Zechariah 12:1-6 -- Spiritual Judo
Judo is the fighting style where you let the opponents own attacks take him down as well. Instead of opposing the force directly you turn their own force to your advantage. In the last chapter we saw that God and his people were fighting with each other, they refused to listen and began to loath the prophets and He in turn also had had enough. As a result the last chapter concluded with God saying fine, he would give them an idolatrous shepherd and would stop restraining the evil. They had broken the covenant He had made with them at the time of Noah so He also would stop abiding by that covenant.
1 The burden or oracle (the thing to be lifted up) of the word of the Lord concerning Israel: Thus says the Lord, Who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundation of the earth and forms the spirit of man within him:
This is the new creation, the work of redemption, and ultimately the coming kingdom. Remember, if the Lord is in you then the kingdom is in your midst.
2 Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup or bowl of reeling to all the peoples round about, and in the siege against Jerusalem will there also be a siege against and upon Judah.
I am reminded of my two oldest kids. They were born and raised in Taiwan but then came to live with me when they got to sixth grade. They didn’t speak any english so I decided to homeschool them before high school. I had taught ESL for years in Taiwan and felt I could do a better job of having them learn english than the public school could. Every day I gave them their assignments for the day, we had a strict schedule worked out because there was only one computer and they each wanted equal time on it. I also told them how they did was completely up to them, if they became doctors or flunked out it was up to them. Their mother was very upset at my decision to homeschool and was scaring them enough as it was. So I was basically telling them that if this doesn’t work out it is on them, not me. Looking back that is one of the things I regret because they did do exactly what I told them to and ultimately they were both valedictorians of their schools. No doubt if I could have guessed that would have happened I would have told them I would take the credit for whatever happens. It is the same with the believers, some will listen to the Lord, obey Him and follow His word. They will “live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God”. Others won’t, and so God employs different strategies for different people. Some only need to hear the word and they will obey, others need to learn from their mistakes.
People don’t understand prophecy. If you show me an apple seed and we plant that in the ground I can prophesy what the tree will look like and what the fruit will be like, when the tree will bring forth fruit and even what season the fruit will be ripe. I can do all that because I understand that is an apple seed, it will grow into an apple tree and I know what an apple tree will be like. In the same way God can prophesy of the great tribulation, this is not because God is trying to kill us but rather because Satan has planted a seed that will grow into that kingdom of Antichrist. So then God’s word prepares us for that day. The day will come when these two kingdoms can no longer coexist. At that time the kingdom of antichrist will attack the church. If you follow the Lord’s word and obey it the church will be a “cup of reeling” a cup of poison to the antichrist. For example there was a video of the police coming into a church and arresting a pregnant woman with a baby in her arms because she had taken off her mask. Is there anyway for antichrist and his kingdom to do this without it costing them far more than it is worth? With every step they take more and more people wake up as to how evil the antichrist is.
The Lord is training us and preparing us for this battle. We will be attacked, but just like in Judo the attack of the enemy will be used against the enemy.
3 And in that day I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all peoples; all who lift it or burden themselves with it shall be sorely wounded. And all the nations of the earth shall come and gather together against it.
Jerusalem refers to the city of peace, and no doubt there is a Jerusalem in Israel but the New Testament tells us the church is also the New Jerusalem that is above. The church is very burdensome to the world. They would like to legalize abortion so that they can fornicate without any consequences. But regardless of how much they debate and reason the church has rejected that and so they have finally decided to forget debate.
“On that day” refers to a specific day, the great day of the Lord. This indicates a transition from the age of grace to the kingdom age. This term that they will be “sorely wounded” refers to idol worship where you cut yourself as a form of idol worship. What does this mean? You have seen cancel culture forcing people to make these public apologies like self mutilation. In the world there is no forgiveness, as a result instead of confessing, repenting and forgiving they have what the communists call “struggle sessions”. You have to come before them and apologize for absurd things and then they in turn use that as a basis to fire you. For example they were castigating anyone who questioned the results of the election, anyone who questioned the CDC, anyone who questioned CNN.
Israel will stand alone, but so will all of God’s people. We, the church, are the true Israel, the true prince of God. We need to “stand alone”, to stand against every nation.
4 In that day, says the Lord, I will smite every horse [of the armies that contend against Jerusalem] with terror and panic and his rider with madness; and I will open My eyes and regard with favor the house of Judah and will smite every horse of the opposing nations with blindness.
To smite every horse is to smite the power of all the nations. The things that the politicians are doing, the media are saying and the corporations are doing can only be explained as madness. They are in terror and panic and are running around blind. They attempted to steal the election and then thought that insults hurled at the “deplorables” would be enough to shut them up. But they didn’t shut up, they dug in their heels, they pursued them, and now all the sins are coming out, the election fraud is being revealed, and they are filled with terror and panic.
5 And the chiefs of Judah shall say in their hearts, The inhabitants of Jerusalem are our strength in the Lord of hosts, their God. 6 In that day will I make the chiefs of Judah like a big, blazing pot among [sticks of] wood and like a flaming torch among sheaves [of grain], and they shall devour all the peoples round about, on the right hand and on the left; and they of Jerusalem shall yet again dwell and sit securely in their own place, in Jerusalem.
This is what is happening today, this is “that day”. We are devouring the deep state in flames (Liz Cheney, Gov Newsom, Gov Cuomo, Gov Whitmer, Joe Biden, FISA scandal, Jan 6 scandal, Maxine Waters, etc). We are devouring the mainstream media which is nothing but the propaganda arm of the Democratic party in flames (ratings are down 40-60%, several major pundits have already had their shows removed). We are devouring the multinational corporations that have “gone woke”. MLB, Coca Cola, Twitter, Facebook, Google, Amazon, Apple, all these corporations that thought they were untouchable are like logs in the fire.
But wait, the Lord’s kingdom is not of this world. Yes, that is true. We are not of this corrupt world. We are not of these false shepherds who worhsip idols and don’t care about the sheep. We are not of these false prophets who will say whatever they are paid to say and have no respect for the word of God or the word of truth. We are not of these spineless corporations that are amoral and will do anything to improve the bottom line. The bottom line does not refer to human life or people, it simply refers to vain idols of metal and wood.