Hope has a Name: Zechariah 12

Amen. Let's pray. Father, thank you so much for the opportunity this morning. so much for the opportunity this morning to gather as your people to worship you to adore you to praise you to sing and declare those things that are true about you lord is now your opportunity to hear from your word lord as you speak through your word i pray that our response to you before you even ask would be yes lord so lord our heart's posture this morning is to say yes to you we love you and it's in your beautiful name jesus we pray amen you may be seated if you're new with us today we are in a sermon series walking through the the book of zechariah the book of zechariah can be broken down in just the simplest of forms to say the book of zechariah is about uh eight visions that zechariah had in one night and so um chapters one through chapter eight are really about these eight visions and the eight visions pertain to the to zechariah uh seeing what the messiah will be like both to judge and to bless uh the nations and the end israel then we get into the chapter nine we start the the other half of the book of zechariah is is going to record two oracles or and what is an oracle an oracle is a burden that the lord has for his people israel and so from chapter nine and we concluded that through chapter 11 last week is the first oracle today we will begin the second and last oracle so that's the book of zechariah eight visions two oracles and we're on into the second oracle and so we are coming to the finish line concerning the book of zechariah but before we get there i want to share a quick illustration with you in outside madrid spain i think there's an image of this there's this complex that's called el esguardo it's an old monastery it's also a a a royal palace the king of of spain often has resided there it was built in the mid 1500s it took 19 years to build and so it's a place where the catholic church also uh trained priests and so when you're the king and you train police you build a catholic cathedral in the middle of it as well uh because i guess that's what you do and so but this is where often kings go to die uh they are often buried there they don't die there they they're just buried there so a lot of the kings of spain have uh their final resting place in this in this place in this complex i share this with you because in the mid 1500s when the uh the architect was building this uh and and the king was approving the plans the king came into the cathedral and he saw one of the arches that spanned that carried the load from above was rather shallow it wasn't pointed and so the king didn't think that arch could bear the load above it and so he demanded the architect build a column in the middle of this arch which the architect just about lost his mind because he was thinking that that compromises what i'm trying to accomplish by this wide open space and you're going to put a pillar in the middle of what i'm trying to do to beautify well uh the architect chose to keep his head on his shoulders and did as the king said and so he built this column but he demanded the contractors that when the column gets about two feet from the arch that he's going to

be the one to finish it the king dies and kind of in spite he takes like a yardstick and what nobody could see from the ground he could pass a yardstick over the column because the column never touched the arch to prove the king wrong you don't need the column it never touched so to this day i guess if you were to tour this place today i guess some tour guides often will do that they'll pass something over this arch even today to prove that this arch this pillar is not necessary you say what does that have to do with our text today scott i'm glad you asked today i think we're guilty of much the same thing of we think in order to have god's salvation we must do a lot of things in order to earn god's salvation and yet if if we were to actually look at it we can do nothing to save ourselves whatever we think we will build to earn god's saving us it will never reach god's salvation as close as we may think it is as close as hard as we may try we cannot earn we cannot do we cannot plead with have enough penance to do anything to earn god's salvation today god is going to save israel we're going to see a text the burden of the text is that god is going to both physically spare them from the enemies that surround them he's going to physically save them and he's also going to spiritually redeem them he is going to be the one that saves and there's not much israel can do to earn it or to deserve it god unilaterally is going to do it today just to put this in context so everybody has a an understanding of what's on these pillars and all of that is zechariah is prophesying about 500 years before christ and so this first pillar is communicating his first advent that uh 500 years prior zechariah is prophesying to the nation of israel foretelling of the messiah that will come that there is going to be god in the second person he's going to condescend to earth take on human form live a sinless life die a death for sin and be raised from the dead so that we may have salvation and be saved sin can be forgiven we have the beauty being in the church age of being between the first advent of christ and the second advent of christ of when he will return on his white horse so i'm i'm sorry i don't have better illustrations to to communicate this today we are going to be in a text um we'll get to that in a second we'll get to that in a second just remember we're going to be over here in his second advent when the lord will return on his white right white horse that we read about in uh revelation chapter 19 the lord is going to mightily save israel so we're going to read now our text we we have the second oracle that begins in zechariah chapter 12 verse 1 so if you have a copy of god's word with you please turn there and we read in zechariah chapter 12 verse 1 the oracle of the word of the lord concerning israel so what is this oracle this oracle is a burden this this burden that the lord has he's going to communicate it to zechariah to communicate to his people and this is what the burden of the lord begins with now again the burden that he's going to be communicating is largely i am going to save you i am going to spare you israel physically i'm going to and then spiritually i'm going to redeem you and

