Zechariah 14
Notes
Transcript
Luther’s Warning
Luther’s Warning
I found this quote and I really want to start with it because one, it’s great, and two it cuts deep to the truth for any of us that start to think we have the Bible all figured out.
Martin Luther wrote a commentary on Zechariah published in 1526 that did not include chapter 14… AT ALL. Then a year later he comes out with the new version but starts chapter 14 by saying.
“Here, in this chapter, I give up. For I am not sure what the prophet is talking about.” - Luther’s Works Vol 20.
We start in this chapter with a little bit of a reset. This gives a vague future time to set us up. But I think we would still put this in the realm of “that day” not a literal 24 hour day but a time period of the return of Christ most solidly still in the future of even today. It should be noted that not everyone thinks this. That’s just where I’ve decided but I could change my mind on it. Some generalize this time as from the birth of the Church to Christ’s return. I think Luther landed there. Others thought this was all fulfilled in the post-exile Israel, Calvin falls there. Early church fathers were a little more specific thinking it was fulfilled in the Maccabean revolt a couple hundred years before Christ. Rabbinic Orthodox Jews would say this is entirely future and will be when the Meshiac (Messiah) comes the first and final time, but that it is all still future. There are more theories and more nuanced versions of each of them but I think we should move on to the text itself.
Behold, a day is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst.
So start with what seems like a nice plus, but I think it’s just the bad news formed in good news first sort of fashion to get you ready for how bad it is.
For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
Notice also, like many other times, the Lord takes credit for the attackers attacking. Usually this is with nations we’d label as the bad-guys and we saw in other books the people of Israel cried out in bewilderment, how could you judge us with people like that!? This gathering of nations against Jerusalem does how up in a lot of places. This seems like it has to be connected to the Gog and Magog invasion described in Ezek 38.
The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him and say, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. And I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great host, all of them with buckler and shield, wielding swords. Persia, Cush, and Put are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer and all his hordes; Beth-togarmah from the uttermost parts of the north with all his hordes—many peoples are with you.
We seem to be talking about the same event also in Joel 3.1-3
“For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land, and have cast lots for my people, and have traded a boy for a prostitute, and have sold a girl for wine and have drunk it.
The perspective or point is different but the event seems to be the same.
Then if this is indeed Gog and Magog and the final gathering of all Nations against Jerusalem we can also point to where this occurs in the Revelation.
And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
The brutality is clear here for what the survivors face of a defeated city. The word is not used much in the old testament of what the women will suffer. Just 4 times in fact. The first time is appears is in Deut 28.30 speaking of the curses that will be upon the people if they do not obey the commands of the Lord.
You shall betroth a wife, but another man shall ravish her. You shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it. You shall plant a vineyard, but you shall not enjoy its fruit.
This will be a terrible terrible battle and nearly entire defeat. It’s clear from verse 2 there was no earthly hope for victory. But that’s where we come in with verse 3
Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle.
What does that mean .... as when he fights on a day of battle?
I think we have some examples of this in Israel’s history
And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.” So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained. But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.
“Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it. By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord. For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”
And that night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at Nineveh.
God does not lose and he does not ever come short of victory.
On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward.
OH! let’s keep track of these “On that day” statements, any guesses on how many we have? Let’s find out.
Okay this is a great picture, one that seems to be figurative.. I’m not sure Jesus is going to show up as a gigantic figure as tall as a skyscraper… but hey what do I know? He’s standing on the mount of olives… something interesting strikes the memory here. What was said at the ascension of Jesus that might remind us of this place?
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.”
Where was he? Bethany
And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them.
Bethany is a small town on the eastern slopes of the Mount of Olives. Christ’s return will be, I think, on the mount of Olives.
The whole mountain is split east to west… so a new valley essentially gets created that would go from east to west until it gets to Jerusalem, which is west of this place.
Now… I know we talk about or at least make a reference to Exodus just about every other week for the last year+ we’ve been in the minor prophets… but does the parting in any way… remind you of a red sea parting? What about when we add in verse 5
And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.
So the mountain splits, and they way to flee for safety is the through the split… Okay maybe I’m the one making the stretch here...
We then get to the great earthquake. There is also a lot of earthquake language around judgment in the Bible. In Ezek. 38 we have one which I think is the same one here because I think it’s the same event… Exod, Judg, Joel, Micah, Nahum, and Revelation all have earthquakes or rumblings or split open valleys at the Lord’s coming. Unlike the destruction in some of those events this one provides a way out, a refuge for those who are faithful.
The end seems to be a little weird that “Then the Lord my God will come” but God is clearly already appeared. The implication isn’t that God will come to earth but that he will come to those who are fleeing, and he will bring all the holy ones with him… What does that mean?
The holy ones as a phrase have been used to speak of both humans and angels. Often when used of people in the old testament ESV also translates it as “the saints,” and when of angels it tends to only use the holy ones for the wording but that’s not a hard rule.
