Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Zechariah 12:1
The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
1. The burden ] See ch. Zec 9:1, note.
for Israel ] Rather, concerning Israel.
saith ] Rather, the saying, oracular utterance, of Jehovah: as in Psa 110:1. The clause is in apposition with the first clause of the verse.
which stretcheth forth, &c.] In view of the wonderful and almost incredible promises that, follow, an appeal is made to the creative power of Jehovah, that so the people may not “stagger at the promise of God through unbelief,” but be “fully persuaded that what He has promised, He is able also to perform.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Chap. Zec 12:1-9 . Jehovah’s protection of His people
As in the former Burden, the first section opens with a general Title (printed as such in R. V.), very similar to that of the First Burden (Zec 9:1), and belonging like that to the whole group of prophecies which follow. The coming oracle proceeds from Jehovah, the Creator of the universe and of man; able therefore to accomplish what He predicts, Zec 12:1. All nations shall gather against Jerusalem, which shall prove to them like a cup of which they drink but to totter and fall, Zec 12:2, or a heavy stone which only wounds and crushes those who essay to lift it, Zec 12:3. Horse and rider alike in the armies that gather against her shall be panic-stricken and blinded, Zec 12:4, while the rulers of the country shall acknowledge her, thus rendered by God impregnable, as the bulwark of their land, Zec 12:5, and shall take courage to attack and consume the discomfited foe around her walls, so that she stands forth again a free and populous city, Zec 12:6. Thus the country at large shall have its share from God in the glory of the victory, and so all rivalry between it and the capital shall be excluded, Zec 12:7. The capital, however, shall under the protection of the Almighty be worthy of its position as the abode of heroes, while the royal family shall lead the nation no less worthily than the Angel of Jehovah did of old time, Zec 12:8. And all this, because God Himself will make it His aim to destroy all the enemies of His people, Zec 12:9.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The burden of the word of the Lord for – Rather, upon (see at Nah 1:1, p. 129) Israel. If this prophecy is a continuation of the last, notwithstanding its fresh title, then Israel must be the Christian Church, formed of the true Israel which believed, and the Gentiles who were grafted into them. So Cyril; Having spoken sufficiently of the Good Shepherd Christ, and of the foolish, most cruel shepherd who butchered the sheep, that is, antichrist, he seasonably makes mention of the persecutions which would from time to time arise against Israel; not the Israel according to the flesh, but the spiritual, that Jerusalem which is indeed holy, the Church of the Living God 1Ti 3:15. For as we say, that he is spiritually a Jew, who hath the circumcision in the heart, Rom 2:29, that through the Spirit, and not in the flesh through the letter; so also may Israel be conceived, not that of the blood of Israel, but rather that, which has a mind beholding God. But such are all who are called to sanctification through the faith in Christ, and who in Him and by Him, know of God the Father. For this is the one true elected way of beholding God.
Since the Good Shepherd was rejected by all, except the poor of the flock, the little flock which believed in Him, and thereupon the band of brotherhood was dissolved between Israel and Judah, Israel in those times could not be Israel after the flesh, which then too was the deadly antagonist of the true israel, and thus early also chose antichrist, such as was Bar-Cochba, with whom so many hundreds of thousands perished. There was no war then against Jerusalem, since it had ceased to be (see the notes on Mic 3:12).
But Zechariah does not say that this prophecy, to which he has annexed a separate title, follows, in time, upon the last; rather, since he has so separated it by its title, he has marked it as a distinct prophecy from the preceding. It may be, that he began again from the time of the Maccabees and took Gods deliverances of the people Israel then, as the foreground of the deliverances to the end ).
Yet in the times of Antiochus, it was one people only which was against the Jews, and Zechariah himself speaks only of the Greeks; Zec 9:13; here he repeatedly emphasizes that they were all nations (Zec 12:2-3, Zec 12:6, Zec 12:9). It may then rather be, that the future, the successive efforts of the world to crush the people of God, and its victory amid suffering, and its conversions of the world through the penitent looking to Jesus, are exhibited in one great perspective, according to the manner of prophecy, which mostly exhibits the prominent events, not their order or sequence. : The penitential act of contrite sinners, especially of Jews, looking at Him whom they pierced, dates from the Day of Pentecost, and continues to the latter days, when it will be greatly intensified and will produce blessed results, and is here concentrated into one focus. The rising up of Gods enemies against Christs Church, which commenced at the same time, and has been continued in successive persecutions from Jews, Gentiles, and other unbelievers in every age, and which will reach its climax in the great antichristian outbreak of the last times, and be confounded by the Coming of Christ to judgment, is here summed up in one panoramic picture, exhibited at once to the eye.
Which stretcheth forth the heavens – Gods creative power is an ever-present working, as our Lord says, My Father worketh hitherto and I work Joh 5:17. His preservation of the things which He has created is a continual re-creation. All forces are supported by Him, who alone hath life in Himself. He doth not the less uphold all things by the word of His power, because, until the successive generations, with or without their will, with or against His Will for them, shall have completed His Sovereign Will, He upholds them uniformly in being by His Unchanging Will. Man is ever forgetting this, and because, since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as from the beginning of the creation 2Pe 3:4, they relegate the Creator and His creating as far as they can to some time, as far back as they can imagine, enough to fill their imaginations, and forget Him who made them, in whose bands is their eternity, who will be their Judge. So the prophets remind them and us of His continual working, which people forget in the sight of His works; Thus saith the Lord; He that createth the heavens, and stetcheth them out; He that spreadeth forth the earth and its produce, who giveth breath to the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein Isa 42:5; and, I am the Lord who maketh all things, who stretcheth out the heavens alone, who spreadeth abroad the earth by Myself Isa 44:24; speaking at once of that, past in its beginning yet present to us in its continuance, but to Him ever-present present; and of things actually present to us, that frustrateth the tokens of the liars Isa 44:25; and of things to those of that day still future, that confirmeth the word of His servant, and performeth the counsel of His messengers Isa 44:26 : the beginning of which was not to be till the taking of Babylon. And the Psalmist unites past and present in one, Donning light as a garment, stretching out the heavens as a curtain; who layeth the beams of His chambers on the waters, who maketh the clouds His chariot; who walketh on the wings of the wind; who maketh His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire; He founded the earth upon its base. Psa 104:2-5. And Amos, He that formeth the mountains and createth the winds, and declareth unto man his thoughts (Amo 4:13, add Amo 5:8); adding whatever lieth nearest to each of us.
And formeth the spirit of man, within him – Both by the unceasing creation of souls, at every moment in some spot in our globe, or by the re-creation, for which David prays, Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me Psa 51:10. He who formed the hearts of people can overrule them as He wills. Cyril: But the spirit of man is formed by God in him, not by being called to the beginnings of being, although it was made by Him, but, as it were, transformed from weakness to strength, from unmanliness to endurance, altogether being transelemented from things shameful to better things.
Cyril: It is the custom of the holy prophets, when about to declare beforehand things of no slight moment, to endeavor to show beforehand the Almightiness of God, that their word may obtain credence, though they should declare what was beyond all hope, and (to speak of our conceptions) above all reason and credibility.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Zec 12:1
The burden of the Word of the Lord for Israel
The burden and glory of Gods Word to Israel
God presents Himself here as creating and speaking.
It is to Israel that His Word is primarily addressed, for it is Israel that recognises His Word, and by Israel His Word is carried to the world, which thus becomes also Israel. Remember the meaning of the name, and its origin. Prince of God was the name which Jacob got from that long wrestling in the dark–Israel, prince of God, because he had power with God. The name denotes the fact and the power of communion. Israel is composed of those who seek God and cling to Him, who worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
I. The Creator of the heavens and earth and the spirit of man has an Israel. The idea of Israel is fellowship with God and power with God, gained in and by that fellowship. Is such an idea reasonable? We think it a poor conception of God which represents Him as so mighty and rich that He does not care for fellowship with souls. Do you think to convince me that God is wanting in sympathies and affections by showing that He is Almighty? The argument is all in the opposite direction. Should I have more ground to believe in His heart if He were less than all-powerful and all-wise! There is in man a longing after relation to the Infinite. All his history proves this. Something in him cries out after God, and the heavens and the earth have tended to intensify this cry. Man is haunted by a something issuing from heaven and earth that will not let him rest. It would have been sad if man had craved an infinite friend, had yearned after nearness to a perfect and eternal living One, and felt no hope, countenance, or stimulus in the world around him. But man stands in no such barren and dead world. A living world is round him, material, but full of spiritual suggestion, inviting him to seek God, and waking him up again when he grows dull and hard. Will it be said that this does not make probable the idea of an Israel–men that have power with God, it gives support to the idea of communion with God, but not to that of prayer, an asking that influences the Divine will? The answer is obvious. Communion with God, in the case of a being like man, an imperfect, sin-laden being, must take largely the form of prayer. Such a being, coming near to God, cannot but ask from Him. And this asking, so inevitable, cannot be a futile thing. If asking be a necessity with the spirit that has communion with God, there must be room and need for it on the side of God. What is true on the human side is true on the Divine side. The whole doctrine of prayer is found in the spirit of man, in the longings and necessities, and there can be nothing in real contradiction to these. They who seek God have a peculiar affinity with Him. God as a moral being has moral affinities. It is not a lowering or limiting of God to believe that He has an Israel.
II. God has a word for His Israel. Neither the heavens nor the earth nor the spirit of man take the place of a word. They are each a revelation. But they are fuller of questions than of answers. The heart of man needs a word. It is only in words that there is definiteness. One of the distinguishing peculiarities of man is that he employs words. By these he reaches the fulness of his being. He makes his thought clear to himself, and gives it an outward existence by words. He makes all shadowy and vague things firm and abiding by words. And shall not God meet him on this highest platform? A Word of God is a necessity to the human soul God has a word to Israel which makes fellowship close and confiding. The word gives man the necessary clue to the interpretation of the universe and himself. It is Gods Word to Israel as the ideal man Israel is the ideal and complete man, and it is in proportion as any man approaches the ideal that he fully comprehends and embraces the message of Gods Word to Israel.
III. Gods Word to Israel is a burden. This expression is often used by the prophets. No doubt it expresses, in the first instance, the weight of obligation and responsibility in the declaring of Gods message, but this rests on the fact that the Word of God is a weighty matter for all men.
1. Gods Word is a burden by reason of the weight of its ideas. Thoughts that may be put into words are of all degrees of weight–some light as a feather, some heavy as a world. Thoughts weigh upon the mind, even though they are felt to be precious. The ideas in Gods Word are the weightiest of all–God, soul, sin, salvation, renewal, eternity. Men are never right till they try to lift these thoughts and weigh them. They are no judges of the weight of things till they try these.
2. Gods Word is a burden of momentousness and obligation. There are many weighty thoughts that have little or no practical moment. But the thoughts in Gods Word are of pressing and supreme importance. They are light, food, shelter, life. To reject them is ruin. Everything must depend on how we stand to these words.
3. Gods Word is a burden which is easier to bear in whole than in part. The half or quarter, or some little fraction of Gods Word is worse to bear, harder and heavier than the whole. A single truth taken out of the whole may be quite oppressive and intolerable. It may crush all joy and courage out of life. The truth about sin needs the truth about grace and redemption in order to be borne. The truth about duty needs the Divine promises. Relief is to be found not by throwing off any truth, but by taking up more. The hardest truths become pleasant in proper company. Every truth has relations to all the rest, and is not properly itself without them. Let the effort be to take the whole truth, and to take it as a whole. Then it will no more oppress than the vast load of atmosphere which every man carries.
4. The Word of God is a burden which removes every other load. Thought, conviction, and feeling bring their inevitable burden. And if a man rejects burdens he is but making up a heavier burden. If a man will not have the burden of Gods Word, then the whole riddle of the universe becomes his burden. But if I take up Gods Word, and actually carry it as Gods Word, I have no further care. There is provision for driving away every fear and every care in that Word. (J. Leckie, D. D.)
Which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth–
The universe
I. That the universe includes the existence of matter and of mind. The phrase heavens and earth is used here and elsewhere to represent the whole creation.
1. It includes matter. Of the essence of matter we know nothing; but by the word we mean all that comes within the cognisance of our senses, all that can be felt, heard, seen, tasted. How extensive is this material domain!
2. It includes mind. Indeed, mind is here specified. And formeth the spirit of man within man. Man has a spirit. Of this he has stronger evidence than he has of the existence of matter. He is conscious of the phenomena of mind, but not conscious of the phenomena of matter.
II. That the universe originated with one personal being. It had an origin. It is not eternal. The idea of its eternity involves contradictions. It had an origin; its origin is not fortuitous, it is not the production of chance. Its origin is not that of a plurality of creators; it has one, and one only, the Lord.
III. This one personal Creator has purposes concerning the human race. The burden may mean the sentence of the Word of the Lord concerning Israel.
1. No events in human history are accidental.
2. The grand purpose of our life should be the fulfilment of Gods will.
IV. His purpose towards mankind He is fully able to accomplish. His creative achievements are here mentioned as a pledge of the purposes hereafter announced. Every purpose of the Lord shall be performed. Has He purposed that all mankind shall be converted to His Son? It shall be done. (Homilist.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER XII
The first part of this chapter, with several passages in
chap xiv., relates to an invasion that shall be made on the
inhabitants of Judea and Jerusalem in the latter ages of the
world, some time after the restoration and settlement of the
Jews in their own land. It also describes, in very magnificent
terms, the signal interposition of God in their favour. From
this the prophet proceeds in the latter part of the chapter,
10-14, to describe the spiritual mercies of God to converting
his people; and gives a very pathetic and affecting account of
the deep sorrow of that people, when brought to a sense of
their great sin in crucifying the Messiah, comparing it to the
sorrow of a parent for his first-born and only son, or to the
lamentations made for Josiah in the valley of Megiddon,
2Ch 35:24-25.
A deep, retired sorrow, which will render the mourners for a
season insensible to all the comforts and enjoyments of the
most endearing society.
NOTES ON CHAP. XII
Verse 1. The burden of the word of the Lord] This is a new prophecy. It is directed both to Israel and Judah, though Israel alone is mentioned in this verse.
Which stretcheth forth the heavens] See on Isa 42:5.
Formeth the spirit of man within him.] Then it is not the same substance with his body. It is a SPIRIT within HIM.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The burden of the word of the Lord: see this whole passage Zec 9:1.
For Israel; or touching, concerning, as the Gallic version; upon, against, the Hebrew bears it; and some take it in one, some in the other sense, though I think the main of the chapter persuades it is to be rendered, for, in the behalf of Israel, i.e. the church of Christ among the Jews until their rejection, and among the Gentiles ever since their vocation; both have their concern in the things here foretold.
Saith the Lord; who giveth out promises of great things to a people in a very low state, and therefore to raise their hope tells them by his prophet what he hath done.
Which stretcheth forth the heavens, as a curtain, saith Isaiah, Isa 40:22; who did more easily spread abroad the heavens, than any creature can spread forth a curtain about your bed, or a canopy over your head; by an almighty power going along with the act of his will, saying, Let it be, all that immense body of the material, visible heavens immediately spread forth itself.
And layeth the foundation of the earth, upon his own almighty word; on that the chief corner-stones thereof do lie, Job 38:4-6; Isa 51:13.
Formeth; in admirable wisdom, and with more especial artifice, framed, so the Hebrew imports, as Isa 43:7; 46:11.
The spirit; the immortal soul, that spiritual being which animateth us. Who hath done all this he can do all that is here promised for Israel, and threatened against Israels enemies.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. burden“weightyprophecy”; fraught with destruction to Israel’s foes; theexpression may also refer to the distresses of Israel impliedas about to precede the deliverance.
for IsraelconcerningIsrael [MAURER].
stretcheth forthpresent;now, not merely “hath stretched forth,” as ifGod only created and then left the universe to itself (Joh5:17). To remove all doubts of unbelief as to the possibility ofIsrael’s deliverance, God prefaces the prediction by reminding us ofHis creative and sustaining power. Compare a similar preface inIsa 42:5; Isa 43:1;Isa 65:17; Isa 65:18.
formeth . . . spirit of man(Num 16:22; Heb 12:9).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel,…. And against their enemies; for the good of the church of God, for its joy, comfort, and salvation; or, “concerning Israel” x; what shall befall them in the latter day, as the destruction of antichrist, prophesied of in the preceding chapter Zec 11:1; and what is hereafter said may be believed that it shall be accomplished. The Lord is described in the greatness of his power, speaking as follows:
saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens: as a curtain,
Ps 104:2 the expanse or firmament of heaven, which is stretched out as a canopy over all the earth around:
and layeth the foundation of the earth; firm and sure, though upon the seas and floods, yea, upon nothing, Ps 24:2:
and formeth the spirit of man within him; the soul of man, with all its powers and faculties, gifts and endowments; which is of his immediate creation, and which he continues daily to form, and infuse into the bodies of men, and holds in life there; hence he is called the Father of spirits, Heb 12:9.
x “de”, Piscator, Drusius; “super Israele”, Cocceius, Burkius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
“Burden of the word of Jehovah over Israel. Saying of Jehovah, who stretches out the heaven, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him.” This heading, which belongs to the whole prophecy in ch. 12-14, corresponds in form and contents to that in Zec 9:1. The burden of Jehovah over Israel stands by the side of the burden of Jehovah over the land of Hadrach, the seat of the heathen power of the world (Zec 9:1). And as the reason assigned for the latter was that the eye of Jehovah looks at mankind and all the tribes of Israel, so the former is explained here by an allusion to the creative omnipotence of Jehovah. Only there is nothing in our heading to answer to the words “and Damascus is his rest,” which are added to the explanation of the symbolical name Hadrach in Zec 9:1, because Israel, as the name of the covenant nation, needed no explanation. The other formal differences are very inconsiderable. answers substantially to the (in , Zec 9:1), and signifies, notwithstanding the fact that massa’ announces a threatening word, not “again” but “over,” as we may see by comparing it with in Mal 1:1. The reason for the massa’ announced is given here in the form of an apposition, standing first like a heading, as in Psa 11:1; 2Sa 23:1; Num 24:3, Num 24:15. The predicates of God are formed after Isa 42:5 (see also Amo 4:13), and describe God as the creator of the universe, and the former of the spirits of all men, to remove all doubt as to the realization of the wonderful things predicted in what follows. , the forming of the spirit within man, does not refer to the creation of the spirits of souls of men once for all, but denotes the continuous creative formation and guidance of the human spirit by the Spirit of God. Consequently we cannot restrict the stretching out of the heaven and the laying of the foundation of the earth to the creation of the universe as an act accomplished once for all tat the beginning of all things (Gen 2:1), but must take these words also as referring to the upholding of the world as a work of the continuously creative providence of God. According to the biblical view (cf. Psa 104:2-4), “God stretches out the heavens every day afresh, and every day He lays the foundation of the earth, which, if His power did not uphold it, would move from its orbit, and fall into ruin” (Hengst.).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Security of the Church; Punishment of the Church’s Enemies; Promises to Judah. | B. C. 500. |
1 The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. 2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. 3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. 4 In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness. 5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God. 6 In that day will I make the governors of Judah like a hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. 7 The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah. 8 In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them.
Here is, I. The title of this charter of promises made to God’s Israel; it is the burden of the word of the Lord, a divine prediction; it is of weight in the delivery of it; it is to be pressed upon people, and will be very pressing in the accomplishment of it; it is a burden, a heavy burden, to all the church’s enemies, like that talent of lead,Zec 5:7; Zec 5:8. But it is for Israel; it is for their comfort and benefit. As even the fiery law (Deut. xxxiii. 2), so the fiery prophecies and fiery providences that come from God’s right hand, come for them; the word that speaks terror to their enemies speaks peace to them, as the pillar of cloud and fire, which turned a bright side towards the Israelites, to direct and encourage them, but a black side towards the Egyptians, to terrify and dispirit them. Happy are those that have even the burdens of God’s word for them, as well as the blessings of it.
II. The title of him that grants this charter, which is prefixed to it to show that he has both authority to make these promises and ability to make them good, for he is the Creator of the world and our Creator, and therefore has an incontestable irresistible dominion. 1. He stretches out the heavens; not only he did so at the first, when he said, Let there be a firmament, and he made the firmament, but he does so still; he keeps them stretched out like a curtain, keeps them from running in, and will do so till the end come, when the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll. No bounds can be set to his power who stretches out the heavens, nor can any thing be too hard for him. 2. He lays the foundation of the earth, and keeps it firm and fixed on its own basis, or rather on its own axis, though it is founded on the seas (Ps. xxiv. 1, 2), nay, though it is hung upon nothing, Job xxvi. 7. The founder of this earth is no doubt the ruler of it, and judges in it, and those deceive themselves who say, The Lord has forsaken the earth, for, if he had, it would have sunk, since it is he that not only did lay its foundations at first, but does still lay them, still uphold them. 3. He forms the spirit of man within him. He made us these souls, Jer. xxxviii. 16. He not only breathed into the first man, but still breathes into every man the breath of life; the body is derived from the fathers of our flesh, but the soul is infused by the Father of spirits, Heb. xii. 9. He fashions men’s hearts; they are in his hand, and he turns them as the rivers of water, and casts them into what mould he pleases, so as to serve his own purposes with them; and he can therefore save his church by inspiriting his friends and dispiriting his enemies, and will eternally save all his chosen by forming their spirits anew.
III. The promises themselves that are here made them, by which the church shall be secured, and in which all its friends may enjoy a holy security.
1. It is promised that, whatever attacks the enemies of the church may make upon her purity or peace, they will certainly issue in their own confusion. The enemies of God and of his kingdom bear a great deal of malice and ill-will to Jerusalem, and form designs for its destruction; but it will prove, at last, that they are but preparing ruin for themselves; Jerusalem is in safety, and those are in all the danger who fight against it. This is here illustrated by three comparisons:–
(1.) Jerusalem shall be a cup of trembling to all that lay siege to it, v. 2. They promise themselves that it shall be to them a cup of wine, which they shall easily and with pleasure drink off, and they thirst for its spoils, nay, they thirst for its blood, as for such a cup; but it shall prove a cup of slumber, nay, a cup of poison, to them, which, when they take it into their hands, and think it is all their own, they shall not be able to drink off: the fumes of it shall give them enough. When the kings were assembled against her, and saw how God was known in her palaces for a refuge, they trembled and hasted away; fear took hold upon them, as we find, Ps. xlviii. 3-6. Thus Alexander the Great was struck with amazement when he met Jaddus the high priest, and was deterred thereby from offering any violence to Jerusalem. When Sennacherib laid siege against Judah and Jerusalem he found them such a cup of stupifying wine as laid all his mighty men asleep, Psa 76:5; Psa 76:6. Some read it, I will make Jerusalem a post of contrition or breaking. Those that make any attempts upon Jerusalem do but run their heads against a post, which they cannot move, but are sure to hurt themselves. The blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall (Isa. xxv. 4), broken by it, but not shaking it. God’s church is a cup of consolation to all her friends (Isa. lxvi. 11), but a cup of trembling to all that would either debauch her by errors and corruptions or destroy her by wars and persecutions. See Isa 51:22; Isa 51:23.
(2.) Jerusalem shall be a burdensome stone to all that attempt to remove it or carry it away, v. 3. All the people of the earth are here supposed to be gathered together against it, some one time and some another; there has been a succession of enemies, from age to age, making war upon the church. But though they were all at once in a confederacy against it, and had formed a resolution to cut off the name of Israel, that it should be no more in remembrance (Ps. lxxxiii. 4), they will find it a task too hard for them. Those that are for keeping up and advancing the kingdom of sin in the world look upon Jerusalem, even the church of God, as the great obstacle to their designs, and they must have it out of the way; but they will find it heavier than they think it is; so that, [1.] They cannot remove it. God will have a church in the world, in spite of them; it is built upon a rock, and is as Mount Zion, that abides for ever, Ps. cxxv. 1. This stone, cut out of the mountain without hands, will not only keep its ground, but fill the earth, Dan. ii. 35. Nay, [2.] It will break in pieces all that burden themselves with it, as that stone smote the image, Dan. ii. 45. All that think themselves a match for it shall be cut in pieces by it. Some think it is an allusion to a sport which Jerome, upon this place, says was in use among the Jews, as among us: young men tried their strength, and strove for mastery, by heaving up great stones, which, if they proved too heavy for them, fell upon them, and bruised them. Those that make a jest of religion, and banter sacred things, will find them a burdensome stone, that it is ill-jesting with edged-tools, and though they make light of it (saying, Am not I in sport?) they bring upon themselves an insupportable sinking load of guilt. Our Saviour seems to allude to these words when he speaks of himself as a burdensome stone to those that will not have him for their foundation-stone, which shall fall upon them and grind them to powder, Matt. xxi. 44.
(3.) The governors of Judah shall be among their enemies like a hearth of fire among the wood, and a torch of fire in a sheaf, v. 6. Not that their own passions shall make them incendiaries and firebrands to all about them; no; Zion’s King is meek and lowly, and all subordinate governors must be like him; but God’s justice will make them avengers of his cause, and theirs, upon their enemies. Those that contend with them will find it is like an opposition given by briers and thorns to a consuming fire, Isa. xxvii. 4. It will go through them, and burn them together. It is God’s wrath, and not theirs, that is the fire which devours the adversaries. God’s fire is said to be in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem. Isa. xxxi. 9. The enemies thought to be as water to this fire, to extinguish it and put it quite out; but God will make them as wood, nay, as a sheaf of corn (which is more combustible), to this fire, not only to be consumed by it, but to be made thereby to burn the more strongly. When God would make Abimelech and the men of Shechem one another’s destroyers fire is said to come out from the one to devour the other, Judg. ix. 20. So here, Fire shall come out from the governors of Judah to devour all the people round about, as from the mouth of God’s witnesses to consume those who offer to hurt them, Rev. xi. 5. The persecutors of the primitive church found this fulfilled in it, witness Lactantius’s history of God’s judgments upon the primitive persecutors, and the confession of Julian the apostate at last. Thou hast overcome me, O thou Galilean! The church’s motto may be, Nemo me impune lacesset–He that assails me does it at his peril. If you are weary of your life, persecute the Christians, was once a proverb.
2. It is promised that God will infatuate the counsels and enfeeble the courage of the church’s enemies (v. 4): “In that day, when the people of the earth are gathered together against Jerusalem, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness;” and again, “I will smite every horse of the people with blindness, so that they shall be no way serviceable to them; blinding the horses will be as bad as houghing them.” The horses and their horsemen shall both forget the military exercise to which they were trained, and, instead of keeping ranks and observing the rules of their discipline, they shall both grow mad, and ruin themselves. The church’s infantry shall be too hard for the enemy’s cavalry; and those who were upbraided with trusting in horses shall be baffled by those who were forbidden to multiply horses.
3. It is promised that Jerusalem shall be re-peopled and replenished (v. 6): Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. The natives of Jerusalem shall not incorporate in a colony in some other country, and build a city there, and call that Jerusalem, and see the promises fulfilled in that, as those in New England called their towns by the names of towns in Old England. No; they shall have a new Jerusalem upon the same foundation, the same spot of ground, with the old one. They had so after their return out of captivity, but this was to have its full accomplishment in the gospel-church, which is a Jerusalem inhabited in its own place; for, the gospel being to be preached to all the world, it may call every place its own.
4. It is promised that the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be enabled to defend themselves, and yet shall be taken under the divine protection, v. 8. See here in what method God preserves his church, and those that are his, from the gates of hell to and through the gates of heaven. (1.) He does himself secure them: In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, not only Jerusalem itself from being taken and destroyed, but every inhabitant of it from being any way damaged. God will not only be a wall of fire about the city, to fortify that, but he will encompass particular persons with his favour as with a shield, so that no dart of the besiegers shall touch them. (2.) He does it by giving them strength and courage to help themselves. What God works in his people by his grace contributes more to their preservation and defence than what he works for them by his providence. The God of Israel gives strength and power to his people, that they may do their part, and then he will not be wanting to do his. It is the glory of God to strengthen the weak, that most need his help, that see and own their need of it, and will be the most thankful for it. [1.] In that day the feeblest of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be as David, shall be men of war, as bold and brave, as skilful and strong, as David himself, shall attempt and accomplish great things, as David did, and become as serviceable to Jerusalem in guarding it as David himself was in founding it, and as formidable as he was to the enemies of it. See what divine grace does; it makes children not only men, but champions, makes weak saints to be not only good soldiers, but great soldiers, like David. And see how God often does his own work as easily and effectually, and more to his own glory, by weak and obscure instruments than by the most illustrious. [2.] The house of David shall be as God, that is, as the angel of the Lord, before them. Zerubbabel was now the top-branch of the house of David; he shall be endued with wisdom and grace for the service to which he is called, and shall go before the people as an angel, as that angel (so some think) which went before the people of Israel through the wilderness, which was God himself, Exod. xxiii. 20. God will increase the gifts and abilities both of the people and princes, in proportion to the respective services for which they are designed. It was said of David that he was as an angel of God, to discern good and bad, 2 Sam. xiv. 17. Such shall the house of David now be. The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be as strong and fit for action as nature made David, and their magistrates as wise and fit for counsel as grace made him. But this was to have its full accomplishment in Christ; now the house of David looked little and mean, and its glory was eclipsed, but in Christ the house of David shone more brightly than ever, and its countenance was as that of an angel; in him it became more blessed, and more a blessing, than ever it had been.
5. It is promised that there shall be a very good understanding between the city and the country, and that the balance shall be kept even between them; there shall be no mutual envies or jealousies between them; they shall not keep up any separate interests, but shall heartily unite in their counsels, and act in concert for the common good; and this happy agreement between the city and the country, the head and the body, is very necessary to the health, welfare, and safety of any nation. (1.) The governors of Judah, the magistrates and gentry of the country, shall think honourably of the citizens, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the merchants and tradesmen; they shall not run them down, and contrive how to keep them under, but they shall say in their hearts, not in compliment but in sincerity, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength, the strength of my country, of my family, in the Lord of hosts their God, v. 5. They will therefore, upon all occasions, pay respect and deference to Jerusalem, as the mother-city, the ruling-city, and the city that is to be first served, because they look upon it to be the bulwark of the nation and its strongest fortification in times of public danger and distress, which therefore they would all come in to the assistance of and come under the protection of, and this not so much because it was a rich city, and money is the sinews of war, nor because it was a populous city and could bring the greatest numbers into the field, nor because its inhabitants were generally the most ingenious active men, the best soldiers and the best commanders (of Zion it shall be said, This and that brave man were born there), but because it was a holy city, where God’s house and household, the temple and the priests, were, where his worship was kept up and his feasts were observed, and because it should now be more than ever a praying city, for upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem God will pour a spirit of supplication (v. 10); therefore the governors of Judah shall say, These are my strength; they are so upon the account of their relation to, their interest in, and their communion with, the Lord of hosts, their God. Because the Lord of hosts is in a particular manner their God (for in Salem is his tabernacle and his dwelling-place in Zion), therefore they shall be my strength. Note, It is well with a kingdom when its great men know how to value its good men, when its governors look upon religion and religious people to be their strength, and consider it their interest to support them, and learn to call godly praying people, and skilful faithful ministers, the chariots and horsemen of Israel, as Joash called Elisha, and not the troublers of the land, as Ahab called Elijah. (2.) The court and the city shall not despise, nor look with contempt upon, the inhabitants of the country; no, not the meanest of them, much less upon the governors of Judah; for God will put signal honour upon Judah, and so save them from the contempt of their brethren. As Jerusalem was dignified by special ordinances, so Judah shall be dignified with special providences. God says (v. 4), I will open my eyes upon the house of Judah, upon the poor country people. Proud men scornfully overlook them, but the great God will graciously look upon them and look after them. Nay, (v. 7), the Lord shall save the tents of Judah first. Those that dwell in tents lie most exposed; but God will remarkably protect and deliver them before those that dwell in Jerusalem. He will appear glorious in what he does for the inhabitants of his villages in Israel, Judg. v. 11. Thus, in the mystical body, God gives more abundant honour to that part which lacked, that there may be no schism in the body (see 1 Cor. xii. 22-25), which is the reason here given why the glory of the house of David, which has great power, and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who have great wealth, and both which live in great pomp and pleasure, may not magnify themselves against Judah and the tents of Judah, the dwellers in which work hard, and fare hard, and perhaps are not so well bred. Note, Courtiers and citizens ought not to despise country people, nor look with disdain upon those whom God opens his eyes upon and who are first saved, while it is so hard for the rich and great to enter the kingdom of God. If God by his grace has magnified the dwellers in the tents of Judah, having chosen the weak and foolish things of the world and chosen to employ them, we affront him if we vilify them, or magnify ourselves against them, Jas 2:5; Jas 2:6. This promise has a further reference to the gospel-church, in which no difference shall be made between high and low, rich and poor, bond and free, circumcision and uncircumcision, but all shall be alike welcome to Christ, and partake of his benefits, Col. iii. 11. Jerusalem shall not then be thought, as it had been, more holy than other parts of the land of Israel.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
ZECHARIAH – CHAPTER 12
THE SEIGE OF JERUSALEM TO COME
Verses 1-3:
By The Beast And His Armies
Verse 1 describes the burden or weighty prophecy for Israel, from the Lord; And it concerned Israel. The Lord is described as progressively stretching forth the heavens, laying the foundation of the earth, and forming the spirit of man within him. He is not just a “past tense” God, but a present, sustaining God, in whom men “live, move, and have their being,” is the idea, Act 17:28. See also Isa 42:5; Isa 43:1; Isa 65:17-18; Num 26:22; Heb 12:9.
Verse 2 warns that the Lord will make or cause Jerusalem to be a “cup of trembling” to all the people, her foes round about her, when they shall be in the siege against both Judah and Jerusalem, Isa 51:17; Isa 51:22; Jer 13:13. This refers to the “Day of the Lord,” as also described Zec 13:1-6; Isa 2:10-22; Rev 19:11-21. This also alludes to the time of the battle of Armageddon, Zec 14:1-5; Rev 16:14. The cup of His judgment will cause men to reel and stumble as a drunkard, Isa 51:17; Jer 25:15.
Verse 3 describes Jerusalem in that day as a “burdensome stone,” alluding to the oriental custom of testing youths strength by requiring them to lift a massive stone. Those who burdened themselves by trying to destroy Jerusalem would be cut in pieces, as the stone of Jerusalem fell upon them, Mat 21:44. The Jews fell on this rock of offense, the Messiah, and were broken; But the rock shall fall on the anti-christ, who shall attempt to assault the restored Jews, and he shall be “ground to powder,” though he gather all the heathen of the earth against Jerusalem, Zion, the city of God. The antichrist confederacy against the Jews will be nigh universal.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
The inscription seems not to agree with what follows, for he does not denounce any evil on the chosen people in this chapter, but, on the contrary, comforts the miserable, and promises that God would provide for the safety of his Church. Since then Zechariah speaks only of God’s favor and aid, he seems to have mentioned burden here improperly or unreasonably; for משא, mesha, we know, is rightly to be taken for a threatening prophecy. It might indeed be said, that he promises that God would so deliver his Church as to teach it at the same time that it would be subject to many evils and trials: but I rather think that the Prophet’s design was different, even to show that the Israelites, who had preferred exile to God’s favor, would be punished for their sloth and ingratitude, because it was through their own fault that they were not again united in one body, and that they did not rightly worship God in their own country. Interpreters have heedlessly passed over this, as though it had nothing to do with the subject: but except this be borne in mind, what is read in this chapter will be altogether without meaning. I therefore consider that the Prophet here reproves those Israelites who had rejected what they had long desired, when it was offered to them from above and beyond all hope: for nothing was so much wished for by them as a free return to their own country; and we also see how ardently all the Prophets had prayed for restoration. As then the Israelites, given to ease, and pleasures, and their worldly advantages, had counted as nothing the permission given them to return, that they might again be gathered under God’s protection, it was a base ingratitude. Hence the Prophet here reproves them, and shows that their success would be far otherwise than they imagined.
