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"A great mourning in Jerusalem"

Text: Zechariah 12:11

A PROVERBIAL SAYING

Deep grief is a very good expression of sincere repentance and sorrow. Sometimes a proverbial saying is employed to convey the depth of grief. This was one instance.

“In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem,
like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.”
Zechariah 12:11

1. “In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem”

a) This must be understood in the light of this passage.

b) The context is that of remembering the death of the Good Shepherd.

c) This sense of mourning

i) It would be national.

ii) It would be deep.

iii) It would be felt keenly.

2. “Like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo”

a) This reference goes all the way back to the day of King Josiah.

i) He went to war against the Egyptians.

ii) The battlefield was in the valley of Megiddo (2 Chronicles 35:22).

b) Josiah was one of the good kings of Judah.

c) Unfortunately, he was slain in battle by the Egyptians.

d) When Josiah died, there was a national outpouring of great grief.

e) The great mourning of King Josiah was noted in 2 Chronicles 35:24-25.

i) “All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.”

ii) The prophet “Jeremiah also lamented for Josiah”.

iii) “All the singing men and the singing women speak of Josiah in their lamentations.”

iv) “They made it a custom in Israel; and indeed, they are written in the Laments.”