THE MESSAGE OF ZECHARIAH
Number 33
THE WORK OF REVIVAL
Zechariah 12:10-14
******
THIS passage has presented great difficulty to commentators on Zechariah, and this is because they do not seem to be able to say what the meaning is of the phrase "They will look on me, the one they have pierced." The various interpretations that are presented I find most complicated and unsatisfactory. The passage is a prophetic utterance, and in the first instance is concerning the Jews. What is certain is that we can not give any place in time for the fulfillment of this prophecy, neither can it be determined whether it refers to a specific event, or whether it is something that occurs again and again in the history of the Jews.
The problem lies with many in the fact that the word pierced has the meaning of thrust through and so kill, and the fact that it is God speaking and saying this is what the Jews have done to him. This is felt to be almost blasphemous because it speaks of the death of God, and so some other meaning is felt to be necessary. I have no doubt in my mind that this is a prophetic utterance concerning the way the Jews would treat their Messiah when he came, and it is an historical fact that the the nation totally rejected their Messiah, Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, God of God and Light of Light. It seems to me that this sentence speaks of the way Jesus was treated by the Jews when he was incarnate and came as the promised Messiah and Saviour. Jesus was God incarnate, and the way the Jews treated him, and eventually in the fact they brought about his crucifixion, is a clear fulfillment of the words that they pierced and thrust through even to death the Son of God. The meaning 'me' in this sentence concerning piercing seems to me a clear reference to the way the Jews treated Jesus when he was here on earth. The sentence does not refer directly to the piercing of the side of Jesus on the cross, but to the whole attitude and action of the Jews to Jesus in his time on earth. Anyway the piercing of the side of Jesus was done by a Roman soldier.
What this prophecy speaks of is a revival amongst the Jews whereby they will realise what they have done in rejecting and killing their Messiah, and repent in bitter sorrow. It seems to me in the light of such Gospel passages as the the parable of the Wedding Banquet (Matthew 22:1-14) and the parable of the Tenants (Matthew 21:33-46) this prophecy can't be a reference to the repentance of the nation of the Jews and their restoration as the people of God, for in these parables Jesus clearly speaks of the total rejection of the Nation of the Jews as chosen by God in a special way. I am unable to see any real teaching in the Bible which speaks of the Jews nation being restored to the privileged position that this nation enjoyed in the Old Testament. Because of this, it seems to me that this prophecy refers to different times subsequent to the time when Christ lived on earth, and the nation of the Jews rejected him, and that down history God in his grace and by his Spirit from time to time will bring numbers of Jews to see that Jesus was their Messiah, to see the sin of the Jews in crucifying their Messiah, to sincerely repent of this terrible sin, and turn in faith to believe on him as their Messiah Saviour.
Whatever the exact interpretation of this prophecy, there is no doubt that it is a wonderful revelation of Revival brought by God to his church. Jews now converted to trust in their Messiah become members of the new and true Israel, that is the redeemed of God. Let us learn the lessons here concerning revival.
REVIVAL IS A SOVEREIGN WORK OF GOD BY HIS SPIRIT.
The promise is that God would pour out a spirit of grace and supplication. The NIV speaks of a spirit, but there can be no doubt that what the prophecy says is that God will pour out the Spirit of grace and supplication, and this is the meaning presented to us in the margin of the NIV. So we learn that God works revival by his Spirit. Revival can not be worked up by human endeavour. Revival is not something that can be brought about by a concerted effort by the church. The church can't decide to have a revival. The church can have what may be called revival meetings or can seek to promote revival by some special activity, but this will not be revival of true religion and spiritual life. Some blessing, even great blessing, may result, and this may be or may be not a work of true conversion in peoples' hearts, but it will not be revival. Revival is a sovereign work of God, and only comes when God comes by the Holy Spirit and gives it
As this is so, the glory belongs to God alone, and any idea that the blessing has come through human effort will quench the Spirit.
REVIVAL IS AN ACT OF GRACE.
God says he will pour out the Spirit of grace, and by this we are told that there is no deserving in us human beings when we are blessed with God's reviving. Revival is a reviving of God's grace by his Spirit. God looks upon us graciously. He sees our many sins. He sees them as deserving his just condemnation and judgement. But instead of visiting on us what we deserve, he acts in grace. He pours out unmerited love and mercy. This is the meaning of the grace of God.
All we like sheep have gone astray. We have sinned and we sin all the time. We have gone our own way, that is we have rebelled against our God and creator. We have blatantly rebelled and said not your way, O God, but our way. We have acted like this in pure self interest and self indulgence. We have shown by this action the corruption and sin in our hearts, which is alienated from God, and does not know God, and hates God. Yet God acts graciously towards us.
This is the amazing action of God in Revival. He does not treat us as we deserve, but instead in sovereign grace, determines to bless us and save us and bring us into his marvelous love. It is the wonder of grace that God treats us with such mercy and love.
REVIVAL BRINGS DEEP CONVICTION AND SORROW FOR SIN.