We must also observe, that those who were dispersed in different parts, were retained by their torpidity, because they did not think that the state of the people would continue; for they saw, as they had before found, that Judea was surrounded by inveterate enemies, and also that they would not be a people sufficiently strong to repel the assaults of those around them; for they had already been accustomed to bear all things, and though they might have had some courage, they had completely lost it, having been oppressed by so long a servitude. Since then the ten tribes entertained these ideas, they did not avail themselves of the present kindness of God. Thus it was, that they wholly alienated themselves from the Church of God, and renounced as it were of their own accord that covenant, on which was founded the hope of eternal salvation. (151)
What then does Zechariah teach us in this chapter? Even that God would be the guardian of Jerusalem, to defend it against all violence, and that though it might be surrounded by nations for the purpose of assailing it, he would not yet suffer it to be overcome: and we shall see that many other things are stated here; but it is enough to touch now on the main point, that God would not forsake that small company and the weak and feeble remnant; and that however inferior the Jews might be to their enemies, yet the power of God alone would be sufficient to defend and keep them.
If it be then now asked, why the Prophet calls the word he received a burden on Israel? The answer is plainly this, that the Israelites were now as it were rotting among foreign nations without any hope of deliverance, having refused to be gathered under God’s protection, though he had kindly and graciously invited them all to return. Since then God had effected nothing, by stretching forth his hands, being ready to embrace them again, this was the reason for the burden of which Zechariah speaks; for they would be touched with grief and with envy when they saw their brethren protected by God’s aid, and that they themselves were without any hope of deliverance. In short, there is an implied contrast between the ten tribes and the house of Judah; and this is evident from the context. Having now ascertained the Prophet’s design, we shall proceed to the words.
The burden, he says, of the word of Jehovah on Israel: Say does Jehovah who expanded the heavens, etc. Zechariah thus exalts God in order to confirm the authority of this prophecy; for no doubt the creation of heaven and earth and of man is here mentioned on account of what is here announced. We have elsewhere seen similar declarations; for when anything is said difficult to be believed, what is promised will have no effect on us, except the infinite power of God be brought to our minds. God then, that he may gain credit to his promises, bids us to raise up our eyes to the heavens and carefully to consider his wonderful workmanship, and also to turn our eyes down to the earth, where also his ineffable power is apparent; and, in the third place, he calls our attention to the consideration of our own nature. Since then what Zechariah says could hardly be believed, he prescribes to the Jews the best remedy — they were to raise upwards their eyes, and then to turn them to the earth. The expanse of the heavens constrains us to admire him; for however stupid we may be, we cannot look on the sun, and the moon and stars, and on the whole bright expanse above, without some and even strong emotions of fear and of reverence. Since then God exceeds all that men can comprehend in the very creation of the world, what should hinder us from believing even that which seems to us in no way probable? for it is not meet for us to measure God’s works by what we can understand, for we cannot comprehend, no, not even the hundredth part of them, however attentively we may apply all the powers of our minds.
Nor is it yet a small matter when he adds, that God had formed the spirit of man; for we know that we live; the body of itself would be without any strength or motion, were it not endued with life; and the soul which animates the body is invisible. Since then experience proves to us the power of God, which is not yet seen by our eyes, why should we not expect what he promises, though the event may appear incredible to us, and exceed all that we can comprehend. We now then understand why the Prophet declares, that God expanded thee heavens, and founded the earth, and formed the spirit of man (152) By saying “in the midst of him”, he means, that the spirit dwells within; for the body, we allow, is as it were its tabernacle. Let us proceed –
(151) Many of the Jews at this time were not returned. There were especially two returns — the first under Zerubbabel in the year before Christ 536; the second under Ezra in the year 457, seventy-nine years after the first. Now the date of this prophecy in our Bibles is 587, fifty-one years after the first return, and twenty-eight years before the second. Nehemiah, through whose influence the walls of Jerusalem were built and a great reform produced, returned about eleven years after Ezra. — Ed.
(152) It is usual to render the verbs here in the present tense. They are participles in Hebrew, which may often be rendered in the past tense. Dathius and Blayney so render them, “stretched out — founded — formed.”
The verse then would be as follows —
The burden of the word of Jehovah on Israel, Saith Jehvovah, who expounded the heavens, And founded the earth, And formed the spirit of man within him.
Though Marckius objects to the view taken by Calvin of the first line, yet the literal rendering, as given above, will admit of no other. It is a “burden” on, [ על ], Israel. It is true that “burden” may not always mean a judgment, but a weighty and important prediction; yet when followed by on, it can mean nothing else. See 1Kg 13:29, and 2Kg 9:25. It means a judgment too when another word comes after it, as in 9:25. It means a judgment too when another word comes after it, as, “The burden of Babylon,” Isa 13:1. It is therefore rendered here improperly “Prophecy” by Newcome, and “sentence” by Henderson. It is not indeed necessary to confine the word “Israel” to the ten tribes, for it is often used in a general sense, denoting the descendants of Israel generally, when the word “Judah” is not introduced. The persons referred to were, it may be, those who continued in exile, many of whom returned afterwards with Ezra, though I think they were the people of the land. We ought to remember that Zechariah prophesied between the two returns, and that though the temple was built at this time, yet Jerusalem was not protected by walls, and continued so till the time of Nehemiah, about 90 years after the first return. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
LATER THINGS OR EVENTS INCIDENT TO THE END OF THIS AGE
Zec 12:1 to Zec 14:21.
IN concluding our studies of this prophecy we will attempt the treatment of three chapters, twelve to fourteen. Any one of these contains material sufficient for many addresses, but inasmuch as the three relate to one general period of time they may be compassed by a single discourse.
There is no portion of Zechariah which so effectually approves of our sub-title The Old Testament Apocalypse as that contained in the chapters now before us for study. At very many points we have seen this Book parallel Johns great volumeThe Revelation. But the most marked agreement between Zechariah, the Prophet of the Old Testament, and John, the great Seer of the New, is noted by a comparison of the latter chapters of these Books. In truth, the very best students of the Scriptures,the men who accept them as verbally inspired, who read them with devoutest spirit, who reckon a literal understanding of their statements as the sanest interpretation of their meaning, who know them sufficiently to compare volume with volume, chapter with chapter, and even sentence with sentence,are perfectly agreed in regarding the latter chapters of Zechariah and the latter chapters of Revelation as looking to one and the same great period in history, and to the same transcendent events. Our study of these chapters has convinced us of the correctness of these views.
The chapters fall into natural study under three heads,The Tribulation: The Restoration: and The Millennium.
THE TRIBULATION
The burden of the Word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.
In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open Mine eyes upon the House of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.
And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of Hosts their God (Zec 12:1-5).
I shall pass over the natural suggestions of this text of how Jehovah was really burdened by this Word; how He was also the Maker of heaven and earth, and of how Jerusalem itself is to be the storm center of the worlds greatest and last conflict, in order that we may straightway give ourselves to the discussion of the Tribulation.
This is the sad day of Scripture.
That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have siwied against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung (Zep 1:15-17).
Such is the language that Jehovah put into the lips of Zephaniah His Prophet. When Isaiah was contemplating the Millennium he said of the peoples
And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more (Isa 2:4).
But when Joel was contemplating this time of tribulation he said,
Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:
Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears; let the weak say, I am strong (Joe 3:9-10).
Men have been wont to anticipate with joy the hour when the sword should become the plowshare and the spear the pruning-hook, but who can imagine the awful day when the plowshare shall become the sword and the pruning-hook the spear? And yet that is the day to which the Words of Zechariah look.
There are some events upon which even the sun in the heavens refuses to look. When Christ was dying on the Cross,the Innocent, yet infinitely suffering victim of wicked men,God threw a veil over the face of the sun, and all nature shuddered to its very heart as it turned from the awful scene! According to Jesus Christ, when this hour of which Zechariah speaks shall arrive,
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for My Names sake.
And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many (Mat 24:7-11).
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elects sake those days shall be shortened (Mat 24:21-22).
For a teacher of the Word of God to tell people that the world is going to grow steadily better and all human conditions are destined to constant improvement, until by a slow yet sure evolution of human history the Millennium will break, is to part company absolutely with the Prophets of the Old Testament and the teachers of the New, Christ included. According to these there is a day of tribulation ahead, the scenes of which will cause that the sun be darkened and the moon shall not give her light.
When Christ was crucified the earth, as if sickened at heart, shook throughout her form; but when this day of tribulation comes, other planets shall be moved out of their places in demonstration of the awful agony to which Gods universe will be subjected. Read the twenty-fourth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew and be not deceived. It was an awful thing when wicked men sacrificed Jesus Christ on the Cross; but human history will know one worse day, and that will be when Jehovah offers on the altar of judgment all them who have rebelled against Him! See Eze 39:17-20.
In that day Gentile and Jew shall suffer. What shall happen to the Gentile is recorded in this twelfth chapter, verses two to nine; and what shall happen to Jerusalem and the Jew is written into this same prophecy (Zec 13:7 to Zec 14:2).
Is it not significant that the very Prophets who foretold the dispersion of the Jews, the persecutions to which they should be subjected, the great tribulation into which they should eventually be called, were themselves members of this nation? And while every Jew is a patriot, those who loved Israel best were the very men the Spirit compelled to utter the sentences of her coming judgment. It was Isaiah who prophesied judgment for the Gentiles who oppressed his people (Isa 51:22-23). But, as we have seen also, it was the same Isaiah who told his people of the tribulation which should come upon them. They charged Elijah with troubling Israel, but after events proved that Elijah was telling Israel only the truth. John was a Jew and yet when the vision was vouchsafed him he was faithful to declare,
And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of Heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great (Rev 19:17-18).
It is strange how people start back from such a picture as that which is presented in Revelation touching this day of universal tribulation, and yet remain unimpressed by the very shadows that prove this coming event.
Yesterday you devoured your newspaper; aye, some have even transgressed the Lords Day and have this morning poured over the bloody page to learn whether China or Japan has contributed, in the last twenty-four hours, the largest number of soldiers to the point of the sword.
Twenty years ago there were teachers on every side who were saying, The world has seen its last war. Arbitration has superseded battle; but the better students of the Book knew that the blood-red dawn of the twentieth century was the sign of the storm that was to sweep the world. When Russia and Japan engaged in their first fight men predicted that this was a little difficulty and would pass with a brief day. Months passed and the streams of blood deepened; then the dove of peace was scarcely settled when the World War broke. No man knows when a change in international difficulties may end; but the God who taketh up nations in His hands and to whom the whole future is more familiar than is his most recent past to any man, knows what conflicts are to come; and He, by the mouth of His Prophets, has spoken of this great cataclysm of blood. And yet, what believer should question that in it all right will triumph, human happiness will be enhanced, and Divine honor and love glorified!
John Watson never said a truer thing than this, Progress by suffering * * is embodied in the economy of human history. * * Humanity has fought its way upwards at the point of the bayonet, torn and bleeding, yet hopeful and triumphant. As each nation suffers it prospers; as it ceases to suffer, it decays. Our England was begotten in the sore travail of Elizabeths day. The American nation sprang from the sons of martyrs. United Germany was baptized in blood. * *
Before we have finished with Zechariah we shall find that out of this baptism of blood which shall characterize the end of the age, will come a people, and a reign, of righteousness. A period more glorious than any which has preceded it; a state which shall exceed all the Utopias of which uninspired men have dreamed. And yet before we speak of that some other things must be mentioned if we are to give ourselves to a real study of this text.
Out of this tribulation the Church will escape. In the midst of Zechariahs description of battle the Lord halts the picture to say,
Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when He fought in the day of battle.
And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Asal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee (Zec 14:3-5).
I shall never forget the first time I ever heard a reference made to that great truth of Scripture with which so few are familiar, namely, that God is dealing with the people of the world in three divisions. It was the lamented A. J. Gordon who, standing before the Baptist ministers of Chicago, said, Brethren, I will talk to you a little while this morning concerning the Jew, the Gentile, and the Church of God.
1Co 10:32 becomes the key to many of the mysteries of the Word. After one has heard these three divisions,the Jew, the Gentile, and the Church of God, he rightly divides the Scriptures, assigning to each that which was surely intended for it; and when the day of travail upon the part of the Jew and the Gentile shall come, let it be known that the Church of God will not participate in the agonies of that hour. (It is perhaps necessary, in passing, to make the distinction between apostate Christendom, as it now exists, and the Church of God which is nothing else than the Body of Christ. Christendom is made up of church members; the Church of God is made up of true believers. Many church members will go into the tribulation and perish there, but the members of the Church of God shall be saved out of that awful hour.)
A comparison of Scripture with Scripture shows that the coming of the hour to wake the righteous dead with His voice, and to catch up together with them the living saints, as promised in 1Th 4:13-18, precedes the great tribulation which is to come upon the earth. To the church in Philadelphia Jesus, by the pen of John, said, Because thou hast kept the Word of My patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth (Rev 3:10).
The saints of the tribulation period will not be churchmen who are alive and upon the earth when that hour strikes, but converts made by the tribulation itself. The hundred and forty and four thousand [sealed] of all the tribes of the Children of Israel, and the Gentile multitude which no man could number, * * [standing] before the throne; These which came out of great tribulation will present the throng of converts produced by that awful time.
Doubtless one reason why many of the Christians of the earth have not been more ardent touching the Return of the Lord is the fact that they have felt that it was to be antedated by this day of tribulation. But let it be understood that the Church,the Body of Christ,will spend the tribulation period with its Head in the Heavenlies; and if there is any one season destined to be more festive than another, and worthy to be regarded as the joyous wedding hour, it is this very brief time when the tribulation of the earth, so awful to contemplate, shall only be exceeded by the Rapture of the saints as they assemble about Him whose great heart of love has, like a magnet, lifted them from home and street, and even out of the depths of the cemetery.
THE RESTORATION
As in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew events which are separated by long stretches of time are so presented as to make them seem practically one, so in the study of Zechariah the references to the tribulation and the Millennium are intermingled. Three things, however, are clearly taught concerning the restoration.
In it the city and the land will participate.
In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the House of David shall be as God, as the Angel of the Lord before them.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem (Zec 12:8-9).
We have already seen that Jerusalem is to be rebuilt; that its walls are to be greatly enlarged; that it is to even break out on every side the tents of Judah lying beyond the inclosed city. And now behold this promise that Jehovah shall defend its inhabitants. The feeblest among them that day shall be as Davidthe mighty warrior of the past. The House of David shall be as God, as the Angel of the Lord before them. It seems a strained thing to say that some descendants of the House of David will be found who will break forth as captains and leaders in that hour. The Descendant of the House of David is none other than Jesus Himself,the Angel of Jehovah,who shall indeed be as God. And when He shall undertake the defense of Jerusalem what powers can stand before Him?
Far more wonderful than the return of the Jews to Jerusalem, the exaltation of that city to the place of her first importance, and the manifestation of the power of God in the very overthrow of all them that are against His people, is the promise concerning the land,
All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamins gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the kings winepresses (Zec 14:10).
And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited (Zec 14:11).
Visitors to Palestine now find it a hilly country; yea, splendidly mountainous; those who shall tread it in that time shall discover it level,an elevated plateau. Such indeed is the Word of Scripture as spoken about Palestine. Scientists I suppose would resent this suggestion and claim that it is a physical impossibility. But who that has ever crossed the Rocky Mountains, or the mountain ranges of the Northwest, and studied the upheavals of the past, and seen the power of God to do what He will with the earth, but believes that the same One who lifted our mountains from the level can reduce them again,and will,when the exigencies of His infinite purposes require it? No wonder Mrs. E. M. Exton has written the poem published but a few years since:
Oh, Palestine, sweet Palestine!
Our eyes would fain behold
The glory of the latter day,
By Prophets long foretold.
When thy fair hills, and lovely vales,
Teeming with life, shall sing
The praises of Immanuel,
Israels anointed King.
When on mount Zion there shall stand
A Temple to His praise,
Surpassing that which Solomon
Built in the former days.
To which the ancient tribes ascend
In throngs to praise their God;
With ardent love, and earnest zeal,
According to His Word.
From out that glorious Temple then
Rich streams of life shall flow,
With healing virtue to restore
Whereer the waters go.
From Thee, as center of the earth,
Such righteous laws shall spring,
To benefit the earth, and man,
Yea, every living thing.
As man could never formulate,
Forceful, yet just and true;
Suited alike to every land,
To Gentile and to Jew.
The PrinceMessiahshall return
In righteousness to reign:
For He as Heir to Davids throne
The title doth retain.
The cruel oppressor He will break,
The groaning earth set free;
With universal power will rule
The world in equity.
While they of Tarshish and the isles,
With every land, shall bring
Their tribute to Jerusalem,
The City of the King.
Thy sons again once more have turned
Their longing eyes to thee.
Oh, Palestine, sweet Palestine,
Een now they homeward flee.
By it Israel will be restored to Divine favor.
And I will pour upon the House of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon Me wham they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.
And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the House of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart;
The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart;
All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.
In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the House of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness (Zec 12:10 to Zec 13:1).
Paul in his Epistle to the Romans, reminds the Gentile world of the promises to Israel in these words,
For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree?
For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
For this is My covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins (Rom 11:24-27).
It would hardly seem necessary, in view of all that has been said in this volume, to refer at any length to the promised restoration of Israel, but we should not pass over the fact that this restoration comes through their penitence; nor forget how deep their penitence is, as set forth in the concluding verses of this twelfth chapter.
Some months ago I saw a Jew under conviction for sin; a Jew convinced that his Christ had been crucified. The bitterness of his grief surpassed anything I have ever witnessed in the form of contrition for sin! When he came to me he had just finished reading the Gospel of Matthew and the Epistle to the Romans, and he had walked the streets in utter agony, questioning with himself whether he were yet in his right mind. Seeing how deep was his anguish, I suggested that he meet two Christian Jews who were in the building at the time, and he cried out as if the thought were unbearable, No! No! I do not want to meet them; I do not want to meet any one. I cannot! I must be alone until this anguish passes and I find pardon and peace!
There are places and dates at which, and on which, the Jews wail now. But the wail is largely perfunctory. The time will come, however, when their wailing will be the result of breaking hearts, in answer to the conviction of a crucified Savior; And in that day there shall be a fountain opened to the House of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness (Zec 13:1).
John Bunyan gives us a vivid pen picture of what it will mean when Peters call, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, shall become effective with the Jews. He imagines their answers to the overtures of the Apostle:But I struck Him on the head with the rod: is there any hope for me? Every one of you, saith the Apostle. But I spat in His face: is there any forgiveness for me? Yes, is the reply, for every one of you. But I drove the spikes into His hands and feet, which transfixed Him to the Cross: is there cleansing for me? Yes, cries Peter, for every one of you. But I pierced His side though He had never done me wrong; it was a ruthless, cruel act, and I am sorry for it now: may that sin be washed away? Every one of you, is the constant answer.
Meyer also justly comments, As it was at the beginning of this era, so it shall be at its close, with this difference that whereas then only some few thousand souls stepped into the fountain, at last a whole nation, the House of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, shall wash there and be cleansed. Then the words of the Apostle Peter, spoken centuries ago in Solomons porch, will be fulfilled when Israel repents and turns again; her sins will be blotted out, and there will come times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord, and the restoration of all things, Which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy Prophets since the world began (Act 3:21).
Then idols and false prophets shall come to an end.
And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of Hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.
And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the Name of the Lord: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive:
But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am cm husbandman; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth (Zec 13:2-5).
One of the strangest movements of modern times is the going after false prophets. The worship of idols is no new thing. From the earliest days the faithful of Jehovah, and even Jehovah Himself, have been in battle against these. The false prophet is no new thing, but his multiplication and his exaltation through great followings surely characterize the times in which we live. When one thinks of all the claims that Dowie put forth and remembers that a million people accepted him as the actual embodiment of every pretension, and of the scores of smaller boasters since, he is impressed with the language of Timothy,(1Ti 4:1-2)Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.
When one studies the claims of Sanford and understands how large was his following, how abominable his behavior, how cruel even his customs, according to the reports of those who came from the inside, he must feel that 2Th 2:11-12 is witnessing fulfillment:And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the Truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
We have seen boys playing a game called Following the Leader. One is the leader and whatever he does, where he steps or jumps, the rest must follow. The Devil has adopted it. Beware of following either a man or a woman claiming to be a great leader. Christ says, Follow Me.
And the false prophets of the present hour foreshadow that great leaderthe Man of Sin. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory. This leader also shall be made ashamed, yea, even destroyed by the brightness of His Person upon whom we have fixed our hopes, and whose personal return to the earth shall seal the doom not only of his agents but of the very adversary himself.
THE MILLENNIUM
But it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.
And it shall be in that day, that Living Waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
And the Lord shall be King over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and His Name one (Zec 14:7-9).
And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.
And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.
And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the Lords House shall be like the bowls before the altar.
Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of Hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the House of the Lord of Hosts (Zec 14:16-21).
Three remarks:
Then JehovahJesusshall be King of the whole earth. Zechariah is only resounding the statements of his predecessors concerning the Kingship of Jesus. That supremacy has been the prediction of every Prophet, and is reaffirmed by every Apostle. The promises of it are so oft repeated that pages would be required even for their quotation. Suffice it now to remember All nations shall serve Him. Yea, The world, and they that dwell therein. The stone that smote the image is to become the great mountain and fill the whole earth. Only a half century ago Strauss alarmed the Christian world by declaring that no such Person as Jesus ever lived except in the minds of His Apostles; He was but an imagined Christ. And yet He who conquered more hearts and controls more thought and affection today than any other person who ever trod the earth will, when He walks it again, command all men and they shall obey Him.
Then all the inhabitants will join in Jehovahs worship.
And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.
And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.
And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles (Zec 14:16-19).
The Millennium is not to be a time of willing submission upon the part of all; but it is to be a time when all who refuse to worship the King shall be visited by His fury. Now the wicked flourish as the green bay tree; then they shall know only the blight of Gods judgment.
Holiness unto Jehovah shall characterize all custom and conduct.
In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the Lords House shall be like the bowls before the altar.
Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of Hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the House of the Lord of Hosts (Zec 14:20-21).
In reading Dr. Lorimers volume Christianity in the Social State he speaks of that good time to come when in the new civilization there will be no necessity for any statutes against strong drink. The people will be so educated, their lower nature so completely under control that it would be equally an insult to their intelligence and morality for the legislature to pass an enactment against drunkenness!
But alas for the vain reasoning of men! Lorimer sleeps with the dead, education is almost universal in the greater governments, and yet iniquity deepens! In man there is no help. Salvation is of the Lord. Holiness awaits His glorious reign!
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
CRITICAL NOTES.] This chapter begins the first half of the second prophecy concerning Israels future and the nations of the world. The conflict against Jerusalem and Judah will issue in the destruction of the enemies (Zec. 12:1-4). Burden] Implying distress to Israel and destruction to their foes; explained by reference to Gods creative power, which removes all doubt concerning the thing predicted.
Zec. 12:2. Cup] Causing those who drink to reel; a symbol of Divine judgments, which intoxicate and cause nations to fall and perish (Isa. 51:17; Jer. 25:15). Against] Lit. also with Judah it shall be thus in the siege of Jerusalem, i.e. Judah with Jerusalem will be a cup of wrath; the country and capital will be involved in the same conflict.
Zec. 12:3. Burden.] Another figure, borrowed from the custom of young men lifting up stones to test their strength. Nations will fail and suffer. Cut] They will wound themselves by the sharp edges of the stones.
Zec. 12:4. Horses] and riders represent warlike forces, confused and injuring one another; but God exercises great care over his people. Madness] (cf. Jdg. 7:22; 1Sa. 14:20). Open] i.e. to protect (1Ki. 8:29; Neh. 1:6; Psa. 32:8).
HOMILETICS
THE OMNIPOTENT SUPREMACY OF GOD.Zec. 12:1
To remove doubt concerning the promises in this chapter, God prefixes his name, proves his omnipotence, and declares his supremacy over matter and mind.
I. God is supreme in the physical world. Power is displayed in its creation and constant government.
1. He formed the earth. He layeth the foundation of the earth, fixed it on its basis, and revolves it on its axis. He not only made, but rules and judges in it, and those mistake who say, The Lord hath forsaken the earth.
2. He stretched out the heavens. Like a curtain he can stretch them out or draw them together. God not only created at first, but continually sustains all things. But the power which created the world must be unlimited and ever present to uphold it. Without him the earth would wander from its orbit, and the universe fall into ruin. Upholding all things by the word of his power (Heb. 1:3).
II. God is supreme in the spirit world. He formeth the spirit of man within him. God is the Creator and sustainer of mans spirit. The Father of spirits. The human soul is the breath of the Almighty (Job. 33:4); and spiritually we are of Divine parentage (Act. 17:28). Behold, all souls are mine. He created them all, endowed them with powers and faculties necessary to constitute them subjects of moral government (cf. Hend., Eze. 18:4). He controls mens hearts and purposes as rivers of water, encourages his people and dispirits their enemies, and will save his chosen by quickening grace and eternal life. Thus in creation and human experience we have proofs of Gods power, refutations of doubt to perform his promise, and hope in seasons of trial and difficult enterprise. I am the Lord that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself; that confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers (Isa. 44:24; Isa. 44:26).
GODS PEOPLE RUINOUS TO THEIR ENEMIES.Zec. 12:2-4
Here we have promise of security to the Church of God. Nations may attack Jerusalem, but will fail, whatever be their forces and fervour. Three figures are used to indicate this failure. They will be intoxicated by the cup of trembling, wounded by the burdensome stone, and consumed by the hearth of fire (Zec. 12:6).
I. The enemies of Gods people will be rendered powerless in their efforts. They will gather together and besiege Jerusalemthirst for spoil and blood, and be doomed to destruction. As the gods infatuated those whom they destroyed, so God will intoxicate them with the wine-cup of wrath, administer a potion to make them helpless and reel on the ground. Sennacheribs army were stupefied and helpless in their assault. Persecutors may be excited to rage, but will be deprived of their precaution and power, made drunk in their fury, and exhausted in their efforts. The stout-hearted (valiant) are spoiled, they have slept their sleep (of death), and none of the men of might have found their hands (were able to fight) (Psa. 76:5).
For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;
And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever were still [Byron].
II. The enemies of Gods people will be wounded in their efforts. This stone will be burdensome to all who seek to remove or carry it away. Gods Church is founded on the rock, and persecutors dash against it in vain. It is a rock of offence by virtue of its charter and power, a stone of stumbling to many. In times of persecution kings and rulers have tried to upset or remove this stone, but it has torn, lacerated, or ground to powder those upon whom it has fallen. Israel escaped, but Pharaoh was drowned in the sea. The Philistines captured the ark, but Dagon was broken to pieces. Diocletian built a monument to commemorate the extinction of Christianity, but he perished, and it survives. In a conference with Andrew Rivet, the King of France threatened severe measures against the cause of truth, but the Reformer answered, May it please your Majesty, the Church of God is an anvil which hath broken a great many hammers [cf. Lange].
III. The enemies of Gods people will destroy themselves by their efforts. Zechariah revives the words concentrated by Moses to express the stupefaction at their ills which God would accumulate upon the people if they perseveringly rebelled against him. Each expresses the intensity of the visitation [cf. Pusey].
1. They are smitten with blindness. Then they rush to their own ruin (Zec. 14:12-13).
2. They are smitten with terror. The horses of the enemy were unmanageable by their riders, got entangled one with another, and became injurious only to themselves.
3. They are smitten with madness. I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness. The riders were deprived of self-possession and forethought. Thus all attempts will fail, and bring shame and discomfort upon those who are guilty of them. I will sing unto the Lord; for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he cast into the sea.
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Zec. 12:1. Learn
1. That the promises of God often seem incredible.
2. That doubt concerning these promises will hinder our comforts.
3. That the visible effects of Gods power should remove our doubt and strengthen our hope. Nothing can fail for lack of power and love. The Church, therefore, is perfectly safe, the enemies are in great danger. Pledges of Divine faithfulness:The power of God, by which he stretched forth the heavens. The wisdom of God, by which he founded the earth. The goodness of God, by which he formed the spirit of man [cf. Trapp].
Zec. 12:2. A cup of trembling. What it is, and who brings it, and who drinks it. The cup is all bitter and full of sorrow, saith Augustine: the godly do often taste the top, and feel the bitterness, but then it is suddenly snatched from them; but the ungodly shall drink the very grounds and extremest poison [J. Adams].
Zec. 12:3. A stone. It is not a rock, or anything in its own nature immovable, but a stonea thing rolled up and down, moved, lifted, displaced, piled on others, in every way at the service and command of men, to do with it what they willed [Pusey]. But notice its tremendous weight and injurious effects when abused!
Zec. 12:4. The self-destruction of the enemy, and the perfect security of the Church; or the madness of men, and the special providence of God. I will open mine eyes, in contrast to the blindness with which God smote those arrayed against themin pity, love, and guidance, in contrast to the cruelty and self-injury of the foes [cf. Pusey]. God seems to close his eyes sometimes, and leave his people in darkness and distress. The enemy thinks that God disregards them; but eventually he will notice the trials of the Church, and splendidly interfere to destroy her foes.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 12
Zec. 12:1. Heavens. Creation in all its length and breadth, in all its depth height, is the manifestation of his Spirit, and without him the world were dead and dark. The universe is to us as and burning bush which the Hebrew leader saw. God is ever present in it; for it the burns with his glory, and the ground on which we stand is always holy [Francis]. Spirit of man. The soul, immortal as its sire, shall never die [Montgomery].
Zec. 12:2-4. A cup. There is no greater punishment than that of being abandoned to ones self [Pasquier Quesnel]. Madness. There is no future pang can deal that justice on the self-condemned he deals on his own soul [Byron]. O, that way madness lies; let me shun that [Shakespeare].
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
THE BURDEN OF THE LORD . . . Zec. 12:1-2
RV . . . The burden of the word of Jehovah concerning Israel. Thus saith Jehovah, who stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him; Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling unto all the peoples round about, and upon Judah also shall it be in the siege against Jerusalem.
LXX . . . The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel; saith the Lord, that stretches out the sky, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him. Behold, I will make Jerusalem as trembling door-posts to all the nations round about, and in Judea there shall be a siege against Jerusalem.
COMMENTS
The lengthy section (chapters 12, 13, 14) in which the term in that day is used repeatedly, is introduced as the burden of the word of Jehovah concerning Israel. Israel as we have seen, is in the minor prophets a term designating the covenant people. The time would come (Zec. 11:10) when the relationship would be broken off with the Jewish race, but as Zechariah wrote this had not yet occurred. What he is about to write has to do with the fulfillment of Gods covenant purpose.
Jehovah is here referred to as the creator of the heavens, the earth, and the spirit of man. These are words calculated to remind the prophets readers that the purpose which is to be fulfilled is the eternal purpose in the mind of God before creation. It is the reason man was created. It is the reason the covenant was established and a covenant people developed. It is the purpose behind all Gods activity in history, both of the Jews and of the nations of the earth. This purpose is the reason God will bring to pass those things which Zechariah is about to describe.
The purpose is stated many times in many ways throughout the Bible, but never more succinctly than the Pauline statement of Eph. 1:3-10. There the apostle informs us that, before the foundation of the earth. God chose in Christ to have a people holy and pure and adopted to Himself as children. That purpose and its accomplishment in Christ is the meaning of the entire Bible.
The days referred to by in that day in these chapters are two different periods. The first is addressed to Israel, the covenant people (Zec. 12:1) and has to do with the first coming of the Messiah who will be looked upon as pierced (Zec. 12:10).
The second period referred to by in that day is designated by Behold, a yom YHWH (day of Jehovah) cometh (Zec. 14:1). It has to do with the final consummation and the second coming of the Messiah.
Chapter XLIQuestions
In the First Day
1.
The future glory of the restored Jewish nation was delayed by their _________________.
2.
The key to the final chapters of Zechariah is found in the phrase _________________.
3.
This term describes two days which from Zechariahs point of view were both in _________________.
4.
The first of these days describes _________________.
5.
The second day describes _________________.
6.
Review the four characteristics of the day of Jehovah. (See introduction of Zechariah.)
7.
Zechariahs first use of in the day (Zec. 3:8-10) refers to _________________.
8.
What is the significance of the term Israel in Zec. 12:1?
9.
Why does Zechariah here refer to Jehovah as the creator of the heavens and the earth and the spirit of man?
10.
The first period referred to by in that day is addressed to
and has to do with _________________.
11.
The second period referred to as in that day has to do with _________________.
12. Several things are said to be going to happen in the Messianic age. Each is introduced by in that day. They are:
a.
In that day (1)
b.
In that day (2)
c.
In that day (3)
d.
In that day (4)
12.
e. In that day (5)
f.
In that day (6)
g.
In that day (7)
h.
In that day (8)
i.
In that day (9)
13.
Israel at the time of Zechariah could be none other than _________________.
14.
What of Jerusalem in the time of Messiahs first coming?
15.
What was to be the relationship of the Jews to all nations during the Messianic age?
16.
Historically the military action against which the Jews were least effective was the _________________.
17.
What is meant by Jehovah smiting the peoples and horses with blindness?
18.
Who are they of Jerusalem? (Zec. 12:1)
19.
How does Zec. 12:10 fix this section as being fulfilled in the Messianic age?
20.
Compare Zec. 12:10-14 with Joh. 19:34-37.
21.
What is the condition upon which Jews may again become part of Gods true Israel? (cf. Rom. 11:17-24)
22.
Conversion is always an _________________ experience.
23.
How was the mourning over Him who they had pierced fulfilled on Pentecost?
24.
Who are all the families that remain?
25.
In connection with the mourning over Him whom they pierced a ___________ was to be opened for ____________ and _____________.
26.
The _________________ opened the fountain.
27.
_________________ relates the fountain to sin.
28.
_________________ relates the fountain to moral impurity or _________________.
29.
_________________ is frequently associated with uncleanness.
30.
The _________________ is generally credited with ministering the coup de grace to classic idolatry.
31.
What prophecy is condemned during the Messianic age?
32.
How does Zec. 13:6 relate to Him whom they pierced?
33.
What is meant by the wounds between thine arms?
34.
Discuss Zechariah) Zec. 12:7 in light of Act. 2:23.
35.
What nation is symbolized historically by the sword?
36.
Jesus could be legally executed by _________________.
37.
