"The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel: Sayeth the Lord, which stretches forth the heavens, and lays the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him: "Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be. When they shall be in the sea, both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people. All that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. In that day, sayeth the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness, and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.

And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, "The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts, in the Lord of hosts their God. In that day will I make the governors of Judah like a heareth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf. And they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left. And Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in their heart. And in their heart, the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts their God. In that day, will I make the governors of Judah like a heareth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf.

And they shall devour all the people 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 also shall save the tents of Judah first, 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 as David, and the house of David shall be as God, as 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, and I will pour, 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 upon me whom they have pierced. And 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 shall there shall be a great morning in Jerusalem, as the morning of Hadad Rimon, in the valley of Megiddo. And the land shall mourn every family apart. The family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart. The family of the house of Natan apart, and their wives apart. The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart." "The family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart.

The family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart. All the families that remain every family apart, and their wives apart." "Chapter 13 and verse 1." "In that day there shall be a fountain open to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for unclean." "I stop here with these verses concluded with chapter 13 and verse 1. Now when we study such a passage as the prophet Zechariah, specifically in this 12th chapter, I would like to remind you, beloved brothers and sisters, that by nature we cannot understand many of the passages that we have in Scripture, that unless the Spirit of God helps us to understand the Word of God, we cannot understand many of the passages that we have in Scripture, that unless the Spirit of God helps us to understand the Word of God, we cannot understand the Word of God.

that unless the Spirit of God help us to understand God's Word, we are unable to understand the things of the Lord. It was the Apostle Paul who said to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 2, he says, The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for there are foolishness unto him. Man by nature cannot understand the divine truths that we have in the Bible. No wonder an unbeliever cannot appreciate what we have in the Tanakh and the Brit HaChadashah, because unless the Holy Spirit of God unfolds this before our hearts, we are unable to understand the things of the Spirit of God. And Paul, Shaul, clearly said this to the Corinthians when he wanted to communicate with them the importance of their trust in the Lord Yeshua, and leaning hard on the help of the Holy Spirit of God, that only he that can unfold before us the truth of God.

And no wonder, beloved brothers and sisters, before you and I became believers in our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, we couldn't grasp at all the importance of the Bible, of the Word of God, the Tanakh and the Brit HaChadashah. But by the grace of God, he opened our eyes and he enlightened us to accept the Word of God and to accept Yeshua as our Lord and our Savior. There is a beautiful song that the Thai believers sing, and I would like just to read to you a couple of those stanzas that I found is very important. This is what Yeshua did when he was here on earth, how he broke the bread, and he fed the multitude in Galilee, in the Galil, among our own nation, the Jewish people who lived in Galilee.

The songwriter, it's called Break Thou the Bread of Life. Listen to this. The first stanzas, Break Thou the Bread of Life, dear Lord, to me. As Thou didst break the bread beside the sea, beyond the sacred page, I seek Thee, Lord. My spirit longs for Thee, Thou the living Word. Here is a writer who writes a hymn and says, Lord, break the bread of life, meaning the Scripture. As you have broken, as you have opened, as you minister physically to the Jewish people when they were in the Galil, in the north of Israel, I want you to break this bread of life and fold before my heart the things of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, that I found here in the Scripture.

Then the second stanza says, Thou art that bread of life, O Lord, to me, the Holy Word, the truth that savest me. Give me to eat and live with Thee above. Teach me to love Thy truth, for Thou art love. That's what the writer wanted from the Lord. He wanted the Lord to recognize that he, in his heart, understand that He is that bread of life. He is the food for the soul of the believer. And He wanted Him to feed Him spiritually. And I trust that as we come and we sit together under the sound of the Word, that we will not come to listen to the Word of God just to get some head knowledge, that we will come to hear the Word of God in order to get fed spiritually and edified and grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus, Yeshua, the Messiah.

Well, as we study in the prophet Zechariah, we learn very well that Zechariah was speaking to a remnant of Jewish people some many years ago before the Messiah came, about 520 BC when they were building the temple. Then later on He was speaking to them sometime in 480 BC after they finished the temple and they concluded the building of the temple and now they were ready to continue on to live for the God of Israel. Then Zechariah received from the living God some burdens concerning Jerusalem and concerning the people of Israel, the Jewish people. Well, if you remember, there were two burdens that we have in the last chapters of the book of Zechariah.

Chapter 9, 10, and 11 was the first burden which we just finished in our previous meetings. That was the burden of the Lord as we read it in chapter 9 and verse 1, the burden of the word of the Lord in the land of Hadrach and Damascus. In the first chapter 9, chapter 10, and chapter 11 of the prophet Zechariah, the Lord gave a burden to present before the nation of Israel concerning the first coming of the Messiah and how He will come and He will be rejected by our own people Israel. He will not be accepted in His first coming. And we notice this very well when Israel, the nation, did not accept Yeshua, the Messiah.

Blessing flowed to the nations of the world. But now, beginning from chapter 12 and verse 1 all the way to the end of chapter 14, there is a second burden that the Lord Jehovah has for the people of Israel. And I want you to notice by reading just the first part of verse 1 of chapter 12, it says the burden of the word of the Lord. You notice that? The Hebrew word for burden is the word Massah. Massah means something that you carry on your shoulders, something that is heavy. And here is the Lord giving an oracle, giving a declaration concerning the thing that He is carrying in His heart concerning the people of Israel.

