The Deliverance of Jerusalem
Book of Zechariah
Chapter 12
We must always
remember, whose words are recorded in the Bible that is given to us!
2Ti 3:16 All
scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness:
2Ti 3:17 That the
man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
The Word "all"
concerns every Hebrew and Greek word in the "Received Text"
or the Textus Receptus from which we get our English translated King
James Version Bible, which is one of the few remaining Bibles that
come from the truth.
All other Bibles
come from text that have been altered by some man or some men and are
full of errors!
When we have the
Holy Ghost inspired Word of God, then we have the actual words of our
Creator. The red letter, Bibles contain the words of Jesus while He
was upon this earth, but all the Scriptures are the Words Jehovah
sent down from Heaven!
Psa 119:89 For
ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.
The Scriptures tell
us about our Creator!
His thoughts.
His reasons.
His commands.
His meanings but
most of all His "Love" for His creation!
When the Word of God
is settled in Heaven, how could we as the created, think we could
change the words of our Creator!
We need to meditate
on this for a moment before we continue!
The most major thing
that separates humans from the animal world is "words". We
need to hear words and we need to say words and it is words that
comfort us and words that stir us up!
God settled this
when He gave us His words to live by because we do not have it within
us to live by our own words!
The Prophet
Zechariah makes this very clear!
*****Zec 12:1 The
burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which
stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth,
and formeth the spirit of man within him.
It was the Jewish
nation, the children of Israel, who were predetermined to bring the
written Word of God to the world and though they like all humans fail
at all things we try to accomplish alone, they did give us the
written Word of Jehovah God. The One True God!
That name Israel
means "the people of God" so named by the Lord Himself!
Gen 32:28 And he
said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a
prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
Had Jacob given in
for one moment, he would have perished, and God would have chosen
someone else to be His people!
The orthodox Jews
still to this day, seek Jehovah and cling to Him.
The Church is bound
by the Lord Jesus Christ to our Heavenly Father, who is the One and
the Same Jehovah. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy
Spirit, not three gods but One God in three persons. The three
persons described in those same preserved Words that He has given to
us!
It is our Creator
who formed this nation. He chose Israel, so who are we to question
His choice!
Not only did He
create the heavens, which we know to be three.
The atmosphere that
we breath up to the heights that the birds can fly.
The expanse where
all the stars and planets that can be seen by the naked eye and with
the most sophisticated instruments.
The Heaven of
heavens that cannot be seen, the realm of Jehovah and the heavenly
hosts.
This same Creator
has formed a spirit within each of us, so that we by our spirit can
worship our God who is Spirit.
Joh 4:24 God is a
Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in
truth.
In our lesson today,
our God, Jehovah says I want you all to know this one thing!
The world will
tremble at the power that comes from the city of Jerusalem one day in
the future!
*****Zec 12:2
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.
Just when Jerusalem
is surrounded by a much overwhelming army of nations.
Just when things
seem so bleak for the Jews and Judah.
Just when it seems
all is lost.
What do we know for?
On the night before
the exodus of the Jews out of Egypt, they took the blood of a lamb
and painted the door frame of their homes, in fact in the shape of a
cross and the death angel passed over them.
Exo 12:22 And ye
shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the
bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood
that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his
house until the morning.
Exo 12:23 For the
LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the
blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass
over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your
houses to smite you.
In fact, Jerusalem
will be this "Cup" holding the blood of the Lamb and the
armies of the enemy will stagger like a bunch of drunks and they will
turn on each other.
We must remember
that every nation who has tried to destroy the Jews has failed, and
on this day, it will be a great destruction of all the enemies of
God!
If you are an enemy
of Israel, you are an enemy of God. This God is Jehovah, He is not
Allah!
On this day everyone
who came to cause harm to Jerusalem, will stagger back like a drunk
and fall in destruction and not only Jerusalem will be free of them
but all of Judah.
Jer 25:15 For thus
saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury
at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink
it.
Jer 25:16 And they
shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I
will send among them.
The armies of the
Antichrist will fall in so great numbers that blood will flow as a
river.
Rev 14:20 And the
winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the
winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand
and six hundred furlongs.
This will be the
"Day of the Lord".
*****Zec 12:3 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.
The enemies of God
will use every means possible to destroy Jerusalem, but the city will
be like a stone just too large to move.
No matter how
cunning these enemies, their every attack will fail.
We already know that
every nation that tried to destroy God's people have failed.