Compare Zec. 13:7 to Mat. 26:31 and Mar. 14:27.
38.
Following the death of Jesus the number of His followers was about _________________.
39.
Compare Zec. 13:9 and 1Pe. 1:6-7.
40.
To those who endured persecution, Jehovah gives _________________ and _________________ they acknowledge
Both are _________________.
41.
The _____________ is Gods new Israel.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
XII.
(1-9) The opening of this chapter is similar to that of Zechariah 9, and marks the beginning of the second half of these latter prophecies. This prophecy, as far as Zec. 12:9, seems to recur to the same events as were foretold in Zechariah 9, 10 : viz., the successful contests of the Maccabean period.
(1) Israel.Comp. Mal. 1:5, &c., and all the tribes of Israel (Zec. 9:1). Elsewhere, in Zechariah 9-11 (except in Zec. 11:14), the terms used are Ephraim (Zec. 9:10; Zec. 9:13; Zec. 10:7) and Joseph (Zec. 10:6), as well as Judah (Zec. 9:8; Zec. 9:13; Zec. 10:3; Zec. 10:6; comp. Eze. 37:15-28). These and similar terms were interchangeable after the captivity, and refer, with a few exceptions, to the nation of the Jews in general. With this verse comp. Isa. 42:5; Amo. 4:13.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Marvelous deliverance of Judah and Jerusalem, Zec 12:1-9.
The prophet beholds the nations of the earth gathered around Jerusalem to besiege it; Jehovah smites them with terror. When the chieftains of Judah, who seem to have remained inactive during the early part of the struggle, see that Jehovah fights for Jerusalem, they turn their weapons against the nations. Jehovah saves the tents of Judah first, to prevent the inhabitants of Jerusalem from magnifying themselves above Judah, but he delivers Jerusalem also from all danger.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1. The burden of the word of Jehovah for Israel R.V., “concerning Israel.” The heading of the entire section Zec 12:1 to Zec 14:21, prefixed probably by the collector of the Minor Prophets, who, finding the prophecies without a title, prefixed the words to indicate their general contents (see on Zec 9:1; compare Mal 1:1). The oracle itself begins with Zec 12:2. It is introduced by 1b; primarily by “Thus saith Jehovah,” to which is added a reference to the creative power of Jehovah, in order to make the utterance more impressive. No matter how wonderful the promises may seem, a God who can create the heavens and the earth will surely be able to fulfill them. The words, therefore, serve the same purpose as Amo 4:13; Amo 5:8-9; Amo 9:5-6 (see there; compare Isa 42:5).
Stretcheth forth Compare Gen 1:6-8.
Layeth the foundation Compare Gen 1:9-10; Psa 24:2.
Formeth the spirit Compare Gen 2:7. Some recent commentators consider 1b a later insertion.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
ALLEGORY OF THE FOOLISH SHEPHERD, Zec 11:15-17 (+ Zec 13:7-9.)
This allegory is the sequel of the allegory of the good shepherd; Zec 11:15-16, continues the record of the people’s experiences down to the present, Zec 11:17 turns to the future. The flock that rejected the good shepherd was not left to itself it was given into the hands of a foolish shepherd, who worked havoc with it; but he is doomed, and the flock will be delivered (Zec 13:7-9). By the allegory the prophet teaches that the present miserable condition of the people is due to their own stubbornness, and at the same time he assures them that Jehovah will return in mercy and compassion at some future time.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
THE FINAL TRIUMPH OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD, Zec 9:1 to Zec 14:21.
With Zec 9:1, begins the second main division of the Book of Zechariah, which consists of various oracles, loosely connected, dealing for the most part with events leading up to the final triumph of the kingdom of God. It opens with an announcement of the overthrow of the nations surrounding Palestine (Zec 9:1-8), which will prepare the way for the advent of the Messianic king (9, 10) and the restoration and exaltation of the exiled Jews (11-17). This restoration is described more fully in Zec 10:1 -xi, 3. The promises are followed by an allegory which is intended to warn the people that the realization of the glorious promises depends upon their attitude toward Jehovah (Zec 11:4-17; +Zec 13:7-9). The remaining portion of the book naturally falls into two parts. The first (Zec 12:1 to Zec 13:6) opens with a picture of a marvelous deliverance of Judah and Jerusalem (Zec 12:1-9); but this triumph is only the preparation for the bestowing of rich spiritual gifts. In order to enjoy these fully, they must pass through a process of spiritual preparation (10-14). Then Jehovah will remove all spiritual uncleanness, and a life of intimate fellowship with Jehovah will ensue (Zec 13:1-6). In chapter xiv the prophet pictures a new conflict between Jerusalem and the nations. At first the latter will be successful, then Jehovah will interfere, save a remnant, and set up his kingdom upon earth (1-7). From Jerusalem he will dispense blessing and prosperity (8-11); the hostile nations will be smitten and their treasures will become the possession of the Jews (12-15). Those who escape will turn to Jehovah (16); any who fail to do him proper homage will be smitten with drought (17-19), but Judah and Jerusalem will be holy unto Jehovah (20, 21).
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
VARIOUS UTTERANCES CONCERNING THE FUTURE OF ISRAEL, Zec 12:1 to Zec 14:21.
The heading (Zec 12:1) names the subject of these utterances, Israel, a term used here not in a national but in a religious sense of the people of Jehovah. The prophecies center around Jerusalem and Judah, the home of the postexilic Jewish community. The section falls naturally into two parts, Zec 12:1 to Zec 13:6, and Zec 14:1-21; Zec 13:7-9, has no close connection either with Zec 13:1-6, or with chapter 14 (see on Zec 13:7-9). The first part, Zec 12:1 to Zec 13:6, consists of three divisions; the first (Zec 12:1-9) deals with some marvelous deliverance of Judah and Jerusalem, the second (Zec 12:10-14) with a prolonged penitential mourning over some great crime, the third (Zec 13:1-6) with the purification of the community and its restoration to intimate fellowship with Jehovah.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Burden Of The Word Of YHWH ( Zec 12:1 a).
Zec 12:1
‘The burden of the word of YHWH concerning Israel.’
Compare for this idea Zec 9:1; Mal 1:1. It is interesting that the proclamation of what YHWH will do is described as ‘concerning Israel ’. Yet the detail following is concerning Judah and Jerusalem. Here ‘Israel’ is thus used to indicate the whole nation. The divisions (Zec 11:14) have been removed. Clearly God is ‘about to act’. (To Zechariah the words ‘Israel’, Ephraim’, ‘Joseph’, ‘Judah’ are to some extent interchangeable, all referring to the people of God).
But what was Israel? We must recognise that it was not just a nation comprising direct descendants of the twelve Patriarchs. Indeed it never was. They were probably always in the minority. It was a conglomerate nation. Probably the larger part of ‘Israel’ in Egypt consisted of the descendants of the ‘households’ of the patriarchs (Exo 1:1) which would have included many servants and slaves from different races and backgrounds.
Then at the Exodus especially and specifically (Exo 12:38; Exo 12:48), and all through her history, peoples of many nations were adopted into Israel and became ‘true Israelites’ on the basis of the covenant with YHWH, tracing their ‘descent’ back to the patriarchs. Thus Uriah the Hittite was almost certainly ‘a true Israelite’ (2Sa 11:3 onwards). Indeed anyone who was willing to enter into that covenant could do so by renouncing their gods and submitting to the God of Israel. Israel was a composite nation but its people in fact soon found themselves looking back by adoption to their ‘descent’ from the patriarchs.
This pattern continued after the Exile, although not without tight restriction. It continued later, when the witness of ‘Israel’, scattered among the nations, impressed many Gentiles who were convinced by their teaching about the One God and were appreciative of their high moral code. Many of these became ‘proselytes’, entering into the covenant by being circumcised and where possible offering sacrifice, (and at some stage a ceremonial washing was introduced) and theoretically at least were then regarded as full Israelites, although with certain restrictions. Intermarriage and time would soon see them incorporated more directly. Some of them became respected Rabbis. Others, not willing to be circumcised, but desirous of worshipping the God of Israel and being part of the community of God, were called God-fearers. But in their case the Jews did not see them as becoming full members of Israel.
Furthermore under John Hyrcanus the remnant of Edom were forced to be circumcised and become Jews, and the same happened to the Gentile inhabitants of Galilee. It is quite clear then that to speak of Israel as the descendants of Abraham is in the main wishful thinking. Those who actually considered that they could prove that they were true descendants of Abraham actually saw themselves as superior.
And according to the New Testament from the moment that the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost the ‘true Jews’, who believed in the Messiah, formed the new Israel, and many were gathered in to that true Israel from around the world, for the new church was indeed declared to be ‘the Israel of God’ (Gal 6:16), the converted Gentiles being grafted into the true people of God (Rom 11:17-28; compare Eph 2:11-22; 1Pe 2:5-9). But the difference was that this was now on the basis that the Messiah had come, had been crucified as an offering for sin, and had risen again. Here were the new Jerusalem, the new people of God.
Indeed this was what the argument about circumcision in the church was all about. Could Christians become members of the true Israel without being circumcised? (Act 15:5). Paul strongly argued that circumcision was no longer necessary, and that what mattered was circumcision of the heart (Rom 2:29; Php 3:3; Col 2:11; Ephesisans Zec 2:11-13), for they were circumcised with the circumcision of Christ (Col 2:11), and were thus true Israelites. And this in the end became the established norm, confirmed officially by the Apostles (Act 15:6-21) through the Holy Spirit (Act 15:28-29).
Thus the firm teaching of the early church and of the New Testament is that Christians on receiving the Spirit and being baptised become full members of the true Israel, inheriting all the promises of God made to Israel (Eph 2:11-19; Gal 3:7; Gal 3:28-29 with Gal 6:16). They were ‘grafted in’.
They also believed that those members of Israel who would not respond to Christ as their Messiah ceased to be members of the true Israel and were cut off (Rom 11:15-24). They were no longer part of the true Israel (Rom 9:6). Eschatalogically the true church of Christ thus become in reality the new Israel, the new Judah, the new Zion, the new Jerusalem as conceived of in the teachings of the prophets.
With these things in mind let us consider the words before us. What is the burden concerning the true Israel?
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Initial Future Of Jerusalem ( Zec 12:1-9 )
Zec 12:1
‘Thus says YHWH, who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him.’
These words stress the greatness and wonder of what is to happen. It is the great Creator Who is about to act. They remind us of Isa 42:5. There YHWH God ‘has created the heavens and stretched them forth, has spread abroad the earth’ and ‘gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it’, so that in Isa 51:13 (compare Isa 48:13) it is ‘YHWH your Maker’ Who has ‘stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth.’ Thus the thought is of YHWH as creator of the heavens and the earth, and of the spirit of man, the life within him. It is describing the activity of the Onw Who is the source of all that is.
This stresses the greatness of YHWH and explains why He is able to do what follows. None other could do it but this Great Creator. (It is difficult to avoid the suggestion that Zechariah has read or heard these words of Isaiah).
Zec 12:2
‘Behold I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling to all the peoples round about, and on Judah also shall it be in the siege against Jerusalem.’
The future Jerusalem is first to be a ‘cup of reeling’. Before it can be a blessing it must first be a source of judgment to all who are outside it and come into conflict with it. As they come to try to ‘drink’ of it they must reel before it. And this applies not only to its enemies and those who besiege it but to Judah also, to those who think of themselves as part of ‘God’s people’. In reality this was necessarily so. Whenever Jerusalem was besieged Judah had to take the brunt of it (compare Sennacherib’s words, ‘forty six cities of Judah I besieged and took, and I shut up Hezekiah like a caged bird in Jerusalem’). So Jerusalem’s investiture meant suffering for those of Judah who had not taken refuge in Jerusalem, as well as for all those involved.
Now as we have suggested above this impact of Jerusalem demands first the fact of its future establishment by Nehemiah. The Jerusalem of Zechariah’s day, could not have had this impact, nor would it have been besieged in any large scale way. It had to become important first. So even in this picture God is promising a future for Jerusalem, when under Nehemiah it would become again a ruling city, a future which would have an impact on world history, and an impact that would include judgment on nations and the besieging of Jerusalem. This was the initial significance of the vision of Zechariah, a Jerusalem large enough and established enough to make an impact. It was Israel’s hope, but as a hope it could never finally be realised on earth because on earth it was peopled with sinners.
Note that this is depicted as relatively local, ‘the peoples round about’. It is not universal. So while the future Jerusalem is to become a blessing, and a stepping stone in the purposes of God, as indicated later, it will not be so at first. At first it will be a stumblingstone to all because men’s hearts are not right with God. Men will thus at first reel before Jerusalem. And they certainly did in the days of Nehemiah.
Furthermore it may be that we have to remind ourselves here that Scripture conceives of a coming siege and destruction of Jerusalem. In Dan 9:26 such a destruction is connected with the death of the Messiah. So we learn that it is not only the future of Jerusalem that is somewhat bleak, but also that of the Messiah.
‘In the siege of Jerusalem.’ That is, in the time of, and as a consequence of, the siege of Jerusalem
But as well as being a picture of the Jerusalem that then was, it is also a picture of God’s people at all times. The enemy world will come against them, including even the so-called Christians who have ‘remained outside the walls’ (have not truly experienced the Spirit), and they will reel back because God will protect His people.
Zec 12:3
‘And it will happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples. All that burden themselves with it will be lacerated, and all the nations of the earth will be gathered together against it.’
‘In that day.’ That is, in the day when Jerusalem is made a cup of reeling. The effects are thus emphasised. His city, His people, which were intended to be a blessing will become a burdensome stone, something hard to bear. The world is ever in conflict against God and that is epitomised by their attitude towards Jerusalem then, and God’s people now. Because of the rejection of the ideal that it stood for, it could only result in ‘reeling’ for the nations, and for the people of Judah themselves. Instead of being a blessing it would be a burden to them. They will be lacerated by it.
Note on Jerusalem.
The history of Jerusalem would ever be a history of trouble, and Jerusalem was certainly regularly a thorn of the flesh to those who sought to conquer and control it from this time onwards, whether Greek or Roman, Saracen or formal Christian, just as it had been for Israel. And this arose partly from the strong feelings it evoked, and partly from man’s misinterpretation of what it was meant to be. It still continues so today. Longed for by Judaism, coveted by Muslims, it is a centre of conflict and a destroyer of peace, because both see Jerusalem in the wrong light. They see a city central to an earthly faith, a faith which makes them fight, and kill, and hate. They fail to see that the real Jerusalem is now a heavenly city, represented on earth by its citizens who are at peace and save life, and love, and no longer connected with the stones and mortar on Mount Zion (Php 3:20). The faith of Jews and Muslims is still worldly, while the true Jerusalem is above.
And this situation was extended as a result of the death of the Messiah, for then it gained an expanded significance. As we know, its history from 70 AD onwards was fraught with troubles, and many nations suffered by contact with it, including Romans, Persians, Crusaders and Arabs. Instead of being the blessing to the world it should have been, it had become a burden hard to carry, a curse. The earthly Jerusalem was in slavery with her children (Gal 4:25). For once Jesus Christ had been crucified and His message and salvation had gone out to the world the earthly Jerusalem had ceased to matter. It was an empty shell in which gathered all the ideas that were worst in world religions. It became a centre for all whose religion lacked true spirituality, for men to fight over, contradicting all it stood for.
For the truth is that while Jerusalem had originally represented the established centre of the worship of the true God, the place where God had met, and would meet, with man if he repented, in the end it became the place where His Son was crucified and yet from which went out the message of the spiritual reign of God (Isa 2:3). But the idea of Jerusalem arose to heaven with Him, for He embodied all that it represented. It became the ‘Jerusalem which is above’ (Gal 4:26) This was Jerusalem’s success. But in all else it failed because of man’s blindness and hardness of heart. It is now but a memorial to Him for some, and a continuing religious burden for others.
So to the Jews it became a superstition. To their enemies it was the centre of the religion of the Jews. All who therefore sought to despoil it were thus deliberately putting themselves at enmity with the God of Israel. And whatever the outward profession, the conquest of Jerusalem was in the end, at all times, for men’s own gain and glory, for the fulfilment of superstition or the attaining of revenge. They therefore found it a burdensome stone and suffered for it, and they were finally crushed on it.
But, as Jeremiah and Ezekiel had previously made clear, none of the promises had meant that the physical city of Jerusalem with its Temple was inviolable. It was only when the people were in a state of covenant obedience that that applied (2Ki 19:34). Thus there was the first destruction of it under Nebuchadnezzar followed by the exile; thus there were the activities of Antiochus Epiphanes when the Temple was desecrated one hundred and fifty or so years before the time of Christ; and thus, centuries after Zechariah, there came the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by Titus thirty or so years after Jesus’ death. This would be followed by its further devastation when Bar Kochba rebelled against the Romans and its rebuilding as a pagan city, with all Jews excluded from it in 132 AD, a position reversed only in the time of Constantine (early 4th century AD). And it has suffered many times since. And Revelaion 11 depicts it in the last days as another Sodom and another Egypt, an enemy of God’s people (without naming it).
But this is not the glorious Jerusalem of the prophets. That is composed of God’s true people.
End of note.
‘All the nations of the earth will be gathered together against it.’ Compare Rev 20:9 where such an idea is connected with ‘the camp of the saints (God’s people)’. It is the Jerusalem that represents the people of God which is a magnet to the peoples of the world, and which bears the brunt of its hatred. The people of God have been regularly subjected to such hatred throughout history.
So ‘the last days’ are also in mind here, for the gathering together of the nations against God’s people in the last days is a regular feature of the prophets, although not all the prophecies must be limited to that as we have seen. But in saying this we must recognise what Scripture means by ‘the last days’. We must remember that the New Testament writers declared that ‘the last days’, the days of the Messiah, had already come in their time ( Act 2:16 in context; 1Co 10:11 ; Heb 1:2 ; Heb 9:26-28 ; 1Pe 1:10-12 ; 1Pe 1:20 ; 1Pe 4:7 ). So the fact is that we are in the middle of ‘the last days’ now, not living before them.
There was no reason why all the nations should gather against Jerusalem unless it symbolised something far greater than just the capital of a small country. Jerusalem had come to symbolise an idea, the idea of the whole people of God, the ‘heavenly Jerusalem’ of Gal 4:26, the Jerusalem not in bondage.
Note on the Jerusalem in Bondage.
In Gal 4:25-29 Paul distinguishes the Jerusalem in bondage from the Jerusalem that is free. The one is like Hagar, the other like Sarah. The one the earthly Jerusalem the other the people of God, the heavenly Jerusalem.
To the Jews the earthly Jerusalem is still a witness to the God of the covenant, a covenant that they hope will one day be renewed. It is the place where their hearts are, which was why the people themselves could be called ‘Zion’. They believed that it was only in he earthly Jerusalem that they could finally experience the glory of the coming Reign of God.
To the Christian it came to represent the spiritual witness of God in the world because it was there that Christ died and rose again. And because of this it became to many a sacred place. But then it became a place of superstition. Many forgot that Christ had risen and gone and that all that was there was an empty tomb, that the prophetic ideal Jerusalem was no more on earth. Thus Jerusalem became a bondage.
And to Islam it represents a witness to God as the place where, in their view, Abraham, their forefather, was ready to sacrifice His son. To all it is ‘a holy place’, a vivid reminder of the activity of God in the world. And it is the source of much that is devilish. It is Jerusalem rejected and in bondage.
As always when people are involved the reverence for it is regularly directed in the wrong direction. They reverence the place instead of the idea. Thus they fight and argue and pillage, fighting for a bit of land, failing to recognise that it was to the God of Jerusalem on high and His demands and requirements that they should look.
Today the Jews and the Arabs and even so-called Christians still fight over it. But in the eyes of God it has been displaced by His people Zion, the true people of God who are scattered worldwide.
End of note.
And so eschatalogically the nations being gathered together against Jerusalem means that they are gathered together against God’s people, against His revelation of Himself in the world, here symbolised by Jerusalem, but including His children wherever they may be. They are against the people of God. For, as Revelation brings out, it is His true people who are the new Jerusalem and in the end it is against them that the nations of the world will be gathered. (See our commentary on Revelation 19-21.)
Zec 12:4-5
“In that day,” says YHWH, “I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness, and I will open my eyes on the house of Judah and will smite every horse of the peoples with blindness. And the chieftains of Judah will say in their heart, ‘The dwellers in Jerusalem are my strength in YHWH of Hosts their God.’
In the final analysis the enemies of Jerusalem will be rendered helpless. And there were times when this was true with the old Jerusalem. Jerusalem did survive invasion a number of times. But this vivid picture is really telling us that the world is powerless against His people. For none can in the end stand against the people of God old or new. Notice the contrast. YHWH’s eyes will be open on ‘Judah’ while, as a result, the eyes of their enemies’ horses will be blinded. They trusted in their horses (in other words material things) who could only fail them, the people of God are to trust in YHWH Who sees.
‘YHWH’s eyes will open on Judah.’ This indicates God’s protection of His people and can be seen in the light of the establishment of the New Covenant promised by Jeremiah (Jer 31:31-34) when the Spirit of grace and of supplication will be poured out (Zec 12:10). It occurred especially at the coming of John the Baptiser and Jesus Himself when He offered Himself to His people and many responded through the Spirit, and there is some reason to believe that before Christ’s second coming there is promised a further period of outpouring of the Spirit, with widespread conversions and renewing of the earthly ‘people of God’.
‘The dwellers in Jerusalem are my strength in YHWH of Hosts their God.’ Judah will now look not to their horses but to the ‘dwellers in Jerusalem’ as themselves strengthened by YHWH of Hosts, their God. It is important to see here that reference to Jerusalem is defined as meaning the dwellers in Jerusalem as empowered by YHWH. Here clearly, even in Zechariah’s eyes, we have an idealised Jerusalem, a spiritual Jerusalem, a Jerusalem which is ‘other-worldly’, a Jerusalem which is transcendent. (It is difficult to think of the people of Judah describing the inhabitants of Jerusalem as their strength in YHWH otherwise).
‘Judah’, being taken by God under His eye and responding to the truth symbolised by Jerusalem, represents here the reviving of certain of the people of God. And the New Testament makes clear what this Judah was. Initially in the coming of Christ God’s word went out to Galilee, away from Jerusalem. And it became the new Israel which was found in the true church, founded by the Jewish Messiah Himself, built on the Jewish Apostles, established first by His ministry throughout Palestine, becoming centred in Jerusalem, reaching out to the world with Jerusalem for its centre, and finally becoming a worldwide ‘Israel of God’, the living Temple of God and centre of His worship. Its members are incorporated into Israel and form the new Temple (Joh 4:21-24; Gal 6:16; Rom 11:17; Eph 2:20-21). It is they then who will enjoy God’s protection.
And the people of God did indeed look to those who were dwellers in Jerusalem, who went out to the world with the Gospel and enjoyed protection from their enemies and experienced the blessing of God, representing all that ‘Jerusalem’ stood for. Thus the prophet rightly sees Jerusalem as the source of truth from God and foresees its great impact for good on the world.
Zec 12:6
‘In that day will I make the chieftains of Judah like a pan of fire among wood, and like a torch of fire among sheaves, and they will devour all the peoples round about, on the right hand and on the left, and Jerusalem shall yet again dwell in her own place, even in Jerusalem.’
The picture of the triumph of the people of God continues. The pan of fire, placed among wood like a firelighter, brings the wood into flame; the flaming torch, set to the sheaves, sets them afire. Thus His people are impregnable. All who seek to attack them will be discomforted and dealt with severely. They will find more than their fingers burned.
‘Jerusalem shall yet again dwell in her own place, in Jerusalem.’ Here we have a play on the name Jerusalem. The ‘Jerusalem’ that is to ‘dwell in Jerusalem’ must signify people, as Zion signified people in Zec 2:7. Thus we have confirmation that ‘Jerusalem’, like ‘Zion’, can mean the people it represents. And although they were far away from Jerusalem they would come home in security and safety. And those who were true among them became the foundation of the work of the Messiah.
Thus the prophet is declaring that Jerusalem will become ‘true’ again (Zec 8:3), it will become the city of truth. And this was so when Jesus and His disciples and many with Him took up their place in Jerusalem making it the centre from which the Gospel would flow out to the world. That is why it could not be that He perished outside Jerusalem (Luk 13:33 compare Mat 16:21; Luk 9:51).
And, as we see in our own day the gathering of the Jews to Jerusalem, and among them as ever the remnant, the true people of God, genuine Hebrew Christians, it may yet be that there will be a prominent place for the physical Jerusalem in the purposes of God. For God has His own way of surprising us. But if so it will only be as it responds to Jesus Christ.
Zec 12:7
‘In that day YHWH will also save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the dwellers in Jerusalem be not magnified above Judah.’
‘Will also save the tents of Judah first.’ The impact of Jesus the Messiah was first outside Jerusalem. His ministry, while touching Jerusalem, was mainly in Judea and Galilee. It was there that He had His most fruitful ministry. It was only then that He advanced, as it were, on Jerusalem and through His Apostles made it the centre of His ministry. God did not want Jerusalem to become a city above itself. Its purpose was for the work of God through it, not for its own glory.
There is a remarkable fulfilment of this in that those outside Jerusalem responded to Jesus Christ in multitudes, while His brothers and relatives (the house of David) and the members of Jerusalem were a little behind.
Zec 12:8
‘In that day YHWH will defend the dwellers in Jerusalem, and he who is feeble among them at that day will be as David, and the house of David will be as God, as the Angel of YHWH before them.’
This magnificent picture again found its truth in the coming of Christ. Those who lived in that day thought at first that they had stamped out this bedraggled group of men led by their infamous teacher. But God defended them, and made them like David, strong and effective and irresistible. And the One Who led them was indeed seen to be ‘as God, as the Angel of YHWH’, for that is what He was.
Zec 12:9
‘And it will happen in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.’
God promises that when He has established His people, centred in the ‘city of truth’, He will protect them from all nations. Battered they may be but they come under His protection. In the words of Jesus ‘you will be hated by all men for my name’s sake, and not a hair of your head will perish’ (Luk 21:17-18).
But ‘the last days’ will finally end in judgment. Thus judgment is regularly depicted in Scripture as a last great battle against the people of God. See especially for this Rev 19:11-20. Here then God is declaring His judgment on all those who oppose what the ideal Jerusalem and the true people of God, headed by the Messianic king, stand for. Such will face the final judgment of God.
In prophetic eyes the nations come against ‘Jerusalem’ because of what it is, the symbol of God’s dwelling place, the centre of the people of God and source of the truth of God. They come as enemies of God and they come under the judgment of God. In the last analysis the fulfilment of this does not require a physical invasion of Jerusalem, although that may also be the case. It requires only enmity against the God of Jerusalem and His people.
As so often in Scripture we must see a literal and a spiritual fulfilment. Jerusalem was established, and the nations of the world did come against it, and it was at times amazingly delivered. But the deeper significance of it lies in Zion as the people of God..
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Future of the House of David and the Dwellers in Jerusalem, the Servant Pierced, the Spirit Poured Out, The Superseding of Prophecy, the Fires of Refinement ( Zec 12:1 to Zec 13:9 ).
Zechariah’s experiences as previously described have brought home to him that the present time is not going to produce the hoped for golden age of God’s rule. The dream of the eight visions (Zec 1:7 to Zec 6:15) which had promised so much of a purified Israel over whom would rule the Branch, appears to have turned sour. Instead of an Israel being established over whom the shepherd of Ezekiel is reigning (Eze 37:15-28), it has ended up in the hands of false shepherds (Zec 11:4-17). His thoughts may well then have turned to the words of Isaiah depicting the coming Suffering Servant (Isa 50:4-9; Isa 52:13 to Isa 53:12), for having been himself rejected and valued at thirty pieces of silver he foresees the coming of a Great Prophet and Shepherd Who will be in contrast to the false prophets, yet One Who will face rejection and suffering as he has himself.
So he recognises that the future of Jerusalem, as a picture of the people of God, must first be one of woe before God’s glory is revealed. Tragedy must precede triumph.
His depiction of the future of ‘Jerusalem’ is now outlined. It will be noted that it assumes first the coming establishment of Jerusalem as an independent political centre under Nehemiah by the very nature of what is described. Without that it could never have the prominence suggested by this picture. (In Zechariah’s time it was still an unwalled huddle of buildings).
It then briefly recognises its chequered future. And finally it leads up to its future as the place from which salvation will be made available to the world and to its final experience of the blessing of God (Zec 14:3-21). Thus as in much of prophecy it contains a near and a far view. What is prophesied will apply through history but will culminate in the activity of the final days before the final establishment of God’s rule.
The prophecy is necessarily given in symbolic terminology, for the background necessary to present it as it is presented in the New Testament was absent. The prophet spoke, in terms that he knew, of what was in fact beyond his comprehension. How could he visualise a world wide church? Rather he saw in Jerusalem as representing God’s gathered people what we think of as ‘God’s church’ as surrounded by the world. And we should note that at that time it was God’s church, His ‘congregation’. He could only necessarily speak in limited terms, for the full plan of God would have been incomprehensible, both to him and to the people. But he knew the central facts, that there would be suffering before triumph, that in the end the people of God would achieve victory, security and safety and that the King would come who would establish the reign of God.
But what does the word ‘Jerusalem’ represent in these eschatological prophecies? In the near view it is the city, but it is the city seen as being the centre of the people of God. As we have seen earlier it is the city as representing the people of God (Zec 2:7). When men gathered against ‘Jerusalem’ they were gathering against all who then represented God, those who had, as it were, come together to re-establish the Kingly Rule of God. Thus it is not just the city as it was in itself that is in mind, for that constantly comes under the condemnation of the prophets. It is rather the idea behind it, the idea of the ideal Jerusalem as being the gathering place of God’s people. It is Jerusalem as the ideal centre of the true worship of God (compare Isa 2:2-3), with ‘those who dwell in it’ being seen as representing all who worship and obey Him truly.
It is the place from which, through its people, God’s truth will go to the world (Mic 4:2; Isa 2:3; Isa 62:1). It is the place from which God will ‘roar’ and utter His voice when He brings judgment on the nations (Joe 3:16; Mic 1:2). It replaces the ark of the covenant as the throne of God (Jer 3:16-17), until that throne is raised to Heaven at the resurrection of Christ. It is the place from which God Himself will establish His reign (Isa 24:23). So, linked with Jerusalem are thoughts which far transcend it, so that in the end it is itself transcended.
That this is so in Zechariah comes out in what we saw earlier, that ‘Zion’, which was often synonymous with Jerusalem, which was partly built on Mount Zion, could also be used as a description of the people of God far away from Jerusalem (Zec 2:7). It was clear then that the people represented the city even when far away. In other words in a very real sense Jerusalem, Zion, is ‘the people of God’ wherever they are.
That there is this difference is again emphasised in Zec 12:6 where he says, ‘Jerusalem will yet dwell in her own place, even Jerusalem.’ Here the first ‘Jerusalem’ initially represents His people as the true worshippers of God, wherever they are, who have been away, but will now return home. And they are necessarily a symbolic people, for none who had actually dwelt in Jerusalem would by then necessarily be alive. Thus he is not thinking here of just anyone who lives in Jerusalem. He is thinking of the true, returned people of God, the Jerusalem who return to Jerusalem.
These distinctions are stressed and amplified in the New Testament where the heavenly aspect of Jerusalem is stressed. For Paul distinguishes the Jerusalem ‘which is in bondage’, the earthly city, from the Jerusalem ‘which is above’ (Gal 4:25-26), the heavenly Jerusalem, when pointing out that Christians are the ‘children of promise’ (Gal 4:28). They are the true Jerusalem. And Hebrews speaks of ‘Mount Zion’ as being ‘the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem’ (Heb 12:22). This leads on to the vision of the new Jerusalem, whose source is from Heaven, in ‘the new earth’ (Rev 21:2; Rev 21:10) and again represents the whole people of God. So in all this it is the idea that is behind Jerusalem that is prevalent, not the city of Jerusalem itself. (Compare the similar use in many references in Isaiah where there is the Jerusalem/Zion which is the city of God in contrast with ‘the world city’, the future glorious Jerusalem, which has eternal connections and will be part of the everlasting kingdom. See Isa 1:27; Isa 4:3-5; Isa 12:6; Isa 18:7; Isa 24:23; Isa 26:1-4; Isa 28:16; Isa 30:19; Isa 33:5; Isa 33:20; Isa 35:10; Isa 46:13; Isa 51:3; Isa 51:11; Isa 51:16; Isa 52:1; Isa 59:20; Isa 60:14; Isa 61:3; Isa 62:1; Isa 62:11; Isa 65:18-19; Isa 66:10; Isa 66:13; Isa 66:20).
And once we come to the New Testament Jerusalem is not so much a city as an idea, an idea closely aligned with the idea of the people of God. The old earthly Jerusalem has to be destroyed, and the real Jerusalem is the heavenly one with which His people are connected (Gal 4:25-26). And that is what Zechariah has in mind when he thinks of ‘Jerusalem’.
Furthermore Peter also stresses the spiritual nature of ‘Zion’ when he speaks of the church of God as living stones in the new Temple which is His church, built on the chief cornerstone and note that it is laid ‘in Zion’ (1Pe 2:4-7 based on Isa 28:16).
It is true that the prophets themselves saw their prophecies as necessarily relating to a ‘physical Jerusalem’. To them the people of God and Jerusalem were very much identified. But especially in the case of Isaiah it was very much an eschatological Jerusalem. His descriptions of it far exceed any possible conception of an earthly city. To him Jerusalem/Zion is synonymous with God’s people (‘we, the daughter of Zion’ – Isa 1:9); it will be purged by the removal of the filth of the daughter of Zion – Isa 4:4; it represents ‘the inhabitants of Jerusalem’ – Isa 5:3; Isa 8:14; Isa 22:21; Isa 28:14; Isa 30:19; it is to arise and clothe itself in beauty – Isa 52:2; it is a place of rejoicing where weeping is heard no more – Isa 65:18-19); and it is from Jerusalem/Zion with its exalted, unearthly Temple, that God’s message will go out to the world (Isa 2:4; Isa 62:6-7). It is the Jerusalem/Zion which is the city of God in contrast with the world city. It is the future glorious Jerusalem, which has eternal connections and will be part of the everlasting kingdom (Isa 1:27; Isa 4:3-5; Isa 12:6; Isa 18:7; Isa 24:23; Isa 26:1-4; Isa 28:16; Isa 30:19; Isa 33:5; Isa 33:20; Isa 35:10; Isa 46:13; Isa 51:3; Isa 51:11; Isa 51:16; Isa 52:1; Isa 59:20; Isa 60:14; Isa 61:3; Isa 62:1; Isa 62:11; Isa 65:18-19; Isa 66:10; Isa 66:13; Isa 66:20) .
It was, however, to be expected that the prophets would stop short of making it fully heavenly or seeing in it simply a picture of the people of God as such. They had no concept of Heaven. And they could not even conceive of a people of God not connected with Jerusalem. (It took the early church great searching of heart before they also did so). So as they peered with God’s help into the future, Jerusalem was their conception of the people of God. Surrounded on all sides by a wicked world they were God’s people, ‘Jerusalem’. The prophets had no full or detailed conception of an afterlife, or of a spiritual kingdom, or of living in a heavenly sphere, and did not think in those terms. Even when, rarely, resurrection is mentioned it is closely connected with this earth (Isa 26:19). So a Jerusalem purified and made spiritual, a perfected Jerusalem that fulfilled all the hopes of the prophets and the true people of God, was God’s ideal. It represented His true ‘congregation (church)’.