And now, in this last chapter 12, 13, and 14 of the prophet Zechariah, He deals now with the second coming and with the restoration of our nation Israel, the Jewish people who refuse to accept the Messiah in His first coming. And the burden of God is to bring to fruition what He has already declared throughout the Old Testament history. He declared the fact that one day He is going to restore His people Israel to Himself. And through Israel, blessings will flow to the nations of the world. So, here is this burden, the Massah, the heavy load that God, that Jehovah is carrying concerning, listen to this, it says in verse 1, the burden of the word of the Lord for Israel.

You know, God has a burden for His people Israel. He has a Massah. He carries this load in His heart because He longed to have these people Israel restored to Him. As far as we are concerned, from the time that the Messiah came in His first coming, up till today, there are more than 2,000 years where Israel as a nation is not in a relationship with the Lord. The vast majority of our people are scattered around the world. The Messiah has been rejected. Israel as a nation are being persecuted by the nations of the world. And God has a burden to see Israel finally restored to Himself.

And so, you want to see, it's very interesting because look what God is saying through Zechariah. Again, I want you to remind you that Zechariah is speaking now to a group of more than 40, 50,000 Jews who return. Probably already 30, 40 years have passed by since the time that they have come from Babylon. They built a temple in Jerusalem and they are so happy to see here is the temple. Here is the city of Jerusalem. We have finally rebuilt now the second temple, what we would call the temple of the Zerubabel temple, the second temple in Jerusalem. The first temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. The second temple is now being built by Ezra, Nehemiah, Zerubabel and all the leaders of Israel who came from Babel.

So, God is now telling them what you and I 2,500 years later can hear this today in our meeting, in our ministry meeting today. What does He say to them? Here I have a burden for Jerusalem and here is what's going to happen in the future day when finally God is going to restore Israel to Himself. Now, who is the one who is speaking? Zechariah chapter 12 and verse 1, the burden of the word of the Lord for Israel and now notice who is the one who is really speaking. It says here, sayeth the Lord which three things He is speaking about Himself. He is the one which stretch forth the heavens.

Secondly, He is the one that lays the foundation of the earth and thirdly, He is the one that formeth the spirit of man within Him. Who is the one that is speaking here? He is none else but the creator of the heavens and the creator of the earth. Just the same that we have in Genesis chapter 1, The creator God is speaking to Zechariah and to the remnant of Israel and to you and I. He says, listen, I have a burden and I am going to fulfill this burden and I want to show you who I am. I am the creator of the heavens and the creator of the earth and I am the one notice the third thing that He says that form the spirit of man within Him.

I am in full control over the events that are going on here in this world. I am in charge. You know, sometimes when we look around we see the mess, the chaos that is going on in the world today. We, naturally speaking, say, who is in charge here? Look what is going on. All over the world the wars and events that are occurring even today as we are speaking today yet we find out that the one that is really in charge over everything is the one that stretched forth the heavens He is the one that lays the foundation of the earth He is the one that forms the spirit of man within Him.

You know, every one of us beloved brothers and sisters we breathe we live we move and live and have our being because there is one who is in control over all the affairs that are going on here in this world the creator the sustainer the provider the one who is all together lovely the God and Father of our Lord Yeshua Jesus the Messiah He is the one that gives us this declaration concerning something that is going to happen in the future now by the way this expression in chapter 12 and verse 1 is the same expression that Isaiah mentioned this many years ago in Isaiah chapter 42 in verse 5 thus says the Lord He

that created the heavens and stretched them out He that spread forth the earth and that which cometh out of it He that giveth breath unto the people upon it and the spirit to them that walk therein Isaiah said this a few years before Zechariah that's the one that is speaking to us that's the one that is declaring to us about events that are going to happen in the future day so what he is saying now as we are talking about Zechariah chapter 12 in all these first nine verses of this chapter that we read we are reading and God declaring to Zechariah about a future battle that is going to occur in the future day

where all the nations of the world will gather against our people the nation of Israel now I don't have to tell you you just listen to the news today and you notice immediately that even today all what we hear today in the news the propaganda against Israel against the Jewish people is already existing here in the world in which we live in we don't have to look too far you just turn the television on read the newspaper turn the radio internet you find out how the nations of the world are against Israel this little country this little city of Jerusalem and this little nation called the nation of Israel all the nations of the world

throughout the ages were always against this little nation you ask yourself why why is it that everybody is against the Jewish people why why is it that everybody wants this little piece of land there in the Middle East why is it so important well it is important because God set his name there God has chosen the people of Israel as an elected people for himself God has a plan for this nation and the enemy of God namely Satan and those who follow Satan oppose the plan of God and therefore there is a constant resistance to the plan of God by the natural man Satan of course the God with a small g of this world

he lead the nations of the world the people of the world constantly against the people of God the people of Israel that have happened in the past it is happening in the present and the culmination of this will happen in the coming day in the future of which Zechariah speaking to us here in the 12 chapters Zechariah chapter 12 so I want you to notice beloved brothers and sisters of how things are going to develop in the future day when the nations of the world will gather together against the people of Israel we are in Zechariah chapter 12 and now we are reading in verses 2 and 3 and I want you to notice in

verse 2 and 3 we have the gathering together of all the people of the earth against Israel listen to this it says here in verse 2 I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem and in that day I will make Jerusalem a trembling stone or a burdensome stone for all the people all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it now you notice these beloved brothers and sisters here is the foreknowledge of God now again I would like you to see how important

it is for us to trust God's word you know God knows everything from the beginning to the end he knows everything what's going to happen in the end what's going to happen in the beginning why?

