verse. The one true God is very active and very involved—even to the level of the spirit of a man that is within him!

B. This sovereign Creator God speaks forth His purpose for His troubled people; and promises to make Israel a ‘divine frustration’ to the nations who oppose her. He expresses this in two ways:

1. Though the surrounding nations would be allowed to threaten her and seek to fulfill their own purposes against her, God says, “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem” (v. 2). They will stagger as if intoxicated and out of their senses because of her.

2. Though the surrounding nations would seek to cast her away and rid the earth of her, God says, “And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it (v. 3). Those who try to lift her up above their heads to cast her away will find that they lifted up that which is too great for them; and will only end up dashing and smashing themselves against her to their own destruction.

C. How will this be done? Verse 4 tells us, “In that day,” says the LORD, “I will strike every horse with confusion, and its rider with madness; I will open My eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness” (v. 4). Poor,seemingly-helpless Israel will be vastly outnumbered; and will be no natural match for the multitudes of cavalrymen that will surround her. But God will ‘open His eyes’ upon His people in the sense that He will look down upon them in favor. And just as He once said that He would do to His own disobedient people in Deuteronomy 28:28—that is, that “The LORD will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of heart”—here, the Lord will so strike their enemies. This will probably be very much like how God caused the Midianite armies to turn in madness and slay one another in Judges 7:21. Imagine how helpless and chaotic the seemingly-mighty armies against her will be when they are reduced to nothing more than madmen mounted on steeds that are rendered by God to be blind and uncontrollably confused!

II. GOD’S GLORIOUS STRENGTHENING OF HIS PEOPLE (vv. 5-9).

A. On that day, God will not only frustrate the global enemies of Israel gathered at one time against her, but He will also astonishingly enable His people to fight them. It maybe that, before this strengthening, the people of Israel will have had already seen their crucified Messiah return to them (as described so wonderfully in Revelation 19), and will have already repented of their rejection of Him. It appears that the encouragement of the people in the outlying regions of Judah will come from the capital city of Jerusalem (which is were the Lord will be at His second coming; see 14:4); for we’re told, “And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in the LORD of hosts, their God’” (v. 5). This strengthening of heart comes, not from the people of Jerusalem themselves, but from the Lord who works in them; and this strengthening through Jerusalem is used by God to make the outlying countrymen of Judah into a mighty army of God that utterly destroys the enemies of His people: “In that day I will make the governors of Judah like a firepan in the woodpile, and like a fiery torch in the sheaves; they shall devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left . . .” (v. 6a).

B. God has a plan in this not only for the outlying regions of Judah, but also for the people of the capital city itself. We’re told, “. . . but Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place—Jerusalem” (v. 6b). The sense of this is that the inhabitants of the city will inhabit their city. The destruction that the nations had planned for God’s people will not succeed; and, as the New International Version has it, “Jerusalem will remain intact in her place”. Interestingly, we’re told, “The LORD will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not become greater than that of Judah” (v. 7); in other words, God’s victory for His people in Jerusalem will be so great that He will allow the victory of the surrounding countryside to prevail first—even though they draw strength from what God will have done for Jerusalem. That way, Jerusalem will not be exalted too far above her countrymen. But a picture of just what God’s care for His people will look like is given in verses 8: “In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the LORD before them.” Even the weakest citizens who can barely stagger along will become warriors as mighty as King David himself! And the leaders of the people will be as mighty as the Angel of the Lord!

C. It’s God’s purpose to defend His people. But it’s clear that He will defend them by mightily enabling them to rise up against their enemies! The cup that the world dared to think to grab hold of and drink from will make them drunk; and the stone that they thought to lift up and cast away will prove to be so heavy as to crush them! As the Lord says in verse 9, “It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.” It will not be that He “seeks” to merely in the sense that He will attempt to do it; but rather in the sense that He sets out to do so with a determined and unalterable purpose! In Revelation 19:17-21, the apostle John describes this destruction in dreadful terms: “Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, ‘Come and gather together for the supper of the great God, that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.’ And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. Then the beast was captured,and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.” What a horrible picture! This must be what our Lord was speaking of when He said, in connection with His glorious return, “For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together” (Matthew 25:28).

