Zechariah 12:1-9

Zechariah 12:1-9. Jehovah's protection of His people

As in the former Burden, the first section opens with a general Title (printed as such in R. V.), very similar to that of the First Burden (Zechariah 9:1), and belonging like that to the whole group of prophecies which follow. The coming oracle proceeds from Jehovah, the Creator of the universe and of man; able therefore to accomplish what He predicts, Zechariah 12:1. All nations shall gather against Jerusalem, which shall prove to them like a cup of which they drink but to totter and fall, Zechariah 12:2, or a heavy stone which only wounds and crushes those who essay to lift it, Zechariah 12:3. Horse and rider alike in the armies that gather against her shall be panic-stricken and blinded, Zechariah 12:4, while the rulers of the country shall acknowledge her, thus rendered by God impregnable, as the bulwark of their land, Zechariah 12:5, and shall take courage to attack and consume the discomfited foe around her walls, so that she stands forth again a free and populous city, Zechariah 12:6. Thus the country at large shall have its share from God in the glory of the victory, and so all rivalry between it and the capital shall be excluded, Zechariah 12:7. The capital, however, shall under the protection of the Almighty be worthy of its position as the abode of heroes, while the royal family shall lead the nation no less worthily than the Angel of Jehovah did of old time, Zechariah 12:8. And all this, because God Himself will make it His aim to destroy all the enemies of His people, Zechariah 12:9.