God’s Salvation of Israel
Zechariah 12:10-14
July 30, 2023
John Piper writes about the unlikely conversion of a sinner —
A great testimony to the power of the Word to beget and sustain faith is found in the story of the conversion and execution of Tokichi Ishii—a man who was hanged for murder in Tokyo in 1918. He had been sent to prison more than twenty times and was known for being as cruel as a tiger. On one occasion, after attacking a prison official, he was gagged and bound, and his body was suspended in such a way that his toes barely reached the ground. But he stubbornly refused to say he was sorry for what he had done.
Just before being sentenced to death, Tokichi was sent a New Testament by two Christian missionaries, Miss West and Miss McDonald. After a visit from Miss West, he began to read the story of Jesus’ trial and execution. His attention was riveted by the sentence “Jesus said, ‘Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.’” This sentence transformed his life.
I stopped: I was stabbed to the heart, as if by a five-inch nail. What did the verse reveal to me? Shall I call it the love of the heart of Christ? Shall I call it His compassion? I do not know what to call it. I only know that with an unspeakably grateful heart I believed.
Tokichi was sentenced to death and accepted it as “the fair, impartial judgment of God.” Now the Word that had brought him to faith also sustained his faith in an amazing way. Near the end, Miss West directed him to the words of 2 Corinthians 6:8–10 concerning the suffering of the righteous. The words moved him very deeply, and he wrote:
“As sorrowing, yet always rejoicing.” People will say that I must have a very sorrowful heart because I am daily awaiting the execution of the death sentence. This is not the case. I feel neither sorrow nor distress nor any pain. Locked up in a prison cell six feet by nine in size I am infinitely happier than I was in the days of my sinning when I did not know God. Day and night…I am talking with Jesus Christ.…
The Word sustained him to the end, and on the scaffold, with great humility and earnestness, he uttered his last words, “My soul, purified, today returns to the City of God.” [Desiring God, 147-8.]
We love stories of salvation that seem unlikely and improbable. We love the “only God could do that” story (and some of you have experienced that kind of salvation yourselves…).
Of all the “only God could do that” stories, one stands above the rest. It is the story of Israel’s salvation. We know that God has promised to save Israel — that happened as far back as Genesis 12. Yet even then, it was an improbable story. Do you remember what Moses said?
“The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the LORD brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt” (Dt. 7:7–8).
Why would God save Israel? If the story of Israel can be summarized in one sentence it is that while Israel was chosen by God, Israel has always been rebellious against God — “You have been rebellious against the LORD from the day I knew you” (said Moses, Dt. 9:24). Yet God promised to save Israel, and save her, He will. That’s the promise of Zechariah 12:10-14…
In His sovereignty, God will save His people spiritually.
God will save His people physically (vv. 1-9), but in a far greater act of grace, He will also save His people spiritually — the entire nation will repent and turn to faith in the Messiah, Jesus Christ, and God will forever have this redeemed people for His own (completely fulfilling the Abrahamic Covenant, and all the other covenants that flow from it). How will God save Israel? Zechariah points to three provisions for Israel’s salvation…
- God Will Save Israel (v 10a)
- God Will Save Israel by the Spirit (v. 10b)
- God Will Save Israel through Faith and Repentance (vv. 10c-14)
- The nature of faith (v. 10c)
- The depth of repentance (vv. 10c-11)
- The breadth of repentance (vv. 12-14)
Implications: the hope of God’s Salvation —
Download the rest of this sermon on Zechariah 12:10-14.
The audio will be posted on the GBC website by tomorrow.
Words of Grace 