On That Day - Zechariah 12-13

2:01Zechariah 12. Does anybody remember what we talked about in Zechariah 11? That was last week. What was the main picture there? Right, the shepherd. Zechariah was supposed to act as a shepherd and come and take care of this flock. What was unique about that flock? Anybody remember? The flock was doomed for the slaughter. You remember? It was the flock that was going to be killed. So Zechariah was supposed to go and be the shepherd of this flock, and he had two staffs. Do you remember the name of the two staffs?

2:44Favor and union. You remember? Favor and union. And eventually he's going to break both of those staffs. The sheep don't like him. He rejects the sheep. And of course, by the end, we saw that this was a problem. A specific prophecy about when the Good Shepherd would come and be rejected by his people. And we even saw the 30 pieces of silver. Well, today we're going to see at least two more very specific prophecies about the Messiah that we already hear have come true in the New Testament, and we're going to see lots more as well. So look at Zechariah 12, verse 1.

3:23The oracle of the word of the Lord concerning Israel. Thus declares the Lord, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the spirit of man within him. It's quite a resume, right? This makes you want to listen to what he's saying. This isn't just anybody. This is the one who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the spirit of man within him. He created the universe, he created the earth, and he breathed life into man.

3:56Verse 2: Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples. The siege of Jerusalem will also be against Judah. Okay, so there's two things going on in that verse. See if you can find them already. Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples. The siege of Jerusalem. will also be against Judah. What are some things we hear about already in this verse?

4:42There's a siege on Jerusalem and Judah, but also what else is true? Jerusalem and Judah are going to be this cup of staggering. It's going to be judgment on these surrounding nations. So it's going both ways, and we'll see this kind of for the rest of the book, that there's going to be this siege, this big siege against Jerusalem and Judah, but all the other people, Jerusalem and Judah, is going to be this cup of staggering. The young adults just got through studying a passage about a cup of judgment. It's a picture that the Bible uses a lot. And usually when God says they're going to drink the cup of my wrath, he'll say they're going to drink it all the way down to the dregs, like the little grainy stuff at the bottom of the cup. And so he's saying, I have this measured amount of judgment that's for them, and they're going to get it. They're going to get the whole cup. They're going to drink it all the way to the bottom. Now, what the young adults studied was in Ezekiel 23, and it was Judah and Israel. They had sinned so much that the Lord had a cup for them, and they were going to have to drink it. But now, Judah and Israel are the cup of judgment that the nations are going to have to drink. Okay, so just let that. Sit in your minds for a little bit. Verse 3: On that day, I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples.

6:13All who lift it will surely hurt themselves, and all the nations of the earth will gather against it. Now, what does this sound like? Yeah, sounds like a big end times battle where all the nations have gathered against Judah and Jerusalem, but it's Judah and Jerusalem that's going to be the cup of staggering and the heavy stone that they can't lift. If they try and lift it, they're going to hurt themselves. They're not going to be able to get Jerusalem and Judah. If you flip over to Zechariah 14, which you'll study next Sunday, in verses 1 through 3, he says, Behold, a day is coming for the Lord when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst, for I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle. And the city shall be taken, and the houses plundered, and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as when he fights on a day of battle. Okay, so you have the same two things there, right? He's a little more specific in chapter 14. But the nations have gathered against Jerusalem and Judah, and they do some really violent things to Jerusalem and Judah in this battle. But then, after those things happen, the Lord comes out and fights and defeats the nations. So we'll study that more next week. But that seems to be what's going on. These nations have assembled themselves in chapter 12, verse 2 and 3. But Jerusalem is this heavy stone that they can't lift.

7:58Jerusalem is a cup of staggering toward them. Verse 4, on that day, declares the Lord, I that's the Lord, I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness. But for the sake of the house of Judah, I will keep my eyes open when I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. So what's one of the ways that the Lord is going to wage war against all these nations that have come to battle against the people?

