seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Zechariah 12:1 A prophecy: The word of the Lord concerning Israel.
The Lord, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the human spirit within a person, declares: 2 “I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. 3 On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves. 4 On that day I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness,” declares the Lord. “I will keep a watchful eye over Judah, but I will blind all the horses of the nations. 5 Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘The people of Jerusalem are strong, because the Lord Almighty is their God.’
6 “On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will consume all the surrounding peoples right and left, but Jerusalem will remain intact in her place.
7 “The Lord will save the dwellings of Judah first, so that the honor of the house of David and of Jerusalem’s inhabitants may not be greater than that of Judah. 8 On that day the Lord will shield those who live in Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord going before them. 9 On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem.
10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit[a] of grace and supplication. They will look on[b] me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. 11 On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be as great as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12 The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, 13 the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, 14 and all the rest of the clans and their wives.
a. Zechariah 12:10 Or the Spiritb. Zechariah 12:10 Or to
Preachers have been saying "Oh you know the prophets talked about the piercing.... so Jesus has to be pierced". Well... I've read through the Bible a couple of times.... and I never saw this before. Yes.... there is a verse that says "they look on me the one they have pierced". I'm sure it's other places.... or maybe not.... because this is the first time I've noticed it.
Enduringword.com seemed to make sense this morning.
And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication: Part of this great outpouring of strength and might to defend Jerusalem will be an outpouring of the Spirit – but for grace and supplication. God will move among Israel and bring saving grace and repentant prayer.
Then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son: As Jerusalem is supernaturally defended and the Spirit is poured out on the nation, they will turn to Jesus, the pierced One. His head was pierced with thorns, His hands and feet were pierced with nails, and a spear pierced His side.
They will look: They will turn away from their trust in the foolish, worthless shepherd and turn their focus on the Good Shepherd. When we see Jesus crucified – understanding why He went to the cross and what He accomplished there – we are drawn to Him in humble repentance (John 12:32).
They will look on Him whom they pierced. They will realize that they did it, and that they bear responsibility – not sole responsibility, but responsibility nonetheless – for the crucifixion of their Savior.
They will mourn: The Jewish people will turn to Jesus in repentance, mourning their past rejection of Him. The mourning will be deep, as if for an only son, the firstborn. Firstborn was synonymous with the most beloved.
This will fulfill the amazing promise of Romans 11:26 (And so Israel will be saved) and many other passages that tell us that before the physical return of Jesus to this earth, the Jewish people – as a whole – will welcome Him as their Lord and Savior. The whole context of Zechariah 12 puts this radical conversion in the setting of miraculous deliverance from an attack from the nations.
They will look… they will mourn: Here we see the pattern for coming to Jesus and true repentance. First we look to Jesus, then we mourn for our sins. Looking to Jesus must come first.
“A great mistake is very common among all classes of men – it is currently believed that we are first of all to mourn for our sins, and then to look by faith to our Lord Jesus Christ. Most persons who have any concern about their souls, but are not as yet enlightened by the Spirit of God, think that there is a degree of tenderness of conscience, and of hatred of sin, which they are to obtain somehow or other, and then they will be permitted and authorized to look to Jesus Christ. Now you will perceive that this is not according to the Scripture, for, according to the text before us. men first look upon him whom they have pierced, and then, but not till then, they mourn for their sin.” (Spurgeon)
“It is a beautiful remark of an old divine, that eyes are made for two things at least; first, to look with, and next, to weep with. The eye which looks to the pierced One is the eye which weeps for him.” (Spurgeon)
They will look upon Me: Comparing Zechariah 12:10 with Zechariah 12:1 and 12:3 (Thus says the LORD… says the LORD) makes it clear that the Me they look upon is the LORD God – Yahweh – Himself. This is astounding and wonderful evidence that Jesus the pierced One is God, and that Yahweh is the Triune God.
A great mourning in Jerusalem: The repentance that comes to Israel in that day will be like a great mourning, the ultimate fulfillment of the Day of Atonement, the day of national mourning over their greatest sin – rejecting Jesus.
Like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon: This refers to the mourning over King Josiah’s death (2 Kings 23:29 and 2 Chronicles 35:20-25). He was such a godly king that the whole nation wept bitterly at his death.
And the land shall mourn, every family by itself: This indicates there will be both great individual repentance and great corporate repentance. It seems fantastic to us that Israel as a whole would turn to Jesus and repent of their sin of rejecting their Savior – it is so amazing that we would not believe it unless the Bible so clearly taught it.
“We know of a surety, because God has said it, that the Jews will be restored to their own land, and that they shall inherit the goodly country which the Lord has given unto their fathers by a covenant of salt for ever; but, better still, they shall be converted to the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, and shall see in him the house of David restored to the throne of Israel.” (Spurgeon)
This frank commentary is form bibletrack.org.Since this chapter is an obvious reference to the gathering of the armies of the nations against Israel at the Battle of Armageddon, it is likewise obvious that chapters 10 and 11 must be setting up the scenario including the rejection of Christ during his earthly ministry. Chapter 12 directs us to Christ's return in Revelation 19:11-21 when Israel will be once and for all delivered. Notice verse 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." And if you're looking for a location where this takes place, you'll find it in verse 11, "the valley of Megiddon." That's right - Armageddon!
Let's notice verse 10, "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." John quotes this verse regarding the piercing of Jesus' side in John 19:37.
There are a couple of things going on here. Yes... there's the verse about piercing Jesus.... and it was quoted by John.... a personal friend of Jesus. There is also "a miraculous deliverance from an attack from the nations". This miraculous deliverance is going to be so big and so bad that everyone will notice and say..... "damn... there really is a God!!"
A long time ago.... I read somewhere that someone over there in the Middle East is going to shoot off a rocket aimed at Jerusalem..... I read that God is going to smack it out of the sky..... then the US went to Iraq and someone did a report on the attacks.... and the patriot missile.... and the patriot missile is designed to smack the rocket right out of the sky. There is nothing miraculous about that..... man can do it.... so now I have to wonder.... what miraculous deliverance will God accomplish. I've seen talking mules..... water that makes a wall..... earthquakes and tsunami..... I've seen fish that swallowed prophets and spit them on the beach..... I've seen food fall from the sky.... a walking tornado. There have been so many miraculous things..... and people don't believe what they read.... but when they see it for themselves.....
God is going to do something really spectacular..... I read that there is going to be a peace agreement..... and then there is going to be an earthquake.... is that it? What is going to be the opening act of Armageddon at Megiddon?
