Zechariah 12:6
On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among the sheaves; they will consume all the peoples around them on the right and on the left, while the people of Jerusalem remain secure there.
On that day
This phrase often refers to a future time of divine intervention or fulfillment of prophecy. In the context of Zechariah, it points to a time when God will act decisively on behalf of His people. This is a common prophetic expression found throughout the Old Testament, indicating a significant event in God's redemptive plan.

I will make the clans of Judah
The "clans of Judah" refers to the tribes or families within the region of Judah. Historically, Judah was one of the twelve tribes of Israel, known for its leadership and strength. This phrase emphasizes God's empowerment of Judah, highlighting its role in His plan.

like a firepot in a woodpile
A firepot is a container used to hold burning coals. In a woodpile, it would quickly ignite the surrounding wood. This imagery suggests that Judah will be a powerful and consuming force against its enemies. The metaphor indicates the intensity and effectiveness of Judah's actions, driven by divine empowerment.

like a flaming torch among the sheaves
A flaming torch would easily set sheaves of grain ablaze. This imagery reinforces the idea of Judah's overwhelming power and ability to overcome opposition. The sheaves represent the nations surrounding Judah, which will be consumed by Judah's strength.

they will consume all the peoples around them on the right and on the left
This phrase indicates a comprehensive victory over surrounding nations. The "right and left" suggest totality, implying that Judah will defeat its enemies on all sides. This victory is attributed to divine intervention, as God empowers Judah to overcome its adversaries.

while the people of Jerusalem remain secure there
The security of Jerusalem is a central theme in Zechariah's prophecy. Despite the surrounding turmoil, Jerusalem will be protected and preserved. This assurance of safety is a testament to God's faithfulness and His covenant with His people. It also foreshadows the ultimate peace and security found in the Messianic kingdom, where Jerusalem holds a place of prominence.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Clans of Judah
Refers to the tribes or families within the region of Judah, representing the southern kingdom of Israel. In this context, they are depicted as powerful and victorious.

2. Jerusalem
The central city of worship and governance for the Israelites, symbolizing God's chosen place and people. It is prophesied to remain secure amidst conflict.

3. Surrounding Peoples
These are the nations or groups that are in opposition to Judah and Jerusalem. They represent external threats to God's people.

4. Firepot in a Woodpile
A metaphor for the destructive power and influence that the clans of Judah will have over their enemies, indicating divine empowerment.

5. Flaming Torch among Sheaves
Another metaphor illustrating the consuming and purifying power of Judah, emphasizing the inevitability of their victory.
Teaching Points
Divine Empowerment
God equips His people with strength and power to overcome adversaries. Believers can trust in God's provision and empowerment in their spiritual battles.

Security in God's Plan
Just as Jerusalem is promised to remain intact, Christians can find assurance in God's sovereign plan and protection over their lives.

Metaphors of Victory
The imagery of fire and torch signifies not only destruction of enemies but also purification and renewal. Believers are called to be agents of change and purification in the world.

Faith Amidst Opposition
The prophecy encourages steadfast faith even when surrounded by opposition, reminding believers that God is in control and will ultimately deliver His people.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the imagery of a "firepot in a woodpile" and a "flaming torch among sheaves" enhance our understanding of God's power through His people?

2. In what ways can we see the fulfillment of God's promise to protect Jerusalem in the historical and modern context?

3. How can the assurance of God's protection, as seen in Zechariah 12:6, influence our response to personal and communal challenges today?

4. What are some practical ways we can act as a "flaming torch" in our communities, bringing light and transformation?

5. How do the themes in Zechariah 12:6 connect with the New Testament teachings on spiritual warfare and victory in Christ?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Isaiah 31:9
This verse speaks of the Lord's fire in Zion and His furnace in Jerusalem, connecting to the imagery of fire and divine protection.

Obadiah 1:18
Describes the house of Jacob as a fire and the house of Joseph as a flame, consuming their adversaries, similar to the imagery in Zechariah 12:6.

