ZECHARIAH - CHAPTER 12 - Apocalyptic Word for Jerusalem
ZECHARIAH – CHAPTER 12 – Apocalyptic Word For Jerusalem
Tuesday Morning Bible Study
September 24, 2019, the Year of Our Lord
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
This is a continuation of the oracle concerning Israel from Chapters 9-11. The cosmic tones of the introduction form a fitting prelude to the apocalyptic content of the chapter.
Zech 12:1The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, says the LORD, which stretches forth the heavens, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him.
The LORD identifies Himself as Jehovah, the creator of the heavens, the earth and gave the breath of life to mankind.
Zech 12:2Behold, 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.
Jerusalem is now very much the focal point of the prophet’s message down to the end of the book. Zechariah saw it all. What an awesome trust the Lord had in this prophet to bestow upon him such revelation.
There can be little doubt that the extremity Jerusalem suffers is an indication of the fact that she is regarded as the center of God’s purpose. In consequence, she attracts the perpetual antagonism of the enemies of God,
I don’t consider it circumstantial that 2017 “was the first time an American president has recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel…the first time in modern history that any world leader or nation has ever recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, or even as belonging to Israel.. It is the first time any major power has recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel since ancient times.
To find any other instance of such recognition, one would have to go back at least two thousand years. To find any instance of a world power actually supporting the return of the Jewish people to Jerusalem actively affirming the city as Israel’s capital, and issuing a proclamation concerning it, one would have to go back nearly two and a half thousand years to the days of the Persian Empire.
The prime minister of Israel responded to the Jerusalem Declaration by calling it one of the four milestones in the history of Israel’s restoration.
What were the others?
The Balfour Declaration, the founding of the Jewish state, and the liberation of Jerusalem.
The declaration by President Trump sent the world into an uproar. There were condemnations, demonstrations, threats, and violence…the war over Jerusalem is a spiritual one. The world’s raging over Jerusalem goes back to the days of Israel’s rebirth. In 1949, after surviving the attack of five armies intended to annihilate it, Israel managed to gain possession of West Jerusalem. It wasn’t the biblical city of Jerusalem but the modern suburbs that had sprung up around its walls. But even this was too much for the world. The nations gathered at the United Nations to pass a resolution attacking Israel’s right to West Jerusalem and calling for immediate action to forcibly drive Israel out. It was the first time the world would specifically attack Israel’s sovereignty over its ancient capital and the first time it would call for action to separate Jerusalem from the Jewish nation. It was passed on December 9, 1949. It is noteworthy that December 9th was the anniversary of the Jubilean event of 1917, the day Jerusalem was liberated from the Ottoman Empire.
The war over Jerusalem is a spiritual one and one that transcends anyone’s planning. On the world’s calendar the resolution was passed on December 9, on the biblical calendar it happened on the 18th day of KIslev.
President Trump issued the Jerusalem Declaration recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over Jerusalem and Jerusalem as Israel’s capital on the 18th day of Kislev, the exact same day. So on the anniversary of the day the world issued its declaration that Jerusalem was not the capital of Israel, the president issued the Jerusalem Declaration, proclaiming the Jerusalem was the capital of Israel.” (The Oracle by: Jonathan Cahn)
Zech. 12:3And 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 are gathered together against it.
Just as Jerusalem has drunk from the hand of the Lord, the goblet that makes men stagger, now she herself will be a cup that sends people of the earth reeling.
God’s supernatural defense of Jerusalem will be so terrible that all nations fighting against the Jews will tremble and shake for fear of the Lord who will be visible over Israel.
Zech 12:4In that day, says 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.
In that day is a term used 16 times in this one prophecy---it is an apocalyptic term denoting a specific day of the LORD when He will fulfill His Word on His Time.
We had a conference in July 2013 named, In That Day. The Lord named the conference. I heard in the Spirit, “In That Day”. This is a prophetic term used repeatedly throughout the Old Testament by the prophets to describe a future day when the Lord will move sovereignly by visitation and magnificent power in both judgment and blessing in the earth.
This verse is reminiscent of a similar judgment against disobedience in Deut. 28:28:
Deut 28:28The LORD shall smite you with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart: And you shall grope at noonday, as the blind gropes in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways: and you shall be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save you.
In contrast to the sudden blindness of the enemies’ God will open his eyes in help and give salvation during this day of judgment. This demonstration of the power of God will cause:
(Zech 12:5 the governors of Judah to say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God.
