Now let's look back at Zechariah
chapter 12. Last time I pretty much just
introduced it with the first few verses here as we continue
on this subject. In that day. In that day. That phrase is repeated all through
chapter 12 but all through the last three chapters, the last
message of Zechariah to the people of Jerusalem and Judah. That
day that he's speaking of is the day of the Lord. That day
is the day of Christ. It's the day of the gospel. It's
that future day that he's speaking of that tells these people, as
God speaks to them through this prophet, that the glory that
they're experiencing in their present time, in their return
to Jerusalem and Judah, in their rebuilding of the temple, that
as glorious as that was, and as marvelous in their eyes as
that was, there's coming a day in the future with a glory that
will outshine all of that in an infinite degree. And that's
the day of the coming of the Son of God incarnate, the day
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the day of salvation wherein
Christ, by His obedience unto death, the God-man, the one who
is God in human flesh would come in the stead of his people, his
chosen people, his sheep, his church, and take their place
on Calvary's cross and drink damnation dry for them. It's
the day of his resurrection wherein he died and was buried and rose
again the third day. because he established in time
the everlasting covenant of grace made before time, fulfilled all
conditions of our salvation as our surety. It's a day of security
in Christ. That's what the first nine verses
of this chapter really speak of, a day of security. We are
secure in Christ. All these promises of the Old
Testament that were given by God through the prophets and
all the types in the pictures were fulfilled without fail because
all the promises of God in Christ are in him, yea, and in him,
amen, which means simply they're sure and certain. They cannot
be thwarted. Nothing can stop the purpose
of God. That's what Zechariah's telling
them. And so he begins, let's just read the whole thing and
then I'll stop where I left off and make some comments, but he
says in verse one, the burden of the word of the Lord for Israel,
that's the proclamation of this weighty, serious, heavy message
of eternal life, this message of the gospel, the coming Christ.
This is no light matter. This is no side issue. This is no opinion here. This is serious business. Paul
said, woe unto me if I preach not the gospel. He said the gospel
is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. He
said, to some, it's the savor of life unto life, and to others,
it's the savor of death unto death. This is a burden on the
heart of God's prophet. It's a burden on the heart of
God's people. Not because it's too much for
us to carry, for we are what we are by the grace and power
and wisdom of God, but that it's serious. It has eternal implications
and consequences. And so he says, this Lord, this
God of the covenant, that's who the Lord is here, Jehovah, the
God of grace, the God of mercy, the God who saves sinners by
his grace through Christ, which stretcheth forth the heavens
and layeth the foundation of the earth and formeth the spirit
of man within him. He's the creator God. Remember
we read out of, I think it was Psalm or Isaiah 54, it talked
about our maker is our husband. and our Redeemer is the Holy
One of Israel. The God of creation is connected
with the God of salvation. He's the one who laid the foundation
of this earth and put physical breath in every human being. And as I always say, the next
breath we take is a gift from God. But more important, and
the ultimate spiritual application and fulfillment of this, is he
laid the foundation of his church. Christ is the rock upon which
the church is built. The church is called his new
creation. You see, this physical universe,
this physical earth, which fell under the curse, when Adam fell,
is going to be burned up. It's only temporary. But the
new creation, the church, which he created by his death on the
cross, by redemption, as he justified us before God in Christ, eternally
and unchangeably, as we stand washed in his blood and clothed
in his righteousness, that'll never die. And Christ laid the
foundation, and not only that, he formed the spirit of man within
him in his church. That's the new birth. The Holy
Spirit breathes life into God's people under the preaching of
the gospel and gives us ears to hear and eyes to see and brings
us to faith in Christ. Now he says in verses two and
three that everyone here that comes against Jerusalem. Now
let's think about the physical city of Jerusalem, the nation
Israel under the old covenant first. Everyone who comes against
that nation under that covenant during that time would perish. They would get their just desserts.
And you think about it in the history of Israel. Think about
that 1500 year period between Sinai and the cross. which is
when the old covenant was abolished, by way of fulfillment, he taketh
away the old, the first, that he may establish the second.
During that 1,500 year period, every nation that came against
Israel eventually fell. And where are they now? Well,
they're perished. All the great empires that Nebuchadnezzar
dreamed of and that Daniel saw in his vision, where are they
now? They're gone. They're gone. But again, the ultimate and spiritual
fulfillment of these two verses here about the enemies of God
has this to say that everyone who comes against Christ and
His church, who stands against His gospel, they will perish. That's the ultimate fulfillment.
