Zechariah 14: The King and the Holy Ones

Intro:

Well we are going to do it today, we are going to wrap up this last chapter of the book of Zechariah.

One of the hardest messages I have ever prepared for

Now we could probably spend a lot more time here and try our best to tease out the meaning from the many images and symbols that make up this chapter but honestly I don't know that I am up to that task. It was helpful to me to hear what Martin Luther the great reformer said upon reaching this chapter in Zechariah as he wrote his commentary on the book. Luther writes: “Here, in this chapter, I give up. For I am not sure what the prophet is talking about.” And indeed in Luther's original commentary on the book in Latin he did not include any notes on chapter 14, now he did go on to include some on this chapter when he wrote his second commentary in German but still it is helpful to see giants of the faith and theological stalwarts like Luther find this passage to create great difficulty.

In light of the difficulty of the passage before us then what I would like us to do this morning is to see the two major themes that comprise this chapter. Even if we cant pin down each and every specific I think we can learn much and be encouraged in several ways by seeing the main themes that Zechariah is presenting. It is after all these themes that would have been intended by God to have been of encouragement and hope to these people because the one thing that we can all agree on is that when Zechariah first proclaimed these prophecies all of this was yet future to the people and shrouded in great mystery.

These were a small remnant of Jews in the midst of rebuilding their lives in the promised land after completing the work on the temple that Haggai and Zechariah had led them through and in the scope of all that was happening on the world stage in those days the events in Jerusalem would have seemed quite small indeed. However Zechariah is going to remind them that they serve the King of Kings and that it is He who reigns sovereign over all and that it is this King who will at long last emerge triumphant over all enemies and this this King will also lead His people into holiness. These are the themes of this chapter, the King and the Holy Ones, the King and His people and it is to these themes that we will turn but lets take a moment to pray first.

PRAY

As we start into the text it is helpful to be reminded again that we ought not be approaching the text looking for a timeline of events. In apocalyptic literature such as this what we ought to look for are various snapshots from different angles many of which are snapshots of the same time and events. This is not new and it has been a helpful hermetical tool the whole way through the book of Zechariah.

We also must be reminded of the drum beat that we have see countless times through the books of minor prophets and with Jake in Revelation that a strict woodenly literal interpretation of the text does not necessarily mean that one is being more faithful to the text especially if the image is intended to be just that an image or symbol, we actually do a disservice to the text if we fail to let it be what it was intended to be.

John McArthur says of Zechariah 14 “So what I’m saying is the best way to approach it is simply to take it for what it says in its clearest literal meaning and leave it at that, and let the Spirit of God worry about how He’s going to bring it all to pass. Because when you try to make symbols out of it, your guess is as good as anybody else’s, and none of really makes much sense.”

In our text we see mountains split, we see horrifying plagues, we see meteorological and geological events, and we see a feast of Israel and most if not all of which we find to be of symbolic significance and all of which, contrary to McArthur’s statement, can be twisted far out of their intended meaning if viewed from a strictly literal position.

Now one of the primary questions that this text ultimately brings to us is a question of when. This text more than almost any other has been used by many to point to a specific event in history, or in future history, the second coming of Christ.

As we have wrestled with eschatology and I trust that many of you are drawing conclusions about where you stand on those Issues as Jake and I have also been arriving at some conclusions ourselves over the past few years. It might even surprise you to hear that this text might not even be primarily about the second coming but we will get to that shortly.

Section 1: The King

As we jump into the first section here I think it is important that we see the primary focus of the text. The primary focal point of the snapshot we are presented in the first section of this chapter is verse 9! Our natural curiosity inclines us to verse 4 and the arrival of the Lord at the Mt of Olives but the focal point of the oracle is:

English Standard Version Chapter 14

9 And the LORD will be king over all the earth. On that day the LORD will be one and his name one.

The messianic kingdom is going to be one in which it will be made plainly manifest that Yahweh reigns as King over all the earth. To add emphasis to the uniqueness of Israels God Zechariah quotes the Shema that the Lord will be One, Israel would say the Lord our God the Lord is One and so this is indeed Israels One God who is going to be proven by these events that He is the rightful ruler over all the earth. ‌

Because He reigns we see that His Kingdom is firmly established in verses 10-11. This established kingdom is couched in the imagery of the old kingdom and is described as the exultation of a city that has similar dimensions to that of David and Solomon. The picture for Zechariah's listeners being that the Davidic Messiah is going to exult Davids House and Davids Reign and Davids City and Davids People, all elements of the covenant made with David. This is truly the kingdom of the messiah that is being presented here. And this messanic Kingdom is one that is worldwide in scope!

