The Revelation of the Son of God
It’s a wonderful thing when God the Father draws a person to His Son Jesus Christ; when He opens someone’s eyes and he or she receives grace to be able to repent thoroughly.
Zechariah 12:10-14: “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth 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 be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. 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 Nathan 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; All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.”
A young man who had grown up in a Christian home once told me, “I used to think that I had to read the Bible from a sense of duty.
I thought that if I didn’t, God would punish me. But I never truly wanted to convert. I could not and would not let go of the world, and I led a rather muddled life. One day, I was sitting in a church service, when I was suddenly deeply moved inside. I saw my lost life and it made me cry. That’s when I repented inwardly and was converted. In a single moment, everything changed.
I only realized later that I had stopped doing certain things that had once been completely normal for me. Today, Jesus is the greatest and most important thing in my life.”
What happened to this young man? The Holy Spirit had seized his life and led him to Jesus; it opened his eyes and pulled him out of spiritual blindness.
Someday, a similar thing will happen for the whole people of Israel. They will be awakened by the Spirit of God; they will be brought out of their blindness and recognize Jesus as the Son of God, leading them to repentance. That will be the national conversion of the Jewish people (2 Cor 3:16). These five verses clearly describe how God is doing this. They are strong evidence that God hasn’t abandoned His people.
The Great Turning Point
The great turning point occurs in the midst of the Jewish people’s greatest tribulation. All nations will gather and fight against Israel. The verse that precedes the passage above reads, “And it shall come to pass in that day, that
I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem” (Zech 12:9). The Lord’s might is shown in His anger against the anti-Israel armies. But the power of God’s grace turns out to be the Jews’ salvation. It isn’t external need that will lead Israel to its inner turning point—not the distress of the Great Tribulation and the raging of its enemies, but the working of the Holy Spirit: “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications” (v. 10). If God didn’t do this, Israel would never find its way back to its Lord. But God does it because He made a promise. In doing so, He looks to His Son. Israel needs to know the Son of God, but that can only be accomplished through God’s Spirit.
When Jesus shared the Last Supper with His disciples, He instituted a New Covenant, the New Testament in His blood (Matt 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; 1 Cor 11:25). This covenant is based on the redemptive work of Jesus, but its impact is through God’s Spirit. The Jewish people will be led toward this New Covenant, which had already been announced through the prophets. The following Bible verses speak for themselves:
“And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God” (Ezek 11:19-20; cf. 36:27; 37:14).
“And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins” (Rom 11:26-27).
“Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore” (Ezek 37:26).
“For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and
I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest” (Heb 8:8-11).
In the Mosaic Covenant, which was based on the Law given at Mount Sinai, God says, “If ye...then ye shall” (Ex 19:5). But the New Covenant says, “I will” (Heb 8:10, 12). Under the Mosaic Covenant, obedience came from fear. But under the New Covenant, obedience comes from the Spirit, which grants willing hearts. This covenant will bring supplication and grace in Israel. The Holy Spirit’s grace leads them to the crucified Savior: “they shall look upon me whom they have pierced…” (Zech 12:10).
The Jewish people don’t bypass the Cross on the way to salvation, but are led straight toward it. The people who have ignored Him for centuries—always skipping over Isaiah 53 in the readings in their synagogues—are led to Calvary, because salvation was won for them there. This is where it becomes clear what Moses was prophetically hinting at in the desert, when he raised up the brass serpent. The Israelites had sinned severely; their souls had become impatient, and they were speaking against God, grumbling and despising the food that the Lord was giving them. As a result, the Lord sent venomous snakes among the people which bit them, causing many to die. That is when the Israelites recognized the tragedy and effects of their sin, and cried out, “We have sinned...” Moses prayed to God for them, and God had him lift up a brass serpent. Anyone who had been bitten by a snake and poisoned could now look at the snake Moses had made, and be saved: “And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived” (Num 21:9).
This is where the Bible shines a prophetic light on the history of the Jewish people at the first coming of Christ. Their souls became impatient with Jesus; they got angry at Him and spoke against Him. The Jews despised Him as the Bread of Life that God had sent them. The effects were devastating. Many Jewish people perished as a result of this rejection. But Jesus is also, in a manner of speaking, the exalted serpent: He was made sin for us, and thereby brought about forgiveness and salvation. The Lord once referred to this story in the wilderness, saying: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:14-16). The remnant of Israel is being led to this point. Israel will look upon the Cross of Calvary and recognize the One who was pierced, thereby finding redemption.
The story of the crucifixion makes it clear that Jesus died for the Jews. This accomplished salvation will still be granted to them, because it is prophetic in nature for Israel: “But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced” (John 19:33-37).
Centuries-old prophecy was being fulfilled at that moment, but they didn’t recognize it as such. Because God already knew this, the Holy Spirit refers to another Scripture and testifies of Israel’s future, “They shall look on him whom they pierced.” There had already been a gap of 2,000 years between these two statements.
