Zacarias 12

Zacarias 12

Chart from recommended resource Jensen's Survey of the OT - used by permission Zechariah Chart from Charles Swindoll Another Zechariah Chart ZECHARIAH ("Yahweh Remembers") Click for EXCELLENT TIMELINE of Zechariah - Go to Page 43 Other Timelines on Zechariah Zec 1:1-6 Zec 1:7-6:8 Zec 6:9-6:15 Zec 7:1-8:23 Zec 9:1-11:17 Zec 12:1-14:21 Return to Me Zec 1:3 Messianic Kingdom Visions The Branch Four Messages Two Oracles or Burdens Zechariah 1-6 Zechariah 7-8 Zechariah 9-14 Apocalyptic Ethical Prophecy 1) Rebuke 2) Reminder 3) Restoration 4) Return Predictive Prophecy 1) Burden Against the Nations 2) Burden For Israel Call to Repentance Eight Visions (Picture) Crowning of Joshua Question of the Fasts (Calendar) First Burden: Rejection of Messiah Second Burden: Reign of Messiah The Way of Salvation Messianic Kingdom Visions The Bringer of Salvation Commands Concerning Present Things Oracles (Burdens) Concerning Future Things Behold the man...the Branch Love, Truth and Peace The Day of the Lord PICTURES PROBLEMS PREDICTIONS ISRAEL'S FORTUNE ISRAEL'S FASTING ISRAEL'S FUTURE "My house will be built in Jerusalem" Zec 1:16 "Let your hands be strong" Zec 8:9 "HOLY TO THE LORD" PLACE: JERUSALEM Written During the Building of the Temple 520-518BC Written after the Temple Was Completed circa 480-470BC J Vernon McGee's Outline of Zechariah I. APOCALYPTIC VISIONS (messianic and millennial) Second burden: Prophetic aspects connected with second coming of Christ, Zechariah 12-14 Zechariah 12 — The final siege of Jerusalem and the lifting of the siege. “Jerusalem” is mentioned 10 times. “In that day” is mentioned 7 times and is a reference to the day of the LORD, specifically the Great Tribulation Period. Zec 12:1-3 — Jerusalem is to be a constant irritant to all the nations that presume to make decisions that affect it. God’s policy for the nations is “hands off” Israel (too bad the United Nations is not aware of this). All the nations in the Great Tribulation will march against Jerusalem — and be destroyed. Zec 12:4-9 — Jerusalem will be delivered in the final siege by the coming of the Lord personally. Zec 12:10-14 — They will know Him by the print of the nails in His hands. This is the One they rejected and delivered to be crucified. This will be a real day of atonement. Zechariah 13 — What will the return of Christ mean to Israel? Zec 13:1 — The Remnant will turn to the redemption of Christ for their salvation. Zec 13:2-5 — The false prophet and his followers will be taken (see Revelation 19:20-note). This is the end of all false religion. Zec 13:6, 7 — The nail-scarred Christ will be present. His followers will not desert Him but will rally around Him. Zec 13:8, 9 — These are those who come out of the Great Tribulation and have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb. Zechariah 14 — Features and facts connected with the coming of Christ to the earth. Zec 14:1-7 — This is the consummation of the campaign of Armageddon and the return of Christ. When Christ returns to this earth, He will touch down on the Mount of Olives (Zec 14:4). This is the same place from which He ascended into heaven. There will be great physical changes in the topography of the land. There will be a great earthquake at His coming (Zec 14:5). There will be changes in the lighting of the earth (Zec 14:6, 7). Zec 14:8 — There will be a new waterway through Jerusalem, making it a seaport city. Zec 14:9 — The Lord Jesus Christ will reign over the earth. Zec 14:10, 11 — The land will become the land of milk and honey. Zec 14:12 — This is a living death against the enemies of God. Zec 14:16-21 — The people of the earth, both Jew and Gentile, will go to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. This feast will mean that every man is dwelling safely under his own vine and fig tree. True holiness will be on the earth. Every pot and pan will be holy. Charles Feinberg's Outline: The Future of the World Powers, Israel, and the Kingdom of Messiah, Zec 9-14. A. The First Burden, Zec 9-11. 1. Judgment on the Land of Hadrach, Zec 9:1-8. 2. Israel’s King of Peace, Zec 9:9,10. 3. The King’s Mission in Relation to Israel, Zec 9:11-17. 4. Additional Blessings for Israel, Zec 10:1-12. 5. The Rejection of the Good Shepherd and the Rule of the Wicked One, Zec 11:1-17. B. The Second Burden, Zec 12-14 . 1. Israel’s Conflict and Deliverance, Zec 12:1-14 . 2. Israel Cleansed of Her Sin, Zec 13:1-6 . 3. The Shepherd Smitten and the Sheep Scattered, Zec 13:7, 8, 9 . 