The Coming Deliverance

Zechariah 12:1-14 

1 The burden of the word of the LORD against Israel. Thus says the LORD, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him: 2 "Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. 3 And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it. 4 In that day," says the LORD, "I will strike every horse with confusion, and its rider with madness; I will open My eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. 5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, 'The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in the LORD of hosts, their God.' 6 In that day I will make the governors of Judah like a firepan in the woodpile, and like a fiery torch in the sheaves; they shall devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left, but Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place—Jerusalem.

7 "The LORD will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not become greater than that of Judah. 8 In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the LORD before them. 9 It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

Mourning for the Pierced One

10 "And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. 11 In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12 And the land shall mourn, every family by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; 13 the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of Shimei by itself, and their wives by themselves; 14 all the families that remain, every family by itself, and their wives by themselves.

The coming deliverance of Judah, her salvation, was foretold through Zechariah to God’s people then to look forward to and to us to reflect back on in awe of God’s sovereign grace of salvation.  This is the message of the LORD “who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him.”  He is sovereign as Ruler and Deliverer of all whom He has made and calls to Himself.  We can trust that what He promises, that He will absolutely do according to His word!  He has created the universe above and the earth beneath our feet, and He has breathed life into us of His own Spirit by design and good and perfect intent.  He promised to protect His sheep as their almighty Shepherd from every enemy coming against them from outside and inside.  The holy city of worship and meeting God for sacrificial atonement would be inhabited once more and they would utterly defeat the enemy set against her.  This was temporary back then for the earthly City, but speaks of far better things to come in the Celestial City to come down from heaven and remain forever with all enemies defeated and cast down into eternal torment for opposing the Lord and His Anointed, not to mention all those who have been chosen and called as His own special people, both Jew and Gentile from out of every nation through the faith of Abraham (Galatians 3:8-9).  The glory spoken of here for the house of David pointed to the fleshly lineage of Jesus Christ for it is written that this house would be “like God” and like the Angel of the LORD” which is a way of describing the appearance of the Son of God before He took on flesh in Bethlehem on earth (John 1:14).  Grace and supplication for us all would be poured out on Him even as He hung on the cross where they would pierce His side (John 19:34, 36-37) to make certain they had killed God to try and avoid their accountability as they imagined possible by this final rejection.  Yet some would also mourn His death (John 16:20) as they had a sense that Jesus was the only begotten Son and would grieve the loss of their Lord,who had walked beside them for three years and taught them many things of the kingdom of God within them.  They would not fully comprehend these until Je came back from the dead to open their eyes to see and ears to hear what had been told them all through the scriptures (Luke 24:16, 26-27, 31-32, 44-45) about the one who would suffer for their salvation and be pierced in spite when dead, then arose to give them eternal life and hope.  This is the gospel foretold from Genesis 3:15 after our fall until now.  Our mourning has been turned to joy (John 16:20) because He lives!  This is the fulfillment of the promised coming deliverance.  Amen and amen.