The idea of ‘Jerusalem’ both in the near view and in the far view therefore represented hope, deliverance, the congregation of Israel gathered together, the presence of God with His people, a centre of God’s rule, and the final fulfilment of what God intended His people to be. It was to be the fulfilment of all their expectations. And that was why inevitably it had in the end to become a heavenly city. For no earthly city, populated by earthly people, could achieve those expectations. We can therefore justly take the idea of Jerusalem as Paul did and see it as representing all God’s people wherever they were.
But the prophets could not wholly think like that, for, as mentioned above, there was then little specific detailed conception of an afterlife, or of a world-wide, ‘invisible’ kingdom. So to them it was in Jerusalem that they saw the fulfilment of all their hopes for the future, it represented the people of God surrounded by an antagonistic world, and it resulted in the triumph of God depicted in earthly terms which were never full worked out.
But in the end, the important question is not so much how the prophets saw it as how God intended it to be seen. And there the New Testament position is directly relevant. In the New Testament the idea of Jerusalem is related to what we call ‘Heaven’. Yet even ‘Heaven’, like ‘Jerusalem’ to the prophets, is but a name for the ideal future, the place where God dwells, the future home of His people. It simply recognises that the Jerusalem of the prophetic hopes could not be realised on earth. Thus Revelation finally amplifies it in terms of a ‘new Earth’.
So as we read Zechariah and the prophets we must see Jerusalem sometimes as it was and sometimes in terms of its heavenly ideal, as representing God’s whole people.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jehovah’s Solicitude for Israel
v. 1. The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, v. 2. Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling, v. 3. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people, v. 4. In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, v. 5. And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, v. 6. In that day will I make the governors of Judah, v. 7. The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first, v. 8. In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, v. 9. And it shall come to pass in that day,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
Verse 1-14:21
B. THE SECOND BURDEN.
Zec 12:1-9
1. The prophet proceeds to announce Israel’s conflict with heathen powers. Hostile nations gather together against Jerusalem, but shall themselves be overthrown; for the people and their leaders, trusting in the Lord, overcome all opposition.
Zec 12:1
The burden of the word of the Lord for (concerning) Israel. This is the title of the second oracle, corresponding to that at the head of Zec 9:1-17. Though the literal Israel has been rejected, as we saw in the last “burden,” a new people of God. arises (Hos 1:10), the Messianic theocracy, which is also called Israel, whose fortunes the prophet herein delineates, describing its probation, its contests, triumph, and development. The body is like its Head; as the good Shepherd, Christ, was persecuted and rejected, so his members, the true Israelites, suffer at the hand of the world and Satan, before they are finally glorified. Some critics suppose that “Israel” here is written by mistake for “Jerusalem,” as possibly in Jer 23:6 (see note on Zec 1:19). It is best to put a full stop after “Israel,” and begin a new sentence with “Thus saith the Lord,” or “The saying of Jehovah.” Which stretcheth forth the heavens, etc. (comp. Isa 42:5; Amo 4:13). The attributes of God. are mentioned here that all may believe that what he has promised, that he is able to perform. He is not only the Creator, but also the Pro-server of all things (Psa 104:2-4; Heb 1:10. Formeth the spirit of man within him. God creates the souls of men, and moulds and guides them. In life and death men work out his purposes (Num 16:22; Heb 12:9).
Zec 12:2
A cup of trembling; a bowl of reelinga bowl whose contents cause staggering and reeling, , “as tottering porticoes”; superliminare crapulae (Vulgate). This Jerome explains to mean that any one who crosses the threshold of Jerusalem in hostile guise shall totter and fall. Jerusalem is the capital and type of the Messianic theocracy; the hostile powers of the world crowd round her, like thirsting men round a bowl of wine; but they find the drought is fatal to them; they stagger back discomfited and destroyed. The figure of the cup and drunkenness is often employed to denote the judgment of God upon transgressors, which makes them incapable of defence or escape (comp. Isa 51:17; Jer 25:15, etc.; Jer 51:39, Jer 51:57; Hab 2:16). The people; the peoples (so Zec 12:3, Zec 12:4, Zec 12:6). The heathen nations who war against God’s people. When they shall be in the siege, etc. This gives a good sense, but the Hebrew will not allow it. Septuagint, , “In Judaea there shall be a blockade against Jerusalem;” Vulgate, Sed et Juda erit in obsidione contra Jerusalem, which may mean that Judah shall be among those that besiege Jerusalem, or when Jerusalem is beset Judah shall suffer the same calamity. Pusey and Revised Version render, “And upon Judah also shall it [i.e. ‘the burden’] be in the siege against Jerusalem.” Cheyne, “And also on [or, ‘over ‘] Judah it [i.e. the protection and deliverance implied in the first clause of the verse] shall be, in the siege,” etc. Any interpretation of the passage which makes Judah join with the enemy in attacking Jerusalem is precluded by the very intimate union between Judah and Jerusalem denoted in Zec 12:4-7, and by the hostility of the nations against Judah. Cheyne’s explanation is hardly a natural one, however suitable. Lowe (‘Hebr. Stud. Comm.’) renders, “And also on Judah [shall fall this reeling] during the siege [which is to take place] against Jerusalem.” It seems best to render, with Alexander, “Also against Judah shall it be in the siege against Jerusalem,” i.e. not only the mother city, but all the country, shall be exposed to hostile invasion. This suits Zec 12:5, where the chieftains of Judah are represented as trusting in the valour of the inhabitants of Jerusalem when they are incurring the same danger.
Zec 12:3
A burdensome stone. Jerusalem shall prove to all the nations that attack it a weight not only too heavy to lift, but one which, itself remaining unhurt, shall wound and injure those who attempt to carry it. Jerome supposes here an allusion to a custom in the towns of Palestine, which prevailed to his day (and, indeed, in Syria even now), of placing round stones of great weight at certain distances, by lifting which the youths tested their bodily strength. But we do not know that this custom existed in Zechariah’s time, and the nations are not gathered together for amusement or display of strength, but for hostile attack. Septuagint, , “a stone trodden down,” which reminds one of Luk 21:24, . Shall be cut in pieces; i.e. by the sharp edges of the stone, or, as the Revised Version, shall be sore wounded. Though; rather, and; Septuagint, : Vulgate, et colligentur. All the people (peoples) of the earth. This indicates that the struggle spoken of is no mere local conflict, waged in Maccabean or other times, but the great battle of the world against the Church, which shall rage in the Messianic era.
Zec 12:4
I will smite every horse with astonishment (consternation). Cavalry represents the forces of the enemy. Astonishment, madness, and blindness are threatened against Israel in Deu 28:28; here they arc inflicted on the enemy. Madness. The riders should be so panic stricken that they knew not what they did, and shall turn their arms against each other (Hag 2:22). Open mine eyes upon the house of Judah; i.e. will regard with favour and protect (Deu 11:12; 1Ki 8:29; Is. 32:8). With blindness. They shall be blinded with terror. The previous threat is repeated with this emphatic addition.
Zec 12:5
The governors (chieftains) of Judah shall say in their heart. The leaders of Judah have a profound, settled conviction that Jehovah is on his people’s side. The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be (are) my strength. When they see the enemy discomfited (Zec 12:2-4) each of them shall have confidence in the Divine election of Jerusalem, foregoing their former jealousy, and see in her success a token of God’s protection and their own final victory.
Zec 12:6
A hearth; literally, a pan. The victory should be easy and complete. The chieftains of Judah shall be like a chafing dish full of fire set among dry faggots (comp. Oba 1:18; Nah 1:10). In a sheaf; among sheaves. Jerusalem shall be inhabited again; rather, Jerusalem shall yet again dwell. Jerusalem is personified as a female. In spite of all the attacks of the enemy, who tried to destroy and remove her, she shall remain firm and unshaken in her own place. In Jerusalem, the centre of the theocracy where God has set her. So against the Church the gates of hell shall not prevail, and the persecutions which she suffers increase her stability and add to her numbers.
Zec 12:7
Shall save the tents of Judah first. Instead of “first,” a preferable reading, supported by the Greek, Latin, and Syriac Versions, is “as in the beginning,” or “as in former days.” The prophet declares that the open towns and villages of Judah, which can offer no effectual resistance to an enemy like the fortified city Jerusalem, shall be saved by the aid of God, as so often has happened in old time. If “first” be the genuine reading, the meaning is that the country people shall first be saved in order to prevent Jerusalem glorifying herself at their expense. That the glory do not magnify themselves against (be not magnified above) Judah. God will save the chosen nation in such a manner that each part shall have its share in the glory and honour. The leaders, represented by “the house of David” and “the inhabitants of Jerusalem,” as the sanctuary of Cod and a strongly fortified city, shall not be able to exalt themselves as more favoured than the rest of the people. By God’s help alone is the victory won, and all alike share in this. The expressions in this verse could not have been written, as some assert, while the dynasty of David reigned.
Zec 12:8
He that is feeble (literally, that stumbleth) among them .. shall be as David. God shall endue the inhabitants of Jerusalem with marvellous strength and courage, so that the weakest among them shall be a hero such as David, who killed the lion and bear and overcame the giant (comp. Psa 18:32). The house of David shall be as God (Elohim). The chiefs of the theocracy shall be endowed with supernatural might, the expression, “as God,” being explained in the next clause. Septuagint, , “as the house of God,” as if it were of the heavenly family. The translators seem to have thought the genuine expression too unqualified. As the angel of the Lord before them. Even as the angel of the Lord, who led the Israelites in all their wanderings (comp. Exo 14:19; Exo 23:20; Exo 32:34; Jos 5:13). We see in this description an intimation of the graces and endowments bestowed upon every faithful member of the Church of Christ.
Zec 12:9
I will seek to destroy. It shall be always my aim and my care to destroy the enemies of the Church, that they shall never prevail against it. The words cannot apply to the literal Jerusalem, against which no such confederacy of nations was ever formed.
Zec 12:10-14
2. There shall ensue an outpouring of God’s Spirit upon Israel, which shall produce a great national repentance.
Zec 12:10
I will pour. The word implies abundance (comp. Eze 39:29; Joe 2:28). The house of David, etc. The leaders and the people alike, all orders and degrees in the theocracy. Jerusalem is named as the capital and representative of the nation. The spirit of grace and of supplications. The spirit which bestows grace and leads to prayer. “Grace” here means the effects produced in man by God’s favour, that which makes the recipient pleasing to God and delighting in his commandments (Heb 10:29). They shall look upon me whom they have pierced. The Speaker is Jehovah. To “look upon or unto” implies trust, longing, and reverence (comp. Num 21:9; 2Ki 3:14; Psa 34:5; Isa 22:11). We may say generally that the clause intimates that the people, who had grieved and offended God by their sins and ingratitude, should repent and turn to him in faith. But there was a literal fulfilment of this piercing, i.e. slaying (Zec 13:3; Lam 4:9), when the Jews crucified the Messiah, him who was God and Man, and of whom, as a result of the hypostatic union, the properties of one nature are often predicated of the other. Thus St. Paul says that the Jews crucified “the Lord of glory” (1Co 2:8), and bids the Ephesian elders “feed the Church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood” (Act 20:28; for the reading , see the critics). St. John (Joh 19:37) refers to these words of Zechariah as a prophecy of the Crucifixion (camp. Rev 1:7). The LXX. renders, , “They shall look to me because they insulted,” either reading the last verb differently, or understanding it figuratively in the sense of assailing with cutting words; but there is no doubt about the true reading and interpretation. Vulgate, Aspicient ad me quem confixerunt. “Me” has been altered in some manuscripts into “him:” but this is an evident gloss received into the text for controversial purposes, or to obviate the supposed impropriety of representing Jehovah as slain by the impious. That St. John seems to sanction this reading is of no critical importance, as he is merely referring to the prophecy historically, and does not profess to give the very wording of the prophet. A suffering Messiah was not an unknown idea in Zechariah’s time. He has already spoken of the Shepherd as despised and ill-treated, and a little further on (Zec 13:7) he intimates that he is stricken with the sword. The prophecies of Isaiah had familiarized him with the same notion (Isa 53:1-12; etc.). And when he represents Jehovah as saying, “Me whom they pierced,” it is not merely that in killing his messenger and representative they may be said to have killed him, but the prophet, by inspiration, acknowledges the two natures in the one Person of Messiah, even as Isaiah (Isa 9:6) called him the “Mighty God,” and the psalmists often speak to the same effect (Psa 2:7; Psa 45:6, Psa 45:7; Psa 110:1, etc.; comp. Mic 5:2). The “looking to” the stricken Messiah began when they who saw that woeful sight smote their breasts (Luk 23:48); it was carried on by the preaching of the apostles; it shall continue till all Israel is converted; it is re-enacted whenever penitent sinners turn to him whom they have crucified by their sins. Critics have supposed that the person whose murder is deplored is Isaiah, or Urijah, or Jeremiah; but none of these fulfill the prediction in the text. They shall mourn for him. There is a change of persons here. Jehovah speaks of the Messiah as distinct in Person from himself. As one mourneth for his only son for his firstborn. The depth and poignancy of this mourning are expressed by a double comparison, the grief felt at the loss of an only son, and of the firstborn. Among the Hebrews the preservation of the family was deemed of vast importance, and its extinction regarded as a punishment and a curse, so that the death of an only son would be the heaviest blow that could happen (see Isa 47:9; Jer 6:26; Amo 8:10). Peculiar privileges belonged to the firstborn, and his loss would be estimated accordingly (see Gen 49:3; Exo 4:22; Deu 21:17; Mic 6:7). The mention of “piercing,” just above, seems to connect the passage with the Passover solemnities and the destruction of the firstborn of the Egyptians.
Zec 12:11
As if the above comparisons were not strong enough, the prophet presents a new one, referring to an historical event, which occasioned a universal mourning in Jerusalem. As the mourning of (at) Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. This is generally supposed to refer to the death of King Josiah of a wound received at Megiddo, in the battle with Pharaoh-Necho (B.C. 60) ),and to the national lamentation made for him and long observed on the anniversary of the calamity (see 2Ki 23:29; 2Ch 35:20-25). This universal and perennial mourning is a figure of the continual remembrance of the death of Christ in the Church. There is a difficulty about the identification of Hadadrimmon. St. Jerome says it was a place in the Plain of Megiddo, near Jezreel, and known in his day by the name of Maximianopolis. This is supposed to be Rummaneh, seven miles northwest of Jezreel, on the southern edge of the Plain of Esdraelon. But the identification is far from certain. The Assyrian name given to the place may, as Lowe suggests, be a confirmation of the post-exilian origin of the prophecy. The site of Megiddo also is undetermined, though Condor suggests Mujedda, a ruined city about three miles south of Bethshean. The opinion that the name Hadadrimmon is that of a Syrian or Phoenician god, whose rites were celebrated as those of Adonis (“the weeping for Tammuz” of Eze 8:14), is preposterous; and the idea that the prophet would thus refer to the worship of an abominable idol is one that could have occurred only to disbelievers in revelation. The LXX; mistaking the text, gives, , “as mourning for a pomegranate cut off in the plain.”
Zec 12:12
The land. Not Jerusalem only, but the whole country. Every family apart. The mourning should extend to every individual of every family (comp. Eze 24:23). David Nathan. First the royal family is mentioned generally, to show that no one, however, high in station, is exempted from this mourning; and then a particular branch is named to individualize the lamentation. Nathan is that son of David from whom descended Zerubbabel (1Ch 3:5; Luk 3:27, Luk 3:31). Their wives apart. In private life the females of a household dwelt in apartments separate from the males, and in public functions the sexes were equally kept distinct (see Exo 15:20; Jdg 11:34; 1Sa 18:6; 2Sa 6:5).
Zec 12:13
Levi Shimei. As before, the priestly family is first mentioned generally, and then individualized by naming Shimei, the son of Gershon, and grandson of Levi, of whom was the family of the Shimeites (Num 3:17, Num 3:18, Num 3:21). The LXX. gives, “the tribe of Simeon,” instead of “the family of Shimei.” But there is no reason for singling out this tribe. In one sense, this prophecy began to be fulfilled when a great company of priests were converted by the preaching of the apostles (Act 6:7).
Zec 12:14
The families that remain. All the families that have not been mentioned already.
HOMILETICS
Zec 12:1-4
A wonderful siege.
“The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord,” etc. These three concluding chapters seem to refer to one principal topic (“the burden of the Lord for Israel,“ Zec 12:1) and to one principal time (see the thirteen times repeated expression, “in that day”). The general preface or introduction to the special succession of wonders which they announce to us is contained in Zec 12:1, setting forth, as it does, the wonder working nature of the God who foretells them, in regard
(1) to all above (the “heaven”);
(2) all beneath (the “earth”); and
(3) all within (the “spirit of man”).
See somewhat similar preface to a somewhat similar announcement of wonderful doings in Rev 21:5. After this introduction, in Rev 21:2-4, we have described to us, as the opening wonder of all, a certain future wonderful “siege.” In which description we may notice three principal things, viz.
(1) the many enemies of the city besieged;
(2) its one Defender; and
(3) its complete defence.
I. ITS MANY ENEMIES. Herein, evidently, is to be one leading peculiarity of this “siege” of Jerusalem. It is not only to be a complete investment, “all the people” being “round about” (Rev 21:2; see also Luk 19:43), but it is also to be an investment by an exceedingly large assemblage of “peoples gathered together” from all parts of the world. Considering, indeed, the frequent use in these verses (some six times in all) of the expressions “all” and “every,” and the apparent definiteness of comprehension of the language in the end of Rev 21:3, we seem justified in believing that every separate Gentile nation or people will be employed in this siege. All the rest of the world against Jerusalem. Such is what we seem to see here. Such is what we seem to see also in such passages as Eze 38:1-16 (where note special mention, as in Eze 38:4 here, of “horses” and “horsemen”); Joe 3:9-17; Rev 16:14 16; Rev 20:8, Rev 20:9. Whether or not we consider all these passages to refer to exactly the same times and events, at any rate they illustrate, if they do not apply to, the universal league described here.
II. ITS ONE DEFENDER. With all the rest of mankind against the people of Jerusalem, there can be no man, of course, on their side. But they are not to be on that account without a defender. On the contrary, they will have the best of all, even Jehovah himself. Five times over, and in two separate ways he gives them to understand this. He declares:
1. That he will give heed to their case. “I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah” (see Psa 33:18; Psa 34:15; Deu 11:12; 1Ki 9:3; Dan 9:18; and Zec 9:8 above).
2. That he will give help in their need. He will give help by “making” Jerusalem (Rev 20:2, Rev 20:3) that which it requires to be “made” in this time of extremity. Be will give help also by “smiting” those many enemies (Rev 20:4) who are leagued together for their destruction, and who, therefore, require to he “smitten” on their behalf; and what, of its kind, could be more satisfactory than this double assistance? this weakening of their enemies? this concurrent strengthening of themselves?
III. ITS COMPLETE DEFENCE. This twofold assistance was sufficient in degree as well as satisfactory in nature. What it proposed to do, that it did. In particular, God, in this manner:
1. Bewildered the minds of all the enemies of Jerusalem. He made Jerusalem, to these enemies, such a cup of trembling and of stupor and slumber that they were not able, and did not dare, in many respects, to attack them. Completely as they seemed, by being “round about” the city, to have it in their power, they were like men appalled and stupefied, and left it alone (comp. Gen 35:5).
2. Also, when these enemies did find themselves able to devise measures against Jerusalem, God crushed their efforts. They were as men trying their strength by endeavouring to lift a heavy stone from the ground, the only result being to crush themselves by its weight. So would Jerusalem be made to do thus to its foesto all its foes, however numerous. It would not only bruise, but destroy them, as though the sword had “cut” them “in pieces.”
3. Besides which, so we may perhaps understand Rev 20:4, God would himself overwhelm their spirits. Having failed so fatally in their efforts, those who survived, and their agents also, in utter panic, folly, and ignorance, would be so far from being able to do further injury that they would themselves be in need of defence. So surpassingly well can that one Defender do for those that are his.
We learn something here, in conclusion:
1. As to the possibilities of the future. Who can say that such a gigantic conspiracy of evil against a literally restored and renovated Jerusalem, and such a triumphant delivery from it, may not mark the end of this age? Certainly far greater things, both in the way of manifested evil and good, than have ever been witnessed hitherto, may yet be seen on this earth.
2. As to the true character of the present. This last conflict will be but the fully developed result of a long previous conflict of a similar kind. Compare the conspiracy and deliverance in long ago days described in Psa 83:1-18. (compare also, on the one side, Act 28:22; and on the other, Mat 28:20).
Zec 12:5-8
A wonderful people.
“And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength,” etc. In the preceding verses the dominant idea is that of Jerusalem as a city besieged. In these we have a vision of it as a city inhabited (note end of Zec 12:6, and the thrice-recurring expression, “the inhabitants of Jerusalem”). And there are three aspects in which, when so regarded, we seem called upon to admire it, viz.
(1) as perfectly safe;
(2) as properly humble; and
(3) as amazingly strong.
I. JERUSALEM SAFE. See:
1. In the end of Zec 12:6, how this condition of safety is described. Jerusalem is spoken of as “inhabited again;” not deserted, i.e. as previously, because of the attacks of its foes. Also as “inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem;” as now, therefore, not even claimed as belonging to any but those who had been identified with it for so many generations.
2. How this description of safety is justified.
(1) It is so if we take Zec 12:5 as it stands, by the thorough confidence of the “governors” in the people of Jerusalem. They acknowledge this people to be their “strength” not with their lips only, but in their “heart.”
(2) Such confidence is a great element of safety, especially when combined, as in this instance, with an equal amount of confidence, on the part of both rulers and ruled, in Jehovah himself (see end of Zec 12:5).
(3) For such a combination renders those rulers, like that famous general who spoke of his well tried army as “able to go anywhere and do anything,” an amazing power to their city in the way of protection and defence. At any rate, so it was God made them to be in this instance. Like flame when applied to things most inflammable, so would he make them amidst the foes of his people, viz. equally sure and equally swift to consume. How safe a city when all those who threaten it can thus effectually be destroyed!
II. JERUSALEM HUMBLE. See:
1. Why this humility was secured; viz. because of its vital importance. If either the leaders (“the house of David”) or the people should begin to “magnify themselves” on account of those effectual means of defence just described, they would at once be in danger again (Pro 28:26; Jer 17:5, Jer 17:6, etc.).
2. How this humility was secured. The beginning of deliverance was to be in something apart from Jerusalem, as it were. In something, also, that at first sight she might be inclined to despise. Such deliverance will, therefore, be like a “soldiers’ victory” in its way. Rather, like that deliverance we read of in 2Ki 7:1-20, which began with certain despised outsiders, and was clearly not their work, but God’s. “The Lord shall save the tents of Judah first.“ Observe the triple emphasis in these words.
III. JERUSALEM STRONG. Strong:
1. Because of the gracious continuance of God‘s care, Whatever he had already done for his people, so long as they are enabled to remain truly humble and trustful, that he will go on to do still (see Hos 13:1; Pro 18:12; Isa 66:2).
2. Because of the abundant results of God‘s blessing. The very feeblest amongst them should be made, in desire and intention, like the very strongest, in that way, previously known (1Sa 13:14; 1Ki 9:4; 1Ki 15:3, etc.). The leaders amongst them should be leaders Judaeapersons deserving to be followed as closely and fully as the Angel-Jehovah, of whom we afterwards read, as in 1Pe 2:21, 1Pe 2:22; Joh 13:15; Php 2:5; 1Co 11:1, etc. This state of things (apparently) the complete fulfilment of Deu 33:29.
Three things, as illustrated here concerning the prophetical Scriptures generally, may be noticed to conclude.
1. Their obscurity in many points. On the one hand, e.g. the specially distinctive mention both of “Jerusalem” and of “Judah,” and the singularly local complexion of the end of Deu 33:6, point us to a literal view of the whole. On the other, the mention of the house of David, which has so long since vanished from sight, and the apparent connection of it with our Divine Redeemer as the true New Testament “David” (Eze 34:1-31.; 37.; Act 2:29-31), point us almost as strongly to a figurative and spiritual interpretation, Who can decide confidently between them till all is decided by the actual fulfilment of the prophecy?
2. Their plainness in others. That some exceedingly blessed and glorious condition of things, either in the literal or the spiritual Jerusalemor, it may be, in both togetheris here fore-described, who can doubt? What this condition of things is to depend on, and how to be brought about, also seem very plain. This whole prophecy, in short, is at present, as are so many others, like a “proof before letters.” We can only guess at present about the name of the landscape which it sets before us, but we can appreciate its loveliness to the full.
3. Their profitableness in all. So far as obscure, they serve to teach us the three great Christian duties of patience before God, humility as to ourselves, and forbearance towards others. So far as plain, they are fitted to animate our hope and sustain our courage and direct both our faith and our walk (2Th 3:5; 2Pe 3:14; Rom 15:4, etc.).
Zec 12:9-14
Wonderful sorrow.
“And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations,” etc. There is much that is striking in the apparent connection of this passage with that before. Just when God shall be seen by his people to be “seeking” and bringing about (see Zec 12:9) the overthrow and destruction of their many enemies, they, on the other hand, will be seen to be overwhelmed with sorrow of heart. Their souls, as it were, will be plunged into darkness at the very breaking of day. The very thing they have hoped for seems close at hand; and, lo! they are as men in despair. Equally remarkable, next, with the time of this sorrow, is its character. So we shall find, whether we consider
(1) its peculiar origin; or
(2) its peculiar magnitude.
I. ITS PECULIAR ORIGIN. To what is it due? Not to those causes which bring about the ordinary “sorrow of the world” (2Co 7:10). On the contrary, being sorrow which is “according to God” ( , 2Co 7:10), it has the “things of God” as its cause. In other words, it is occasioned:
1. By the action of God on the hearts of his people. He “pours on” them:
(1) “The spirit of grace.” He gives them, i.e; in overflowing abundance, those gracious influences of the Spirit of holiness by which men are enabled to believe in him as “the God of all grace” and so are encouraged to pray (Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6).
(2) “The spirit of supplications.” He gives them, i.e; in similar abundance, those other gracious influences of that same Holy Spirit by which he is pleased both to guide men and also to assist men in their prayers (Rom 8:26; Eph 6:18; Jud Eph 1:20).
2. By the consequent thoughts of God‘s people about him.
(1) They think of him as having been “pierced” by their sins. This is an especial feature, we know, in “godly sorrow”its horror at having sinned against God (Psa 51:4; Gen 39:9; 2Sa 12:13; perhaps also Isa 43:24, end; Eph 4:30).
(2) They think of him as having been alienated by their folly. They “mourn for him” like those mentioned in 1Sa 7:2. After their privileges are gone from them, they see, with sorrow, how much they have lost. From none of these sources, we repeat, is man’s natural sorrow found to flow forth.
II. ITS PECULIAR MAGNITUDE. Wide waters are generally shallow; deep waters are seldom broad; but here we have both.
1. Peculiar depth. On the one hand,
(1) there is only one known kind of sorrow equally deep. As the shades of life’s afternoon thicken around us, it is to our children we look to give us comfort and hope, and to keep up the interest of life in our hearts (Gen 5:28, Gen 5:29; Joh 16:21). How peculiarly great, therefore, the sorrow of losing a firstborn and only son (Gen 22:2; Gen 49:3; Pro 4:3, Pro 4:4; Luk 7:12)! The loss bewailed here is like thatloss of all! On the other hand,
(2) there had never been but one previous example of sorrow equally deep, viz. the sorrow felt on the death of Josiah, almost the very best (2Ki 23:25; 2Ki 18:5), and certainly the last real, king among the descendants of Davida sorrow the memory of which, in the prophet’s own day, had not at all been forgotten, and the sound of which is to be heard still by the world in the Lamentations of Jeremiah (2Ch 35:25; Lam 4:20).
2. Peculiar diffusion. We find this sorrow described as pervading not the city only, but all the “land.” We find it affecting every separate “house” amongst the houses of Israel, whether in Church or state (Levi and David [?]), whether well known or only little known (David and Nathan), whether with good antecedents or evil ones (Levi and Shimei; see Deu 33:8; 2Sa 16:5-13); also affecting every “family” of every separate “house;” also every adult member of every family, whether male or female. At once, therefore, in this tempest of sorrow, they were all united, yet all “apart.” Even so, with their separate roots, are the “trees of the wood,” when all moved by one wind (see Isa 7:2).
We see, in all this, something:
1. To give us comfort and hope. Without attempting to dogmatize on such a subject, we cannot but see, from this analysis of the passage, what it seems to foretell, viz. the future conversion of the whole people of Israel to belief in the gospel of Christ.
2. To give us instruction and warning. Equally great, for example, ought to be our sorrow for sin (Rom 3:9, Rom 3:29). Equally, also, ought it to be founded on our thoughts about Christ (Joh 16:9; Act 9:4, Act 9:5; Mat 25:40, etc.). And equally, finally, can we only hope to receive it as a gift from above (Act 5:31; 2Ti 2:25).
HOMILIES BY W. FORSYTH
Zec 12:1-9
The security of Zion.
I. MIGHT OF HER KING. The worlds of matter and of mind are under his control. If so, there is no such thing as chance. Then whatsoever God has promised he will certainly perform. Then to trust and to obey God must be the great end of our being. God’s friends are blessed (Zec 12:2, Zec 12:4). His enemies, intoxicated by pride, muster for the fight. They are discomfited and driven back in headlong rout. Blindness seizes them, terror overpowers them; they perish, as at the Red Sea and in Midian’s evil day (cf. Psa 132:18).
II. ENERGY OF HER LEADERS. (Zec 12:5-7.) Men of faith and capacity, commanding the confidence of the people. Bound together by their common faith in God and devotion to the highest interests of humanity.
III. HEROISM OF HER PEOPLE. (Zec 12:8, Zec 12:9.) Strength, Divine in its source, various in degree, adequate forevery emergency, making the weak strong, and the strong stronger. A united people, with settled government, equal laws, courageous and faithful for the right. Zion united can stand against every assault, but divided becomes the prey of her enemies. “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.”F.
Zec 12:8
True greatness.
I. NOT INHERITED, BUT PERSONAL.
II. NOT IN CIRCUMSTANCES, BUT CHARACTER.
III. NOT IN SELF–AGGRANDIZEMENT, BUT IN SOCIAL USEFULNESS.
IV. NOT BOUND BY HUMAN WEAKNESS, BUT RISING TO THE GLORY OF DIVINE STRENGTH.
V. NOT RESTRICTED TO INDIVIDUALS, BUT THE COMMON POSSESSION OF THE GOOD
VI. NOT LIMITED TO EARTH, BUT LEADING TO THE HONOURS OF ETERNITY.F.
Zec 12:11-14
The great mourning.
The scene depicted has reference first of all to the Jews. Already partially fulfilled. But the principles involved are of universal application. Take it to illustrate true repentance.
I. GOD FOR ITS CAUSE. Not man, but God. The Father of our spirits acting on our spirit. “The spirit of grace.”
II. SINNERS OF MANKIND FOR ITS SUBJECTS. Not angels. We read of their fail, but never of their rising again. For them there seems no place for repentance. Not the righteous. If man were innocent, there would be no need for penitence. But sinners. As all have sinned, repentance is required of all.
III. THE CROSS OF CHRIST FOR ITS INSTRUMENT. On the one hand, how can the sense of sin be brought home to man’s conscience? On the other, how can God, consistently with his righteousness, show mercy to the sinner? The answer is found in the cross. Here we see, and here alone:
1. The exceeding sinfulness of sin.
2. The exceeding greatness of God’s love to sinners. “God commendeth his own love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
IV. INTENSITY AND THOROUGHNESS FOR ITS GREAT CHARACTERISTICS.
1. Intensity. Thought and feeling. Sorrow deep and bitter.
2. Thoroughness. Goes to the very root of the matter; real and abiding.
V. REGENERATION OF SOCIETY AS ITS BLESSED RESULT. Society made up of individuals. Change them, and you change all. The whole lump will be leavened. When there is peace with God, purity of life, brotherly kindness and charity, the old glory of the land will be restored.F.
HOMILIES BY D. THOMAS
Zec 12:1
The universe.
“The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.” This chapter, and on to Zec 12:6 of the following, most expositors regard as referring to Israel’s conflict and victory, conversion and ultimate holiness. The first verse announces how the conflict against Jerusalem and Judah will result in the conquest of all enemies. The passage before us suggests a few thoughts concerning the universe.
I. THAT THE UNIVERSE INCLUDES THE EXISTENCE OF MATTER AND OF MIND. The phrase “heavens” and “earth” is used here and elsewhere to represent the whole creation.
1. It includes matter. Of the essence of matter we know nothing; but by the word we mean all that comes within the cognizance of our senses, all that can be felt, heard, seen, tasted. How extensive is this material domain! Science shows that it baffles all efforts and methods of mensuration.
2. It includes mind. Indeed, mind is here specified. “And formeth the spirit of man within him.” Man has a spirit. Of this he has stronger evidence than he has of the existence of matter. He is conscious of the phenomena of mind, but not conscious of the phenomena of matter. Man’s mind is only an insignificant part and a humble representative of the immeasurable universe of spirit.
II. THAT THE UNIVERSE ORIGINATED WITH ONE PERSONAL BEING. “The Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens,” etc. It had an origin; it is not eternal. The idea of its eternity involves contradictions. It had an origin; its origin is not fortuitous; it is not the production of chance. The idea of its springing from chance may live in the region of speculation, but never in the realm of intelligent conviction. It had an origin; its origin is not that of a plurality of creators; it has one, and only one”the Lord.” This is the only philosophic account of its origin, “Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thy hands.”
III. THAT THIS ONE PERSONAL CREATOR HAS PURPOSES CONCERNING THE HUMAN RACE. “The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord.” This may mean, “the sentence of the word of the Lord concerning Israel.” Now, this chapter, this booknay, a large portion of the Biblepurports to be a revelation of his purpose to mankind. He has not created us without an object, nor placed us on this earth without an object; both in our creation and preservation he has a purpose. This being so:
1. No events in human history are accidental.
2. The grand purpose of our life should be the fulfilment of his will. “Not my will, but thine be done.”
IV. THAT HIS PURPOSE TOWARDS MANKIND HE IS FULLY ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH. His creative achievements are here mentioned as a pledge of the purposes hereafter announced. Every purpose of the Lord shall be performed. Has he purposed that all mankind shall be converted to his Son? It shall be done. “There is nothing too hard for the Lord.”D.T.
Zec 12:2, Zec 12:3
Sin self-punishment.