because he is an eternal God he knows everything and so he is telling to Zechariah his burden that he is carrying concerning the people of Israel and what is going to happen in the future day and notice he says in verse 2 I will make notice that behold I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem God is saying you know what I myself gonna make this little city called Jerusalem a cup of trembling the Hebrew word for a cup of trembling is Saf Ra'al actually it's better to be said I will make the city of Jerusalem

a bowl of poison unto all the people round about when they shall be in a siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem Ra'al is poison Saf it being often used to be like a bowl when Moses took Israel out of the land of Egypt you remember when they killed the lamb they put the blood in a bowl and then they took it they dip it in the blood and they spread it on the doorpost and the lintel in the land of Egypt that the angel of death will pass over the houses of our own nation of the Jewish people in the land of Egypt now the word here Saf Ra'al in other words God is

saying to the nations of the world I am going to make the city of Jerusalem like a bowl that is filled with here it says trembling but it really should use the word even poison a bowl that is filled with poison that whoever is going to touch the city of Jerusalem will be stung with this poison that will ultimately God cause him judgment and you know what he is continuing he says for unto all the people round about when they this is all the nations shall be in a siege both against Judah and against the city of Jerusalem he is now taking us beyond the church age this is the church age in which we

live in he is taking us to a time that is called Sarat Yaakov Jacob's trouble in fact he is taking us to the end of Jacob's trouble because Jacob's trouble the tribulation period is going to be for seven years the seven years will begin with the signing of the covenant between Israel and this prince that shall come Daniel chapter 9 verses 24 to 27 Israel Israel the nation the leaders of Israel going to make an agreement with the political ruler who will rise in the beginning of the tribulation and he is what we would know him to be the antichrist the counterfeit messiah and Israel is going to make an agreement with this man for

seven years he is going to promise our Jewish people listen you will make an agreement with me I will let you worship in the temple I will allow you to offer sacrifices you will be able to have an altar and a priest and you will be satisfied and you will be able to worship your God but in the middle of the seven year tribulation this man will break the agreement with the people of Israel and he will sit in the temple 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 claiming there that he is God and seeking the Jewish people to worship him and the nations of the world Israel later on will realize the mistake that they have done

but you see beloved brothers and sisters this takes us to a time when the nations of the world will gather against Israel and against the city of Jerusalem notice it distinguishes here between Judah and Jerusalem in verse 2 because Judah is beyond the borders of Jerusalem Judah is a larger part of a land Jerusalem is just simply speak about the city but it takes us beyond the city Judea Judah and the city of Jerusalem so God is saying to Zechariah to say to the remnant that there will be a day coming when Israel when Jerusalem going to be a bowl of poison a cup of trembling for all the people that will come around and

against the people of Israel and isn't it true today anybody who deals with Israel he already said it earlier in the prophet Zechariah he that touches you touched the apple of my eye to Abraham our fathers he said in Genesis chapter 12 those that bless thee I will bless and him that curse thee I will curse it is a principle that have happened throughout the ages anyone who sought to destroy and to harm the people of Israel ultimately have been judged by God and ultimately God have disciplined them for what they have done when Babylon Nebuchadnezzar took the Jewish people to Babylon the Babylonians have been destroyed God have disciplined his people every nation that

came against the people of Israel have been judged at the end and so here we can see now we are not anymore looking about the past so much we are looking to the future to what we know today the Armageddon the Har Megiddo war the final battle in which God is going to allow the nations to gather against Israel and he will ultimately judge them at the final day notice now in verse 2 and 3 we see the gathering together of all the people of the earth against Jerusalem notice what it says in verse 3 and in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people all that burden themselves with it

shall be cut in pieces though all the peoples of the earth be gathered together against it against Jerusalem against Israel now I want you also to notice this expression in that day you notice how many times this expression is mentioned in that day verse 4 verse 6 verse 8 verse 9 verse 11 in that day chapter 13 verse 1 in that day what day is that?

this is what is known to be in the Bible the day of the Lord the day of Jehovah and that's always applied to the tribulation period the time that is known to be according to Jeremiah 30 in verse 7 Jacob's trouble when God will judge this world in righteousness he will refine his people Israel and he will restore them back to himself at the end of the tribulation so in that day what in that day verse 3 of our chapter I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the people all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces though all the people of the earth shall be gathered together against it now

