BIG IDEA:
THE DAY OF THE LORD WILL BRING SUPERNATURAL DESTRUCTION TO ISRAEL’S ATTACKERS AND DIVINELY INITIATED REPENTANCE TO ALL THE JEWS WHO NOW RECOGNIZE THEIR MESSIAH
INTRODUCTION:
“In that day” (12:3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11) is the emphasized time reference for this prophecy that speaks of the consummation of God’s great program for His people Israel. The reference is to the eschatological Day of the Lord. Just as God sovereignly created the heavens and the earth and breathed into man the spirit of life, He will fulfill all of His promises regarding the future conversion and deliverance of His chosen people Israel. The enemy nations who attack Israel (and specifically Jerusalem) with such great overpowering numbers and superior military force will be shocked to find that God will turn the tables on them and make Israel the scene of their ultimate defeat. The key will be the repentance that the Spirit of God will bring about as all of regathered Israel now is granted insight into the recognition of their Messiah = the one whom they pierced. They mourn in repentance as they come to grips with their great sin in rejecting their Messiah at His first coming.
I. (:1-5) THE FRUSTRATION OF ISRAEL’S ATTACKING ENEMIES
A. (:1) Introduction – the Lord deserves to be Heard
1. The Weighty Message
“The burden of the word of the Lord concerning Israel”
2. The Worthy Credentials
“Thus declares the Lord:
who stretches out the heavens,
lays the foundation of the earth,
and forms the spirit of man within him”
Dr. John C. Whitcomb: He created the whole universe, and the uniquely inhabitable earth; but the most spectacular of all His creations are human beings.
Jeremiah 10:11 – “Thus you shall say to them, The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.” — the only verse in the whole book of Jeremiah which is not in the Hebrew language but in the common Aramaic, the language the Gentiles understood. Why? Because God wanted them to hear too. [Jeremiah includes the first two qualifications, and Zechariah adds the third, the creation of mankind. The Lord Jesus is thus thrice qualified to be worshipped as God.]
B. (:2-3) Two Images of God Turning the Tables on Israel’s Attacking Enemies
1. (:2) Incapacitated by Drunkenness
“Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah.”
Expectation of enemies of Israel: they could drink victoriously – Wrong!
2. (:3) Injured by Lifting a Heavy Stone
“It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.”
Expectation of enemies of Israel: they could defeat Jerusalem – Wrong!
C. (:4-5) Contrast Between Frustration of Enemy Nations and Encouragement of Israel
1. (:4) Divine Intervention – to Frustrate Israel’s Enemies and to Protect Israel
“’In that day,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will strike every horse with bewilderment and his rider with madness. But I will watch over the house of Judah, while I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.’”
2. (:5) National Encouragement — based on the Special Bond Between Jerusalem and Her Covenant God
“Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘A strong support for us are the inhabitants of Jerusalem through the Lord of hosts, their God.’”
II. (:6-9) THE DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL’S ATTACKING ENEMIES
A. (:6) Destruction of Enemies Leads to Security for God’s People in Jerusalem
1. Two Images of Destruction
a. A Firepot
“In that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot among pieces of wood”
b. Flaming Torch
“and a flaming torch among sheaves”
2. Contrast between the Devastation of Israel’s Enemies and the Security of God’s People
a. Devastation of Israel’s Enemies
“so they will consume on the right hand and on the left all the surrounding peoples,”
b. Security of God’s People
“while the inhabitants of Jerusalem again dwell on their own sites in Jerusalem.”
B. (:7) Jerusalem Not Magnified Above Judah
“The Lord also will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem will not be magnified above Judah.”
Lesson: Salvation is from the Lord – not from the fortified capital city of Jerusalem
C. (:8) Jerusalem – the City of David — Magnified
“In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the one who is feeble among them in that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord before them.”
Lesson: The Lord can make both the weak and the strong to be victorious warriors (like King David) under the leadership of the Sovereign Messiah
D. (:9) Enemies of Jerusalem Destroyed
“And in that day I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.”
Lesson: The Lord will fulfill His promise of destruction.
Transition: Turning from Physical Deliverance to look at their Spiritual Salvation:
III. (:10-14) THE REPENTANCE OF ISRAEL’S REGATHERED INHABITANTS AS THEY TRULY RECOGNIZE THEIR MESSIAH
A. (:10) National Conversion of Israel = Accomplished by the Spirit of God
1. Divinely Targeted towards Israel
“I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
2. Divinely Initiated
“the Spirit of grace and of supplication”
3. Divinely Focused – Looking Upon their Rejected Messiah and Bitterly Mourning
“so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.”
Firstborn or an only son = of highest value; most precious
B. (:11-14) Great Mourning Throughout the Land = Godly Repentance
1. (:11) Intensity of the Mourning
“In that day there will be great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo.”
David Guzik: This refers to the mourning over King Josiah’s death (2 Kings 23:29 and 2 Chronicles 35:20-25). He was such a godly king that the whole nation wept bitterly at his death.
2. (:12-14) Pervasiveness of the Mourning
a. General Introduction
“The land will mourn, every family by itself;”
b. House of David
“the family of the house of David by itself and their wives by themselves;”
c. House of Nathan
“the family of the house of Nathan by itself and their wives by themselves;”
d. House of Levi
“the family of the house of Levi by itself and their wives by themselves;”
e. Shimeites
“the family of the Shimeites by itself and their wives by themselves;”
f. Summary – all families
“all the families that remain, every family by itself and their wives by themselves.”