We have before us the second burden, which begins with the eleventh
chapter and closes with the fourteenth. The events seen in the first
burden, that is in chapters ix., x. and xi., were in part fulfilled,
but in the second burden we find prophecies which have seen no
fulfillment whatever; they are all future. There is only one prophecy
which is fulfilled, the one of the smitten shepherd at the end of the
thirteenth chapter. The great future events which are recorded in the
second burden are: The victory of Jerusalem over the hostile nations,
the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the appearing and beholding of the
pierced One, the national repentance of Israel, the cleansing of the
nation, the final conflict and the Lord coming with His saints, the
complete overthrow of the enemies and the establishment of the
kingdom in the earth, with Jerusalem as a center. These three
chapters form indeed a glorious finale to the wonderful visions and
prophecies which Jehovah gave to the prophet. The fourteenth chapter
is the summit.
Not a few interpreters have committed the serious error and have
tried to find a fulfillment of these chapters somewhere, and if no
historical events could be made to suit the occasion, a spiritual
application had to be made and a spiritual fulfillment in the
so-called "Israel of the New Testament," the church, invented, which
of course never satisfies the prayerful student of the word.
In reading the twelfth chapter carefully, it will be seen at once
that here we have prophecies which not alone refer to Jerusalem and
Judah exclusively, but which cannot yet have seen a fulfillment. The
end of the chapter shows Israel's conversion. The Spirit is poured
out. They look upon the pierced One, Jehovah; repentance and
cleansing follows throughout the land. This brings before us the hour
of Israel's salvation, the same which the Holy Spirit unfolds through
Paul, in Romans xi. It is an event which will take place after the
fullness of the Gentiles will have come in (the church removed from
the earth). And so all Israel shall be saved; even as it is written,
There shall come out of Zion a Deliverer; He shall turn away
ungodliness from Jacob: And this is my covenant unto them, when I
shall take away their sins (Rom. xi: 25-37). There is no saved
Israel now and there can be no national turning of Israel unto the
Lord at this present time, but when the Lord comes and they shall
look upon Him, that salvation will be at hand. This coming of the
Lord to Israel when they shall see His glory will be preceded by
nations rising against Jerusalem. Not one nation, but nations, will
make war once more with Jerusalem; nor will Jerusalem in that future
siege fall into the hands of the enemies, but the city and the people
will be victorious. The period of the Maccabees is not meant, nor is
there anything in the past which could even be a partial fulfillment
of Zech. xii. It is all future.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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