When the Lord returns, what is being described here will come to pass. In Revelation 1:7 it is written, “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.” Benedict Peters writes about this verse in his book Opened Seals: “Now the Greek word gê can also be translated as ‘land’ instead of ‘earth,’ and the Greek phylai (kindreds) should actually be translated as ‘tribes.’ Then the sentence reads, ‘All the tribes of the land shall wail because of him.’”
Recognition of the Son of God
They “shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son” (Zech 12:10). In Jesus, the converted Jews will recognize not only the Messiah—the promised Redeemer and Crucified One—but also the Son of God and Son of Man. This is nothing less than finding the true God and the true man in Jesus. And they will weep for Him as one wails for their only son. Jesus, the only begotten (“only born”) Son of God, is also the only true Son of Israel brought forth by the Jewish people. Jesus is both: He is the only begotten Son of God, but He has always presented Himself as the “Son of Man.”
It couldn’t have been unintentional that the Lord put both together when speaking of the raised-up serpent. He was speaking not only about the Son of Man—who comes from the lineage of Israel—but also about the Son of God—who comes from heaven. In this way, He made it clear that He is both: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up” (John 3:14). And then, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Jesus is the One of whom Daniel spoke: “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed” (Dan 7:13-14). When Israel sees Him as the One whom they have pierced—the One who hung on the Cross—they will recognize Him, weep for Him, and repent. Israel will strike up a great lamentation over Him; they will mourn Him as the one and only Son they have lost. They will recognize that God came to them in Jesus, but they rejected Him at His first coming (Zech 14:9).
Israel’s National Repentance
This realization will lead Israel into deep repentance, the likes of which it has never experienced before in its history. It will be all-pervasive and all-encompassing.
1. Jerusalem: “In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon” (Zech 12:11). Israel’s Lord was crucified in Jerusalem. The people in Jerusalem cried, “Away with this man.” “We have no king but Caesar.” “His blood be on us, and on our children.” In Jerusalem they mocked Him, beat their breasts smugly at His crucifixion, and then went back to business as usual. That is why Jerusalem’s repentance is mentioned first. It is compared to Israel’s lamentation at Hadad-Rimmon on the plain of Megiddo. Perhaps the Bible is referring to Jeremiah and the singers’ lamentation, when the godly king Josiah was killed in war on the plain of Megiddo (2 Chr 35:20-25). But Jerusalem isn’t alone in its lamenting repentance; there is also:
2. The land: “And the land shall mourn, every family apart” (Zech 12:12). Jesus traveled throughout the land at that time, so the whole country will repent and receive forgiveness. Jesus’ ministry doesn’t remain fruitless: “…I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day” (Zech 3:9).
3. Each family by itself: “All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart” (Zech 12:14). Verses 12-14 emphasize that no family is excepted; men and women will even repent and mourn separately, just as they are separated when they pray in the synagogues and at the Western Wall today. When the Lord was crucified, it says: “And all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts, and returned” (Luke 23:48). At Jesus’ return, the multitudes of Israel will repent.
4. The family of David: “…the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart” (Zech 12:12). David was the king who himself sinned gravely against his Lord—the royal family of David will repent. This is surely referring to Israel’s political leadership.
5. The family of Nathan: “…the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart” (Zech 12:12). Nathan had been a prophet and Solomon’s tutor. He rebuked David after his fall into sin, and led him back to God. But even this family of prophets will repent—a metaphor for the Old Testament prophets.
6. The family of Levi: “The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart…” (Zech 12:13). Levi is the family of priests that offered sacrifices. The high priest who presided over the great Day of Atonement came from this family. It was the devout authorities who persecuted and accused Jesus, and finally had Pilate condemn him to death. They are also led to repentance.
7. The family of Shimei: “…the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart…” (Zech 12:13). Shimei came from the house of Saul. He cursed David (who was fleeing from Absalom), pelted him with stones, and called him a “bloody man” (2 Sam 16:5-14). His family will repent as well. Perhaps this indicates the restoration of the house of Saul.
This roll call represents all classes of the house of Israel and the entire Jewish population. Nobody is exempt. This points to Romans 11:26, where it says, “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.”
There is something profoundly serious in this depiction of repentance; namely, that no one can repent for another. Everyone has to come to terms with God for himself. God has no grandchildren, only children. And without repentance and turning to Jesus Christ, there is no entry into the kingdom of God. Everyone must repent for himself and be converted. In this respect, it is of no help at all to be raised in a Christian family or participate a bit in a Christian church. Anyone who doesn’t turn to Jesus with all their heart cannot be saved. That was already the case in the Old Testament: no one could look at the raised brass serpent for someone else. Everyone had to do this for themselves, if they wanted to stay alive after the snakebite and not perish.
News From Israel - 09/2021
