Zechariah 12
God Will Defend Israel
This chapter consists of two parts: Israel’s deliverance (12:1-9) and Israel’s national conversion (12:10-14). - Thomas Constable
Zechariah’s intent was to energize the current inhabitants of Jerusalem by looking ahead to God’s blessings. - D. Brent Sandy
The Word of The Lord
Vs. 1 - the Lord, who stretched out the heavens, laid the foundation of the earth, and formed the spirit of man within him.
By describing Yahweh as the creator of the heavens, earth, and man, Zechariah reminded his audience of God’s authority and ability to accomplish what He predicted in this three-chapter oracle. He is the master over all things celestial, terrestrial, and human. - Thomas Constable
On That Day
The phrase “on that day” is used 7 times in this short section and, according to Constable, 19 times in the final section of Zechariah’s prophecy (12-14).
This prophetic time indicator is equivalent to ’the day of the Lord’ and denotes precisely that future period when the Lord will openly and publicly manifest His power in delivering Israel from her enemies and establishing her in millennial peace and prosperity. - Unger
The Lord Will Defend Jerusalem
On occasions, God used Gentile nations to punish his people Israel, but if his desire was to fight for Israel, no enemy attack could be successful. On the occasion that Zechariah speaks of in Chapter 12, God strengthens his people to overthrow the armies that besiege Jerusalem. - Don Fleming
Vs. 2 - I will make Jerusalem a cup that causes staggering
Vs. 3 - I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone
Vs. 4 - I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness.
Vs. 4 - I will keep a watchful eye on the house of Judah
Vs. 6 - I will make the leaders of Judah like a firepot
Vs. 8 - the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem
Vs. 9 - I will set out to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
Zechariah used multiple metaphors to describe how God will fight for Israel in this coming day of the Lord.
Israel Will Mourn for The One They Pierced
A Spirit of Grace and Prayer
Vs. 10 - Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the house of David and the residents of Jerusalem
Some commentators note a similarity between this promise and Joel’s prophecy of an outpouring of the spirit of God (Joel 2:28), the latter of which Peter believed to be at least partially fulfilled on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2).
Acts 2:15-18 - For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it’s only nine in the morning. On the contrary, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: And it will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all people; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. I will even pour out my Spirit on my servants in those days, both men and women and they will prophesy.
The One They Pierced
Vs. 10 - they will look at me whom they pierced. They will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly for him as one weeps for a firstborn.
It was the apostle John who confirmed, in both his gospel record and prophetic revelations, that Zechariah’s prophecy of this pierced one for whom all of Israel will mourn was, in fact, Jesus the Messiah.
God declares in the first person that He will be pierced by the people. I do not believe anyone could comprehend the meaning of these words until these things were fulfilled. How is it possible that God could be pierced by His very people? I would expect that many simply understood this as a figure of speech, yet it was not to simply be a description of God’s pain when we rebel against Him. The gravity of these words go much deeper. The fulfillment of the words of Zechariah is found in the days of the Messiah, when Jesus was crucified. This was the event that the Lord prophesied through Zechariah would take place, a prophecy made 550 years before the event. - Brent Kercheville
John 19:34-37 - But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows he is telling the truth. For these things happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: Not one of his bones will be broken. Also, another Scripture says: They will look at the one they pierced.
Revelation 1:5-7 - To him who loves us and has set us free from our sins by his blood, and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father—to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him.
Hadad-rimmon
Vs. 11 - the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning of Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.
Zechariah compared this mourning to the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo, an event that scholars have had trouble identifying. - Thomas Constable
Every Family
Vs. 12 - The land will mourn, every family by itself:
All the Israelites would mourn; this would be a national repentance. The repeated phrases "every family by itself" and "their wives by themselves" solemnize the mourning and underline its genuineness. - Thomas Constable