Psalm 125:2
Highlights the protection of Jerusalem, as the mountains surround it, so the Lord surrounds His people, reinforcing the theme of divine safeguarding.
The Security of ZionW. Forsyth Zechariah 12:1-9
A Good Time for Good PeopleHomilistZechariah 12:4-9
A Good Time for Good PeopleD. Thomas Zechariah 12:4-9
People
David, Hadad, Levi, Nathan, Shimei, Shimeites, Zechariah
Places
Hadad-rimmon, Jerusalem, Megiddo
Topics
Blazing, Chiefs, Chieftains, Clans, Consume, Consumed, Cut, Destruction, Devour, Dwell, Families, Fire, Firepot, Flaming, Governors, Grain, Hearth, Hers, Inhabitants, Inhabited, Intact, Jerusalem, Judah, Leaders, Midst, Pan, Peoples, Pieces, Pot, Round, Sheaf, Sheaves, Sites, Stick, Surrounding, Torch, Trees, Wood, Woodpile, Yet
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Zechariah 12:6

     4552   wood

Library
Some Surprising Results of the Break.
The Surprised Jew: a clash of wills--thousands of believing Jews--the church displacing kingdom--two-fold division of men formerly--now three-fold--church different in organization from kingdom--the Baptist puzzled--Jesus did not fill out Hebrew prophecy--two characteristics, personal and official--personal details fulfilled--official not because of rejection--out of situation grew four gospels--Mark--Matthew's the gap gospel--Paul's audiences--Luke's gospel--these three tell of rejection mainly--John's
S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks about Jesus

Apart
"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 apart, and their wives apart; all the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart."--Zechariah 12:12-14. TTrue repentance is always accompanied by sorrow. It has been said by some of those of modern times who disparage repentance
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 43: 1897

The Spirit of Supplication
"I will pour upon the house of David the Spirit of grace and of supplication."--ZECH. xii. 10. "The Spirit also helpeth our infirmity; for we know not how to pray as we ought: but the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to God."--ROM. viii. 26, 27. "With all prayer and supplication praying at all seasons in the Spirit, and watching
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession

Twenty-First Day for God's Spirit on the Jews
WHAT TO PRAY.--For God's Spirit on the Jews "I will pour out upon the house of David, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and Supplication; and they shall look unto Me whom they pierced."--ZECH. xii. 10. "Brethren, my heart's desire and my supplication to God is for them, that they may be saved."--ROM. x. 1. Pray for the Jews. Their return to the God of their fathers stands connected, in a way we cannot tell, with wonderful blessing to the Church, and with the coming of our
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession

Everybody's Need.
Some have the idea that this blessing of the Fullness is only for a favored few, for such as have some special work to do for God, but not for ordinary folk, "for auld wives and wabsters" in their homespun. Surely this is one of the devil's champion lies! Alas! alas! that it has found such credence! The Infilling is what makes this promise true, "He that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God" (Zech. xii. 8), so that "one man of you shall chase
John MacNeil—The Spirit-Filled Life

The Open Fountain
"Wake, harp of Zion, wake again, Upon thine ancient hill, On Jordan's long deserted plain, By Kedron's lowly rill. The hymn shall yet in Zion swell That sounds Messiah's praise, And thy loved name, Immanuel! As once in ancient days. For Israel yet shall own her King, For her salvation waits, And hill and dale shall sweetly sing With praise in all her gates." Having said thus much, however, we shall now take our text as belonging to ourselves in common with Israel, for in the gospel no promise is
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

Second Day for the Spirit of Supplication
WHAT TO PRAY.--For the Spirit of Supplication "The Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us."--ROM. viii. 26. "I will pour out the Spirit of Supplication."--ZECH. xii. 10. "The evangelisation of the world depends first of all upon a revival of prayer. Deeper than the need for men--ay, deep down at the bottom of our spiritless life--is the need for the forgotten secret of prevailing, world-wide prayer." Every child of God has the Holy Spirit in him to pray. God waits to give the Spirit in full
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession

