Zechariah Chapter 14 Treasures
From The Book of Zechariah
Zech 14: [1]
Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst
of thee.
[2] For I will gather all
nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the
houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into
captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. [3] Then shall the LORD go forth, and
fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. [4] And his feet shall stand in that
day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the
mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward
the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain
shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. [5] And ye shall flee to the valley of
the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the
earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and
the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. [6] And it shall come to pass in that
day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:
[7] But it shall be one day
which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to
pass, that at evening time it shall be light. [8] And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out
from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the
hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
1. The
Coming Day of the Lord (1-8)
In 1948, Israel became a nation; but they were and
currently are a nation in unbelief of Jesus Christ.
The Jews have been returning to Israel from around the
world.
Yet there are still many Jews abiding around the world.
When the Lord Jesus raptures home His church, the
unbelievers will be left behind.
The anti-Christ will arise to power and seemingly in the
name of peace.
The anti-Christ will confirm the covenant of peace with
Israel and the Jews.
Halfway through the 7 year Tribulation period, the
anti-Christ will break this covenant.
The anti-Christ will require the Jews to worship him and
him alone.
When Israel refuses the anti-Christ’s demands, the
anti-Christ will turn the world against the Jews.
The anti-Christ will gather the world’s armies in order
to exterminate the Jews.
As Zechariah chapter 14 begins, the world’s armies
surround Israel.
In verse 1, we read that the “day of the Lord” has
finally come; the day in which Jesus returns.
This day is 7 years after the rapture, just as the Word
of God has said.
The anti-Christ has led the world to attack Jerusalem
Jerusalem seems to be under seige
and the enemy is dividing the spoils of the city.
Please remember it is the Lord God who is soveriegnly in control and has allowed this day to come.
According to verse 2, the city is taken, the houses are
plundered and the women are raped.
Half of the population of the city of Jerusalem is taken
as captives while the other half is surrounded.
According to verse 3, it is right then that the Lord
Jesus returns in His second coming to earth.
He is coming to defend the believing remnant that is
surrounded.
He is coming to fight against the gathered armies of the
world’s enemy nations.
He is coming in an act of war.
Exodus 15:3
[3] The LORD is a man of war :
the LORD is his name.
In
verse 4, we learn that His feet will stand on the top of the Mount of Olives.
This
is exactly the place where the Lord Jesus ascended into heaven.
Acts 1:9-12
[9] And when he had spoken these
things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of
their sight.
[10] And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men
stood by them in white apparel;
[11] Which also said, Ye men of
Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same
Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as
ye have seen him go into heaven.
[12] Then returned they unto
Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet,
Right
now there is a church built there called the Church of the Ascension.
They
should have called it the Church of His Return.
Remember
in Ezekiel 11:23 when the glory of God departed that it stood on the Mount of
Olives.
When Ezekiel saw the glory of the Lord return it returned
from the Mount of Olives, Ezekiel 43.
When the Lord Jesus stands on the Mount of Olives, the
mountain will split in two.
The Lord will have returned in power.
The
splitting of this mountain will cause a great valley to develop.
According to verse 5, the believing Jews will flee into
this newly opened mountain pass, or valley.
Joel called this valley the “valley of Jehoshapaht”
and the “valley of decision.”
The anti-Christ and the armies of the world will pursue
the Jews into that great valley.
God will gather the enemy in the valley of decision for
judgment.
Israel will flee just like they did from Pharaoh.
Israel will flee just like they did in the day of the
great earthquake of King Uzziah’s reign.
In that day, Zechariah says “the Lord my God shall come.”
Amen!
Jesus
will come in “like manner” as they saw Him go. The Lord shall come and “all
the saints” with Him.
Revelation 19:11-16
[11] And I saw heaven opened, and
behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
[12] His eyes were as a flame of
fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man
knew, but he himself.
[13] And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word
of God.
[14] And the armies which were
in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and
clean.
[15] And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the
nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth
the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
[16] And he hath on his vesture
and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS
1 Thessalonians 3:13
[13] To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable
in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
with all his saints.
It
is at this return that the Jews will “look upon him who they pierced.”
The
Jews will realize it is Jesus they once rejected, crucified and have finally
turned to that comes to save them.
It
is right here that Zechariah 12:10-14 takes place.
According to verse 6, when Jesus comes, the sun, moon and
stars of heaven will no longer shine.
Rev 6:12-14
[12] And I beheld when he had opened
the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black
as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
[13] And the stars of heaven
fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her
untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
[14] And the heaven departed as
a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved
out of their places.
According
to verse 7, on that day all of the natural things which we know will be out of
perspective.
According to verse 8, when Jesus comes, flowing water
will spring from Jerusalem.
This
water will flow in two directions; toward the Mediterranean Sea and toward the
Dead Sea.
Ezekiel
47:1-12 says this water would be gushing out the sanctuary of the House of the
Lord.
Zech 14: [9]
And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one
LORD, and his name one. [10] All
the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and
inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate,
unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel
unto the king's winepresses. [11]
And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but
Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.