That's the message. That's the ultimate message that
Zechariah had. And he says in verse two, behold,
I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling, which is really a
cup of drunkenness, a cup of intoxication unto all the people
round about when they shall be in the siege, both against Judah
and against Jerusalem. In other words, what he's going
to do is those who come against, and let's apply it to the church
now, because that's the ultimate, application here those who come
against the church because they'll be so they think that they're
they're powerful they come in their pride and in their own
self-worth and their power they think they're right but there's
that they and they think they're winning But he says that Jerusalem,
and in this case the church, will be a cup of intoxication.
In other words, they'll be so drunk with their own pride and
their own self-righteousness that they will not see the danger
that they're in in standing against Christ and his people, Christ
and his truth and his gospel. And they'll be, when they bring
their siege against the people of God, just like in those days
under the old covenant, they won't, they're so drunk with
their own power, they won't see their destruction coming. And
that's the way it is here. And it says in verse three, and
in that day I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people. All that burden themselves with
it shall be cut in pieces. and though all the people of
the earth be gathered together against them." In other words,
all those who try to lift Jerusalem off of its foundation in order
to destroy it, that same Jerusalem will be a burdensome stone that'll
cut them, crush them literally in pieces. And that's the way
it is with those who stand against Christ and the church. You know,
when I think about this, a stone, I always think about Christ himself
being the foundation stone of the church and how he laid the
foundation. Daniel called him, in Daniel
chapter 2 and verse 45, the stone cut out without hands. That's
Christ. Isaiah called him the tried or
the tested stone, the sure foundation. laid in Zion. He's that stone
which God has laid. Zechariah spoke of that in chapter
three. He's the stone, Christ is the
stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner.
Luke is recorded in Luke. And in Luke chapter 20 in verse
18 it says, whosoever shall fall on this stone, that is who falls
on it in a sense of attacking it, shall be broken. but on whomsoever
it shall fall, this stone, Christ, shall fall, it will grind him
to powder. The Bible talks about Christ
being the stone of stumbling and the rock of offense to the
self-righteous, unbelieving religious leaders of his day, a rock of
offense. The church is built upon Christ,
the rock. He said, upon this rock I will
build my church. Now in light of that, that's
the reason that Jerusalem, which is a type and picture of the
church, will be a burdensome stone to those who come against
her. It's because of our identification and union with Christ, who is
our rock. It's not because of our power. You see that everyone
who comes against us will be defeated. Christ said, he said,
upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell
will not prevail against it. Why? Because it's built upon
the rock. Remember in Matthew chapter 7 at the end of the Sermon
on the Mount, he talked about the one who would build his house
on the sand and the one who built his house on the rock. And when
the rains come and they descended, the winds come, one house was
destroyed. Why? Why wasn't it built well? It may have been. Who knows?
It fell because it was built upon the sand. The other house
stood. Why? Because it was built upon
the rock, built upon Christ, the foundation of the church.
Well, the church in the book of 1 Peter chapter 2 is called
living stones. That's what the people of God
are. So what he's talking about here is the church as it is in
union with Christ, the foundation. And he says, they'll be cut in
pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together
against. Doesn't matter how many comes against it, they cannot
defeat Christ and his church. Look at verse four. He says,
in that day, there's that phrase again, saith the Lord, I will
smite every horse. A horse is an emblem of warfare,
human warfare. Physical human efforts against
Christ every horse and a horse has to have a rider He says every
he's gonna 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 there's
three things that describe the spiritual deadness and spiritual
rebellion of those who come against Christ and in his church. Number
one is astonishment. That means bewilderment. In other
words, they have a purpose in mind, but they will not be able
to fulfill their purpose and they will not be able to figure
it out. It's confusion. They'll be confounded, the scripture
says. He that believeth not shall be
confounded. And then the second one is madness,
that's insanity. That's the fact that man cannot
determine or understand what is right and what is wrong on
his own terms. You see, the standard of right
and wrong is God himself and that standard is revealed in
the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why the
Bible says that God has appointed a day in the which he will judge
the world in righteousness, not your standard of righteousness,
not my standard of righteousness, but his standard of righteousness.
