Zechariah 12:6-9 says,...

Today's verses are Zechariah 12:6-9, which read,

v.6 - On that day I will make the leaders of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among sheaves; they will consume all the peoples around them on the right and the left, while Jerusalem continues to be inhabited on its site, in Jerusalem.

If we read this passage as Jerusalem representing the true people of God, there is a protection on that day.  The true church will sustain its position.  We have plenty of illustrations in the Bible of God's power displayed with the image of fire.  Fire consumes and leaves the forest bare.  My father who lives now in California spoke to me of seeing the smoke each morning from the forest fires that were raging over the next ridge.  There is a distinct line made where a fire starts and where a fire ends.  Maybe we can picture this Jerusalem untouched by the fire but see everything around it consumed by it.  Maybe this is a picture of Goshen and the Israelites seeing the effects of some of the plagues against Pharaoh and Egypt but not being touched by them.  A line of protection was drawn around them.  Jerusalem representing the true church will be protected by God's consuming fire.  For the true church to be protected means that attacks upon it must be present.  Persecutions and ploys of Satan will be attempted to penetrate God's family.

v.7 - The LORD will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of David's house and the glory of Jerusalem's residents may not be greater than that of Judah.

Jerusalem would have a wall to protect it.  What about those who are leaving in tents outside of the wall?  Would they be protected too?  How far does God's protection of His people go?  It starts with those who are most vulnerable, those in the tents.  We tend to look at structures of the church as the church.  King David's residence or even his royal lineage or the holy city of Jerusalem were viewed as holy objects to be protected at all cost and treated with reverence.  We do this today with church structures and objects.  We make them greater than they should be.  The church are those who reside wherever they are, in tents outside the city or within its protective wall.  God will protect His church from what seems to the be the least to what seems to be the greatest.  Maybe an analogy would be God's protection of His people whether they are a part of a local church in a town of less than 200 like I grew up in or part of a megachurch that rivals the whole populations of LaSalle, Peru, and Oglesby.  One structure of church seems greater than the other but God is concerned not about the structure, tent or tabernacle, but those who reside there in His name.

v.8 - On that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that on that day the one who is weakest among them will be like David on that day, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the LORD, before them.

Let me take you to the scene of little David, seemingly weak, in the face of big Goliath, seemingly strong.  Little David came in the name of another, the Lord, before the big Goliath and the outcome was as if an angel of the Lord showed up to show big Goliath just how small he really was.  The point to stress again as little David did to big Goliath is that the defending was not coming from him but from the Lord.  It will seem that the little weak church has been defeated by the big strong culture but on that day, the Lord will defend her with great power.

v.9 - On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

Will there be any that might sneak through and not be affected by God's protection?  The answer is "no."  On that day the key word is "all."  We can find great comfort that was is being said here is also what Jesus said when He spoke of Himself building His church and not talking of structure but people, and the gates of Hades or Hell would not prevail against it.  No matter the heat of what comes upon the church from the society around it, the church, the people of God, will stand because God has said it would by His protection.  While He has given His word we are to be faithful to it.  Let us pray.

"Lord, how we don't deserve it but You provide all that we need to experience the ultimate of eternal life with You.  Help us to not get discouraged to the point of stumbling but to lift our eyes to the hills where You have promised to come from to see us through to the end, to You.  Amen."

Pastor Adam