In the 21st Century as in every century, the politics in Israel are not in agreement with the Lord’s purposes:
Friday, September 20, 2019
“Many events are coalescing around the world with prophetic players. It is not so much that Israeli elections came to a stalemate with division. It is not so much that Iran is rattling its sword. It is not so much that the world is in a very divisive state where major countries are facing visceral debates over illegal immigration, migration, and refugee placement-essentially, a redistribution of the world population, much of which is due to Islamic wars. It is, however, that all these events are occurring at the same time.” (Bill Wilson – The Daily Jot)
With nearly all the votes counted, Israel began the next phase of forming a new government on Sunday, Netanyahu has been declared the Prime Minister by the President of Israel, but he has only 10 days to pull together his government.
According to this scripture, the LORD will move upon the leaders of Israel to consider their position in relation to God’s sovereign purpose over Jerusalem. The city of Jerusalem has been given victory this past year because of God’s presence among them and His sovereign Word over Jerusalem, even spoken by the Prophet Zechariah.
The men of Israel will became powerful with the Lord among them causing devastations among their enemies round about. Moreover any division of alienations between the leaders of Israel and God’s sovereign word over Jerusalem will be overshadowed by the unmistakable evidence of God’s protection. We should declare this scripture over the leaders of Israel as they set their government in order.
Zech 12:6In 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.
What day is that? In the year 2017, Jerusalem is recognized by the President of the United States to be the capital of Israel. It seems to me, we are in that day.
When I was in Jerusalem in 2014, I was standing at the Western Wall and I heard the Lord say, this is my hearth.
This is a prophecy that one day the entire city of Jerusalem will be returned to Israel and be inhabited again by the Jews who will one day accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah. This is apocalyptic and not yet fulfilled in its entirety.
However, in 2017, the first phase of this has been fulfilled the President of the United States declaring Jerusalem is the capitol of Israel.
Zech 12:7The 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.
Zech 12:8In 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.
The Angel of the Lord before them refers to Jesus Christ. When this prophecy is fulfilled, Israel will occupy Jerusalem, not just to the land but to their God and David their king. The name David was used by the prophets to speak of the Messiah, the royal descendant of King David.
“the house of David shall be as God” is prophetic of Jesus Christ. He was the Temple of God when He walked the earth; and now we as Christians are the house of David, and we are the temple of God. In Jesus dwelt the Godhead fully. Within each one of us dwells the Godhead fully, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Through the Blood of Christ, we are the royal descendants of David.
Zech. 12:9And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
I believe I heard the Lord speak to me in 2012 that the Psalm 83 war had begun. Iran is one of the Gog/Magog nations which will fight against Israel. The leaders of the nations are meeting as we speak. Yesterday, 9/21/19, Donald J. Trump gave a speech to the United Nations asking for a resolution for freedom from religious persecution and freedom of religion for all nations.
Zech 12:10And 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 mourns for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
The salvation of Israel will be a day when by the spirit of grace and supplication, the Lord will again draw the Jews to their Messiah, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. They rejected him when He came as it is written. “In the Scriptures, it is prophesied that He would be born in Bethlehem; ride a donkey into Jerusalem; be rejected, scourged, beaten, and delivered to death as a lamb to the slaughter; and give his life as a sacrifice for sin. He would overcome death to bring redemption, forgiveness, and salvation to all who would receive it. All this had to take place before the second temple was destroyed…before the year A.D. 70…Jesus Christ is the central figure of human history and at the same time the only one who fulfilled the ancient prophecies of the Messiah.” (Jonathan Cahn- The Oracle)
Zech 12:11In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.
This is considered by some as a city near the plan of Meggiddo, and possibly identified in modern times as Tell Mutesellim. However, because of the timeliness of this teaching with the United Nations meeting with the focus on “Climate Change” and the placement of this scripture in this passage, I believe it is referring to the name of the fertility god, Rimmon (2 Kg. 5:18) whose death was mourned annually in the dry season, much in the same fashion as the weeping for Tammuz was condemned in the message of Ezek 8:14. Rimmon is a Syrian deity of wind, rain and storm. Baal is also known as the storm god. Since “Climate Change” has become a religion and being recognized as having the power to end the world, I am persuaded this passage is referring to the god, Rimmon; and the present religion of Climate Change.
Zech 12:12And 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;
Zech 12:13The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart;
Zech 12:14All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.
That is great penitence is a product of God’s gift (vs.10) is endorsed by its spontaneous nature. Each family, each group weeps with remorse, though the royal and priestly houses are singled out for special mention, presumably the people follow their genuine example.
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries Church
Scripture from K.J.V. – I entered into the labors of The Oracle by Jonathan Cahn, published by Frontline, Charisma Media, Charisma House Book Group, 600 Rinehart Rd., Lake Mary, Florida, 32746 and F.F. Bruce Bible Commentary (David J. Ellis). Comments and conclusions are my own and not meant to reflect those from whom I entered into their labors.