12:1 "The burden . . . concerning Israel"introduces chapters 12-14 as "The burden . . . against the land of Hadrach"(9:1) did chapters 9-11. By describing Yahweh as the creator of the heavens, earth, and man, Zechariah reminded his audience of God's authority and ability to accomplish what He predicted in this three-chapter oracle. He is the master over all things celestial, terrestrial, and human.
"Here at the brink of a new age it is important to know that the same God who brought everything into existence in the first place is well able to usher in the new creation of a restored people in a renewed and universal kingdom."251
12:2 The Lord would make Jerusalem like a cup of strong wine to the nations; when they tried to consume Jerusalem (a metonymy for all Israel), it would cause them to reel. Jerusalem had previously drunk the cup of the Lord's wrath (Isa. 51:17, 22; Jer. 25:15-17, 28), but now it was the nations' turn to drink it. Their siege of Jerusalem would extend to all the surrounding territory of Judah. The time in view is after the Lord regathered the Israelites to their land (ch. 10).
12:3 Jerusalem would also be like a heavy stone "in that day"when the nations tried to carry it away; they would injure themselves when they tried to do so. In that day all the nations of the earth would gather together against Jerusalem (cf. 14:2; Joel 3:9-16; Rev. 16:16-21).
12:4 The Lord would cause the weapons that Israel's enemies used to destroy the city to be ineffective, and He would make the hostile soldiers crazy (cf. Deut. 28:28; Judg. 5:22). In this way He would watch over the house of Judah (the Israelites; cf. Ps. 32:8; 33:18).
12:5 The leaders of Israel's groups outside Jerusalem would realize that Yahweh Almighty, their God, was making the people of Jerusalem strong supporters of them.
12:6 In that day the Lord would not only preserve His people from the attacks of their enemies, but He would also make them effective as they aggressively attacked them (cf. Judg. 15:3-5).
12:7 Yahweh would defend the outlying areas of Judah first so the people from David's line and the residents of Jerusalem would not conclude that they were more important in God's sight (cf. Jer. 9:23-24; 1 Cor. 1:29, 31; 12:22-26; 2 Cor. 10:17). All the Jews would see that it was the Lord who was responsible for their deliverance. This would evidently end their fighting among themselves (cf. 11:6).
12:8 As part of His defending them, the Lord would strengthen the feeble among the people so they would be as strong as David, the mighty warrior. The Davidic rulers would also receive supernatural strength and would be like God, as the angel of the Lord who would go before them (cf. Exod. 14:19; 23:20; 32:34; 33:2, 14-15, 22; 1 Sam. 29:9; 2 Sam. 4:17, 20; 19:27).
12:9 In that day the Lord would set about destroying all Israel's enemies, and He will be successful.
". . . we place the entire passage in the time of the Great Tribulation and more specifically in the Battle of Armageddon, when the nations of the earth will make their last frantic effort to blot Israel out of existence, only to be met by the most crushing defeat at the hands of the Lord of hosts Himself."252
An amillennial explanation of the passage follows.
". . . it covers all time from that in which the prophet spoke to the end of days. What is said concerning Judah applies to the people of God of all times. The claims made for Jerusalem's future find their ultimate fulfillment in the true Zion of God--His church; in fact, they can be applied to Jerusalem only insofar as she for a time harbored the church of God. The whole passage speaks of God's sovereign care and protection of the church of the Old and the New Testaments through the ages and more particularly of the church's victory rather than the victory of Judah after the flesh."253
