They will look on me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him. You see the Trinity there? In one breath it's me, in another breath it's him. Won't anybody tell you that that wasn't God, that Jesus is any less than God? God says, That was me you pierced.
Welcome to Grace to You, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson. In his well-known book, The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins wrote, The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction. He's jealous, petty, unjust, a malevolent bully. Of course, the God of the Old Testament is the same God as the God in the New Testament.
Kind, merciful, faithful to keep his promises to his people. And you'll see that today on Grace to You as John MacArthur shows you an Old Testament text. that demonstrates God's grace, mercy, and forgiveness. John's current study is called The Return and Reign of Jesus Christ. And so now, here's John MacArthur.
Let's look at chapter 12. As we look at this, there are four features of Israel's coming deliverance and conversion. Four features, four major events: the siege of Israel, the shielding of Israel, the sorrow of Israel, and the salvation of Israel. These are dealt with in the 12th chapter. Beloved, this is exciting material.
This is not only exciting. To the Jew to hear, and there certainly ought to be some of us pronouncing this and proclaiming it to Jews around the world so that they will know what God has planned for them. But it is exciting to me to know that God is in control of history. Let's look first of all at the siege of Israel in the first three verses. The word simply means attack.
The first element that the Holy Spirit wants us to focus on. is that there will be a great attack by the Gentile nations coming against Israel. Secondly, moving from the siege in the text to verse 4, we come to the shielding of Israel. And here we look at God and how God is going to protect those people. Verse 4.
In that day, again, we're in that day, day of. The day of the Lord, which is the day of judgment and the return of Christ, in that day. Saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with terror, and his rider with madness. I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the peoples with blindness. And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength, and the Lord of hosts their God.
In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf. They shall devour all the peoples round about, on the right hand and on the left, and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. The Lord shall also save the tents of Judah first, and that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah. In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the Lord before them. And it shall come to pass in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
Now we'll stop there. That section deals with the shielding of Israel. God is going to come in protection and bring a tremendous victory. Let's go back now to verse 4 for a minute. In that day, saith the Lord, and this is most interesting, horses were the symbol of strength.
They were the symbol of power. They were the symbol of a formidable army. And in that day, he says, I'll smite every horse with terror.
Now this probably means confusion, but it also adds, and the writers with madness. This simply means panic, a wild and helpless kind of panic in the Hebrew.
So here come all these great armies of the world, and all of a sudden, all of their weaponry and all of their instruments and all of their vehicles and all of the people who are running the thing go into confusion, blindness, and panic. Terror and confusion seizes the ranks of the world's armies. And while they have imagined that they have gained the victory, they find out that all they are. rather than chasing the vanquished Jews, is rushing themselves to destruction. And the key phrase here in verse 4 is: God says, I will open my eyes on the house of Judah.
No longer will I turn my back. No longer will I keep my eyes closed to what's going on. I'm going to open my eyes, and these are eyes of love, and these are eyes of care, and these are eyes of tenderness, and these are eyes of forgiveness, these are eyes of salvation. God says, I'm going to open my eyes toward Israel.
Now look at verse 5. God shields them. And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, Now we're looking at the countryside around the city of Jerusalem. The people who would be most vulnerable in a war, they wouldn't have any defense. Jerusalem is somewhat defensible.
They wouldn't have any defense, just the people living all over the land. And the governors, the leaders out in the countryside are going to say in their heart, the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts their God. What is it saying? Listen. It's saying this: the fact that God has chosen Jerusalem to be his city.
The city of his affection and the city of his election, the city he will save, gives confidence to us and the surrounding countryside. In other words, we're getting in on the fact that Jerusalem is God's city. And all of us who live anywhere in this land are preserved because God has chosen Jerusalem. That's what they're saying. The governors of Judah outside and around are saying it is because of what God has promised to do for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
That becomes our strength. God has chosen Jerusalem. And because he has chosen Jerusalem and the nation around, the princes of Judah are confident that they too are invincible. Perhaps they'll sing Psalm 46:5. Which says, God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved.
And that's about Jerusalem.
Now I want you to notice something interesting. This is a critical verse. Because it opens the door just a crack. And the light starts to come in. What light?
The light of the beginning of saving faith. All of a sudden, all through Israel's history today, they have been thinking their strength is in themselves, in their guns, and their smarts and their military expertise. And they're going to come to the place where they all of a sudden say in their hearts, the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength, not in their power or in their military prowess or because they've got so many smart people, but in the Lord of hosts, their God. All of a sudden, they turn from the politics of it and the armies and they begin to see God as the resource. And here is the first glimpse of the saving faith that comes to the hearts of Israel.
Verse 6. In that day, Will I make the governors of Judah? And he's still dealing outside the city, it never really touches the city. I'll make the governors of Judah and the countryside around like a firepot. Among the wood.