He's going to judge the world in righteousness by that man
whom he hath ordained, in that he hath given assurance unto
all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. Christ is
the standard of righteousness. Do you know that good and evil
is determined as it relates to Christ? Think about it. That's why he's called the end
of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe it.
That's why we can't have righteousness and we cannot be considered righteousness
without Christ. That's why his righteousness
must be accounted to us, imputed to us, or we cannot be righteous
in God's sight. So this madness has to do with
the natural man's insanity. He has an idea in his mind, a
standard in his mind of righteousness, but it falls short. It's iniquity.
It's transgression. It's sin. So there's the second
thing. And then he says, I'll open my
eyes upon the house of Judah. That is, God's going to look
upon Judah as the apple of his eye. Now that's his church. The
church is his bride. The church is the object of his
love. Read the song of Solomon sometimes,
that's what that's all about. Christ and his church. And you
remember when Paul was talking about the relationship of a husband
and wife in Ephesians chapter five? He gives some very practical,
very convicting commandments and truths concerning a marriage
relationship between a man and a woman. And when he comes down
to it, he says, at the end of it, he says, he says, I'm speaking
of Christ and the church. And what has he shown us there?
How a marriage relationship between a man and a woman should reflect
the relationship of Christ and his church. And that's the love
of God to his people. Hearing his love, not that we
love God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation
for our sin. So he said, mine eyes upon the
house of Judah, his eyes of love. His eyes of grace. Our friend,
you know if you're in Christ, God's eyes are upon you. His
eyes of love. His eyes of mercy. His eyes of
grace. His eyes of protection. And he says, and will smite every
horse of the people with blindness. That's the spiritual deadness
of man. He cannot see the glory of God. in the face of Jesus Christ.
He cannot see the reality of the holiness of God and the justice
of God. He can't see the reality of sin
in himself and what he deserves. Now look at verse five, he says,
and the governors of Judas shall say in their heart, the inhabitants
of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts, their God. Now what's he talking about here?
Well, governors There's a lot of different ideas on what this
means. Normally, we think of the leaders
of the people. Back during the old covenant,
the leaders of the people, you could talk about in the time
of the patriarchs, you could talk about the heads of the families.
In fact, some people say this word governors really means clans,
the clans of Judah, which would be talking about heads of families,
leaders of the people, And then later on, you had the judges,
you had the time of the judges, and they were the leaders, the
governors, you might say. You think about Samson and Gideon
and people like that. And then later on, you had the
kings, the kings of the people. And then you had noblemen, you
had the princes, you even had the prophets, the priests, they
were leaders, spiritual leaders in Israel. And again, heads of
families. now all of these heads of families
these men who were put in places of authority to lead people they
were commanded by god under the law of moses to be the spiritual
leaders of the people and they were to lead the people in the
ways of the lord the ways of the word of god now on the whole
if you read the history of israel throughout the old covenant on
the whole you'll find that that the majority they were miserable
failures in that but here God promises that because of the
people the nation the nation as they are considered look at
it verse five in the Lord of hosts their God that's important
because it's not just the people now it's not how many people
you have you know Think about David numbering Israel. See,
what was he doing? Well, there's some other issues
there. Maybe someday I'll preach on
that, but I'm not gonna go into that tonight. But one of the
things is he was trying to measure his strength, the strength of
his army. And that's why it got him into
so much trouble. You see, David's strength was
not in the strength of his human army. His strength was in the
Lord. And then think about Gideon,
how Gideon took 300 men and defeated the Midianites. So it's not just
the people, it's not the wisdom of the people, it's not the goodness
of the people. God made a covenant with Israel
for 1,500 years and kept them together virtually as a whole
in spite of themselves. But now listen to me, when we
think about the church, sinners saved by the grace of God. God
saves every one of us in spite of ourselves. So it's not our
goodness, it's not our wisdom, it's not our righteousness, it's
His. His wisdom, His righteousness, His power. But we who are in
Christ, we are His. And so what he's saying here
is this, that God promises that because of the people, as they
are considered in Christ, they will recognize that their strength
is in the Lord, these leaders. Think about when our Lord came
upon the scene in his earthly ministry. Who were the ones who
stood against him the most? The leaders of the people. What?
The Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Herodians. They weren't leading
the people right. Back in the Old Covenant, many
times the kings and the leaders of the people, instead of looking
to the nation Israel as they were considered in God, What
did they do? They sought alliances with Egypt,
sought alliances with Assyria, sought alliances with outsiders. They sought strength in numbers,
strength in horses and chariots. And in order to gain those alliances
and to get that power, that physical power, you know what they would
do? They would deny the Lord God of Israel. They would compromise
His glory. And what Zechariah is saying
here, in that day, it won't be that way. The governors, they'll
look to Christ and his church. They'll see that their strength
is in Christ and his church. That's what he's saying. Not
in numbers, not in the wisdom and the methodologies of man,
but in Christ and in him alone. He is the wisdom. First Corinthians
chapter one speaks of it. Christ is both the wisdom, Christ
and him crucified, is both the wisdom and the power of God. And so why does he include the
people here, the church? Well, who was he crucified for?
He was crucified for his people, his church. He redeemed his church
with his blood. Think about that. What's he saying
here? Look to Christ. Rest in Him. He's our security. He's our power. He's our wisdom. He's our righteousness. He's
our forgiveness. He's our surety. Look to Him. Don't look to the earth. Don't
look to the world. Don't look to men. Don't look
to yourself. Look to Christ. That's salvation. Look at verse
6. He says, Now, it's not hard to see what
he's talking about here. They're going to be powerful.
They're going to be like a fire. And he says, 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 he's talking about is in
that day, the day of the Lord, these leaders Who's he talking
about here in the day of the Lord? He's talking about his
gospel preachers. He's talking about those who bring forth his
word, the fire of God. Remember Jeremiah said, one time
he got so frustrated and so down he tried to quit, but he said
the word of the Lord burnt like a fire within him. In other words,
if this message is laid upon your heart by God, you have a
conviction of it, and God has commissioned you to preach it,
you can't help but do it. Now that's so. And these leaders
will, through the preaching of the gospel, and that's their
weapon now, the weapons of our welfare are not carnal, but it's
the gospel message, which is the power of God unto salvation,
for therein is Christ and his righteousness revealed, they'll
burn up all their enemies all around. Not in their own power,
That's right, I couldn't be in my own power because I, listen,
I can tell you the truth, but I can't make you believe it.
I can tell you the truth, but I can't bring conviction to your
heart. I could probably even make you emotional, but I still
cannot bring you to conviction. Only God, the Holy Spirit can
do that, you see. I can't even convict my own self. It takes the work of God there.
So it's not in their own power, but in the power of God. And
Jerusalem will be filled up with people in her own place. Did
you see that? What it means is that God's gonna
save his people from their sins. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out, and it's gonna be in her own place. You know what
that means? That's the place where God puts
her. God's gonna save you and he's gonna put you in the place
he wants you to be. And where is that? Where does
he put her? Puts her in Christ. Washed in
his blood and clothed in his righteousness. Where else would
you want to be? Oh, that I may be found in him. Not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law. That's where he puts us. You
think about that. Isn't that amazing? The Lord
will manifest himself in such deliverance as will unite his
people. They'll be united in Christ under
the headship of Christ, under the blood of Christ. and he'll
cause them to mutually make their boast in the Lord. We are the
circumcision which worship God in spirit and rejoice in Christ
Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. In other words,
it's not going to be part Jesus and part me. It's going to be
all Christ. Look at verse 7. He says, the
Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory
of the house of david in the glory of the inhabitants of jerusalem
do not magnify themselves against judah or you suppose that's all
about well god here promises further that the weakest and
the most common of the inhabitants of judah will be safe first in
this day so that the glory of david's family and the glory
of the leaders of jerusalem will have nothing in which in themselves
in which to boast in other words he's showing here that he that
glorieth let him glory in the lord now think about this in
history when the lord jesus christ came to this earth and began
his public ministry who was he associated with did he go to
the temple and say let me speak to the high priest, or did he
go to the court of the king and say let me speak to the head
honcho, let me speak to the money man, you know. I know a lot of
times when I was in false religion they'd want to have a revival
in a particular town and they'd send a forerunner to get with
the churches and get with the money people. Let's get with
the influential people. Is that what our Lord did? He
didn't go to, you know, he was born in Bethlehem. His mother and father, they fled
to Egypt, then they come back to Nazareth. You know what they said about
Nazareth, don't you? What was the question? Can anything good
come out of Nazareth? They wouldn't have said that
about Jerusalem, would they? Oh, you're from Jerusalem. That's
impressive. Nazareth? Can anything good come
out? Who did he consort with? A bunch
of unschooled fishermen? A tax collector? Publicans and
sinners. Your master eats, sits down and
has dinner with publicans and sinners. Now why do you suppose
that's important? Why do you suppose the Lord did
it that way? Well, turn over to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. And
here's your answer. Plain and simple. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, look at
verse 26. He says in verse 26 of 1 Corinthians
1, For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise
men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called.