8:37Blind, yeah, and specifically the horses, right? Every horse of the peoples with blindness and with panic, and then the rider with madness. So it sounds like total chaos, right? All these nations have gathered against Jerusalem and Judah. And one of the things God does is he makes all the horses panic and the soldiers panic. And the horses become blind, so they can't see. You can imagine it would just be a big mess, right? Verse 5. Oh, but also in verse 4, but for the sake of the house of Judah, I will keep my eyes open. You just have this picture of even though there's all this chaos, he's still paying attention to his people, and God knows what's going on. He's not closing his eyes. And by the way, another note on that: blindness and madness were often in prophecies together, and one of them was in Deuteronomy 28:28, where God said that about his own people. Remember, Deuteronomy 28 is the big chapter that lists the blessings and the curses for obedience and disobedience. One of them was blindness and madness for his own people. Well, now it's not his own people. God is inflicting these things on the horses and the other people and protecting his nation. Verse 5. Then the clans of Judah shall say to themselves, The inhabitants of Jerusalem have strength through the Lord of hosts, their God.

10:12What does the name the Lord of hosts mean? Armies, right? Which is pretty applicable here. The Lord of armies, the Lord of great numbers. This is the one who has come and given the people consequence, confidence. The people say, the inhabitants of Jerusalem have strength through the Lord of hosts, their God. Verse 6, on that day I will make the clans of Judah like a blazing pot in the midst of a wood. What's a wood? Like a forest. Why is it a bad idea to have a blazing pot in the middle of a forest? It's going to burn it down, right? Okay, like a flaming torch among sheaves. They're going to burn them up is the idea. And they shall devour to the right and to the left all the surrounding peoples, while Jerusalem shall again be inhabited in its place in Jerusalem. Okay, so the nations have gathered. They are doing terrible things against Jerusalem and Judah and being successful and winning against God's people. But then God comes and he is helping. And then the people of Judah and Jerusalem are like this blazing pot in the middle of a forest. And to the right and left, they're going to conquer these surrounding peoples. Verse 7. And the Lord will give salvation to the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not surpass that of Judah.

11:57It's kind of tricky, isn't it? So he seems to be saying that after. At this time, there's like these different groups that are able to live there. That Israel is back, and there's people that are recognized as the house of Judah, but also there's maybe a different group that are specifically from David's line. Remember, David is from the line of Judah, but maybe this is another whole group of people that are saying, We are from the house of David. So, the Lord will give salvation to the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not surpass that of Judah. So, there's not going to be these certain people that are more special or more cocky or something like that. God has his order that he's going to give salvation. Verse 8: On that day, the Lord will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them on that day shall be like David.

12:57And the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the Lord going before them. And on that day, I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. So, there's the summary. And that last part is that these nations have gathered, and Yahweh himself is going to seek to destroy them. And he's going to work through making these horses blind and mad and panicked. But he's also going to work through his people, and the weakest of his people are going to be like David, who was awesome, right? He was a warrior. And so the weakest of the people are going to be like him.

13:46In the house of David, which might again refer to this clan, or usually refers to the kingly line in the Old Testament. So maybe this kingly line, they shall be like God, like the angel of the Lord going before them. Okay, so in this end times picture, the nations have gathered, it's chaos, and the people start marching out. And in front of them, leading them, is the house of David themselves. And they are like God. They're like the angel of the Lord marching in front of this army that's being extremely successful in burning everything down like a pot in a wood. Okay? That's a good stopping point. Is there any questions already?

14:40I mean, it looks just like it could be a messianic. I mean, obviously Christ. Right. It could be. So that's an interesting point that it is the house of David. Who's the most famous person we know that's from the line of David? Jesus, right? Jesus. And of course, many people think that Jesus was the angel of the Lord in the Old Testament, that that's who the angel of the Lord is, is a pre-incarnate Christ. And so a lot of people will tie that together and say, well, of course that's going to be like the angel marching in front of them, this kingly line.

15:24Good point. So that's the first scene. You have this battle. And really, he keeps saying for the next two, three chapters, he keeps saying this phrase, on that day, over and over and over and over, on that day. And he seems to be using that phrase just to talk about all these things that are happening in the end times, like this big battle. And it's going to be a little confusing for us. We might try and sort out a little bit of the timeline next week, but he's going to mention a lot of things that are going to happen on that day. So in this future time of these end times events.

