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Zechariah 12

1 The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, Who stretches forth the heavens, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him.

2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.

3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.

4 In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.

5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts their God.

6 In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.

7 The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah.

8 In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them.

9 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

11 In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.

12 And the land shall mourn, every 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;

14 All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.

Previous - Zechariah 10

Zechariah 12

From Mourning to Victory

and they shall look upon Me, whom they have pierced, 

and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourns for his only son

Zechariah 12:10

 

Zechariah left the people under the rule of a foolish shepherd, that had no compassion for the sheep but instead unleashed the most brutal of agonies upon them. Since their rejection of the Good Shepherd, their true Messiah, 2000 years ago, the people of Israel have been ruled by those that sought nothing but their own interests and that brought enormous suffering and destruction upon them.  How are the people of God going to be saved from the hands of its selfish and cruel shepherds, which act as hirelings or even thieves of the flock? That is the subject of Zechariah 12.

 

Zechariah 12 does no longer use the metaphor of a flock of sheep with a shepherd. It does not name neighbor or king, as did Zechariah 11. Zechariah 12 uses the metaphor of a siege. The country of the Lord is under siege by strange occupiers and has to be delivered from them. That is exactly the situation of 2025. The land called Israel is occupied by the forces of evil, the last empire and its agents that act as if Israel is independent. It is not. The foolish shepherd, which we think to be Netanyahu, has been groomed in the USA and frequently visits US presidents as well as the US house and senate. The policies of Israel in the Middle East are in the interest of the US-empire, not in the interests of the true Jewish people. The true Jewish people are being used as pawn in a sinister plan - to acquire enough territory in the Middle East under direct control of the USA so that it can hold on to its hegemony in the world. The plan goes even much further but that is not the subject of the book of Zechariah.

 

Verse 1 - This is the second 'burden' of the word of the Lord, the heavy message of judgment that is to come. The first burden concerned the East coast of the Mediterranean, which was attacked by Alexander the Great.

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