A Study of Zechariah 12
Opening: “On That Day!” That’s a phrase the prophet Zechariah uses again and again to describe the Second Coming of Messiah Jesus. We’ll look at that today as we come to the dramatic twelfth chapter of his book. This chapter gives us one of the most emotional moments of the whole Bible!
Introduction / Review
Today we’re coming to some of the most pivotal chapters in the entire Bible about the returning of Jesus Christ to this planet. Chapters 12, 13, and 14 are as important to biblical prophecy as any other portion of Scripture, and we learn things here that are not revealed anywhere else in the Bible.
Let’s review the book of Zechariah very briefly. Zechariah and Haggai were prophets who were sent by God to encourage the remnant from Babylon to resume building the Second Temple and repopulating Jerusalem and the Holy Land. Zechariah told the group about eight visions he had received from God on a single night. Then there was one symbolic action at the end of chapter 6. Then Zechariah turned to preaching and predictive prophecy. Chapters 7 and 8 give us Zechariah’s answer to a question the remnant had about whether they should continue to fast for the restoration of Israel. The final six chapters of the book divide into two different oracles or burdens or prophecies. Chapters 9, 10, and 11 end on a rather dismal note. We’re told there are two shepherds who will appear in the future. The first one, the Good Shepherd, will be rejected by Israel and valued at only 30 pieces of silver, which will be thrown into the temple and given to a potter. Then there will arise another shepherd, an evil person, who will be the antichrist.
If the book ended there, we’d have a hard time calling Zechariah the prophet of encouragement. But now we come to the final section of the book—chapter 12, 13, and 14, which give us vivid depictions of the Battle of Armageddon, the conversion of the nation of Israel, the return of Christ, and the onset of the Millennial Kingdom.
Let’s read Zechariah 12. Even a simple reading of this chapter makes it clear these are dramatic future events connected to the Eskaton—the Last Days. Notice especially the dramatic phrase that occurs fifteen times in these chapters: “On That Day.”
12 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 of grace and supplication. They will look on 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.
With this passage we are coming to what we often call the Battle of Armageddon.
1. The Battle of Armageddon
12 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:
Notice the three-fold description of God. He created the vast universe that surrounds the earth, almost infinite to our imagination in all directions, filled with stars and planets and galaxies without number. He created earth as our dwelling place; and He created us as human beings in His image, body and spirit.
The implication is that if He can do those things, He can take care of the threats against us, the enemies we face, and the current and future events that provoke concern and fear. Nothing is impossible for the God of Israel.
2 “I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling.
The center theme of this passage is Jerusalem, that ancient city on the northern flanks of the Judean desert, the city David chose as his capital, and the city where Jesus was slain and resurrected. Everything in world history is going to come down to Jerusalem. This is the most important city in the world, in history, and in the future.
In the Last Days, the armies of the world will surround this city. But Jerusalem would be a cup that sends her enemies reeling. This is Old Testament language for judgment. Isaiah 51:17 talks about the cup of God’s wrath that His enemies will be forced to drink to the dregs. Jeremiah 25 describes the cup filled with the wine of God’s wrath, which all nations will drink.
Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem.
Modern Jerusalem now spreads through much of biblical Judea, so the entire area around Jerusalem will be under siege in the days before the Lord returns.
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.
If you have been to Jerusalem, you know it’s a city of rock that sets on rock—the famous Jerusalem limestone with its golden glow. What Zechariah is saying here is that the nations are going to try to uproot Jerusalem like a stone, but they will be unable to do so. They will hurt themselves. I can’t help thinking of my grandfather, W. L. Morgan, who died in 1921 at the age of 51. At one point I heard his death came about because he hurt himself trying to move a large stone out of the road. Well, that’s what’s going to happen to the nations that gather around Jerusalem near the end of the Great Tribulation. The antichrist will be on the verge of finally destroying Israel and the Jewish people. But God will intervene. Verse 4 says:
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.
Just as the armies of Armageddon are ready to finish their assault on Jerusalem, something is going to happen that will instantly turn the tide. The Lord Himself will intervene. He’s going to drive the enemy mad. He’s going to overturn their military strategies and their weapons for war. In Zechariah’s day, the greatest military weapon was the horse. But today, we have planes and drones and missiles. The armies are going to be struck with panic and confusion.
Notice the metaphors here. God’s eye will be open toward Judah, but He will close the eyes of the horses. They will be blinded. Verse 5 goes on to tell us that an awareness dawns on Israel. God has come to help them!
5 Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘The people of Jerusalem are strong, because the Lord Almighty is their God.’
