In my previous blog entry, I started to discuss the biblical
prophecies, which I find to be very effective in witnessing to a Jewish person.
I mentioned the prophecy which I found most intriguing when I first learned about
Jesus: the prophecy of Daniel 9, which points to the time of Messiah’s death. Another
prophecy, which I use very often, and find to be very powerful indeed, is the
prophecy of Zechariah 12:
The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord,
which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and
formeth the spirit of man within him.
Behold, I
will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when
they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem… And 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, 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.
This prophecy talks about a time, near to the end, when all
the nations rise up against Israel, and God saves Israel miraculously. Although
some Jewish scholars may try to twist it around, there really is no other way
to understand this prophecy but literally.
In verse 10, Zechariah is foretelling how God will pour a
spirit of grace and supplication upon the house of David, and upon the
inhabitants of Jerusalem. This pouring of the spirit will cause the house of
David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to understand something, which they didn’t
understand until then; and the understanding will bring about a great mourning.
What will the house of David and the inhabitants of
Jerusalem understand that will cause such terrible grief, which the prophet
compares to the anguish of losing your only child?
"…and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced"
The children of Israel will look at God, and suddenly, the
veil will be lifted (see blog entry about the blindness of the Jews), their
eyes will be open, and they will realize the horrible truth, that they have
pierced the God of Israel.
When did they pierce the God of Israel?
Imagine the shock, the horror, to realize after such a long time
of vehement rejection, that in fact, Yeshua, who was nailed to the cross for the sins of the world, is God; and that by rejecting him
for so many generations, they were fighting against his will… Their entire life
was based on a lie. They were enemies of God all their lives… How heartbreaking their wails will surely be!
But after the mourning subsides, a new hope will rise, a new
realization: Yeshua is the Messiah! We are redeemed! We are forgiven!
What a glorious day that day will be!
“For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee
shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God” (Romans 14:11)
I want to expand on this topic a little more…
Stay tuned, and stay blessed,
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