Zechariah 12:2
Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
God will make Jerusalem a cup of poison and slumber to the peoples round about, so that those who besiege Judah and Jerusalem reel and stagger with fear. Jerusalem here stands for the true Israelites, the people of God. The verse describes the great battle of Armageddon in the closing days just before Christ comes, when the powers of the earth gather as the armies of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet to lay siege amid darkness and meet God's judgment. The nations even take the city and seem about to win, but God intervenes against the worldwide apostasy seeking to destroy His people, strikes the attackers in their moment of apparent victory, turns their victory to trembling and trouble upon themselves, and turns them against one another until they are cut to pieces. The same cup was offered as miraculous preservation and defense from Rome if the Jews had received Christ when He was presented as king, but the protection was withdrawn when the nation rejected Him and chose the destruction of city, temple, and nation. It will again be a cup of trembling to the wicked after the thousand years, when Satan and the raised wicked gather against the city of God and are destroyed by fire from heaven.
Words and Historical Setting
The cup of trembling is a cup of poison or slumber set before all the peoples round about, and those who press in to besiege Judah and Jerusalem drink from it only to reel and stagger with fear. It turns the besiegers' seeming victory into trembling upon themselves, so that the very act of surrounding the city brings trouble and staggering dread on them.
The last chapters of Zechariah were given in B.C. 487 as the latest Old Testament prophecy concerning the return of the Jews to the literal land of Canaan. The word spoken about Judah and Jerusalem was completely fulfilled to national Israel forty-two years later, by B.C. 445, when all Israel dwelt in their cities.
The verse belongs to a prophecy that predicts Christ's kingdom, the great day of the Lord, and the punishment of the wicked. It looks forward to the final restoration of God's people and to judgments on those who reject Him.
Conditional Offer at First Advent
The verse belonged to a prediction and promise that Jerusalem would be miraculously preserved and defended from the attack and military power of the surrounding peoples and nations if the Jews received Christ as their king when He was presented as king. At that presentation the Romans held power over the Jews, so the chariots and weapons to be removed were the Romans' forces, against which miraculous defense was promised. The Jews could choose this protection by receiving their king, but rejecting Him meant choosing the destruction of their city, temple, and nation, and the promise of protection was withdrawn when the nation rejected Christ.
End-Time Siege and Judgment
In the closing days of time Jerusalem stands for the true Israelites, God's people, and the nations' attempt to besiege them brings trouble upon those nations themselves. The verse describes the great battle of Armageddon, an awful clash of the powers of the earth in the closing battles just before Christ comes, when surrounding peoples lay siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. Jerusalem and the country immediately around it in the Holy Land will bear the brunt of that final attack, becoming both a reeling cup and a burdensome stone to all the peoples round about.
The cup is one of poison or slumber that makes the surrounding peoples stagger and reel with fear. The gathering armies are those of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet against Jerusalem, who amid an unnatural darkness tremble and face God's judgment. The nations lay siege to Jerusalem in their war against the Turk, and their attack will fail.
That siege marks the moment God intervenes against a worldwide apostasy seeking to destroy His people. The nations take the city and seem about to win by capturing it, but their seeming victory turns to trembling and trouble upon themselves. When they appear to be victorious God strikes them, and their struggle over who shall possess the city turns them against one another until they are cut to pieces.
The verse also describes Jerusalem as a cup of trembling for the wicked who gather against the city of God after the thousand years. At that time Satan and the raised wicked prepare to attack, recognize Christ's lordship, and yet are destroyed by fire from heaven.