Zechariah 12

God is poised to make things happen which haven’t been seen in a very long time, and many things not yet seen before. If Judah will repent and obey the Covenant, she can expect a bonus, blossoming from such a tiny remnant to a world power again. That grand future is within reach. Will they seize the moment?
Do they suppose they’ve faced opposition up to now? They haven’t seen anything yet. The lesson of Moses before Pharaoh was how God raises up human opposition only so He can crush it in the eyes of the world. If Judah were truly faithful, the whole world would oppose her. And God would crush the whole world at her feet. God says He is ready to make Jerusalem a cup of His wrath, to make the surrounding kingdoms stagger at the unimaginable blow to their arrogance and pride. They might as well try to lift a massive stone buried in the earth, because it will hurt them just trying. Was Judah ready to see God work so powerfully that the very horses of the attacking hordes would be blinded? Are they ready to then lead the world into His holiness?
If the people choose holiness in their hearts, God will grant them mighty kings like David again, setting on fire everyone opposing God’s plans for His people. Yet, God Himself will defend Judah, so the kings can focus on more important matters of justice among the people. The oldest and weakest will be like David, and the king would be like a mighty angel of God. No one would ever dare attack His people again.
With such a heart of valiant obedience, you can imagine how the king would lead them. The whole kingdom would be the home of repentance. They would remain deeply conscious of how their sins have hurt God, and how He bore the thrusts of their sins willingly. In the context, God pleads with Judah to open their hearts, to embrace the conviction of sin God holds out to all humanity, but especially those whose gift is the full revelation of His glory. John rightly says the sorrow of many on the day of Crucifixion was a manifestation of what Zechariah meant.
While there is an obvious literal meaning, it symbolizes something far more important. God had revealed Himself rather plainly in the Law, and then with utmost clarity in His Son, but this earthly nation rejected Him. They had done so in the past, which got them the Exile. They were too near rejecting the prophetic command to build the Second Temple. There is little left to do but offer one last look at what they could have if they would embrace Him. If they would turn and lament their sins, as they did on that awful day when they lamented the loss of Josiah at Megiddo, they can recover what was lost there that day, and far more. However, the price is penitence not merely of their leaders, nor even every man, but women, too. Everyone old enough to be a child of the Law must confess their sins.
What genuine repentance could buy had not yet been seen on the earth.