I want you to notice in verse 2 he will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling in verse 3 he will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone notice that I will make Jerusalem it's not the Jerusalem making themselves it's not the Jewish people make themselves no God in his wisdom and plan make himself a plan in connection with the city of Jerusalem and the people of Israel he made Jerusalem a cup of trembling he made Jerusalem a burdensome stone what is a burdensome stone it is in Hebrew the word even ma'amasa even is a stone ma'amasa it's something that you carry very heavy and it stumbles you you can't continue on if it falls it hurts you

whatever happened with this stone it becomes a stone that only harm you that it's a load that you have to carry because you have not realized whom you are dealing with and so he's saying in this verse 3 that in that day tribulation period he will make Jerusalem a burdensome for all them notice the word all mentioned how many times here verse 3 all the people all that burden themselves with it again he mentioned at least three or four times the word all here because this is the gathering of the nations of the world against the people of Israel the nations of the world have gathered against the people of Israel turn to chapter 14

of the same prophet Zechariah we're going to get to it later verse 1 verse 1 behold the day of the Lord cometh again that's the tribulation period and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee and I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle notice that I will gather all the nations of the world against Jerusalem to a battle so here we can see beloved brothers and sisters that there is a day coming taking us to the tribulation period in which God will gather the people against the city of Jerusalem but he will use the city of Jerusalem to be a cup of trembling and a burdensome stone and all the people

that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces you know today just recently we discovered in the deliberation concerning making peace with the Palestinians in Israel that people trying messengers are coming from the United States from the European Union trying to arrange and make peace between Israel and the Palestinian and the Arabic nations and they're trying to make peace shalom and one of the things that Israel have to agree is to give some land to the Palestinian land that belonged to the nation of Israel according to the Bible according to the word of God and even to divide Yerushalayim into half and to give some of it to the Palestinian and some of it

remain in the hands of the Jewish people but according to God's word the city of Yerushalayim belonged to whom he had given it to the people of Israel I remember when I was a young boy in 1967 when we have fought against the seven nations that surrounding us I remember I was a young boy I was 12 13 years of age when Israel attacked Egypt and Syria and Jordan and so on and in six days Israel have defeated all the nations around and finally after 2,000 years had reunited the city of Jerusalem my father took me the first time in my 12 years of age I crossed the walls of Jerusalem and I looked at

the walls they were high and there were Jordanian soldiers on the walls pointing their guns towards us but I remember when the walls were broken and my father took me to cross over to the old city of Jerusalem it was an amazing sight until finally we arrived to the wailing wall to Temple Mount where the first time after 2,000 years of history the Jewish people finally had back this wailing wall that was really one of the part of the temple mount it was an amazing sight but since that time up till today the city is still divided in many ways the city will never be united in the full sense of the word until the

future day when God is going to restore Israel to himself and give them the full city of Jerusalem but still as we have here in this chapter there is a waiting time when Jerusalem going to they shall be in siege against Judea and against Jerusalem the word for siege is the Hebrew word matzo the nations of the world will surround the city of Jerusalem they are not going to allow anything to come in and come out matzo means they simply have surrounded the city and choked it if you will not able to give liberty to Jerusalem and to the people who lived in Judea until the Lord will come to Israel's aid in that last

days of the tribulation period so in the next verses verses 4 to 9 after we see the gathering of the people of the world against Israel in verses 4 to 9 we see the deliverance of Israel by Jehovah himself how he is going to deliver the Jewish people from the hands of the enemies at the end of the tribulation period and so look at this in verse 4 we see that the Lord will confound Jerusalem's enemies as it says here in verse 4 in that day says Jehovah I will smite every horse with astonishment and his rider with madness and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah and I will smite every

horse of the people with blindness this verse is interesting because there's more than one time that we have the word horse here mentioned and then we have the one who rides on the horse now to remind you that if you would have been 480s BC with Zecharia you will not think of a military the way we have it today like tanks and airplanes and all the ammunition that we have today years after thousands of years later but the horse is an instrument of war it is always in the bible is expressed to be as an instrument of war that which men use to fight against another there is an interesting verse in isaiah 31 where

God said to Israel war to them that go down to Egypt for help and stay on horses and trust in chariots because there are many and in horse men because they are very strong but they look not upon the holy one of Israel neither seek the Lord God warns Israel don't go down to Egypt don't trust in horse and chariots because they are strong trust in the Lord and don't trust in the military campaign and the military ability that the nation of Egypt had because one day God is going to defeat all those nations that will gather against Israel and no military campaign and military power will be able to be successful against the God

of Israel so God is saying I will smite every horse with astonishment and the rider with madness again I would like to make an application here to some events that happened historically in the book of Judges you remember the story of Deborah and Barak how those who came against Israel God have successfully succeeded to defeat the enemies of Israel by confounding the enemies of Israel turning them one against the other because it is a divine work of the Lord you have done it in the time of Deborah you have done it in the time of Gideon in chapter 7 of the book of Judges the enemies of Gideon he was the leader of Israel at

that time and was a judge over the people of Israel God has helped his people Israel as well to stop the enemies of Israel from pursuing and defeating the people of Israel and by the way it happened in some small way in 1973 when Israel were in retreat because again the nations that surrounded us in 1973 Syrian came all the way to the Golan Heights and almost entered into the land of Israel where someone stopped them from continuing on and to enter into the promised land at that time I was about 18 years old and I was in the military already in 1973 in the Yom Kippur War and how in a continued to enter

into the promised land and somebody asked them why didn't continue and take over Israel and they said we have seen us angels in white before us stopping us from continuing on now I've never been there to tell you I've never seen what they have seen but that's what is the story behind it God in a supernatural way preserve his people in a unique way who pursue against the people of Israel and God tells us here I will smite every horse with astonishment all the rider with madness and I will open mine eye upon the house of Judah and I will smite every horse of the people with blindness God is going to involve himself in

