Zechariah 12:1-9

In Zechariah’s answer to the question about fasting in Ch. 8 God’s reason for changing the fasts to feasts was that it looked to the future.  In the future the LORD of hosts promised to save My people (8:7) and promised that Israel and the nations would join in worship in Jerusalem (8:20-23).  The burden against Israel (Zech. 12-14) answers that question in some amazing detail.

I.      God will make Israel a constant irritation to the nations, 12:1-9.

As a cup of drunkenness Jerusalem will cause those who seek to destroy her unable to accomplish their plan.  As a very heavy stone Jerusalem will be a weighty problem for the nations, one they cannot solve.  The armies of the peoples (nations) will be full of confusion.  Judah’s governors will be a firepan in the woodpile and a fiery torch in the sheaves, both pictures of a small fire that creates a huge fire.  The effect of this will be the re-establishment of the nation, beginning with the areas of Judah and then the city Jerusalem.  There is apparently a jealousy involved which might be understandable.

This happened in the days of Christ when the Jews were a frequent problem for the Roman authorities, eventually leading to Rome’s decision to destroy Jerusalem (70AD) and remove any remnant of irritation (135AD).  But this passage looks to the future, perhaps much closer to our own period in history.  

World War I saw the end of Ottoman control of Palestine (the Ottomans sided with Germany) and the beginning of the tumultuous British Mandate.  For all their good intentions the British were unable to maintain peace with either Arabs or Jews.  This frustration and the added impetus of the Holocaust led to the UN decision of Nov. 29, 1947 that granted the Jews land but no control of Jerusalem.  

Israel declared independence May 14, 1948 and immediately was engaged in a war of independence that saw her out-numbered and out-armored and yet victorious.  The same scenario took place in 1967 (Six-Day War against Egypt, Jordan and Syria) and 1973 (Yom Kippur War against Egypt and Syria).  The 1967 war resulted in the unification of Jerusalem under Israeli control (Judah first, then Jerusalem).  While Israel continues to have struggles with her neighbors she continues to gain a stronger and stronger foothold.  

These wars where Israel was so outnumbered had interesting stories of decisions by her enemies by which they failed to use their superior power.  The turning back of the Syrian tanks in the Golan in 1973 is one illustration.  So was Egypt’s leaving her entire air force on the ground unprotected, opening the way for Israel to destroy Egypt’s air superiority with a preemptive strike in 1967.

We can say, certainly, that the cup, stone, firepan and torch are still true: Israel is a problem for those who oppose her as well as those who support her.  Yet we can see that the nation itself is growing stronger in many ways.  But what about Israel’s spiritual situation?