June 18, 2023 - Sunday Service

Morning, my brothers and sisters in Christ,. Grace and peace to you from God, our Father,.

And from the Lord. He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the children of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, nor will he keep his anger forever.

He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward those who fear.

Him.

As far as the east is from the west, so far he has removed our transgression from us. As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear him. For he knows our frame, he remembers that we are dust.

As for man, his days are like grass, as the flower of the field, so he flourishes. For when the wind passes over it, it is gone, and in its place remembers it no more. For the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting, and those who fear him and his righteousness to children's children, to such as keep his covenant, and those who remember his commandments to do them.

The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all. Bless the Lord, you, his angels, who excel his strength, who do his word, heeding the voice of his word. Bless the Lord, all his hosts, you ministers of his, who do his pleasure.

Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Let us worship God. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we have come to worship and to bow down, to kneel before you, the Lord, our maker.

For you are our God, and we are the people of your pasture, the sheep of your hand. We come to you in the name of Jesus Christ, the Lord, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. He is our advocate with the Father.

He is our only mediator between God and man. He always lives to make intercession for us. Through him, we come boldly to your throne of grace. In his name, we earnestly seek you, O Lord, our souls thirst for you, our flesh yearns for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Bow your heavens and come down, and have at the praises of your people. Remember your promise, O Spirit of Christ, to be present in the midst of your worshiping people when two or more have gathered in your name.

Condescend to us, grant us the joy of your fellowship, speak to us through your word, and be blessed by our praise and adoration. We ask all of these things in the name of our living Savior, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

Please kneel as you are able for the corporate confession of sin. Let us join together in confessing our sins. Gracious God, we confess that we have longed too much for the comforts of this world. We have loved the gifts more than the giver.

In your mercy, help us to see all their substance.

Accept this forgiveness. This is it. Listen.

Please stand for the assurance of pardon. As we have just read in the call to worship, our sins have been removed from us as far as the east is from the west. Our God remembers them no more. Here is our assurance of pardon.

He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

Amen.

Please take up the Trinity Hymnal and open up to hymn number 32, Great is Thy Faithfulness. Hymn 32. Pick up the insert and look for our psalm of the week, Psalm 26a. Lord, vindicate me. Psalm 26a, our psalm of the week.

Brother, any instruction? Please remain standing for the reading of God's word from Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12.

Hebrews 12. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or faint-hearted, and your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him, for the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the father of the spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time, as it seemed best to them.

But he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but rather it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Therefore, lift your drooping heads, and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight the paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. Strive for peace with everyone for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God, that there is no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled. That no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.

For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears. For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness, and gloom and a tempest.

And sound of the trumpet and voice whose words made the hearers beg, that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given. If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.

Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, I tremble with fear. But you have come to Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who were enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirit of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to be sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if they reject him who warns from heaven. At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens.

This phrase, yet once more, indicates the removal of things that are shaken, that is, things that have been made, in order that the things cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

This is the word of the Lord.

Let us now join our voices together and our ancient and common Christian faith by the singing of the Apostles' Creed. Please take up the Trinity Hymnal once more and open to hymn number 116, For the Beauty of the Earth, hymn 116.

Please make preparations for the prayers of the people. Let us pray together. O God, from whom come all holy desires, all good counsel, and all just works. Give to us, your servants, that peace which the world cannot give, that our hearts may be set to obey your commandments, the fear of our enemies, and quietness, through the merits of Jesus Christ, our Savior, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, God forever.

Amen. For the church of Jesus Christ, that it may be filled with truth and love, and be found without fault at the day of your coming, we pray to you, O Lord. For all ministers, missionaries, and the mission of the church, that in faithful witness the gospel may be preached, we pray to you, O Lord.

For those in positions of public trust, that they may serve justice and promote the dignity and freedom of every person, we pray to you, O Lord.

Before justices, congressmen, I pray that they would fall on their face, Lord, and pray that our country would be a symbol of godly living, and a righteous life, Lord. I pray that you would turn our country as well.

For the poor, the persecuted, the sick, and all who suffer, for refugees, prisoners, and all who are in danger, that they may be delivered and protected, we pray to you, O Lord.

Lord, have mercy upon them. We ask, Lord, that the poor would, we ask, Lord, as you have met our basic needs, we ask that you would have mercy on those who are persecuted. We ask, Lord, for mercy on those who are sick, for those who are in prison.

