Welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation. This is study #27 of Revelation, chapter 1, and our verse in Revelation 1, verse 7, has taken us back to the Old Testament book of Zechariah, and we have been looking at chapter 12, in verses 9 through 11, and I will read that passage again, in Zechariah 12:9-11:

And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.

And we were looking at these verses in our last study. We saw that Zechariah 12:9 identifies with the time at the end of the great tribulation when God then destroys the nations that He Himself had raised up to bring judgment upon His people, on the New Testament churches and congregations.

We also saw that verse 10 identifies with the true believers, the elect, who are of the "house of David." They are the inhabitants of heavenly Jerusalem, and God has poured upon them the "spirit of grace," and they are the ones that are looking upon the Lord Jesus Christ, "him who they pierced," that is, we are responsible for His suffering, due to our transgressions, and the fact that He had to make payment for them, and "they shall mourn for him," that is, the true believers are mourning for Christ "as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn." And both *only son* and *firstborn* point, also, to the Lord Jesus Christ.

And why is this mourning going on for the "only son"? Well, we went to a couple of verses that indicated that it related the "only son" to the Lord Jesus, and we saw it was not just at the cross, but in Jeremiah 6 that kind of language was used when the Babylonians came against Judah and that, in turn, figures, or points to, spiritually, the assault of Satan against the churches.

Why "mourning for an only son," in that kind of context? Well, because the Lord Jesus is departed from the church, and just as someone who dies is departed from the father (let us say) who has a son, and it is a time of bitter lamentation - he is gone. It seems that would be what is in view from the language in Jeremiah 6, and in this verse in Zechariah 12, verse 10, as verse 9 also sets the context, not as the great tribulation, but the end of the great tribulation when God is now judging those that are responsible for judging His people. And the Lord tells us in the Book of Jeremiah that judgment day is likened to a time of vengeance. It says in Jeremiah 51:10:

JEHOVAH hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of JEHVOAH our God. Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: JEHOVAH hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of JEHOVAH, the vengeance of his temple.

Well, here, God is saying it plainly. He is raising up the spirit of the kings of the Medes, and it was the Medes and the Persians that finally conquored Babylon, after the seventy year period, and that seventy years typified the complete duration of the great tribulation which, in actuality, worked out to be a full twenty three years. But after the seventy years (and, thereby, pointing to after the great tribulation), the Medes and the Persians conquered Babylon, and Babylon was taken.

Babylon fell at that point, and why? "It is the vengeance of JEHOVAH, the vengeance of his temple," because God used Babylon to destroy His temple; it was of the Lord that this happened. But they do not get away with it, because they did so out of sinful desires and hatred toward the people of God. And following the Lord's usage of them to bring about that judgment, He takes vengeance upon them, the vengeance against those that dare to set forth their hand, in a sense, against the Lord's anointed, against those that, at least outwardly, were the representatives of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. They identified with God, and setting forth your hand against them was like setting forth your hand against God Himself.

Well, it goes on to say here in verse 11 of Zechariah 12, "in that day," and we are seeing that this would identify with the day of judgment, "In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon." Now, here, "in Jerusalem" would relate to the elect - they are in Jerusalem, all of God's people that are truly saved are citizens of that heavenly city; we are part of the Jerusalem above. The earthly Jerusalem was "cut off," Zechariah 14 tells us, yet the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. We maintain our citizenship in the heavenly kingdom of God. We are part of the bride of Christ and, therefore, we are part of new Jerusalem, and there there is a great mourning "as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon."

Now the word *as* is important. It is a little word, but it means *like*, that is, it is *similar to*; God is pointing to an event, a mourning that took place "of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon," and He is saying that "in that day" there will be a great mourning in Jerusalem *like* that mourning, or *similar to* the one He is referring to, that is, this "mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon" is information that will teach us about the mourning "in that day," which would be a reference to the day of judgment.