16:08One of the things is this battle. Another thing, look at verse 10. Actually, before we do, I want to read, we have the time, so I want you to flip over to Joel, which is like maybe 10 books before in the Old Testament. Chapter 3 Proclaim chapter 3 verse 9 Proclaim this among the nations consecrate for war stir up the mighty men let all the men of war draw near let them come up Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears Let the weak say I'm a warrior so already we have this they're prepping for battle it's the opposite of this time of peace where they beat their swords into pruning hooks now they're going backwards right they're they're taking their farming equipment and turning it into weapons beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears let the weak say i'm a warrior verse 11 hasten and come all you surrounding nations and gather yourselves there bring down your warriors oh lord let the nations stir themselves up and come up to the valley of jehoshaphat for there i will sit to judge all the surrounding nations put in the sickle for the harvest is ripe go in tread for the wine press is full the vats overflow for their evil is great multitudes multitudes in a valley of decision for the day of the lord is near in a valley of decision the sun and a Moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.

18:04The Lord roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earthquake. But the Lord is a refuge to his people and a stronghold to the people of Israel. You can turn back to our passage, but you just have another prophet talking about these end times where the sky is darkened, and all the nations have gathered in this valley, and God's army comes out to meet them. They've been prepping for battle, and then the Lord roars from Zion, and the wine press is filled, and the nations are going to be defeated. Okay, now moving on. Zechariah 12, verse 10.

18:49And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. Did you guys catch that? Isn't that amazing? So they have this battle. But also, another thing that's happening around this time is that God's nation has this repentance. That in this end times, God says, I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy. So they're going to realize that they need grace and they need to beg for mercy, so that when they look on me, so who are they looking on?

20:10Who's God, right? When they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him as one weeps over a firstborn. So there's a time coming in these end times events. There's a time coming where the people of Israel, the people of Jerusalem, are going to see the one that they've pierced. And they're going to repent and have pleas for mercy. And they're going to weep bitterly as one weeps over a firstborn, as one mourns for an only child. Can you think of weeping that's more bitter than weeping for an only child?

21:08Weep bitterly over him as one weeps over a firstborn. This is devastating. They see the one that they've pierced, and they're weeping over him. And they've repented. On that day, he continues this talk about mourning, verse 11. On that day, the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad Ramon in the plain of Megiddo. Anybody know what happened there? Yeah, we think that he's referring to the time when King Josiah was killed in battle. And you can write down 2 Chronicles 35. We won't turn there, but it talks about King Josiah's death in battle, and it also talks about how great the mourning was. And Jeremiah was alive then, and he wrote a special lament for that occasion. That's not the Book of Lamentations. That's a different time he lamented.

22:06But it's this time of great mourning. And God is saying that on that day, when they see the one, when they see me, the one whom they have pierced, their mourning is going to be just like it was when they were mourning the accidental and tragic death of King Josiah, a good king who reigned for 31 years. I was going to say the last. Yeah, the last good king. Right. Right. So let's look at verse 12 through 14. Also, this continues this idea of mourning. The land shall mourn, each family by itself. The family of the house of David by itself and their wives by themselves. The family of the house of Nathan by itself and their wives by themselves. The family of the house of Levi by itself and their wives by themselves. The family of the Shimeites by itself and their wives by themselves. And all the families that are left, each by itself, and their wives by themselves. Okay, so everybody is weeping. It's real weeping.

23:12It's not just a little part of the nation that sees this, and the rest of the nation doesn't care. I think the picture he's trying to give with all this repetition is: this is everybody is truly weeping. It's not just an act, it's not just a show. It's that the people here, these people that have made these pleas for mercy, that see the one that they've pierced, they're all weeping. You have David and Nathan and Levi mentioned, which some people think is like David the king, Nathan the prophet, and Levi the priest. And so they're kind of saying everybody, all kinds of people throughout all Israel. But I think it's actually Nathan. You remember, there was the prophet Nathan who rebuked David. But then David names one of his sons. Sons, Nathan. So we can't be sure, but I think it's David, his tribe, and one of his sons' tribes, because he says Levi, and then the Shimaeites, and Shimai was one of Levi's sons. And so I think it's just giving this picture of even breaking up in the family. It's not just like the head of the household that's crying and weeping and mourning. It's everybody, everywhere, no matter how significant the family. Does that make sense? You with me? So this is the greatest time of mourning ever in the history of these people. Everyone across the board is truly weeping and truly mourning. And why?

