Remember... #12

Read Zechariah 12

Background: Having given a balanced picture of God's character: that He is a God who both judges sin His covenant, Zechariah looks forward to the day of ultimate restoration: when God's people will once more be assembled in Jerusalem and Judea, empowered by Him to stand against all enemies.  He would give salvation and protection from any who would do them harm.   It would be obvious to all those around that it was God who was strengthening, protecting, and prospering His people. God then suddenly gives this word of prophecy:

Key Verses:  10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. 11 On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12 The land shall mourn, each 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 and all the families that are left, each by itself, and their wives by themselves.

Thoughts: As Zechariah is looking forward, God gives him a glimpse of the One they have pierced, which moves them to a mourning of repentance.  A price has been paid for their restoration, and the whole people - corporately and individually alike- will weep in repentance in response to God's Grace and Mercy in Christ.