What about Israel after the coming of Jesus? Has the nation of Israel been replaced by the church or do they still have a future in God’s plans?

Read: Zechariah 12: 10-11 and 13: 1

Israel were God’s chosen people, chosen to show the world what life lived with God could be like. They didn’t do a brilliant job though, and some would argue that after the coming of Jesus, and his rejection by the Jewish people, the nation of Israel has been replaced by the church (sometimes called replacement theology).

Personally, I don’t think that the Bible supports this view, and these two passages from Zechariah are among others that suggest that there is still a place for Israel in the plans of God…and it seems to hinge on a mass turning of the Jewish people to Jesus, as they realise who he is and what they did to him.

Zechariah says that a day is coming when God will so pour out his Spirit on the nation of Israel that their eyes will be opened and they will cry out for forgiveness, and in repentance turn to Jesus. And God will pour out his grace in forgiveness as the Jews acknowledge Jesus and join all those who down through the ages have followed him as Saviour and Lord.

In John 19: 37 the writer quotes Zechariah, making it clear that Jesus died for the sins of Jew and non-Jew alike, and that, as the apostle Peter said on the day of Pentecost, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord, will be saved”.

The apostle Paul writes at some length about the future of the nation of Israel and its relationship with the church.

He writes:

“Did God’s people stumble and fall beyond recovery? Of course not! They were disobedient, so God made salvation available to the Gentiles. But he wanted his own people to become jealous and claim it for themselves. [12] Now if the Gentiles were enriched because the people of Israel turned down God’s offer of salvation, think how much greater a blessing the world will share when they finally accept it.”
Romans 11:11-12 NLT

Take some time to remind yourself that Jesus suffered and died for you, so that you could share in his life. Ask God to help you never to take that for granted and thank him again for all Jesus did and is.

Zechariah prophecies that some people will not value a good, even great leader, even to the point of betrayal, desertion, and death.

Read: Zechariah 11: 12-13 and 13: 7-9

Thirty pieces of silver and scattered sheep – once again the gospel writers found events in Jesus’ life that fulfilled both of these prophecies.

Thirty pieces of silver, the price of a slave, will always be associated with betrayal and Judas Iscariot.

Things had not gone as expected for Judas. He had misunderstood why Jesus, the Messiah had come…not as he expected, to rid Israel of the invading Romans, but rather to build a Kingdom of peace, where the lost and the least were welcome. He was disappointed with Jesus; despite the teaching and the miracles maybe he was starting to doubt who Jesus really was.

And Jesus knew! Judas was still a trusted and welcomed disciple. At the last supper he let Judas know that he knew and allowed him to get on with the betrayal.

After Jesus had been captured, it seems that a remorseful Judas tried to undo what he’d done, but failed to convince the priests, and ultimately took his own life, after hurling the thirty pieces of silver back to them. They used it to buy a potter’s field, which they used as a burial place for foreigners.

When Jesus was taken prisoner in the Garden of Gethsemane, we’re told that the remaining disciples also betrayed him by running away. Jesus had predicted this while they were going to the Garden, quoting from Zechariah 13: 7 as he did so. Peter followed Jesus to the High Priest’s house, where he also verbally betrayed Jesus by denying he knew him three times. Once again Jesus had predicted that Peter would do that. When the disciples reappear in the story, on resurrection day, they are hiding behind locked doors, traumatised by disappointment, bewilderment, and fear.

The fact that Jesus seems to have known all this in advance makes his willingness to come and live and die for us even more remarkable. What a wonderful Saviour!

How is your relationship with Jesus? Have you cooled off and lost much of the love you had for him and his ways? If you think about it, are there times when you too have betrayed and deserted your Saviour and Lord. Confess it and ask for strength to follow faithfully again as Jesus gives his grace.

When the Messiah comes, he will bring safety and stability to God’s people.

Read: Zechariah 9: 16 and 10: 2-4

The early church picked up two images that were fulfilled by Jesus in this part of Zechariah’s prophesy: the image of the good shepherd who rescues and cares for the sheep, and the image of the stone that was rejected by the builders but became the cornerstone, the source of stability for the whole building.

The image of the good shepherd is introduced in stark contrast to the shepherds that are currently supposed to be caring for the flock. It was a direct attack on the record of the actions of the spiritual and secular leaders of the nation of Israel at the time Zechariah was writing. God promises that because the people have been so let down by their leaders that he will come in person to care for his people.

In the New Testament this theme is picked up in John 10, where Jesus, “the good shepherd” cares for his sheep to the point of giving his life for them, to rescue them and give them security.

The image of the stone is a powerful one at this time, when the Temple was being rebuilt. The cornerstone was the most important stone upon which the strength and stability of the whole building depended.

Unfortunately, even though the Temple was rebuilt, its spiritual foundations continued to be as weak as the spiritual leaders in the nation. Jesus got pretty upset at the way the Temple was being misused when he visited Jerusalem towards the end of his life on earth. Eventually, in 70 AD the Temple was demolished by the Romans, never again to be rebuilt.

Jesus, however, the Messiah rejected by his own people went on to build not an alternative temple building but a “living temple” made up of everyone, both Jews and non-Jews who chose to follow him. The apostle Paul writes, in Ephesians 2:17-22,

“He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. [18] Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us. [19] So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. [20] Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. [21] We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. [22] Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.”

Do I always resemble Jesus, the good shepherd, in my relationships with others, or do I sometimes ill-treat people or use them selfishly for my own ends? Take a serious look at yourself, and ask for forgiveness and God’s help to do things differently. Maybe apologise to the person or people concerned…