4. The Great Consummation: Israel’s Deliverance & God’s Earthly Kingdom, Zec 14:1-21 SECOND BURDEN: ZECHARIAH 12–14 - Walter Kaiser Cleansing Judah and Jerusalem of Foreign Invaders (Zechariah 12:1–9) Mourning for the Pierced One (Zechariah 12:10–13:1) Cleansing the Land of False Prophets (Zechariah 13:2–6) Slaughtering the Shepherd and Scattering the Sheep (Zechariah 13:7–9) Waiting for the Second Coming of Messiah (Zechariah 14:1–15) Worshipping the Lord as King Over All (Zechariah 14:16–21) Charles Feinberg summarizes his Zechariah studies... "And throughout the prophecy there is presented to us on every page the spotless, blemishless Holy One of Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah and King of Israel. See Him in..." Chapter one as the Riding One; Chapter two as the Measuring One; Chapter three as the Cleansing One; Chapter four as the Empowering One; Chapter five as the Judging One; Chapter six as the Crowned One; Chapter seven as the Rebuking One; Chapter eight as the Restoring One; Chapter nine as the Kingly One; Chapter ten as the Blessing One; Chapter eleven as the Shepherding One; Chapter twelve as the Returning One; Chapter thirteen as the Smitten One; Chapter fourteen as the Reigning One. Borrow Feinberg's Minor Prophets - Zechariah commentary on page 272 Walter Kaiser - “Zechariah is not only the longest of the books of the twelve Minor Prophets, it is one of the most frequently quoted. There are seventy-one quotations from or allusions to Zechariah in the New Testament. One third of these appear in the Gospels and thirty-one are found in the book of Revelation (including twenty from chapters 1–8 and eight from chapters 9–14). Of all the Old Testament books, Zechariah is second only to Ezekiel in its influence on the book of Revelation.” — Mastering the Old Testament Charles Swindoll - “Zechariah is second only to Isaiah in its number of messianic passages. Among Zechariah’s explicit references to Christ are the angel of the Lord (Zech 3:1-2); the righteous Branch (Zech 3:8; 6:12-13); the King-Priest (Zech 6:13); the cornerstone, tent peg, and bow of battle (Zech 10:4); the good shepherd who is sold for thirty pieces of silver (Zech 11:4-13); the pierced One (Zech 12:10); and the coming Judge and righteous King (Zech 14).” George Klein - “One of the great ironies concerning the book of Zechariah is its relative obscurity to the modern church contrasted with its profound significance to the early church. Unfortunately, students of the Bible rarely study Zechariah today. However, strong reasons exist for suggesting that the book ascended to a place of paramount importance to the writers of the New Testament and to the early church at large. “The book of Zechariah exerted a profound influence over the New Testament, particularly in the realm of Messianic passages—a point long noted by New Testament scholars. Several important themes from the book figure prominently in the New Testament. One of the most important of these is the shepherd-king. From Zech 9:9 the King who rode into Jerusalem on a “donkey” reemerges in Matt 21:5 and John 12:15. C. H. Dodd even suggests that Zechariah provided the Gospel writers with material of equal importance to the very testimonia [their eyewitness accounts] of Christ’s ministry.” — NAC, 61-2 Zechariah 12:1 The burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel. Thus declares the LORD Who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him, Circa, B.C. 500 The burden of the word of the LORD: Zec 9:1 La 2:14 Mal 1:1 concerning Israel: Isa 51:22,23 Jer 30:10,16 50:34 Eze 36:5-7 Joe 3:19,21 Ob 1:16,17 the LORD Who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth: Job 26:7 Ps 102:25,26 104:2 136:5,6 Isa 40:12,22 42:5 Isa 44:24 45:12,18 48:13 51:13 Jer 10:12 51:15 Heb 1:10-12 forms the spirit of man within him: Ge 2:7 Nu 16:22 Ec 12:7 Isa 57:16 Jer 38:16 Eze 18:4 Heb 12:9 Walter Kaiser's Scripture Outline His Authenticating Word (Zech 12:1) His Intoxicated Enemies (Zech 12:2) His Immovable City (Zech 12:3) His Astonishing Deliverance (Zech 12:4–9) John MacArthur's Summary of Zechariah 12 the siege of Israel the shielding of Israel the sorrow of Israel the salvation of Israel Andy Woods Zechariah 12 Zechariah 12 (Israel’s Physical & Spiritual Salvation) Israel’s physical deliverance (Zech 12:1-9) The nations that will attack Israel (Zech 12:1-3) The God who will protect Israel (Zech 12:4-9) Israel’s spiritual deliverance (Zech 12:10-14) God’s Spirit: the cause of revival (Zech 12:10a) Israel’s remorse: the result of revival (Zech 12:11-14) Introduction Too many people avoid studying this great book because it is filled with symbolism and eschatology. Even Martin Luther who penned two commentaries on Zechariah published his first one in 1526 and stopped at the end of Zechariah 13 without explanation! Luther's second commentary on Zechariah was written one year after