Devotional Commentary on Zechariah 12
In this chapter again, the readers are
going to be surprised by Lutheran exegetes of the time of Ellen White that they in
their German commentaries are sharing the same views as Ellen White, although
the popular “progressive Rationalistic scholars” rejected anything worthy of
the Word of God. So many times I heard “progressive Adventist professors” say
that Ellen White cannot be taken too seriously since she is not exegetical but
homiletical. A close look at exegetes of the Old Testament so far, has indicated
that stances or nuances that Ellen White gave to the interpretation of a text,
was shared by a larger number of exegetes before her to from her time. Some of
these scholars, like Kliefoth, Hengstenberg and Delitzsch, have brought
together true exegesis with true homiletics and true systematic theology so
that they move into the different genres without feeling guilty! That is
because they are not trying to explain something exegetically that is not in
line with Bible or which is a rationalization of their attempt to “lock the
Word’s impact on their personal lives out” so that they can continue with their
sinful thoughts and lives. They believed that their exegesis or preaching or doctrinal
explanation should all have the same true methodology that is coming from pure
thoughts enlightened by the Holy Spirit and submitted to the Word of God as a
source from the outside to the inside and that the pure thoughts are coming
from an attempt towards a pure lifestyle with the power of the Holy Spirit
strapping Satan’s influences on the human’s passions, desires, imaginations and
memory. In verse 1 Zechariah reflect back to
the Creator God Who created man and his environment. Verse 2 explains that Jerusalem is
promised to be made a cup of trembling/weakness [sp r`l] to the people all
around when they shall be in siege against it and against Judah. The content
seems to be eschatological. It was also the view of Hoffmann but Kliefoth did
not like it since he said that chapter 11 talks about the Romans so 12:1 should
also continue with the Romans (Kliefoth 1860: 199). It will be developed
further in Zechariah 14 but in the eschaton with the New Jerusalem on earth,
Satan and nations shall come to fight the Warrior Messiah at Jerusalem, the
available “weak cup”. Delitzsch reminded us that “the ‘cup of reeling’, i.e. a goblet
filled with intoxicating drink, is a figure very frequently employed to denote
the divine judgment, which intoxicates the nations, so that they are unable to
stand any longer, and therefore fall to the ground and perish” and he mentioned
Isaiah 51:17 (Delitzsch 1884: 381).. But, a transformation will be in that
day since verse 3 indicates that the Lord will change the picture. “I will
make/set up Jerusalem a stone of burden for all peoples”. Christ’s role in this
Battle of Armegeddon or the Hell, as the Bible indicate later, is that those
inside the city becomes the victors and those outside the city the losers. The verse begins with whyh and
grammars agree that waw + hyh is used to emphasize future time. A scholar
Gottfried Vanoni studied the functions of hyh and whyh in the Bible and came to
the conclusion that whyh is used with a deictic temporal [time] function
(Vanoni 1982: 73-86). “All that burden themselves [Satan and
his proxies] with it [the appearing weak Jerusalem] shall be cut to pieces and
all the nations of the earth shall gather over it [with it in focus]” (last
part of verse 3). Says Ellen White of this event in
Spiritual Gifts Vol. I: 216 “Satan consults with his angels, and then with
those kings and conquerors and mighty men. Then he looks over the vast army and
tells them that the company in the City is small and feeble…” So in verse 4 the Battle of the Lord
is further explained: “In that day, says the Lord, I will
smite every horse”. There you have it. SookYoung Kim wrote her doctorate on the
Warrior Messiah and it was published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. The
battle is the Lord’s. Not the Jews against the Romans or the days of Titus. “Not only with alarm but with
blindness will the Lord smite their horses” understood Delitzsch. In verse 5 “the governors of Judah
shall say in their heart: ‘her [city] strength (is), to me, the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, in the Lord their God”. The Targum left out “to me” in their
translation. Delitzsch continued verse 6 very
literally: “On that day will I make the princes of Judah as a basin of fire
under logs of wood, and like a torch of fire under sheaves; and they will
devour all nations round about, on the right and on the left; and Jerusalem
will dwell still further in its place, at Jerusalem.” The enemies shall be destroyed by an
eschatological fire. “Jerusalem will dwell still further in
its place, in [not ‘at’ as Delitzsch since the /b/ = ‘in’ preposition is used]
Jerusalem” This is a very interesting phrase.
