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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
12:1-14:21 The Second Burden: The People and Their Leaders. In this last section of the book, hope for Judah is now tied explicitly to the "house of David" as various scenarios relating to the future of Jerusalem unfold, signaled by the distinctive phrase "on that day" (
12:1-13:6 The Restoration and Renewal of God's People. Not only will God protect his people, he will lead them to true repentance and will cleanse them from their sin and idolatry.
12:1-9 Jerusalem's Triumph and the Nations' Doom. In time God will punish the nations that seek to harm Judah, and will elevate the house of David.
12:1 The phrase The burden of the word of the Lord marks this as beginning a new section in Zechariah's prophecy (see 9:1; Mal. 1:1), describing the complete restoration and renewal of the Lord's people. Foundational to that transformation is the identity of the Lord as the Creator of the universe and of humanity. As Creator, the Lord is able to re-create a new society out of the existing chaos. Because God does all this, his promises of judgment and redemption are sure, and can be trusted.
12:2 Jerusalem will be the instrument of God's judgment on the nations, a cup of staggering, i.e., a cup filled with intoxicating liquor whose consumption results in shame, disorientation, and destruction (cf. Jer. 25:15-29).
12:3 The phrase on that day initiates a series of nine such statements, the last coming at 13:4. Although the phrase is common, such long sequences are rare, with the best parallel coming in Isa. 19:16-25. The Hebrew prophets' future statements tend to have an imminent time frame, but these sequences look rather to a more distant temporal horizon, probably to be associated with "the day of the Lord." Jerusalem will also become a heavy stone that will hurt (the same Hb. word in Lev. 21:5 has the more specific sense "cut") the nations that try to move it.
12:4 When the nations of the earth gather against Jerusalem, the Lord will strike their elite cavalry troops with blindness and panic, images drawn from the covenant curses of Deut. 28:28. Regarding the house of Judah (the Jewish people), the Lord says, "I will keep my eyes open," meaning that he will watch out for them and protect them.
12:5-6 The clans of Judah take the momentary focus: they recognize that the indestructible strength of Jerusalem comes not from themselves but from the Lord of hosts (v. 5; God's military title), while they themselves will be like a blazing fire under a cooking pot or a flaming torch among the intensely flammable sheaves of grain (v. 6; cf. Judg. 15:1-8), devouring the nations all around them as Jerusalem is restored.
12:7 The promise of the Abrahamic covenant will be fulfilled (see Gen. 12:1-3), with resulting glory for Jerusalem and the whole of Judah, and destruction for the nations that come against it. Salvation will come to the tents of Judah first, even before Jerusalem, meaning that either the soldiers in tents or the poorer people living in tents outside Jerusalem would first experience the Lord's deliverance, so that the people in Jerusalem would not become proud over their privileged location.
12:8 All of Jerusalem's inhabitants will be raised to the highest human glory, like David, the man after God's own heart (1 Sam. 13:14), while the line of David will attain an even greater, godlike glory. (The text does not say that they will become God, or become equal to God, but become like God.) On that day the descendant of David will lead them into battle as the angel of the Lord did in days of old (see Josh. 5:14).
12:9 The Lord will bring judgment on all the nations that come against Jerusalem, and with this summary statement the sequence begun in v. 3 reaches closure. The fate of "all the nations," first introduced by "all . . . peoples" and "all . . . nations" in v. 3, is settled.
12:10-14 Mourning for Sin. Interest in Judah recedes as these verses focus primarily on the house of David and Jerusalem. The "pouring out" of the spirit elsewhere in the OT always indicates the pouring out of God's Spirit (v. 10; see Ezek. 39:29; Joel 2:28-29). The Spirit will give grace and pleas for mercy (Zech. 12:10), which implies both repentance on the part of the people and forgiveness from the Lord. They will mourn because of the one whom they have pierced (v. 10), a word that usually connotes being stabbed to death by a sword or spear (see Num. 25:8). The mourning will be like that for a firstborn son, an only child on whom all hope for continuation of the family line rested, or like the mourning for (or at) Hadad-rimmon (Zech. 12:11). Under one interpretation, Hadad-rimmon is a name for the Canaanite god, Baal, whose worship involved lament for his death and descent into the underworld. But it is doubtful that Zechariah would be predicting a day of blessing when Jerusalem's mourning would resemble the mourning of those in a pagan worship ceremony. A better interpretation is that Hadad-rimmon could be the name of a town near Megiddo, making this a reference to the deep mourning that followed King Josiah's death in a battle there (v. 11; see 2 Chron. 35:24). The identity of the one who is "pierced" (Zech. 12:10) and on whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem . . . look is difficult to discern. If on me is defined by the following phrase ("whom they have pierced"), then the reference is to God himself, perhaps in the person of the shepherd who will be struck in 13:7, a prophecy that John 19:37 sees fulfilled in the person of Jesus. The mourning will affect the entire community, family by family, men and women alike. Two particular lines are singled out: the royal line of David, by way of his son Nathan (Zech. 12:12; cf. 1 Chron. 14:4), and the priestly line of Levi (Zech. 12:13), by way of his grandson Shimei (1 Chron. 6:16-17).