Well, what was the cause of this "mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon?" And when we look up this word *Hadadrimmon*, it is not much help, because it is only found here in this verse; nowhere else in the Bible will you find *Hadadrimmon*. But, it is a compound word: it is made up of two different Hebrew words. The first is *Hadad*, and *Hadad* is the name of a few individuals in the Bible, and I looked at these individuals and I do not see any relationship to a valley of Meggido or Megiddon anywhere, and that also was not much help.

Now *Rimmon* is a place, and it is also an idol. It says in Zechariah 14:10:

All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem...

And then the verse goes on...so Rimmon is a place. There is also a rock (called) Rimmon somewhere in the land of Benjamin, that we read about in the Bible.

But *Rimmon* is a false god, an idol, that you may remember from the account of Naaman, the Syrian. After he was healed of his leprosy, he now recognized the true God of Israel as the only God, and he said in 2 Kings 5:18:

In this thing JEHOVAH pardon thy servant, that when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, JEHOVAH pardon thy servant in this thing.

So Naaman, the Syrian, was very concerned about entering into this idolatrous house of Rimmon because now he realized that Rimmon was nothing, that it was only the God of Israel, JEHOVAH, that was the true God. We will not get into anything further in this, except that Rimmon was an idol, and there was a house of Rimmon, but we just cannot see how that can identify with what is being stated here in Zechariah 12, "the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon." So Hadadrimmon is not going to help us too much in understanding this.

But what about a mourning taking place "in the valley of Megiddo." Now, again, if you look up the word *Megiddo*, you will only find it here spelled this way in the Bible, but it is a translation of the same Hebrew word that is translated as *Megiddo*. It is the same word. For whatever reason, the translators added an *n* here in Zechariah, but it is the same word as *Megiddo*.

And something happened at *Megiddo* that was very significant. In 2 Kings, we will read a capsule form of this, and then we will go to Chronicles and we will read a little more information, but in

2 Kings 23:29, it says there:

In his days Pharaohnechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and he slew him at Megiddo, when he had seen him. And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father's stead.

Here, Josiah, the last good king of Judah, was slain at *Megiddo*. Now this is significant because we know that Josiah was killed in the year 609 B.C., and that began the seventy year period in which God gave up His people; He forsook them and, spiritually, Judah became a desolation, the Bible says, for seventy years: 609 B.C. until 539 B.C.

This seventy year period is an historical type and figure of the actual great tribulation we just witnessed and went through. So, it is very interesting and significant that God speaks of "a mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddo" in Zechariah 12, verse 10, and that is where Josiah died when he went up against Egypt. Is it a coincidence?

Well, let us turn to the parallel passage in 2 Chronicles 35, and we will get some more information, and we will find that, no, it is not a coincidence or mistake, we have the right historical event; this is what God is referring to. There is nothing else when we search the Bible that could have taken place that could fit the description that Zechariah 12:10 is telling us about "a great mourning in the valley of Megiddo," except what happened to Josiah.

It says in 2 Chronicles 35:19:

In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this passover kept...

Now I started there because this passover is also the year when the Book of the Law was found, and Josiah was twenty six years old. He began to reign as a boy, at the age of eight, so his eighteenth year would have made him twenty six, and twenty six is 2 x 13. Now from this point, he would live thirteen more years, and then die at the hand of the Egyptians in the valley of Megiddo, at the age of thirty nine. And we can see how God identifies, or relates, the number *13* very much with Josiah - 39 is 3 x 13. The Book of the Law was found in his days, when he was twenty six, 2 x 13, because the death of Josiah in 609 B.C. identifies with the beginning of the great tribulation, and when did the great tribulation begin? In the year 1988, which happens to be the 13,000th year of Earth's history, and so God wants to make sure that we do not miss this number *13* in association with Josiah.

