Zechariah's end time prophesies continued.
Chapter 12
Verse 1 announces a new prophesy. He starts by reminding everyone that it's the Lord who stretched out the heaven, laid the foundations of the earth, and "forms the spirit of man within him." He made us who we are.
According to the Ryrie footnote, this prophesy is describing how everyone will be against Israel, Jerusalem, and Judah. He is promising to confuse and blind the armies that come against Judah, while the people in Jerusalem are safe in their own sites. Verse 7 goes even further, promising that Judah's tent will have priority so that people will remember that these are God's chosen people, children of David, for God's glory. Seems like hard evidence against the replacement theology—who believe the Christian church replaces Israel, instead of being grafted into the vine.
In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the one who is feeble among them in that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord before them. Zechariah 12:8
What a promise. Even the feeble will become like David was and the descendants of David will be like God! The angel of the Lord (Jesus) will be before them! That will be amazing to watch. We even see it now—Israel is a bear. Tiny little nation with a massive record of innovations, military, and intelligence!
God promises to destroy the nations that come against Israel. That will be a blessing to watch. Although they are always trying to destroy themselves from within. They have the same suicidal empathy we see throughout the West right now.
Here we go:
“I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. Zechariah 12:10
We see this in Pentecost, when people really come to terms with what they did to the Messiah. Grieving of what they (we all) did to Jesus—the firstborn and only Son. And still, the Lord pours out His Spirit of grace and supplication on us all. Praise the Living God! Ryrie points out how the end time Jews will mourn missing the Messiah. People will mourn like they mourned over the death of good King Josiah by Pharaoh Neco. Remember, Egypt always symbolizes the world. So in the end time people are going to comprehend how the world killed the good King, and they'll mourn. We should all mourn as we consider the part we all played in the death of the Good King so that He could overcome the world on our behalf.
Verses 12—14 tells us that the political, religious, poor, and rich—and their wives—will all come to the personal realization that they rejected the Messiah. This is something we all have to come to before we can be saved.
Chapter 13
There was mourning at the end of Chapter 12 as people learned of the death of their Messiah and what that meant about their own complicity. But now, now...joy comes in the morning:
“In that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity. Zechariah 13:1
Hard-fought Hallelujah! This is amazing grace! Salvation has come to His chosen people! True salvation!
Then the glorious word will be incorruptible. That is what I am most anxious for— to stop being a disappointment in my worldly failures. He is going to remove the idols and wipe their names from our memory. Also the unclean prophets and spirits will be removed. Incorruptible! So excited.
If there are any false prophets remaining, it becomes the family's responsibility to kill them. You broke it; you buy it. Any remaining false prophets will also be ashamed of what they are doing and will not pretend to be holy. They will pretend to be common men from humble roots.
Then Zechariah shares direct words from the Lord:
“Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd,
And against the man, My Associate,”
Declares the Lord of hosts.
“Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered;
And I will turn My hand against the little ones.
“It will come about in all the land,”
Declares the Lord,
“That two parts in it will be cut off and perish;
But the third will be left in it.
“And I will bring the third part through the fire,
Refine them as silver is refined,
And test them as gold is tested.
They will call on My name,
And I will answer them;
I will say, ‘They are My people,’
And they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’” Zechariah 13:7—9
- The Lord of hosts allows his Shepherd to be struck SO THAT the sheep may be scattered.
- Israel still hadn't preformed their job as God's priest, spreading His message to the nations.
- So now, God has to move things in a way that the messengers will scatter and take the message with them—ultimately changing the world.
- The remnant will go through the fire, refined and tested.
- We're all part of the remnant. Fire should not surprise us.
We just went through midterm elections and it was a political bloodbath. I have moments when I think about it and get discouraged. People are voting for a terrible way of life and against all that is good. They are deceived. And even though they are in a majority against the good of all people, God is God. He is sovereign and in control. These passages remind me that there are always those who cannot comprehend, and yet the Lord prevails. Hope is not just comforting, it's the rule.
The Lord is my God!
Amen.
Chapter 14
And the final promises:
Behold, a day is coming for the Lord when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you.
For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.
Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle.
In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south.
You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him! Zechariah 14:1—5
- Everything taken from all of us, will be given back among us.
- In the final battle, all nations come against Israel, it will be awful.
- When the Lord steps in, the battle becomes His to fight.
- Upon Jesus' return, He will have one foot on the Mount of Olives and the mountain will split, creating a valley.
- People will flee and the Lord will come with His holy army.
- Armageddon
When Jesus arrives, everything will change. Light and dark, day and night, summer and winter will all change. We will all know that things are different. Zechariah also describes the living water coming from the Temple to the east and west—giving life.
And the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one. Zechariah 14:9
Glory, Glory, Hallelujah!!
Come, Lord Jesus, Come!
It's such a comforting promise. King Jesus and only King Jesus!
Jerusalem will be high ground with everything around it flattened into a plain. She will no longer be cursed, but live securely. The Jews have been persecuted over and over throughout time. Peace in he borders must sounds as good as being un-corrupted sounds to me.
Those still opposing Jerusalem will suffer a great plague—rotting flesh, rotting eyes, rotting tongue. As graphic as this is, my guess is these as symbolic of the three temptations:
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 1 John 2:16, emphasis mine.
Anyone left opposing Jerusalem will actually be opposing God and they will receive rot in return. These people will panic and turn on each other. the animals will suffer a plague as well. Per usual, the sins of man spread to creation.
Meanwhile, all of the wealth of the world will be gathered by Judah.
Eventually, anyone left from the opposing nations will take up worshiping the Lord and celebrating His festivals. If they do not join in that worship, they will receive no rain. The only water left will be living water, it sounds like. Those from the world who do not celebrate, will also suffer the plague. It will be very obvious at this stage that there is only one source of life and opposing will definitely end in death.
Zechariah's closing prophesy on the end of days:
In that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “HOLY TO THE LORD.” And the cooking pots in the Lord’s house will be like the bowls before the altar.
Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord of hosts; and all who sacrifice will come and take of them and boil in them. And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts in that day. Zechariah 14: 20—21
Everything will be holy...down to the bells on a horse's harness. And everything corruptible in the world will be gone.
Hard-fought Hallelujah and Amen!
In the Blue Letter Bible chronological reading order: Next up: Esther.