13:1-6 Cleansing from Sin and Idolatry. The repentant people need to be cleansed from their iniquity, so God will open up for them a fountain (v. 1), or spring, from which will flow the running water necessary for ritual purification (see Lev. 14:5; cf. Ezek. 47:1-12; Rev. 22:1-2). The people's uncleanness comes from their devotion to idols (Zech. 13:2; cf. Ezek. 36:25). This is the sin that "pierced" the Lord in Zech. 12:10, metaphorically in its original context and really in the person of Jesus. The Lord promises to excise the names of the idols from the land, terminating their influence and even their memory (13:2). The influence of the idols was exercised through false prophets, who told the people what they wanted to hear (see 10:1-3), so they too will be removed from the land (13:2), executed by their own parents in line with Deut. 13:6-10. The punishment of "piercing" fits the impact of their sin in "piercing" the Lord (Zech. 12:10). This will make the false prophets eager to conceal their activities (13:4-6). They will no longer dress in a hairy cloak, as did Elijah (v. 4; see 1 Kings 19:13). They will explicitly deny that they are prophets: instead, each one will claim to be a worker of the soil (Zech. 13:5; cf. Gen. 4:2). Yet the true nature of the false prophet will be exposed by the wounds on his back, ritual scars related to pagan practices that he will confess to having received at the house of his friends (or "lovers"), the idolaters with whom he practiced pagan worship (Zech. 13:6; cf. Ezek. 16:33-37).
13:7-14:21 Judgment and Transformation. Fearsome conflicts await the people of God, but God will intervene and usher in a day in which Jerusalem is supreme and all the world worships the true God.
13:7-9 The Shepherd Struck and the Flock Scattered. The sword of the Lord's judgment goes out against a shepherd (v. 7), as in 11:17, but this time against the good shepherd. His death will result in the scattering of the flock and a time of great trial and testing for God's people, during which many will perish (13:8). Yet the result of that period of testing is the refining of the Lord's people, culminating in the expression by the Lord and his people of their mutual commitment to one another (v. 9).
14:1-11 Jerusalem's Judgment, Deliverance, and Exaltation. Terrible times are yet in store for the people of Jerusalem, but God will visit them and make Jerusalem secure and prominent.
14:2 I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle predicts a future time that is not specified in Zechariah.
14:4 The trials for Jerusalem are spelled out in the beginning of ch. 14. Judah's possessions will be divided by her enemies in front of her, and Jerusalem will again be captured, with horrific consequences including rape, plunder, and the exile of a significant portion of her population. Yet at the height of her distress, the Lord will go out once more as a warrior, arriving by way of the Mount of Olives, across the Kidron Valley to the east of Jerusalem, the same route by which he abandoned the Jerusalem temple in Ezek. 11:23. In a manner typical of such appearances of God (e.g., Ps. 29:1-11; 50:3; Isa. 29:6; Mic. 1:3-4; Habakkuk 3), this theophany will shake the natural order, splitting the mountain in two, creating a valley aligned from east to west along the sacred axis of the temple. Zechariah's vision thus resonates with the upheaval of the earth at the coming of the Lord depicted elsewhere at Isa. 40:4 and Ezek. 43:2.
14:5 This valley will provide a way of escape for the inhabitants of Jerusalem to Azal, an unknown location, and an access road for the Divine Warrior to return to his city. He comes accompanied by all the holy ones, either his angelic army or the exiles who return under his protection. The earthquake in the days of Uzziah was a traumatic event also mentioned in Amos 1:1-2.
14:6 On that day. It is difficult to determine what period of time is being indicated by the remarkable prophecies in this entire chapter, whether a future time in this present age, or a future millennial kingdom and the rebellion that follows it, or the events that surround Christ's return and the beginning of the eternal state (see note on Ezek. 40:1-48:35; see also 1 Pet. 1:10-11).