And, Lord, we do pray that you would remind us and open our eyes to the opportunities that you have given and the commandments that you have given to us, your people, to have mercy upon these people, to show them Christ, to show them the love of the Lord Jesus, to show them the care of you, our Father, as you have done that to us.

We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

For this congregation, for those who are present, and for those who are absent, that we may be delivered from hardness of heart and show forth your glory in all that we do. We pray to you, O Lord. Lord, hear our prayers.

Dear Heavenly Father, great God in heaven,.

I pray for us, I pray for us,.

That you would be with us, that we would be led by the Spirit in glorifying your name. I pray for those who are absent. I lift up Zach and Alyssa with their new child of Tiggany, precious little girl.

We look forward to the day that she is gathered with us and becomes full participant of the church body and of your grace. Great God, for those who are absent for other reasons, whether sickness or travel, I pray that you be with them and I pray that you bring us all back together.

We look forward to the day when you gather your entire congregation and not a single one would be absent. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.

Being in agreement with all these things, we join our voices together and say Amen. Please stand and take up the insert once again and look for our Psalm of the month, Psalm 94, God of Vengeance, O Jehovah.

Psalm 94.

Please turn in your Bibles to Zechariah chapter 12. This is God's holy and infallible word. The burden of the word of the Lord against Israel. Thus says the Lord who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth and forms the spirit of a man within him.

Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. It shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples.

All who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces though all nations of the earth are gathered against it. In that day, says the Lord, I will strike every horse with confusion and its riders with madness.

I will open my eyes on the house of Judah and I will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, the inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength and the Lord of hosts their God.

In that day I'll make the governors of Judah like a fire pan in the wood pile and like a fiery torch in the sheaves. They shall devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left, but Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place.

Jerusalem. The Lord will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not become greater than that of Judah. In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

The one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David. And the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the Lord before them. It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

Now our passage for today. And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication. Then they will look on me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for him as one mourns for his only son and grieve for him as one grieves for a firstborn.

In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem. Like the mourning at Hadad Ramon in the plain of Megiddo. And the land shall mourn every family by itself, the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves.

The family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves. The family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves. The family of Shimei by itself, and their wives by themselves.

All the families that remain, every family by itself, and their wives by themselves.

May the.

Lord be pleased with our consideration of his most holy word. Please pray with me. Oh Lord Jesus we thank you that you have not hidden yourself from your people. Throughout every page of Scripture your glory bursts forth.

We pray now that this your church would be built up and encouraged in the faith that they too would experience the joy of the spirit of grace and supplication. They will look upon you Lord Jesus whom they have pierced.

That they would mourn over their sins with a godly sorrow that would lead them to repentance. That they would long for that day when even the least among the nation of Israel would be saved. The gospel would triumph and go forth to the Gentiles.

Oh Lord we look forward to experiencing and enjoying your victory, your righteousness conquering the earth. We ask these things in Jesus name. Amen. Please be seated. The title of the message today is that phrase that jumps out off the page.

They will look upon me whom they have pierced. For those of you who are taking notes I have three areas of consideration for you to organize your thoughts. The first is the promise and the promise is that God will pour out his spirit.

Second is the piercing. The piercing is Jesus Christ on the cross. And third the mourning. The mourning that leads to repentance, renewal, salvation. Promise, piercing, and mourning. The restoration from exile leads us to consider the future renewal of God's people in Christ.

So these things that happen to Israel are not mere happenstance but they illustrate and illuminate our understanding of the work of Christ and building his church and and calling people from every tongue, tribe, and nation.

But also not forgetting his promises to Israel. Israel will be saved. The people of God though obstinate in their rebellion a remnant of them has been saved and as we know from the Apostle Paul in Romans 9 there's going to be a great harvest of the Jewish people.

It's happened in history and it will continue to happen even up to the last day. Now one of the difficulties of preaching through a book and then missing a week as we forget what happened before. So I'm borrowing from a very short synopsis largely from John Gill to remind you of what this chapter is about then we'll jump back into the exposition.

This chapter contains a prophecy of the defense, protection, and salvation of the Church of God and the effusion of the Spirit and of the conversion of the Jews in the latter day. It begins with a title and a preface describing the power of God from the creation the heavens and earth and the soul of man.

