| And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; |
is a universal truth. We are each responsible
for our own salvation, and while we comfort
ourselves with community, family, friends
and others, when facing God, himself, each
one of us faces our fate alone.
The "land mourns' is probably a poetic device
to indicate the territories of the Promised
Land, but, since this is a prophecy for our
day, we can relate to another more chilling
reality. We are poisoning the land, and after
a thermonuclear war, or biological/chemical
attack, the land itself will be poisoned and
thus subject to the same loss as man when
losing viable partners and loved ones.
There are subtleties here which relate exclusively
to the phenomenon of Hebrew culture, which
may not seem important to us now.
The Kingdom of Israel, consisting of 12 territories
and regions, for 12 tribal princedoms, was shattered
at least 100 years before Zechariah's day... in fact, it
was a nation struggling to put itself back together after
the Babylonian captivity for 70 years. There was only
a remnant of survivors and returnees, and the
tribes lost their individuality, with the exception
of Judah, the royal tribe and Levi, the priestly
tribe.
After King Solomon's apostasy and egregious
adultery, the kingdom was torn apart during
Solomon's son's day. 10 tribes broke away
from Judah. The Southern kingdom
retained Judah, Benjamin and some Levites.
The kingdom of Israel had their own king,
and even the notorious pagan queen Jezebel
during Elijah's day, for he preached in the Northern
Kingdom, not far from where Christ would
be born.
The last righteous King of Judah, after a
succession of weak sons of Solomon, was
Josiah. He turned his whole heart to the
LORD, and dedicated himself to cleanse
the Holy Temple of all it's pagan adulteries
and mixed mystery religion traces, as well
as cleansing the land of all paganism and
sorcerers. In the last verse, Josiah's efforts
and tragic death in Megiddo was highlighted,
for Judah slid into their old paganism and
the wrath of God wasn't stayed. He overthrew
Israel and Judah, using the King of Babylon
to destroy the infidels and take the survivors
as slaves and captives to Babylon.
For a generation, 70 years, the Israelites,
both Judah and the Northern Kingdom,
served a foreign king. Daniel eventually
became a man of renown in Babylon, even
Governor (like Prime Minister.) His reputation
restored the prestige of the Hebrews and
illuminated the power of YHWH.
Like Joseph before him, Daniel's righteousness
led the way for redemption. The Jews were
permitted to return to their homeland
when Persia overthrew Babylon.
Kings Darius and Cyrus funded the Jews
return to Israel, even though by then, a new
generation lived in Babylon as citizens
and were unwilling to leave. About 1/10th,
the remnant of the original Israelites returned,
most of them being born in Babylon and very
pleased with the Babylonian life.
In fact, the Talmud is the collaboration of
both the Babylonian and Hebrew system.
Up until the 20th Century, the world's
largest concentration of Jews was in
Iraq. Why is that? Ancient Iraq (Babylon)
was like the USA. It supported merchants
and higher education and learning. The
Jews had a natural interest in the pagan
gods anyway, and managed to incorporate
adultery into the pure Levitical LAW, which
is why God took Israel from them in the
first place.
To paraphrase, He said to them, "Fine, if
you love the Babylonian gods so much. If
you like Isis and their system, you can go
there and pay tribute to them, but, you
cannot live in my home (Israel) and commit
spiritual fornication. We cannot utilize any
other religion into the mandatory laws
of Judaism. Period.
The modern church is very guilty of doing this,
just like ancient Israel. Mary has become Isis/Diana.
Christ is Osiris, the Sun-King. By incorporating
pagan holidays and days, like the changed
sabbath (the pagan SUN-day) and Christmas,
as well as the fertility festival of the Spring's
rite of fecundity, Easter (Ishtar- Ashtoreth-Isis)
there was a rebellious pattern that mirrored the
rebellious ancient House of David, and
profound spiritual adultery, the pagan religion
and customs being like an extramarital
lover. That is why, in the final prophecy,
the whore of Babylon is the Church, riding
the Beast, the world religion.
In the ancient days, Israel led the way to
this blasphemy by their adultery and rejection
of the simple laws given to Moses and Aaron
by God. Even before Moses delivered the two
slabs of stone with the LAW, the Jews had
compelled Aaron to construct a golden
calf. Isn't CHristmas, Easter, and all our
non-Biblical pomp and tradition the same
error?
In ancient times, approximately 500 years
before Christ, 1/3 of the population of Judah
and Israel was killed, by starvation, the sword,
or other plagues because of their sin. The
Prophets who warned them suffered and were
killed. The false prophets were abundant and
the people gravitated to the carnal rituals
which were fun. That's where Christmas
originated.
This latter day prophecy in Zechariah has its
roots in the history of Israel. Zechariah was
a Prophet of the post-exile and return to the
land, and these zealots were extremely
cognizant of the dangers of mixing any pagan
custom with their religion, and vowed to
cut off any who did.