24:45It's because they've finally seen their mistake. They see that in this battle. When God is helping them win this battle and they see this one whom they have pierced, they're going to realize their mistake and they're going to weep bitterly over it like one weeps for their firstborn. On that day, chapter 13, there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness. So in response to this mourning and this rapture, Repentance. Maybe they're thinking, I mean, what would you think? If you said, you know, that's the one that our nation pierced, you would think, there's no getting over this, right? That seems like a sin or an uncleanness that we can never be purified. And so he says, on that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.

26:04And so I think that this is because of the work of that pierced one when he was pierced, that they have this fountain that's opened up to them. So when they do repent in this day, this fountain is opened up to them and they're able to be cleansed and forgiven. That's our next good stopping point. Are there any questions so far about the battle or about this time when they're going to repent? I thought you mentioned you were going to talk about a timeline next place. When you think this occurred, I'm going to wait till next week.

26:50Any other questions? Not timeline related. Let's pause just for a moment. And turn to John 19, 37. In John 19, we have the death of Jesus on the cross. In John 19, verse 32, so the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with them. So they are breaking the legs of the thieves, thieves 33. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness. His testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth, that you may also believe. Okay, so just pause right there before you read on.

28:00John has just made a big deal out of something, right? He's just paused to say, look, I am telling you the truth. I saw these things with my own eyes. I'm telling you the truth. Well, we don't know why he paused to do this, but I think it's because this is a stunning answer, a stunning fulfillment of prophecies, two prophecies at one time, that the guards were breaking the legs of everybody else, but then they get to Jesus. And they don't break his legs, and they pierce his side. And John says in verse 36, for these things took place that the scripture might be fulfilled. Not one of his bones will be broken. And again, another scripture says, they will look on him whom they have pierced. And he cites our passage. Over in Revelation chapter 1.

29:03Verse 7: Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so, amen. You can turn back to our passage in Zechariah. But John clearly views this as a prophecy that the Lord Himself, the Messiah Himself, is going to be pierced. And I think that was easy for us to see in the passage, right? When he says, You will look upon me, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, this in some way is they have pierced the Lord Himself. And then they get to see Him, and they weep bitterly over it, and they repent.

30:01I think the Apostle John knew that, that the Messiah was going to be pierced in this way. And that's why he said when it happened on the cross, this was in fulfillment of him being pierced. Okay, let's keep going. We've got one more big section. Little section. Okay, kind of two sections. Zechariah 13, verse 2. And on that day, declares the Lord of hosts, I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, so that they shall be remembered no more. Okay, so nobody in this day, when this battle is happening or when this repentance is happening, nobody's going to be remembering Baal and Asher and Molech. These names, they're not going to be remembered. And also, I will remove from the land the prophets in a spirit of uncleanness. So maybe that's an unclean spirit like we hear of more in the New Testament, a demonic spirit. But also these false prophets. They're going to remove the false prophets. Verse 3. And if anyone again prophesies, this is how serious the people are about their sin. If anyone again prophesies, his father and mother who bore him will say to him, You shall not live, for you speak lies in the name of the Lord. And his father and mother who bore him shall pierce him through when he prophesies. Okay, so the. The repentance of the people is going to be so thorough, and the righteousness of the people is going to be so thorough that they love the Lord so much that if someone even tries to make a false prophecy, their own parents are going to be party to putting them to death for the glory of the Lord. Verse 4: On that day, every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies. He will not put on a hairy cloak in order to deceive. That might be like the prophet's cloak, like Elijah passed on to Elisha, and John the Baptist seems to wear this coat of camel hair.