Then follows the subject matter of the prophecy to the way of judgment upon the enemies of the people of God. And you may remember from a couple of weeks ago we are absolutely secure because God has defeated and he protects and preserves us from all of his and our enemies.

So we walk around with great confidence and hope. We sleep easy at night with a great trust in the Lord. The people are going to find Jerusalem to be a cup of trembling, a burdensome stone, a hearth, a torch, a fire to them.

And the effects of that are going to be astonishment, madness, blindness, and utter destruction. But to the people of God they have confidence in him, salvation from him, and strength and protection by him.

At the same time that God will destroy all the enemies of his people he will, and this comes very close to us now, he will pour out his spirit upon his chosen ones even in Israel. The consequence of this will be their faith in Christ signified by looking to him whom they have pierced and their repentance towards God expressed by mourning.

And this illustration is found in that firstborn imagery which we'll consider today. The restoration from exile, the theme of Zechariah, leads us to Christ and leads us to the future renewal of his people.

Let's consider first the promise. Look again at verse 10 of chapter 12. I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication. This prophecy we considered a few weeks ago on Pentecost Sunday.

This was realized in Acts chapter 2. The Holy Spirit according to the prophecy of Joel is going to be poured out on the people and we learned that this experience was not necessarily normative. It's not going to happen every way in this manner on every Sunday, but it is the beginning of the work of the Holy Spirit being poured out on the people of God.

That they might be a repenting people, that they might be a people who worship, that they might be a people who turn from their sin and turn back to God. This is a tremendous blessing and promise that is given to the people particularly when they have just heard that their city is going to be ravaged, that the temple is going to be overthrown, that God has not given up on the descendants of Abraham, but they have to come now like everyone else does.

They have to come in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ. The question has to be asked, how will he pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication? Let's turn back to Acts 2 really quick.

There's one part I'd like.

You to read with your own eyes in Acts chapter 2. We'll begin reading in verse.

23. This is referring to Jesus. It says, Him being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death. This is going to be very important to our understanding of the mourning in our section.

The Jewish people are active participants and complicit in sentencing Jesus to death. This ironically turns out to be the means of salvation. Their ways are wicked, but it is God's way that is righteous, and God uses the betrayal of Judas Iscariot for the salvation of men.

He uses the betrayal of the Sanhedrin for the salvation of the nations. You have taken, it's very directed. Peter is saying to the audience gathered at Pentecost, you have taken him by lawless hands, you have crucified him, and you have put to death, but God has raised him up having loose the pains of death because it was not possible that he should be held by it.

Now skip down to verse 29. These are incredible words from Peter. The whole section. Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried. His tomb is with us to this day.

Therefore, being a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne. He, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ that his soul was not left in Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.

This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore, being exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he poured out this which you now see in here.

For David did not ascend to the heavens, but he says, he says himself, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.

And when they heard this, they were cut to the heart. Their hearts were pierced. They understood that their wickedness was the cause of Jesus going to the cross. Their wickedness was during his lifetime.

They failed to see him as the Messiah. And now recognizing this, they're they're pierced. They're cut to the heart. And Peter was asked, men and brethren, what shall we do? And Peter said to them, repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The outpouring, the spirit of grace and supplication is the prompting in the moving of wicked men to turn in their hearts in faith to Christ. This is not self-generated. God is acting upon the hearts of the men gathered and women and children, everyone in that area who gathered at Pentecost and a mighty working of his spirit.

He opens their hearts. The grace of supplication and grace is pouring in and salvation and life and hope and a future now comes upon this remnant of the people of God. Let's go back to our text in Zechariah 12.

Zechariah is about the gospel of Jesus. I'll pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication. But another question has to be asked that its fulfillment is realized at least partially with Pentecost and the active working of the spirit in the life of the church.

But how does this come to pass? What is the basis of the spirits outpouring upon the house of David? That last phrase, we'll spend a little time here in verse 10, the title of our message, then they will look on me whom they pierced.

Isaiah 53 5, do you remember these familiar words? But he was pierced. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon him and and by his stripes we are healed.

You see, the piercing of the Holy One, the righteous One, is the means of our salvation. And I don't know if you caught this, but God is speaking in the first person in verse 10. Can God be pierced? God is a spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth.

God is a spirit. How can God, a spirit, be pierced? Well, in the beginning was the Word. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ is in Zechariah 12. God taking on the flesh of humanity.

