Did Rebecca ever see Isaac till the journey was past? No. Eliezer is sent across the desert, and in the journey he tells her all about Isaac. Then at the eventide, when she lifted up her eyes, she saw him, and alighted at once from off her camel, and put on her veil. The first sight of Isaac which she had was when he came out to meditate in the field at eventide. Then the marriage takes place-the espousals of Christ and the Church come.
This is not the case with the Jew. He never knows Christ until he sees Him, though his heart has been prepared through the exercises and sorrows of the way for this knowledge of Him. If we turn to a few passages at the close of Zechariah, we shall find this scene forecast by the prophetic Spirit, as to what will take place in the last days.
In chapter 11 you find the history of the Lord Jesus’ rejection by His people. He is seen as having come into the midst of His people, when under the bondage of their enemies, during His own lifetime here on earth. He takes His two staves: the one He calls “Beauty,” and the other “Bands,” and He feeds the flock. Then in v. 8, He rejects the shepherds of His people, and they reject Him. This closed His dealing with the people, as a people, and is seen historically in Matt. 22;23 In Matt. 5 he had come in announcing the beatitudes of those who were to enter into the kingdom as then proposed; but it was refused. Then He enters Jerusalem for the last time, presenting Himself as her king, “meek and lowly, sitting upon an ass, and a colt, the foal of an ass” (ch. 21). The nation, in all its distinctions, passes in review before Him till the close of chapter 22. Then in 23 He pronounces the “woes,” as he had begun with the “blessings” in chapter 5. And here, as it were, He breaks His staff’ “Beauty.” “And I took my staff, even beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people” (Zech. 11:1010And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people. (Zechariah 11:10)). The aged patriarch Jacob had said, when pronouncing prophetically, in the blessing of his sons, the history of their descendants until the last days (Gen. 49:1010The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. (Genesis 49:10)), “The rod (scepter) shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the peoples (i.e., the nations) be,” &c. And when Shiloh came, he was offered the kingdom” lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass” (Zech. 9:99Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. (Zechariah 9:9)). This was refused. Had He been received, the gathering of the nations would, so to speak, have taken place. But Israel would not have her king; and God knew all.
Then we read, when it was broken, that the “poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the Lord,” v. 11. This alludes to the Lord’s instruction to them in Matt. 24;25 Next, His betrayal for thirty pieces of silver (Matt. 26) is seen as the sequel to the breaking of the first staff, “Beauty.” “If ye think good, give me my- price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said unto me, “Cast it unto the potter, a goodly price that I was prized at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter, in the house of the Lord,” v. 12, and Matt. 27 Thus He was sold, and numbered with the transgressors-He is crucified.
But again come forth the resources of God. He sets Him on high in glory, and sends down the Holy Ghost with the offer of pardon to Israel. (Acts 2) First to the Jews who had slain him; and Peter adds, when proclaiming the pardon of His murderers, “Let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made this same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.” (Acts 2:3636Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. (Acts 2:36).) Again in ch. 3:12, he offers to the “men of Israel” a fresh pardon for this their sin. God would unite the “brotherhood of Judah and Israel,” if they would now repent. But no! The witnesses of this grace are cast into prison. (Acts 4) In Acts 5:1818And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison. (Acts 5:18), the twelve apostles are all put in the common prison. Stephen, then, in chapters 6, 7, sums up their sad history. They had refused every deliverer God had ever sent them, and they had always resisted the Holy Ghost. Stephen’s testimony crowns (as his name implies) and closes their history, and he carries on high to the heart of Messiah, still yearning over His people, their answer to the offer of those “sure mercies of David,” of which His hands were full, as He stood to receive His witness’s spirit. He had done so till this moment—ready to come back to His rebellious people if they would repent.
“Then (says the prophetic Spirit, as He looked forward to that moment) I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.” (Zech. 11:1414Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. (Zechariah 11:14).) This was done in Acts 7.
Verses 15-17, bring before us the Antichrist of the last days, when Jesus has again turned His hand upon the earthly people at this time of their tribulation.
Chapter 12 describes Jerusalem as a “burthensome stone,” and “a cup of trembling” to all the nations. This she has ever been. The old Crusades were about her “holy places.” The “Eastern Question” absorbed the attention of the political world for years. But “the counsel of Jehovah standeth forever,” and “Jehovah bringeth the counsel of the heathen (the “Gentiles,” or “nations”) to naught” (Psa. 33:10,1110The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. 11The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. (Psalm 33:10‑11)). He has said, “The land shall not be sold forever: for the land is mine.” (Lev. 25) None shall ever possess it but Himself.
The chapter leads us on to the touching scene-this interview between the true Joseph and his erring but then repentant brethren, before He settles them in peace, in their Goshen, in the glory of His kingdom. We read, “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one is in bitterness for his first-born. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.”
“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; the family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei (Simeon) apart, and their wives apart; all the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.”
“In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness, &c.” (Zech. 12:10-14; 13:110And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. 11In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. 12And 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; 13The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; 14All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart. (Zechariah 12:10‑14)
1In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. (Zechariah 13:1)).
All the various classes of the people are represented in this lovely scene. Repentance is an individual thing; it isolates the repentant souls; it is the undoing of man. The Lord is there before the souls of His people. The kings and prophets, the priests and the people, the parents and children, are on their faces before Him whom they pierced; for they take up the blood guiltiness of their nation when they said of old, “His blood be on us, and on our children,” as in the language of the fifty-first Psalm, “Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O Lord.”
Then when they look upon the blessed One whom they pierced, and mourn, the cleansing water of the word will flow freely on the ground of His atonement, to wash away morally, the sin and uncleanness of their souls.
At last from the hearts of these repentant ones comes the question, “What are these wounds in thy hands?” And He replies, “Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.” And then the prophetic Spirit goes on to show how this wounding came about. The sword of Jehovah of Sabaoth had awaked against the man who was His fellow, thus enabling Him to turn His hand upon the little ones, and to bring them through the fires of tribulation, refining them as gold is refined, until He will say, “Ammi,” “my people;” and they shall say, “Jehovah is my God.” (Zech. 13:7-97Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. 8And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. 9And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God. (Zechariah 13:7‑9).)