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10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. 11 On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be as great as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12 The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, 13 the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, 14 and all the rest of the clans and their wives. ~ Zechariah 12:10-14
Today, we continue our study of Zechariah 12 where we learn of Israel's siege, shielding, sorrow, and salvation. Having considered Israel's siege and shielding, today, we consider Israel's sorrow and salvation.
According to Ezekiel 38-39, a Russian-Arab alliance will advance upon Israel on that last day. In addition to Russia, this alliance will include Turkey and Egypt. And, according to Revelation 9:16, a 200 million man army from the Far East will join this Russian-Arab alliance. The Euphrates River will be dried up so that this massive army will have no problem advancing against the nation of Israel. This will be a bleak moment in the life of Israel, and it will bring to the end man's time on this earth, as we know it.
If we let Him, God will do His greatest work in our lives through our greatest adversity. Nothing worth having ever comes easy or without opposition. God allows the storms of life in order to reveal Himself to us and to enable us to confront our greatest fears. God allows the path to be difficult in order to refine us and to prepare us for what He has in store for us in the days ahead. Like gaining our bearings by looking at a large plot of land through the benefit of a drone, God uses trials, in tandem with His Spirit, to help us to see the big picture, His big picture.
In v.10 of today's text we read, "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son."
God will pour out His Spirit of grace on Israel, because that will be the motive for which He will give His Spirit to broken Israel. He will pour out His Spirit of supplication, because that will be the response which He will produce in the broken hearts of the people. When God pours out His Spirit by His grace, the recipient hearts always respond in prayer. Just as God pours out refreshing showers on thirsty and parched ground, so will He pour out His Spirit of grace and supplication on a repentant sinner.
As a result, when the eyes of my heart are focused on God, trials serve my faith's ability to soar. I have found that my faith is much like the knob on a radio which when fine tuned enables me to hear the frequency of a local radio station better. God's goal is always that I may hear and see Him more clearly with my heart. Through Israel's mourning, they will clearly see the Lord Jesus Christ coming in the clouds. On that day of His Second Coming, Israel will look on Him and they will recognize the nail prints in His body. Their response will be the product of the Holy Spirit working in their hearts in the context of their darkest hour here on earth.
In v.11 of today's text we read, "On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be as great as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo."
One would think this weeping would be produced by the massive armies advancing upon the people of Israel, but a closer look enables us to see the unfolding of the greatest story to date. Israel will mourn due to the revealing of their victorious Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.
This mourning will be similar to that which was in the valley of Hadad Rimmon in 2 Chronicles 35. In that passage we learn of the murder of Judah's godly king, Josiah. The people of Judah mourned severely for they loved King Josiah. They loved him because he loved them. And, he loved them because he had a very tight relationship with God.
In v.12-14 of today's text we read, "12 The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, 13 the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, 14 and all the rest of the clans and their wives."
This will be a day of mourning like none other. There will be individual mourning, individual repentance, family repentance and then all the families of Israel will join in a day of national mourning and repentance. This will happen right at the point the Lord Jesus rescues Israel from her many enemies. Israel will recognize that the very one who came back as their deliverer was the same one they killed and they crucified when He came the first time. That is why they will mourn. It will be the most beautiful scene as Israel embraces the anguish of true repentance.
In John 16:8-10 we read, "8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned."
In this passage the Lord Jesus was teaching His disciples about the one sin that must be dealt with before a person comes to faith in the Lord Jesus. This will be exactly the one sin that will be highlighted on that day of the Lord. This is where salvation begins, this is where it began in our hearts. To be saved we must turn from this ultimate sin which is the sin of rejecting Jesus Christ as our Savior. This is the sin that takes anyone to hell. But, once we have dealt with this sin, we are ready to be made alive to God. And, we are made alive to Him when the Holy Spirit comes into our spirit, introducing us to our Maker-Redeemer.
Here, in v.12-14 of today's text, Zechariah singles out certain families who will lead the nation in mourning. These families include the families of David and Nathan. The family of David was the royal line through which Joseph the husband of Mary descended. And, the family of Nathan was the brother of Solomon through whom Mary was descended. And, all of those who will come through the royal line will weep, because they will know that it was in their very line that the Messiah came and was rejected.
The families of Levi and Shimei are also mentioned because they were of the priestly families. The many years they were supposed to connect the people to God, they had kept the people from God. This will be the source of their great mourning because when God had finally arrived in Jesus Christ, they crucified Him.
