Chapter 12 

Special Gifts from God 

    The twelfth and thirteenth chapters of the book of Zechariah describe 

miraculous spiritual gifts  that God will give to the Church and the world. 

God gives these special gifts to the world to strengthen His people. These 

holy gifts from God will help to bring about the transfiguration of the 

Church, to make the faithful more like Christ. 

The Day of Repentance 

     Thus says the L

ORD

, who stretched out the heavens and founded the 

earth and formed the spirit of man within him: `Lo, I am about to make 

Jerusalem a cup of reeling to all the peoples round about; it will be against 

Judah also in the siege against Jerusalem.'   (Zech 12:1 2). 

      `Then the clans of Judah shall say to themselves,  The inhabitants of 

Jerusalem have strength through the L

ORD

 of hosts, their God.  '    

(Zech 12:5). 

    God will reach out to the spirit of every human being on the earth, not 

only to Christians, because God formed the spirit within each person. We 

are all God's children. God will touch the spirit of each person. Many will 

accept this gift and respond by reforming their lives and seeking God. Many 

people will realize their own sinfulness, repent from their sins, and accept 

God's gift of  forgiveness. Those who repent will move closer to God. 

Christianity will be strengthened by this event and the power of sin will be 

weakened. Faithful Christians will understand. 

    But the lost and the wicked will not understand. Some persons will reject 

God's call to repentance and will move further away from God. And many 

people will be confused and alarmed at that time. Thus, the Church will be 

 a cup of reeling  to the peoples of the world. 

    The phrase  the siege against Jerusalem  refers to the reaction of the 

sinful against the strengthening of Christianity. The sinful will be angry and 

afraid because they will lose much of their power at that time. And so, they 

will respond by opposing Christians and Christianity. Judah represents the 

Catholic Church, which also will be the object of opposition and hatred. The 

wicked will see that the Church is favored and strengthened by God. They 

will react by fighting against the Body of Christ.