And Jehovah shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem be not magnified over Judah.
Zechariah 12 pictures a day when all the nations have gathered against Jerusalem, and God steps in to save His people. Verse 7 sets the order of that rescue — the open country before the walled city — and gives the reason.
The chapter is not a record of something already done. The writers quoted here call God Jehovah, the name the ESV prints as "the LORD." One writer follows Zechariah chapter by chapter and notes that the siege described here has not happened yet:
In Zechariah, the whole of chapter 10 describes the restoration of Israel in the last days. It speaks of each division of the people, Judah and Ephraim. Then chapter 11 tells of Christ's rejection. In chapter 12 judgment falls on all the nations gathered against Jerusalem, and she becomes a heavy stone for them. So it has no application to past events. Chapter 12 also gives a detailed account of how Jehovah will save the people.
The rescue is not a reward. Judah had rejected her own King. The same writer puts her deliverance on the ground of God's free favour:
God would judge the power of man, but would raise up His people in sovereign grace. He would destroy the nations that had come up against Jerusalem. The deliverance of the people by the power of Jehovah comes first. This is sovereign grace to the chief of sinners — feeble but beloved Judah. To all her rebellion against God she had added the contempt and rejection of her King and Saviour.
The verse says "tents," not "cities." One writer reads this as a picture of people with no walls to hide behind:
The expression "the tents of Judah" emphasises their weak position. They are outside the city walls, exposed to the fury of the enemy. Blood will have flooded the whole length of the land, figuratively "as high as a horse's bridle" (Rev. 14:20), and two thirds of the people will "be cut off and perish" during the tribulation (Zech. 13:8). The Lord shows His tender mercy to the weak first. He rescues Judah from the enemy, who will then concentrate on besieging Jerusalem. The Lord waits before delivering Jerusalem, however, for He must first do a complete work in those in the city, so they will be humbled rather than magnify themselves over Judah.
Jerusalem and David's family had real grounds for pride. God dwells in the city, and the Messiah comes from that line. The verse names that danger:
The deliverance of Jerusalem, Jehovah's dwelling within her, and the truth that the Messiah is the true Son of David — all of this could not fail to reflect glory on both the city and the house of the King. And knowing what man is, this might lead both the city and the family of David to exalt themselves over Judah. But Jehovah will prevent this by showing His love to Judah in appearing first on her behalf.
Saving the country first does not mean God abandons the city. The order of the rescue keeps peace between the two:
So that there should be no strife between the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Lord steps in to save "the tents of Judah" first (verse 7). But He also comes to defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem. He gives them surpassing strength as instruments of their deliverance (verse 8). Whatever the instruments, the Lord Himself is the one who has stepped in, for He says, "I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem" (verse 9).
The rescue does more than remove the enemy. It works on the hearts of the people it saves:
The grace shown in her deliverance had worked on her heart. The law we know was written in it, but much more. To be loved by a God against whom one has so deeply rebelled melts the heart. Grace then goes further, and presents to the people the Messiah whom they had pierced. The Rejected One is the Jehovah who delivers them.
- Still future — this siege of the nations has no application to past events. It belongs to the last days.
- Grace first — Jehovah's power delivers a people who had rebelled against Him and rejected their own King. This is sovereign grace to the chief of sinners.
- The weak first — "tents" marks people outside the walls with no defence. The Lord's tender mercy reaches them before it reaches the city.
- Pride prevented — the city and David's family might have exalted themselves over Judah. Jehovah stops that by showing His love to Judah and appearing first on her behalf.
- Hearts melted — grace does not stop at rescue. To be loved by the God they rebelled against melts the heart, and the Rejected One turns out to be the Jehovah who delivers them.
In that day will Jehovah defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that stumbleth among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David as God, as the Angel of Jehovah before them.
Zechariah 12 shows Jerusalem in danger, with nothing of its own to fall back on. Verse 8 is God's answer. He defends the city Himself, and He changes the people He defends — from the weakest man in the crowd to the royal family itself.
The verse opens with "on that day." Which day? Writers who read chapters 12 – 14 as one piece answer: one that has not come yet.
In Zechariah 12 – 14 we are surely among the scenes and circumstances of the last days. One or two passages in these chapters may look back to events long since finished. But no one can reasonably doubt that the subject of the prophecy lies in events still to come.
The defence and the strengthening come together. God does not make His people strong first and rescue them later. He rescues them, and the strength comes with the rescue — so it lands on people who have nothing left.
When He appears to defend and rescue the city, He will also give its people, so it seems, superhuman strength. They have been reduced to helplessness, and that is the very place and condition where they can receive strength. For it is always true, in every age, that when God's people are weak then they are strong, because His strength is made perfect in weakness.
The word behind "feeblest" describes someone who stumbles. The promise measures that person against Israel's greatest warrior.
The feeble ones, literally the stumblers, among His people will be like David in that day when the Lord is revealed. What a hero David was! A man of war and strength, always conquering and never conquered. And now the stumbler in Israel, the weakest one, will have strength and courage like David.
Verse 8 announces the result. Verses 10-14 supply the cause. The courage comes after God has dealt in grace with the people who rejected Him.
This last part of Zechariah 12 beautifully shows the grace and power of the Lord Jesus as He deals with His own people, who have rejected Him for centuries… But what we see in verse 8 actually follows what verses 10-14 declare. Verse 8 shows the new strength and courage that will stir the people of Jerusalem. The following verses show the reason for it. The one who is feeble among the people will be as David, having found strength like the strength David showed in defeating Goliath.
The second promise climbs higher than the first. The weakest man rises to David's level; the royal house rises past any human level. Commentators read this in two connected ways. The first looks at the throne.
Then even those who stumble among them will be dressed in royal robes, and "the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the LORD, going before them" (v. 8). This means that the kingship itself will bear a divine character. It surely points to the One whom Ezekiel calls "the Prince," who will represent the King of Glory on earth.
The second looks at the person on it. He is David's descendant and God's Son at once.
In that day "the house of David" will truly be "like God." For the One who came "descended from David according to the flesh," by being born a man, is none other than the Son of God, as Romans 1:3 plainly states. And He will appear in glory.
The verse also says where God will be: in front. Here is a commander leading His army out, as He did in Joshua's day.
The house of David will be like God — like the angel of the LORD, who stands at their head again as the commander of the LORD's army (Joshua 5), leading them out to battle.
The promise looks ahead to Jerusalem. Yet one writer draws from it a warning for anyone who serves God today.
It is also true that He can strengthen the feeble one so much that he becomes as David (Zech. 12:8). But the witness must not think of himself as indispensable, or disaster will follow at once.
- Cause. The strength of verse 8 is not why God saves Jerusalem. It is the fruit of what verses 10-14 describe, when God deals in grace with the people who rejected Him.
- Condition. God gives this strength to people who are helpless. Weakness is the very place where His strength is made perfect.
- Gift. "Feeblest" means the stumbler, the one who trips. God promises him the courage of the David who defeated Goliath.
- Reach. The gift climbs the whole ladder. The weakest man rises to David. David's house rises to a rule with a divine character, held by the Son of God, who is also David's descendant.
- Caution. The same God can still make one weak servant strong today. But if that servant thinks he is indispensable, disaster follows.