It's not fully developed here, but it's right there in verse 10. They're going to look upon me. It's capitalized in my English Bible appropriately. God in the first person saying, you're going to look upon me whom you have pierced.

This is utterly profound. How does John, for example, think of this language? Let's turn to the gospel according to John in verse 19, excuse me, chapter 19. John chapter 19. I could have quoted these to you, but I think it's sometimes good to read them, read the messages, read the words themselves.

John 19, beginning at verse 33, it says, but when they came to Jesus, this is at the crucifixion, after his death, when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.

And here, this is not an incidental thing that happens. You see, there's there's so much depth and so much layers to things that are happening in places like Zechariah 12. But who can begin to palm the fathoms of the depth of the death of Christ on the cross?

This is not just a little side theater that one of the soldiers pierces his side with a spear. There's something important here. And this is going to be the fulfillment of Zechariah 12. And it should be noted that the picture of blood and water is obviously also a picture of our sacraments, about atonement and about washing and regeneration.

The death of Christ is the salvation of sinners. The piercing of his side is the fulfillment of this incarnate Christ coming to redeem and rescue and save a wayward people. And this pictures the glories of his salvation.

Blood and water came out from his side. You know, scholars, the really smart guys, they have creative local interpretations about what Zechariah 12 might have been about. The rabbinic scholars, they don't consider Christ.

They have another explanation. Let's keep reading. It says in verse 35, and he who has seen and testified and his testimony is true and he knows that he is telling the truth so that you may believe. For these things were done that the scripture should be fulfilled.

Not one of his bones shall be broken. Important prophecy found in Psalm 34, I believe. And again, here's ours. Another scripture says they shall look upon him whom they have pierced. You see, there's something big here.

God says that his piercing, this autobiographical description of something that's going to happen, this piercing is not only going to be the cause of mourning and judgment, but it's also going to be the means of salvation.

They shall look on him whom they pierced. I was going to do this later, but since we're here, I won't do more page turning later. Turn over to the book of Revelation in chapter 1. This is Johannine's big idea.

It's big for John. There's something very important about this notion of piercing and to look upon the one who has been pierced. Revelation chapter 1, the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants, things which must shortly take place.

And he sent and signified it by his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the Word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ to all things that he saw. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it for the time is near.

I will point out, because I have to, it's very obvious that John is writing about something that's going to happen very quickly and shortly. 8070, for example, things like that. This isn't necessarily all fulfilled in 8070, but there's a lot that happens in that first century.

Now listen carefully. Verse 4, John to the seven churches which are in Asia. These are real churches that existed at the time of John's revelation. Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come.

That's the Lord Jesus Christ. Think about that description. Who is and who was and who is to come. And from the seven spirits who are before his throne and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead.

That firstborn language we'll pick up again a little bit later. And the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood and made us kings and priests to his God and Father.

To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold he is coming with clouds and every eye will see him, even they who pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of him. This is also Zechariah chapter 12.

It's all about Jesus. It's all about looking upon the one who has been pierced. Even so, amen. These glorious words from Jesus. I'll just finish here. And I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end says the Lord who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

Zechariah 12 telescopically looks to the future, the revelation, the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now let's go back and stay here now. Zechariah 12. The Lord Jesus Christ has been pierced. He's been wounded for our transgressions and he is a public spectacle.

Now here's where it gets interesting. I want you to think closely about this. The wickedness that men intended in their rebellion against God, God intends for good. Does that sound familiar? Joseph was thrown by his brothers into a pit and sold into slavery.

Joseph goes down to Egypt and Joseph becomes the means of salvation because of the famine. And it turns out that this wicked act of the brothers, the guys who make up the very nation of Israel, the sons of Jacob, they send their brother into this curse and he is their salvation.

You see, the Lord Jesus Christ, Joseph is the firstborn son of Rachel, the favored wife of Jacob. The Lord Jesus is the firstborn over all creation. Men intended great evil but God intends it for good.

The whole fabric of the Jewish people is bound in this imagery. This is all very readily accessible to them. What about this language? They will mourn for him as one mourns for his only son and grieve for him as one grieves for a firstborn.

Do you remember the appeal that Moses would make to Pharaoh? God said, tell them this, Israel is my firstborn. Let my firstborn go that they might worship me. And the punishment for the failure to release the firstborn of Israel is the death of the firstborn of Egypt.

