What image of God do we carry in our heart? (Zech 12:1-9)

The old Sunday school song, ‘My God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there’s nothing that He cannot do’ is a triumphant little tune and when things are going well, it is easy to confess to such a powerful God. However, when life gets difficult and the obstacles look insurmountable, we feel discouraged and our attitude rather says, ‘My God is so small, so weak and so little, there’s nothing that this God can do’. As we move into the last larger unit of the book (introduced again with the word ‘burden’ or ‘oracle’; Zech 12:1 cf. Zech 9:1), we continue to read about God’s restoration plan in the last days (the expression ‘in that day’ points to this, repeated seventeen times in the next three chapters).[1] While the events are described with dramatic language and vivid images, the path is not an easy one but involves persecution, attack and suffering. It is such times that challenge us to ask, what kind of image of God do we carry in our heart?

How God’s judgment comes

Despite the hardship ahead for God’s people, the prophecies that follow are introduced with a summary of who God is. He is the life-giving Creator God (Zech 12:1), sovereign over all. In fact, throughout our reading, the emphasis is on God acting (‘I/the Lord will…’ – Zech 12:3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9). Jerusalem is shown to be under attack from the nations, but God will bring judgment on them described with three images (cup, stone, fire – Zech 12:2, 3, 6). The ‘cup’ is a standard metaphor for judgment (e.g. Jer 25:15) and ‘reeling’ (v.2 cf. Isa 51:22-23) indicates the loss of the attackers’ control. Fire is likewise common for judgment (e.g. Isa 5:24; 26:11; Amos 5:6; Zeph 1:18). The stone that injures those who oppose it is elsewhere God (Isaiah 8:14-15), but the striking feature of Zechariah’s prophecy is that God’s people become the means of bringing about judgment. It is not so much anything that they do, but their very nature and presence that has this effect and it is God’s doing.

The God who saves

The Lord not only brings judgement but also saves. The description of bewilderment and disorientation among enemy riders (Zech 12:4) evokes the exodus, where Pharaoh’s horsemen were thrown into such confusion, they fled into the waves rather then away from them (Exod 14:24-25, 27). God will defend and deliver and will ensure that those who think themselves privileged over others (the house of David and Jerusalem) will not receive priority to feed their ego (Zech 12:7-8). Once again, strength comes from the Lord; those feeble in themselves will be like David, who trusted God and overcame the powerful by God’s strength (v.8). He is the one who will ultimately destroy those opposed to Him (Zech 12:9).

The part we play and the image of God we carry

Once again, we may struggle to know how all this will look in the future and how much is to be taken metaphorically or literally (is there going to be a physical battle around Jerusalem in Israel or are we talking about spiritual warfare?). Nevertheless, what strikes me in this passage is God’s control over even terrible things that happen. Moreover, just as in the vision of the four horns and four craftsmen (i.e. those building God’s temple; see my post on Zech 1:18-21) God’s weak and feeble people are instrumental in bringing down the edifice of evil. How might this work? Jesus says about Himself that, being Light, He creates division between those who want to align their life with God’s purposes and those who hate and avoid the Light because it exposes their sin (John 3:19-21). By their reaction to God’s presence in Jesus, the latter bring on their own condemnation. It is not that God imposes judgment on them, but that they reject God’s solution and thereby choose sin and death. Perhaps by extension, God’s people (like Jesus) carry His presence and by their very nature confront those they encounter with the truth. What an amazing God we have, who is mighty enough to put the world right singlehandedly but involves His weak and feeble people to have a part to play in His plans! May we carry His powerful image in our heart!

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[1] Zech 12:3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11; 13:1, 2, 4; 14:4, 6, 8, 9, 13, 20, 21 (twice in 12:8).

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