UNROLL
Jerusalem small on its ridge at gray first light, a plain stone temple on the height, its walls broken, wide dark hills all around it.

On that day

Zechariah 12

When did your own sin last break your heart?

14 verses≈ 3 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

  1. 1:1–6Return to MeA call to turn, in Darius’s second year
  2. 1:7–6:8Eight night visionsHorses, horns, a lampstand, a scroll, a basket, chariots
  3. 6:9–15The Branch crownedA crown for Joshua, and the Branch who builds
  4. 7–8Fasts to feastsJustice and mercy, and joy in Zion
  5. 9–11Your King comesThe King on a donkey, and the Shepherd rejected
  6. 12–14On that dayThe pierced One, the fountain, the LORD KingChapter 12

The Coming Deliverance of Jerusalem

This is the burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel.

Thus declares the LORD, who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundation of the earth, who forms the spirit of man within him:

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God

“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples. Judah will be besieged, as well as Jerusalem.

God
One huge rough limestone boulder on a bare rise below a broken stretch of Jerusalem’s wall, two ropes slack around it and a wooden lever snapped in two beside it.

On that day, when all the nations of the earth gather against her, I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who would heave it away will be severely injured.

God

On that day, declares the LORD, I will strike every horse with panic, and every rider with madness. I will keep a watchful eye on the house of Judah, but I will strike with blindness all the horses of the nations.

God

Then the leaders of Judah will say in their hearts: ‘The people of Jerusalem are my strength, for the LORD of Hosts is their God.’

God
God

On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among the sheaves; they will consume all the peoples around them on the right and on the left, while the people of Jerusalem remain secure there.

God

The LORD will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and of the people of Jerusalem may not be greater than that of Judah. On that day the LORD will defend the people of Jerusalem, so that the weakest among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the LORD going before them.

God

So on that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

Question

Quick question

Look back over 12:2–9 before you answer.

In 12:2–9, who makes Jerusalem strong?

Mourning the One They Pierced

God

Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced.

Zechariah 12:10

God

They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.

God
God

On that day the wailing in Jerusalem will be as great as the wailing of Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.

God
Dusk in a stony Jerusalem lane: returned Judean families in dark sackcloth sitting on the ground in small groups apart, men of one house on one side and their wives together on the other.

The land will mourn, each clan on its own: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, and all the remaining clans and their wives.

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Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Pray

Pray

Lord, pour on me a spirit of grace and prayer. Let me look on You, whom my sin pierced, and grieve, and then be glad of Your mercy. Amen.

You’ve experienced

Zechariah 12

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A verse to carry with you

Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced.

Zechariah 12:10

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