32:12Or the only time the exact phrase is used is another time that someone deceives someone with a hairy coat. Does that sound familiar? Jacob and Esau. You remember, he puts on a hairy coat because Esau is hairy, and he deceives with that. But either way, these prophets have formerly been deceiving the people. Well, now that the people have repented, nobody wants to be a false prophet anymore because even their parents would kill them, right? So they're going to put away that coat that they used to use. But he will say, I am no prophet. This is verse 5. I am a worker of the soil, for a man sold me in my youth. So he's kind of making up lies. He's just saying, I'm just a farmer. You know, don't kill me. I'm not a prophet.

33:00Verse 6, if one asks him, what are these wounds on your back? Okay, so he's being caught in his lies. So maybe these prophets used to, or in the future, will wound themselves in a certain way. We have record of the prophets of Baal doing that, cutting themselves and things like that whenever they were battling against Elijah. Remember with the sacrifice that got lit on fire? And so maybe these prophets are wounding themselves and the people would know about this. And so that's a telltale sign. They discover the wounds. Oh, you were a false prophet. And he will say, the wounds I received in the house of my friends. That's a terrible lie, right? Why would your friends do that to you?

33:47But you get this picture basically where the false prophets are scrambling in this time because they do not want to be a false prophet in this time. The people are so righteous. They're actually going to do what they've been supposed to be doing all of this time, which was killing the false prophets according to the law. Okay, so it's this future time of righteousness. Now, this last section, verse 7 through 9, kind of interrupts what's going on.

34:24And it's like a kind of exclamation. Verse 7. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd. Against the man who stands next to me, declares the Lord of hosts. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered. I will turn my hand against the little ones. Okay, pay attention to that again. He's not following quite along in this pattern of starting each section with on that day, on that day, on that day. He just says, Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who stands next to me, declares the Lord of hosts. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered. I will turn my hand against the little ones.

35:28So the sword of the Lord is something we see in several places in the Old Testament, and it's God's inevitable judgment going out maybe against a nation or something. But this time, the Lord, the sword of the Lord, is striking his own shepherd against my shepherd. And I think, you know, what are your thoughts to go back to whenever he says my shepherd? If we, what we just talked about last week, Zechariah 11. That's what my mind would go back if I'm hearing these prophecies. That he's just talked about this shepherd who's going to come, that's going to be rejected. But either way, this sword is going against God's shepherd, and this shepherd is a man who stands next to me.

36:21So, this man is a unique man. It's God's shepherd who has a unique status of being equal with him, or at least being next to him in the heavens. And God is saying, Sword, strike him. My neighbor, my shepherd, strike him. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered. I will turn my hand against the little ones. Listen to Mark 14 or turn there. Mark 14, they are, and we're going to start in verse 26. They have just finished this time in the upper room that we're reading about on Sunday mornings, and they are going to depart for Gethsemane. And it says in verse 26, when they had sung a hymn, so they all. Sing together, Jesus with the disciples. They sing together, and they went out to the Mount of Olives. And Jesus said to them, You will all fall away, for it is written, I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.

37:45But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee. And Peter will go on to say, you know, even if everyone else falls away, I'm not going to fall away. And Jesus will tell him about the crow and him denying, or the rooster, and him denying him three times. But you have Jesus here saying, Jesus said to them, you will all fall away. Well, how does he prove it? That all of them are going to fall away. He cites the passage that we're studying tonight.

38:17He says, God's shepherd, that one who's standing next to God, he's about to get struck. Jesus said to them, you will all fall away, for it is written, I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered. And I think Jesus knew that, I think Jesus knew this prophecy. He quotes it, and he's saying that God's shepherd is about to be struck. And Jesus knows that when the shepherd is struck by this sword, God will also scatter his people, his little sheep that are his. When the shepherd is struck, the sheep will be. Be scattered. Verses 8 and 9. In the whole land, declares the Lord. This is of, sorry, we're back in Zechariah chapter 13. Zechariah 13, verses 8 and 9, In the whole land, declares the Lord, two-thirds shall be cut off and perish, and one-third shall be left alive. And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, these are my people, and they will say, the Lord is my God.

