Zechariah 12

Jerusalem the centre of trouble in the last days, its deliverance

The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel: The LORD speaks, he who stretched out the heavens, and laid the foundation of the earth, and who forms the spirit of man within him: 2 “See, I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling to all the surrounding peoples, when they besiege both Judah and Jerusalem. 3 And in that day I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all peoples. All who try to lift it will be cut in pieces, when all the peoples of the earth are gathered together around it. 4 In that day, says the LORD, I will strike every horse with confusion, and his rider with madness. And I will keep watchful eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the nations with blindness.

12:4 God Himself will fight for Israel against the enemies coming to destroy it.⚜

5 And the leaders of Judah will say in their heart, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in the LORD of hosts their God.’

12:5 The Jewish leaders in that day will at last realize that their strength is not in themselves or their weapons of war. This may mark the beginning of their turning back to God.⚜

6 “In that day I will make the leaders of Judah like a fire pot in a woodpile and like a fiery torch among the sheaves, and they will consume all the surrounding peoples, on the right and on the left, while Jerusalem is again inhabited in her own place, in Jerusalem.

7 “The LORD will also save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem will not be greater than that of Judah. 8 In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the one who is feeble among them on that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the LORD before them. 9 And this will happen in that day: I will set out to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

Israel’s repentance and lament about Christ

10 “And I will pour out on the house of David, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and supplication. And they will look on me whom they have pierced, and will mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son, and will weep bitterly for him, as one weeps bitterly for his firstborn. 11 In that day there will be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadad-Rimmon in the valley of Megiddon. 12 And the land will mourn, each family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; 13 the family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart;

12:10-13 It seems quite clear from the Scriptures that Israel as a nation will repent of its age-long rejection of Christ and wholeheartedly turn to God. See Isa 59:20-21; Jer 23:5-8; 31:31-34; 32:37-40; Ezek 20:40-44; 37:21-28; Dan 12:1; Hos 3:4-5; 14:1-4. See also notes on Rom 11:25-29; Rev 7:3-8.⚜

14 of all the remaining families each family apart, and their wives apart.