ZECHARIAH 12:1-14

{Zechariah 12}

As a Star Wars fan, one of my biggest complaints with the Disney era of storytelling is that there just doesn’t seem to be any sort of plan where they’re taking the franchise. I think Disney assumed when they bought Lucasfilm that the name itself was enough to draw people to view what they put out. So, they didn’t put a whole lot of thought into what it was they released. This led to shows and movies jumping all over the timeline, confusing people about what story happened when. And they sacrificed deep storytelling for quick cash cows. This was especially true of the sequel trilogy.

Thankfully our God is not like Disney or Lucasfilm. He has a plan. He’s moving things in a direction toward an intended goal. And this is good news for His covenant people, because that means we don’t have to worry about whether or not God will take care of us or whether He will bring about His promises.

We see this in the way that He works with the nation of Israel. They were to be the people through whom the Savior of the world would come. They would have a lot of hiccups along the way (as they would often be judged for disobedience). But God still has a plan for them, and the promises given to them are great news for us who are God’s covenant people through Christ. It reminds us that God remains faithful to His covenants.

In the passage previous to this one, God prophesied that bad leaders would lead the people of Israel the wrong way, and they ended up rejecting their own Messiah. And because they rejected the Savior, they were judged. In AD 70 Jerusalem was destroyed and the people scattered for 1900 or so years. The people have returned to the land, but they have not returned to God.

But God is merciful, and He gives a message through Zechariah that their judgment won’t be the last word for the people of Israel, and He reveals His comprehensive plan of protection and transformation. But this is good news for us because He will do the same for His church. So, let’s consider this prophecy, what it means for them, and what it means for us. The first section is:

1) God’s promise of protection

Zechariah 12:1–9 LSB

1 The oracle of the word of Yahweh concerning Israel. Thus declares Yahweh who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him, 2 “Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples all around. Now the one in siege against Jerusalem will also be against Judah. 3 “But it will be in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who heave it up will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it. 4 “In that day,” declares Yahweh, “I will strike every horse with bewilderment and his rider with madness. But I will open my eyes to watch over the house of Judah, while I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. 5 “Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘A strong support for us are the inhabitants of Jerusalem through Yahweh of hosts, their God.’ 6 “In that day I will make the clans of Judah like a fiery laver among pieces of wood and a fiery torch among sheaves, so they will consume on the right hand and on the left all the surrounding peoples, while Jerusalem will again be inhabited in its own place—in Jerusalem. 7 “Yahweh also will save the tents of Judah first so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem will not be magnified above Judah. 8 “In that day Yahweh will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the one who stumbles among them in that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of Yahweh before them. 9 “And it will be in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

God gives Zechariah another oracle/burden. God begins the oracle by describing Himself as the sovereign Creator over heaven, earth, and humanity itself. In modern terms we might say that God is flexing His muscles. He’s ensuring that those who hear these words understand that He has the might and power to fulfill what it is that He is promising. These are not just some empty platitudes from an impotent being. These are the words of power and authority from the eternal God.

I believe what is revealed in the next few chapters looks to the future. I believe that, no matter your flavor of end time beliefs, that you can fit this into your eschatology. Near the end, God will use Judah and Jerusalem to be the cause of the downfall of their enemies (which also are the enemies of Christ and His church). There will come a time when the enemies of the Jews will make their final move, and God says in v. 2 that Jerusalem will be a cup that causes reeling. This is language coming out of Isaiah 51 referring to the cup of the wine of God’s wrath. Israel will be the tool of God’s wrath against the enemy nations.

In v. 3 it says that these nations will try to lift Jerusalem (as in try to carry it away for destruction) but they will find that it is a big boulder that they cannot move. In fact, anyone who tries to lift it will be injured. The nations will rise up against Jerusalem, but it will not be budged.

God says that He will bring confusion to the enemy camps. In v. 4, using imagery they’d be familiar with, the military powers (pictured by horses and chariots) will be thrown into confusion. It reminds me of the story of Gideon when Gideon’s 300 broke vessels surrounding their torches and they blew their trumpets, the Midianites in their camp became confused and started fighting themselves. God will bring about that kind of confusion in His enemies.

It says that God will strike the enemies with blindness. This reminds me when Elisha asked God to strike the Aramean army with blindness and they were led right into the middle of Samaria where they were captured. God will use supernatural means to fight His foes. And according to v. 5, whether it’s the smaller villages or the larger cities of Judah, God will protect all His people.

This supernatural victory that God will bring about will be thorough. According to v. 6 He will use Judah like a fiery laver/pot that will absolutely torch everything in sight. They will be a fire that will consume their enemies from the right or left. God Himself, the consuming fire, will use the people to bring about an absolute victory.