Among them already
Rome, Babylon, and Hitler of Germany.
It looks like the
world would wake up to the fact that God will not allow these people
to be destroyed!
Over and over
Jehovah has warned this world.
Isa 66:14 And when
ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish
like an herb: and the hand of the LORD shall be known toward his
servants, and his indignation toward his enemies.
Isa 66:15 For,
behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a
whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames
of fire.
Isa 66:16 For by
fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the
slain of the LORD shall be many.
Joe 3:16 The LORD
also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and
the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope
of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
Joe 3:17 So shall
ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy
mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers
pass through her any more.
Mic 5:15 And I will
execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they
have not heard.
Mic 7:15 According
to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew unto
him marvellous things.
Mic 7:16 The
nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall
lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf.
Mic 7:17 They shall
lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like
worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and
shall fear because of thee.
This will be a
terrible day for the enemies of God!
****Zec 12:4 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.
We know that the war
horse of old would ride into battle without fear and deliver his
rider into the conflict.
In modern warfare
the horse has been replaced with armored personel carriers.
The Lord will cause
these things not to operate and the men inside be driven mad and
useless.
When military
equipment fails in the modern-day armies and navies and airforces,
these militaries are then made useless.
When GPS does not
work, much equipment is useless.
When radar does not
work, much equipment is useless.
When satellites
cannot see, much equipment is useless.
When all the
equipment of all militaries is made blind, they are for the most
part, useless.
When the armies have
to face off with their bare hands against Israel whose technologies
will still operate there will be much devastation!
It is during this
blind time when these armies will turn on themselves for everyone
around them will appear to be their enemy.
The blind man in a
wilderness can never find his way out of the wilderness and will
perish!
*****Zec 12:5 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.
The Jews became
jealous when they realized that the Church, the Saints of God were
all called home to Heaven, before this horrible 7 years began, but
now as the enemies of God are falling to their death outside the
walls of Jerusalem and the people have remembered Jehovah these,
Jewish leaders have their eyes opened for the first time and they see
that strength comes only from our heavenly Father.
What had Jehovah
said?
2Ch 7:14 If my
people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and
pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I
hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their
land.
2Ch 7:15 Now mine
eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made
in this place.
2Ch 7:16 For now
have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there
for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.
This day had finally
come!
And Jerusalem would
stand before the world as the place where the Antichrist was
defeated.
*****Zec 12:6 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.
The invading enemy
will be struck with madness and delusion! Is this some sort of
chemical warfare that backfired?
The military
machinery will be blinded. All the satellites, the GPS, and all
guidance systems have been rendered useless by Jehovah, and all those
soldiers are in a panic till they attack each other.
All the means of
attack will be turned on themselves!
Remember many of
these nations were enemies of each other, until the Antichrist
brought them together and they will remain enemies!
The military machine
of the Antichrist is in the dark and they will become afraid.
The days of these
armies standing their ground will be over because they will see the
"supernatural" things of Jehovah, also named "Elohim"!
Inside the walls of
Jerusalem just the opposite is taking place. They now know that only
God could have done such a thing and their faith will become
blistering hot for the truth of the Word of God!
Eze 39:7 So will I
make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will
not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall
know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
Eze 39:8 Behold, it
is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof
I have spoken.
Eze 39:9 And they
that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on
fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the
bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they
shall burn them with fire seven years:
Eze 39:10 So that
they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of
the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they
shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them,
saith the Lord GOD.
Eze 39:11 And it
shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place
there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east
of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there
shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The
valley of Hamongog.
Eze 39:12 And seven
months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may
cleanse the land.
Eze 39:13 Yea, all
the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a
renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD.
Before the Lord
saves the city, all those innocents outside the city will be saved
from harm! All those too weak to defend themselves will be saved from
harm!
*****Zec 12:7 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.
Zec 12:8 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.
It will be those
Jews and those who help them outside the city of Jerusalem, who will
lead the charge.
On this day the
impossible will take place!
It will be as David
met Goliath! Where one river stone and a sling did take down the
invincible giant!
What did David say?
1Sa 17:45 Then said
David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a
spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD
of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.
1Sa 17:46 This day
will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and
take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host
of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the
wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a
God in Israel.
It will be the same
this day in Judah and those of the earth will know that there is a
God in Israel and He is real!
The house of David
represents King Jesus.
King Jesus the
"Captain" of the Heavenly Hosts.