This is a most important factor of Revival. The prophecy speaks of the pouring out of God's Spirit. It is a pouring out due to God's grace being poured out. The result is that there is a deep realisation of sin. In the case of the Jews the conviction of sin centred on the way the Jews treated Jesus - their rejection of him and their crucifying of him. This was the great sin which the Jewish nation did in time. For others the conviction will be centred on some different direction with regard to sin. Whatever the direction of the conviction, when the Spirit of God is poured out in time of revival, there is always this work of the Spirit in conviction, before there is a work of leading people to Jesus as our sin bearer.
Here we see how deep this conviction of sin would be. The Jews are said to mourn over their sin as a parent would over the death of their only child. It is described as a bitter mourning bringing deep tears in the soul. It is described in terms of Israel's grief over the death of King Josiah at Megiddo, for with the death of Josiah who was a good king departed the last hope for Israel. (2 Kings 23:29).
There must always be conviction of sin producing repentance before a soul can be converted and believe on Christ for salvation, but when revival blessing comes, this work of conviction is much deeper and much more painful. It is because there is little conviction of sin in these days, that love for Christ is so shallow. It is only when we realise our need as sinner before God, and our desperate state of being under the wrath of God, that a soul cries out to God in true repentance. It is because there is little sorrow for sin today, that there is little appreciation of Christ and his death for us. We will have no sense of our need of Christ, nor will we understand the tremendous sacrifice Christ made for us when he died on the cross in our place, unless we have a real sense of the hatefulness of sin, and the awful lengths Jesus went to save us from hell which we deserve on account of our sin.
This work of conviction is a painful work, but it is necessary and it is worked in us by the Holy Spirit in an act of love, for unless we see our need we will never fly to Christ in order to be saved from our sin. If there is anything that is needed in the church today, and in the world, it is a deep sense of our sin against God, and the corruption of human nature. It is only when we feel our sins, and feel our doom on account of our sins, that we will cry to God for mercy and grace, and so find it in Christ.
REVIVAL FOCUSES ATTENTION ON CHRIST.
In the case of the Jews in this prophecy, the conviction worked in their souls was a conviction of their sin against Christ, and the way they had treated him in rejection and death. The indication from the Scripture is of such repentance that in sorrow they turn to Jesus and believe on him as their Messiah, and put their trust in him to save them, and forgive them, for the evil they had done.
The focus of this revival and all revivals is on the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the focus because it is in the cross, and the cross alone that the sinner can find healing for the wounded soul, and deliverance from the punishment due for sin. Having convicted the soul of sin, the Spirit leads the penitent and sorrowing soul to Jesus as the Saviour for sinners. This leading is to see Jesus dying in our place, bearing our sin in his body on the cross, and suffering in our place the consequences of our sin, and the hell we deserve..
If there is deep conviction of sin, Christ will be understood as the only remedy for the sinners need. Nothing else but Christ will do. Toplady, in his hymn Rock of Ages cleft for me, expresses this so well. He writes -
Not the labour of my hands
Can fulfill thy Law's demands
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears for ever flow,
All for sin could not atone,
Thou must save and thou alone.
However hard we may try and however successful is our good works; however deep and sincere our repentance may be; nothing of this can atone for our sin. We see this in the deep conviction revival brings to the soul, and so we see by the Spirit, that it is Jesus and him alone who can save us from the just consequences of our sin, and give us eternal life.
Oh! How we need to pray for such conviction of sin - in our own hearts, and in the hearts of multitudes who are still in the world, without hope, and without God.
REVIVAL WILL CAUSE PEOPLE PRAY.
The Spirit poured out a spirit of supplication. Seeing how they had treated their Messiah, and seeing their loss and with damnation hanging over them, these Jews will be brought to prayer. It will not be only a little praying, but it will be a Spirit of supplication upon them.
This is the true nature of Revival. Revival brings people to their knees in prayer and supplication before God. When Isaiah saw the Lord in the temple (Isaiah 6), and when he saw his sin and the nations sin in the mirror of the awesome holiness of God, he fell on his knees in prayer. It was a prayer of repentance, but it was also a pray where he threw himself on the mercy of God. Crying for mercy to God is the response we make when deeply convicted of our sin. There can be no real revival without such a Spirit of supplication.
When God is working in the heart his work of salvation and reviving grace, it drives the heart to praying. When Paul met the risen Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus, he fell on his face before God and supplicated before the Lord. "Who are you Lord" was his cry, and in this cry was a cry of fear and for mercy. He obtained mercy, and he began to pray. As a Pharisee before Christ met him, he had said his prayers with great devotion and application, but he had never prayed. Now he prayed, because when we receive life from the Lord it opens our mouth in prayer to God.
Where there is a Spirit of prayer, there you will find revival. How we need to pray for such a Spirit of prayer falling upon us and the church of God.
CONCLUSION.
Such is the work promised in grace by God for the Jews. Such will be the work of God in our hearts and in the church, when he sends his reviving grace by his Spirit. How we need to hunger after it, and cry to God until he pours out his Spirit of grace and supplication in this our day and generation.