“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.” There is in this passage a principle by which the Governor of the world punishes malicious men. That principle is thisthe reaction of their efforts to injure others causing injury of themselves. It is here said that Jerusalem would become confusion and destruction to the men who sought it, ruin. It is here said that:
1. Jerusalem would become to them “a cup of trembling,” or, as some render it, “a cup of intoxication.” It does not say that Jerusalem will put forth any active efforts to wreak vengeance on its enemies, but that its effect upon the enemies would be as an intoxicating cup; it will make them reel and stagger in confusion. The thought of their own malicious conduct towards it would produce an effect upon their own minds that would make them tremble and become confused.
2. Jerusalem would become to them “a burdensome stone.” The idea is that, in their endeavours to injure Jerusalem, they would crush themselves. I make three remarks in relation to this punishment by reaction.
I. IT IS WELL ATTESTED.
1. It is attested by every man‘s consciousness. Every man who attempts to injure another feels sooner or later that he has injured himself. There is a recoil and a regret. In truth, the malign passion itself is its own punishment. A man who cherishes anger towards another injures himself more than he can by any effort injure the object of his displeasure. In every malign emotion there is misery.
2. It is attested by universal history. It is a law that runs through all history, that the “mischief” of a man “shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate” (Psa 7:16). The conduct of Joseph’s brethren and of Haman may be cited as illustrations; but the conduct of the Jews towards the Messiah is an example for all times, most mighty and impressive. The blows which the old Jewish nation struck on him rebounded on their own heads and ruined them. “Whoso diggeth the pit,” says Solomon, “shall fall therein; and whoso rolleth the stone, it will return on him” (Pro 26:27).
II. IT IS MANIFESTLY JUST. What man thus punished can complain of the righteousness of his sufferings? He must feel, and feel deeply, that he has deserved all and even more than he endures. Indeed, it is true that the punishment of the sinner is self-punishment; it is the fruit of his own doings. Witness Cain, Belshazzar, Judas, etc.
III. IT IS ESSENTIALLY BENEFICENT. It serves:
1. To guard men from the injuries of others.
2. To restrain the angry passions of men.
CONCLUSION. Let us in all our conduct to our fellow men practically recognize the principle that with what measure we mete it shall be measured to us again. “He that rolleth the stone, it shall return upon him.” The stone of revenge and malice which you have rolled at another shall come back upon the head of you that rolled itcome back with a terrible momentum, come back to crush you.D.T.
Zec 12:4-9
A good time for good people.
“In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness,” etc. These words, which are confessedly difficult if not impossible to interpret correctly (for some say they are to be taken literally, others spiritually; some historically, others prophetically), may be fairly used to illustrate a good time for good people. In relation to this good time, I observe
I. IT IS A TIME WHEN THEIR ENEMIES SHALL BE VANQUISHED. “In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and wilt smite every horse of the people with blindness.” Here the overthrow of the enemies of Jerusalem is threatened. “The Lord,” says Keil, “will throw the mind and spirit of the military force of the enemy into such confusion that, instead of injuring Jerusalem and Judah, it will rush forward to its own destruction. Horses and riders individualize the warlike forces of the enemy. The rider, smitten with madness, turns his sword against his own comrades in battle. On the other hand, Jehovah will open his eyes upon Judah for its protection (1Ki 8:29; Neh 1:6; Psa 32:8). This promise is strengthened by the repetition of the punishment to be inflicted upon the enemy. Not only with alarm, but with blindness, will the Lord smite their horses. We have an example of this in 2Ki 6:18, where the Lord smote the enemy with blindness in answer to Elisha’s prayer, i.e. with mental blindness, so that, instead of seizing the prophet, they fell into the hands of Israel. The three plagues, timmahon, shiggaon, and ivvaron, are those with which rebellious Israelites are threatened in Deu 28:28. The house of Judah is the covenant nation, the population of Judah, including the inhabitants of Jerusalem, as we may see from what follows.” Now, whether this conquest refers to the triumphs of the Maccabees, or to some wonderful victories of the Jews in some future times, one thing is clear to us, that the time will come for all good people when their enemies shall be entirely destroyed. To every good man this victory is promised. “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”
II. IT IS A TIME WHEN THEIR POWER SHALL BE AUGMENTED. The power here promised is:
1. The power of unity. “The governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts their God” “Observe here” says Dr. Wardlaw, “the confidence of the leaders in the people. Without the people’s concurrent aid, their counsels and plans and directions could, of course, be of little avail This the rulers should feel, and should exult in seeing what ground they had for full reliance on them in time of pressure and danger, which implies unanimity and intrepid valour, combined with persevering effort, on the part of the inhabitants. This union and valour would be the ‘strength’ of their leaders, without which they must find themselves utterly powerless. A divided, dispirited. heartless, dastardly soldiery or populace, is weakness, disappointment, and discomfiture to the best-conceived plans of the most bold, prudent, and experienced leaders.” All good people over all the earth will one day be thoroughly unitedunited, not in opinion, for this would be, if possible, undesirable; but in devotion to Christ, the common Centre. This union is strength, Divine strength, “strength in the Lord of hosts.” “Strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.”
2. The power of conquest. “In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left;” or, as Dr. Henderson renders it, “In that day will I make the chiefs of Judah like a fire pot among sticks of wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf, and they shall consume all the people around, on the right hand and on the left.” As the fire consumes the wood and the sheaf of straw, so would the men of Jerusalem have power to conquer all the people “round about, on the right hand and on the left.” God invests all good men with power to conquer their spiritual foes; this is the power of faithfaith that overcometh the world. This power, though weak in most, is triumphant in many (see Heb 11:1-40.). It shall be all-conquering one day.
III. IT IS A TIME WHEN THEY SHALL BE SETTLED IN THEIR HOME. “And Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.” Jerusalem, in the first instance, stands for the Jews, and in the second instance for the city or the country. It means, therefore, that in this good timewhether it is past or to comesome, if not all, the Jews that were scattered abroad will return and settle in their own home. The language expresses reoccupancy and permanent possession. Those who returnwhether from Egypt, Babylon, or elsewherewill return and settle down in their old home. A time comes for all good people when they shall settle down in a permanent dwelling place. Here they are “strangers and pilgrims,” and have “no abiding city.” But a glorious country awaits them, an “inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away.”
IV. IT IS A TIME WHEN THEY SHALL BE BLESSED WITH EQUAL PRIVILEGES.
1. They were to have equal honour. “The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah.” Dr. Henderson’s translation expresses this: “And Jehovah shall deliver the tents of Judah first, in order that the splendour of the house of David and the splendour of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not be magnified above Judah.”
2. They were to have equal protection. “In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord Before them. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.” Hero Jerusalem is promised protection against the foe, and “he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David.” “To the Jew, David was the highest type of strength and glory on earth (2Sa 17:8), a man of war (2Sa 18:3); such shall the weakest citizen of Jerusalem become (Joe 3:10).” “And the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them.” “The Divine Angel that went before them through the desert, the highest type of strength and glory in heaven (Exo 23:20; Exo 32:34). The house of David is the prince and his family sprung from David (Eze 45:7, Eze 45:9). David’s house was then in a comparatively weak state.” Now, there is a time coming when all good people shall have distinguished honour and complete protection. They shall settle down in the heavenly Jerusalem; and what a city is that (see Rev 21:1-27)!
CONCLUSION. Though I have not been able to put forth what I feel to be a satisfactory interpretation of these words, or attempted to give to them a spiritual signification, I trust that, in using them as an illustration of the good time coming for the good, I have presented a legitimate and a useful application. A glorious time awaits all good men, in all lands, Churches, nationsa time when they shall be delivered from all evil and be put in permanent possession of all good. Seeing we look for such things, “what manner of persons ought we to Be in all holy conversation and godliness?” etc.D.T.
Zec 12:10-14
Penitential sorrow.
“And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn,” etc. To whatever particular event this passage refers, the subject is obvious and most important, viz. that of penitential sorrow. And five things in connection with it are noteworthy.
I. THE SUBJECTS OF THIS PENITENTIAL SORROW. They are Jews, and not Gentiles. “The house of David, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem”expressions which designate the whole Israelitish people. The Jewish people had often been reduced to this state of sorrow. When in Babylonian captivity they wept when they “remembered Zion.” “The scene,” says Dr. Wardlaw, “depicted bears a very close resemblance to those recorded to have taken place on the restoration from Babylon, when Jehovah, having influenced them individually to return to himself, and to set their faces, with longing desire, to the land of their fathers, inclined their hearts, when thus gathered home, to social and collective acts of humiliation and prayer. The prayers of Ezra and Nehemiah on those occasions might be taken as models, in the ‘spirit and even the matter’ of them, for the supplications of Judah and Israel when brought back from their wider and more lasting dispersions.”
II. THE CAUSE OF THIS PENITENTIAL SORROW. “I will pour.” The Prophet Joel (Joe 2:28) refers to this outpouring of Divine influence. “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh.” All genuine repentance for sin originates with God. He sends down into human souls the spirit of grace and of supplications. The spirit of grace is the spirit that produces in the mind of man the experience of the grace of God; and this experience works repentance and inspires prayer.
III. THE OCCASION OF THIS PENITENTIAL SORROW, “And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced.” “The expression, ‘upon me,'” says Hengstenberg, “is very remarkable. According to verse 1, the Speaker is the Lord, the Creator of heaven stud earth. But it is evident from what follows that we are not to confine our thoughts exclusively to an invisible God who is beyond the reach of suffering, for the same Jehovah presently represents himself as pierced by the Israelites, and afterwards lamented by them with bitter remorse. The enigma is solved by the Old Testament doctrine of the Angel and Revealer of the Most High God, to whom the prophet attributes even the most exalted names of God, on account of his participation in the Divine nature, who is described in ch. 11. as undertaking the office of Shepherd over his people, and who had been recompensed by them with base ingratitude.” “They shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him.” The “me” and the “him” are the same Person, and that Person he who says, in verse 10, “I will pour upon the house of David.” In the first clause he is speaking of himself; in the second clause the prophet is speaking of him. The Messiah was pierced, and pierced by the Jews: “They pierced my hands and my feet.” A believing sight of Christ produces this penitential sorrow.
“Alas! and did my Saviour bleed,
And my Redeemer die?
Did he devote his sacred head
For such a worm as I?”
IV. THE POIGNANCY OF THIS PENITENTIAL SORROW. “And they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” “There are few states of deeper and acuter sorrow than thisthat which is felt by affectionate parents when bereft of those objects of their fondest affections; the one solitary object of their concentrated parental love; or the firstborn and rising support and hope of their household.” As to the poignancy of this grief, it is further said, “In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon,” etc. Perhaps the greatest sorrow ever known amongst the Jews was the sorrow in the valley of Megiddon, occasioned by the death of King Josiah (2Ch 35:24). Jeremiah composed a funeral dirge on the occasion, and other odes and lamentations were composed, and were sung by males and females. But true penitential sorrow is far more poignant than that occasioned by the death of an only son or a noble king. It is tinctured with moral remorse.
V. THE UNIVERSALITY OF THIS POIGNANT SORROW. “And the land shall mourn, every family apart,” etc. All the families of the land shall mourn, and all shall mourn “apart.” Deep sorrow craves loneliness.
CONCLUSION. There is one event in historywhether such an event is referred to here or notthat answers better to the description here of penitential sorrow than any other in the chronicles of the world; it is the Day of Pentecost. Thousands of Jews assembled together on that day from all parts of the known world. Peter preached to the vast assembly and charged them with having crucified the Son of God. The Holy Spirit came down upon the vast congregation, and the result was that, “When they heard this, they were pricked in their heart” (Act 2:37). Far on in the future, it may be, a period will dawn in Jewish history when such penitential sorrow as is here described will be experienced by all the descendants of Abraham.D.T.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Zec 12:1. The burden massa, usually denotes a prophesy of a calamitous kind. But it does not always so; for sometimes it signifies simply a prophesy, or revelation of some matter of importance, as Pro 30:1. Here however it may be fairly taken in the first sense, and rendered a burden; for though the issue be favourable to Israel in the end, yet it is preceded at first by a cup of trembling; and to the enemies of Israel the whole is from beginning to end sufficiently onerous.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
B. THE SECOND BURDEN
Zechariah 12-14.
The fresh title here prefixed sufficiently indicates that a new pericope begins with Zechariah 12. Its leading themes are the victory of Gods kingdom over the heathen world (Zec 12:1-9), the repentance and conversion of the children of the kingdom (Zec 12:10; Zec 13:1), their purification from all ungodliness (Zec 13:2-6), a severe sitting of the flock consequent upon the smiting of the shepherd (Zec 13:7-9), and the final tremendous conflict of the Church and the world, ending in the assured victory of the former (Zechariah 14).
If our view of the First Burden be correct, it would seem to follow that the second begins where the first leaves off, and treats of events to follow the coming and rejection of Christ. There are indeed many particulars which suggest the struggle of the Maccabees as the subject of the former part of the twelfth chapter; but that has already been treated of in the ninth chapter with specific mention of Javan or Greece as the antagonist, and why should we have it renewed here? Why should the Prophet halt in his progress and go back over trodden ground? Moreover, the twelfth chapter expressly speaks in several places of the conflict as carried on not against one nation, but against all the peoples of the earth (see Zec 12:3). There is an aspect of universality of which no sign at all appears in the portion Zec 9:11 to Zec 10:7. It is the heathen world against the covenant people. Where now are we to look for the outward reality corresponding to this inward vision of the Prophet? Manifestly there is nothing in the history of the literal, national Israel which approaches conformity to this vivid outline. Never did they not only resist their foes, but inflict such damage upon them as could be compared to the ravages of fire among wheat sheaves. The covenant people maintained their internal constitution and religious usages until the days of Titus, but in no case did they devour all nations roundabout on the right hand and the left. It only remains then to hold that the Prophet here passes from the old to the new form of the Church, that he refers to the kingdom of God on earth after the appearance of the Messiah, and describes its trials and triumphs, its inward and outward development.
But does he refer to events yet future, or may we trace a fulfillment of his words in the past? The latter seems the more probable. As there was a chronological advance in the previous oracle, it is natural to look for one here, and to consider that the Prophet refers to different stages in the progress of the Christian Israel. In this view the struggle and victory in Zec 12:1-9 can hardly have any other reference than to the persecutions of the heathen world. Judah invaded, Jerusalem besieged by the nations, and yet the attempt at overthrow not only foiled but recoiling in the ruin of those who made it,what else can this be than the fierce and bloody onslaught of pagan power on the infant Church? Or if Zechariah intended to set it forth, in what other way could he in his historical relations conceive the issue and its result than the way in which it is given here? Nor is it of use to object that this is spiritualizing arbitrarily. The Christian Church is the legitimate continuation of the Old Testament Israel. There is but one Israel, one people of God from the beginning to the end. According to the Apostles figure, old branches were broken off and new ones grafted on, but there was only the one olive tree throughout. Gentiles when they come to Christ, are incorporated into the commonwealth of Israel, so as to become fellow citizens with the saints, i. e., those who are already such (Eph 2:12-19). It is one and the same body, differing in outward and unessential characteristics, but maintaining an unbroken identity in all that belongs to substance and life.
1. ISRAELS CONFLICT AND VICTORY.
Zec 12:1-9.
A. Jehovahs continuous Agency in Nature (Zec 12:1). B. Jerusalem ruinous to her Besiegers (Zec 12:2-4). C. Energy of the Chiefs of Judah (Zec 12:5-7). D. Promise of growing Strength to the Feeble (Zec 12:8). E. Final Result (Zec 12:9).
1 The burden of the word of Jehovah upon Israel,
Saith Jehovah who stretches1 forth the heavens,
And lays the foundation of the earth,
And forms the spirit of man within him.
2 Behold I make Jerusalem a bowl2 of reeling
To all the peoples3 round about,
And upon Judah also shall it be4
In the siege against Jerusalem.
3 And it shall be in that day, I will make Jerusalem
A burdensome stone for all peoples,
All who lift it shall tear themselves;
And5 all nations of the earth shall gather against it.
4 In that day, saith Jehovah,
I will smite every horse with terror,6
And his rider with madness,
And upon the house of Judah I will open my eyes,
And every horse of the peoples will I smite with blindness.
5 And the chiefs7 of Judah shall say in their heart,
The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength8
In Jehovah of Hosts, their God.
6 In that day I will make the chiefs of Judah
As a pan9 of fire among sticks of wood,10
And as a torch of lire in a sheaf,
And they shall devour on the right hand and on the left
All the peoples around,
And Jerusalem shall yet sit in her own place in Jerusalem.
7 And Jehovah shall save the tents of Judah first,11
That the glory of the house of David,
And the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem
May not exalt itself over Judah.
8 In that day will Jehovah defend12 the inhabitant of Jerusalem,
And the stumbling13 among them in that day shall be as David, And the house of David as God,14
As the angel of Jehovah before them.
9 And it shall be in that day,
I will seek to destroy all the nations
That come against Jerusalem.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
This chapter begins the second half of the last division of Zechariahs prophecies. It commences with the same word as does the portion chaps, 911 but in a different application. Both utterances are burdens, i. e., threatening predictions. The former sets forth calamity as the portion of Gods enemies, whether within or without the ranks of his covenant people. The latter represents the same as involving temporarily and partially his own chosen followers, but in the end these attain complete deliverance.
Zec 12:1. Burden. See on Zec 9:1. =upon or concerning, not against. The calamity involves Israel, but its full scope takes in the general body of the ungodly. Israel=the covenant nation, either in itself or as found in its true successor, the Christian Church. The Jewish interpreters, say the former, and with them many Christian critics agree (Theodoret, Calvin, a Lapide, Grotius, Vitringa, Bleek, etc.), while an equal number adopt the latter (Jerome, Cyril, Luther, Albertus Magnus, Cocceius, Marckius, Calmet, Hengstenberg). Who stretches forth the heavens, ff. For the purpose of allaying any possible doubt as to the fulfillment of the prophecy, there are added to Jehovahs name several striking expressions of his Almighty power (cf. Isa 42:5; Amo 4:13; Psa 54:24). The Scriptures know nothing of the mechanical view of the universe as something from which God, after having created it, stands altogether aloof. Every day He spreads out the heavens, every day He lays the foundation of the earth, which if it were not upheld by his power would wander from its orbit and fall into ruin (Hengstenberg). The reference to Gods formation of the human spirit is intended to suggest that unrestrained and continuous agency by which He controls the thoughts and purposes of men, and is able therefore to accomplish his own purposes through them, or in spite of them (cf. Num 16:22; Num 27:16; Psa 33:15; Pro 21:1.
Zec 12:2. Behold, I makeround about. A lively exhibition of the failure of the nations in their attack upon Jerusalem. Zechariah employs the figure common in the older Prophets, of representing Jehovahs wrath as a wine-cup which maddens and infatuates nations doomed to ruin. God will administer such a potion as will make them reel and fall in hopeless weakness and misery (cf. Psa 75:9, and Isa 51:17-22; Jer 25:15-17). What elsewhere is = cup, here is =basin or bowl, the latter being used, perhaps, because many were to drink of it at the same time. And upon Judah alsoJerusalem. What is to be upon Judah? And old and wide-spread opinion says that it is a forced participation in the siege of the capital (Targum, Vulgate, Grotius, Marckius, and many later critics); but this is not required by the text, nor consistent with the context, which indicates union rather than opposition between the country and the capital. Others say, the bowl of reeling (Kimchi, Hitzig, Maurer, et al, but this would require the preposition instead of . Khler proposes to supply as the subject, but this is forbidden by the awkward sentence it would make, and by the fact that only a city and not a land can be besieged. It is better to assume as the subject the substance of the previous clause,what takes place at Jerusalem; and the meaning is that the country and the capital shall be involved in the same trial.
Zec 12:3. And it shall bea burdensome stone. The prophet employs another figure borrowed, according to the young men in Palestine de scribed by Jerome as still subsisting in his day. They who, overrating their strength, try to lift a stone too heavy for them, not only fail, but suffer sprains and dislocations. Such a fate will befall the foes of Jerusalem, i. e., all peoples, all the nations of the earth, for so extensive is the combination against the holy city.
Zec 12:4. In that dayblindness. Horses and riders represent the warlike forces of the enemy. The terrifying and blinding of these makes them injurious only to themselves. Upon Judah on the contrary, which stands here for the whole nation, Jehovah says, I will open my eyes, i. e., for protection (Psa 32:8 (Heb.), 1Ki 8:29; Neh 1:6). Cowles justly calls attention to the beautiful antithesis. God smites with blindness the warring powers of his foes, but opens his own eyes wide on his people, to see and provide for their wants. The three plagues mentioned are precisely those with which Moses threatened rebellious Israel in Deu 28:28 : The Lord shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart. A fine historical illustration of the effect of sudden blindness is seen in the history of Elisha (2Ki 6:18).
Zec 12:5. And the chiefs of Judahmy strength. That the leaders find their strength in the inhabitants of Jerusalem can mean only that the holy city, made such by the election of the Most High who dwells there, insures his protection for all who seek Him in the appointed way, and that even the most dignified and powerful have no other resource. A parallel sentiment is found in Psa 87:2 : The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
Zec 12:6. In that dayin a sheaf. In consequence of this trust in the divine election, the leaders consume their foes on every hand as a basin of fire devours faggots, or a torch bums up a ripe sheaf. The resulting preservation of the city is stated in the last clause, in which the first Jerusalem=the population personified as a woman, and the second=the material city as such. For the reverse condition, see Isa 47:1.
Zec 12:7. And Jehovah shall saveJudah. The word tents stands in contrast with fortified cities. These spread over the open country Jehovah will save first, in order that the well-defended capital may not lift itself above the defenseless land; but that both may acknowledge that in either case the victory is the Lords (Jerome).
Zec 12:8. Will Jehovah defendangel of Jehovah. The Lord will exalt his people to a degree of strength and glory far transcending anything in their past experience. This is expressed by saying that even the stumbler, one who can scarce hold himself up, much less attack a foe, shall become a hero like David; and even Davids house shall exceed its highest fame of old, shall become like God, nay, like the angel of Jehovah, that peculiar manifestation of Deity which once marched at the head of the armies of Israel. This very striking and beautiful climax is of itself an answer to those who depreciate the literary merit of Zechariah. But the rhetorical excellence of the passage falls far below its consolatory and stimulating power as a promise. Before them (cf. Exo 32:34; Exo 33:20).
Zec 12:9. I will seek to destroyJerusalem. This does not mean to seek out in order to destroy, but is spoken, more humano, to express the energetic purpose of the speaker
This prophecy is supposed by Vitringa, C. B. Michaelis, Dathe, and others, to refer to the dealings of God with the national Israel in the end of the world, in the last great struggle of ungodliness. It is manifestly easier to interpret the passage in its details upon this literal view of its application And yet there is great improbability in such a view Why should the prophet, after depicting so vividly the rejection of the Good Shepherd, and the consequent overthrow of the flock, pass at once to the final scene; overlooking all the splendid triumphs of the truth during the intervening period? Would we not naturally, from the case itself and from the usage of the other prophets, expect some allusion to the great changes in the development of the kingdom of God, and to its progressive increase among the nations of the earth? Moreover, if the national Israel are hereafter to be restored to then own land and to resume the old relations of capital and country, on what ground can we look for a consentaneous attack of all nations upon this one small people and territory? Can any imagination conceive the recurrence of a general movement, like that of the Crusades, precipitating the men and means of a continent, not to say a world, upon the sacred soil of Palestine? Of course, such a thing is possible, but in view of the vast changes in the current of human thought, in the economy of states and empires, in the ways in which races and dynasties seek to increase or perpetuate their influence, and in the distribution of political and social power, it is the most unlikely of all conceivable events. Were the Jews to day in the possession of the Holy Land, and that whether converted or unconverted, what motive could there be for any existing nation or combination of nations to assail the seed of Abraham with fire and sword? If it be claimed that there will be a revival of the bloody propagandism of infidelity or atheism, as at one period of the French Revolution, why should such an outburst be directed against Jerusalem or Jewish believers rather than against the strongholds of the Gospel found among Gentile believers? Such an attack, if successful, would hardly affect more than an outpost of the Christian Church. The great body of the means and resources of evangelical Christendom would remain unimpaired. It is, therefore, more natural to consider this pericope as a general statement not only of the Christian Israels victory over the first ten persecutions, but of the result of all its conflicts with the worlds power as they are renewed from age to age.
THEOLOGICAL AND MORAL
1. The fundamental thought in the conception of God is that of Power. Alike in the Scriptures and in human experience we begin our view of the Most High with the fact of creation. In looking at the world around us we have an intuitive and irresistible conviction that this visible effect must have had an invisible cause, a cause adequate to its production. The universality of this conviction in all ages and lands,rendered only the more striking by the occasional exceptions which history discloses,entitles us to rest in it with absolute certitude. But the power which created the world t must be unlimited. He who without an effort and by a simple volition called the universe into beings can do all things. To Him great and small, high and low, difficult and easy, are practically the same. All things are possible with God. But if He be infinite in this direction, He must be equally so in. all others. What is there, what can there be, to limit any other aspect of his nature? Boundless power implies necessarily boundless wisdom and boundless goodness. A truncated Deity, perfect on one side, but imperfect on others, is inconceivable by us, or if the vain attempt be made to hold such an inconsequent view, the result is either Dualism or Polytheism.
Hence the perpetual recurrence in the Scriptures to this attribute of Jehovah. It is as necessary to our practice as to our theories. In all the course of the individual believer and of the Church at large, there occur seasons when there is no other support for faith and hope than the divine omnipotence. We must look up to Him who stretcheth abroad the heavens and layeth the foundation of the earth and formeth the spirit of man within him. To feel that all things material and immaterial lie at his control as clay in the hands of the potter is a buttress of the believing soul. It sustains in the darkest hours of trial; it encourages in the endeavor after the most difficult enterprises.
It is a thought which ever makes
Lifes sweetest smiles from tears;
It is a daybreak to our hopes,
A sunset to our fears.
2. It is said that on one occasion when at a conference of Andrew Rivet with the king of France, the latter threatened some severe measures against the cause of truth, the sturdy reformer answered, May it please your Majesty, the Church of God is an anvil which hath broken a great many hammers. It is even so. Zion is a burdensome stone, and always has been, to her assailants. They have harmed not her, but themselves. Pharaoh pursued the children of Israel and caught them entangled in the land, shut in by the wilderness, but when he sought to spring the trap, they escaped in safety, while he and his host sank like lead in the mighty waters. The, Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant, but no defeat was ever so damaging to Dagon or his worshippers as this seeming triumph. Babylon rioted in the plunder of Jerusalem, and the impious king turned the sacred vessels of the sanctuary into the drinking cups of an idolatrous revel, but the fingers of doom wrote upon the wall a sentence which numbered and finished his days the same night. Herod sought to slay the infant Redeemer, but while the child was safe in Egypt, the cruel king perished by a painful and loathsome disease. So in the bloody persecutions which attended the introduction of Christianity, one and another took up the Church as a stone to toss hither and thither, but in vain. The stone was unharmed, but the lifters were torn and lacerated. All were made to feel what the dying Julian uttered in his despair, O Galilean, thou hast conquered! Here, more than anywhere else, is fulfilled the saying of the devout Psalmist, The Lord is known by the judgment which He executeth; the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands (Zec 9:16). Every assault upon Zion recoils upon the heads of its authors, and that not simply by virtue of the elastic nature of right according to which every infliction calls forth a counter infliction; but in consequence of the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God who taketh the wise in their own craftiness. Times without number has his providence justified the earnest counsel which Pilates wife gave to the Roman governor in the great crisis of his life, Have thou nothing to do with that just man.
3. Yet when Zion prevails, over her foes, this result is not owing to any human or inherent strength, but to the presence and power of Jehovah. I make Jerusalem a bowl of reeling; I make her a burdensome stone; I smite every horse with blindness; I make the chiefs of Judah a pan of fire; Jehovah saves, Jehovah defends. Thus, throughout, the stress is laid upon the divine arm. This is the essential factor in the case. On human principles, or according to the ordinary operation of cause and effect, the world would prevail. Often every advantage is on its side; arms, wealth, influence, statecraft, learning, prestige, and numbers. Yet the few, the weak, the unlettered, the lowly, the things that are not, bring to nought the things that are. The reason is that the excellency of the power may be, and may be seen to be, not of man but of God. In all efforts of evangelization this truth is to be distinctly recognized and made prominent. For the Lord will not give his glory to another. The seer said to Asa (2Ch 14:8), Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host, with very many chariots and horsemen? yet because thou didst rely upon the Lord, He delivered them into thy hand.
4. There is something stimulating in the rich promise of growth contained, in Jehovahs assurance to the inhabitants of Jerusalem (Zec 12:8). The stumbler, the man who can scarce hold himself up, much less make an assault upon the foe, shall be made a mighty man of valor like David. His feebleness and incapacity shall merge into the strength and skill of a hero, for the Lord shall teach the hands to war and the fingers to fight. Nor is this the end. Even a great captain like David shall surpass himself, shall reach a superhuman courage and decision. He shall resemble the manifested Jehovah as he marched at the head of his conquering host in the days of old. In the sphere of spiritual things this illustrious promise verifies itself. The righteous shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall wax stronger and stronger. Faith gains by experience. Grace increases by exercise. The sapling which once bent with every blast and had but a precarious chance of life, ripens into a gnarled oak which spreads its branches far and wide and defies the storm. It is literally true that no degree of grace is impossible to him that believeth, for the Apostles declaration, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me, did not apply only to himself. The same provisions and promises are open to all Christians. He who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, perfects his strength in human weakness, and the trembling believer, following on to know the Lord, is lifted to a pitch of devotion or endurance or activity which once seemed as far away as the fixed Stars.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Moore: I will open mine eye, etc. The promise of God is the best protection of his Church in the time of peril. He may seem to forget his people in their trouble, but it will be only a seeming oblivion, for at the proper time He will open his eyes upon them, and show them that He slumbers not nor sleeps. That the glorydo not magnify, etc. The whole plan of Gods dealings with man is to humble that pride, the root of which is selfishness, and the fruit of which is every form of sin.
Pressel: The affliction of the Church serves first for a chastisement of Gods people, but then falls back in terror and shame upon the heads of their foes.
Calvin: Though the Church may be grievously tried and exposed even to death, let us learn from this passage that they are miserable indeed who through fear or cowardice separate themselves I from her, and that they who cast on God the care of their safety, shall be made blessed, though the whole world were mad against them, though the weapons of all nations were prepared for their ruin, and horses and riders assembled to overthrow them, for the defense of God is a sufficient protection.
Footnotes:
[1]Zec 12:1.Who stretches, lays, forms. The substitution of the preterite for the participle by some translators not only is gratuitous and inaccurate, but hides the allusion to the creative power of God as constantly exhibited in the continued existence of his works.
[2]Zec 12:3.. This word Hengstenberg, in the first edition of his Christology (followed by Moore), rendered thresh hold, but in the second, he returns to the old and better version cup or bowl.
[3]Zec 12:2.. Here and in Zec 12:3-4; Zec 12:6, peoples. See on Zec 8:20.
[4]Zec 12:2. The rendering of the second clause in the E. V. is impossible grammatically, and is sustained by no authority that I have seen.
[5]Zec 12:3. It is possible but not necessary to render, as E. V., though all, etc.
[6]Zec 12:4. Astonishment hardly expresses the force of this word, which denotes a sort of wondering consternation.
[7]Zec 12:5. head of a family or tribe, is not well rendered as in E. V., by prince, which necessarily implies something of kingly rank or power. As a title of authority it is elsewhere in Scripture used only of the heads of the Idumean tribes (Gen 36:15; Exo 15:15; 1Ch 1:51 ff.), whence Hengstenberg deduces an ingenious argument in favor of the genuineness of the second part of Zechariah (christology, 4:67), cf. on Zec 9:7.
[8]Zec 12:5. , . = . is the dative of advantage, and the singular is used collectively as in Zec 7:3.
[9]Zec 12:6. usually a basin for washing (the laver of the tabernacle, Exo 30:18), here is a pot or pan for coals.
[10]Zec 12:6. is not woods =forest, but sticks of wood or faggots.
[11]Zec 12:7The reading adopted by LXX, Vulgate, and Peshito, and found in five MSS., is manifestly due to an attempt at correction.
[12]Zec 12:8. used with another preposition in the same sense, in Zec 9:15.
[13]Zec 12:8. feeble (E. V.), is not so expressive as the literal, stumbler; cf. Ps. cv. 37, And not a stumbler in his tribes. (Isa 5:27.)
[14]Zec 12:8. may here be used as an abstract plural, denoting what is divine and heavenly, or in general superhuman (cf. 1Sa 28:13; Ze. Zec 8:6), a view which seems to render more obvious the contrast between the wo latter clauses of the verse. LXX. renders house of God, which Luther follows, and which accounts for the Vulgate, (et domus David quasi Dei.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS.
The Prophet, still prosecuting the same blessed subject, of the auspicious events included in the coming of Christ, prophesieth of many singular blessings to be given to the Lord’s people in that day.
(Zec 12:1 ) THE burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
The Chapter opens with a solemn preface of the Lord’s distinguishing mercy over Israel; and the Lord, in confirming this love and favour to his people, takes to himself his glorious name in creation, and forming the spirit of man within him. There seems to be somewhat particularly striking in this assumption of character by Jehovah, for we find him more than once introducing himself to his Church and people under it. See Isa 45:5 ; Psa 104:1-9 ; Jer 10:12-13 ; Psa 136:5-8 . By the burden of the word of the Lord is not Meant anything oppressive, but on the contrary weighty blessings.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Confirmation
Zec 12:8
There are two great senses in which we may take the verse; both equally true: both very, though not perhaps equally, comforting.
I. ‘He that is feeble among them shall be as David.’ The promise is to you; and so it had need to be. You, in all your infirmity you, so unequally matched with the prince of the power of this world a feeble soldier on one side, on the other, principalities, and powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, spiritual wickedness in high places you, to resemble the most glorious Victor of all? You to be like Him in the time of His greatest victory? Even so: and in one particular of that victory you must more especially resemble Him. How did He conquer? Not with Saul’s armour: not by the outward show of defence and attack; but by the commonest of all weapons, the five smooth stones, and by the sling which he had so often used in the little incidents of his shepherd’s life. So of you: in and by little things you must achieve this conquest; by the ordinary circumstances of your life, for the most part, and not in great and out-of-the-way efforts or trials.
II. ‘He that is feeble among them shall be as David.’ But of that same David I read in another place, ‘David waxed faint’. And it was with no common faintness, no common exhaustion that He Whom we love was faint for our sakes. When the darkness of death was closing over His eyes, and the damp of death was resting upon His forehead, and His tongue had spoken the last words of earthly love, ‘Behold thy Mother!’ David waxed faint with that faintness which needed the three days’ rest in the grave to turn it into everlasting strength. Then the promise is, He that is feeble among you, shall, in that weakness, by that weakness, not in spite of it, but by means of it, be as David. But here we must take in three little words that we have hitherto left out. It is not every weakness that will make us like Him, any more than it is all pain which will make us like Him. We may suffer with the impenitent thief, as well as with Christ: we may be weak like Reuben ‘Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel’ as well as like Christ. So, to look at the text again: ‘He that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David’. What day? When Jerusalem shall be on the one side, and the banded world against it on the other: when there is no thought of peace, no offer of quarter between the clean and the unclean, between the holy and the unholy: when the battle shall be as persevering and lengthened as it is earnest, then, ‘he that is feeble among them shall be as David’. Now, take the condition, and you have the promise. Let your battle be like that of which the Prophet speaks.
