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Zechariah, Prophet of God's remembrance, part 36

Thus far we have seen how important it is to distinguish between the two covenants, the two Jerusalems, two Judahs, two Israels, two temples (physical and spiritual), and finally the two houses of David (i.e., David and Absalom). In each case, the interpretation of the biblical text depends on whether it applies to the Old Covenant or the New.

Zechariah 12 assures us that God will spare Jerusalem, the clans of Judah, and the house of David, yet the prophet does not specifically clarify which group will be saved. Most Bible commentators today are content to interpret this chapter through Old Covenant eyes, and for this reason they believe that God will defend the cursed city that both Isaiah and Jeremiah condemn.

Thus, the commentators pit one passage against another, essentially saying that Zechariah 12:8 overrules Jeremiah 19:10, 11 and that Zechariah 12:9 overrules Isaiah 29:2-4. In so doing, they end up defending and promoting the claim of Hagar, the earthly city, and denying the claim of Sarah, the heavenly city (Galatians 4:25, 26).

Such exegesis chooses the children of the flesh over the children of promise, which, if it were true, would establish a system of bondage and persecution (Galatians 4:29) in the age to come. The Dispensationalists, who invented this fleshly view, have taught that the present Age of Grace will end and be replaced by the Age of Law, by which they mean a return to animal sacrifices in the earthly city in an earthly temple in a Jewish kingdom. It is obvious that those teachers understood neither grace nor the law of Jubilee that guarantees freedom under the free woman.

It is only by distinguishing between Hagar and Sarah, the two covenants, that we can interpret Scripture without contradiction and follow the command of Paul in Galatians 4:30, 31, and 5:1,

³⁰ But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be an heir with the son of the free woman.” ³¹ So then, brethren, we are not children of a bondwoman, but of the free woman. ¹ It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

I am convinced that Paul would have been horrified to know that the Church would succumb to such fleshly views and Old Covenant dominance. In his gospel to the Galatians, he made a valiant effort to reverse the trend that had already begun to leaven the church in his day, but he could hardly have foreseen the extent of the great apostasy that would arise in the latter days.

Universal Mourning

Zechariah 12:12-14 concludes this section by saying,

¹² “The land will 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; ¹³ the family of the house of Levi by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the Shimeites by itself and their wives by themselves; ¹⁴ all the families that remain, every family by itself and their wives by themselves.

Just as Jeremiah led the people in national mourning when godly King Josiah was killed, so also will there be another great day of mourning in our time. The prophet lists four specific families among the mourners: (1) the house of David, that is, the ruling house, (2) the house of Nathan, representing the prophets, (3) the house of Levi, representing the priests, and (4) the family of the Shimeites which were of the house of Saul.

Recall that Shimei was the man who cursed David while he was evacuating Jerusalem during the Absalom conspiracy. 2 Samuel 16:5-8 tells the story:

⁵ When King David came to Bahurim, behold, there came out from there a man of the family of the house of Saul whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera; he came out cursing continually as he came. ⁶ He threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David; and all the people and all the mighty men were at his right hand and at his left. ⁷ Thus Shimei said when he cursed, “Get out, get out, you man of bloodshed, and worthless fellow! ⁸ The Lord has returned upon you all the bloodshed of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned; and the Lord has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. And behold, you are taken in your own evil, for you are a man of bloodshed!”

Abishai wanted to remove Shimei’s head, but David told him, “Let him alone and let him curse, for the Lord has told him. Perhaps the Lord will look on my affliction and return good to me instead of his cursing this day” (2 Samuel 16:11, 12). So also, when Jesus was crucified, there were people who threw stones at Him, making his face unrecognizable (Isaiah 52:14). Yet He did not curse them in return.

The Gibeonite Story

Shimei blamed David for “all the bloodshed of the house of Saul.” Certainly, he thought that David had usurped the throne of Saul, but why did he believe that David was guilty of murder? Saul himself had committed suicide to avoid being captured by the Philistines (1 Samuel 31:4). Saul’s son, Ish-bosheth, reigned two years (2 Samuel 2:10) while David ruled just the tribe of Judah. Ish-bosheth was later assassinated (2 Samuel 4:7).

The assassins had been officers in Saul’s army. They were, in fact, of the tribe of Benjamin, said to be “Beerothites,” that is, from the town of Beeroth (a Gibeonite town in Benjamin). We know from 2 Samuel 21:1 that Saul himself had killed some Gibeonites in his religious zeal, thus violating the covenant with Joshua in Joshua 9:15. Years later, Israel experienced a three-year famine, and God attributed it to Saul’s persecution of the Gibeonites (2 Samuel 21:1).

These Beerothites brought the head of Saul to David, thinking they would be rewarded. But David executed them and gave Ish-bosheth a proper burial (2 Samuel 4:12).

So why would Shimei blame David for murdering Ish-bosheth? Perhaps his accusation was based on God’s refusal to allow David to build the temple. 1 Chronicles 28:3 says,

³ But God said to me, “You shall not build a house for My name because you are a man of war and have shed blood.”

So Shimei’s accusation had a grain of truth in it. David had indeed shed blood in various wars. David’s enemies accused him of many things. “Look upon my enemies, for they are many” (Psalm 25:19). “Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me” (Psalm 31:15). Perhaps Shimei believed that David had secretly hired the Beerothites to kill Ish-bosheth and then executed them later to cover up his crime.

However, Shimei’s accusation, in the end, was false and unjustified. Nonetheless, his hatred of David was exposed in the Absalom conspiracy. Shimei represented the common people who stoned Jesus ignorantly as they walked toward Jerusalem. It appears that these are the extended “family of the Shimeites” that will repent in the end.

Just as Shimei himself hated David and stoned him because he believed a false accusation, so also did many people treat Jesus when He was crucified. They were tricked by unscrupulous leaders who knew that if Jesus were proclaimed the Messiah, they would lose their positions of power. Then they covered up the truth of His resurrection (Matthew 28:12-15).

Believing the lie had consequences, but ignorance does call for some level of mercy, as we learn from Luke 12:47, 48 and also in the case of Paul himself, who said, “I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief” (1 Timothy 1:13).