The Day of the Lord:Hope in Troubling Times
Notes
Transcript
Bible Passage: Zechariah 14:1–21
How this passage could point to Christ: This passage points to Christ as the fulfillment of God's promise of salvation and restoration. It foreshadows His triumphant return and establishes Him as the King who reigns over all nations, ultimately bringing peace and justice.
Big Idea: In Christ, we have assurance and hope; His victory over evil ensures our future restoration and the establishment of God's eternal kingdom.
1. Prepare for Divine Intervention
1. Prepare for Divine Intervention
Zechariah 14:1-5
v. 1 — “a day is coming;” this day is a day in which the Lord will manifest his power and glory. He will vindicate His honor and his name in wrath upon His enemies, speedily bringing to a climax His purposes of grace for Israel and all the earth.
All that has been taken by the nations from Jerusalem, representing the nation Israel, is returned and is leisurely divided among the people in the midst of the city.
v. 2 — Jerusalem will be thoroughly and completely overthrown. Her enemies will believe they are secure in their victory over her. But this is the a description of the last triumph over Jerusalem by the Gentile nations. This is the final days of the “times of the Gentiles.” The detail in this describe the final violence done against the Jewish people, as in Isaiah 13:6-16; note Isa. 13:16
Their little ones also will be dashed to pieces Before their eyes; Their houses will be plundered And their wives ravished.
The Lord does this as a scourge to chasten the ungodly among His people and, ultimately, to punish the nations for the evil in their hearts against Israel, cf. Zech 12:2-3
“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.
“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.
“And in that day I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
The complement to this is the purpose of the nations gathered against Israel with evil intent to destroy the city of God’s people. But their purpose will not stand.
The desolation described here is that near the end of the great tribulation, yet even here God’s grace protects a remnant.
v. 3 — Just when hope seems gone, the enemy has prevailed, and the hour is darkest, “the LORD will go forth,” technically speaking of the going forth of an army for battle. He will muster His hosts, even though the battle will be the LORD’s. He has fought before for His people, and He will wage war once again for His glory and for His people, Joshua 10:14
There was no day like that before it or after it, when the Lord listened to the voice of a man; for the Lord fought for Israel.
Joshua captured all these kings and their lands at one time, because the Lord, the God of Israel, fought for Israel.
“And you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations because of you, for the Lord your God is He who has been fighting for you.
The Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera alighted from his chariot and fled away on foot.
Now Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, and the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day against the Philistines and confused them, so that they were routed before Israel.
All His resources are available to Him to wage war. He is the Divine Warrior.
v. 4 — “In that day” the Messiah reveals Himself. His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives to the east of Jerusalem on the other side of the Kidron Valley. Jewish orientation in ancient times was that east was in front of Jerusalem, behind her was west. Zechariah tells us the LORD will split this mountain in two, half falling to the north and the other half toward the south, leaving a large east-west valley down the middle. This change described here seems to occur as a result of Christ’s descending on the mountain, actually forming a way of escape for the remnant left in Jerusalem.
“Words cannot express more plainly the personal, visible, bodily, literal return of the Lord Jesus Christ in power.” - Dr. Charles Feinberg
v. 5 — Like their forefathers fled thought the Red Sea to freedom from the Egyptians, so the Israelites who remain flee for safety through this valley, with mountains on either side. The valley reaches as far as Azel, a site presently unknown but obviously some distance to the east of Jerusalem. The Jews will flee just as they did during the great earthquake during the reign of King Uzziah over Judah, referred to in Amos 1:1:
The words of Amos, who was among the sheepherders from Tekoa, which he envisioned in visions concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
Then the LORD will come with all His holy ones, both angels and Christians who have gone to be with Christ in heaven, Matt. 25:31
“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.
when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed.
The heavens will praise Your wonders, O Lord; Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.
A God greatly feared in the council of the holy ones, And awesome above all those who are around Him?
Zechariah in this verse stressed his own relationship and faith in the LORD, as well as his wonder at this revelation, referring to Him personally as “my God.”
This part of Zechariah’s prophecy reminds us that God will intervene in human history and He will do so decisively. It reminds us that God’s plan involves deliverance and foreshadows Christ’s ultimate triumph over sin and death, and now returns to deliver His people and to set up God’s rule on earth. but while we wait, we persevere, standing strong in our faith against the trials and tribulations of our day, knowing our deliverance is nigh.