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound
the wise. and God hath chosen the weak
things of the world to confound the things which are mighty and
the base things of the world and the things which which are
despised hath God chosen yea in the things which are not to
bring to naught things that are that no flesh should glory in
his presence here's what he's saying salvation is by grace
And it doesn't matter who you are, where you're from, the color
of your skin, how big of a bank account you've got, if you're
saved, you're a sinner, mercy beggar, saved by the grace of
God, and there's no other reason. Let him that glorieth glory in
this. The glory in the Lord. Go back to Zechariah 12. That's
what he's saying. He's going out to the tents of
Judah. He's not going down into the
to the highest of the high, but he says he's gonna give the house
of David, that is the kingly people, the royal people, and
the inhabitants of Jerusalem, he says you've got no reason
to boast. Paul wrote it, he said God forbid that I should boast,
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. What am I?
I'm a sinner saved by the grace of God. The only reason that
I can tell you that I have any right and title to be accepted
before God, to pray to God, to be blessed of God, and certainly
to enter heaven's glory is the blood and the righteousness of
the Lord Jesus Christ. It's of the Lord's mercies that
we are not consumed. Who's that referred to? From
the least to the greatest, we're all on the same level in Christ. Look at verse 8 of Zechariah
12. He says, in that day shall the
Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Just like God defended national
Israel under the old covenant, he defends his church. He said,
I'll never leave you nor forsake you. And he that is feeble, you
know what feeble means, don't you? It means fallen. It means weak. Who's that described? Well, all
of us. He says, he that is feeble among
them at that day shall be as David. You remember David standing
before Goliath? David had no power to kill Goliath. But what did David say? He said,
well, it's not my battle. It's the Lord's battle. What did he charge Goliath with? With standing against the Lord
God of Israel. And listen to this now, listen
to this next phrase, I want you to see this. He says, and the
house of David shall be as God, as the angel that is the messenger
of the Lord before them. Now what is that talking about?
Well, first of all, he's telling us very plainly that because
we who are saved stand in Christ, equally forgiven by his blood,
equally justified by his righteousness imputed, equally saved, equally
sure for heaven in him. And because we stand in the power
of God, we cannot be defeated, though we are so weak and pitiful.
Paul said, when I'm weak, I'm strong. Now, why is that? Because the house of David shall
be as God. Now that phrase, the way it's
translated, may confuse you a little bit. But what's he talking about? Well, some commentators say that
means that the house of David is the church standing as ambassadors
for Christ and in the strength and power of God. But you know
what? Nowhere, nowhere is the house of David, that phrase in
the Bible, really indicative of the church itself. A house
of David is the line of Judah. And how is the house of David,
the line of Judah, going to be as God? Well, I'll tell you exactly
how. It's because through that house,
through that lineage, would come God in human flesh. That's talking
about Christ. There's no one like God. There's
no one as God except he who is God, that's Christ. The house
of David shall be as God, that's talking about Christ coming. His name shall be called Emmanuel,
which being interpreted as God with us. And as the angel of
the Lord before them, who's that? That's the messenger of the covenant,
that's Christ. And what is he saying here? He
said the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the weak in ourselves, the inhabitants
of the church, the weak and pitiful and fallen in ourselves, we will
stand without fail. We cannot be defeated because
Christ has come. And he's the messenger of the
covenant. Being the messenger of the covenant, he's the surety
of it. He's the fulfiller of it. Look at verse nine, and I'll
close with this, and we'll pick up with verse 10. He said, I
know you have a paragraph mark there in the King James Version,
but I think that paragraph mark shouldn't be there. That's added
by the translators either way. But he says, and it shall come
to pass in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations
that come against Jerusalem. What's he talking about? He's
talking about the sure and certain defeat of all who come against,
stand against His Church. Just like all who stood against
physical Jerusalem under the Old Covenant were eventually
defeated, wiped out of existence, all who stand against Christ
and His Church will be defeated. All right. Let's sing as our
closing hymn, hymn number 356.