“And Yahweh will be king over the whole earth!”

Now don't let go of that key thing and now lets go back and ask our question about verse 4.

As I have studied this text I have to admit that I am not ready to take a definitive stance on this text. There are two particular options that I find compelling and viable and so I will try to sketch both of those for us this morning and leave it up to you to take up the study if you will and arrive at your own conclusions.

Now I will say that while John McArthur would claim that you cant understand Zechariah and in particular this last chapter apart from his eschatological view point, I am happy to say that I have yet, even with these two options that I am about to set before us, I have yet to find the need apply that particular hermetic to be able to understand the text.

The two positions that I will share are both known and accepted within the other eschatological positions and the first would even find adherence to a point within the premillenial position. The point of difference between them is the when and what of this Mount of olives touchdown. When did this take place? Is it a yet future event or can we understand it to have happened already?

Since it is likely the most familiar I will cover the future perspective first. This perspective holds that this passage is describing the events surrounding the second and final coming of Jesus Christ. Now unlike the dispensational position it still would see a correlation between Jersualem and the church and it would also see this as one final and last second coming not one split in two around a 7 year tribulation.

In this way what Zechariah is talking about is a time in the future when the wicked forces of the world are going to be gathered against God’s people. For a time, in order to purify His church as we saw in the last passage, God is going to cause these wicked men to have victory over his people, there will be persecution and destruction but then Christ is going to come and lead his purified people out in victory.

Now as we seek to understand this text it is important to see that even in this understanding we see that much of what we see here is figurative or symbolic. For instance, when the Mount of Olives is split in two this ought to immediately drive our minds back to other times when various geographical features were split that God’s people might be delivered, the gigantic one that sticks out is the Exodus. There at the Red Sea God split the water and provided a way that his people might be free from those who had held them captive.

From the Red Sea forward there is now a motif that the deliverance of God’s people from evil can be couched in the language and picture of the exodus. And so when we read this prophecy about a mountain being split in two in the midst of a prophecy about the deliverance of God’s people, the primary function of that language is not to say that a literal mountain is going to be split but rather that what is taking place is an other deliverance or exodus like event.

As the people of Israel fled from the Egyptians through the Red Sea and God brought about their deliverance and the destruction of their enemies so also, from this perspective, there is coming a day when God will again deliver his people from all their enemies and will bring about the destruction of those who sought to harm them.

Now the strength of this position is that it does seem to make a great deal of sense of the text. We do believe that there is coming a day when Christ does indeed return and that He will defeat all of His enemies and that He will fully an finally deliver His people from those who have long sought their harm.

This section then also points to the reality that sets the ahmillennial position apart from the postmillennial position in that we see in these first verses that God does indeed use the opposition from the world as a purifying force for the church. Those who are willing to cling to Christ though they loose everything and go through the horrors of what is talked about in those first 2 verses will be shown to have truly been His people and so this text provides both a warning and a hope to not despair when we face trial and tribulation in this world because we know the end of the story and we trust that the deliver will bring us through our fiery trials.

This position also seems to make some sense of verse 6. We are well familiar with the cosmic and meteorological language that often is used to describe the future realities of eternity and this idea of a “unique day” would seem to led itself well to those ideas. The Hebrew here is hard to translate but the basic idea seems to be a day of endless light with the sun and moon and stars frozen in place. A day of endless light sure sounds like an apt description of eternity.

Also we see the language of Kingship in verse 9 and the exhalation and security of Jerusalem and the land in 10 and 11.

Christ is King over the whole earth, His will be the name that now stands over the earth once and forever more, Jerusalem will be exalted, in other words the Church will at long last be exalted as the highest of mountains to borrow language from Micah and the restoration of God’s people is given in the language of the old dimensions of the city, that is what the piece of the Gates represents, the city of Jerusalem in the days of David and Solomon. They city is restored and its people dwell in perpetual security.

Lastly and not really a part of this text but we do have developed in the NT and a history of expectation from Acts chapter 1 and the ascension of Christ into Heaven that it is to the Mot Of Olives that Christ will return at his second coming.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Matthias Chosen to Replace Judas

12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.