Jos 5:13 And it
came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes
and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his
sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him,
Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?
Jos 5:14 And he
said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And
Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto
him, What saith my lord unto his servant?
Jos 5:15 And the
captain of the LORD'S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off
thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did
so.
The armies of the
world led by the Antichrist, will suffer an embarrassing defeat or I
should say slaughter!
*****Zec 12:9 And
it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all
the nations that come against Jerusalem.
There will be a
complete devastation and a total annihilation of all the armies of
the world, who come against the Jews and Jerusalem!
Notice also, it does
not say just armies but also nations. Those nations that come against
Jerusalem!
Personally, I
believe what the Bible says so I know this to be true!
Isa 54:17 No weapon
that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that
shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the
heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of
me, saith the LORD.
Hag 2:22 And I will
overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of
the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and
those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come
down, every one by the sword of his brother.
That "day"
is the "Day of the Lord"!
That "day"
is the "Return of Jesus Christ" to this world!
Before the Lord
restores all lands to that of the time of Adam, all these lands where
great nations once stood, will be as a wilderness!
Then God will show
His covenant of "Grace".
*****Zec 12:10 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.
At the same time the
Lord is pouring out His wrath upon the enemies of Israel, the Lord is
pouring out the Holy Spirit on all those in Jerusalem who are under
siege.
We know the Holy
Spirit brings "regeneration".
To regenerate means
to give life to.
Tit 3:5 Not by
works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy
he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy
Ghost;
Tit 3:6 Which he
shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
Tit 3:7 That being
justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope
of eternal life.
At the first coming
of the Lord, He was rejected and then crucified.
All the years since
they have continued to reject the Lord Jesus Christ!
They know Jesus very
well but just not as Savior! Much like the world!
You can either meet
the Savior or you will meet the All-powerful King of all kings and
Lord of all lords!
When they see their
Savior on this day, "The Day of the Lord", they will
continue to reject Him until they see, that this is the same Jesus
who was pierced upon the cross at Mount Calvary.
Then they will
remember!
It is then, they
will feel remorse for having rejected Him all these years, and they
will humble themselves and pray!
1Pe 1:20 Who verily
was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest
in these last times for you,
1Pe 1:21 Who by him
do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him
glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
1Pe 1:22 Seeing ye
have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto
unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a
pure heart fervently:
1Pe 1:23 Being born
again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of
God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
1Pe 1:24 For all
flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass.
The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
1Pe 1:25 But the
word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the
gospel is preached unto you.
These lowly Jews
will finally look upon their Savior and the true Messiah.
They will realize
what they have been wrong all these years!
The people will
realize they have been led by false prophets!
They will realize
that it was they who had attempted to kill God's Son!
They will mourn even
more than those who had mourned at the death of Josiah who fell while
trying to pose a threat to the King of Egypt, when he should have
stayed at home.
2Ch 35:22
Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised
himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the
words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley
of Megiddo.
2Ch 35:23 And the
archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have
me away; for I am sore wounded.
2Ch 35:24 His
servants therefore took him out of that chariot, and put him in the
second chariot that he had; and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he
died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers. And all
Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.
2Ch 35:25 And
Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing
women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made
them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the
lamentations.
There was a great
mourning for King Josiah who died but there will be even greater
remorse for the murder of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is the Lord Jesus
Christ who has arisen to be their King!
And there was an
even great mourning!
*****Zec 12:11 In
that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the
mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.
Zec 12:12 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;
Zec 12:13 The
family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family
of Shimei apart, and their wives apart;
Zec 12:14 All the
families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.
There will be no one
in all Jerusalem who will not realize that this Jesus is indeed the
true Messiah!
They will think
about all those wasted years. All the sorrows and despair that could
have been avoided, had they listened to John the Baptist.
They will be a
broken nation which will cause sincere repentance.
When we are broken,
it is then and only then, when most of us see the beauty of the Lord
Jesus Christ!
The House of David
represented the government.
The House of Nathan
represented the prophets.
The House of Levi
represented the priest.
The House of Shimei
represented those who were descendants of King Saul who were filled
with hatred.
Then all the other
families that remained. All sorrowing for the rejected Messiah, but
their Messiah that never forgot about them!
Rom 11:25 For I
would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest
ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is
happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
Rom 11:26 And so
all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of
Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
Rom 11:27 For this
is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
Don’t you just
love the Word of God and the amazing truths that we have discovered?
Amen
Let's Pray!