Zechariah 12

 

Zechariah 12:1 The revelation of the word of the Lord concerning Israel: The Lord—he who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundations of the earth, who forms the human spirit within a person—says, 

 

The Hebrew word for “revelation” is מַשָּׂ֥א (masah), meaning a heavy weight. Zechariah was about to give Israel a prophecy which would be difficult for them to carry. It would contain both positive and negative truths for Israel.

 

Zechariah described the omnipotence of God in three different ways. First. Jehovah stretches out the heavens. Zechariah declared the scientific truth of the expanding universe centuries before modern scientists. He did so without the Hubble telescope

 

Second, Jehovah laid the foundations of the earth. He controls everything that happens on the physical earth. Not one sparrow goes unnoticed or unfed. It is foolish for modern scientists to teach biblically ignorant students that nothing exploded into everything and lifeless dirt became alive.

 

Third, Jehovah formed the spirit of man within him. Man was not created in the image of a monkey. He was created in the image of God.

 

2 “I am about to make Jerusalem a cup that brings dizziness to all the surrounding nations; indeed, Judah will also be included when Jerusalem is besieged. 

 

To understand this heavy prophecy, one must understand the eight stages of the Campaign of Armageddon.

 

1. The Gentile armies of the Antichrist will gather in the Valley of Jezreel in Galilee.

2. Babylon will become the capital of the Antichrist, just as Jerusalem is the capital of the Lord Jesus Christ. The enemies of the Antichrist will destroy Babylon.

3. The armies of the Antichrist will take the city of Jerusalem.

4. The Antichrist will come against the Jewish Remnant living in Petra.

5. The entire nation of Israel who survives the Great Tribulation will gain their national salvation by believing in Jesus.

6. Jesus will return at Petra. 

7. Jesus will fight the forces of the Antichrist, beginning at Petra, all the way back to Jerusalem, and finishing them off at the Valley of Jehoshaphat.

8. Jesus will take His victory ascent up to the Mount of Olives, the same place where He descended from His apostles in Acts 1:8.

 

Zechariah’s prophecy will mostly deal with the third stage of the Campaign of Armageddon. The armies of the antichrist will attack and take Jerusalem. 

 

This prophecy shows a large bowl of alcohol in the city of Jerusalem. The Gentile nations have attacked Jerusalem, taken the city, and they have begun to drink the alcohol. They think that the alcohol will taste good and make them happy, but instead, the alcohol causes them to become dizzy. They do not have as much control as they think. They began to stagger toward their destruction. 

 

At this time, there are some Jews who are living in Jerusalem and being sieged by the Antichrist. There are some Jews who are left in the Jerusalem siege but others are being protected in Petra.

 

3 Moreover, on that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy burden for all the nations, and all who try to carry it will be seriously injured; yet all the peoples of the earth will be assembled against it. 

 

Zechariah described Jerusalem as a heavy, jagged, and sharp stone. Anyone who attempts to carry it will be seriously injured. As he lifts the stone, it will cut him, causing him to drop it. The result is that he will be crushed.

 

Notice that the Antichrist will gather all nations against Israel. This includes the United States (if they still exist at this time). 

 

The players are in place. Israel is back in her land. Muslims are claiming their land. The United Nations is placing pressure on Israel to give up her land for peace. Terrorism, war, religious tolerance, global warming, world-wide debt, and same sex marriage are currently global issues. Everyone is looking for global leadership. Do not be surprised if many of the nations begin exchanging their national debt for a one-world government.

 

4 In that day,” says the Lord, “I will strike every horse with confusion and its rider with madness. I will pay close attention to the house of Judah, but will strike all the horses of the nations with blindness. 

 

The “day” mentioned in this verse is the third stage of the Campaign of Armageddon when all nations come against Israel. The nations which attack Israel will violate the Abrahamic Covenant. All of the horses and riders of the Gentiles will be struck with confusion and madness.

