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speaking to the priests who belong to the house of the Lord of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, “Shall I weep in the fifth month and abstain, as I have done these many years?”
It seems that these folks had become bored with worshipping God and were looking for a way to cease from the very fasts they had ordained for themselves. It seems, however, that God had also grown bored with their "worship" and with them!
The same has to be true today in Christian worship, with all the man-made rules and regulations that people get bored with. God is bored with them too.
‘When you eat and drink, do you not eat for yourselves and do you not drink for yourselves?
Do we further the kingdom of God or hinder it with food? (). How should we view food? ()
The burden of the word of the Lord concerning Israel.
Thus declares the Lord who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him,
What we learn about God:
He created the heavens and the earth (cf. ; ; ; )
He formed the spirit of man ()
“Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah.
If God can create the heavens and the earth and put the breath of life in man (), then He can do what He promises to do in v. 2. Verse 1 therefore overviews God's great power in the past in order to set the stage for how that power will be displayed in the future.
A "cup that causes reeling" sounds like alcohol making drunk. Reeling means to "stagger, totter, wobble."
“It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.
The gathering against Jerusalem is the campaign of Armageddon in which the nations’ armies will gather against Jerusalem (cf. ; ; ).
The defeat of the Armageddon armies is therefore likened to someone who gets drunk and someone who attempts to move something heavier than he can handle. They will thus be ruined!
“In that day,” declares the Lord, “I will strike every horse with bewilderment and his rider with madness. But I will watch over the house of Judah, while I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.
As God went before Joshua and his armies to defeat the Canaanites, God will also fight the final battle for Israel and for His own glory. This future battle not only has precedence in Joshua but also in the modern day following Israel's statehood in 1948, 1953, and 1967.
“Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘A strong support for us are the inhabitants of Jerusalem through the Lord of hosts, their God.’
Possibly the inhabitants of Judah will be on the wrong side but will later recognize that God is empowering the residents of Jerusalem.
“In that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot among pieces of wood and a flaming torch among sheaves, so they will consume on the right hand and on the left all the surrounding peoples, while the inhabitants of Jerusalem again dwell on their own sites in Jerusalem.
An easy fire is set when that which is to be consumed is dry. So too for Israel, for at the right time God will allow her armies to defeat her enemies, and it will be as simple as when one lights a match and puts it onto dry wood or grass.
“The Lord also will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem will not be magnified above Judah.
The priority of Judah’s deliverance over that of Jerusalem will assure the entire nation’s unity with the inhabitants of the capital city.
“In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the one who is feeble among them in that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord before them.
Is “the house of David” a personal reference to Christ at His Second Advent? Not likely since “the house of David” in verse and likely refers simply to the political leaders of Israel. So is a concluding summary regarding the defeat of the nations gathered against Jerusalem.
“In that day there will be great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo.
Hadad Rimmon, identified as a village near Jezreel in the plain of Megiddo (cf. ), was the place where Josiah was killed. As the people mourned there over their king, so too will they mourn over their King, Jesus their Messiah. In other words, the mourning will be as great as has ever been or ever will be.
12-14
12-14
“The land will mourn, every family by itself; the family of the house of David by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself and their wives by themselves;
Note the universality and intensity of Israel's future mourning.
Though David had a son named Nathan (), it is probably Nathan the prophet who is in view (). Also, Levi had a grandson named Shimei (). David was a king, Nathan was a prophet, and Shimei was a priest. The mention of all three may therefore refer to the repentance (and guilt) of kings, prophets, and priests. Now if David's son Nathan is in view, then only the royal and priestly families are specified.
Each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves may indicate the individuality and thus the sincerity of the mourning rather than a mere outward conformity of corporate mourning.
“In that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity.
The phrase “on that day” occurs 16 times in these three closing chapters (, , , ; , ; , , , , ).