2. The Crowing of the Lord as King (9-11)
In
verse 9, we see that Jesus is made King over all the earth.
Jesus
will be accepted as one Lord and there will be one religion.
In
verses 10 and 11, the land shall be restored, the city rebuilt and the nation
replenished.
There
will be no more disease, no more destruction and no more death.
The
curse of sin has been removed.
The
Lord is crowned King and He sits on His throne in that great city of
Jerusalem.
Zech 14: [12]
And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that
have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand
upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their
tongue shall consume away in their mouth. [13] And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult
from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the
hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up
against the hand of his neighbour. [14] And Judah also shall fight at
Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered
together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance. [15] And so shall be the plague of the
horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that
shall be in these tents, as this plague.
3. The Conquest of the Nations (12-15)
The Lord will smite the enemy who has gathered against
Israel and Jerusalem.
First the enemy is smitten with a deadly plague that
caused their flesh to be consumed as they stand.
Their eyes are consumed away while in their sockets.
Their tongues are consumed away in their mouth.
The enemy, with
victory in sight, bragged with their tongues and the Lord has come and defeated
the enemy.
God has withdrawn life from the unbelievers. They have
become skeletons while they stand.
Then in verse 13, as some men are hit with that deadly
plague, others are hit with fear and confusion.
In
fear, the enemy quickly begins to kill one another.
In
verse 14, Judah is given super strength to fight and they will be granted the
ultimate victory.
There
will be a plague for some, confusion for others but victory for Israel.
All
the wealth of the world, the very spoil is now in the hands of the Jews.
In
verse 15, this plague will fall upon the horse, the mule, the camel, the ass
and all the beasts in tents.
Zech 14: [16]
And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which
came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King,
the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. [17] And it shall be,
that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to
worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. [18] And if the family of Egypt go not
up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the
LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. [19] This shall be the punishment of
Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of
tabernacles.
[20] In that day shall there be
upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD's house shall be like the bowl's
before the altar. [21] Yea,
every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts:
and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein:
and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD
of hosts.
4. The Character of the Kingdom (16-21)
Now we finally see that all of the
ungodly are judged in righteousness.
The Lord Jesus Christ is sitting and ruling upon His
throne.
All those who believed in Jesus during the Tribulation
and are still living enter into the Millennium.
These are peoples from the Gentile nations who are still
living because they turned to Jesus.
These believers will come to Jerusalem to worship the
Lord Jesus and keep the feast of Tabernacles.
According to verse 17, if anyone should dare rebel, the
Lord will send a severe drought.
According to verse 18, Egypt’s future generations could
say “we don’t need the rain.”
Egypt might think “we have the Nile and its fertility.”
The Lord says if a drought doesn’t threaten you then I
will send a mighty plague as your punishment.
In fact this plague would be used to punish all future
generations of nations who will not serve the Lord.
Today, you and I have the free-will to chose and serve
the Lord and be saved.
But in that day, those who enter the Millennium have made
their decision to serve the Lord.
The Millennium will have the greatest population boom in
the history of the world.
If
future generations during the Millennium should dare resist the Lord, He will
rule them with a rod of iron.
Thus
we understand why the devil is released for a little season at the end of the
Millennium.
Because
there will be those future generations who want to rebel against the Lord.
According
to verses 20 and 21, the days of the Millennium will be an
Holy time; an Holy Kingdom.
Everything
that exists will be Holy unto the Lord.
In
the Old Testament only the High Priest wore a turban that said “Holiness unto
the LORD”, Ex 28:36.
But
in that day, everyone and everything is Holy.
Common
pots and pans will be Holy unto the Lord and are viewed as Holy
as altar bowls at the Temple.
Even
the bells on the horses will say “HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD.”
There
will ne nothing considered “Canaanite”, which is unclean or
impure.
The
Lord wants an unblemished world and this will last for 1000 years or a
Millennium.
But
there will be those future generations who want to rebel against the Lord.
Thus
we understand why the devil is released for a little season at the end of the
Millennium.
Revelation 20:7-10
[7] And when the thousand years are
expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
[8] And shall go out to deceive
the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of
whom is as the sand of the sea.
[9] And they went up on the
breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the
beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
[10] And the devil that deceived
them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the
false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Concl: In every chapter Zechariah has the Lord Jesus
as the Theme.
In Chapter 1, Jesus is the Riding One
In Chapter 2, Jesus is the Measuring One
In Chapter 3, Jesus is the Cleansing One
In Chapter 4, Jesus is the Empowering One
In Chapter 5, Jesus is the Judging One
In Chapter 6, Jesus is the Crowned One
In Chapter 7, Jesus is the Rebuking One
In Chapter 8, Jesus is the Restoring One
In Chapter 9, Jesus is the Kingly One
In Chapter 10, Jesus is the Blessing One
In Chapter 11, Jesus is the Shepherding One
In Chapter 12, Jesus is the Returning One
In Chapter 13, Jesus is the Smitten One
In
Chapter 14, Jesus is the Reigning One
The
Lord Jesus is coming. Are you ready?