It is also interesting to note that because of the Prophecies in Zechariah many, especially wealthy Jews, chose to be buried on the Mount of Olives because they have expectation that the Messiah is going to come to this point first on his return to earth. These graves actually though are a part of our second option but it does show that there was long been a connection between the coming of the Messiah and the Mount of Olives in Jewish history.

I honestly don't have any real problem with this interpretation of the text because these are all things that I see spoken of in scripture and I can see a case made that the imagery here in this text illustrates these realities. Also, the second coming of Christ and the long awaited consummation of the Kingdom is a part of the messianic expectation and so in that way this passage can indeed represent a snapshot of this element of that messianic hope.

Option 2

There is however another way to understand this text. As we start into option number two I will admit that I am partial to this option.

Option number two would hold that this passage describes the present reality of Christ having come and opened up a way for His people to make the great exodus from bondage to sin and death and find salvation in Him. This view sees the language of the splitting of the mount of olives as a way of describing what took place when Christ died on the cross.

Now this view is often accompanied by an argument for the Mount of Olives being the location for the crucifixion.

I have never really thought much about the location of the crucifixion and traditionally it is held to be on the west or north of the city but there really isn't any truly original archeological evidence for that. These locations are mainly driven by tradition and the features of the land rather than actual internal scriptural evidence.

However there are some intriguing connections between the crucifixion narrative and the Mount of Olives.

The main piece of evidence seems to be that both Matthew and Mark make it seem like the centurion could see the tearing of the temple curtain from the Golgotha. I don't know that you would necessarily be inclined to read it that way if you didn't now that it was an option but once you know that there is a location for the crucifixion that would make this possible (Mark) it is hard not to see it.

English Standard Version Chapter 15

37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

Additionally in Hebrews 13 it talks about Jesus being crucified outside the camp which is a phrase that I have always just associated with our willingness to bear reproach for Christ, and while that certainly is the intent of the passage, the language specifically used there seems to perhaps talk about the location where the red heifer was sacrificed and its ashed used for cleansing the people. we read of this in Numbers 19:

English Standard Version Chapter 19

This is the statute of the law that the LORD has commanded: Tell the people of Israel to bring you a red heifer without defect, in which there is no blemish, and on which a yoke has never come. 3 And you shall give it to Eleazar the priest, and it shall be taken outside the camp and slaughtered before him. 4

Note the “Outside the Camp”

Well for the Temple the red heifer was sacrificed on the Mount of Olives because it was believed that you needed to be able to see the temple from this place of sacrifice.

Also, as I mentioned earlier there is a history of particularly wealthy Jews being buried on the Mt Of Olives and so it could be that the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea was in this place as he was a wealthy man and while church tradition would direct us else ware it could very well be that his tomb was located here.

Now as I said the Mt Of Olives doesn't need to be the location for the crucifixion for this to be a viable option for the text but if it was and the evidence does seem that it could be very likely that it was then it is not surprising that we would see this messianic exodus imagery presented as a giant split being made in this mountain that provides a way of escape for the people of God!

Now the primary reason that this option for the text stands out to me as the one that I would lean toward is that so much of what we see here in this snapshot is common to the entirety of the Messianic age and I wouldn't limit these things to just the time immediately before the second coming.

We have already seen persecution as a force for purification in the church and I believe that the NT bears out the fact that God has and will continue to use opposition from the world as a way to refine and show genuine the faith of those whom He has delivered from their bondage to sin and made citizens of His Kingdom.

We have also seen Christ as King and I would argue that the point we considered a moment ago, the point about the Kingship of Yahweh is well echoed by Paul in Philippians 2 when he says:

English Standard Version Chapter 2

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

We maintain that our King Rules and Reigns over all the earth now as this Messianic Kingdom stretches out and accomplished all that it was sovereignly ordained to do in this world! There is now nothing in this world that can stand in the way of this Kingdom reaching its determined ends!

We also see imagery that we have considered before about water flowing. We read in verse 8:

English Standard Version Chapter 14

8 On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea. It shall continue in summer as in winter.

We have see this idea of living waters flowing from Jerusalem before and it has predominately been in relation to the living water that flows from the cross of Christ and the Gospel through our proclamation of that gospel out into the world. It seems to me to make more sense of this aspect of the text to view this Mount of Olives deliver in this way as we have already see it was at the cross that this fountain of living water was opened up for the cleansing of the people.