save you also but he begins with this salvation message with this truth thus declares the lord who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the spirit of the man within him zechariah speaks of future events he is going to communicate to israel i am going to spare you this is future events but he he does so with the present tense and here's what here's what is um here's what's fascinating about this verse and i don't often get into language stuff um but the the verbs who stretched the heavens it's this past tense who formed the earth who who founded the earth who formed the spirit of man within him the verbs stretched founded and formed are in a present tense part of participle which means that god not only made everything and us in the past but moment by moment he is still doing so the one who stretched out the heavens he is still stretching out the heavens the one who has founded the earth he is still founding the earth the one who has formed the spirit of man he is still in the in that process well he still forms the spirit of man within him he is the one who sustains uh the entire universe continually he upholds us through his creative power which raises the question why would god begin a prophecy concerning the future and the second coming of christ by which he's going to redeem his people why would he do that beginning with him establishing i am your creator i am the one who has done this he founded everything he calls people all of it rests on the lord he is the one who has done this and why is it i believe is because he's going to if you will judge the nations who are going to come against israel and he's going to spare israel why can the lord do that the the issue is he can do that because he made them he created them and they are now accountable to him as their creator it's amazing sometimes how many comments i get because i constantly no matter how hot or cold it is wear an undershirt it's amazing how many people comment on it uh every day i wear an undershirt and uh i i cannot help but do that and um and people have commented you should get one that doesn't show you know get one with the v-neck and and it's amazing how many people consult me on my undergarments so so i get it it's not going to change you can just stop you can just scott's never going to change on this why do i make mention of that because sometimes when i order these new t-shirts uh i will get something that says inspected by number seven and a little sticker and it will say inspected by number seven now imagine with me for a moment and i can imagine at the end of some manufacturing plant somewhere someone at the end of an assembly line is taking the and and they're making sure the seam is just so and they're making sure all the stitching is such just so that so many inches from shoulder to shoulder are just so and the length is just so and it passes the inspection and then that inspector number seven puts his little sticker in there packages it up and off it goes to the

consumer bear with me for a moment imagine because i i have a hard time using my imagination so here we go we're both going to try hard on this one bear with me but bear with me for a moment and we'll use our imaginations if we're going to give a per the shirt a personality and imagine with me that this shirt were to say to the inspector number seven what right do you have to examine me what right do you have to make judgments about me what right do you have mr inspector seven who do you think you are you are looking at me you are pulling on me you are stretching me out you are measuring me to see if i make the cut what right do you have to make judgments about me and what if the shirt is talking back to the inspector i know it's you know sermon illustrations you just but the inspector number seven says mr shirt the reason i have the right to judge you is because i'm the manufacturer i'm the one who knows the proper measurements i am the one who has chose the stitching i am the one who has chosen what percentage of cotton or polyester you are made out of i am the one who gets to make that decision and so i am the manufacturer that gives me the right to make judgments about you i created you that gives us a helpful hint god is going about to judge the nations and he is going to rescue israel and what gives him the right to do this he made them and so he begins this opening verse beautifully declaring i stretched out the heavens i founded the earth i am the one who formed the spirit within a man it's me i created you and i have the right to hold you to account because i made you and i have declared to you with my invisible attributes to you who i am and you've rejected me and so it is because i made you i have the right to judge you and that gives us a hint and an appreciation for what he's about to do because he's going to do some things that may come across to us like wow wow i don't know if that's fair but here's here's the beautiful thing you and i are accountable to the lord as well he made you he created you you and i will give an account for how we have lived our lives he is the creator i am the creature he is the potter i am the clay and let us never forget that zechariah chapter 12 we're going to now read how zechariah or how the um how the lord will spare or save israel physically and before we get into this i'm going to posit to you that we're about to read about the battle of armageddon it's not mentioned in zechariah but i'm going to posit to you there's reasons for why i'm saying this the battle of armageddon which will happen right before the lord returns on his white horse so what leads up to the battle of armageddon is this the thing that starts the tribulation is when the antichrist signs a peace treaty with israel now many think that the rapture starts the tribulation that's not correct there is an unknown amount of time between the rapture and the signing of the peace treaty with israel and some have it mid-trib some have it there's other times when people have that the thing the point is this the thing that starts the tribulation is the signing of the peace treaty for the next three and a half years in in of the tribulation things go rather okay for israel in the middle of the