J. M. Neale, Occasional Sermons, p. 96.
References. X. 11, 12. J. M. Neale, Sermons on the Prophets, vol. ii. p. 192. X. 12. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxx. No. 1805. XI. 2. P. M’Adam Muir, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxi. 1907, p. 68. XI. 12, 13. W. Hay M. H. Aitken, Mission Sermons (2nd Series), p. 204. XII. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. 1. No. 2901. XII. 1. J. Leckie, Sermons Preached at Ibrox, p. 21. XII. 8. J. M. Neale, Sermons on the Prophets, vol. ii. p. 201.
Contrition
Zec 12:10
We are to offer to God the sacrifice of broken and contrite hearts. Where shall we gain this offering? Here, as ever, this is true: we can only give to God what God first gives to us; and the answer conies in the words of our text. In it there is given to us the revelation of the genesis of contrition. In a day of religious indifference Zechariah is privileged to look upon a vision that kindles hope. He sees the people turning from their sins to God with deep contrition.
I. Contrition must be learned at the foot of the Cross.
Contrition is the breaking of the sinner’s heart in union with the broken heart of Jesus. All contrition flows from the vision of the Crucified. Our Lord’s death upon the cross was the expression of a perfect; contrition. He sorrowed with a perfect sorrow for the sins of men. He condemned those sins with a perfect condemnation. He bowed Himself down under the Father’s hand, and bore the penance of those sins with a perfect conformity of will. His is a meritorious contrition.
II. Whence is it that there is this power in the.’ vision of the Crucified to awaken and develop contrition in the penitent’s heart?
1. There is an assimilating power in the vision of Jesus in His Passion.
2. There is an illuminating power. We see our sin, and we see the love of God, and we see the path of duty.
3. There is an attractive power. Sin loses its attractions.
George Body, The Sermon Year Book, 1891, p. 355.
References. XII. 10. R. A. Suckling, Sermons Plain and Practical, p. 15. J. Henderson, Sermons, p. 240. G. Body, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxvii. 1905, p. 185; see also Church Times, vol. xxix. 1891, p. 240. F. E. Paget, Helps and Hindrances to the Christian Life, vol. i. p. 135. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. x. No. 575; vol. xxiii. No. 1362; vol. xlvi. No. 2683; vol. 1. No. 2901. XII. 10, 11. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxiii. No. 1983. XII. 10-14. Ibid. vol. xli. No. 2431. XII. 10-14; XIII. 1. A. Whyte, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lix. 1901, p. 387. XII. 12-14. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xliii. No. 2510. XIII. 1. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvii. No. 971. XIII. 1, 2. Ibid. vol. xli. No. 2431.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
XXX
THE BOOK OF ZECHARIAH (CONCLUDED)
Zechariah 12-14
This chapter concludes our study of the prophet, Zechariah. This includes the later part of the second division of the prophecy. The last six chapters of Zechariah seem to give a forecast of the history of Israel from the time of the prophet’s writing down to the end of the nation’s history, just as in the book of Revelation we interpret the seven seals, the seven trumpets, etc., as a forecast of the history of the church to the second advent.
We have had the vision of the shepherd who was to feed the flock of slaughter, who found the flock disloyal, unfaithful, and unappreciative, and who broke the staff, dissolving the union between the two, signifying that this office as shepherd was ended; how that a worldly shepherd was appointed over them, and then followed a brief history of the tragedy of Israel’s history, when they smote ther shepherd and put him to death. In this chapter we take up the consummation of it all, the last, final struggle, and the ushering in of the messianic age as found in Zec 14 .
In Zec 12:1-9 we have the salvation of Jerusalem, the spiritual history of the people, their inner life, national and religious, pictured as the life of their capital, Jerusalem. The clue to it we find in the later part of verse I, where he speaks of Jehovah as the One that forms the spirit of man within him, and this section gives the details as to how Jehovah formed the spirit of Israel, the true kernel of the nation, the center of the national life. We have here Jerusalem represented as the center of Israelitish life, the capital of the nation, besieged by all nations, God protecting her against them and making her the “cup of reeling” and the “burdensome stone” and the “pan of fire” unto all the peoples round about. He says, “I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling, or a bowl filled with wine of which the nations shall drink, and it shall make them drunk and they shall reel and stagger.”
That perhaps refers to the commotion that was created among the nations previous to the Maccabean age, and afterward, when all the nations that apparently could come in contact with Judah and Jerusalem seemed to be possessed with a passion to destroy her. The anti-Judaistic feeling, or anti-Semitic feeling, was very prominent through those centuries, and the larger fulfilment of this prophecy is the hate of Judaism which has run through all the centuries since. The Jews have been a cup of reeling to all the peoples that have come in contact with them. He says here, “Upon Judah also shall it be in the siege against Jerusalem.” All is now concerned about Jerusalem and Judah, the tribe in whose territory Jerusalem is situated.
Again he says, “I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples, and all that burden themselves with it shall be sore wounded.” This may refer to the fact that near many cities in the east, it was the custom to have a stone where all the young men could try their strength in lifting it. Or it may refer to a great boulder in the ground to be raised up out of its position and cast away, and as they dig about the stone and lift it up, the only thing they accomplish is to bruise and tear their own hands. The stone is fixed and immovable. The latter is the more probable interpretation. Anyhow, it means that all through the centuries Jerusalem has been a fixed, established fact. God put Jerusalem there and intended that no nation would move the center of his people; that they could not move Jerusalem. They fought round about it and for it and against it for a century or two, but it remained. And he says, “All the nations of the earth shall be gathered together against it.”
Zec 12:4 shows what Jehovah is going to do upon all the enemies that come against Jerusalem: “I will smite every horse with terror, and his rider with madness; and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah.” His eye is upon Judah for a special purpose. Zec 12:5 gives the result: “The chieftains of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in Jehovah of hosts their God.” Jerusalem was in Judah, the capital of Judah, and the chieftains of Judah now wake up to the fact that their strength and stability and hope are centered in Jerusalem, their capital, and when they realize that, they fight bravely for their city, and the result is that all the nations are defeated.
Zec 12:6 says, “I will make the chieftains of Judah like a pan of fire among wood, like a flaming torch among sheaves.” The fulfilment of that may be found in the fact that when the Maccabean heroes rose to fight down Hellenism, thousands of the Jews saw that their national life was at stake if they did not fight for their religion and their country, and rallied around the banner of the Maccabeans, and thus their enemies time and again were overthrown, though there may be a larger fulfilment later on.
In Zec 12:7 he says, “Jehovah also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory . . . of the inhabitants of Jerusalem be not magnified above Judah.” In other words, God was going to so deal with them that the people of Jerusalem would have no occasion to feel that they were above the people of the country. Then those inhabitants of Jerusalem and of Judah shall be revived in their national life and spirit. God will put the spirit of the hero in them. “In that day shall Jehovah defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David,” the hero warrior, who, when a boy faced the lion and the bear, and when but a youth, a giant; “and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of God,” or as a supernatural being, having superhuman powers. That hath a fulfilment in the house of David represented by Jesus Christ, as God or as the angel of God, and his disciples who were as heroic as David. Zec 12:9 refers to the fact that Jehovah has made it hard for all nations that have oppressed the Jews, and in a large measure this has been fulfilled, because those nations have suffered. “In that day” here refers to whatever day was referred to in the several prophecies of the passage, reaching down to the time of Christ and his apostles.
In Zec 12:10-14 we have the conversion of the Jews. This is a remarkable passage, one of the author’s favorite passages, a vision of the conversion of the people of Judah and Jerusalem after this great conflict is over. It is a picture of their spiritual life, the life of the spirit of the nation from its religious standpoint. Now look at the promise: “I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication.” “Grace” refers to those qualities of the spirit that adorn the person when God’s spirit is given. Coupled with that is the spirit of supplication, “And they shall look unto me whom they have pierced.” We have no reference to one pierced by them excepting as suggested in Zec 13:7-9 and that is presupposed in this statement. They had pierced their own shepherd, the representative of God, and now he pictures the time coming when they shall look unto him. God is speaking: “Whom they have pierced,” the one whom they have wounded, the one against whom they had poured out their bitterest hatred. This is going to be a great conversion of the Jewish nation.
This prophecy has a fulfilment in the events of Pentecost and following, but the greatest fulfilment is to follow in the conversion of the Jews as a nation. At that time there will be a bitter mourning, a great mourning; they shall mourn as one mourns for his only son; the Jews could appreciate what that meant better than we can the only one left to bear his name, the only one to keep that name alive in Israel. It shall be as when they mourned for Josiah, who was slain by Pharaohnecoh in the valley of Megiddon when they mourned at Hadadrimmon, a little village just a few miles from the scene of battle. There will be national mourning and a family mourning, for the land shall mourn every family apart. Then he mentions certain families to indicate how completely that is going to be carried out. The family of David, the royal family, then the family of Nathan, one of the sons of David, brother of Solomon, an obscure member of the royal family, which indicates all members of the royal family, the men in one part, the wives in another, men and women separately. The family of the house of Shimei, one of the little or obscure families of the tribe of Levi, to indicate how that every family shall mourn: families mourning, men mourning alone, women mourning alone. This was fulfilled when they looked upon the cross; there many of the people looked upon him whom they pierced, as John says quoting this passage of Zechariah as being literally fulfilled.
It was fulfilled in the larger sense when at Pentecost three thousand men and more, pricked in their hearts, said, “Men and brethren, what shall we do? We have killed our Messiah!” And in a few weeks thousands, more looked unto him whom they had pierced. For decades afterward many more and through the centuries there have been a few. More and more the Jews are coming to this point when they will look unto him whom they pierced, and there is no grief more poignant, more penetrating to the human heart than the grief of a loyal Jew who realizes that his nation killed their Messiah. God will pour out his spirit upon the nation and all the nation shall look unto him whom they have pierced, mourning as for an only son.
In Zec 13:1-6 we have the cleansing of the people as the result of the mourning and supplication above described. The fountain opened for sin and uncleanness was opened for the house of David, the royal family who needed cleansing, needed it as well as the people, showing that he has not in mind the Messiah, for the Messiah did not need cleansing. It is also to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and it is for sin and uncleanness. It is a picture of a fountain flowing to cleanse, something like Ezekiel’s picture where he says, “I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and cleanse you from your sins,” and David’s “Purge me with hissop and I shall be clean.” Upon this passage is based our song: There is a fountain filled with blood, Drawn from Immanuel’s veins, And sinners plunged beneath that flood, Lose all their guilty stains.
That is the fulfilment of it for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Of course it applied to them first, but it is not confined to them in its application. Then he shows how idols, prophets, and unclean spirits shall be cut off: “I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land and they shall no more be remembered.” That was partly true in the refining of Judaism that followed the Maccabean age, but it receives its fulfilment only in Christianity, the daughter of Judaism, for it is only where Christianity goes that the idols are cut off and are not remembered. Not only the idols are cut off, but the unclean spirits pass out of the land. This again has its fulfilment where the gospel goes, for it is only where Christianity flourishes that these unclean spirits are put out.
Then the prophets are to be cut off also. Prophecy is going to be so discredited that there will be no more of it permitted. He says here that when anyone shall prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, “Thou shalt not live”; we are not going to have any preacher in our family, and in order to get him out of the way they thrust him through, saying, “Thou speakest lies in the name of Jehovah.” Now this cannot refer to the true prophet and preacher, but to every kind and species of false prophets.
It refers to all kinds of sorcerers, diviners, especially fakirs. And if there shall be one of those that escape, he shall be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies. They are not going to wear a hairy garment to deceive, trying to make themselves look like Elijah, and make people believe they are real prophets as Elijah was. It will be a good thing when preachers cast off all their ecclesiastical “toggery.” He shall say, “I am no prophet, I am a tiller of the ground; for I have been made a bondman from my youth. And one will say, How do you account for those wounds?” Then he shall answer, “These are the wounds I received in the house of my friends.”
It is difficult to understand exactly the meaning of this passage. Apparently, this is an excuse on the part of the prophet, who has been caught and he seeks to evade the consequences. He was wounded in the house of his friends. They put those marks upon him. So then these constitute no reason for condemning him. That is one idea. A great many apply this to Christ himself. When he shall appear and the Jews, his own people, shall ask him, “Whence those wounds between your hands?” Then he shall say, “These are the wounds I received in the house of my friends,” i.e., among you Jews. That is the larger fulfilment, but the immediate application of it seems to be to the wretched fakers that had no business to preach. There are many of them yet in the East with marks upon their hands to signify their profession.
In Zec 13:7-9 we have the smiting of the Shepherd. This is the climax of the nation’s tragedy. The putting of its shepherd to death. The fulfilment of this is in Jesus Christ who was smitten and his little flock scattered. The larger fulfilment is in the fact that the sheep put to death their Christ, and have been scattered ever since. “Awake, O sword,” says Jehovah, “against my shepherd and against the man that is my fellow.” In Gethsemane we see the application of this. Although his only beloved and only begotten Son prayed until the sweat broke forth from his brow, that the sword might pass, God says, “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow.” The sword must descend, the shepherd must be smitten. It was then that he turned his hand upon “his little ones” the humble and meek, and as a result two parts of the people were to be cut off, two-thirds of the nation destroyed, and it was so in the intervals following Jesus’ death and the destruction of Jerusalem. “And I will bring the third part (and he did bring a great multitude of the Jews) into the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried. They shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people; and they shall say, Jehovah is my God.” The fulfilment of that occurred in the history of the Jews after the crucifixion.
We have the final assault upon and deliverance of Jerusalem in Zec 14:1-8 . This brings us to the last chapter and the consummation, the final act in the great drama as pictured by this prophet, Zechariah: “Behold, a day of Jehovah cometh.” There have been many days of Jehovah, when he smote nations and peoples, when he overturned things upon earth, but there is to come a greater day, a day when Jehovah shall manifest his judgments in power. The first result of this day will be the strange fact that Jerusalem shall be captured. Jerusalem the center, the nation’s very life core shall be captured. “Thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee, and I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; the city shall be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished,” as was customary in the capture and sack of a city. “And half of the city shall go into captivity and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.”
Now, what is going to happen when this terrible fate overtakes the city? “Then shall Jehovah go forth and fight against those nations as when he fought in the day of battle.” Although Jerusalem shall be captured and half her people sold into slavery, yet Jehovah will then appear at the crisis to save the city. “His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives,” which is before Jerusalem on the east and towers between two and three hundred feet higher than Mount Moriah, or Zion, upon which Jerusalem was situated. “And the Mount of Olives shall be cleft in the midst toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley and half of the mountain shall be removed toward the north and half of it toward the south,” that is, there shall be a great supernatural manifestation of God’s power to make a way of escape for the people from their city. This has never been literally fulfilled, and never will be. The idea is that when the crisis comes upon God’s people, he will make a way of escape, and thus he pictures the way of escape as a cleaving of the mount, separating it and opening a valley for the people to flee. “Ye shall flee by the valley of the mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azel.” We don’t know just where Azel was, some little place east of Jerusalem. “And ye shall flee like as ye fled from before the earthquakes in the days of Uzziah king of Judah,” which event Amos refers to and which followed just two years after he began his preaching. “And Jehovah my God will come and all the holy ones with thee,” and that period for a short time shall be a day of gloom. “It shall come to pass in that day that the earth shall not be light; the bright ones, the sun, the moon, and the stars shall withdraw themselves.” “It shall be one day which is known unto Jehovah, not day, not night,” twilight gloom, murk, half-night, and half-day, but it shall come to pass that at eventide as the day draws to an end, a new day will dawn and there will be light at eventide. This prophecy is yet unfulfilled. The time forecast here is the final gathering of the nations against the Jews, gathered back into their land, just before the millennium. This is the great battle of Jehoshaphat in the plain of Esdraelon, where Jehovah intervenes and saves the Jews from a shameful defeat. It is a great spiritual conflict under the symbol of war. Here the veil falls from their eyes and they behold the Christ as their Saviour. The nation is converted, as it were, in a day and the millennium is here ushered in. (See Revelation of “The Interpretation.”)
In Zec 14:9-11 we have the prophetic picture of the kingdom of Jehovah, king over all the earth, which is in exact accordance with the visions drawn by Isaiah, Micah, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah. “Jehovah shall be one and his name one,” that is, there is to be the one God, with one name. “And the land shall be made like the Arabah,” the valley of the Jordan, which was so attractive to Lot that he chose it for his cattle and flocks. The land is going to be made like that valley from Geba, a little place north of Jerusalem, to Rimmon on the south, away down in the land of Simeon, we do not know exactly where. Then he goes on with his description of this city, how it is to be built, its dimensions and its various gates, “And there shall be no more curses but Jerusalem shall dwell safely.” All this will be fulfilled in the millennium.
Next comes the plagues upon her enemies (Zec 14:12-15 ). The nations that war against Jerusalem shall be utterly destroyed; he gives a picture of the plagues that shall fall upon these nations. “Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, their eyes shall consume away in their sockets, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. . . . They shall turn one against another. There shall be a great tumult from Jehovah among them, and they shall lay hold everyone on the hand of his neighbor, and they shall rise up against his neighbor, and Judah shall fight at Jerusalem.” In spite of that, all the wealth of the nations round about shall be gathered together, gold, silver, and apparel in great abundance. Afterward in spite of all the enemies the Jews shall have the wealth, privileges, power, influence of the world. This will be fulfilled in the destruction of the enemies of the Jews before the millennium at which time the Jews will be converted.
The remaining nations shall keep the Feast of Tabernacles at Jerusalem. The remaining nations means those who have not warred against Jerusalem, but have assumed either a friendly or a neutral attitude. This is the millennial age, this is the time pictured by Isaiah and Micah and the others, when all the nations shall be Jews, and they are to come up and worship the King, Jehovah of hosts, and keep the Feast of Tabernacles. Now if this is to be literally fulfilled, then all the nations of the world shall have to become Jews and go up to Jerusalem and keep the Feast of Tabernacles in October. Can we imagine that our Christianity shall have such a setback as that; that we shall all have to revert back to Judaism? This is a picture of the nations converted to the God of Israel expressed in the terms of Judaism. But if any of these nations will not keep the Feast of Tabernacles, they are to have no rain upon them, and Egypt, which is independent of rain because of the overflow of the Nile, is not forgotten by the prophet, but is mentioned as liable to punishment, though he doesn’t say what punishment that is. This is the prophet’s picture of the conversion of the Gentile nations to Judaism, and when we enlarge Judaism into Christianity and picture the conversion of the nations to Christianity, which is the real fulfilment of this, we have the larger fulfilment.
And lastly, Jerusalem shall be holy. “The bells upon the horses shall be holy to Jehovah. And the pots before Jehovah’s house shall be like the bowls before the altar.” All this means there are to be so many people, and they are all to observe the sacrifices and feasts, and they must make every pot in Jerusalem as large as one of those great basins in the Temple. And more than that every one of those pots in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holy unto Jehovah. This is the Judaistic and ceremonial idea of holiness. And they that sacrifice shall come and take of them and boil therein. Ezekiel had kitchens in his picture of the Temple for boiling the sacrifices. Zechariah says that there are going to be great holy pots, and they are, to boil in them. “In that day there shall be no more a Canaanite,” that is, there shall be no more heathen, the foreigner, and unclean person, and unworthy person in Jerusalem and in Judah. “All shall be clean,” which is in exact accordance with Rev 21:27 . where John says. “There shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, or maketh an abomination or a lie.” “Blessed are they that have washed their robes, that they may have the right to come to the tree of life and enter into the gates of the city.” John’s picture is richer and larger and fuller than Zechariah’s but in substance they are the same.
QUESTIONS
1. What is the prophetic picture of Zec 12:1-9 and what is the fulfilment of it?
2. What is meant by the “cup of reeling,” “the burdensome stone, “the pan of fire,” and what is the day referred to in the expression, “in that day”?
3. What is the prophetic picture of Zec 12:10-14 and what is its fulfilment?
4. What illustration in verse 2, and what is the significance of the families mourning apart?
5. What prophetic picture of Zec 13:1-6 and in what does it have fulfilment?
6. What allusion in Zec 13:6 ?
7. What prophecy of Zec 13:7-9 and where do we find its fulfilment?
8. What is the meaning of “little ones” (Zec 13:7 ), “two parts cut off” in Zec 13:8 , and “the third part refined” in Zec 13:9 ?
9. What prophetic picture of Zec 14:1-8 and what is the fulfilment of it?
10. What prophetic picture of Zec 14:9-11 and what is the fulfilment of it?
11. What is pictured in Zec 14:12 and what is the fulfilment of it?
12. What final picture of Zechariah and when will it be realized?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Zec 12:1 The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
Ver. 1. The burden of the word of the Lord ] That is, a declaration of his mind and counsel for Israel’s comfort and his enemies’ confusion. To the Israel of God it is onus sine onere, such a burden as the wings are to the bird, a burdenless burden. To the enemies, a burdensome stone, Zec 12:3 , heavier than the sand of the sea, Job 6:3 .
For Israel
“ Terra pilae similis, nullo fulcimine nixa,
Acre subiecto tam grave pendet onus. ”
(Ovid. Fast. l. 6.)
3. From the goodness of God,
who formeth the spirit of man within him
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Zec 12:1-5
1The burden of the word of the Lord concerning Israel. Thus declares the LORD who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him, 2Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. 3It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it. 4In that day, declares the LORD, I will strike every horse with bewilderment and his rider with madness. But I will watch over the house of Judah, while I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. 5Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, A strong support for us are the inhabitants of Jerusalem through the LORD of hosts, their God.’
Zec 12:1 The burden of the word It seems that Zec 9:1; Zec 12:1 introduce a parallel section in this closing section of the book of Zechariah. See note on burden at Zec 9:1.
concerning Israel This is the only use of Israel in this chapter and it seems to refer to all of the Jewish people, not just the northern tribes (cf. Zec 9:1; Zec 9:13; Zec 11:14). During this period the Jewish people only controlled a small area around Jerusalem.
the LORD who There are three major theological statements about YHWH’s creative activity: (1) He stretches out the heavens; (2) He lays the foundation of the earth; and (3) He forms the spirit of man within him. All of these verbal forms are Qal ACTIVE PARTICIPLES, which emphasize ongoing creation.
stretches out the heavens This means to put up a tent (BDB 639, KB 692, Qal PARTICIPLE, e.g., Gen 33:19; Exo 12:8; Isa 40:22; Isa 42:5; Isa 45:12; Isa 51:13). This refers to the atmosphere above the earth. It was idiomatically spoken of as an inverted bowl of stretched skin.
lays the foundation of the earth This refers to creation (cf. Job 38:4-6; Psa 102:25-26 [Heb 1:10-12]; Psa 104:5; Isa 48:13; Isa 51:13; Isa 51:16). It may be an allusion to Isa 42:5. In Isaiah 12-14 this term (BDB 75-76) is used in several ways.
1. all the earth, Zec 12:1; Zec 12:3; Zec 14:9; Zec 14:17
2. inhabitants of a region, Zec 12:12; Zec 13:8
3. a region, Zec 13:2; Zec 14:10
forms the spirit of man within him The Hebrew term spirit (BDB 924-926) can mean breath, wind, or spirit (see Special Topic: Spirit in the Bible ). In Gen 2:7 God’s breath turned a clay-formed man into a living being (nephesh). The wind of God (cf. Gen 8:1, re-creation after the flood) and the Spirit of God (cf. Gen 1:2, initial creation) are active forces of YHWH Elohim in Genesis. The unseen God is active initially and continually in creation. The physical material aspect of creation is only part of the wonder and scope of God’s creative activities.
God created/creates (first three PARTICIPLES are Qal ACTIVE) for the purpose of fellowship with mankind. We are partially like the animals of this planet (nephesh) and also partially like God (image or likeness, cf. Gen 1:26). The spirit of man means the unique person (cf. Psalms 139) with the potential of rebellion or fellowship.
Zec 12:2 I am going to make Jerusalem a cup It must be seen that this phrase is in the Hebrew parallel relationship with Jerusalem a heavy stone from Zec 12:3. This phrase means that the unbelieving nations who come against God’s people are going to be made drunk and foolish (cf. Jer 51:7) because of their attacking Jerusalem. The idiom of cup (several different words) in the Bible usually refers to judgment (cf. Psa 75:8; Isa 51:17; Isa 51:22; Jer 25:15-16; Jer 25:27-28; Jer 49:12; Mat 20:22; Mat 26:39; Mat 26:42; Luk 22:42; Joh 18:11).
to all the peoples around This refers to the nations which have attacked God’s people (cf. Zec 12:3; Isa 51:22; Jer 25:17; Jer 25:28).
NASBand when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah
NKJVwhen they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem
NRSVit will be against Judah also in the siege against Jerusalem
TEVAnd when they besiege Jerusalem, the cities of the rest of Judah will also be besieged
NJB(That will be at the time of the siege of Jerusalem)
This is a very ambiguous phrase because of the brevity of the Hebrew. There is no consistency in how the ancient versions translate it.
Because of Zec 14:14 some Jewish interpreters see this as Judah being forced to fight against Jerusalem by the invading enemy army (cf. UBS, Handbook, p. 311).
Zec 12:3 all who lift it will be severely injured This seems to be used of a stone which the nations attempted to lift off of its foundation, but all were herniated by the attempt.
This cognate VERB and NOUN (BDB 976, KB 1355, Niphil IMPERFECT) mean to scratch or cut. The pagan nations practiced ritual cutting (cf. Lev 19:28; Lev 21:5), but Israel was forbidden to do this. Now the eschatological judgment on these attacking pagan nations will be cutting or scratching (irony).
and all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it It is a continuing emphasis throughout prophetic literature that the kingdoms of this world will attack God and His people in a future, end-time, climactic battle (cf. Zec 12:3; Psalms 2; Isa 8:9-10; Isa 17:12-14; Ezekiel 38-39; Dan 9:24-27; Dan 11:36-45; Joe 3:9-17; Zec 14:2; Rev 16:14-16; Rev 19:17-19). History is moving toward a climactic moment of confrontation with evil. Evil will lose and be isolated.
Zec 12:4 in that day This is a common theme in the literary unit of Zechariah 12-14. It is used sixteen times and refers to an eschatological future (cf. Zep 1:14-18; Zep 3:16; Amo 5:18-20; Joe 1:15; Joe 2:11; Joe 3:14; Mal 4:5). See Special Topic: That Day .
I will strike every horse with bewilderment, and his rider with madness This is related to the curse of Deu 28:28 (both BDB 1067, bewilderment and BDB 993, madness); also blindness (BDB 234) is used in Deuteronomy 28, 29. The history of God’s OT people can be viewed through the cursing and blessing section of Deuteronomy 27-29.
NASBI will watch over the house of Judah
NKJVI will open My eyes on the house of Judah
NRSVBut on the house of Judah I will keep a watchful eye
TEVI will watch over the people of Judah
NJB(But I shall keep watch over Judah)
The NKJV is the most literal. This is a Hebrew idiom for care and attentiveness (cf. 1Ki 8:29; 2Ch 7:15; Neh 1:6). The question remains if this phrase intends to show that Judah had been forced to join in the attack against Jerusalem and if so that God spared the Judean soldiers when all the rest of the invading army was struck mad.
In the Ancient Near East, cavalry and chariots were the most powerful and feared military weapon, but YHWH will overpower them (cf. Zec 10:5; Zec 12:4; Zec 14:15; Hag 2:22), and remove them, even those of Ephraim and Judah, Zec 9:10. He is the victor!
This intervention by God on behalf of His people is reminiscent of His action during (1) the Exodus; (2) conquest and settlement of Canaan; and (3) the fall of Mesopotamian capitals.
Zec 12:5 A strong support for us are the inhabitants of Jerusalem through. . .their God This phrase is understood in several ways.
1. there was a tension between the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the rest of Judah (cf. Zec 12:7 and New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis, vol. 1, p. 440)
2. Judah was forced to participate in the besieging of Jerusalem (cf. Zec 12:2 c; 4b), but took courage to rebel when they saw the faith of Jerusalem’s defenders (UBS, Handbook)
3. Judah’s leaders recognized YHWH’s help by His defense of Jerusalem
the LORD of hosts This is a common post-exilic title (YHWH Sabaoth), which emphasizes God as military warrior. It seems to see God as the captain of the military army. Zec 12:5 also recognizes the intervention of the supernatural God, which must be linked to Zec 12:7-8. See Special Topic: Lord of Hosts .
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
burden = oracle. Compare Zec 9:1, and the Structure on p. 1280.
the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4.
for = upon: i.e. concerning Israel’s affliction and final deliverance.
saith the LORD = [is] Jehovah’s oracle.
Which stretcheth forth, &c. The omnipotence of Jehovah is the guarantee that His word will be carried out. Compare lsa. Zec 42:5; Zec 44:24; Zec 45:12, Zec 45:18; Zec 48:13.
and layeth, &c. Compare Psa 24:2; Psa 102:25; Psa 104:2-5. Amo 4:8, Amo 4:13 Note the Figure of speech Polysyndeton. App-6.
formeth, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Gen 2:7. Num 16:22). App-92.
spirit. Hebrew. ruach. App-9.
man. Hebrew. adam. App-14.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Chapter 12
Now, we’re out of the fog and into the clear day. Out of the haze and smog. Into the glorious pure age, as this final vision of Zechariah tells us about the glorious new age that God is going to establish, the Kingdom Age upon the earth. Over and over in these last three chapters you are going to be reading the phrase, “In that day,” and that is the preface to the declaration of many of the fascinating aspects of the Kingdom Age, and that great judgment that will immediately precede the Kingdom Age.
So this is the burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundation of the earth, and formed the spirit of man within him ( Zec 12:1 ).
Francis Schaeffer said that it is important that we not just talk about God today, or to just use the term God without defining the term, because the term God represents so many things to so many people. They really don’t know what God you are talking about. So he said when we refer to God, we need to give sort of a defining qualifications. And thus, we should say, “The eternal God, the Creator of the heaven and the earth.” Then they know what God you’re talking about.
Now it is interesting that the Lord doesn’t just say, “The Lord,” but He gives sort of a defining of Himself. “The Lord which stretched forth the heavens and laid the foundation of the earth, and formed the spirit of man within him.” Now I know who you’re talking about. You see. He is the Lord over all. He is the divine Creator. He stretched forth the heavens. He created the earth. He created the capacity in man to know God and to fellowship with Him. Thus, the Lord identifying Himself declares,
Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it ( Zec 12:2-3 ).
I would like to suggest to you that this condition is existing today in Israel. Number one, Israel as a nation is a burdensome stone to all the nations around it. They are totally surrounded by antagonistic forces. There has been a peace treaty made with Egypt, but it is extremely tenuous. But when Israel became a nation, the day they became a nation, she was immediately attacked by Syria, by Jordan, and by Egypt, who grabbed off great chunks of territory. When Israel was declared a nation, a state, by the U.N. resolution.
Since that time, in subsequent wars, when the little nation of Israel was surrounded by enemies of vastly numerically superior forces, Israel came forth from these skirmishes, looking almost invincible. In 1967 when Israel took on both Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, they were able to push Egypt clear back to the Suez Canal. They were able to take the entire Golan Heights. They were able to take from Syria and the entire West Bank from Jordan in just six days of fighting. Jerusalem was a cup of trembling to all the people round about her. Those who were in siege against Jerusalem and Judah, Jerusalem became a burdensome stone. Those that burdened themselves with them were cut off, cut in pieces.
These victories were the result of God working with them. Now, the Jews did not recognize that after 1967. But they developed through the victories of 1967 a very cocky attitude. More or less a attitude of, “We are invincible.” If you would tour the land, they were very proud to tell you of their brilliant military strategies of their battles, and of their fighting powers and what they had done. Any suggestion that God maybe helped them was sort of scoffed at. And yet, who can deny the hand of God? In taking, say, the Golan Heights. For when they were pressing for a cease-fire, and the tide of battle… of course, they had already taken the Sinai clear down to the Suez, and they were moving their sources. And they had taken the West Bank, and they were now moving to Syria, because they wanted to now capture the Golan Heights to get the advantage of the upper positions, military position. So though there was a big cry for a cease-fire, they knew that they were going to establish the lines of the cease-fire at the… you know, the border would be established at the time the cease-fire went into effect. So they were stalling for the cease-fire. Because they were wanting to get as much as the Golan Heights as they could. But Syria, beginning to realize that the tide of battle was going against them, was pressing and urging the world for an immediate kind of a cease-fire. And in order to press, impress the world, Damascus radio began to broadcast that the Israeli troops are fighting in the streets of Damascus. All of the commanders out in the Golan Heights listening faithfully to their Damascus radio heard all of these propaganda lies all over the radio in Damascus that Israel had moved to Damascus and was fighting in the streets of Damascus, though that was not the case. But yet, for propaganda purposes, the Damascus radio was publicizing this and broadcasting this. The tank commanders and all began to leave their tanks, and the Israeli planes, the observers saw all of these troops fleeing towards Jordan. Left all their tanks and everything in place, and they were all fleeing toward Jordan because they’d been listening to Damascus radio, that Damascus was falling. They thought, “Oh, man. We’ve been cut off; we’ve had it.” So they just left, and they were all fleeing to Jordan. So the planes reported that, “Hey, the guys are fleeing.” So that’s why Israel stalled the cease-fire for one more day, and they were able to take over a thousand square miles of the Golan Heights in just one day. Because Syria abandoned it, and so they sent in their paratroopers to the lines that they wanted, and they took it. The cease-fire was claimed, and they had all of this territory as far out as the paratroopers had gone.
Now you read in the Old Testament how the Lord had brought confusion upon their enemies. You say, “Well, that’s the God of the Old Testament.” Hey, it’s happening today. It happened in 1967.
In 1973 war was a little different. Vastly different, in fact. The Arabs were better equipped and better trained. Russia had sent thousands of officers and millions of dollars worth of equipment, armament and all to Syria, to Egypt, and trained them for the battle of annihilation. Russia was directing the 1973 war against Israel, attacking on Yom Kippur. They had dramatic initial successes. They almost, almost destroyed Israel in 1973. There were a few days there where the fate of the nation was just in delicate balance. Israel received some initial setbacks, severe setbacks. Along the Suez Canal they had established these concrete bunkers, and the Bar Lev line which was considered to be impregnable, much like the Maginot line in France that the German panzers overran in World War II. It was supposed to be a strong bulwark of defense, and surely they’ll not be able to conquer the Bar Lev line, but they did.
Up in the Golan Heights, the Syrians had some initial advantages and breakthrough, and they came within one mile of the Golani headquarters. After 1973 the attitude of the Jewish people changed dramatically. They no longer felt invincible. They realized that they were almost destroyed. They realized that their nation, their dreams had almost come to an end. After 1973 there was a much more subdued attitude among the people. We noticed a dramatic change in people that we knew that we had talked to before the 1973 war, and then talked to after the 1973 war. Suddenly this whole feeling of invincibility was gone, and they were afraid. Yet, how God did protect them, and how God did give them victory in 1973.