There are two Jerusalems here: heavenly and earthly. The heavenly Jerusalem
that will come down with the saints in Chapter 14, is the one that will dwell
still further [timewise] in the place of the old Jerusalem that will timewise
not continue. Rabbi Rashi in the 12th
century suggested “Instead, it [New Jerusalem] will be rebuilt on its original
site, the place called Jerusalem today”. In verse 7 three groups are outlined:
tents of Judah or the migrating remnant, and house of David or the Old
Testament remnant and inhabitants of Jerusalem or all the rest of the saved
ones of the earth. The picture is still the heavenly Jerusalem now on earth and
the battle is raging with evil nations coming but the Battle is the Lord’s. There will be no favoritism or classed
in a hierarchy of importance or racial superiority with the Lord. That is what
the verse is saying. “On that day [the Hell event] the Lord
[Warrior Messiah Christ] shall protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the
weakest of them shall be, on that day, like David” (verse 8). “And the house of David shall be like
angels, like the angel of the Lord before them” (verse 8). It is not in
fighting but in appearance. They eye of the beholder is the eye of the evil
beholder outside the city looking in. All they see are angels inside but the
humans remain humans. Optical illusion for the evil. “And it shall come to pass on that
day, that I shall seek to destroy all the nations that come upon Jerusalem”
(verse 9). Hoffmann insisted it is eschatological. For me, this is indicative
that whatever was said before, was eschatological. “All people of the earth”
came against it. At this point, coming to the end of a
discussion between verses 1-9 a turning point happen. The subject is: what the Lord will do
for His remnant in the Hell event, in Jerusalem at that time facing the evil
opposition together with Him as Warrior Messiah. Secondly, and that comes now
from verse 10, what the Lord will do for them spiritually. “I will pour out on the house of David
and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a Spirit [Holy Spirit] of grace and
supplications” (verse 10). Delitzsch and Ellen White understands
12:10 the same. In Acts of the Apostles, Ellen White said that this
verse was fulfilled at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was provided in a
miraculous way. Delitzsch said that God will “pour out His Spirit of grace upon
them, so that they will bitterly repent the death of the Messiah” (Delitzsch
1884: 380). Delitzsch remarked the same as Ellen
White that “The true and full commencement of the fulfillment, however, shows
itself in the success which attended the preaching of Peter on the first day of
Pentacost…” (Delitzsch 1884: 389). Commenting on the results of
Pentecost, Ellen White said: “The prophecy was fulfilled…” mentioning Zechariah
12:10. “And they will look upon me, Whom they
have pierced, and will mourn over Him like the mourning over an Only one, and
will grieve bitterly over Him, as one grieves bitterly over the first-born”. Delitzch called our attention to the
shifting of pronominal suffixes attached to the prepositions “to me” changed in
the same sentence to “over Him” twice later. He then concluded: “Thus the
transition from the first person to the third points to the fact that the
person slain, although essentially one with Jehovah, is personally distinct
from the Supreme God” (Delitzsch 1884: 388). The Trinity is present here in
Zechariah 12:10 grammatically and semantically within the syntax of the Hebrew.
The Rabbis were so confused by this
verse that Rashi said in the 12th century: “And our Sages expounded
this in tractate Sukkah (52a) as referring to the Messiah, son of Joseph, who
was slain”. Luke 23:48 read that “all the people
that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote
their breasts”. There was mourning when Christ died
but verse 11 may indicate a mourning over the slain Messiah Who is now in the eschaton
Himself in tears over the eradication of people who could have been saved,
including the evil Rebel Lucifer alias Satan. The mourning is in Jerusalem and my
interpretation here is that Zechariah continued forward again with the
Hell-event and its aftermath. Four families shall mourn “all the
remaining families” (verse 14) so that it is not just four. A funeral is not a pleasant event and
seemingly the Hell event is not going to be a pleasure. Christ does not laugh
when He returns from the Battle and the saints in the city scream noisily (see
Psalm 46:8) because the Warrior Messiah will have to quiet them (Psalm 46:10) “Be
still and know that I am God”. Tears from the Victor. And everyone
started crying. He is One Who was pierced also by them yet saved.
Dear God How touching is Your message through
Zechariah. What a God of Love, our Savior and Maker is. Redeem us from
ourselves and our own petty issues. In Jesus Name. Amen.