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Chapter 12 opens with the same formula that began chapter 9: The burden of the word of the LORD. But instead of other nations, this word of the LORD concerns Israel itself… Judah specifically. It looks forward to a day when Judah and Jerusalem will be cleansed of their sin. Listen intently through chapters 12 and 13 as the scenes shift rapidly and terror and grace, fear and mercy, are fitfully interwoven.

Two goals become clear in chapter 14: first, that Jerusalem is not being restored for its own glory, but to be elevated, set aside as “Holy to the LORD;” and, second, that the call will go out to all nations to worship the LORD there. These, again, are interwoven with the chaos of war and plagues that have marked Zechariah’s prophecy thus far. Those who go up to Jerusalem to worship the King will be fed and protected. Those who do not will suffer famine and plague.

Just in these twelve prophets we’ve read a plethora of genres and rhetorical techniques. There was the living metaphor and call to repentance of Hosea, the historical teaching moment of Joel, Obadiah’s and Nahum’s condemnation of foreign powers, Micah’s and Amos’s demands for justice from those in power, Haggai’s conviction that his countrymen are not taking the temple seriously, and the narrative of Jonah’s adventures. No two books in these twelve, or in the whole Bible, really, are exactly the same. Each reflects a nuance of the LORD’s authority, power, and creativity that may or may not be present in others.

Remember that this book, as with the whole Bible, is about the LORD and His character. He is both the primary subject and actor. Through all that you read here remember the LORD’s ultimate purpose, expressed distinctly in chapter 14: When the LORD comes, and sets His feet on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem, The LORD will be king over all the earth. On that day the LORD will be one and his name one.

Our verse for this week is James 4:7: Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Zechariah 12 through 14. Now let’s read it!

Zechariah 12 - 14

A revelation of Jehovah's word concerning Israel: Jehovah, who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him says: "Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling to all the surrounding peoples, and it will also be on Judah in the siege against Jerusalem. It will happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples. All who burden themselves with it will be severely wounded, and all the nations of the earth will be gathered together against it. In that day," says Jehovah, "I will strike every horse with terror and his rider with madness. I will open my eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. The chieftains of Judah will say in their heart, 'The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in Jehovah of Armies their God.' In that day I will make the chieftains of Judah like a pan of fire among wood, and like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left; and Jerusalem will yet again dwell in their own place, even in Jerusalem. Jehovah also will save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of David's house and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem not be magnified above Judah. In that day Jehovah will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem. He who is feeble among them at that day will be like David, and David's house will be like God, like Jehovah's angel before them. It will happen in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. I will pour on David's house and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication. They will look to me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him as one mourns for his only son, and will grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for his firstborn. In that day there will be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddo. The land will mourn, every family apart; the family of David's house apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of the Shimeites apart, and their wives apart; all the families who remain, every family apart, and their wives apart. "In that day there will be a fountain opened to David's house and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness. It will come to pass in that day, says Jehovah of Armies, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they will be remembered no more. I will also cause the prophets and the spirit of impurity to pass out of the land. It will happen that when anyone still prophesies, then his father and his mother who bore him will tell him, 'You must die, because you speak lies in Jehovah's name;' and his father and his mother who bore him will stab him when he prophesies. It will happen in that day that the prophets will each be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies; they won't wear a hairy mantle to deceive, but he will say, 'I am no prophet, I am a tiller of the ground; for I have been made a bondservant from my youth.' One will say to him, 'What are these wounds between your arms?' Then he will answer, 'Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.' "Awake, sword, against my shepherd, and against the man who is close to me," says Jehovah of Armies. "Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; and I will turn my hand against the little ones. It shall happen that in all the land," says Jehovah, "two parts in it will be cut off and die; but the third will be left in it. I will bring the third part into the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will test them like gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will hear them. I will say, 'It is my people;' and they will say, 'Jehovah is my God.'" Behold, a day of Jehovah comes, when your plunder will be divided within you. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city will be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city will go out into captivity, and the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. Then Jehovah will go out and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. His feet will stand in that day on the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, making a very great valley. Half of the mountain will move toward the north, and half of it toward the south. You shall flee by the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azel. Yes, you shall flee, just like you fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Jehovah my God will come, and all the holy ones with you. It will happen in that day that there will not be light, cold, or frost. It will be a unique day which is known to Jehovah--not day, and not night; but it will come to pass that at evening time there will be light. It will happen in that day that living waters will go out from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea, and half of them toward the western sea. It will be so in summer and in winter. Jehovah will be King over all the earth. In that day Jehovah will be one, and his name one. All the land will be made like the Arabah, from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; and she will be lifted up and will dwell in her place, from Benjamin's gate to the place of the first gate, to the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananel to the king's wine presses. Men will dwell therein, and there will be no more curse; but Jerusalem will dwell safely. This will be the plague with which Jehovah will strike all the peoples who have fought against Jerusalem: their flesh will consume away while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will consume away in their sockets, and their tongue will consume away in their mouth. It will happen in that day that a great panic from Jehovah will be among them; and they will each seize the hand of his neighbor, and his hand will rise up against the hand of his neighbor. Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered together: gold, silver, and clothing, in great abundance. A plague like this will fall on the horse, on the mule, on the camel, on the donkey, and on all the animals that will be in those camps. It will happen that everyone who is left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, Jehovah of Armies, and to keep the feast of booths. It will be that whoever of all the families of the earth doesn't go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, Jehovah of Armies, on them there will be no rain. If the family of Egypt doesn't go up and doesn't come, neither will it rain on them. This will be the plague with which Jehovah will strike the nations that don't go up to keep the feast of booths. This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that don't go up to keep the feast of booths. In that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, "HOLY TO Jehovah"; and the pots in Jehovah's house will be like the bowls before the altar. Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to Jehovah of Armies; and all those who sacrifice will come and take of them, and cook in them. In that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of Jehovah of Armies.

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