Now it is interesting to me and significant that the Lord here declares, “Though all of the people of the earth be gathered together against it.” Have you heard the U.N. resolutions in the last few years? How that the whole world stands in a resolution to condemn Israel. Even the United States has been voting in some of these resolutions against Israel, condemning them for certain actions, for establishing settlements in the West Bank, for attacking the nuclear reactor in Iraq, and things of this nature. “Though the whole world be gathered together against it.” Really, Israel almost stands alone against the world.
The United States, from the time of President Truman, well, even before, has been a staunch ally of Israel. But after the 1973 war, the Arabs found a new weapon, and that was the oil. They began to use it as a political tool for blackmail. They began to influence the foreign policy of the United States dramatically with the threat of an oil boycott. They gave us a sample of what it would be like in 1973 after the war. When we were waiting in the long lines at the gasoline pumps, and they demonstrated to us the power that they had with their oil to bring us to a grinding halt. Since that demonstration, they have been using their oil, raising the prices constantly creating this worldwide inflation and economic woe, and causing us to dramatically alter our relationship with Israel, with the threat that if we support Israel, then they will cut off our oil supplies. We know that the threat is legitimate. We know that if they should cut off the oil supply, it does mean war. Because to survive, we will have to send our forces into the Middle East to take the oil and to force the supply to continue to come.
So the whole thing has changed, and thus, the United States has even moved so many times of late in the world opinion against Israel. So the prophecy is fulfilled, “Though the whole world be gathered together against them.” In much of our policy towards Israel we have had to alter the policy, not from our conscience, what we feel is right, but what we are being pressured to do because of the necessity of continued oil supply out of the Middle East.
Now in that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open my eyes upon the house of Judah, and I will smite every horse of the people with blindness. And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength and the LORD of hosts their God. In that day will I make the governors of Judah like a hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem ( Zec 12:4-6 ).
In 1967 that came to pass. Jerusalem was inhabited again in her own place. Jerusalem came again under the authority of the nation of Israel. No longer a divided city, no longer half under the control of the Jordanian government, and half under Israel, but Israel was united and inhabited. And of course, they have since then just expanded the borders and the boundaries of Jerusalem. Even now you go out towards Jericho, after you get past Bethany, and ten miles down the road towards Jericho a huge, vast new housing settlement, part of Jerusalem, and the city of Jerusalem now. Part of it. And they have established over towards Bethlehem all in the territory of what is known as the West Bank. Huge, vast new apartment complexes and industries and all, as they are expanding their hold upon that land. It’s all a fulfillment of prophecy.
Now it’s hard to… many times when you talk about these things, there are times, unfortunately, that people of Arab extraction feel, “Oh, you’re anti-Arab?” No, you’re just pro-Bible. You’re just saying what the Bible says is going to be. Because I get excited when the Bible is coming to pass doesn’t mean that I hate all Arabs, or I am against Jordan, or I’m against any group of people. It just means that I get excited when I see scripture being fulfilled. It doesn’t mean that I am justifying Israel in all that she does. I’m just saying that what God said was going to be is happening. I just find that very exciting and fascinating.
The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah first, and the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah. In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, and as the angel of the LORD before them ( Zec 12:7-8 ).
So, again, he speaks of the power that God would give to them as a fighting force. The least of them would be as David. Now David was almost invincible conquering over his enemies. The least of them as David. And the house of David will be as God, and the angel of the Lord will be going before them.
In Deuteronomy, prophesying of this same time, it said, “And one shall put a hundred to flight. And ten shall put a thousand to flight.” There’s a very interesting book by Chaim Herzog called “The War of Atonement.” There’s another author Lance Lambert who has written a fascinating book on the Yom Kippur war. I forget; he’s written the book it’s published in England under one title, and the United States under another title, and I forget the titles of either, but Lance Lambert. But Chaim Herzog, this book “The War of Atonement” goes into great detail concerning many of the battles during this 1973 Yom Kippur war. He tells how that the Syrian armored division had come within one mile of the Golani headquarters, and suddenly stopped their advance. He relates how that when they stopped one mile from the Golani headquarters, there was only one operational tank to defend the Golan Heights against the Syrian advance.
A young twenty-seven year old lieutenant, who, when he heard that the Syrians had attacked, hitchhiked up to the Golani headquarters. He went in and he reported to the C.O. and he said, “I am a tank commander, and if you’ll give me some tanks,” he said, “I’ll go out and see what I can do against this Syrian armor brigade.” The C.O. said, “I only have one tank that’s operational. If you’ll wait for an hour, we ought to be able to get two others ready to go.” Zvika helped them to take some of the dead bodies out of the other tanks; they loaded them with fuel, and loaded them with armament. He started out with three tanks, and just about a half mile from the Golani headquarters as they came around the bend, here they saw this whole armored Syrian brigade of about a hundred tanks, thirty personal carriers, and here’s Zvika with three tanks. He began to fire, exploding some of the Syrian tanks. He was ordering the tanks on either side which ones to fire at. He was on his headphones and he was directing the battle, and pretty soon he noticed that he wasn’t getting much support on either side. So he popped the hatch and looked, and found out that both the tanks that he had had were wiped out, that is, on his flanks. And he was left alone against this whole Syrian armored brigade. So he thought, “This is no place for me.” He headed up over the top of the hill.
Now along the tap line route up there in the upper Golan are all these little hills, just rolling hills, and on the other side, sort of a valley. So Zvika began to race his tank up and down on the other side of these hills. He’d come over the top, pick off a Syrian tank, back down, and then race up to another hill, come over the top, pick off another tank, back down. He was racing back and forth behind these hills that go along the tap line, picking off one tank after another, reporting back on his radio, “Zvika’s brigade just got another Syrian tank! It’s up in flames!”
Back in the Golan headquarters, they were listening to these radio transmissions from Zvika out there, and they thought, “Man, he’s got a whole brigade of tanks going out there.” They didn’t know that he was all alone.
Finally, the Syrians figured he must have had a whole brigade too, because he kept coming over different hills, and they began to retreat. One put a hundred to flight! The least of them was like David. There are stories after stories of things like this that took place. One man in a gun position near Kanitra was accredited with over a hundred Syrian tanks from his stationary position. He held off the whole brigade up in this one section of the Golan near Kanitra.
I went out in the field and I climbed up in these T-62 tanks that scattered all over the field. And the interesting thing to me, right in the center of the armor plate on each of these tanks were these melted metal, the holes that were made by these heat type of projectiles that when they first hit, they just have such tremendous heat they melt the metal, and then they have the second impact that goes inside. They were so powerful they would pop the turrets, and the turrets would be sitting topsy-turvy. Inside the tanks you’d see the uniforms and the helmets, and the glasses and everything else. The guys were just… but this guy, I mean, he was hitting bull’s-eyes in every shot. I mean, he wasn’t just coming in. I mean, he was hitting dead center on every shot. It’s absolutely uncanny to go through that field of tanks out there, and to see these bull’s-eyes on every shot. He accounted for some 114 tanks. “I will make the least of them like David, and the house of David like God, and the angel of the Lord before them.” Such was the case in 1973 and in 1967.
Such may be the case very soon once again. Israel has a master troops on the Lebanese border. General Itan has warned the PLO that they are ready to strike. Any provocation and they’re gonna move in. Of course, there’s high tension right now as these Israeli troops are in readiness up in the area of Metulla. I told you this a few weeks ago that this was what they were planning. One division is gonna move up into the Elah Valley to wipe out those san missile sites; the other one is gonna go over to the coast to trap all of the PLO that are in the area of Tyre and Sidon and in southern Lebanon there. They’re planning to drive the PLO out of Lebanon. They’re planning to drive the PLO on over to Jordan. They are planning, actually, to drive both the Syrians and the PLO out of Lebanon, and then they’re gonna turn Lebanon over to the Lebanese people. They’re gonna say to the Lebanese leaders, “Here is your nation. You’re now free of the PLO. You’re now free of the Syrians. Let’s shake hands and let’s be friends. We’re giving you your nation back to you again.” That’s their plan. Then they plan to make Jordan a Palestinian state and usher over to Jordan all of those Palestinians over in the West Bank who want their own state. Say, “You want it? You can have it. Go over to Jordan and get it.” They plan to then annex the West Bank as they did the Golan Heights, and that will comprise the nation of Israel today. If Egypt doesn’t like it, they’ll take the Sinai back again.
The Lord declares,
And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour out upon the house of David ( Zec 12:9-10 ),
Now this is going just a little further in the future.
I will pour out upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one that mourns for his only son, and it shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn ( Zec 12:10 ).
So God is gonna pour out His Spirit upon the nation Israel. When is that gonna happen? In Ezekiel chapter 39 it tells us it’s gonna happen when God destroys the invading Russian army.
Now I believe, I believe that when Israel moves against Lebanon and drives the Syrians out of Lebanon, that it will bring a full-scale war between Syria and Israel. I believe that a full-scale war between Israel and Syria will bring the involvement of Russia into the Middle East. That Russia will take that as their time to move into the Middle East, and that your whole scenario set for you in Eze 38:1-23 will be fulfilled at that time. Of course, the interesting thing is that at that time could be very soon as the troops are now amassed. It is not at all impossible that this could happen within the next month or so. That’s the thing that just sort of causes you to catch your breath and look at your priorities again. The very fact that the Israeli troops are massed now, they’re on the border, they’ve called up two reserve units. They’re poised ready to strike at the first provocation. They’ve more or less said, “Knock the chip off the shoulder. I dare you.” I mean they’re ready. It could, it could conceivably all come down, that which the Bible has predicted. For when Russia moves in and God destroys Russia, then the Lord said, “I will pour My Spirit out again upon Israel.”
Now here Zechariah tells of the pouring out of the Spirit. Joel tells us of the pouring out of the Spirit. “And I will pour out upon the house of David, the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit, the spirit of grace and supplications.”
Now notice that when God pours out His Spirit, the witness of the Spirit is always of the crucified Lord. “They shall look on Him whom they have pierced.” Jesus said, “And when the Spirit is come, He will testify of Me.” He’s not gonna testify of Himself. But, “He will testify of Me.” It is the Spirit of God that is constantly pointing people to the cross as their only hope of salvation. The work of the Spirit in your heart is to bring you to the cross of Jesus Christ, to point you to the cross. “And they will look on Him whom they have pierced.” In looking at the cross, the Spirit then brings us to repentance, and the mourning for our sins. They shall mourn as for an only son, the firstborn who had been killed, or who had been slain. The great mourning and grieving when the nation Israel realizes that they have rejected the Messiah. When God by His Spirit, opens their eyes to the truth and they realize, “We missed the real Messiah.” That mourning, that grieving that will take place within their hearts. For God by His Spirit will open their eyes, and suddenly they will realize the blunder of crucifying the Lord of glory.
So in that day there will be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon ( Zec 12:11 ).
This was when Josiah the king, beautiful popular king, and a very successful king, when he was killed by the Pharaoh Necho in the battle up in Megiddo. There was a tremendous mourning of the people because he was such a popular and successful king. So there will be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning that took place when Josiah was killed by the Pharaoh Necho there in the battle near Megiddo.
And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan, and their wives; And the house of Levi; and the family of Shimei apart, and their wives; And the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart ( Zec 12:12-14 ).
Now this is interesting to me, the family of David. Did you know that there are people today, Jews who are descendants of David living here on the earth? Now they don’t know who they are. They don’t know that they have descended from David, because the genealogical records have all been lost, or they’re no longer kept. It wasn’t necessary to keep them after Jesus was born, because once Jesus was proved to be from the line of David, that’s all that was necessary. But there are Jews today who actually have descended. Now, God knows who they are. “In the house of David apart, in the house of Nathan.” There are descendants of Nathan the prophet who came to David.” There are descendants from this guy Shimei, who when Absalom drove David out of Jerusalem was throwing rocks at David, and throwing dust in the air, and giving David a bad time. There are some of his descendants alive today, throwing rocks and giving people bad times. They put blockades up there in Jerusalem, and they have these piles of rocks on the Sabbath day. If you dare to drive by, they’ll throw rocks at you. “
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Zec 12:1-4. The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. In that day saith the LORD; I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness; and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.
When God comes to defend his own, then, however despised the people may be, however despised Israel may be, God will make it to be a cup of trembling to them. He will make it to be a burdensome stone which they cannot endure, and they will be glad to be rid of it. I remember a story in one of the legends of the old saints concerning a holy woman who was taken away from her place of retreat by the ungodly, with a view of forcing her into sin. The legend runs that as they carried her, she was quite unable to resist their power, but she became heavier and heavier, so that they could not carry her and were obliged to set her down and then she went back to where she was; and I believe that the legend pictorially sets forth what happens when a true child of God is carried captive by temptation and sin. Bye-and-bye, God comes and makes them to be a burdensome stone, and they are obliged to lay them down.
This exposition consisted of readings from Zec 11:4-17; Zec 12:1-4.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
Zec 12:1-2
THE BURDEN OF THE LORD . . . Zec 12:1-2
The lengthy section (chapters 12, 13, 14) in which the term in that day is used repeatedly, is introduced as the burden of the word of Jehovah concerning Israel. Israel as we have seen, is in the minor prophets a term designating the covenant people. The time would come (Zec 11:10) when the relationship would be broken off with the Jewish race, but as Zechariah wrote this had not yet occurred. What he is about to write has to do with the fulfillment of Gods covenant purpose.
Jehovah is here referred to as the creator of the heavens, the earth, and the spirit of man. These are words calculated to remind the prophets readers that the purpose which is to be fulfilled is the eternal purpose in the mind of God before creation. It is the reason man was created. It is the reason the covenant was established and a covenant people developed. It is the purpose behind all Gods activity in history, both of the Jews and of the nations of the earth. This purpose is the reason God will bring to pass those things which Zechariah is about to describe.
The purpose is stated many times in many ways throughout the Bible, but never more succinctly than the Pauline statement of Eph 1:3-10. There the apostle informs us that, before the foundation of the earth. God chose in Christ to have a people holy and pure and adopted to Himself as children. That purpose and its accomplishment in Christ is the meaning of the entire Bible.
The days referred to by in that day in these chapters are two different periods. The first is addressed to Israel, the covenant people (Zec 12:1) and has to do with the first coming of the Messiah who will be looked upon as pierced (Zec 12:10). The second period referred to by in that day is designated by Behold, a yom YHWH (day of Jehovah) cometh (Zec 14:1). It has to do with the final consummation and the second coming of the Messiah.
Zerr: Zec 12:1. God never forgot, the treatment the Babylonians and other heathen people accorded His nation in the past, and now he has a burden or weighty prediction to make concerning it. His ability and right to do so is assured by the truth that He is the same One who created the heavens and the earth. He not only could create inanimate things like that, but was able to bring into being the living creatures like man. His eternal power was not limited to the creation of a being with life to be called man, but within that creature already endowed with a living soul (Gen 2:7), He was able to form a spirit thus elevating him above the rank of a living creature and causing him to be a human living creature possessing three parts according to 1Th 5:23. Surely, then, such a Creator can do what His will dictates on behalf of His own nation that had been formed for His glory among the people of the earth. Trembling in Zec 12:2 is from RAAT, and Strong’s definition is, A reeling from intoxication.” “When they shall be in the siege is said reflectively. The verse means that the Lord remembered how they treated Judah and Jerusalem and was determined to avenge them. It was going to be done by enabling His people to force the heathen to drink from a cup that would send them forth staggering like a drunken man.
Questions
In the First Day
1. The future glory of the restored Jewish nation was delayed by their _________________.
2. The key to the final chapters of Zechariah is found in the phrase _________________.
3. This term describes two days which from Zechariahs point of view were both in _________________.
4. The first of these days describes _________________.
5. The second day describes _________________.
6. Review the four characteristics of the day of Jehovah. (See introduction of Zechariah.)
7. Zechariahs first use of in the day (Zec 3:8-10) refers to _________________.
8. What is the significance of the term Israel in Zec 12:1?
9. Why does Zechariah here refer to Jehovah as the creator of the heavens and the earth and the spirit of man?
10. The first period referred to by in that day is addressed to and has to do with _________________.
11. The second period referred to as in that day has to do with _________________.
12. Several things are said to be going to happen in the Messianic age. Each is introduced by in that day. They are:
a. In that day (1)
b. In that day (2)
c. In that day (3)
d. In that day (4)
e. In that day (5)
f. In that day (6)
g. In that day (7)
h. In that day (8)
i. In that day (9)
13. Israel at the time of Zechariah could be none other than _________________.
14. What of Jerusalem in the time of Messiahs first coming?
15. What was to be the relationship of the Jews to all nations during the Messianic age?
16. Historically the military action against which the Jews were least effective was the _________________.
17. What is meant by Jehovah smiting the peoples and horses with blindness?
18. Who are they of Jerusalem? (Zec 12:1)
19. How does Zec 12:10 fix this section as being fulfilled in the Messianic age?
20. Compare Zec 12:10-14 with Joh 19:34-37.
21. What is the condition upon which Jews may again become part of Gods true Israel? (cf. Rom 11:17-24)
22. Conversion is always an _________________ experience.
23. How was the mourning over Him who they had pierced fulfilled on Pentecost?
24. Who are all the families that remain?
25. In connection with the mourning over Him whom they pierced a ___________ was to be opened for ____________ and _____________.
26. The _________________ opened the fountain.
27. _________________ relates the fountain to sin.
28. _________________ relates the fountain to moral impurity or _________________.
29. _________________ is frequently associated with uncleanness.
30. The _________________ is generally credited with ministering the coup de grace to classic idolatry.
31. What prophecy is condemned during the Messianic age?
32. How does Zec 13:6 relate to Him whom they pierced?
33. What is meant by the wounds between thine arms?
34. Discuss Zechariah) Zec 12:7 in light of Act 2:23.
35. What nation is symbolized historically by the sword?
36. Jesus could be legally executed by _________________.
37. Compare Zec 13:7 to Mat 26:31 and Mar 14:27.
38. Following the death of Jesus the number of His followers was about _________________.
39. Compare Zec 13:9 and 1Pe 1:6-7.
40. To those who endured persecution, Jehovah gives _________________ and _________________ they acknowledge. Both are _________________.
41. The _____________ is Gods new Israel.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
The second message has to do with things wholly future. The King spoke of in the previous message, whose rejection was there foretold, is now seen coming into His kingdom. This the prophet described in two movements, which are complementary.
In the first he looked at the opposing nations as they will be dealt with in judgment, and at the Israel of God, as she will be restored through the acknowledgment of her true, though rejected, King, and by her own spiritual cleansing.
In the second movement he viewed the same events from the standpoint of the King, beginning with His rejection, and then describing His Coming, day, process, and administration.
The final victories of the King over the nations and the saving of the people of God are described. By the strength of Jehovah operating through His people the strength of the nations is discomfited, and perfect victory is assured. This victory over the nations will issue in the restoration of the spiritual Israel to supremacy under the government of One whom they had pierced.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
Jerusalems Day of Mourning
Zec 12:1-14
This vision refers to a time yet future, when the Jews shall have returned to their own land, but still in unbelief; and will be assailed by their foes, though in vain, Zec 12:2-3; Zec 12:6. The Lord will defend them, Zec 12:7-8. Then the nation will mourn. Their repentance will be universal, from the highest to the lowest; lonely, and on account of the sufferings they inflicted on Jesus. The Agent of this mourning will be the Holy Spirit; and it will eventuate in the full forgiveness of sin through the blood of atonement and an entire cleansing from idols.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Chapter 12
The True Day Of Atonement For Judah
The last three chapters relate almost entirely to the period denominated the great tribulation, or the time of Jacobs trouble, with the establishment of the kingdom following. To that short but solemn season our attention has already been directed in what we have been noticing as to the Antichrist. It is the moral result of the rejection of the Lord Jesus, and will be the final governmental display of Jehovahs wrath because of that colossal error on Judahs part.
He speaks of Himself in the first verse as the One which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
This latter clause deserves our careful attention. God forms mans spirit within him. The spirit then is an entity existing distinct from the body. It is not to be confounded with the breath, nor is it merely the same as the mind. Mind is one of the functions of the spirit, for it is the seat of the intelligence. What man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God (1Co 2:11). It is impossible logically to deny the personality of mans spirit and not likewise deny the personality of the Spirit of God. The spirit is the real man, who inhabits the body during life, and at death puts off the tabernacle of flesh and goes out unclothed into the unseen world, called by the Jews Sheol, by the Greeks Hades. This is not the grave, but the condition of departed spirits, whether saved or lost. The spirit of the believer is absent from the body and present with the Lord. That of the unsaved is in torment, but awaiting the final judgment, when death and Hades will be emptied into the lake of fire (Rev 20:15).
Sadducees of every stripe deny the true personality of the spirit, as an unseen something formed within the man our eyes behold. God links this special creation with that of the heavens and the earth. Thus saith God the Lord, He that created the heavens, and stretched them out; He that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; He that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein (Isa 42:5). Here breath and spirit are clearly distinguished. The one is fleeting, the other exists forever. True, it is but incidentally, as we would say, this statement as to the spirit of man is here introduced; but it is all-important nevertheless, and a distinct guard against Sadduceeism, if carefully considered.
In verse 2 Jerusalem, the centre of all Gods ways as to the earth, is introduced, and a siege spoken of, which is evidently that of the last days. Jerusalem is then to be a cup of trembling, or reeling-that is, an intoxicating draught-unto all nations. Possessed with an almost insane desire to control the ancient city which is recognized by all as the key of the East, they will make desperate attempts to obtain suzerainty over it. But it shall prove to be then, as it has been down through the centuries, a burdensome stone. Every nation burdening itself with it shall be destroyed, even though a coalition were effected for this purpose between all the people of the prophetic earth (ver. 3).
There will be a number of powers, however, each acting for itself, in the time of the tribulation. The Roman empire will be revived in the form of ten kingdoms voluntarily associated together, and giving their support to that impious character denominated the Beast in the first part of Rev. 13, whose seat will be in Rome, proudly called the Eternal City. In Jerusalem itself the Antichrist will reign, having made a league, offensive and defensive, with the Beast. He is the second Beast of Rev. 13, who simulates the Lamb of God, but whose dragonic speech betrays his real character.
Against him, as prophesied in Dan. 11, two rival powers will set themselves, endeavoring to obtain Jerusalem and destroy him and each other, namely, the kings of the north and of the south. That is, an Egyptian power will attain some prominence and aspire to Palestine in that time of trouble, but will be opposed by a northern power inhabiting the territory now called Turkey in Asia. This is identical with the Assyrian so frequently mentioned.
Farther north will be the great empire of Gog, the last enemy to come against Jerusalem, which is undoubtedly Russia, ever the inveterate enemy of the Jews, and grasping eagerly after their land. The end of this power is foretold in Ezek. 38 and 39.
Another confederacy is mentioned in Revelation as the kings of the east, or, the sun-rising; but it would seem as though the hordes of these nations barely reach the land ere the judgment falls. It is significant that Japan is called the kingdom of the rising sun. Who can say that the German emperors fear of the yellow peril is not based on something more substantial than a political nightmare?
In the time of the end, mighty armies will be gathered from all quarters against Jerusalem just before the appearing of Messiah in glory. They will clash together in the great battle of Armageddon, long since predicted by the prophets, and briefly depicted in verses 4 and 5, but more fully described in chapter 14 and in Rev. 19.
Following upon the utter discomfiture of all Israels foes, government will be established firmly in Judah, and Jerusalem shall be rebuilt in unequaled splendor, and inhabited by a redeemed and happy people (ver. 6).
The ten tribes will be regathered after the kingdom is set up. The tents of Judah are to be saved first, then the house of David distinguished from them, and one taken therefrom, who shall act as prince-regent on earth for the true Son of David who will reign from heaven. Afterwards, as we learn from various scriptures, the ten tribes will ask the way to Zion, and will return from all the countries whither they have been driven.
Thus will that ideal state have been reached, so long anticipated by inspired seers, when the Lord Himself shall be the defence of His people, and the weakest among them shall be as David, the heroic defender of the liberties of Israel, whose house shall be in direct communication with heaven, thus establishing a pure theocracy on earth, when every enemy shall be destroyed and peace and good will everywhere prevail (vers. 7, 8).
All this the chosen people might long since have been in the enjoyment of, had they but obeyed the Spirits call to repentance as given in the 2d of Acts. It was a summons to self-judgment and humiliation in Jehovahs presence because of their national crime, the crucifixion of the Messiah. All their blessings wait for this, which will mark their entering into the truth of the atoning value of the work of the Lord Jesus. Only then will they in spirit have reached the great feast of the seventh month, the true day of atonement.
There is important instruction as to this in the 23rd chapter of Leviticus. There we have the yearly calendar of the seven great feasts. The sabbath is introduced as the symbol of the rest which is to follow all the dispensations when the course of time has come to a close, as declared in Heb 3:10-19; Heb 4:1-11.
The passover prefigures the Cross, even as we are told that Christ our passover was sacrificed for us. This is immediately followed by the feast of unleavened bread; so the passage referred to goes on to say, Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (1Co 5:7, 8). This sets forth the call to repentance, now extended to Jew and Gentile alike, who, resting beneath the sheltering blood of the slain Lamb, are to be found in holy separation from all evil, waiting the hour of their full redemption.
But this does not necessarily imply the heavenly calling; so we next get the day of Pentecost, or the feast of weeks, when a new meal-offering was presented before Jehovah, setting forth the present truth of the mystery never made known till the final rejection of the testimony of the Lord and His apostles by Israel as a nation. Observe that this was in the third month.
Then there is a long break, until the seventh month. Now, as it is clear that Pentecost includes the calling out of a people for the name of the Lord from among the nations, it is evident that all the feasts of the seventh month have reference particularly to Israel when the fulness of the Gentiles shall have come in, and the trumpet of recall will once more summon Gods earthly people to gather around Himself in the land of their fathers. That trumpet will blow when the Church has been caught up to heaven. This the feast of trumpets beautifully pictures. It is the awakening of Israel when the veil shall begin to be taken away. (See Rom. 11, et al.). Then will come the call to self-abasement and contrition of heart for their fearful sin, which was manifested in the cross, and consummated in the rejection of the Holy Ghost. This is, for them, the great day of atonement. Long centuries have elapsed since the Victim bled, but they have never yet kept the day of fasting and affliction of soul that God joined with the offering up of the sacrifice to make atonement for their souls.
To this they will come in the hour of their deep distress, just prior to the appearing of the Crucified in the glory of His Father, and all His holy ones with Him. This, therefore, is the mourning referred to in Rev 1:7, and here, in verses 10 to 14. In the Apocalyptic passage we read, Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Himand all tribes of the land shall mourn over Him. It is not wailing in terror that is contemplated, but the anguished mourning of the awakened remnant when they realize the dreadful impiety of which their fathers were guilty in crucifying the Lord of glory.
God Himself will pour upon the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplications, and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born (ver. 10). The word look might be rendered contemplate. It implies an earnest attention, beholding with thoughtfulness, that every lineament of His face may be imprinted upon their souls. His once-marred visage, His pierced hands and side-all will be indelibly impressed upon them. When they thus learn that He who was spurned as a malefactor and a blasphemer was really the Lord of glory, their grief and repentance will know no bounds.
We have two New Testament pictures of this scene: Thomas the apostle, called Didymus (the twin), believed when he saw. In the remnant of Judah, the other twin-may I say?-will come to the front, equally unbelieving till the marks of spear and nails shall prove convincing.
Then in Saul of Tarsus we have a preeminent picture of the same remnant. Hating the name of Jesus, he goes on his way, zealously persecuting all who love that name, till arrested by a light from heaven: his eyes, blinded to earths glory, peer into the holiest; and there, upon the throne of God, he beholds the Nazarene! Thus he was one born before the time; that is, before the time when, by a similar sight, the remnant will be brought to cry, as he did, Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?
His days and nights of darkness answer to the period of mourning here set forth. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon (ver. 11). The reference is generally supposed to be to the great grief that fell on Judah when Josiah was slain, in the same valley where the Lord is yet to appear for the judgment of the armies of the haters of His earthly people. Megiddon is, of course, Armageddon, the valley of slaughter, of Rev 16:16.
In vers. 12 to 14 the people are distinguished into various classes. The family of the house of David, the royalty of Judah, mourn apart. The house of Nathan, the very prophet who once reproved David for his sin, mourn also apart. Then there are the families of Levi and of Shimei, or Simeon, once joined in iniquity, now each joining, though apart, in common confession because of sin.
So shall every family participate in the affliction of soul that extends to the glorious appearing of Him who long since entered into the heavenly sanctuary by His own blood.
Another feast closes the series in Lev. 23. Of that, chapter 14 of our prophet treats; so I leave it till we reach that portion.
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
Zec 12:1
I. The Creator of the heavens and earth and the spirit of man has an Israel. The idea of Israel is fellowship with God, and power with God gained in and by that fellowship. Man is haunted by a something issuing from heaven and earth that will not let him rest. A living world is round him, material, but full of spiritual suggestion, inviting him to seek God, and waking him up again when he grows dull and hard. It seems a necessity to man, when beaten and pressed down by these forces, to which he yet knows himself superior, to cry for help to the Maker of all. One so deeply conscious of the need of help cannot but seek help from the God whom He has found. And this asking, so inevitable, cannot be a futile thing. If asking be a necessity with the spirit that has communion with God, there must be room and need for it on the side of God. God’s Israel consists of those who seek Him, and by seeking have power with Him.
II. God has a word for His Israel. Neither the heavens, nor the earth, nor the spirit of a man take the place of a word. They are each a revelation. But they are fuller of questions than of answers. The heart of man needs a word. It is only in words that there is definiteness. One of the grand distinguishing peculiarities of man is that he employs words. By these he reaches the fulness of his being. He makes all shadowy and vague things firm and abiding by words. And shall not God meet him on this highest platform? A word of God is a necessity to the human soul. There cannot be an Israel without a word. God has a word to Israel which makes fellowship close and confiding. The word refreshes the weary soul. It directs and cheers. It has a human tone, while it is Divine. The word gives man the necessary clue to the interpretation of the universe and himself.
III. God’s word to Israel is a burden. (1) It is a burden by reason of the weight of its ideas. (2) It is a burden of momentousness and obligation. (3) It is a burden which is easier to bear in whole than in part. (4) It is a burden which removes every other load.
J. Leckie, Sermons Preached at Ibrox, p. 21.
Reference: Zec 12:8.-T. B. Baker, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. iii., p. 187.
Zec 12:9-14
(Zec 13:1-6)
I. Here is, first, a remarkable national repentance-remarkable on account of its supposed exciting cause. It presents, indeed, a direct inversion of the state of things generally depicted in the Old Testament Scriptures; for while, generally, we are shown a people subdued to repentance under the pressure of misery and suffering, and then raised, as the result, to heights of prosperity, our seer gives us the spectacle of a people whose repentance is produced by prosperity, who, being delivered from their straits and hardships, and brought forth into a large place, are thereby awakened to a sense of fault, and laid low in the dust of contrition. Sorrow and disaster, whether by inducing a humbler temper and self-estimate, or by giving an impression of wrath and punishment, or by desolating the external scene and driving the heart in upon itself, is often the means of rousing men to a recognition and conviction of their sins. Is it not, however, a finer thing, and the sign of a finer nature, when good fortune provokes earnest thoughts with regard to duty and our imperfect discharge of it; when, the more life smiles for us and brings up of pleasantness and beautiful possession, the more we yearn to be deserving? And such was the nobler disposition which Zechariah dreamt of being manifested in his countrymen.
II. Observe, secondly, our prophet’s vision of the results of the repentance which he pictures. He beheld it prevailing to expiate the transgressions that had been committed-prevailing to secure absolution and forgiveness. “In that day”-that day of general and profound mourning-“there shall be a fountain opened,” etc. You will remember Cowper’s once oft-sung hymn, “There is a fountain filled with blood.” Cowper’s hymn war professedly based upon this passage; it was from this passage that he got his idea of the guilt-cleansing fountain of Christ’s blood; yet, instead of a fountain filled with the blood of an atoning victim, what the Jewish writer had evidently in his mind was a fountain filled with the tears of the people’s genuine and deep contrition. He saw Heaven’s pardon granted at once to repentance, without need of any slaughtered victim to assist in procuring it. “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin” by quickening to repentance.
III. Our prophet beheld, further, issuing from that day of great mourning, a diffused spirit of consecration to the worship and service of Jehovah. Before that spirit idolatry quietly disappeared, like winter before the growing breath of spring, or mists before the climbing sun, with all inclination towards it, all hankering after it-the names of the idols remembered no more.
IV. The prophet seems to trace the gradually completed purification of the country to the spirit cherished and reigning in its homes. It is to the family we must always look for the saving of society; from thence comes its regeneration, or its corruption and decay.
S. A. Tipple, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxiii., p. 237.
Zec 12:10
I. In this passage Christ is not speaking of His actual crucifiers, but only of their children or descendants. But these children or descendants are described as the parties who pierced the Saviour; and not only so, but it is evident from the form of the expression that they should consider themselves as chargeable with so atrocious a crime. This personal appropriation of the guilt of crucifying Christ is required of us just as much as it will be of the reinstated Jews. It is virtually to deny that we have the same corrupt nature to take for granted that we should have shunned with abhorrence all participation in their crime. The right course is to take the guilt upon ourselves, to consider the Jews as simply our representatives, to regard the Redeemer as One whom we ourselves betrayed and crucified and pierced.
II. Notice the close connection between receiving “the spirit of grace and supplications” and the looking on Him whom we ourselves have pierced. If there were once wrought in men a hearty desire to pray, if men were but made to feel that they have alienated themselves from God by their iniquities, they would set themselves to seek forgiveness, and would be ready to close delightedly with the proffers of the Gospel, admitting the suitableness of its arrangements and admiring their graces. Moved by the spirit of supplication, they would feel that unless there be a Cross at whose feet to fall in vain will they cry, “God be merciful to me a sinner.”
III. Sooner or later, we must look on Him whom we have pierced, and it is wholly dependent on our looking on Him in this our day of probation whether it shall be with terror or with joy that we look on Him in the day of retribution.
H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 1,583.
References: Zec 12:10.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. x., No. 575 vol. xxiii., No. 1362; Ibid., My Sermon Notes: Ecclesiastes to Malachi, pp. 380-2. Zec 12:12-14.-Ibid., p. 384. Zech 12-W. Lindsay Alexander Homiletic Magazine, vol. x., p. 224. Zech 12, Zech 13-Expositor, 3rd series, vol. iv., p. 335.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
II. The Second Burden of Zechariah (12-14)
CHAPTER 12
1. Jerusalems conflict and victory (Zec 12:1-9)
2. The vision of the pierced One and its results (Zec 12:10-14)
Zec 12:1-9. The second burden begins with this chapter. It is wholly unfulfilled with the exception of the prophecy at the end of chapter 13 concerning the Shepherd who was smitten. The great future events recorded in these closing chapters of Zechariah are the following: The victory of Jerusalem, the overthrow of the hostile nations from the west (the nations which constitute the revived Roman Empire), the outpouring of the Spirit upon the remnant, the appearing and the vision of the Pierced One, the national repentance, the cleansing of the people, the invasion from the north, the appearing of Christ standing upon the Mount of Olives, the establishment of the kingdom and the glory of Jerusalem. Historically no such gathering of all nations against Jerusalem can be located. It is all prophetic, and so intensely interesting in the days we write, for these things are about to come to pass.