This ending to Zech 12 is a way to illustrate
how within tribes, there will be the accepted
and the profane. No one is guaranteed salvation
based on their bloodline, as we see with the
ancestors of Solomon who are definitely
singled out as being separate from Nathan.
In Zech's day, Israel was a shadow of
it's former past glory, without a king in
the North or South, and actually, the
tribal lands were obfuscated. That's why
when Jesus was born, although he was
delivered in the town of David's home,
Bethlehem, it was by devine design.
Mary and Joseph, Elizabeth and
Zecharias, John the Baptist's parents,
all lived in the Northern kingdom of
Gallilee, where Naphtali had original
rights of inheritance. After the return from
Babylon, there were no more kings. Tribes
were everywhere, without distinct
bounderies like before, with the exception
of maintaining a tradition of considering
Jerusalem and Bethlehem cities of David.
They needed these to be purer because
of their fervent hope in the Messiah
being spawned from David's sons.
In fact, only these two tribes out of the
12 were distinguished 500 years before
Christ. After the Diaspora, 70 years after
Christ's resurrection, the Jews were
exiled from the Holy Land, and Judah
became absorbed into the conglomerate
Israelites. Only Levi retained their tribe
for the next thousand-2000 years, because
as the rabbinical tribe, they passed on their
title to the sons, and they could intermarry
and still retain their identity as Levi.
My dad is from this tribe. His bar-mitzvah
tallas (shawl) which was passed down from
his ancestors, had his surname and LEVI.
Zechariah establishes that it will be Nathan's
ancestor, not Solomon's who will be preferred
in the New Order. In Levi, the sub-tribe of Shimei,
great grandson of Moses would be representative
of the new priesthood of the future, not the
old one of the original sons of Levi.
In corresponding prophecies, this distinction is
given to the "sons of Zadok" not Levi, or just
any blood Levite. I know it gets confusing.
Some of it is literal, but, it also has corresponding
symbolism that frames it's purpose as prophetic
verse.
He refers to the House of David, meaning
Solomon, referring to the natural Jewish
people, and the House of Nathan, meaning
the House of Mary's father, meaning Christians..
It's cryptic, but, clear to us with the advantage
of regarding history and relating to all of
Scripture, unavailable in 5-600 BC....
The HOLY SEED succession was snatched
from Solomon's sons and given to Nathan
when it came to the genes for Mary of Judah
to give birth to Christ.
Her ancestor was Nathan (Genealogy of
Luke 3)
| And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.' |
| ¶ | And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was [the son] of Heli, |
(Even though Christ's dad is given as Joseph, son of
Heli, Heli was the father of Mary. That's how the
genealogy was recorded for the mother since the
legal rights of inheritance were paternal... it's just
their custom, even though confusing for us.)
| Which was [the son] of Melea, which was [the son] of Menan, which was [the son] of Mattatha, which was [the son] of Nathan, which was [the son] of David, |
Joseph, legal father of Christ, has his genealogy
in Matthew. His great ancestor was Solomon.
This was very precise plan to satisfy both
requirements for the promised King, the Messiah,
a son of David, and to be king of Jerusalem, he
had to be son of Solomon, whose line
produced the kings up until Babylon.
LEgally, he was the son of Solomon, even though
his direct lineage was through David's other
son Nathan.
A little confusing, but, still... it makes
sense.
However, since these verses in Zech 12 refer
to our day, we need to look even deeper.
There are no more purebred Judah,
Solomonic genes. Yet, the two bloodlines
(houses) are separated and mourning by
themselves. This implies different burdens.
This implies symbolic families since the
Judah line is too diluted.
Therefore, it's pretty clear that the House of David,
in Judah, is the Jews, and the House of Nathan,
in Judah, seed of Mary and Jesus Christ, are
believers who by adoption are the sons
of God in Jesus.
| The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; |
The next verse has a division in the
priestly lineage. Levi and Shimei
are each considered separately as well.
It's a similar verse, whereas the family
is defined by its renown patriarch, Levi,
but, also defined by its lesser known ancestor,
whose burden is different and separate.
This could represent Levi, as the original
Jewish priesthood, and his great-grandson
Shimei being the royal priesthood which
under Christ is redefined, even compared
to the Order of Melchizadec, the Priest/King
of Jerusalem (Salem) who provided victuals
and blessings to Abraham.
I know it's a matter of interpretation,
but, there's a reason why tribes are
taken apart into the old/original/bad
and new/improved/good....
Levi is the son of Moses. Shimei is
the great-grandson of Moses:
| And these were the sons of Levi by their names; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari. |
| And these [are] the names of the sons of Gershon by their families; Libni, and Shimei. |
The reason these verses are odd is context
to their times. Even though they rejoiced at
returning to Israel and restoring Jerusalem,
even having funding to restore the Temple,
the nation was destroyed and there were
no real defining characteristics of the tribes,
only a desire to maintain the royal and
priestly lineage to preserve the hope of
the Messiah.
