Zechariah 12:3

"It shall come to pass in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples; all that burden themselves with it shall be sore wounded; and all the nations of the earth shall be gathered together against it."

"Burdensome stone ..." has been variously understood, but the most reasonable explanation makes it a metaphor of a mighty boulder in a field, that defies any effort to dislodge it. All who attempt it shall be sorely wounded. The church of Christ is founded upon the eternal Rock of truth; it is the little stone cut out of the mountain without hand that shall fill the earth (Daniel 2:34,35); it is the "stumbling stone" for racial Israel; it is "the stone which the builders rejected" (Matthew 21:42); "He that falleth upon this stone shall be broken to pieces: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will scatter him as dust" (Matthew 21:44).

"It shall come to pass in that day ..." This is a code expression in the prophets meaning, "In the times of the Messiah." We have noted already, however, that widely separated events are both included, some of them connected with the first coming of Christ, and some with the second coming and final Judgment. As in most of the Old Testament prophets, Zechariah included among the events of "the last days" everything from Pentecost to the Judgment. These are all included in this chapter under the title, "in that day," an expression repeated in Zechariah 12:3,4,6,8,9,11.

"All the peoples ..." means, "All the peoples of the earth ... This indicates that the struggle spoken of is no mere local conflict, but the great battle of the world against the Church, which shall rage in the Messianic era."[14] "The gospel claiming `obedience to the faith among all nations,' provoked universal rebellion."[15]