God’s Word for You
Zechariah 12:4-5 The church will never fall
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Wednesday, August 31, 2022
4 On that day, declares the LORD, I will strike every horse with panic, and its rider with madness. But I will be watching over the house of Judah when I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. 5 Then the leaders of the clans of Judah will realize, “The inhabitants of Jerusalem have strength through the LORD of hosts, their God.”
This is another look at the battle waged against the New Testament church by those who are made to “stagger” (verse 2). They are filled with madness, making rash choices and even abandoning the tool of human reason (blindness). Will these enemies lose heart, give up hope, and realize that they cannot win the war they’ve chosen to fight? Probably not. Most of the time, the enemies of the gospel keep raging against it no matter what. Seldom are they brought to a sense of defeat, or even repentance. But sometimes this happens, as with the Canaanite king of Bezek after the death of Joshua. They captured that ruthless enemy and kept him as a prisoner during their first attack on Jerusalem. He said, “Seventy kings had to scrounge for scraps of food under my table. God has repaid me with exactly what I did to them” (Judges 1:7).
When Jewish opponents to the gospel attacked Paul in Lystra, they stoned him and left him for dead (Acts 14:19). What happened after this? Paul recovered, but he did not do any more evangelism there. When he returned he simply “strengthened the disciples and encouraged them to remain true to the faith” (Acts 14:22). They had only harmed their own chances to hear the gospel; the church remained, and even produced Timothy, who became a companion of Paul’s (Acts 16:1-3). The attacks of those who oppose God’s word often hurt only the attackers, which is also what we heard in verse 3: “All who lift the heavy stone will surely hurt themselves.”
But God is keeping a watchful eye on his people as he blinds the horses (the means of false teaching) of his enemies. And even though we know that the enemies of the gospel use terrible weapons, God is watching out for us. Today in the West, those weapons have more to do with local regulations and attacks on our reputations. The devil loves to get us to fight among ourselves, so that churches and leaders don’t always get along or see eye-to-eye on our practices, and that kind of strife brings along many griefs. At those times, we need to be led to confession and repentance just like everyone else, because no one is infallible or without sin. So we pray, “Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am faint. My bones are in agony” (Psalm 6:2). But we are strengthened through God, the LORD of hosts, who forgives us, comforts us, and blesses us. “The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer” (Psalm 6:3).
When Zechariah talks about Jerusalem being inhabited, and the strength coming to them, he is still prophesying about the new Jerusalem, the new Israel: the holy Christian Church. Many enemies want to destroy the church completely, but the church will stand. While individual churches, denominations, and local congregations will pass away, others will rise up, and the church will continue. “The gates of hell will not overcome it” (Matthew 16:18). “False Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive the elect,” but never with complete success (Matthew 24:24). There will always be a faithful remnant chosen by grace (Romans 11:5). In our confession we say with certainty: “We see the infinite dangers that threaten the church with ruin…. The church will abide nevertheless to the end of the world; it exists despite the great multitude of the wicked, and Christ supplies it with the gifts he has promised—the forgiveness of sins, answer to prayer, and the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Apology). The word and the sacraments remain, so there will always be more souls brought to faith and brought into the true church. “The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord,” and he is the one who calls, gathers, enlightens, and rescues each and every one of us. All praise to God our Lord Almighty! He has saved us, and he will bring us to our eternal and everlasting home.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.