And then it goes on in 2 Chronicles 35:20:

After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by Euphrates: and Josiah went out against him. But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have war: for God commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not. Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo. And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me away; for I am sore wounded. His servants therefore took him out of that chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had; and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

There is the word we are looking for, the *mourning*, the great mourning. Let me read this again, historically, it says in Zechariah 12:11:

In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddo.

Josiah was slain. The good king Josiah, the king in which the people of Judah could see the blessing of God upon them, by giving them such an excellent king, a faithful king; and now he was dead, and all the kings that would follow would be evil kings, because God's blessing had departed from them. God now was raising up an enemy - Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon - to come against Judah, to punish His people.

Well, we can see how Zechariah 12:11 identifies and relates and ties into Josiah's death, but how does that help us? Well, let us read it again. Again, verses 10 and 11 are tied together, and it is telling us in Zechariah 12:10-11:

...and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddo.

Now God is speaking of the day of judgment, and "in that day" there will be a mourning of the people of God, the elect people of God, because something 'similar' will happen that will happen at the beginning of the great tribulation. What happened at the beginning of the great tribulation? Well, the Bible tells us in Revelation 8, and other places, that the third part of the sun was darkened, and a third part of the moon, and a third part of the stars. The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit came out of the midst. The Bible teaches us that when the great tribulation began, the light of the Gospel went out in the churches and congregations of the world, and no one was becoming saved anywhere in any church throughout the entire period of the twenty three year great tribulation period.

And now "in that day," the day of judgment, there will be a similar mourning, a great mourning, *like as* the mourning in the valley of Megiddo, or *like* when Josiah was killed, when he was slain, and it will be a time when the sun, or the light of the Gospel, goes out all over the Earth, when the light of the moon (which pictures the word of God, the Law of God) is no longer shining, and when the Holy Spirit has removed Himself from saving individuals in this world. The voice of the bride and the voice of the bridegroom will be heard no more at all, and the light of the candlestick will shine no more at all. God gives us so many different ways of saying the same thing, that He is indicating there will be a time of *mourning*. This is the *mourning* that we read about in Matthew 24, which occurs immediately after the tribulation of those days, in Matthew 24:29:

Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

We see the Lord Jesus Christ coming as the Judge. He is judging the world with power and great glory. This is what our verse in Revelation 1 is referring to in verse Revelation 1:7:

Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail...

And that word *wail* is the same word as *mourn* in Matthew 24, "and all kindreds of the earch shall mourn because of him." So we see the tragic news that God is giving us, the sorrowful information. No wonder all the tribes of the earth, no wonder God's people are mourning. We take no pleasure (as God takes no pleasure) in the death of the wicked. There is no joy. The joy of the Earth is gone. Remember what we read in Isaiah 24, when we went through that chapter, and how sad and sorrowful it was when it said in Isaiah 24:7:

The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merryhearted do sigh. The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth. They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it.

And in Isaiah 24:11:

There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone.

This is the reason why all the tribes of the earth *mourn*. God's people see these things. They see what God is doing, as the Lord opens up the eyes of our understanding. So, yes, there is sorrow, as Jeremiah was a "weeping prophet" because of what God had done to his people. And how much more shall the people of God weep when we see what God has done to the earth; we love the Gospel, we love the day of salvation, we love being able to share wonderful truths with our neighbors, with our friends, and even with our enemies. We love encouraging people, beseeching them on God's behalf: "Go to the Lord, seek Him while He may be found. Perhaps He will have mercy upon you." We loved encouraging people to "Cry for mercy and to go to God, as blind Bartimaeus, and if anyone tells you to stop crying for mercy, cry all the more!"

These are the things that the people of God loved, as we enjoyed our task of carrying the Gospel to the world, that they might hear, and that God might have mercy upon them, and, yet, that task (as far as evangelizing the world to salvation, that individuals might go with the hope that God might save afresh this day), is finished. It is done and completed, and now we have the task of sharing truth, of feeding sheep, but we take no joy. The joy of the earth is gone, with the news that the door to heaven is shut, and the light of the Gospel is put out.