defeating the people of Israel's enemies in the end of the tribulation in the war of Har Megiddo the Armageddon war in the future day then notice that in verse 5 now Judah will have confidence in the Lord they will be encouraged by seeing that God will awaken and stir up the people of Israel in helping them to fight their enemies and you can see how the people of Israel are going to rise up and will be able to fight back against their own enemies verse 5 says the governors of Judah shall say in their heart the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts their God well Judah is distinguished again

from Jerusalem is taking us beyond the borders of Jerusalem and the inhabitants of Judah will look at the people of Jerusalem those who live in Jerusalem how they had confidence in God and they themselves will be encouraged and will have confidence in the Lord as it says here in verse 5 the governors of Judah shall say in their heart the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in Jehovah of hosts their God they will be encouraged when they're going to see the people of Jerusalem standing and continuing and not giving up because the Lord have encouraged them then they themselves will stand and will be encouraged in their heart to continue on to stop the

attack of their enemies in the future then now notice verse 6 and 7 because of Judah's trust in the Lord Jehovah will respond to Judah's confidence in him and listen to this he will make them to be able to defeat their enemies a few things that he says about Judah the people the inhabitants and the governors of Judah it says in verse 6 in that day tribulation period I will make the governors of Judah like a fire pen among the wood and like a torch of fire in a sheaf and they shall devour all the people round about on the right hand and on the left in other words God will allow the people of

Judah to be so powerful and so strong they will be like a fire pen in verse 6a and like a torch of fire they will be able to defeat to devour the nation that will get against the people of Israel and the city of Jerusalem again I'm emphasizing verse 6 the word for fire pen in Hebrew it's kiyo esh and the torch of fire this is lapid esh there will be like a torch of fire and like a ball of fire or fire pen the enemies of Israel will ultimately be defeated by the Jewish people who will be strengthened by the Lord and in the end in verse 6b he says and Jerusalem shall be

inhabited again in their own place even Jerusalem you notice that the word Jerusalem at time applied to the people and at other time applied to the land to the city you see in verse 6 Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her town in her place even Jerusalem so Jerusalem is the people Jerusalem is the land the portion and they are linked with each other and they are often time look at this in scripture in such a way and then in verse 7 here is an additional information here for us also very interesting the Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first that the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against

Judah if you are careful in the study of the Bible you notice that it says here that the Lord will save the tents of Judah first and then that David Jerusalem will not magnify against the people of Judah now why does he say that he will save the tents of Judah first again I would like to tell you brothers and sisters that the people of Judah at that time will be much more than just the inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem and what we learn here from this passage that when the Messiah is going to come in his second coming he is away from the city and from the surrounding area and they will be

the first ones that are going to be delivered physically when the Messiah is going to come in his second coming why because they are going to flee the land and if you remember they are going to go to a place that is called today a dom Petra and they are going to be preserved in Petra in a supernatural way by the Lord so when the Lord Jesus when the Messiah is going to come in his second coming he is immediately going to go to the places where the remnant of Israel fled from the armies of the Antichrist there they're going to be the first one who are going to receive the help from the Lord

and accept him and acknowledge that he is the Messiah so to the Mount of Olives with the rest of the people of Israel I'm going to show you this for a moment if you will turn with me to Isaiah chapter 63 verse 1 Isaiah speaking about 700 years before the Messiah came and look what he's saying a question is being raised who is this that comes from Edom with dyed garment from Bozrah and then the answer this is this that is glorious in his apparel traveling in the greatness of his strength I that speak in righteousness mighty to save notice here the word mighty to save in other words the question is being asked who

is the one that come from Bozrah from Edom Edom is present day Jordan he's coming from Edom and asked who is the one that come that his garment is dyed and so then they asked him the question why are thou red in thine appell why your garment have the red color and your garments like him that treadest in the wine fit why is your garment so red as if you just came from the wine press and you were pressing with your feet the red grapes and all your garment became red from the color of the grapes so then he now this is one of the most beautiful prophetic words concerning the second coming of the

Messiah when Yeshua is going to come in his second coming he is not going to come first of all to what we often think about coming to Mount of Olives yes he will stand upon Mount Olives but he is first going to come to what is known today Bozrah Edom present day Jordan today where the Jewish remnant who fled from all Judea fled to be preserved in this area for the second half of the tribulation while the end of the second half of the tribulation have happened the messiah is going to come in his second coming to a place that is called Edom Bozrah in Isaiah 63 and verse 1 and what's going to happen

there in that place he's going to tread like a man that is treading the wine press and he's going to judge the armies of the antichrist who will gather there against the remnant of Israel seeking to destroy them he's going to defeat them there and then he's going to bring the people of Judah the people who fled back to their own land who is he that cometh from Edom I that speak in righteousness mighty to save why you are red why your pearl is red he said because I have trodden the wine press alone I will tread them with mine anger and I will trample them in my fury and their blood shall be sprinkled