Behold, I make Jerusalem a cup of reeling To all the nations round about: Upon Judah also shall it be, In the siege against Jerusalem. And it shall come in that day, I make Jerusalem A burdensome stone for all the peoples; All that are burdened with it shall be wounded; All the nations of the earth shall gather against it.
This does not take place till the end of the age is reached, the end which begins after the true Church is taken to glory. Then the nations satanically blinded will form the confederacy which in prophecy is the reconstruction of the Roman Empire, seen in the second chapter of Daniel under the symbol of the two feet and ten toes, and in Dan 7:1-28 under the symbol of the ten horns with the little horn. In Rev 13:1-18 it is the beast with the ten horns. The Jews will have to return first, at least a goodly number of them, and repossess the city.
In 1899 the author wrote as follows: An exodus of Jews will take place, the land will become theirs, and the well laid plans and schemes of the present time will be carried out. Political combinations will be their chief hopes for success. This anticipated return is now a historic fact as one of the chief results of the great war (WWI). When finally the Jews think that they have reached the goal of their fleshly, unbelieving hopes, their greatest trouble begins. There is yet to appear the beast who makes a covenant with them. But according to Daniels great prophecy Dan 9:1-27 the covenant will be broken in the middle of the seventieth week. Then the beast heads the armies of the nations to come up against the land and against Jerusalem (see Rev 19:19). They will lay siege to the city, but the Lord announces that these nations shall be cut to pieces. It is the time when the stone strikes the feet of the prophetic image in the second chapter of Daniel, the great battle of Armageddon. Zec 12:4-9 describe that day. Jehovah will smite these nations and all these hostile forces will be overthrown.
Here also is given the order of how the Lord will save the remnant of His people. Those who live in tents outside the city will be saved first; Jerusalem comes next. The purpose is that the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not exalt themselves over the rest of Judah. The house of David in this vision is mentioned five times. We have the glory of the house of David in verse seven, the strength of David and the supremacy of it in verse eight. The spirit of grace and supplication is given to the house of David, and the family of the house of David will mourn. Jews have a tradition which states that the last descendant of the house of David died in Spain centuries ago. There are no genealogies at present to prove that the kingly house of David is extinct or not, but the prophecies like the one we have in consideration, and many others which speak of the prominence of David and the house of David in the day when Jehovah will be manifested, make it very clear that among the wandering sons of Israel there are yet lineal descendants of the house of David. If they do not know it themselves, Jehovah knows it, and they will know it through Him. The feeble ones, literally the stumblers, among His people in that day of manifestation will be like David. What a hero David was! A man of war and strength conquering always and never conquered. And now the stumbler in Israel, the weakest one, will have strength and courage like David. And David shall be as God, as the angel of Jehovah before them.
Zec 12:10-14. This is another great Messianic prophecy mentioned in the New Testament. In Joh 19:37 it is written, after the blessed side of our Lord had been pierced, And again another Scripture saith, They shall look on Him whom they pierced. It is significant that the Holy Spirit speaking in the preceding verse, that the Scripture be fulfilled, avoids this well known phrase in the verse we quoted and does not say that the looking on Him has been fulfilled. It was not then fulfilled, nor is it fulfilled during the age of Gospel preaching, but its fulfillment comes in the day which is prophetically described in the verses before us. Mat 24:30 and Rev 1:7 refer also to this portion of our chapter.
We do not follow the rationalistic reasonings of the school of criticism on this passage, nor do we mention the many question marks which these modern infidels have put over against this great prophecy. One of the mildest critics, Canon Driver, says: The passage is, however, one of those which our ignorance of the circumstances of the time makes it impossible to interpret as a whole satisfactorily or completely. As the text stands the speaker must be, of course, Yahweh, and it is, no doubt, true that the Jews had pierced Him metaphorically by their rebellion and ingratitude throughout their history…. They pierced Him literally as the crowning act of their contumacy, in the Person of His Son on the cross (T.T. Perowne; quoted by Driver), but these considerations do not explain the passage here. The New Testament quotations as given above are to any believer sufficient evidence that the Lord Jesus Christ is meant, and therefore explain the passage fully.
What a day it will be when the Spirit of grace and supplication comes upon the remnant of His people, when He appears in the clouds of heaven, when they shall see Him and know Him by the pierced side. The great vision of Saul on the road to Damascus will then be repeated; the young Pharisee saw Him as one born out of due season. He was in his experience the earnest that the remnant of the nation to which Paul belonged would some day pass through the same experience. (See Studies in Zechariah, pp. 120-125.) A great mourning follows. It will be like the mourning in Hadad-rimmon in the valley of Megiddon 2Ch 35:22-27; 2Ch 35:1-27 :2Ki 23:29. What a day of repentance it will be when this takes place.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
burden
Zechariah 12-14. from one prophecy the general theme of which is the return of the Lord and the establishment of the kingdom. The order is:
(1) The siege of Jerusalem preceding the battle of Armageddon (Zec 12:1-3);
(2) the battle itself (Zec 12:4-9);
(3) the “latter rain” in the pouring out of the Spirit and the personal revelation of Christ to the family of David and the remnant in Jerusalem, not merely as the glorious Deliverer, but as the One whom Israel pierced and has long rejected (Zec 12:10);
(4) the godly sorrow which follows that revelation (Zec 12:11-14);
(5) the cleansing fountain Zec 13:1 then to be effectually “opened” to Israel.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Cir, am 3504, bc 500
burden: Zec 9:1, Lam 2:14, Mal 1:1
for: Isa 51:22, Isa 51:23, Jer 30:10, Jer 30:16, Jer 50:34, Eze 36:5-7, Joe 3:19, Joe 3:21, Oba 1:16, Oba 1:17
which: Job 26:7, Psa 102:25, Psa 102:26, Psa 104:2, Psa 136:5, Psa 136:6, Isa 40:12, Isa 40:22, Isa 42:5, Isa 44:24, Isa 45:12, Isa 45:18, Isa 48:13, Isa 51:13, Jer 10:12, Jer 51:15, Heb 1:10-12
formeth: Gen 2:7, Num 16:22, Ecc 12:7, Isa 57:16, Jer 38:16, Eze 18:4, Heb 12:9
Reciprocal: Gen 1:1 – God Gen 1:6 – Let there Gen 2:1 – Thus Job 9:8 – Which Job 38:6 – Whereupon Isa 11:11 – set his hand Isa 13:1 – burden Jer 32:17 – thou Amo 4:13 – he that Luk 11:40 – did Act 14:15 – which Act 17:24 – that made Act 17:25 – seeing
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
HAVING THUS plainly predicted the rejection of the true Messiah and Shepherd, and the consequent raising up, in God’s governmental wrath, of the antichrist – the worthless shepherd – the following series of predictions concerning the Jews and Jerusalem, are presented as a ‘burden’ in the first verse of chapter 12. And indeed a burden must rest upon the spirit of the reader as we begin that chapter. The way Jehovah presents Himself is very remarkable. The heavens, the earth, and man himself, have all been formed by Him: and in particular, ‘the spirit of man’, for that is the highest part of man’s composite being – the part where man’s sinful rebellion against God is most sadly manifested. In the end of the prophecy we shall find man’s spirit subjugated and restored.
Here however Judah and Jerusalem are in question, and we learn how they will come into prominence and all the nations of the earth be involved in the controversy; for the word ‘people’, occurring three times in verses Zec 12:2-3, is really in the plural – the peoples or nations. As we write the earth is full of disputes, yet there is no darker spot of contention than the little land of Palestine. Many worldly observers fear it may yet become ‘the cockpit of the nations.’ That it will become just that, is plainly declared in these two verses.
When that hour arrives, God’s dealings with Jerusalem will reach their climax, as the opening of Zec 14:1-21 declares; but here the point is that the nations will come under judgment. When they besiege it, they will find it a cup of ‘trembling’, or ‘bewilderment’, for nothing will proceed as they vainly imagine. It will also be a ‘burdensome’ stone, far beyond their power to lift or to carry. At last God will be acting for and with His people, and so the whole situation will be transformed. Verse Zec 12:3 begins, ‘And in that day… ‘ Another ‘day’ is going to dawn, and the phrase, ‘in that day’, occurs again in verses Zec 12:4, Zec 12:6, Zec 12:8, Zec 12:9; Zec 12:11. It is the ‘day of the Lord’, of which other prophets have spoken.
In that day God will act in judgment upon the nations, but will open His eyes upon Judah, just as Jesus turned and opened His eyes upon Peter, after his sad denial, which started the work of repentance in his heart. Later in our chapter we shall find a very deep work of repentance produced in Israel. But for the moment what the prophet brings before us is the fact that in spite of all the failure and faithlessness that had been marking the people, God would at the end make good His word in their deliverance and blessing. This is ever His way, as we may realize with thankfulness. All the evils that have marked the professing church, and the failures that have marked us, who are true saints of the Lord, will not hinder Him, in making good His purpose.
So, as verses Zec 12:5-8 declare, God will do a remarkable work in Judah, making them like a fire in the midst of the nations, and giving them precedence over the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The reason for this may be that the people of Jerusalem were always inclined to pride themselves on their privileges, with the temple in their midst, as we see in such Scriptures as Jer 7:4, and Mic 3:11. All false pride will have to be brought low in that solemn hour. Yet God will look upon them in power and blessing, as verse Zec 12:8 declares. In that day truly, ‘the house of David’ will be ‘as God’; for He who came ‘of the seed of David’, by His incarnation, is none other than the Son of God, as Rom 1:3 so plainly states, and He will be manifested in glory.
As a result of this the nations that come against Jerusalem in that day will be destroyed, and His glorious manifestation will produce the great work of profound repentance that is foretold in the closing verses of the chapter. It will come to pass when, ‘they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced’, and have their eyes opened to discover who He is. This explains how it will come to pass that as Psa 110:1-7 says, ‘Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power.’ They were unwilling and rejected Him in the day of His poverty, of which the closing verses of Psa 109:1-31 speak: nor have they been willing in the day of His patience, with which Psa 110:1-7 opens. In the day of His power they will see in glory the One whom they pierced, with tremendous result in their consciences and hearts.
Repentance, as ever, is an intensely individual matter. ‘The spirit of grace’ will move them, and all thought of deserving anything as under law will be abandoned. A century or so before they had mourned deeply in the ‘valley of Megiddon’ over the untimely death of Josiah, but now there will be a mourning extending over the whole land, and of such depth that everyone has to be in solitude before their God. Of old, Nathan had to come to David and convict him of grievous sin, saying, ‘Thou art the man!’ but now the house of Nathan has to be apart in their own sorrowful self-judgment. Simeon and Levi once were brethren, acting together in an act of cruelty, as Gen 49:5 indicates, but now their families will be apart, bowed in self-judgment before their God.
Repentance always precedes blessing. It is so as the Gospel is preached today. This fact, we fear, has hardly had its due weight with many of us today. Our commission is that, ‘repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations’ (Luk 24:47). Have we too lightly skipped over the ‘repentance’ in our desire to arrive at the ‘remission of sins’? By all means say frequently, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.’ But always remember that was the brief word that Paul gave to a repentant man, and not to a careless sinner.
Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary
Zec 12:1. God never forgot, the treatment the Babylonians and other heathen people accorded His nation in the past, and now he has a burden or weighty prediction to make concerning it. His ability and right to do so is assured by the truth that He is the same One who created the heavens and the earth. He not only could create inanimate things like that, but was able to bring into being the living creatures like man. His eternal power was not limited to the creation of a being with life to be called man, but within that creature already endowed with a living soul (Gen 2:7), He was able to form a spirit thus elevating him above the rank of a living creature and causing him to be a human living creature possessing three parts according to 1Th 5:23. Surely, then, such a Creator can do what His will dictates on behalf of His own nation that had been formed for His glory among the people of the earth.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Zec 12:1. The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel Or, toward Israel; that is, as some interpret it, the prophecy which containeth the words of the Lord to Israel. Saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens Who hath spread out the heavens to such a vast extent. And layeth the foundation of the earth Hath assigned to the earth a fixed place in the creation, or regulates all its motions by fixed laws, which cannot be altered by the power of any creature. And formeth the spirit of man within him Who gave life to the first man, and created the soul, and united it to the body. All these things are mentioned as undeniable instances of Gods almighty power, and are made use of as arguments to encourage men to rely on his word for the fulfilment of such promises as might seem to the understanding of man most unlikely to be brought to pass.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Zec 12:1. The burden of the word of the Lord. It was indeed a burden to pass the sentence of heaven against the infidels of Asia, under the names of Gog, Magog, and Meshech; the infidels of Africa, under the names of Ham and of Tarshish, or Carthage. Against the infidels of Europe, under the name of the isles of the gentiles, or the Greeks, and also the Goths. Herodotus notes, that our forefathers had no walled towns, but lived in light habitations. So the Medes found them, when they had built a bridge across the Danube. The critics who place all the slaughter here foretold, in Syria, before the destruction of Jerusalem, forget to read the names of places given by Ezekiel: chap. 38, 39.
Zec 12:2. I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling to all the people round about, to all the unbelieving world. When the physicians brought Socrates the bowl of hemlock, he asked whether he might not make a libation of part? They answered in the negative. No doubt, men trembled on drinking this cup, their last and final draught. This is the cup of trembling, the cup of intoxication, of stupefaction, and madness, which the Lord forces his enemies to drink. The rabbins apply this passage to the destruction which fell on Antiochus, and other Asiatic tyrants; but in Zechariah the reference is to Him whom they crucified. The christian fathers however apply the passage to the church, whose enemies, the Jews as well as the Romans, were punished with the destruction of empire, and the passing away of all their glory. The true application will be found in the thirty ninth of Ezekiel, as above.
Zec 12:10. I will pour upon the house of David the spirit of grace and of supplication. This promise was in part fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, when so many of the inhabitants of Jerusalem cried for mercy under Peters sermon; and will be more abundantly fulfilled in the latter day, when the residue of the Spirit shall be poured out from on high.
They shall look upon me whom they have pierced, transfixed on the cross, as quoted in Joh 19:37. The LXX read the words figuratively, whom they have insulted, or long provoked by revolt and crimes. But that is not the sense of Zechariah, for he says in a following chapter, the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. Such also is the import of Psa 50:3. Rev 1:7. The millennarian fathers understand the text of Christs second appearance, to take vengeance on all the obdurate enemies of the church, and of the commencement of his personal reign on earth for a thousand years, to renew the evidences of revelation, and to fill the earth with all temporal and spiritual blessings, as described by the holy prophets. Act 3:21. For myself, I never could believe that Christ will personally dwell in temples made with hands; but the glory of his presence is promised, and what can the church ask more? Eze 43:1.
Zec 12:11. A great mourningas the mourning of Hadadrimmon. Rimmon was the idol of Damascus, which in some idolatrous times had been set up there. 2Ki 5:18. The jews mourned for their good king Josiah when he fell in the valley of Megiddo, fighting with Pharaoh-necho. But the prophet had in view another and a still greater mourning, of which this was but a figure; a mourning for sin, especially for the unparalleled sin of having crucified the Lord of glory.
Zec 12:12. Every family apartand their wives apart. Nothing is more expressive of the nature of genuine repentance than its seeking the shade, and retiring from public view, to weep and to mourn alone. The presence of dearest friends would be found an impediment to that communion with heaven which the penitent seeks, and to those contrite and broken-hearted confessions of sin and unworthiness in which he is constrained to indulge; and when this spirit of godly sorrow shall pervade whole families, towns and districts, as it will do in the latter day, the mourning will be like that which was heard in Egypt, when in every house there was some dead. Religion is moreover a personal concern; every family and each individual have their own sins to confess and to mourn over, for each must give account of himself to God. The great sin of the house of David, and of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, would lie heavy upon their hearts. Scarcely a family would be found in Judea, but on entering it they would be seen weeping over their former obstinacy and unbelief. They will not only weep together when they meet, but retire to mourn in secret over their own iniquity. Scarcely a closet or place of retirement shall be found, but some one will be seen watering it with his tears. Such is the picture which the prophet gives of this national repentance in the latter day.
REFLECTIONS.
It would seem by this chapter that the jews will be restored to their own land prior to their conversion, and that Jerusalem will be rebuilt on its ancient scite, in her own place, and be inhabited as in the days of old: Zec 12:6. Providence may possibly accomplish this event by some military adventurer, who shall conceive it his interest to favour such a design, as Cyrus did in a former instance.
A conspiracy will be formed among the neighbouring states to hinder the rebuilding of the city, and dispossess them of their inheritance; but it will be defeated by the united efforts of the people, and by the special interposition of providence. The Lord himself will destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem, which shall be to them as a hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch in the sheaf. That hand which gathered them out of all nations shall now protect and enable them to encounter every difficulty.
After all these temporal interpositions, there will be a special manifestation of the power of God in their conversion. A great change is to take place on both princes and people, on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. On the first preaching of the gospel many of the people believed, but scarcely any of the rulers: now all descriptions of men are to bow to the Redeemers sceptre.
The cause to which this change is ascribed is, the pouring upon them a spirit of grace and of supplication. The spirit of true religion is an emanation of the grace of God, which necessarily leads to importunate prayer. The present state of the unbelieving jews would seem to render their conversion hopeless; but when the influences of the Holy Spirit shall descend upon them, the heart of stone shall become a heart of flesh.
The great medium of effecting this will be, the remembrance of Him whom their fathers crucified, and whom they themselves have pierced by persecuting his followers, and continuing so long in enmity and unbelief. A realising view of Jesus on the cross, as slain for us, will dissolve the most obdurate spirit into contrition and godly sorrow.
The only remedy for a contrite and broken heart is, the fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness. By looking to Jesus they were wounded, and by looking to Jesus they are healed. The firstfruits of this great work appeared on the day of pentecost, when thousands were pricked to the heart and brought to true repentance; the harvest is still to come, when the children of Israel and of Judah shall go together weeping, and seek the Lord their God. Jer 50:4.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Zec 12:1 a is an editorial heading probably added when the two collections Zechariah 9-11, Zechariah 12-14 were appended to the earlier book of Zechariah. The text of this section is corrupt in places, but the sense is on the whole clear. We have reference both to the earlier days of the struggle, when Jerusalem was in the hands of the Hellenisers and the heathen, while the Maccabees, who derived their forces from the country districts, were fighting against the Syro-Greek government, and also to the time when Jerusalem as a wholewith the possible exception of the citadel, which only surrendered in 141 B.C.was in the hands of the Maccabees, and Jewish power was becoming a serious menace to the neighbouring peoples as well as a thorn in the side of the government. Jerusalem became a cup of reeling to all the peoples, when the Maccabean leaders inflicted their appalling blows on Philistia, Edom, Ammon, etc. The MT of Zec 12:2 b is untranslatable. It cannot mean that Judah will take part in the siege of Jerusalem, for Zec 12:2 a represents Jerusalem as already a bowl of reeling to the neighbouring peoples, and therefore already in Jewish hands. The context implies that Judah should be described as supporting those who hold Jerusalem. Zec 12:3 repeats the statement of Zec 12:2 a with a change of metaphor. Those who attack Jerusalem find themselves crushed as it were beneath a burdensome stone. The metaphor was perhaps suggested by an actual incident in some great quarry such as that of Baalbec, a huge stone having injured those who were endeavouring to transport it. The description of all the nations as gathered together against Jerusalem, which is a constant feature of the late apocalyptic literature, is due to the inclusion in the Syro-Greek empire of most of the nations known to the Jews. This empire is actually described in the Book of Daniel as consisting of all peoples, nations, and languages. The figures of the horses and riders and the smiting with blindness are derived from the older Scriptures (cf. 2Ki 6:18). Read in Zec 12:4 b as for all the house of Judah, I will open their eyes. The chieftains of Judah will be the Maccabean leaders, but for chieftains read thousands, i.e. clans. The word rendered strength (Zec 12:5) occurs nowhere else; for are my we should probably read have. Zec 12:6 describes the achievements of the Maccabees. They were a small fire, but kindled a great matter, working havoc among the neighbouring peoples, and restoring Jerusalem, i.e. its loyal Jewish population whom the Hellenisers had expelled. In future the Lord will so protect the city that the family of its most feeble inhabitant will have a stability like that of Davids dynasty (cf. 2 Samuel 7, Psa 89:20 ff., Isa 55:3). The term house of David may denote merely the ruling classes of Jews in Jerusalem who occupied the position once held by the family of David. But since in Zechariah 10 and Zechariah 12 it is mentioned as sharing in the nations guilt, and the Maccabean leaders, who were in command at Jerusalem at the time, would hardly have been so described, the phrase is perhaps to be understood literally. It is evident from the NT that the family of David was not extinct in the first century A.D., and in the Maccaban age its members may well have been included in the aristocracy even if they were subordinate to the sons of Tobias in wealth and influence. Perhaps, like the latter, they had adopted Hellenism, and put forward their claims as descendants of David only when the Maccabean achievements had brought the idea of Jewish independence within the sphere of practical politics. No conclusion can be drawn from the silence of the Books of Maccabees on the matter, for they are strongly partisan, and are considerably later than the events which they record; while Josephus, as his many contradictions show, is by no means an infallible guide. In the OT, as in the NT, we have first-hand information, though given, it may be, only in hints, of events and movements on which later documents are silent. In Zechariah 10 read him (mg.) for me; the sentence is perhaps somewhat mutilated. The writer regards the troubles of Judah and Jerusalem as due to the guilt which rests on the country in consequence of some murder, guilt which can be expiated only by general mourning and fasting. The name of the victim is not given, but it was evidently well known; and since the guilt involves the whole land, the murdered person must be the head of Judaism, i.e. a High Priest. It is true that Onias was murdered not at Jerusalem, but at Antioch; but since the murder was planned by a Jew, and was due to his failure to find support among his own people, the whole nation might well be regarded as responsible for it. The house of Nathan and the house of Levi are clearly prominent among the Jewish aristocracy, but we have no information about them.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
The Deliverance of Judah and Jerusalem
(vv. 1-9)
In this chapter Judah is mentioned five times, Jerusalem ten times. All in this chapter (as well as chapters 13 and 14) is prophetic of the future, except for the reference in Zec 13:7 to the smiting of God’s Shepherd, the death of Christ, which is plainly connected with the entire prophecy.
This is “the burden of the word of the Lord for Israel,” for the whole nation will be involved, though Judah is seen to be the center of the nation: her eventual blessing will mean the blessing of all Israel. The Lord introduces Himself as the One who “stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him.” These verbs, “stretches out,” “lays” and “forms” have a continuing force. We are dealing with a God who has not only brought everything into being, but who continues His work of maintaining creation according to His own sovereign will. There are some who think that after God’s initial work of creation, He retired from the scene and allowed everything to evolve by itself, but this is totally false! His power is engaged continually in upholding the heavens and the earth, and also in forming man’s spirit within him. We know that our thoughts, feelings and attitudes change as we grow older. This is because God continues to deal with us all our lives through. Israel, in their state of indifference to God’s claims, needed to be reminded of God’s continuing dealings with them.
“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of bewilderment unto all the peoples round about, and also against Judah shall it be in the siege against Jerusalem” (v. 2-JND) This word bewilderment has in it the thought of causing people to reel or stagger like a drunken person. When either enemies or friends meddle with Jerusalem, God will make them act as if they drank a potion that reduces them to a state of inability to act sensibly. The siege against Jerusalem and Judah is the attack of the King of the North and his various satellite armies during the time of the Great Tribulation.
“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 the nations of the earth are gathered against it” (v. 3). The expression “in that day” corresponds to the many references to “the day of the Lord” in Scripture. This day begins when the Lord Himself intervenes in active judgment because of man’s evil having risen to the height of publicly challenging God’s authority by the erection of the image to the beast in the temple area of Jerusalem (Rev 13:14-17). All those nations who think they can handle Jerusalem, whether from a viewpoint of hostility or of apparent desire to help them, will suffer far worse consequences than they had imagined. This will be true, not only for the King of the North and his allies, who come with the object of annihilating Israel, but also for the beast and his Western European armies, who come to defend Israel against the King of the North. This reminds us of God’s words to Laban, “Be careful that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad” (Gen 31:24). God was dealing with Jacob: Laban must not excuse Jacob or defend him in wrong doing, nor must he accuse or condemn him. Nations too must learn that others must be left to God to deal with, rather than take it on themselves to interfere one way or the other.
In verse 4 the Lord’s smiting the horse and rider with astonishment and madness refers to the King of the North and his allies gathered against Judah. God opens His eyes upon Judah, that is, He takes an active role in watching over them for good. Therefore He confuses their enemies and the horses on which they depend. The horses may stand for the policies and principles of warfare on which their enemies depend to carry them to victory, but these will be rendered useless and confused by the intervening power of God, and those who trust in them will become as ineffective as an insane man. Also every horse of the peoples will be blinded, left with no discernment of things as they actually are.
At that time the governors or leaders of the surrounding area of Judah will recognize the value of Jerusalem being the center of their nation, and will appreciate the faith of the inhabitants of the city in weathering such storms. Their faith becomes a strength for the leaders of Judah “in the Lord of hosts, their God.” Neh 11:2 provides a comment worth considering here: “And the people blessed all the men that willingly offered themselves to dwell at Jerusalem.” The strength of Jerusalem will be a strength to all of Judah, “in the Lord of hosts, their God.”
Verse 7 also is most interesting: ‘The Lord also will save the tents of Judah first in order that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not be magnified above Judah.” The expression, ‘the tents of Judah’ emphasizes their weak position, exposed outside the city walls to the fury of the enemy, for the whole length of the land will have been flooded with blood, figuratively “unto the horse bridles” (Rev 14:20), and two thirds of the inhabitants will “be cut off and die” during the tribulation (Zec 13:8). The tender mercy of the Lord will be shown to the weak first, in His rescuing Judah from the enemy who will then concentrate on besieging Jerusalem (Psa 59:4-8). The Lord waits before delivering Jerusalem, however, for it is necessary to accomplish a complete work in those in the city, so they will be humbled rather than magnify themselves over Judah.
JUDAH LOOKS ON HIM WHOM THEY PIERCED
(vv. 10-14)
After reading of the tents of Judah being saved first, now we are told of the defense of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. This last part of Zec 12:1-14 beautifully displays the grace and power of the Lord Jesus in dealing with His own people who have for centuries rejected Him, a reminder of the way Joseph dealt with his brethren when their circumstances virtually forced them into his presence (Gen 42:1-38; Gen 43:1-34; Gen 44:1-34; Gen 45:1-28). But what is seen in verse 8 actually follows what is declared in verses 10-14, for verse 8 indicates the new-found strength and courage which will animate the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The following verses show the reason for this. He who is feeble among the people will be as David, having found strength such as David displayed in defeating Goliath.
“And the house of David will be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them.” The change will be so tremendous that the decisions and capability of the house of David will be like the sovereign, active power of God. This will be because “the Prince of the house of David,” the Lord Jesus, will take His place of supreme authority, and the people will learn in experience, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Php 4:13). Also it is said they will be “as the angel of the Lord before them.” In the Old Testament the angel of the Lord often intervened in awesome power on behalf of Israel. This angel is the Lord Jesus Himself, though at that time He had not been manifested in flesh as He is now and as He will present Himself to Israel at the end of their Great Tribulation. In many victories of the Old Testament He went before them, though invisibly, but He will do so visibly in that day of which verse 8 speaks. The power of the house of David, therefore, will be as that of the angel of the Lord. Wonderful experience indeed! But such power is given to believers today in a true spiritual way to enable a living, moral triumph over every spiritual enemy. May we have grace to use it rightly!
That day is God’s appointed time to destroy all those nations that come against Jerusalem (v. 9). These attacking armies will be headed by the King of the North, the Assyrian. They will first conquer Jerusalem and then continue southward to bring Egypt, Libya and Ethiopia into subjection (Dan 11:42-43), but will return in great fury when hearing news out of the east and the north. Eastern nations will be aroused to come also to Jerusalem, while the beast and his western armies will arrive at Armageddon which is north of Jerusalem, where the King of the North has returned to besiege the city with the intention of utterly destroying the Jews (Dan 11:44-45).
Before the Lord goes against those armies, however, He has serious work to do with His own people, the Jews. He will stand upon the Mount of Olives (Zec 14:4) from where He had ascended after His resurrection (Act 1:9-12). What a sight for Israel at a time when they find themselves in the deepest despair they have ever known! The Lord will work marvelously in their hearts, pouring upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplications at this marvelous time when “they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced.” It is Jehovah who is speaking, for the Lord Jesus is Jehovah, God over all, blessed forever (Rom 9:5). The sight of this blessed Messiah of Israel whom they had crucified will produce the most profound, repentant mourning in the hearts of these once rebellious people. From the depths of their hearts will come those expressions of Isa 53:1-12, “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed” (vv. 4-5).
Their sorrow will be that of one mourning for his only son, for they will realize that God has in matchless grace given His only Son to the awful sorrow of suffering for their sins. As the only (or unique) Son He is equal with God, for He is the eternal Son, therefore God Himself! He is indeed the firstborn also as to the truth of His Manhood – not firstborn in point of time, but having the rights of the firstborn because of who He is (Col 1:15-16). The firstborn was always given the place of dignity in Israel, though sometimes God intervened by giving the rights of the firstborn to one who was born later, as in the case of Jacob over Esau and of Ephraim over Manasseh (Gen 25:23; Gen 48:14-19). Thus Adam must give up his place of firstborn to the Lord Jesus.
The great mourning in Jerusalem is likened to the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon (v. 11). Hadadrimmon means “sound of the pomegranate.” The pomegranate (full of seeds) is often connected with the fruitful blessing of the Millennium, and the mourning of the Jews will be as the sound of promised blessing in store for them, for true repentance is the sure sign of blessing to come. The mourning in the plain of Megiddo may refer to Israel’s mourning for Josiah at his death in the valley of Megiddo (2Ch 35:22-25). So Judah will be similarly affected in thinking of the death of the Lord of glory for their sakes.
This description of the repentance of Judah and Jerusalem is the prophetic fulfillment of the truth of the great day of atonement of which Lev 23:26-32 speaks. On that day every year, the children of Israel were commanded, “You shall afflict their souls and offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.” If one did not afflict his soul or if he did any work on that day, he was cut off in death. This looked forward, therefore, to the day of Christ’s manifestation to Israel, when the sight of the One whom they had pierced will draw forth their profound repentance. They will “cease from their own works” in appreciation of His own great work of atonement at Calvary. If one refused this, he would have a hard heart indeed and would righteously be cut off in judgment.
The mourning for Christ will be so intensely deep and personal that every family will mourn alone, and even husbands and wives will mourn apart from each other before God. When an orthodox Jew is converted to Christ, he is often utterly broken down at the thought that it was his own nation Israel that had despised and rejected the Messiah. This same sorrow will burden all the Jewish people at this future day of national repentance.
The family of the house of David is first specifically mentioned. David was the king who sinned grievously against God. The family of the house of Nathan is added. He was the prophet who exposed and reproved David (2Sa 12:7). His family too will mourn in repentance. Then the family of the house of Levi indicates that the priests also will be included in this repentance. It was their work to restore one who had sinned, but they are reduced to the same need of restoration. Finally, the family of the house of Shimei. Shimei was the subject who cursed David (2Sa 16:5-8). Thus, the whole range of the population of Judah and Benjamin is represented, as is seen too in the expression, “all the families that remain” after the land has been terribly diminished during the Great Tribulation. How marvelous will be the sight of this formerly rebellious nation bowed in genuine repentance at the feet of the Lord Jesus! We, the Church, will observe this from the height of the glory of God. If there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents, how great will be the joy at the sight of the tremendous multitude turning to the blessed Lord of glory in repentance and faith! This will be a truly national repentance, but wonderfully individual at the same time.
Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible
12:1 The burden of the word of the LORD for {a} Israel, saith the LORD, who stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
(a) That is, the ten tribes, which neglected God’s benefit in delivering their brethren, and had rather remain in captivity, than to return home when God called them.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Israel’s deliverance 12:1-9
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
"The burden . . . concerning Israel" introduces chapters 12-14 as "The burden . . . against the land of Hadrach" (Zec 9:1) did chapters 9-11. By describing Yahweh as the creator of the heavens, earth, and man, Zechariah reminded his audience of God’s authority and ability to accomplish what He predicted in this three-chapter oracle. He is the master over all things celestial, terrestrial, and human.
"Here at the brink of a new age it is important to know that the same God who brought everything into existence in the first place is well able to usher in the new creation of a restored people in a renewed and universal kingdom." [Note: Ibid., p. 312.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
8. JUDAH VERSUS JERUSALEM
Zec 12:1-7
A title, though probably of later date than the text, introduces with the beginning of chapter 12 an oracle plainly from circumstances different from those of the preceding chapters. The nations, not particularized as they have been, gather to the siege of Jerusalem, and, very singularly, Judah is gathered with them against her own capital. But God makes the city like one of those great boulders, deeply embedded, which husbandmen try to pull up from their fields, but it tears and wounds the hands of those who would remove it. Moreover God strikes with panic all the besiegers, save only Judah, who, her eyes being opened, perceives that God is with Jerusalem and turns to her help. Jerusalem remains in her place; but the glory of the victory is first Judahs, so that the house of David may not have too much fame nor boast over the country districts. The writer doubtless alludes to some temporary schism between the capital and country caused by the arrogance of the former. But we have no means of knowing when this took place. It must often have been imminent in the days both before and especially after the Exile, when Jerusalem had absorbed all the religious privilege and influence of the nation. The language is undoubtedly late.
The figure of Jerusalem as a boulder, deeply bedded in the soil, which tears the hands that seek to remove it, is a most true and expressive summary of the history of heathen assaults upon her. Till she herself was rent by internal dissensions, and the Romans at last succeeded in tearing her loose, she remained planted on her own site. This was very true of all the Greek period. Seleucids and Ptolemies alike wounded themselves upon her. But at what period did either of them induce Judah to take part against her? Not in the Maccabean.
Oracle of the Word of Jehovah upon Israel.
“Oracle of Jehovah, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth, and formed the spirit of man within him: Lo, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of reeling for all the surrounding peoples, and even Judah shall be at the siege of Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in that day that I will make Jerusalem a stone to be lifted by all the peoples-all who lift it do indeed wound themselves-and there are gathered against it all nations of the earth. In that day-oracle of Jehovah-I will smite every horse with panic, and their riders with madness; but as for the house of Judah, I will open its eyes, though every horse of the peoples I smite with blindness. Then shall the chiefs of Judah say in their hearts the inhabitants of Jerusalem through Jehovah of Hosts their God. In that day will I make the districts of Judah like a pan of fire among timber and like a torch among sheaves, so that they devour right and left all the peoples round about, but Jerusalem shall still abide on its own site. And Jehovah shall first give victory to the tents of Judah, so that the fame of the house of David and the fame of the inhabitants of Jerusalem be not too great in contrast to Judah.”