14:7 The transformation of the natural order at the coming of the Lord continues with a return to the primordial conditions (vv. 6-8). That day will be like the first day of history (lit., "day one"; or "one [single] day," cf. v. 9; see ESV footnote), a unique day, which is known to the Lord. Just as on the first day, when light and darkness had not yet been separated (Gen. 1:3-4), so on that day there will be neither day nor night, but at evening time there shall be light. Instead of alternating light and darkness, permanent light will prevail.
14:8 A perpetual supply of living (or flowing) waters will also emanate from Jerusalem, reaching out both east and west, to the Dead Sea and to the Mediterranean. Such a life-giving river is a common feature in describing sanctuaries, from the garden of Eden to the new Jerusalem (Gen. 2:10; Ps. 46:4; Ezek. 47:1-12; Joel 3:18; Rev. 22:1; cf. John 4:10; Rev. 21:6).
14:9 The Lord will be king over all the earth points to a time that far exceeds the simple idea of a Messiah who will give Israel deliverance from oppression and bring the people God's presence and blessing, for this predicts a worldwide earthly reign of the Lord himself. Some interpreters see this fulfilled in the reign of Christ in a future millennial kingdom (see note on Rev. 20:1-6), while others see it fulfilled after the final judgment, in the new heaven and new earth (see notes on Revelation 21-22). Still others see this as the Lord's reign as exercised by the Messiah, who is regularly expected in the OT to bring the Gentiles into his empire (e.g., Isa. 11:1-10). The Lord will be one echoes the fundamental confession of the OT, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one" (Deut. 6:4). As the Lord's sole kingship is established, so too he becomes the sole object of worship (cf. Zech. 8:20-23). And his name one, that is, the Lord's name remains, unlike the names of the idols that were cut off (cf. 13:2; Deut. 6:13). Just as there was one day of the Lord (Zech. 14:7), so there is one Lord, with one name.
14:10 The territory of Judah will be turned into a flat plain, from Geba on its northern border to Rimmon,
14:11 Jerusalem will be fully inhabited and secure, without fear of a further decree of utter destruction from the Lord because of its sins.
14:12-21 The Nations Humbled and Brought into Submission. After the nations have suffered a gruesome defeat, they will dedicate themselves to worshiping the true God in Jerusalem.
14:12-13 Instead of judging his own city, the Lord will now curse the nations that have come against it. Their bodies will instantaneously rot under the effects of this hideous curse, and they will fight among themselves (v. 13).
14:15 The same curse will affect the military animals within their camp: the horses, mules, camels, and donkeys. Judah will also be involved in this conflict, fighting either against Jerusalem (along with the nations) or at Jerusalem (against the other nations). In contrast to the spoil that the nations took from Jerusalem in v. 1, now Judah will collect vast spoil from the nations who assaulted it.
14:16 The nations that once came up against Jerusalem for war will now come to the city for the three annual festivals, especially the climactic Feast of Booths, or Tabernacles, in the fall. Like Ezekiel before him (Ezek. 46:9-12), Zechariah envisages ongoing festival worship in renewed Israel but broadens this to include those from beyond Israel's bounds.
14:17 And if any of the families of the earth do not go up. This requirement will be enforced by the threat of the judgment of a lack of rain, which would cripple their harvests. While Ezekiel seemed to have understood that foreigners could become members of the covenant community (e.g., Ezek. 44:9; but cf. 37:28), Zechariah depicts them as simultaneously retaining their distinctive identities (cf. Zech. 8:20-23; also Isa. 19:23-25).
14:18 Egypt is singled out for mention with a separate plague, since its crops were watered by the Nile, without need for rainfall.
14:20 An elevated state of ritual holiness will affect everything within Jerusalem, down to the most humble artifacts. Even the bells of the horses will now be inscribed with the phrase Holy to the Lord, which was previously inscribed on a plate on the high priest's turban (Ex. 28:36-38). Ordinary cooking pots will share the status of the consecrated bowls before the altar, so that there might be enough utensils to boil the meat from all the sacrifices. The whole city will become a temple, the place where the Lord dwells among his people (cf. Rev. 21:22-23).
14:21 On that day there will no longer be a trader (or a "Canaanite"; see ESV footnote) in the Lord's house, a reference to those Gentiles who were there in the temple for business reasons, whose presence defiled the holiness of the Lord's house (see Ezek. 44:9). The temple would finally become a fit place for the Lord to dwell among his people.
