Zechariah 12-13

What’s Happening?

Zechariah prophecies that God will lead his people into victory over their enemies, but at great cost to himself. Soon Jerusalem will become the center of a world conflict (Zechariah 12:2). Obsessed over Jerusalem’s demise, the city will become like an intoxicating cup of wine to the nations that want to see it fall. But the violence they intend to inflict will fall on them instead (Zechariah 12:3). God will become one of Israel’s commanders and will fight for Jerusalem. As commander he will strike enemy horses with panic, and their riders with madness (Zechariah 12:4). With God as their commanding officer, God’s people are like an unstoppable fire, and all enemies that dare to approach Jerusalem are burned (Zechariah 12:5-8). But during the battle God is somehow pierced with a sword by his own people (Zechariah 12:10). And all Jerusalem weeps for their fallen commander (Zechariah 12:11-14).

But in the middle of the grieving, God opens a fountain that purifies the same people who had just killed their savior from their sin (Zechariah 13:1). The water from the fountain then overflows and forms a river through the rest of the land. It sweeps away everything impure and immoral. Israel’s false gods and prophets drown and God’s people are cleansed from their sins (Zechariah 13:2-3).

Then Zechariah describes how God will further refine and cleanse the people of Jerusalem from their sin. He will strike the leader of Jerusalem who was in charge when God died while acting as their commander. With this leader dead, two thirds of Jerusalem will scatter like frightened sheep (Zechariah 13:7), leaving a refined one third whom God will call his people, and who call God their only God (Zechariah 13:8-9).

Where is the Gospel?

The commanding officer of God’s armies who is pierced by his own people is Jesus. Long ago God told Eve that humanity would be at war with Satan and evil forever. But God also promised that hostility between his people and evil would end once one of Eve’s sons was wounded in battle (Genesis 3:15). And the battle Zechariah describes happened on the day Jesus was crucified. The only time in history God has bled and died was when Jesus, as God in the flesh, died at the hands of his own people (Acts 2:23). 

But when Jesus was pierced on the cross, it wasn’t just a tragedy. Like all warriors’ deaths Jesus’ death was a sacrifice. From his pierced side a fountain of blood and water flowed that can purify everyone from their sin—even those who killed him (John 19:34-37; Luke 23:34). Jesus was pierced for all our sins (Isaiah 53:5). And if we mourn Jesus’ death we will be saved by the blood he spilled and the sacrifice he gave. 

If we trust Jesus to purify us, we need not worry that one day God will become the commander of an army looking to destroy us for not fighting the good fight sooner, harder, or more intensely. Jesus is our leader. And like the leader who was struck in Zechariah, Jesus dies as a representative of all his people. He is struck so that his people don’t have to be, no matter how cowardly we might be. Even Jesus’ disciples ran from Jesus, but we’re now quoting from their books that have introduced Jesus to millions (Mark 14:27). So trust Jesus, our commanding officer. He has sacrificed himself to free us from our sins, refine away our cowardice, and call us his people forever. 

See for Yourself

I pray that the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to see the God who purifies his people. And may you see Jesus as our God, the one who calls us his people.

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