Zechariah 12
BSB
The Coming Deliverance of Jerusalem
1This is the burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel.
Thus declares the LORD, who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundation of the earth, who forms the spirit of man within him:
2“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples. Judah will be besieged, as well as Jerusalem.
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.
4On that day, declares the LORD, 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 the LORD 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.
7The LORD 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 the LORD 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 the LORD 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.
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.
Introduction
Zechariah 12
The apostle (Gal 4:25, Gal 4:26) distinguishes between "Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children" - the remaining carcase of the Jewish church that rejected Christ, and "Jerusalem that is from above, that is free, and is the mother of us all" - the Christian church, the spiritual Jerusalem, which God has chosen to put his name there; in the foregoing chapter we read the doom of the former, and left that carcase to be a prey to the eagles that should be gathered to it. Now, in this chapter, we have the blessings of the latter, many precious promises made to the gospel-Jerusalem by him who (Zac 12:1) declares his power to make them good. It is promised, I. That the attempts of the church's enemies against her shall be to their own ruin, and they shall find that it is at their peril if they do her any hurt (Zac 12:2-4, Zac 12:6). II. That the endeavours of the church's friends and patrons for her good shall be pious, regular, and successful (Zac 12:5). III. That God will protect and strengthen the meanest and weakest that belong to his church, and work salvation for them (Zac 12:7, Zac 12:8). IV. That as a preparative for all this mercy, and a pledge of it, he will pour upon them a spirit of prayer and repentance, the effect of which shall be universal and very particular (Zac 12:9-14). These promises were of use then to the pious Jews that lived in the troublous times under Antiochus, and other persecutors and oppressors; and they are still to be improved in every age for the directing of our prayers and the encouraging of our hopes with reference to the gospel-church.
Cross-references: Gal 4:25 · Gal 4:26 · Zech 12:1 · Zech 12:2 · Zech 12:6 · Zech 12:5 · Zech 12:7 · Zech 12:8 · Zech 12:9