tribulation the lord is going to or i'm sorry the antichrist is going to break his peace treaty with israel and then things get very bad on earth up leading up to that point so then at the very end when the antichrist is marching on jerusalem the lord saves israel and that battle that that salvation sparing them physically and saving them spiritually will occur at what's called the battle of armageddon so today zechariah chapter 12 here we're about to read how god will save them physically first so now let's read this oh and you say let's let's stay on the battle of armageddon let's go to revelation not you don't have to turn there it'll be on the screen but revelation chapter 16 this is the only time that we read about this armageddon place as this last and final battle we read in revelation chapter 16 this is what we read the sixth angel poured out his bull on the great euphrates river so let me stop here this is in the midst of these what are called the bull judgments and it's as if the lord takes a bull and he pours it out on earth and that and what's in the bull has a judgment and this this judgment that is about to roll out of this bull on the earth is this is that the euphrates river is going to dry up and so we read the sixth angel poured out his uh bowl on the great euphrates river and its water dried up to prepare the way of the kings of the east so let me let me stop the whole purpose of the euphrates river drying up is that that that it's going to prepare a way for the kings of the east to come and march on jerusalem that's the whole point and so can you imagine india modern day india china um uh russia up into the north all of the there's no natural barrier now keeping them from taking their armies into the the holy land and so uh so now this the way is paved for them this obstacle doesn't exist anymore this physical boundary doesn't exist anymore and so now these kings of the east are now marching on their way okay who is at their who is at their charge verse 13 and i saw coming uh out of the mouth of the dragon that is satan and out of the mouth of the beast that's the antichrist and out of the mouth of the false prophet what it comes out of these mouths three unclean spirits like frogs for they are demonic spirits performing signs who go abroad to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for battle on the great day of the god almighty and then dropping down into verse 16 and they assembled them in the place of that in hebrew is called armageddon so that's where we get this word it's the only time in the bible that it's mentioned so notice you have all of these armies coming down you have the the the antichrist we have satan himself and the false prophet they have these the they're releasing out of their mouth a spirit and these spirits go to the whole world not just the kings of the east but the whole world the kings come against israel and that that they and they and they assemble they assemble in this place called armageddon now if you had a map i think i have a map let me share with you in the pink so the blue to the blue line is the sea of galilee flows down the jordan river into the to the um the dead sea jerusalem is down there by the dead sea the area in pink is the plain of megiddo uh the plain of megiddo and so where where in your mind's eye will these do i have and i'm suggesting to you where do i have the assembly area for all of these nations coming against the end of israel where are they going to assemble before their final push toward jerusalem right there and the if you um right there in that pink area mount carmel is on the far left of that and so if you remember in the day of