Now, I don't know if you know what a firepot is. Those of us who live in the day of thermostats and forced air, A fire pot was just that, a bunch of coals in a little metal pot that you put in some kindling wood and it started a fire. You drop a firepot on a pile of kindling, you're going to get a quick fire. And that's what he's saying. The Gentile armies are kindling.
The governors of Judah are firepots. Those simple little people and their simple little military weakness are going to fire and burn the armies of the nations. He says it'll also be like a torch of fire in a dry sheaf. Take a sheaf of grain that's dry and set a torch to it. Drop a firepot and some dry sticks, you get the same thing.
So, just as a firepot sets fire to twigs and dry wood, and a torch sets fire to dry grain, so Judah's princes will devour, and who will they devour? Look what it says, all the nations round about on the right hand and on the left, but Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. In other words, In the end time, nothing will have happened to that city. It won't be moved. It'll never be destroyed.
It's going to be there right where it belongs. You know what's incredible about that? That city hasn't moved. You know, as you study archaeology, you find a lot of cities move from place to place. You can go right to Jerusalem, right in the middle of Jerusalem, walk right out, put your hand out in that mosque, and lay it right on Mount Moriah.
It's still there. And you can take about a 10-minute walk and stand with your feet on Mount Zion. It's right there. Nothing moved. If God says it no, it won't move either.
They're not even going to get there. With any really powerful effect, because when they just get into the countryside, God is going to use the governors of Judah. to set them aflame. And so there's going to be the protection of God. and Jerusalem will be inhabited.
in her own place. Even in Jerusalem. Then a very interesting note in verse 7. This is very interesting. The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first.
In order that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah. In other words, If Jerusalem won this big victory to start with, If all the military geniuses and all the hot shots in Jerusalem won, they'd say, well, It was us. And so, just to make sure they don't mistake it being human and know it's God, the great victory comes first to all the little folks out in the countryside who win the war. Who knocks off the big Gentile armies? And then Jerusalem's got nothing to boast about.
Because by the time it comes to them, all they can say is, it's got to be God. It sure isn't us, it wasn't them. In other words, to prevent Jerusalem from magnifying itself against. The country folks God makes sure the country folks gain the first deliverance. Why?
This is a time of humbling for the nation. This is a time of penitence. This is a time of repentance. This is a time of bending the back and bowing the knee and laying prostrate before God. God wants no human glory, no human magnification, and so just to make sure it won't happen, he starts by giving the victory first to the little folks in the countryside.
The defenseless land is delivered first. The well-defended capital Last, in order that Jerusalem not think it was by her military might and be lifted up with pride.
So God defends the defenseless and then Jerusalem. Verse 8. In that day, Shall the Lord defend or shield the inhabitants of Jerusalem? And I love this. This is so great.
He that is feeble. Among them at that day shall be like David. Isn't that amazing? Who is the greatest soldier in the history of Israel? David.
Saul has slain his thousands, David his Ten thousands. Greatest soldier in the history of Israel. One little rock. One dead Goliath. Greatest soldier in the history of Israel.
and the weak and the puny. In this day, We'll all be like David. What an army. Can you imagine? And by the way.
The strong represented by the house of David. Those who are in the house of David, the royal line, the great warriors, the strong, shall be like God. They'll be like the angel of the Lord. Who's the angel of the Lord? Christ, they'll be infused with the power of Christ.
Boy, I tell you, that's going to be exciting, isn't it? You say, will we get to see that? I think so. If I read my Bible right, we're coming out of heaven just about that time on white horses. which will give us a perfect view of the whole thing.
Sure.
So, the feeble are going to be like David, and the people who normally are like David are going to be like God. Infused with the energy of the Messiah Himself, the angel of the Lord. That's just a little taste, that's a little hint of the fact that Jesus Christ is going to be there winning the victory. And what's so beautiful, if you study the book of Revelation, you find out that just at the climax of Armageddon, just when the war reaches its high point, out of the sky comes Jesus Christ. And maybe you've asked yourself, well, how does he win it?
Well, how does he do it?
Well, somehow it's his conquering blow, it's his sword, but somehow it's his power poured through these people. Who shall be like God, like the angel of the Lord. It's most interesting, isn't it, that the angel of the Lord is equated with God. Another evidence. that the angel of the Lord was not just an angel, but God.
God incarnate Jesus Christ. And it shall come to pass, verse 9 says. In that day, I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. God is going to wipe out all those. Who sought to wipe out his people.
and his kingdom. The term will seek is a most interesting Hebrew term. It is a term that is used of a marksman. Who bends his bow with his eye focused. On the target.
He wants to hit the bullseye? and nothing distracts him. The cup of iniquity is full. And God comes in judgment. Read Revelation 16.