On the day of Christ’s crucifixion the fountain was opened potentially for all Israel and the whole world. At the Second Advent of Christ, the fountain will be opened experientially for the Jewish nation. This spiritual cleansing of the nation is associated in other passages of Scripture with Israel’s spiritual regeneration and the inauguration of the New Covenant (e.g., ; ; ).
“It will come about in that day,” declares the Lord of hosts, “that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered; and I will also remove the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land.
By the time Christ returns, there will be many forms of idolatry (). The most obvious form will be the worship of the image of the beast in the temple in Jerusalem (; ; ; ; ).
God cutting off all these evils, along with the people, sounds a lot like what Joshua and Israel were supposed to do in Canaan. Of course they failed.
“And if anyone still prophesies, then his father and mother who gave birth to him will say to him, ‘You shall not live, for you have spoken falsely in the name of the Lord’; and his father and mother who gave birth to him will pierce him through when he prophesies.
This speaks of the millennial reign of Christ when false prophets will not be tolerated. Even parents will kill their children who prophesy falsely -- the death penalty exacted against false prophets ().
4-6
4-6
“Also it will come about in that day that the prophets will each be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies, and they will not put on a hairy robe in order to deceive;
Knowing that they can be killed for giving false prophecies, false prophets will deceive people about their true beliefs. Some true prophets did wear a garment of hair (e.g., Elijah, , and later John the Baptist, ), but these prophets will forego wearing anything that might cause them to be detected. They will claim to be simple farmers and lie about the source of wounds or scars on their bodies. These scars no doubt will be from self-inflicted wounds associated with idol-worship. To answer the accusation that they were involved in idol-worship, the false prophets will claim they were disciplined by those who love them, either loving parents or brawling companions.
“Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd,
And against the man, My Associate,”
Declares the Lord of hosts.
“Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered;
And I will turn My hand against the little ones.
Recalling that this is a prophecy given to Zechariah in 518 BC, God is speaking of the future where He will direct the death of His Shepherd, namely Jesus. He is the True Shepherd, the Messiah (cf. )
The Good Shepherd ,
The Great Shepherd
The Chief Shepherd
God added that this Shepherd is His Associate, a term found elsewhere only in Leviticus (; ) where it refers to a "near relative."
Here God is claiming identity of nature or unity of essence with His Shepherd, thus strongly affirming the Messiah’s deity.
God turning His hand against the little ones may refer to His allowing the persecutions against Jewish Christians in the Book of Acts. The scattering of the sheep may also refer to the scattering of the Jews when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in a.d. 70.
8-9
8-9
“It will come about in all the land,”
Declares the Lord,
“That two parts in it will be cut off and perish;
But the third will be left in it.
Verses 8 and 9 probably will see its final and complete fulfillment in Israel’s dispersion in the Tribulation (cf. , ). At that time two-thirds of the Jewish nation will be struck down and perish, but the surviving remnant will be restored, at least for the most part, to their covenant relationship with the Lord.
“And I will bring the third part through the fire,
Refine them as silver is refined,
And test them as gold is tested.
They will call on My name,
And I will answer them;
I will say, ‘They are My people,’
And they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’ ”
By faith, they will call on the Lord's name () and be restored as a nation ().
Israel's renewed covenant relationship with the Lord (; ; ) will be reflected in God’s words, "They are My people" (cf. ), and the people’s response, "The Lord is our God" (cf. ).
Behold, a day is coming for the Lord when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you.
This is the fulfillment of eschatological psalms—such as ; ; —which envision the universal earthly reign of the Lord. This is when Jesus takes the Davidic throne in the city of Jerusalem and reigns as King forever ().
These events clearly portray the premillennial return of Christ.
For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.
By this time in the Tribulation, Jerusalem will be inhabited with the AC's people, desecrating all that is holy (much like it is today!).
Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle.
Note it is the Lord who fights this battle, described in .
In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south.
Where Christ returns is also the place where He departed ascending into heaven (). This is , and what follows is the sheep/goat judgments (.)