 

Are these literal horses or figures of speech of modern weapons? The seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments may destroy many of the modern weapon systems, causing the Antichrist’s armies to use less modern weapons and transportation.

 

5 Then the leaders of Judah will say to themselves, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem are a means of strength to us through their God, the Lord who rules over all.’ 

 

Notice that the Jews of Jerusalem are still in the land, but the Jews of Judah are still hiding out at Petra. The Jews in Petra will be encouraged in how well the Jews in Jerusalem are withstanding this global siege attack.

 

6 On that day I will make the leaders of Judah like an igniter among sticks and a burning torch among sheaves, and they will burn up all the surrounding nations right and left. Then the people of Jerusalem will settle once more in their place, the city of Jerusalem. 

 

God will supernaturally energize the Jews in Petra. The Jews will be a roaring fire and the Gentiles will be wooden sticks. The Jews will devour the Gentiles just as a roaring fire devours wooden sticks. 

 

7 The Lord also will deliver the homes of Judah first, so that the splendor of the kingship of David and of the people of Jerusalem may not exceed that of Judah. 

 

The Jews of Judah will be living in temporary tents in Petra. God will save them first. 

 

8 On that day the Lord himself will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the weakest among them will be like mighty David, and the dynasty of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord before them.

 

This “day” refers to the third stage of the Campaign of Armageddon, when the Gentile soldiers from all over the world will attack the Jews in Jerusalem. The Israeli soldiers will defeat the Gentiles, because God will supernaturally energize them. The weakest will fight like David, but the other soldiers will fight like the Messiah Himself. The angel of the Lord killed 185,000 Assyrians.

 

9 So on that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.” 

 

These Gentile armies violated the Abrahamic Covenant by attempting to exterminate Israel. Instead, they will receive the kind-for-kind curse, as they themselves will be exterminated.

 

God will rescue the Jews in Petra during the sixth stage of the Campaign of Armageddon. He will rescue the Jews in Jerusalem during the seventh stage. Then, He will destroy all of the remaining Gentile armies in the Valley of Jehoshaphat.

 

10 “I will pour out on the kingship of David and the population of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication so that they will look to me, the one they have pierced. They will lament for him as one laments for an only son, and there will be a bitter cry for him like the bitter cry for a firstborn.

 

The Holy Spirit will open the eyes and ears of all of Israel who survive the Great Tribulation. This movement of the Holy Spirit will cause the national salvation of Israel.

 

The Hebrew word for “pierced” is דָּקַר (zakar) meaning to pierce through. Israel will look to the One in whom they pierced through a spear for salvation. 

 

A lamentation is a funeral song for the dead. The Israeli were emotionally upset whenever they lost a first-born son. They mourned for him, hoping that God would bring him back to life. This is the type of mourning that the Jews will make for Jesus at the end of the Great Tribulation.

 

11 On that day the lamentation in Jerusalem will be as great as the lamentation at Hadad-Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.

 

King Josiah was killed in the Valley of Hadad-Rimmon. Josiah was the last good king of Judah. Israel mourned because they lost a great king. Jeremiah mourned because he knew that Josiah was the last good king of Israel and evil kings would follow. Israel will mourn for the Messiah that they killed just as Israel once mourned for King Josiah.

 

12 The land will mourn, clan by clan—the clan of the royal household of David by itself and their wives by themselves; the clan of the family of Nathan by itself and their wives by themselves; 

 

All of the land of Israel will mourn the death of Jesus, the Messianic King of Israel. The tribes of David will all mourn, especially the tribe of Nathan. Nathan was the least of the house of David, but it will be his line which will bring in the Messiah. The Virgin Mary was from the line of Nathan.

 

13 the clan of the descendants of Levi by itself and their wives by themselves; and the clan of the Shimeites by itself and their wives by themselves—

 

The houses of the Levites will mourn the death of King Jesus.

 

14 all the clans that remain, each separately with their wives.”

 

All of the other ten tribes will mourn the death of Jesus as well.