2. Persevere in the Light
2. Persevere in the Light
Zechariah 14:6-11
v. 6 — Remarkable changes occur in the real of nature when there shall be no light, Isa. 13:10
For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not flash forth their light; The sun will be dark when it rises And the moon will not shed its light.
“But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
“the luminaries will dwindle” is difficult, but it is probably best to interpret as a reiteration of the first part of verse 6 in figurative language. The luminaries (sun, moon, stars) will be there but the day will be characterized as the absence of their light. It is a unique, solitary day unlike any other when the natural sources of light with been withdrawn. However there will be supernatural light, even in the evening time; it is the glorious presence of the returned Lord, Psalm 97:3-4
Fire goes before Him And burns up His adversaries round about.
His lightnings lit up the world; The earth saw and trembled.
The “day” is an extended period of time, not just a 12-hour or 24-hour period. There is just so much going on “in that day”! The prophets spoke of this eschatological day of the LORD as containing both judgment (in the Tribulation) and blessing (in the Millennium).
“In the hour of deepest gloom and blackness, God causes the bright light of His deliverance to shine forth for the distressed ones” — Dr. Charles Feinberg.
vs. 8 — “in that day,” possibly as a result of the earthquake described in verse 4 and 5 and the physical changes in verse 10, living waters will flow out of Jerusalem. They will spring forth from the ground and last, finding their way to the seas. The eastern sea is the Dead Sea, the western sea is the Mediterranean Sea. The lving water will be abundantly provided and not dependent on the weather, like many streams in the region which dry up in the summertime. These refreshing, abundant waters God will provide will flow perpetually.
Vs. 9 — “In that day” the earth will know a righteous King. The King of heaven is now also the King over all the earth. He is to be King by right as well as in fact,
“For your husband is your Maker, Whose name is the Lord of hosts; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, Who is called the God of all the earth.
May he also rule from sea to sea And from the River to the ends of the earth.
Let the nomads of the desert bow before him, And his enemies lick the dust.
Let the kings of Tarshish and of the islands bring presents; The kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.
And let all kings bow down before him, All nations serve him.
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim And the horse from Jerusalem; And the bow of war will be cut off. And He will speak peace to the nations; And His dominion will be from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth.
Polytheism will be done in that day. The Lord Jesus Christ will be owned and recognized as the sole Ruler of the earth, Isa 65:11-16
“But you who forsake the Lord, Who forget My holy mountain, Who set a table for Fortune, And who fill cups with mixed wine for Destiny,
I will destine you for the sword, And all of you will bow down to the slaughter. Because I called, but you did not answer; I spoke, but you did not hear. And you did evil in My sight And chose that in which I did not delight.”
Therefore, thus says the Lord God, “Behold, My servants will eat, but you will be hungry. Behold, My servants will drink, but you will be thirsty. Behold, My servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame.
“Behold, My servants will shout joyfully with a glad heart, But you will cry out with a heavy heart, And you will wail with a broken spirit.
“You will leave your name for a curse to My chosen ones, And the Lord God will slay you. But My servants will be called by another name.
“Because he who is blessed in the earth Will be blessed by the God of truth; And he who swears in the earth Will swear by the God of truth; Because the former troubles are forgotten, And because they are hidden from My sight!
v. 10 — further topographical changes are in store”into a plain” has the definite article in Hebrew; it actually denotes the plain of Arabah, which is the largest plain in Israel and Judah, running from Hermon to the Red Sea in the deepest depression on the face of the earth. The land is depressed that Jerusalem might be elevated, Isaiah 2:2
Now it will come about that In the last days The mountain of the house of the Lord Will be established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it.
Cf. Micah 4:1. The distance between Geba and Rimmon is not certain though there is a Geba six miles north of Jerusalem, referred to in 2 Kings 23:8 as the northern extent of the kingdom of Judah. We know from Zechariah that Rimmon located south of Jerusalem is about 30 miles to the SW
Jerusalem will rise yet will stay where it is. All of it from the North wall Gate (Benjamin) as far as the First gate’s location (probably an old gate ) to the corner gate (which is west of the First Gate), and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal garden and wine presses, which are located in the valley SE of Jerusalem. The jerusalem of that day is vastly different than today; maybe the emphasis is that from east to west, from north to south, Jerusalem will be elevated above the lands around. Not a part will not be raised… And because its glory is from the glory of its King, it will at last truly be “the city on a hill.”