III. ISRAEL’S MOURNING OVER THE ONE THEY PIERCED (vv. 10-14).

A. But God’s purpose is not simply to defend His people in those times, but also to win their hearts back to Himself. They had rejected His Son at His first coming (as was described for us in Zechariah 11:4-14); and will have embraced a false shepherd (that is, the Antichrist) in His place (as was described in 11:15-17). But the blindness that had covered their eyes from the Savior for so long will, on that great day, be removed. We’re told, “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication . . .” (v. 10a). God the Holy Spirit will first work in them “grace”—that is, the gracious gift of a divine enabling to know and understand what it is that Jesus, their rejected King, had done for them on the cross. As Paul wrote, “For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). And second, He will work in them “supplication”—so that they will respond in faith to the Savior, and cry out to Him who they had formerly rejected.

B. And look how the impact of that Spirit of grace and supplication will manifest itself:

“. . . then they will look on Me whom they pierced” (v. 10b). Note here that God Himself—the divine Speaker in this oracle—says that it was He Himself that had been pierced by His people. This can be nothing else but the glorified Lord Jesus—the second Person of the triune Godhead—presenting Himself as King to His people at His second coming. Many commentators have doubted that this could possibly be speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ; but as John—an eyewitness to the Lord’s crucifixion—tells us in his Gospel, “one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe.For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, ‘Not one of His bones shall be broken.’ And again another Scripture says, ‘They shall look on Him whom they pierced’” (John 19:34-37).

C. And in seeing Him, they will finally receive Him in repentance. And it won’t be as someone with whom they had no relationship. We’re told, “Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn (v. 10c). We’re told of the depth of that mourning in verse 11; “In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.” This is speaking of the mourning that prevailed upon the people of Judah long ago when their last great godly king, King Josiah, was slain in battle by Necho, the king of Egypt, in Megiddo (2 Kings 23:29). We’re told that, at that time, “all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. Jeremiah also lamented for Josiah. And to this day all the singing men and the singing women speak of Josiah in their lamentations. They made it a custom in Israel; and indeed they are written in the Laments” (2 Chronicles 35:24b-25). That profound mourning, however, was a mourning of loss. Here, it will be a mourning of repentance. We’re told that all classes of people—from royalty, to priesthood, to common man—will mourn. But note that they will not merely mourn in a national sense. Each Jewish person will sincerely mourn in a personal and private sense as well. It will truly be a mourning from the heart of each child of Israel; “And the land shall mourn, every family by itself: the family of the house of David by itself,and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of Shimei by itself, and their wives by themselves; all the families that remain, every family by itself, and their wives by themselves (vv. 12-14).

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What will be the content of that mourning on that great day? Surely, it will be that God’s chosen people will have—at last—realized and confessed the truth of what was promised about their Messiah in Isaiah 53; and that it was they themselves who did to Him what is said there. Dr. Charles Feinberg—himself a Jew—suggested that their mourning would sound something like this:

“Which one of us believed the report made to us? To which ones of us did the mighty power of God disclose itself? So few of us, because He appeared so lacking in promise; He had no outward attraction that our carnal hearts could then delight in. So we desired Him not, with the result that He was despised and cut off from our company, knowing only griefs and pains, as we went our way turning our gaze from Him. But marvel of it all, He was bearing and enduring our sorrows and griefs, and all the while we thought He was being stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted because He was so sinful and we were so good. No, He was smitten because we were so sinful, for He was wounded because we had transgressed the law and will of God; He was crushed to death because of our iniquitous ways; the scourge of God was upon Him so that we might have spiritual healing and peace with God. We all went senselessly on in our sins, deliberately and willfully, and God caused to come upon Him as an avalanche the sins of us all. What oppressions and merciless treatment He suffered, yet He endured them so patiently and submissively. And yet we did not lay it to heart that He was suffering all this because it was due us” (Charles L. Feinberg, God Remembers: a Study of Zechariah [Portland, OR: Multnomah Press, 1979] pp. 179-80).

After reading those words, we’re moved to sigh deeply, and say, “Oh, that the day would truly come that God’s chosen people would welcome King Jesus in this way!” But the point of this whole passage is that the Lord Himself, “who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him”, is affirming to us that it most surely will!