11 In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12 And the land shall mourn, every family by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; 13 the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of Shimei by itself, and their wives by themselves; 14 all the families that remain, every family by itself, and their wives by themselves.
Verses 11-14 depict the universality of Israel’s future mourning over having rejected their Messiah. Nationwide mourning will also occur in individual families.
12:11
In that day
The “that day” here refers to the time of the Second Advent of Christ to the earth.
there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem,
Verse 11 continues the sorrow of verse 10. The people of Jerusalem will experience inconsolable grief for their crucifixion of their Messiah. This phrase shows the national repentance of Israel. The nation will repent of their rejection of the Messiah (Ro 11:25-27).
like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.
“Hadad Rimmon” is the name of the Aramean storm god. This god’s location was near the plain of Megiddo, which was the Plain of Esdraelon. This phrase may reference the death of the good king Josiah in 609 BC; he was the last king of Judah (2 Chron 35:20-24). The killing of King Josiah caused a tremendous display of grief and was an apt illustration of the kind of grief Israel will express in the future.
12:12
And the land shall mourn, every family by itself:
The specific families in Israel will mourn, both royalty and ordinary people. However, the families will grief independently from one another, and they will mourn family-by-family.
the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves;
The “house of David” is the royal family of Israel. Husbands and wives will mourn separately, indicating individual grief.
the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves;
Nathan was the third son of David. The royal line of David began to be traced through Nathan, the line of the Messiah Himself.
12:13
the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of Shimei by itself, and their wives by themselves;
Shimei was the grandson of Levi (Num 3:17-18, 21). The Shimites represent the priestly line.
12:14
all the families that remain, every family by itself, and their wives by themselves.
All the remaining families of Israel will mourn.
PRINCIPLE:
God is abundantly able to do what He says He will do.
APPLICATION:
There will be a time of great repentance at the Second Coming of Christ. Both national leaders and common people in the nation Israel will turn to Jehovah and embrace Jesus as their Messiah.
