Zechariah 12:8-10
‘In that day, the LORD shall defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem…. He that is feeble among them at that day, shall be like David… Like God; like the Angel of the Lord!… 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 upon the House of David…the Spirit of grace…. And they shall look upon Me Whom they have pierced…Who shall be…for Him like One that is…His Firstborn!’ Zechariah 12:8-10.
Calvin comments that Zechariah here “says that God would be like a shield….under…protection…. The Prophet then no doubt claims here for God a power which in opposition to the whole world…would be found sufficient to subdue all enemies and to save His people…. The Prophet…names the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and…at another time, he includes generally all….
“He now adds — ‘The feeble among them, shall be like David’…. The Prophet…considers David as a king…. After he attained the kingdom, he became more eminent…in every way, than all the kings of the Earth. It is then this eminence which the Prophet has in view, when he says that the least and the most despised among them would be like David….
“Without Christ, we are wholly lost…. Christ was not to come forth, except from the house of David…. The Prophet compares here…the posterity of David, to the Angel Who had been the Leader of the people and the Minister of redemption. That Angel, we conclude, was Christ. For though God then appointed many angels to His people, yet Christ…was their Prince and Head…. God had exercised His power through an Angel — so now He had set over them a Mediator….
“When was this prophecy fulfilled?… Christ was to arise!… Jerusalem was to be the mother of all churches…. From thence, the Law was to go forth…. From thence, God had determined to send forth the royal sceptre — so that the Son of David might rule over the whole world…. The condition of that miserable people would become happier and more glorious than under the rich and flourishing kingdom of David. For Christ would at length come, in Whom complete happiness was to be found…. Few…Jews embraced the favour of Christ…, and thus gave place to the Gentiles….
“‘I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem’…. This promise…extends far wider than to the Jews. For he prophesies here concerning the Kingdom of Christ…. Here then is promised a perpetual defence to the Church…. ‘I will pour upon…the inhabitants…the Spirit of grace’…. The Spirit of God (would) penetrate into our hearts…. The Spirit would inwardly so touch…hearts, as to lead them to deplore their state before God…. We then see here…an internal Light of faith, the Author of which is the Spirit. For He it is Who illuminates our minds….
They ‘shall’ then ‘look to Me Whom they have pierced!’… The Jews…had crucified their God when they grieved His Spirit; but Christ was also as to His flesh pierced by them!… The Jews, after having despised Christ — would at length acknowledge Him to be a precious and invaluable Treasure!” Then, they shall mourn for the One they have pierced! Have you done so yet?