You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him!
When Christ returns, He comes with His "holy ones" (; ; ; ; ) which will include both angels and previously raptured saints.
Azel is an unknown place, possibly the Valley of Jehoshaphat, spoken of in , , where God will judge the Gentiles.
In that day there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle.
This event is previously prophesied in aiah; emiah; iel, ; , ; , .
For it will be a unique day which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at evening time there will be light.
Although the day was without light in v. 6, the nigh will be full of light; hence, it is a "unique day" (; ).
And in that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter.
A perennial spring of water will appear between the eastern sea (Dead Sea) and the western sea (Mediterranean). This year-round provision apparently will promote unsurpassed fertility throughout the land (cf. ; , ; ).
And the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one.
Note this reign of Christ is not just over Israel but "over all the earth." How can anyone actually believe that this has already taken place or that it will be a spiritual fulfillment? How disappointing if that were the case!
10-11
10-11
All the land will be changed into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site from Benjamin’s Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses.
The Benjamin Gate (cf. ; ) may have been near the east part of the northern wall; the site of the First Gate is unknown; the Corner Gate was on the west wall; and the Tower of Hannanel (cf. ) was on the north wall. Now Jerusalem will be eternally secure!
12-15
12-15
Now this will be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth.
This is the description of how God fights the battle by Himself (cf. v. 3)
16-19
16-19
Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths.
After Jerusalem becomes secure and Messiah’s worldwide reign has been established (vv. ), then the survivors from all the nations will worship annually in Jerusalem. “The survivors” are not the Jewish remnant that had been scattered among “all the nations,” for the Jewish remnant will already have been regathered to the land at the time of the Second Advent. Rather, these survivors are from nonmilitary personnel of those nations whose armies were destroyed by Messiah in the attack on Jerusalem (vv. ; cf. ). The armies in the Campaign of Armageddon will be destroyed, but not the people of the nations they will represent. Furthermore, they will be the survivors of the divine judgment on the Gentile nations who will enter the kingdom of Christ as “sheep,” the “goats” having been barred from entrance into the Millennium ().
That Gentiles will go to Jerusalem (cf. ; ; ; ) to worship does not mean they will become Jewish proselytes, as in Old Testament times. Millennial religious worship will not be a restored Judaism but a newly instituted worldwide religious order embracing both Jews and Gentiles. It will center in Jerusalem and will incorporate some features identical with or similar to certain aspects of OT worship. One of these aspects is the annual celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles (cf. ; ). The need to go to Jerusalem is partially explained by the presence there of the object of worship—the King, the Lord Almighty, that is, Jesus Christ who will be ruling on the throne of David (, ; ) in Jerusalem ().
. Worshiping annually in Jerusalem will be necessary for the people to enjoy fertility of crops. Those nations that neglect or refuse such opportunities for worship will forfeit their water supply. For most nations this simply means they will have no rain. But Egypt, whose irrigation depends not on rain (at least not directly) but rather on the flooding of the Nile, will still experience the plague of drought as punishment from the Lord, as will all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.
20-21
20-21
In that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “HOLY TO THE LORD.” And the cooking pots in the Lord’s house will be like the bowls before the altar.
. In that day holiness will characterize millennial life (cf. ) whether it be in public life (the bells of the horses), religious life (the cooking pots in the Lord‘s house, the millennial temple, ), or private life (every pot in Jerusalem and Judah). Perhaps the general thought is the removal of a dichotomy between secular and sacred. In the Old Testament a Canaanite had become symbolic of anything ceremonially unclean and ungodly (the dishonest “merchant” in is lit., “the Canaanite”). In the millennial temple no such defilement will occur. Thus Zechariah’s prophetic book which began with a call to repentance () concludes with an affirmation that all will be holy to the Lord (). Because He is the Lord Almighty and the Holy One, He will establish holiness throughout the glorious Millennium!