The Secret Burden
"Lord, teach us to pray."--Luke xi. 1. "Apart. . ."--Zech. xii. 12. Down to Gehenna, and up to the throne, He travels the fastest, who travels alone THAT is to say, secret sin, and secret prayer, have this in common; that they both make a man travel his fastest. Secret sin makes him who commits it travel his fastest down to Gehenna,--that is to say, down into "the fire that is not quenched." Whereas secret prayer makes him who so prays travel his very fastest up to the throne of God, and up to his
Alexander Whyte—Lord Teach Us To Pray

Appendix ii.
NECOH'S CAMPAIGN (PP. 162, 163). In addition to the accounts in the Books of Kings and Chronicles of Pharaoh Necoh's advance into Asia in pursuance of his claim for a share of the crumbling Assyrian Empire there are two independent records: (1) Jeremiah XLVII. 1--and Pharaoh smote Gaza--a headline (with other particulars) wrongly prefixed by the Hebrew text, but not by the Greek, to an Oracle upon an invasion of Philistia not from the south but from the north (see above, pp. 13, 61); (2) by Herodotus,
George Adam Smith—Jeremiah

Motives to Holy Mourning
Let me exhort Christians to holy mourning. I now persuade to such a mourning as will prepare the soul for blessedness. Oh that our hearts were spiritual limbecs, distilling the water of holy tears! Christ's doves weep. They that escape shall be like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity' (Ezekiel 7:16). There are several divine motives to holy mourning: 1 Tears cannot be put to a better use. If you weep for outward losses, you lose your tears. It is like a shower
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

The Secret Walk with God (I. ).
Pastor, for the round of toil See the toiling soul is fed; Shut the chamber, light the oil, Break and eat the Spirit's bread; Life to others would'st thou bring? Live thyself upon thy King. Let me explain in this first sentence that when in these pages I address "my Younger Brethren," I mean brethren in the Christian Ministry in the Church of England. Let me limit my reference still further, by premising that very much of what I say will be said as to brethren who have lately taken holy Orders,
Handley C. G. Moule—To My Younger Brethren

Jesus Raises the Widow's Son.
(at Nain in Galilee.) ^C Luke VII. 11-17. ^c 11 And it came to pass soon afterwards [many ancient authorities read on the next day], that he went into a city called Nain; and his disciples went with him, and a great multitude. [We find that Jesus had been thronged with multitudes pretty continuously since the choosing of his twelve apostles. Nain lies on the northern slope of the mountain, which the Crusaders called Little Hermon, between twenty and twenty-five miles south of Capernaum, and about
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Meditations to Stir us up to Morning Prayer.
1. If, when thou art about to pray, Satan shall suggest that thy prayers are too long, and that therefore it were better either to omit prayers, or else to cut them shorter, meditate that prayer is thy spiritual sacrifice, wherewith God is well pleased (Heb. xiii. 15, 16;) and therefore it is so displeasing to the devil, and so irksome to the flesh. Bend therefore thy affections (will they, nill they) to so holy an exercise; assuring thyself, that it doth by so much the more please God, by how much
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Exposition of Chap. Iii. (ii. 28-32. )
Ver. 1. "And it shall come to pass, afterwards, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions." The communication of the Spirit of God was the constant prerogative of the Covenant-people. Indeed, the very idea of such a people necessarily requires it. For the Spirit of God is the only inward bond betwixt Him and that which is created; a Covenant-people, therefore, without such an inward
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

A Case of Conscience Resolved
WHETHER, WHERE A CHURCH OF CHRIST IS SITUATE, IT IS THE DUTY OF THE WOMEN OF THAT CONGREGATION, ORDINARILY, AND BY APPOINTMENT, TO SEPARATE THEMSELVES FROM THEIR BRETHREN, AND SO TO ASSEMBLE TOGETHER, TO PERFORM SOME PARTS OF DIVINE WORSHIP, AS PRAYER, ETC., WITHOUT THEIR MEN? AND THE ARGUMENTS MADE USE OF FOR THAT PRACTICE, EXAMINED. BY JOHN BUNYAN. EDITOR'S ADVERTISEMENT. This exceedingly rare tract was first published in 1683, and was not reprinted, either separately, or in any edition of Bunyan's
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

