Zechariah 12:7, commentary and pictures

The closing part of Zechariah looks forward to the final restoration, with hopeful promises for those who seek God and trust the Spirit and judgments on those who reject Him. Its last chapters are the latest Old Testament prophecy concerning the return of the Jews as a nation to the literal land of Canaan, given in 487 B.C. The verse means that the Lord saves the tents, the vulnerable people, of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves, become proud, or boast against Judah. The house of David there denotes the church of God. By saving Judah first, God's salvation unites His people rather than letting one part be jealous of another.

Zechariah 12:1-9 gives at length the promise briefly stated in Zechariah 9:9-10: if Israel had received Christ as king, God would have cut off the Romans' chariots, horses, and weapons and miraculously defended Jerusalem. That promised miraculous preservation of Jerusalem from an attack by the nations was one possible outcome for the city, temple, and nation, which the Jews could choose instead of destruction by receiving their king, but Christ's rejection meant the promise was withdrawn. The verse also belongs to a prophecy of the end-time restoration of true Israel to power that places Jerusalem and the surrounding country at the center of the nations' final attack shortly before Christ comes. The chapter's deliverance applies to Christ's coming, when He spares those whom the wicked rejected, and His people are revealed as strong through God's glory and their Redeemer's power. Recognizing one's own sin as a cause of Christ's suffering prepares a person to take part in the chapter's fulfillment, including looking upon the pierced Messiah and mourning over Him.

Every national promise of restoration to literal Canaan, including this verse's promise of saving the tents of Judah first in connection with Jerusalem and the house of David, was completely fulfilled to Israel as a nation forty-two years later, by 445 B.C., when after the decrees of Cyrus, Darius Hystaspes, and Artaxerxes had opened the door for every Israelite to return, all Israel dwelt in their cities.