Not only are the tribes defined, but they
are defined in subsets, for it is not merely
good enough that the Messiah or future
victorious King from the House of David
emerge, but, he will emerge from the seed
of NATHAN, not Solomon.
Not only are the priests to be considered
individually, but, the one line of priests
is distinguised over the vaster umbrella
of priests under Levi.
The totality of meaning in the last three
verses in Zech 12 seems to tie up the divisions
in families and tribes. The Messiah, who
brings all of mankind together, was not
unilaterally accepted by Israel. When he
returns, the response is felt differently.
Every person has their own emotion unique
to them.
Even Christians, looking forward to this day
will not necessarily be ecstatic. We're hard-pressed
to leave the familiar, although we give lip
service to it. Even as Christians, we sin in
secret, and we sin in open rebellion. Any
Christian who says otherwise is lying.
Even when we try not to sin, we sin by
self-righteousness and bigotry. There's
no way to feel confident when actually
faced with a perfect and Holy God, especially
when His mission is to take back the Earth,
and to cleanse the land from all moral
and physical pollutions.
We're accustomed to God's wrath being
poured out on the hapless Israel of the
Old Testament. Deuteronomy 28 contained
the texts of the curse, and this curse was
fulfilled in its' full scope.
If God didn't spare the apple of his eye, then
how much more severely will he judge the world,
who despised the blind children of Israel,
the seed of Abraham, who were sacrificed so
that the fullness of the Gentiles would be
accomplished? Didn't God judge those nations
who cursed the Hebrews following Moses?
They were dealt with harshly, and any nation
who persecuted the Jews will receive judgment
according to God's word, whether or not they
were blind to their own Messiah. Even that
was by design according to God's WORD.
When blindness is removed, and the families
of David all see him, there will be tremendous
grief. Even as a kid who always dreamed about
being a nun when I was young, when I
actually knew Christ, I spent more time in
sorrow than ecstasy. Sin is painful, and we
haven't even encountered him in the flesh
as of yet. If it will be difficult for us, as
Christians to see the return of the Sacred
Cubic City of New Jerusalem coming from
heaven, what will be the response from
the people who actually live in Old Jerusalem
seeing this wonder above them?
Yet there are many examples of life being
infused again into the dead body of spiritual
Israel, like that awesome field of dry bones
in Ezekiel 37 that is reconstituted and rises.
For those of us who have faith in Christ,
and already look for his return, I pray that
our hope is fulfilled soon, but, that also
means we have a duty to clean up our
acts. That means not behaving according
to the world and our own will. It's a hard
task. It's very hard.
Back to the study, to conclude Chapter 12,
both a monumental event is happening,
the Messiah returning, just not the Messiah
the Jews wanted....There are still grandiose
expectations from the world's population,
celebration for some, but, severe lamentation
and mourning. Even for the separated groups,
of Nathan in Judah, and Shimei of Levi, there
are lamentations. Why would the priesthood
and descendants of Christ mourn when he
returns? Maybe because we're not where
we should be.
Christian Priests/ ministers have to account
for teaching their flocks to behave shamefully
in a pagan pageant of excess and sin in Christmas,
not to mention obliterating the Sabbath day
GOD ordained and renaming it. These are only
a few of the adulteries the priesthood of our
day has to repent for.
We Christians and Messianic Jews of Nathan
have much to mourn as well. Sin is death and
we need to die to the world, which very few
of us have done. It's hard to die to the world
and still live here, if not impossible.
While we are all forgiven in this unprecedented
occasion of Christ's return to Jerusalem, even
the Jews and Palestinians appear to receive
consolation in His return, but, all parties will
have regrets in the way we've strayed from
God's LAW.
| All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart. |
While Judah and Levi are given distinction
in this latter day prophecy, all the other
tribes are appropriately lumped into one.
This makes sense, since there are no real
pure bloodlines or tribal lands anymore.
There are literally no more Jews who live in
Naphtali and Gallilee, or in Bethlehem, for that
matter... They are Palestinian territories.
This makes it an even stronger argument
for House of David to represent, not only
the Solomonic line, but, all Jews, while
the House of Nathan represents Christians,
or Christian Jews such as myself and the
100,000+ Messianics in the world right
now (can we imagine 144,000?) ;)
The other tribe Levi and the separation
with Shimei most likely also distinguishes
the old rabbinical system, mostly confluent
with Babylonian Talmud, as system that's
not Lawful under the Old or New Covenant,
and the Shimei priesthood, more representative
of a more modern era of Christian priest.
Just my opinions. I hope I am not too convolluted
here... these are not easy principles for discussion.
I'm lacking skill, too. I wish I was better at putting
it together. It makes sense in my brain, but,
there's so much background that goes into
these verses, it's hard to isolate them without
a lengthy history.
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