elijah he goes up to the mount carmel and he has the the prophets of baal there build their temple or build their altar and he builds his altar and the lord uh and there anyway that is that event occurs on mount carmel if you were today and i have done this stood on mount carmel you look over this jezreel valley or this plain of megiddo that's that that is where you are in your mind's eye it's this massive flat plain that if in israel today has an air force base down there in that valley if you were to go today you could in your mind's eye you could conceive wow this is a wide open space when i was visited israel i thought oh i can see all of the armies assembling right here that they're going to make a final push toward jerusalem okay all of that should be in their back of your mind as now we read zechariah you're thinking are this about zechariah yes okay thank you for getting me back on task okay zechariah chapter 12 verse 2 and 3 this is about again the lord saving israel physically behold i'm about to make jerusalem a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples and a siege of jerusalem will also be against judah and on that day i will make jerusalem a heavy stone for all the people all who lift it will surely hurt themselves and all the nations of the earth will gather against it so notice all the nations of the earth are gathering now against jerusalem they're making their final push and what is jerusalem it's it's it's it's in poetic language but what is jerusalem likened to a cup of staggering it's like someone who is drunk who staggers who is powerless because he has enjoyed too much from the cup so jerusalem will be that to the enemies god will cause jerusalem to be this drink that will cause our enemies to be drunk and powerless it is as if they will try to go against jerusalem but what do drunk people do they stumble they make they they make bad decisions and so strategically in their final push toward jerusalem jerusalem jerusalem jerusalem jerusalem jerusalem jerusalem jerusalem jerusalem jerusalem is likened to is like a heavy stone and it says all who lift it surely hurt themselves if uh i have been blessed with a back that gets often hurt and uh and i have hurt myself trying to lift a heavy rock and uh that is what jerusalem will be likened to it will be like this immovable rock that cannot be penetrated and anyone who tries to come against it will only hurt themselves that's the point and so can you imagine this massive staging area of armageddon and they come down to jerusalem and they can't quite get it all the nations against one town israel that would be defeating morally uh morality just their morale must be hurting on verse four on that day declares lord i will strike every horse with with panic and its rider with madness but for the sake of the house of judah i will keep my eyes open when when i strike every horse of the peoples with blindness every horse and its rider will be struck with a blindness why will they have such difficulty moving this rock or coming against this rock well in part they will be struck with blindness but notice the contrast that israel

will face while the nations who come against her will will will stammer and be blinded notice how careful the watch of the eye of the lord is on his house of judah and for the sake of the house of judah i will keep my eyes open he's comparing and contrasting the lord's eyes are keenly open on judah and jerusalem he he won't blink his eyes are fixed they're open but the enemies and the horses they'll be blinded he'll be blinded verse six verse five then the clans of judah shall say to themselves the inhabitants of jerusalem have strength through the lord of the lord of hosts their god now notice the clans of judah shall say to themselves so notice not everyone is living perhaps in the walls of jerusalem there's these clans or tribes of judah the heads of houses of judah that are living on the outside of jerusalem and they acknowledge there's only one reason why jerusalem stands they're watching perhaps they're hiding in caves and they take they send out a a lookout and say how's the battle going and somebody peeks his head out and goes i have no earthly way to explain why jerusalem still stands the clan shall say to themselves the inhabitants of jerusalem jerusalem have strength but they know why they have strength through the lord of hosts their god god is on their side and he is the one that is attributing for their success and and so you can see there's a spiritual posture of one's heart that acknowledges the lord of hosts their god is the one who is helping jerusalem verse six on that day i will make the clans of judah like a blazing pot in the midst of wood like flaming torch among sheaves and they shall devour to the right and to the left all the peoples while jerusalem shall again be inhabited in its place in jerusalem the surrounding clans of judah are likened to being tools to catch fire this blazing pot in wood or this flaming torch among sheaves the leaders of judah now have this renewed courage and they are empowered to root their enemies as they trust in the lord for help look at verse seven it gets better and the lord will give salvation to the tents of judah that the glory of the house of david and the glory of the inhabitants of jerusalem may not surpass that of judah the lord promises those living in tents in judea in the countryside that they would be liberated and they would be delivered and saved just as those dwelling in jerusalem proper serving to humble those of the house of david and the inhabitants of jerusalem wouldn't that be the lord is saving those in dwelling around jerusalem in the tents it says and in jerusalem proper and how humbling that would be if you're in jerusalem proper and you think man uh we have means to protect ourselves and those living on the outside they don't and yet the lord is saving them and it's humbling those living in jerusalem it even gets even better on verse eight it says and on that day the lord will protect the inhabitants of jerusalem so that the feeblest among them on that day shall be like david and the house of david shall be like god like the angel of the lord going before them notice the weakest of the inhabitants fight with the courage and the boldness of david this reminds me