Read Revelation 19. And see how God begins to come in judgment. How Jesus splits the heavens with his coming, comes in glory and power with a flaming. Victory at hand with a sword dipped in blood and he comes to conquer.
So In summary, The first nine verses of the twelfth chapter describe prophetically Israel's great deliverance and the destruction of the armies of the world gathered against her. That's political, folks. That's political. The next part is spiritual. And that brings us to the sorrow.
of Israel. The sorrow. of Israel. In the political victory, what's the one thing that stands out in your mind? In my mind, it's this.
They are going to recognize whom. Got it. They're going to see God at work. That's the beginning. That's an easy transition to verse 10.
And I will pour upon the house of David. and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication. and they shall look on me whom they have pierced. While their spiritual eyes are up, And they're thinking about God and how He has delivered them, they're going to see God incarnate, Jesus coming. They're going to look on him.
The Saviour will be revealed. as the victor. And they have a simple response. They shall mourn. For him As one mourns for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem. As in the morning of Hadad Rahman. in the valley of Megadun. And the land shall mourn, every family apart, the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart, and the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart, and the family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart, the family of Shemmai apart, and their wives, all the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart. What's he saying?
He's saying there will be not just A national morning like This is declared the National Day of Mourning. No. There will be national mourning in this sense. Every family. On its own.
And within that family, every individual, the men here, the wives here. There will be individual mourning, individual repentance, family repentance, and then all those families making up the whole of national repentance. This is right at the point of victory. You say it's strange, isn't it? Oh, yeah.
Here they are, they've just won the battle of the centuries. Here they are, the greatest victory conceivable has just been won, and their reaction is to all cry. Why? Because they recognize that the very one who came back as their Deliverer. was the same one they killed.
And they pierced. when he came the first time. That's why they mourn. And now that's the anguish of true repentance, beloved.
Now notice what he says about it. He says, This mourning and this bitterness is similar to that which was in the valley of Hadadraman. The Valley of Megadan. You say, what's that? I'm not going to have you turn to it, but just note it.
2 Chronicles 35. records for us a sad story. There was a godly king in Israel. King in Judah, actually. Never was a godly king in Israel.
They were all bad. But in Judah there was a godly king, and his name was Josiah. You remember, good godly king Josiah? And there was a bad, bad ruler in Egypt known as Pharaoh Neko. NECHO.
Pharaoh Necho murdered Josiah. And 2 Chronicles 35 records the terrible, terrible weeping and wailing and mourning. that occurred. over the murder of Josiah. And so, says Zachariah, the mourning in that day in Jerusalem will be reminiscent of the mourning of the people over the death of the good, godly king Josiah at the hands of Pharaoh.
Now, you'll notice also in verse 12 that it singles out the family of David and then the family of Nathan. This These families, the family of David and Nathan and Levi and Shemmai, David Barron says, these are the aristocratic and privileged lines. These are the kings and the priests who, alas, in times past, often set an evil example to the whole nation where they will now be foremost in their self-contrition and mourning over the great national sin. Their example for good will now also be followed by all the rest of the people. And so in verse 14, it says, All the families that remain, every family apart.
Individually, each family Repenting. and their wives, even the individuals in the family. Repenting. Great sorrow. This is beautiful.
You know what I thought of when I was looking at this? I just kept thinking of one statement by Jesus. Blessed. Are they That Mourn. For they shall what?
Be comforted. This is the morning of true repentance. It's coming. And they'll be comforted. The Hebrew word mourn means to strike the breast in deep grief.
Bitter sorrow. True repentance.
So the siege, the shielding, and the sorrow culminates in the salvation of Israel. Verse 10 at the beginning. Just a simple word. of salvation. And I will pour upon a house of David.
God never sprinkles. He always pours. I want you to know that. I will pour. on the house of David.
and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The spirit. You see, there's the evidence of salvation. God never gives His Spirit to an unbeliever. He pours the Spirit and He's called the Spirit of grace.
Because that's the motive for which he's given, and the spirit of supplication, that's the response which he brings. When God pours out His Spirit by grace, we respond in prayer. Zachariah is saying that just as God pours out refreshing showers on thirsty and parched ground, so will He pour out the Spirit of grace and supplication on a repentant, needy Israel. The Spirit of Grace. What a great term.
Isn't that a beautiful term? It's used in Hebrews 10, 29, the spirit of grace. Joel prophesied this, didn't he? Joel chapter 2. Oh, yes.
Joel said the same thing, essentially. He said, It shall come to pass afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men dream dreams, your young men see visions. And also on the servants and the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. Beloved, that prophecy can only be fulfilled here.
