Biblically speaking, the notion that God can tame a shrew of a wife could seem equally comical. The story in Zechariah 12 through 14 is the story of God gaming a shrew like wife in a nation that He has called the “apple of His eye” (Zech. 2:8) – Israel. The passage is prophetic, and lends itself to a classroom, but it is much more than that. It has a personal component that I would like to challenge you with today. Sometime, in the study of such texts, we are inclined to distance ourselves from the personal side of the revelation. The bottom line is this, my heart was unruly when God found me. My face was set to sin. My attitudes were selfish. My heart was lust — filled. My ego was unbounded. There was a process by which God broke through the hardness of my heart and one me to himself. That process which he will use for the Jewish people, is the very same process he used for me.
Key Principle: God has the ability to tame the wildest shrew. He did it for me and he can do it for you. In the end, he will show that he can do it for a long obstinate people.
The final recorded burden of the prophet is tucked in the last three chapters 12-14 of the book of Zechariah. The message is too large for us to digest at once, but in three different lessons we can pick it apart. In the end, you will find the message is about a coming time called the Great Tribulation, the horrifying but essential period of time God will use to bring Israel into a right relationship with Him. The message was given in three parts and is essentially this:
1. You may not have seen it, but I have been guiding events to get you to the point of surrender in your life for a long time.
2. False teachers have traded, cheated and broken you, but I will rescue you with the truth.
3. Powerful destruction is coming as the kingdoms of this world clash in mortal conflict with the God of Israel, but He will overturn the wicked in triumph.
The story is about God (Who has the right to do anything it takes) drawing His people to repentance (12:1). The tipoff for this is found in the opening verse of the prophecy: 12: 1 The burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel. Thus declares the LORD who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him,
The process God uses to reach into a life is revealed systematically by the use of two phrases: ”in that day” and “it will come about”. Let’s examine the process in the steps that are revealed in the passage based on those key phrases:
How God Reaches Me (Zechariah 12)
12:2 “Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. 3 “It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.
Next, I am Stuck: You can Identify the stirring by an intractable problem (planted by God): great armies will attempt control — they will be stopped. You cannot unravel the Gordian knot. (12:4-5). pan>
12:4 “In that day,” declares the LORD, “I will strike every horse with bewilderment and his rider with madness. But I will watch over the house of Judah, while I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. 5 “Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘A strong support for us are the inhabitants of Jerusalem through the LORD of hosts, their God.’
Further, I feel “Singled Out“: You will feel “on display” God’s obvious pointer: there will be no hiding of God’s work in your life. (12:6-7). In the case of Israel, God will also elevate the Jewish people beyond natural standing.
12:6 “In that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot among pieces of wood and a flaming torch among sheaves, so they will consume on the right hand and on the left all the surrounding peoples, while the inhabitants of Jerusalem again dwell on their own sites in Jerusalem. 7 “The LORD also will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem will not be magnified above Judah.
Remarkably, I then feel Strengthened: You will notice God’s work of empowering as you yield to Him: God will move in and strengthen what otherwise should be weak. (12:8). You will surrender, and yet get stronger!
12:8 “In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the one who is feeble among them in that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the LORD before them.
My heart fully engaged, I feel “Smitten“: You will shrink and your view of God’s work for you will consume your heart. At the point of your repentance God will show you His sovereign hand over you, and you will worship Him. (12:9-10)
12:9 “And in that day I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. 10 “I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.
When faced with the truth, I am deeply Saddened: Tears will fill your eyes as you realize all that God has done to get you to this point. The pain of the past will be evident, the pain of a battle hard fought against God – and LOST (fortunately!).
12:11 “In that day there will be great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12 “The land will mourn, every family by itself; the family of the house of David by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself and their wives by themselves; 13 the family of the house of Levi by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the Shimeites by itself and their wives by themselves; 14 all the families that remain, every family by itself and their wives by themselves.
What Salvation Looks Like in me (Zechariah 13)
Because of God’s Work in me, I became “Spotless“: Sweet cleansing will wash your dirty heart, and you will feel clean for the first time!
13:1 “In that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity.
With the weight of guilt lifted, I felt a Shifting: Your values will shift, your former “most important things” will be stripped away. The lies of your old system will not be tolerated in your heart. Matthew Henry: “Souls are brought off from the world and the flesh, those two great idols, that they may cleave to God only.”
13:2 “It will come about in that day,” declares the LORD of hosts, “that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered; and I will also remove the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land. 3 “And if anyone still prophesies, then his father and mother who gave birth to him will say to him, ‘You shall not live, for you have spoken falsely in the name of the LORD’; and his father and mother who gave birth to him will pierce him through when he prophesies.
As my values shifted, I began to see the new Story: You will realize the lying narrative that you have believed, and stop passing the systemic lies along. Your friends will change, and they will correct you when you wander backward. Matthew Henry: “False prophets shall be convinced of their sin and folly, and return to their proper employments. When convinced that we are gone out of the way of duty, we must show the truth of our repentance by returning to it again. It is well to acknowledge those to be friends, who by severe discipline are instrumental in bringing us to a sight of error; for faithful are the wounds of a friend, (Pr 27:6).
13:4 “Also it will come about in that day that the prophets will each be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies, and they will not put on a hairy robe in order to deceive; 5 but he will say, ‘I am not a prophet; I am a tiller of the ground, for a man sold me as a slave in my youth.’ 6 “And one will say to him, ‘What are these wounds between your arms?’ Then he will say, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.’
When faced with the necessity of the painful journey, I Surrender: Bring It On! I cry. What must happen is painful. Jesus had to step in as sacrifice. People had to go through enormous pain – as will you as long as you run from God. Yet, from the perspective of one wh
o has been washed there is but one refrain, “Bring it on!” There is no choice. There must be a sacrifice, and there must be surrender.