The Crucifixion.
"He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth."--Isaiah liii. 7. St. Peter makes it almost a description of a Christian, that he loves Him whom he has not seen; speaking of Christ, he says, "whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." Again he speaks of "tasting that the
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII

Faith
'The life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God.' Gal 2:20. The Spirit applies to us the redemption purchased by Christ, by working faith in us. Christ is the glory, and faith in Christ the comfort, of the gospel. What are the kinds of faith? Fourfold: (1.) An historical or dogmatic faith, which is believing the truths revealed in the Word, because of divine authority. (2.) There is a temporary faith, which lasts for a time, and then vanishes. Yet has he no root in himself,
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

The Johannine Writings
BY the Johannine writings are meant the Apocalypse and the fourth gospel, as well as the three catholic epistles to which the name of John is traditionally attached. It is not possible to enter here into a review of the critical questions connected with them, and especially into the question of their authorship. The most recent criticism, while it seems to bring the traditional authorship into greater uncertainty, approaches more nearly than was once common to the position of tradition in another
James Denney—The Death of Christ

A Clearing-Up Storm in the Realm
(Revelation, Chapters vi.-viii.) "God Almighty! King of nations! earth Thy footstool, heaven Thy throne! Thine the greatness, power, and glory, Thine the kingdom, Lord, alone! Life and death are in Thy keeping, and Thy will ordaineth all: From the armies of Thy heavens to an unseen insect's fall. "Reigning, guiding, all-commanding, ruling myriad worlds of light; Now exalting, now abasing, none can stay Thy hand of might! Working all things by Thy power, by the counsel of Thy will. Thou art God!
by S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks on the Crowned Christ of Revelation

Some Helps to Mourning
Having removed the obstructions, let me in the last place propound some helps to holy mourning. 1 Set David's prospect continually before you. My sin is ever before me' (Psalm 51:3). David, that he might be a mourner, kept his eye full upon sin. See what sin is, and then tell me if there be not enough in it to draw forth tears. I know not what name to give it bad enough. One calls it the devil's excrement. Sin is a complication of all evils. It is the spirits of mischief distilled. Sin dishonours
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

The Water of Life;
OR, A DISCOURSE SHOWING THE RICHNESS AND GLORY OF THE GRACE AND SPIRIT OF THE GOSPEL, AS SET FORTH IN SCRIPTURE BY THIS TERM, THE WATER OF LIFE. BY JOHN BUNYAN. 'And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.'--Revelation 22:17 London: Printed for Nathanael Ponder, at the Peacock in the Poultry, 1688. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. Often, and in every age, the children of God have dared to doubt the sufficiency of divine grace; whether it was vast enough to reach their condition--to cleanse
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Sundry Sharp Reproofs
This doctrine draws up a charge against several sorts: 1 Those that think themselves good Christians, yet have not learned this art of holy mourning. Luther calls mourning a rare herb'. Men have tears to shed for other things, but have none to spare for their sins. There are many murmurers, but few mourners. Most are like the stony ground which lacked moisture' (Luke 8:6). We have many cry out of hard times, but they are not sensible of hard hearts. Hot and dry is the worst temper of the body. Sure
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

The Baptist's Inquiry and Jesus' Discourse Suggested Thereby.
(Galilee.) ^A Matt. XI. 2-30; ^C Luke VII. 18-35. ^c 18 And the disciples of John told him of all these things. ^a 2 Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent by his disciples ^c 19 And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them unto the Lord [John had been cast into prison about December, a.d. 27, and it was now after the Passover, possibly in May or June, a.d. 28. Herod Antipas had cast John into prison because John had reproved him for taking his brother's wife.
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

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