On the day of Pentecost, when Peter quoted it, they were just getting a little taste of it. But it's a future prophecy. Ezekiel said the same thing. In Ezekiel 36, Ezekiel said, someday God is going to come and he is going to come to Israel and he's going to take out their stony heart and he's going to give them a heart of flesh and he says, I will give them my spirit. Salvation.
And I can't resist pointing you to the fact that That it only happens.
Now watch it. It only happens because they look on me whom they have pierced. Who's talking here in this verse? God. God is talking.
Do you know who it was on that cross? Who was it? God. Is that a great statement?
Now notice. They will look on me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him. You see the Trinity there? In one breath it's me, in another breath it's him. And there, God sees Himself there in one breath, and in the next breath, He sees the incarnate Christ, the Son.
Don't let anybody tell you that that wasn't God, that Jesus is any less than God. God says, that was me you pierced. And don't let anybody tell you that the Jews didn't pierce him. They may have used Roman swords, but it was their plotting that got him there. That's all right.
That's all right for God because God can forgive anything. Anything, even the murder of the Messiah. And by the way, there isn't anything you've done that he couldn't forgive either. They shall look on me, whom they pierced. Remember John 19:37?
They took a sword and they pierced them. And then Israel is going to receive salvation. Look at 13:1. In that day, There shall be a fountain opened to the house of David. And to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.
God's going to wash the nation. from its sin. First, they're going to cry, My Lord and my God, when they see Jesus. They're going to realize it was God they pierced. And then God's going to turn the fountain loose and wash them and pour out his spirit.
In any day, In any age, Repentance. like this kind. true honest repentance. will lead to the same cleansing. Beloved, can I tell you something?
The fountain's open right now. Did you know that? I've been there. Have you? And I've been washed.
It's open right now. Paul says today is the day of salvation. And while we as Christians look forward expectantly to the day of national mourning and blessing for Israel, meanwhile, we can tell every Jew and every Gentile that they don't need to wait till then, the fountain's open right now.
Some for you. Right. You're listening to Grace to You, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur. John's current series is titled The Return and Reign of Jesus Christ.
Now, friend, as we continue John's look at the return of Christ and the end times, perhaps a question like this has crossed your mind. Why save money? Why invest in life insurance or plan for the distant future, if Christ could come back at any moment?
Well, let's hear how John answered that question. Because he might not come back in the next moment, or the next five years, or the next 10 years. or your lifetime. Um that would be irresponsible. We do not know when the Lord will come.
He says that even the Son of Man doesn't know the day or the hour of his coming. And we have to be ready at all times, spiritually ready. And I think, even in terms of ministerially ready or service ready, that is to say, we're serving Him with the full force of our. Of our human powers under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We need to be living our life to the fullest in committing ourselves to ministry, the ministry of the gospel, serving the Lord.
But at the same time, we don't know when he's going to come. And look, the book of Proverbs is also written by God, and it basically says you need to plan for your future. You need to save. You need to put money away. The New Testament says somebody who doesn't Care for his family is worse than an unbeliever.
Anybody knows you need to provide for your family, and that means now and in the future. The church is even given the responsibility to care for widows, widows whose husbands die and leave them destitute, and maybe there's no man in the extended family to care for them. The church takes up their care.
So even the church has to have resources on hand to mitigate the problems and the needs of people who are in a desperate situation. We are told even in the New Testament that Paul says, Look, I don't want you to have to take a hurry-up offering when I show up. I want you to give systematically on the first day of the week so that when I come, you have some resources there and some extra resources to send to the poor saints in Jerusalem.
So, whether you're an individual or a church, We're all called to be careful to plan for the future. We want to be reasonable and sensible about that and not foolish. And that's some good advice. And friend, if you look to Grace to you for consistent and clear teaching to help you with decisions in your life, would you let us know? Your letters are a great encouragement to our staff and they're more important than you may realize.
So send along a note when you get in touch with us today. You can mail your letter to Grace2U, Box4000, Panorama City, California, 91412. Or even quicker, email us at letters at gty.org. Let us know how John's verse-by-verse teaching has strengthened your faith and increased your devotion to Christ. Our email again, letters at gty.org.
And friend, thank you for remembering to pray for grace to you that God would use these broadcasts to help listeners know His perfect peace and equip them to minister His peace to others. And keep in mind at our website gty.org, there are thousands of free Bible study tools available. You can read articles on the Grace to You blog, including a series titled How to Prepare for Christ's Return. It's a great supplement to John's current radio study. You can also listen to any radio broadcasts you've missed or download any of John's more than 3,600 sermons.
The website again, gty.org.
Now for the entire Grace to you staff, I'm Phil Johnson. Thanks for joining us today. Be back tomorrow as John MacArthur unpacks God's Forgiveness in the Future. and what that means for you today. It's another half hour of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time.
on Grace TV.