13:7 “Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, And against the man, My Associate,” Declares the LORD of hosts. “Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered; And I will turn My hand against the little ones.
Soberly, I face the Severity: from a life of great rebellion to a strong walk with God, a tremendous refining process must occur. In the case of the Jewish people, because of the centuries of hardness eight two thirds part of them will be eliminated. Yet those who remain, will experience the cleansing of God. Severity, yes – but grace.
13:8 “It will come about in all the land,” Declares the LORD, “That two parts in it will be cut off and perish; But the third will be left in it. 9 “And I will bring the third part through the fire, Refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are My people,’ And they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’”
How God uses His People to Tell His Story (Zechariah 14)
I recognize the Substitution: After the pain, the Savior stands as substitute to fight our battles. In the case of the Jewish people, the nations will gather at the Savior will scatter them. In the case of the individual believer, the Lord stands as defender in the place where our past haunts us. He is our substitute for sin, but he is much more than that. He is our substitute “double” in the place of battle as a believer.
14:1 Behold, a day is coming for the LORD when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. 2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. 3 Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle.
I realize practical Salvation: God will make a way, where there seems to be no way. The physical features of the earth will not stop them, the powers that be will not hold him back. When God desires to save a man, he accomplishes his purposes. There is no power that can stand against him.
14:4 In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. 5 You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him!
The resourcefulness of God takes me by Surprise: God’s unique plan will be made known and evident to all by the miraculous way He works. No one will be able to conceive of the plan ahead, for God will create ways that had never been seen before. The great surprise of a young believer, is that God has at his disposal things never seen before.
14:6 In that day there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle. 7 For it will be a unique day which is known to the LORD, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at evening time there will be light.
I become a tool in God’s hand – a Source of blessing to others: God’s change in his people allows him to uniquely display his power and his supply to people all around the believer. In the case of Israel, Jerusalem will become the source of living water that extends to people both east and west. As a result, the ones in secure Jerusalem will become a place of peace and stability. What a great picture of the believer! Though God will literally fulfill this in the lives of the Jewish people in the future, he is already showing how he does this in the lives of believers today. Note the end of the verses. With the stability of the believer, comes the downfall of the nonbeliever. People who choose to walk away from God will graphically experience what that rejection means in life, in the same way the believer experiences what surrender means.
14:8 And in that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter. 9 And the LORD will be king over all the earth; in that day the LORD will be the only one, and His name the only one. 10 All the land will be changed into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site from Benjamin’s Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses. 11 People will live in it, and there will no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security. 12 Now this will be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth.
His holiness becomes my refuge, but to others a Scourge: there is a day for God’s judgment upon people who refuse to follow him. With all the grace that God shares through the life of a believer, it is easy for us to forget how powerfully tight the enemy grips his people. God wants to change us, but he also wants us to remember the cost of rejection. The fact is, the same thing is true of everyone here today. There are no brownie points and merit badges that will cut corners. We face God as an absolutely holy, righteous, just and magnificent Sovereign.
R. C. Sproul makes this insightful observation from Isaiah 6: “The Bible says that God is holy, holy, holy. No
t that He is merely holy, or even holy, holy. He is holy, holy, holy. The Bible never says that God is love, love, love, or mercy, mercy, mercy, or wrath, wrath, wrath, or justice, justice, justice. It does say that He is holy, holy, holy, the whole earth is full of His glory.” The idea of His holiness is so central to Biblical teaching that is said of God, “Holy is His Name” (Luke 1:49). His name is holy because He is holy. He is not always treated with holy reverence. His name is trampled through the dirt of this world. It functions as a curse word, a platform for the obscene. That the world had little respect for God is vividly seen by the way the world regards His name. No honor. No reverence. No awe before Him.
14:13 It will come about in that day that a great panic from the LORD will fall on them; and they will seize one another’s hand, and the hand of one will be lifted against the hand of another. 14 Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered, gold and silver and garments in great abundance. 15 So also like this plague will be the plague on the horse, the mule, the camel, the donkey and all the cattle that will be in those camps.
Walking with God will tell His story of Sacrifice: the outgrowth of God reaching his people and at long last becoming their God as they surrender to him, will lead to the world understanding God’s cosmic plan. The same is true of the believer today. People around you will change because you are changed by God and his Word. As you surrender to the spirit of God, you open the door to those you love to see God’s hand at work. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 7, the believer sanctifies the home. It is significant that God uses the feast of Tabernacles in the passage to signify the obedience of the nations. Tabernacles remembers the time Israel traveled in the desert. Now that Israel has reached its destination, it’s home, the nations realize that God’s word is true — his story of his people is now fully told. In your life, God can paint a portrait of the lost returned, but only when your life is surrendered to him.
14:16 Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 17 And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, there will be no rain on them. 18 If the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the LORD smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 19 This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.
The purity of God will be seen in the Sanctity: when God wins his people in that day, they will stand distinct from all people of all times. Is this not what God has called the believer to be today? Because of the work of Jesus, people that have long rejected will stand as unblemished before the God that loves them, and gave himself for them. The fact is, so will you. You will stand before him as the object of his love, and see him as your Savior; or you will stand before him as your judge — the God of the ages. When God tells His story, it will be untainted, with everyone in right standing, and everyone living in the state of purity. Without compromise and clean, they stand as trophies of His grace!
14:20 In that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “HOLY TO THE LORD.” And the cooking pots in the LORD’S house will be like the bowls before the altar. 21 Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the LORD of hosts; and all who sacrifice will come and take of them and boil in them. And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts in that day.
God has the ability to tame the wildest shrew. He did it for me and he can do it for you. In the end, he will show that he can do it for a long obstinate people.