On that day there shall be no light, cold, or frost. And there shall be a unique day, which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but at evening time there shall be light.
Oh, keeping track here’s our 2nd “On that day”. We get some difficult Hebrew here and most translations go with the septuagint Greek rather than the Hebrew… They’re not entirely sure what the Hebrew means but a good guess is that it means “The splendid ones will congeal” The no cold or frost some thing is talking about the seasonal cycles ending but we’ll see that’s not true in a couple of verses so I don’t know why anyone would stick with that. If the Hebrew does mean splendid ones will congeal or coallese it might make sense of no more natural light… the stars go out maybe become one with the rest of the sky. Once we get to verse 7 here it seems all natural answers for light seems gone. No sun no moon but yet there is light. This seems to be the start of cosmic change that God brings upon his return, all of creation is altered. This is similar to a long list of end times events for the sun, moon and stars going out. (Ezek 32:8; Amos 5:18; Joel 2:2; Zeph 1:15; Isa 13:10) Jer 31:35 - day and night is seperated by these things
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.
Here is our third “On that day” Jerusalem becomes a place where life comes forth. Water is very important in the middle east as you could imagine so this picture works well to show how much of a blessing literal or figurative this represents. The season seems to also still exist and the spring continues to flow in all seasons.
And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one.
Oh, fourth “On that day” God as king is certainly one of the central themes for the Bible but we get another here in the end of verse 9 do you recognize it?
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
šĕmaʿ yiśrāʾēl YHWH ʾĕlōhênû YHWH ʾeḥād
This verse Zech 14.9 is also quoted or sung… at the end of every Jewish Shabbat service affirming God is one and His name shall be one.
The whole land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. But Jerusalem shall remain aloft on its site from the Gate of Benjamin to the place of the former gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses. And it shall be inhabited, for there shall never again be a decree of utter destruction. Jerusalem shall dwell in security.
The hills and mountains immediately surrounding Jerusalem basically get lowered down and turned to plains whil the city remains on high. The people will be forever safe in Jerusalem now.
And this shall be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples that wage war against Jerusalem: their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.
And on that day a great panic from the Lord shall fall on them, so that each will seize the hand of another, and the hand of the one will be raised against the hand of the other. Even Judah will fight at Jerusalem. And the wealth of all the surrounding nations shall be collected, gold, silver, and garments in great abundance. And a plague like this plague shall fall on the horses, the mules, the camels, the donkeys, and whatever beasts may be in those camps.
In contrast to the safety of Jerusalem we have the judgment of those who opposed Jerusalem and the Lord. Many have compared this to Nuclear war… the radiation sickness that kills people standing on their feet. Who knows if that’s the case but it’s a theory that many groups have, not just Christian but Jews also.
We did also get our fifth “On that day” and clear indication the punishment comes from God, it’s so intense there is panic and in-fighting. The tables are turned however and how we see that the wealth of the nations is collected by instead of from Jerusalem. And btw the plague affects everyone, not just people.
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Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths. And if any of the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them. And if the family of Egypt does not go up and present themselves, then on them there shall be no rain; there shall be the plague with which the Lord afflicts the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Booths. This shall be the punishment to Egypt and the punishment to all the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Booths.
Here we get an interesting situation. Everyone else - all the non-jews are now expected to celebrate in reverance the feast of Sukkot - or feast of booths. We’ve talked about it once before when we were in Jonah but a quick reminders that this is the festival where all the Jewish people remember the wilderness wandering by setting up a booth that can see the sky and sleeping in it instead of their nice house so they will remember. The feast happens at the end of the harvest season and exemplifies our reliance on God for protection and sustenance. Interestingly though many Jewish people believe the coming of the messiah happens on this festival, partly because of these verses. The festival will kind of be altered to also include the rememberance of the day of the Lord in some sense. Who knows if that’s true but it’s interesting.
In final wrap up we will read Zech 14.20-21
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. 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.
Whoah, coming in right at the end. Sixth and seventh on that day… everyone who said 7 gets a gold star. Okay… the rest here is interesting… what’s important about this phrase “Holy to the Lord”? I had to look that one up. We find it in Exodus talking about what the high priest Aaron should wear on his head dress.
“You shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet, ‘Holy to the Lord.’
So… this is essentially saying even the horses will be holy to the Lord in the same kind of way Aaron was as the annointed first high priest. In fact everyone’s house will have the instruments of the temple. Then there will not be any… what in the house of the Lord? I’m sure we’ve got different translations here what do we have? The hebrew is ke na ni like canaanite. Some take that to be anyone unclean some think no enemies anymore. Others stick with the no merchant idea like no money changers in the temple, the worship of the Lord will not be some profitable excercise for someone. No matter which perspective someone lands on I think the context puts us in the same frame of reference. That is the emphasis of the purity and holiness of worship of God on that day.