one of the sweetest one of the sweet stories in the bible is when to me is when jerusalem i'm sorry israel is getting ready to cross the jordan river and take the land that the lord had given them and then caleb at the age of 85 years old he says give me the hill country and he has courage and strength as a young man it's told and we're told and and here were said the feeblest among them in that day shall be like david oh and the house of david shall be like god so everyone is invigorated with courage and strength and those uh surrounding jerusalem but who is enabling them shall be like god like the angel of the lord going before them the lord is going before them making this possible for those who have courage even the feeblest among them to fight and the result is is verse 9 and on that day i will seek to destroy all the nations that come against jerusalem remember all the nations that are gathering in the valley of megiddo in the plain of megiddo and that jezreel valley remember that the the lord is saying and on that day i will seek to destroy all the nations that come against israel so as they have now come against jerusalem and israel the lord is saying oh on that day it will be like nothing i will destroy them remember that architect that built that pillar the lord's gonna save without your help in israel the lord spares them physically we're talking about a he's sparing their lives physically now the text turns and now we're going to read about a people let me let me stop here before we get on to the next part i think principally for us today as new testament believers what what's a principle here that we can apply i want to say it this way that god's side always wins god's side always wins but how do i and how might you put that to the test from time to time let me give you a few illustrations in my own life or the things that i've counseled young men also to consider or and women um oftentimes men and women may not date someone who is in the lord and so and i i will caution them against that and say don't do that and uh the that will not but but here's so here's what we do is we say we we often can live our lives thinking yeah i want god on my side so i'm going to live my life and i pray that god just gets on board with my life and that's the way we can approach things so yeah i'm going to date a lost person even and because and all relationships go somewhere and so this might end up in marriage and i may end up marrying a lost person and i know god says but i'm just going to pray that god just gets on my side or i know there's uh cautions about debt and and that we're not to but i like this new shiny thing and and i like this thing and i i can't see myself living without it and so i'm going to purchase it and i know that's going to further me into debt and i know god has some warning signs about that and and there's something about delayed gratification and trusting the lord and having patience and i know there's all those good attributes but i just i'm going to trust god to get on my side because i want this thing this new shiny thing and it puts me even further into debt has anyone ever done this my point is this god's side always wins why would we work against him

our job is not to get god on our side our side our job is to join the lord in his doing just join the lord if he says debt is to be avoided avoid debt and if he says marry a believer marry a believer date a believer engage a believer not just a believer someone who loves the lord it's their heart passion just loves the lord okay god's side always wins after the lord saves israel physically he's going to now spiritually deliver them and that's what the rest of the chapter is about look with me in verse 10 and i will pour out he has now delivered them the enemy is destroyed he is handedly physically delivered them then what does he do and i will pour out on the house of david and the inhabitants of jerusalem a spirit of grace and please for mercy so that when they look on me on him who they have pierced they shall mourn for him as the one who mourns for an only child and weep bitterly over him as one who weeps over a firstborn the jews inhabiting jerusalem and israel they realize oh the one that just saved us from this massive army containing the world the one who just delivered us physically he has pierced hands he has pierced feet he has a wound in his side he is our messiah and the lord what does he do i will pour out on the house of david the jerusalem a spirit of grace and please for mercy they will recognize that's our messiah and they will be given please for mercy lord have mercy on us we have sinned against you we have wronged you and the spirit of grace he will pour out on them we as a nation are a people who killed our own messiah we cried out to pilate crucify him crucify him we are the nation who said give us barabbas and all their history will be playing in their head recognizing this is him and the former hard hearts of israel will be softened and it describes a nation mourning and grieving as they look upon christ and their grieving is compared to the one who mourns the loss of an only child and on that day verse 11 the morning in jerusalem will be as great as the morning as hadad rohim in the plain of megiddo there was another time in israel's history where the plain of megiddo israel grieved they grieved the loss of their beloved king josiah he was a king that it was a king of israel at the age of i'm sorry judah at the age of eight his father was assassinated he was a righteous king he did what was right in the eyes of the lord and he walked in the ways of david his father and he did not turn to the right or to the left god's word says he raised money to repair the temple that had fallen in despair he rediscovered the law of god and in subsequently he he sought to carry it out throughout all the land and people were were blessed

