The Coming Deliverance of Jerusalem
1This is the burden of the word of Yahweh concerning Israel.
Thus declares Yahweh, who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundation of the earth, who forms the spirit of man within him:
- ZECH 12:1[NOTE]THE SECOND BURDEN. God who made the heavens and the earth is the speaker of chapters 12 to 13.
2“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples. Judah will be besieged, as well as Jerusalem.
- ZECH 12:2[PROPHECY]I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples; a very heavy stone for all peoples → HISTORY: Many Christians see this in the world's long fight over Jerusalem since Israel became a nation in 1948. Others read it differently.LOW
3On that day, when all the nations of the earth gather against her, I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who would heave it away will be severely injured.
- ZECH 12:3[NOTE]A HEAVY STONE. Everyone who tries to lift Jerusalem gets hurt.
4On that day, declares Yahweh, I will strike every horse with panic, and every rider with madness. I will keep a watchful eye on the house of Judah, but I will strike with blindness all the horses of the nations.
5Then the leaders of Judah will say in their hearts: ‘The people of Jerusalem are my strength, for Yahweh of Hosts is their God.’
6On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among the sheaves; they will consume all the peoples around them on the right and on the left, while the people of Jerusalem remain secure there.
7Yahweh will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and of the people of Jerusalem may not be greater than that of Judah. 8On that day Yahweh will defend the people of Jerusalem, so that the weakest among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of Yahweh going before them.
9So on that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
Mourning the One They Pierced// John 19:31–37
10Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.
- ZECH 12:10[PROPHECY]His body would be pierced → JN 19:34-37
- ZECH 12:10[PROPHECY]Israel would look on the One they pierced and mourn for Him → STILL TO COME
- ZECH 12:10[ALLUDED TO]The New Testament refers to this → MT 24:30
- ZECH 12:10[QUOTED]Quoted in the New Testament → JN 19:37
- ZECH 12:10[ALLUDED TO]The New Testament refers to this → REV 1:7
- ZECH 12:10[NOTE]THE ONE THEY HAVE PIERCED. John 19:37 quotes this at the cross, and Revelation 1:7 at His return. See The Pierced One.
11On that day the wailing in Jerusalem will be as great as the wailing of Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12The land will mourn, each clan on its own: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, 13the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, 14and all the remaining clans and their wives.
- ZECH 12:11[NOTE]HADAD RIMMON IN THE PLAIN OF MEGIDDO. Most think this is the mourning for good King Josiah, killed near Megiddo, 2 Chronicles 35:22 to 25. Others think it was a yearly mourning rite for the storm god Hadad. See Megiddo, Revelation.
- ZECH 12:12[NOTE]THE HOUSE OF NATHAN. Most think David's son Nathan, the line Luke traces to Jesus, Luke 3:31. So David and Nathan are underlined here.