Verse 6 begins with this dramatic phrase: “On this day….”
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.
God will turn Israel into a destructive fire that will burn her enemies like a flaming torch sets a dry field on fire. Now verse 7 gives us an interesting detail. When the nations are occupying Israel and Judah from their forward operating base at Armageddon to the north, the Lord will come to Israel’s deliverance. He will start by saving the Jews in the areas surrounding Jerusalem, then He will move to save the city itself.
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.
Verse 8 repeats the “On this Day” formula and tells us how God’s deliverance will move from outside the city to inside the city. Verse 8 say:
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.
Remember David? With his simple slingshot and stone he brought down Goliath. Suddenly even the feeblest resident of Jerusalem will be as powerful as the boy David. And the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord. Who is the descendant of David who is like God and who is called in the Old Testament the “angel of the Lord”? For the first time in this chapter, we’re given a hint about who is really behind this sudden reversal of Israel’s fortunes during the Battle of Armageddon.
Verse 9 is a summary verse that condenses the previous eight verses into one statement:
9 On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem.
Notice the phrase “all the nations.” Verse 2 refers to the “surrounding people.” Verse 3 talks about “all the nations of the earth.” Verse 4 mentions the “horses of the nations.” This is not a regional war. It’s a world war. It’s a global conflagration. Zechariah 12:1-9 describe the Battle of Armageddon as the nations of the world surround Israel, Judah, and Jerusalem.
But now, from Zechariah 12:10 to 13:1, we have a second dramatic event. Not only is Israel saved in a military sense; she is going to be saved in a spiritual sense. At this desperate moment in her history, the nation of Israel and the Jewish people are finally going to receive and welcome the Messiah whom they rejected at His first coming. Look at verse 10.
2. The Salvation of Israel
10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on 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.
The first thing I want to point out to you is the One who is speaking. These are the words of Jesus the Messiah. He’s the one who has been speaking in chapter 12: They will look on Me, the One they have pierced.
The apostle John quotes this verse in John 19:34-37: “…one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water…. These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled… ‘They will look on the one they have pierced.’”
Jesus said, in effect, here in Zechariah: “I will pour out on the nation of Israel the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of grace, the Spirit of salvation. They will see Me. They will see Me, whom they pierced at Calvary.”
Ladies and gentlemen, this was written 500 years before the time of Jesus Christ, and yet we’re told in this passage how he would die, by piercing, and that He would return alive to be seen by those who had Him pierced. And He will pour out on them the Spirit of supplication, of prayer.
Joel talked about this moment too, when He said in Joel 2:28ff:
“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.”
Do you see the harmony between Joel’s predictions and those of Zechariah? We could go on and harmonize this with what Jesus said about His return and with the final chapters of the book of Revelation. How much clearer could it be?
Even the apostle Paul speaks of this day when he says in Romans 11:25-27: “I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters…. Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written, ‘The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.’ And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”
In the final days of the Great Tribulation, the devil-filled antichrist will deceive the nations and bring them to encircle the nation of Israel to destroy every last Jew and finally bring to a bitter end his history-long conflict with God’s chosen people. He will set up his command and control headquarters at Armageddon to the north of Jerusalem, occupy Israel, and the armies of all the nations on earth will surround Judah and Jerusalem. At that moment, the Lord Jesus Christ will intervene. The nation of Israel will see Him whom they pierced and mourn for Him. And He will pour down on them the Spirit of grace and supplication and salvation, and so all Israel will be saved.
Verse 11 says:
11 On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be as great as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.
The word “mourn” occurs five times in verses 10, 11, and 12. In this verse, Zechariah seems to be referring back to the day when good king Josiah was slain, leading to inconsolable grief. It was a time of national mourning. When the Jewish people recognize how they rejected their Savior when He came to them in the first century, it will break their hearts. Verse 12 says:
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.
13 “On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.
The forgiving grace of Jesus Christ will be poured out on the Jewish people and on the nation of Israel like giant heavenly fountains gushing from Heaven to cleanse and restore. And we should never forget that the same fountain is available right now to everyone on earth. This is the verse that inspired Isacc Watts to write:
There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins.
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains.
Conclusion
And so Zechariah 12 is one of the most important eschatological chapters in the Bible. It tells us about the Battle of Armageddon and the national conversion of the Jewish people. I cannot help but wonder why it is so seldom read in the pulpit or preached about in our sermons. But it helps us understand the importance of the Jewish people in God’s plan for human history, and why, even now, the presence of the Jews in their ancient land of Israel is a remarkable sign of the times in which we live.