by that josiah subsequently called a time for national repentance and a renewal of the covenant of the lord they had found the law of god now for the first time in years they finally heard the word of the lord taught again and they've and he entered into a season of repentance with israel he tore down objects of pagan worship the high places were demolished he restored the observance of the passover that had been gone omitted for many years he ridded the land of medium and witchcraft and this is what it says in second chronicles it says this about josiah nevertheless josiah did not turn away from him and that in him is in the pharaoh neko that is coming against him in battle but disguised himself in order to fight with him he did not listen to the words of neko from the mouth of the god but came to fight in the plain of megiddo and the archers shot josiah king josiah and the king said to the servants take me away for i am badly wounded so his servants took him out of the the chariot and carried him in a second chariot brought to him brought him to jerusalem and he died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers and judah and jerusalem mourned for josiah jeremiah also uttered a lament for josiah and the singing men and singing women have spoken of josiah and their lament to this day they made these a rule in israel behold they were written in the in the laments do you see how much israel mourned over their righteous king josiah and he was killed at megiddo and so that's what that verse is referring to in my understanding and then verses 12 13 and 14 further communicate this loss that they feel and the land shall mourn each family by itself and his family to house of david by itself and the wives by themselves and the family of the house of nathan by itself and and their wives by themselves and the family of the house of levi by themselves and the wives by themselves and the family of the shimeites by themselves and the wives by themselves and the family that was left each by itself and their wives by themselves they're the point they're all mourning by themselves i don't know if you caught that but notice there's three houses that are mentioned david nathan and levi representing royalty the prophets the priesthood all of those categories are in deep mourning not just them their wives everyone is mourning because they realize what they have done to the one who just rescued them and they are repenting of their sin and they are they're grieved over what they have done to their messiah in times past and recognizing he is the one who just saved them and they are coming to repentance and isn't it interesting how sorrow craves loneliness we just want to grieve by ourselves and israel is grieving i am going to sneak chapter 13 verse 1 into this text because i think 13 1 concludes our text this is how this section concludes and on that day there will be a fountain open for the house of david and the inhabitants of jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness i believe william cowper when he wrote the hymn there is a fountain filled with blood is referring to this fountain listen to the lyrics of this song and israel will finally get to enjoy this fountain that is open to the house of david house of jesus to cleanse and this fountain cleanses them from sin and uncleanness this is the these are the lyrics there is a fountain filled with

blood drawn from emmanuel's veins and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains the dying thief rejoiced to see the fountain in that day and there may i though vile as he wash all my sins away dear dying lamb thy precious blood shall never lose its power till all the ransomed church of god be saved to sin no more and israel just realized that as a whole as a nation for the first time so the final act of the battle of armageddon and is israel's forgiveness and restoration and israel sees that their crucified savior is the one who supernaturally saved them the guilt of sin will be felt profoundly jesus will forgive them and so when we read in romans all israel will be saved i believe it's talking about this event so in when when the millennium starts when when jesus returns and the millennium starts all of israel will be saved again what is there for us let me conclude quickly seeing the pierced crucified risen king demands a response jesus was crucified for sin he died that your sins may be forgiven what is your response to a crucified risen king he demands a response one day he will return and examine you like inspector number seven he has the right to do so because he created you will you believe in him will you trust in his sinless life his death for sin and resurrection overcoming sin and death to forgive sin on your behalf will you believe in him or will you walk away having witnessed his pierced hands his pierced feet unmoved unchanged content to admire jesus from a distance while refusing to bow and yield trusting in your own goodness trusting in your own morality trusting in your own religion like the pillar that did not support the arch you're trying to do something you cannot you will never do enough to reach for those of us who are saved two things you and i will be held into account as well is your life being walked in a manner worthy of christ second is your life mission the lord's life mission do you ache to make disciples of jesus do you want to see the nations come to know him is your life mission his life mission i pray it be so i pray it be so for me and one day we will all be held into account he's our creator let's pray father thank you for this opportunity to open your word to hear from you lord whatever it is that you have for each of us today what i pray as i began our answer to you our response to you is yes lord lord thank you for being our creator thank you for being the one who formed the earth who created all things lord i pray that we would never tire of recognizing your pierced hands and your pierced feet and recognizing what you have done for us and with gratitude may we live a life worthy of you and may your life mission be the ache of our heart for our life mission we love you lord it's in your name amen