V. 11 — Jerusalem will be full of life, full of blessing, and secure in the care of her King, a place of perpetual light. She will never again suffer destruction.
3. Partake in Ultimate Victory
3. Partake in Ultimate Victory
Zechariah 14:12-21
v. 12 — Beginning in this verse through verse 15, we have the picture of the Lord’s destruction of Israel’s enemies. He will strike them with a terrifying plague which will cause the enemy combatants’ flesh to rot off them, no matter where they are. They will be unable to see or speak. It is a catastrophe like that which befell the Assyrian army in Isaiah 37:36
Then the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men arose early in the morning, behold, all of these were dead.
v. 13 — Panic among the enemies of God’s people will fall upon them, and they will fight one another, just as the army of Sisera was decimated by the LORD, using Gideon’s 300, Judges 7:22
When they blew 300 trumpets, the Lord set the sword of one against another even throughout the whole army; and the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the edge of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath.
This event takes place near Jerusalem...
v. 14 — The Israelites (Judah and Jerusalem) will fight their enemies there, gathering much spoil from the people they defeat. Note the instruments God uses to defeat the enemies of His people: a plague(v. 12), themselves (v. 13), and the Israelites (v. 14).
v. 15 — This final battle is one the enemies of God’s people will not escape from, for their animals will also suffer the same plague.
v. 16 — All those of the enemy nations that did not die will now bow to the sovereignty of the LORD, Isa 45:21-24
“Declare and set forth your case; Indeed, let them consult together. Who has announced this from of old? Who has long since declared it? Is it not I, the Lord? And there is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and a Savior; There is none except Me.
“Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other.
“I have sworn by Myself, The word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness And will not turn back, That to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.
“They will say of Me, ‘Only in the Lord are righteousness and strength.’ Men will come to Him, And all who were angry at Him will be put to shame.
so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
Every year they will go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord and celebrate the Feast of Booths, commemorating the LORD’s provision of a bountiful harvest and the Israelites’ redemption from Egyptian slavery. We would call it a fall harvest festival, to recognize Israel’s past history to celebrate the entrance into the Promised Land and kingdom blessings.
When Peter saw Jesus transfigured with Moses and Elijah, he concluded that the messianic kingdom had begun and suggested that the disciple make booths for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. This is an indicator that the Jews in Jesus’ day associated the Feast of Booths with the beginning of Messiah’s kingdom. This is the same connection Zechariah makes in this verse
vs. 17-19 — If the nations did not make the pilgrimage to attend this feast, the LORD will withhold rain, which was a curse for covenant disobedience under the Mosaic Law. Egypt is used as an example here, yet Egypt depended on the Nile, not rain for its harvest. Rain is a figure for spiritual blessing, cf. Ezek. 34:26
“I will make them and the places around My hill a blessing. And I will cause showers to come down in their season; they will be showers of blessing.
… but both literal and spiritual blessings are probably in view here. Egypt is very familiar with plagues in their history at the time of the Exodus, being brought low and recognizing God’s sovereignty, so this plague will be a reminder again of Whom they are to worship and serve.
This period, as glorious as it is with the presence of Messiah, is also a time of testing for the remnant of the earth’s nations.
vs. 20-21 — Even the most common things will be as consecrated to God’s glory as the gold plate on the high priest’s turban, which previously indicated his consecration, Exodus 28:36
“You shall also make a plate of pure gold and shall engrave on it, like the engravings of a seal, ‘Holy to the Lord.’
… as well as a reminder to Israel of their holy calling as well. All people will truly be consecrated to the LORD and fulfill their calling as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
Ordinary cooking pots will be set apart to honor the LORD. There will be no more distinction between secular and sacred; everything will be holy — set aprt to God for His service.
Canaanites, representing all people who are morally and spiritually unclean, reprehensible to God and doomed to death, will be no more. All would acknowledge the LORD as God and King.
Christ's return will bring about the final defeat of evil, establishing His peace and justice. This should encourage us to live in hope, participating in God's mission today in anticipation of His ultimate victory.