We know how this concludes. The Passover, the blood of the lamb protects the firstborn of Israel and the judgment of God falls upon Egypt. But there's a superior Israel. There's a greater Jerusalem. We discovered that last time.

Jesus is the true Israel. The gathering place of the people of God is the bride, the church. Israel, like Joseph's, Jacob's sons and Joseph's brothers, they reject their brother. And in the case of the Lord Jesus, they reject their elder brother and they mourn.

I often thought, have thought with some, it was some grief in my heart early this morning about the very committed Jewish people who are the Orthodox Jews in places like New York City. And many of them have devoted their academic lives to try to prove that Jesus is not the Messiah.

And I imagine them, their whole life striving in this desire to be God's people and to be holy and to be faithful, to find out on that day of their death, the horror, the terror of standing before the Lord Jesus Christ and saying, I spent my entire life refuting and denying the Savior of Israel.

But there's a more hopeful part of this. How many people who, in Peter's day, in Acts chapter two, who were not believing that Jesus was the Christ. Can you imagine the stricken grief that they must have experienced?

Their sin, their rejection of the Messiah and his conquering love. They cried out to say, we rejected him, we pierced him, we sent him to death. And our Savior says, it's okay, I have come for this very purpose to come into the world and to save sinners, even you who have pierced me and rejected me.

Do you remember Jesus' mourning on the eve of his crucifixion, that he wished he could gather up Israel under his wings? But they were haughty in spirit, they were hard-hearted, they rejected him as the Messiah.

Can you imagine the wails and the heaving cries of the firstborn's death in Egypt? Pharaoh's hard-heartedness leads to the death of all of the firstborn. And as you know, the ancient world, they get the double portion of the inheritance.

They are the hope of future generations. Pharaoh's heir died on that night. His son, his firstborn son, do you remember that? His son died. The guy who should be king next, he dies. The hopes of the family rests on the firstborn, and so the nation mourns.

Now I think this mourning happens on many occasions. I think it happens in the immediate aftermath of the crucifixion. Remember the man on the road to Emmaus, wasn't this the one who would be the salvation of Israel?

This mourning would also extend to the rejection of the Jews over a period of time, and I think Paul is the example par excellence of what the Jewish people will experience in redemption. Isn't it amazing to think of?

The apostle to the Gentiles, his hatred, his persecution of the Christian people, the church, he made it his aim and mission to snuff it out. Can you imagine the glory that God showed to him and revealed to him, the love and grace, what a spirit of grace and supplication was poured out on Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus?

Well, Jesus is the firstborn over all creation. Colossians 1, very important text, preeminent over all things. So the people mourn. What we're going to see now is this mourning is a mourning that leads to repentance, a mourning that leads to salvation and renewal.

Look at verse 11, it says, in that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad, Ramon, and the plain of Megiddo. What does that mean? Well, you guys may remember this, it's found in both 2 Chronicles and 2 Kings, that within a generation our historian Mark will appreciate this.

This was like the period of time, let's say roughly around the first or second World War to now in American history. Josiah, the boy king, who walked in righteousness. He had, in scripture, one very bad day of his life and he died.

Neco, the Pharaoh in Egypt, was going to fight the remnants of the Assyrian kingdom and he decided to pass through Israel. And Josiah, from Neco's own mouth, Neco said, don't come out to fight me, my battle is not with you.

The Lord has spoken through me to you. Do not come out and fight me. I have no quarrel with you. Josiah camouflages himself and is struck down by an archer's arrow and it happens at Hadad, Ramon, on the plain of Megiddo.

You see, on that day, according to Jeremiah, I believe it's chapter 35, there was great wailing in Israel because the light of Judah was going out. The righteous kingdom, the flickering hope of the people, the nation's hope pinned on Josiah were suddenly dashed and the people wailed and mourned as they put Josiah in a chariot and rushed him back to Jerusalem and he is found to be dead.

The wails of the nation in recent history, they all knew all the stories. The death of Josiah is alluded to here. And you say, well, what's the significance of that? Well, you see, the death of Jesus in that moment, the people's hopes are extinguished.

The apostles are scattered. We're going to learn next couple of weeks that you strike the sheep and the people are scattered. The sheep are scattered. The shepherd, you hit him. And the sheep will be scattered.