upon my garment and I will stain all my raiment anymore like he came at first coming behold the lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world and he placed himself as a lamb he went to the slaughter to become the sacrifice for Israel and the nations of the world but in his second coming beloved brothers and sisters he going to come in power in authority he going to come in judgment upon the nations of the world in Zechariah chapter 12 that Judah shall be first saved because they will be the one that will acknowledge the Messiah when he is going to come to the area that they will be fleeing to in

the future day so we can see now in verse 6 and 7 that we have Jehovah will respond to Judah's faith and he will allow Judah to be a fire pen like a torch of fire they will fight those that come against them but ultimately he will save all that nation so there will be no pride and no glory with David over Judah and Jerusalem over David that there will be no one magnifying themselves because the Lord will be the one who will redeem the people of Israel so this is verses 6 and 7 the response that Jehovah will have towards the people who trust in him now in verse 8 he will also defend

the people of Jerusalem 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 as God as the angel of the Lord before him you know God will defend the city of Jerusalem and it says here very the feeble among the people of Israel will be a dead day like David now you remember when David fought against Goliath in the valley of Elah you remember what the women of Israel sang in 1st Samuel chapter 18 they sang a song about David they said Saul killed the thousands but David ten thousands in other words they

were singing about David this warrior who was able to fight whether he was fighting with a sling and stones or whether he was fighting later on as a military man David was a man that was fighting for the nation of Israel defeating the nations around and now at the end of the tribulation God is going so much to defend Jerusalem that even the feeble among the Jewish people among the people of Jerusalem they will be strong and strengthened just like David was in the time when he was fighting on behalf of the people of Israel and then it says in verse 8 and the house of David will be as God what does that mean

as the angel of the Lord that was before them well what he is saying that the house of David this is the kingly line they will be like God or like the angel that led God promised Moses when Moses said to them if you are not going with us don't send us and God the Lord had promised that he would send the angel of the Lord to lead the people of Israel and this expression the angel of the Lord is in a sense is another way of telling us about the Messiah the pre incarnate Messiah in Old Testament time was always called the angel of the Lord and the angel of the Lord led Israel

all the way to the promised land he protected the people of Israel well here we can see that God through the Messiah who have already died on the cross who have already finished the work of redemption he will use him he will be the one that will strengthen Jerusalem that will enable the people of Israel and the family of David to defeat their enemies and ultimately to be led by the Lord himself and so in the first portion of Zechariah chapter 12 Jehovah will destroy all the nations that will come against Israel and it says that in verse 9 it came to pass in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations

that come against the city of Jerusalem Jehovah himself will ultimately destroy all those that will gather themselves against Israel turn with me to Revelation chapter 16 for a moment we get some additional help from the apostle John Revelation chapter 16 verse 12 you know in the tribulation period there will be 21 judgments that are going to fall upon this world the seven seals of the book will be open the seven trumpets will be sound and the seven bowls going to be poured upon the face of this world total 21 judgments of God look at almost the final judgment that we have in Revelation 16 verse 12 here's the sixth angel pouring out his bowl his

vial upon the rivers of the Euphrates and the water thereof was dried up that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared and I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out from the mouth of the dragon this is Satan and out of the mouth of the beast this is the antichrist and out of the mouth of the false prophet this is the triune counterfeit godhead Satan antichrist false prophet you see going to rise up against the Jewish people in the climax of the end of the tribulation period verse 14 and they are the spirits of demons working miracles which go forth unto the kings of the earth of the whole world

listen to these brothers and sisters to gather them to the battle of the great day of God almighty behold I come as a thief blessed is he that watch and keep his garments lest he walk naked and they see his shame look at verse 16 and he gathered them together into a place that is called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon notice that brothers and sisters here is the gathering of the nations of the world against the people of Israel to a place that is called in the Hebrew Har Mountain Megiddo mountain of telling Armageddon you say it in the English language here is the gathering of the nation against the people of Israel that John

received this revelation from the risen Messiah back to Zechariah chapter 12 and verse 9 It shall come to pass in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem they will gather themselves in a place that is called Megiddo and they will pull down all the way to the city of Jerusalem seeking to destroy that city of Jerusalem and God had made a promise that he will destroy all the nations that would come against the city of Jerusalem it is not going to be too far from today I am quite confident the way the things are looking today in the world in which we live in that the hatred

towards Israel and Jerusalem is only increasing there is more and more and more animosity towards Israel by nations of the world Israel have less and less friends today you know that actually Canada have declared themselves very good friend of Jerusalem and he spoke very favorably but it really not as it was in the past but I can tell you beloved brothers and sisters the way the things are shaping up that Israel's friends are going to leave her soon enough and Israel is going to dwell alone and all the nations of the world will gather against the nation of Israel but there is one that will never leave them not forsake them his name is Yeshua

the Messiah he has a plan and a purpose for Israel in the coming day and he is the one who will deliver the people of Israel from their enemies so let's just go to the second half it's a bit shorter portion after we talked about the future battle by all the nations against Israel verses 1 to 9 of which God will deliver Israel out of their enemies but it's not sufficient because physical deliverance physical salvation it's not spiritual salvation Israel still need to be regenerated as a nation it's not enough to save Israel physically from their enemies and allow them to live without trust in the living God trust in the Messiah well in the

