You can read how I first went through this prophecy here, here, and here. Below, I’m going to give my initial reflection of the prophecy as a whole after taking some time to consider it and re-reading it without much pause.
I will stray away from the traditional interpretations of it. I don’t see the horrors of Antiochus in it. Nor do I see the horrors of the Roman destruction of 70 AD. If they were present, they must have been passed over quickly, because early in the prophecy we see the direct, personal intervention by the Messiah fighting against Jerusalem’s enemies.
I do think most of the prophecy concerns the war of Armageddon and the establishment of the Messiah’s Kingdom on Earth. But, I diverge again, I think, from other interpretations in believing that the greatest war and changes described in the prophecy concern the final war against evil that will come at the end of the Kingdom period as described in Revelation 20 – in which Satan and his forces will be released from the bottomless pit to join with others in the Kingdom for a final rebellion against God before the last judgment and establishment of a new Earth.
I will need to look at this some more, and read some other commentary more closely, but I think this does hold up…
(I quote more verses and look into them in the three earlier explorations linked at the start of this post. Below, I try to summarize the outline I see in the prophecy but also give enough key quotes to support it.)
Chapter 12
Prophecy on Israel
Verses 1-9
Burdensome stone to neighbors
3And 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.
They shall triumph against attackers and the Messiah will be with them.
8In that day will the Lord guard and defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and he who is [spiritually] feeble and stumbles among them in that day [of persecution] shall become [strong and noble] like David; and the house of David [shall maintain its supremacy] like God, like the [a]Angel of the Lord Who is before them.
Verses 10-14
And there will be mourning as part of the victory due to recognition of how the Messiah had come and not been recognized in his earlier time.
10And I will pour out upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace or unmerited favor and supplication. And they shall look [earnestly] 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 who is in bitterness for his firstborn.
11In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of [the city of] Hadadrimmon in the Valley of Megiddo [over beloved King [b]Josiah].
Chapter 13
Verses 1-6
False religion will be wiped away and the unclear spirit (Satan?) will be removed.
1IN THAT day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem [to cleanse them from] sin and uncleanness.
2And in that day, says the Lord of hosts, I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they shall no more be remembered; and also I will remove from the land the [false] prophets and the unclean spirit.
Individuals will still stray from God’s will/Christ’s rule during the Kingdom, but they will be disciplined.
6And one shall say to him, What are these wounds on your breast or between your hands? Then he will answer, Those with which I was wounded [when disciplined] in the house of my [loving] friends.
Verses 7-9
Strikingly, suddenly in this prophecy, just after we have seemingly been led into the Kingdom and Satan (the evil spirit) has been removed, there is greater upheaval:
7Awake, O sword, against My shepherd and against the man who is My associate, says the Lord of hosts; smite the shepherd and the sheep [of the flock] shall be scattered, and I will turn back My hand and stretch it out again upon the little ones [of the flock].
8And in all the land, says the Lord, two-thirds shall be cut off and perish, but one-third shall be left alive.
9And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined and will test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will hear and answer them. I will say, It is My people; and they will say, The Lord is my God.
Chapter 14
Verse 1-11
A return of all nations against Jerusalem and dire circumstances for God’s people.
2For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses rifled and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
It appears this is ANOTHER great battle in which the Lord joins in to defend and redeem Israel.
3Then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fought in the day of battle.
And this time, God will come bringing the host of Heaven – which is again something different from the earlier war brought out in earlier verses.
and the Lord my [Zechariah's] [a]God shall come, and all the holy ones [saints and angels] with Him.
The blessing waters are also present here, but the description of change that will take place in the land is extreme compared to the end of the earlier war, and the curse will be lifted from the land.
11And it shall be inhabited, for there shall be no more curse or ban of utter destruction, but Jerusalem shall dwell securely.
Verse 12-21
Lastly, we appear to have a focusing in on how the Lord will smite the enemies of Israel and His will.
12And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the peoples that have warred against Jerusalem: their flesh shall rot away while they stand upon their feet and their eyes shall corrode away in their sockets and their tongue shall decay away in their mouth.
It appears this time is back during the Kingdom period when the disciplining of the Lord was welcomed (by the redeemable).
16And everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths.
17And it shall be that whoso of the families of the earth shall not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, upon them there shall be no rain.
The prophesy for Israel ends with that.
—-You can read here for my thoughts on the overall value of pouring over the details of prophecy like this.
As far as my faith and salvation goes, it means nothing. It is more of an intellectual and spiritual curiosity.