39:42So now I think that we're back to this end times prophecy. I think he is interrupted to talk about this shepherd that's going to be struck. And kind of like we saw a couple weeks ago, in the prophecy of Daniel, in the 70 weeks, you have the one coming, the anointed one. And then right after that, you have that final week of that tribulation. And they don't spread it out. That the church is this mystery age in between the two where the anointed one is cut off. And then you have this week. And I think you have something similar going on here. That this shepherd is struck. And then he talks about this time of tribulation again, where he says, in the whole land, declares the Lord. Lord, two-thirds shall be cut off and perish. So, this is not, it is an exciting time for Israel and Judah, but it's not pure excitement and joy for everybody, right? Two-thirds of the people are cut off and perished, one-third shall be left alive, and of this one-third, I will put this third into the fire and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, These are my people, and they will say, The Lord is my God. So, God is creating this remnant that was already limited to just one-third of the people in the land, and then he takes that one-third and puts them through this refining process where there's only this remnant left, and these people are faithful to the Lord. I will say, they are my people, and they will say, The Lord is my God.

41:34Well, we are not going to hear tonight how this all fits together. We can save that for next week. But I think that what we can see is that he's talking about this future time. And remember, who is Zechariah talking to? When is he alive? And what are they building? The temple, right? So they're building this temple, and God, while they're building this temple in Jerusalem, God is telling them all these things about the far distant future of Jerusalem. One of the things he tells them is that there's going to be this great battle, but the people don't need to be afraid because even though these nations come and do some major damage, then the Lord roars from Zion, like we read in Joel. And the Lord comes out and fights with the people, and they march forward like a blazing pot and destroy all the nations. You also have in this future time the repentance of Israel and Judah. You have the people wailing grief that has never been expressed before because they've seen this one whom they have pierced.

42:56You also have the righteousness of the people as they're purified, that they can't stand idolatry and they can't stand prophets. And the false prophets get scared about it because they know they're going to get killed. And then finally, you have this purifying, this purifying act of God, where he wipes out, using the nations, probably, wipes out two-thirds of the people, and then purifies this group as his remnant. And they say, the Lord is our God. And he says, they are my people.

43:30So I hope that some of those things are kind of ringing some bells or rattling around in your mind. Some of those things we see in the New Testament, some of the direct prophecies of Christ being pierced, of the shepherd being struck and the sheep being scattered, but also some things that are still in the future, that Israel is still someday going to see the one that they've pierced and repent. And I think that if you turn over to Romans chapter 11 with me, that would be a fitting way to end. At the end of Romans chapter 11, this is what he's been talking about: he's been talking about how someday Israel is going to be saved and changed. And Romans 11, verse 25, lest you be wise in your own sight. This is Gentile Christians. I want you to understand this mystery, brothers. A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come. And in this way, all Israel will be saved, as it is written, the Deliverer will come from Zion. He will banish ungodliness from Jacob. And this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.

44:53As regards the gospel, they are enemies of God for your sake, but as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you were at one time disobedient to God, but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too now have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you, they also may now receive mercy. For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all. O the depth of the riches and the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways. For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor, or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. Pray with me. Father, we do stand in awe of your wisdom. We stand in awe of the fact that you have this grand and glorious plan to preserve a holy remnant for yourself.

46:04We stand in awe of the fact that centuries before Christ came, you already predicted a time when the people would realize and grieve over the fact that they pierced their Messiah, their Lord. We stand amazed, Lord, that you know the future of the Lord. Every nation on earth. And we're encouraged and amazed that you are going to roar from Zion someday and march forward with your people to defeat the nations. I pray, Lord, that these things wouldn't just come in and then leave our minds this week, but that we would let them simmer a little bit and try and discern when these things will be. Read over these passages again and look forward to a day when these things are going to come true, when the Messiah is going to come and the people are going to see and Israel is going to repent and the Lord is going to conquer and the nations are going to be destroyed.

47:22I pray, Lord, that you would help us look forward to these things and help us understand them and be amazed in all of you. In Jesus' name, amen. You're dismissed.