next verses we don't have only now the physical deliverance of the Lord in verses 10 to the end of the chapter including chapter 13 verse 1 we have the national regeneration of the people of Israel and this is very beautiful this is so precious to see Israel is not only going to be saved physically but Israel must be saved spiritually you remember what Yeshua said to Nicodemus except a man be born again he cannot enter into the kingdom of God you must be born again you and I'm pretty good and I'm fine and my enemies are gone and I was successful to defeat them if you only have physical help it's not sufficient for your

eternal relationship with the Lord for Israel and for you and I individually every person must make sure that he has an individual relationship with the Lord that he is forgiven well here we see in the next verses Israel national regeneration every Jewish man every Hebrew man every Israeli man and woman and child at the end of the tribulation will be spiritually regenerated saved forgiven so look how Zechariah is developing this first of all know the three things in verse 10 first of all number one in verse 10 a we have Jehovah pouring out upon his people the spirit of grace and supplication I'm reading verse 10 and I will pour upon the house of David

and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication this is so beautiful again notice the Holy Spirit of God is being presented before us as the spirit of grace and supplication in other words God is saying you know what's going to happen in these days I'm going to pour you know like you take a glass that is full and you pour water from the glass God is going to pour the spirit of God the Holy Spirit of God upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem what he's going to pour is going to pour the spirit of grace and the spirit of supplication those two expressions grace in Hebrew

chen or chesed supplication is tachnunim tachnunim means to beseech God to supplicate to approach God and confess the condition of the nation what God is going to do at the end of the tribulation period he's going to pour the spirit upon the nation of Israel and he's going to produce in the heart of every Hebrew Israeli Jewish individual the desire to confess before him and to recognize that it is grace that they needed the grace of God and you know brothers and sisters let me remind you that you and I are not saved by law keeping we are saved by grace Paul said in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 8 by grace are you saved

through faith and this is not of yourself it is a gift of God lest any man should boast you see God is going to extend to our nation the people of Israel to the nation of Israel he is going to extend towards them the spirit of grace in order to use the word the spirit of supplication when Israel finally as a nation going to be so broken before God that they are going to beseech him just the same like we are to supplicate you know the word means that we beseech God I'm so needful of you I cannot trust myself it is not me but it is you and you alone that's what Israel are

going to come to their wits end when they will totally depend upon God and beseech him for mercy and for grace and he said I will produce this in them I will work it out in the life of Jerusalem Judah David the whole nation of Israel and you know that brothers and sisters for us today when we realize how sinful we are and how depraved we are and the only solution to our sin problem is God's grace and God's mercy we turn to the Lord and we say Lord I thank you for sending the Messiah for me I don't deserve what you have done for me but you send Yeshua the Messiah for me and

every one of us and everyone on the street today unless he or she coming to the Lord on this ground they will never be assured of salvation brokenness of the heart is necessary in order for a person to be forgiven and receive salvation God is going to work it out in the life of our own people the people of Israel and you notice it is the Holy Spirit of God you know again I would like to say brothers and sisters if the Spirit of God haven't drawn us haven't worked in our hearts plowed our hearts showed us how sinful we are how depraved we are by nature we would never see it because we have

a chip on our shoulder we think that we are pretty good and we are pretty decent people but God had to show us the reality you know if we only understood how sinful sin before the Lord is we will never exalt ourselves for a moment and that's what Israel needed to do and all mankind has to come to realize the need of grace and to be broken into supplication that they will turn to the Lord for mercy and for grace and that's the first thing we see in chapter 12 and verse 10 God divine work in the heart of the nation of Israel the spirit of God is working throughout the ages let me read

some verses turn to Joel chapter 2 verse 28 speaking about the spirit of God that will be poured upon the nation of Israel then it shall come to pass afterwards that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh that all flesh of Joel 2 and verse 28 is not all the flesh of the whole world because here is in context with the people of Israel I will pour out my spirit about all Jewish flesh all Israeli flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy your old man shall see vision this is the people of Israel he is talking about future day which Zechariah is speaking about at the end of the tribulation where

Israel will have a national regeneration that's what he is speaking about the Holy Spirit of God does a divine work in the hearts of the people of Israel so back to Zechariah chapter 12 and verse 10a Jehovah will pour upon second thing here in the same verse what will drive them to ultimately be saved Israel will ultimately look unto the pierced Messiah look at this it says in verse 10 again and they shall look unto me whom they have pierced now notice that this is an amazing verse here Jehovah is speaking but Jehovah said they shall look upon me whom they have pierced now how is that possible how can they pierce Jehovah well the

only way that they can pierce Jehovah is when God have entered humanity in Bethlehem through the virgin birth of Miriam where the Messiah was born God and the humanity became a man and live here in this world and have been ultimately pierced and died on the cross for the sin of this world see the only way that a person can receive forgiveness of sins it's on the basis of the one who suffered for us of the one that had been pierced on our behalf the one who died on the cross for our sin and sins now now you notice it says here in the king james they shall look upon me but it shouldn't be

upon in the hebrew it's they shall look unto me whom they have pierced the Hebrew word is very clear not upon but unto it's not merely seeing him but looking and understanding what he has done for them that he has died for them once and he was pierced on their behalf now we know very well it is not that the Jewish people pierced the Messiah because he was not pierced by the Jewish people he was pierced by the Roman soldiers he was hanging on a Roman cross and I specifically mentioned this here today though Israel did not physically literally pierce the Messiah but they were nationally guilty in the rejection of the Messiah and by