And through the fighting, God will protect His people from ultimate harm. While the enemies will be falling all around them, Israel will stand no matter who it is. V. 7 talks about the tents of Judah to the house of David to the glory of Jerusalem. Whether a person is common or royal, whether a place is a small village or large metropolis, nobody will be left out of the promise.

In v. 8 God just comes right out with the promise that He will defend the people—but He will use the people to do it. He will empower them and strengthen them. He says that the one who stumbles in that day (or who is feeble) will be like David. Even the most weak or timid amongst the people will have the strength, courage, and boldness of David. The least significant will be like the warrior-king. And the leadership among them will be empowered by God to lead rightly. They will be like the angel of Yahweh who led Israel through their wilderness wanderings after the Exodus.

And God puts some finality to it when He says in v. 9 that He will destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. Those nations foolish enough to fight God’s covenant people will find that they will be fighting God Himself and they will pay the price in this world and the next.

For us, this is a reminder that we are God’s people through Jesus Christ. We are His covenant people as well. He is the all-Powerful Creator, Sustainer, and Protector, and this means that He is sovereign over all nations and all people and all events that happen in our day as well. God does see the enemies that we face. He sees the threats and venom that are shot our way. He sees the global powers that conspire against His church and try to thwart their kingdom expansion. We truly are in the midst of enemy territory. And yet, God remains firmly in control giving us comfort that nothing that happens is out of His hand.

And so we are reminded that we are in spiritual warfare. And as much as God will use Israel as instruments of war against physical enemies, He can use us as instruments of war against the spiritual enemy. We are His soldiers and we can chip away at the enemy’s kingdom, while expanding Christ’s. And no matter how weak we may feel, we are empowered because we have the Holy Spirit within us.

We are also reminded that God’s faithfulness toward us is unwavering. He keeps His covenantal promises, which means for us that we will have ultimate triumph over our enemies through Jesus Christ. We have a hope and we have a glorious future ahead of us.

But not only does God promise protection, we see in the next part of the prophecy:

2) God’s promise of transformation

Zechariah 12:10–14 LSB

10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. 11 “In that day there will be great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12 “And the land will mourn, each family alone; the family of the house of David alone and their wives alone; the family of the house of Nathan alone and their wives alone; 13 the family of the house of Levi alone and their wives alone; the family of the Shimeites alone and their wives alone; 14 all the families that remain, each family alone and their wives alone.

God through Zechariah says that He will bring about an amazing spiritual transformation of Israel—they will finally receive their Messiah. Now, beforehand, God had warned that the leaders of the Jews would lead them away from the Anointed Shepherd that God would send. We see this play out in the New Testament. The leaders led them to cry out Crucify Him! Crucify Him! They then led the people to persecute the Bride of Christ, the church.

And as had happened to them before, their disobedience to God led to judgment. God broke the covenant of protection over the people and allowed a nation to overrun them and scatter them. We see this play out in the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70—all because they killed their Messiah instead of receiving Him.

But now God says He would draw them back. In v. 10 He says that He would pour the Spirit of grace and supplication on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem—whether royalty or common folk, God’s Spirit will come upon them and, in a sense, open their eyes.

You notice that it says that they will look on ME whom they have pierced. The verse is obviously a reference to Jesus’ crucifixion—but notice the use of the first person ME. It is God speaking—again showing the deity of Christ. But once the people’s eyes are open by the Holy Spirit they will mourn. According to verse 11 it will be a great mourning—like Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo. This is possibly a reference to the death of King Josiah, the last of the good kings, and the people mourned his death heavily.

But they will look upon the one they pierced and mourn that they had rejected their Messiah however many thousands of years beforehand. All those thousands of years the majority of Israel was far from their God because they were far from their Messiah. And then their eyes are finally opened and they can’t believe what their ancestors had done. So they mourn. And they mourn not just as a collective people, but as individuals. In vv. 12-14 it says that this person does it alone and that person does it alone. There is a great repentance of the individual Jew.

I believe this might be what Paul is referring to in Romans 11—that there will come a time when Israel will be saved. He says:

Romans 11:25–29 LSB

25 For I do not want you, brothers, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; 26 and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.” 27 “And this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.” 28 From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; 29 for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

In a sense we could say that Israel has a V8 moment—WHAT WERE WE THINKING? And again, I think this could fit into any view of the end times—toward the end Israel will realize Jesus is Lord. In the previous Zechariah passage, God broke the covenant of favor/grace with Israel, but when Israel repents, grace/favor returns.

But the problem right now is that the vast majority of Jews do not believe in Jesus, which means that they are lost and without hope—disobedient to their God. But the good news is that anyone who repents and believes in Jesus (whether they be Jew or Gentile) will be the object of God’s favor, and God will spiritually transform them.

We want to pray that the light of the gospel shines on Jews and Gentiles, leading to repentance and faith—and may He shine through us...