his first but still had minimal explanation of Zechariah 14. In fact in the second commentary Luther wrote these words regarding Zechariah 14 "Here, in this chapter, I give up. For I am not sure what the prophet is talking about." (from "Lectures on Zechariah" 1527). In fact someone has written that there are at least seven different interpretations of Zechariah 14! Of course, there is only one correct interpretation. Keep in mind as you read the Word of God in Zechariah 12-14, that these three chapters should be studied as a coherent unit (take a moment and study the two summary charts above noting especially the last columns on "Predictive Prophecy" composed of two "burdens," Zechariah 9-11 for the nations and Zechariah 12-14 for the nation of Israel). In other words from Zechariah 12:1 to Zechariah 14:21 God is giving us a unified message concerning the nation of Israel. I love Warren Wiersbe's title of Zechariah 12-14 - Redeemed, Refined, and Restored, referring of course to the literal nation of Israel and wonderfully summarizing the "terminal" history of Israel in these last 3 chapters. GOD IS ABSOLUTELY, DEFINITIVELY NOT FINISHED WITH THE NATION OF ISRAEL. Don't believe anyone who attempts to spin the fairy tale of replacement theology, for it is a lie that originates from the one in whom there is no truth (Jn 8:44). Think about it. If there is no literal, geographic nation of Israel in need of redemption, then there is no need for the Redeemer to return and stand on the Mount of Olives which is in front of Jerusalem on the east. (Zechariah 14:4). So shun this genre of false teaching that is sadly spreading like leaven in the modern church which has only a very limited understanding of or interest in Bible prophecy (I have literally heard young church leaders say things like "It's too divisive," "It's too difficult to understand," "There are too many interpretations, so how can anyone know which is correct," etc, etc). And some add why study prophecy? It's not practical for daily Christian living? (See Adrian Rogers' rebuttal - Profiting from Prophecy) And yet to shun Bible prophecy is like taking an ax and lopping off a major portion of the Bible, for prophecy composes some 25% of Scripture and of that percent some 80% has already been fulfilled! How can anyone dispute God's eternal lovingkindness for the nation of Israel, when He sovereignly, omnipotently brought the nation back into existence in May, 1948 (read of this miracle), against all odds, and accomplishing a miracle that is unparalleled in the history of the world (well, not exactly, the Resurrection being the greatest miracle)! So why would we doubt that the God of Truth and Power would not perfectly fulfill the last portion of His predictive prophecy literally packed with as yet unfulfilled promises for His Chosen People and the nation of Israel! (See also Messianic Prophecies) And recall that the prophet's name Zechariah means “Yahweh remembers” a name which is filled with hope and assurance and serves as a constant reminder to the Jews who must have felt abandoned by God during their 70 years of Babylonian captivity. As we will discover in Zechariah 12-14, Yahweh remembers His immutable covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and in his great covenant love (lovingkindness) or hesed He will not forget His Chosen People. As alluded to above, it is a sad day in evangelicalism when many in the evangelical church choose to believe that God is finished with the nation of Israel, and the OT promises given to Israel have now passed on to the Church. This false teaching is often referred to as replacement theology or supersessionism. And despite the fact that the 76 of 77 uses of the term "Israel" in the New Testament clearly refer to the literal nation of Israel, those who espouse replacement theology teach that Paul's phrase "Israel of God" in Galatians 6:16 does not refer to the literal nation (like all the other 76 mentions!) but to a so-called "Spiritual Israel" (see also spiritual Israel, see example of how the literal truth is twisted) which is their "synonym" for the Church! It goes without saying that supersesssionists have considerable difficulty in attempting to interpret predictive passages like Zechariah 12-14 which even in the first verse written by a Jewish prophet, to the Jewish nation clearly states "The burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel" not "spiritual Israel" but literal Israel! (Zech 12:1) David Baron, a Messianic Jew wrote a commentary on Zechariah in 1918 and entitled Zechariah 12 "Israel's Final Conflict And Great Deliverance." He clearly saw this chapter as applying to Israel and not to the Church. James Montgomery