Zechariah 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.
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.
Again it is important for us to note the timeframe of the events spoken of here.
Revelation 11:2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
In Revelation 11:2 we read that Jerusalem shall be tread under the feet of the Gentiles for the last half of the Tribulation time. In the first half of the Tribulation, the antichrist will make a peace treaty with Israel. He will build them a temple and act as though he wants to be their friend.
There are many groups today that want to pretend they are the friend of Israel. That includes the Catholics. They tried to wipe them out for years and found out that does not work. Now they are using deception to act as if they love the Jews.
The antichrist will show who he truly is at the midpoint of the Tribulation and from that point to the end of that time, which is three and a half years, he will seek to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. He will not succeed because God will not allow that to happen.
In our text we read that God will turn Judah into the victor. They will not be the hunted but will be the hunter who will destroy the enemies of God and the Jews. Israel will be given their rightful place as the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Even today, Jerusalem is divided into quarters. The Arabs have one quarter. There is much none Jewish ownership of that city today, but that will end when the battle of Armageddon is done with.
God used the term: “in that day” three times in our verses. It is speaking of a specific day when these things will take place. That day is right after the battle of Armageddon. That is when everything turns around for Israel. Israel of that time, will recognize that Jesus Christ, the One their forefathers had demanded be crucified, is the Messiah. They will bow before Him as their Saviour, Lord, King, Priest. There will be no resistance toward that because only born again Jews will enter the Millennium. There will be saved Gentiles as well, but the point being, only saved people will enter the Millennium. In our text, the LORD is focusing on Israel.
In verse 8 we read that the LORD will defend Jerusalem. He is well able to do that. He will not need to enlist the help of the airforce or the army. He will not need to see which other country might be willing to help defend Jerusalem. Jesus Christ will defend Jerusalem all by Himself.
Verse 9 tells us that all the nations that want to come against Jerusalem will be destroyed. That is the battle of Armageddon. That battle will silence all opposition for a time. There will be a rising opposition during the Millennium, which will be quashed by the Lord Jesus Christ at the end of that time, but our text is talking about the end of the Tribulation. It is talking about the restoration of Jerusalem to a glory they never had before. It will be greater than the time of King David or King Solomon. Jesus Christ will rule and the Truth will dominate. It will be a glorious time for the Jews.
God is seeking to encourage the Jews in the time of Zechariah. The remnant was small and feeble. They needed to know that serving the LORD was the right thing to do. His way is always right.
For us today, it is the Lord’s Day. All true born again Christians should be seeking to attend a true local church if at all possible. I listened to a religious person this week who admitted that there are very few good churches left today. He is not wrong on that. It is sad, but there are far less true churches today than there were last year. The number is getting smaller all the time.
Jesus warned that few would be saved. That has always been true, but it is becoming more dire now. If you attend a true church today, you can be a testimony to others that you see the importance of a true house of God. You have friends and neighbours who need to know the truth. They need to know where to turn to find truth.
A member of our church was talking to his boss about the music being played in his shop. The boss had promised our member that he would not have music playing in the shop, but recently he has not kept his word. He thought our member would be happy with some “CCM” music. He was surprised to find that is not the case. True Christians don’t compromise on the truth. They do not hold their noses and tolerate honouring the devil. They want their own hearts and minds clean and they want to help others to know the blessing of a clean heart and mind.
We welcome people to come to our church. We enjoy the fellowship of fellow saints but we also want to minister to the needs of the lost. Be sure to follow God’s leading today. He wants to bless you, but you need to be willing to receive His blessing.
Pastor Bartel