not accepting Yeshua the Messiah at his first coming even though Israel did not necessarily physically have done that yet Israel have a national responsibility by not accepting the Messiah in his first coming and they shall look unto me the Messiah namely Jehovah the Son whom they have pierced and on the ground of the death of the Messiah Israel can be redeemed and Israel can receive forgiveness of sin not on any other ground just the same like you and I we cannot come to God on the ground of our goodness on the ground of our background on the ground of our achievement no only on the ground of the pierced one the one who died for

us on the cross and you know what they're going to say at that time they're going to exactly say what Isaiah mentioned in Isaiah chapter 53 verse 3 he is despised and rejected of men a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief and we heed as it were our faces from him he was despised and we esteemed him not surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows yet we did esteem him stricken and smitten of God and affliction but he was wounded for our transgression he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripe we are healed all we like sheep have gone astray we

have turned everyone to his own way and Jehovah have laid upon him the iniquities of us all he was oppressed and he was afflicted yet he opened not his mouth he brought as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before his shearer is dumb so he opened not his mouth he was taken from prison and from judgment and who shall declare his generation for he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people namely Israel he was stricken he made a grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death because he has done no violence neither was there any deceit in his mouth yet

it pleased Jehovah to bruise him yet put him to grief when thou shall make his soul an offering for sin he shall see his seed he shall prolong his days and the pleasure of Jehovah shall prosper in his hand you know brothers and sisters Isaiah 53 is the confession of Israel at the end of the tribulation when they're going to look unto me unto the Messiah whom they have peace and that's where they're going to begin to confess the national repentance the confession of the rejection of the Messiah now back to Zechariah 12 and verse 10 the third thing they're going to begin to mourn like we have here in this passage it says here

and they shall mourn for him as one mourners for his only son and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his first born you know Israel is going to mourn you know the day of atonement Yom Kippur prophetically Yom Kippur is the day of what we call the tribulation period the day of mourning that we have in Leviticus 23 it is really prophetically speaks about the time of the end of the tribulation when Israel will mourn national mourning of the nation of Israel repenting before God confessing the rejection of Yeshua the Messiah and accepting him as their Messiah Lord and King and now to conclude verses 11 12 and

13 look how they are going to mourn verse 11 in that day the end of the tribulation period there should be a great mourning in Jerusalem as the mourning of Hadad Rimon in the valley of Megidon Hadad Rimon is in the north of Israel the valley of Megidon is the time where the Jewish people mourned the death of King Josiah there was such a mourning you read about it in 2nd Chronicle chapter 35 when the good king of Israel died there was lamentation and mourning the whole nation mourned the godly good godly king of Israel they mourned for him because he died that's the kind in type in picture of lamentation and mourning will be

at the time where the Messiah is going to come in his second coming verse 12 and 13 there will be a national and individual lamentation of all the nation notice that everyone will be mourning on his own verse 12 says and the land shall mourn every family apart can you imagine every family going to come aside and they're going to mourn every family apart but not only every family apart because it says here the house of David and their wives apart the family of the house of Nathan and their wives apart notice the royal family they will mourn their husbands apart and their wives apart individual mourning and repentance that's why when we read in

the gospel of John as many as receive him to them he gave the right to be called children of God which were born not of the will of man notice that you cannot mourn and confess and repent and save your daughter you cannot mourn and repent and ask for forgiveness and save your father everyone will have to come on his own God does not have grandchildren everyone will have to be on his or her own to confess the Lord you are saved individually the family of the house of David the wives apart the family of the house of Nathan the house apart this is the royal line notice the priestly line even the priests chapter

12 verse 13 the family of the house of Levi apart and their wives apart the family of the house of Shime apart and their wives apart everyone will have to have an individual confession and repented before the Lord and finally verse 14 all the families that remain every family apart and their wives apart now brothers and sisters underline the word that remain notice all the families that remain remain of what remain at the end of the tribulation when we're going to get to the next chapter you will notice that two-thirds of the nation will die during the tribulation period the only remnant that will remain one-third of the totality of the nation and this one-third

will go through the fire refined and only those who will remain will be the one that will ultimately enter into the messianic kingdom and so the family that remain at the end of the tribulation the end of Tzarati Akor the end of Jacob trouble they will be the one that will be broken before the Lord in repentance and they will look unto the Messiah and recognize that he is the promised Messiah and to conclude in chapter 13 and verse 1 that belong here in that day there shall be a fountain open unto the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness that fountain that will be open it's like

the spirit of God will be poured upon the nation and a nation will be born the nation of Israel God going to give them a new heart and a new life and you notice it said at the end of verse 1 for sin and for uncleanness sin has to do with the judgment that sin deserved to receive uncleanness had to do with the consequence of the sin nature once they will accept the Messiah sin will be dealt with totally no more Israel will be under the judgment of the rejection of the Messiah Israel will be nationally be restored and the nation will be totally forgiven and John 1 29 says behold the Lamb of God

which taketh away the sin singular the sin of the world sin had been dealt with when Yeshua the Messiah died for us on the cross well may the Lord help us to appreciate what he has done for us and may the Lord hasten the day when our people Israel will be restored