One final point:

One final point that I will mention

Ezekiel connection to the Mount of Olives

Ezekiel 10-12 speak of Gods leaving the Temple and then at the end of Ezekiel the Lord returns to the restored temple in the same way as He left, via the Mt of Olives

Both of the views that we have considered work with this point but it is just important for us to see that Zechariah doesn't stand alone in his focus on the Mount Of Olives but that Ezekiel before Him had laid the foundation for God’s returning to the people and in this return seeing the Mt of Olives as a significant location.

Section 2: The Holy Ones

The second section of verses is not quite as difficult as the first though you still have to consider the timing of these things and whether these are circumstances and events that carry through the entirety of the messianic age from the first to the second coming or if this is more specifically limited to the time directly preceeding the second.

Again here I would lean toward the second because what we see here I believe can be found throughout the entirety of the messianic time.

Now as with the first section we need to see that the central or ultimate point that these verses hold forth is found in the making holy of God’s people that is state in verses 20 & 21.

English Standard Version Chapter 14

20 And on that day there shall be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “Holy to the LORD.” And the pots in the house of the LORD shall be as the bowls before the altar. 21 And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holy to the LORD of hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and take of them and boil the meat of the sacrifice in them. And there shall no longer be a trader in the house of the LORD of hosts on that day.

The key phrase in these verses is in turn “Holy to the Lord” This phrase was inscribed on the gold plate on the front of the turban of the High Priest and is used to describe various elements of the sacrificial system and the sabbath and it speaks of something that has been set apart by the Lord for Himself. Holy to the Lord, set apart to the Lord. Same thing, it is His and as such it ought to and must be Holy, if it was not holy or if it became defiled it could no longer be His!

What we see here is that a number of ordinary and common things are given this status in these verses. The high priest had bells attached to his garments and yet we see also that the bells attached to a horse are inscribed as Holy to the Lord. We see that the pots in the temple and even the pots in the city are going to be holy just as those specifically set aside or made Holy to the Lord for the purpose of ministering at the Alter.

What is going on here?

Well, in short this is imagery of the total transformation of the people of God to holiness.

This section starts with a description of a plague that will befall the wicked who will not follow God. Weather this is an actual plague or not I kind of doubt it but it is symbolically said to consume their flesh, that is their person or their life, it consumes their eyes, their ability to see, and it consumes their tongues meaning their ability for speech.

Wickedness in the bible blinds the eyes, consumes the life and we read that on the day of judgement every mouth will be stopped and no one will answer back to God in defense of their wicked ways. In other words the promise and warning is that those who set them selves in opposition to the church will be consumed by their wickedness.

We also see that the wealth of the nations is going to be gathered into the church. This is similar language to what we have seen before and have attributed to the plundering of the nations of their most treasured possession, the souls that are won for the kingdom of God by the proclamation of the gospel.

We see the peoples of the earth beginning to go and worship in Jerusalem, IE in the Church, and it is interesting to note that they keep the feast of booths which is the feast that commemorated the exodus and the journey through the wilderness. During this feast not only would the enact that event but they would also be taught the word of God by the priests and Levites. I think that it could be that in this way as we gather together and commemorate the death and resurrection of Christ weekly and are taught the scriptures that this could in a very real sense be the fulfilment of this prophecy!

All of this in turn is the summed up with these last two verses that speak of the holiness of the people of God.

Now note that in the last section when Christ returns from the delivery of His people those who are said to be with Him or to come with him are the “holy ones” (v5) Those who have been made Holy are those who share a part in the glory of what these texts have presented to us as the ultimate hope for God’s people.

Closing:

Admonition to holiness.

It is provident that Jake had his message last week on the purpose of the law and the gospel because it was a great reminder that we need to understand how to use both of those, the law and the gospel, for their rightly intended purpose in each situation and that there is an expectation set before us in scripture that we are to be made Holy.

Now it is not our holiness that save us, we cant say that enough, however we must not excuse a lack of holiness in our lives either as though we could be saved and not see a growth in holiness in our lives.

The people of God are a holy people!

The common nature of holiness, we all to often create divides in our lives just like the Israelites did where there were holy and unholy or common things. If we have been truly made “Holy to the Lord” there is no uncommon thing!