Zacarias 14

Zacarias 14

Chart from recommended resource Jensen's Survey of the OT - used by permission Zechariah Chart from Charles Swindoll Another Zechariah Chart ZECHARIAH ("Yahweh Remembers") Click for EXCELLENT TIMELINE of Zechariah - Go to Page 43 Other Timelines on Zechariah Zec 1:1-6 Zec 1:7-6:8 Zec 6:9-6:15 Zec 7:1-8:23 Zec 9:1-11:17 Zec 12:1-14:21 Return to Me Zec 1:3 Messianic Kingdom Visions The Branch Four Messages Two Oracles or Burdens Zechariah 1-6 Zechariah 7-8 Zechariah 9-14 Apocalyptic Ethical Prophecy 1) Rebuke 2) Reminder 3) Restoration 4) Return Predictive Prophecy 1) Burden Against the Nations 2) Burden For Israel Call to Repentance Eight Visions (Picture) Crowning of Joshua Question of the Fasts First Burden: Rejection of Messiah Second Burden: Reign of Messiah The Way of Salvation Messianic Kingdom Visions The Bringer of Salvation Commands Concerning Present Things Oracles (Burdens) Concerning Future Things Behold the man...the Branch Love, Truth and Peace The Day of the Lord PICTURES PROBLEMS PREDICTIONS ISRAEL'S FORTUNE ISRAEL'S FASTING ISRAEL'S FUTURE "My house will be built in Jerusalem" Zec 1:16 "Let your hands be strong" Zec 8:9 "HOLY TO THE LORD" PLACE: JERUSALEM Written During the Building of the Temple 520-518BC Written after the Temple Was Completed circa 480-470BC SUMMARY OF TRUTHS ABOUT THE DAY OF THE LORD IN 4 NEW TESTAMENT & 4 OLD TESTAMENT BOOKS Zechariah 14:1 Behold, a day is coming for the LORD when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. Isa 2:12 13:6,9 Joe 2:31 3:14 Mal 4:5 Acts 2:20 Rev 16:14 THE DAY OF THE LORD IS IMMINENT Let me repeat a note from the introduction to Zechariah 12-14 - Even Martin Luther who penned two commentaries on Zechariah published his first one in 1526 and stopped at the end of Zechariah 13 without explanation! Luther's second commentary on Zechariah was written one year after his first but still had minimal explanation of Zechariah 14. In fact in the second commentary Luther wrote these words regarding Zechariah 14 "Here, in this chapter, I give up. For I am not sure what the prophet is talking about." (from "Lectures on Zechariah" 1527). In fact someone has written that there are at least seven different interpretations of Zechariah 14! Of course, there is only one correct interpretation. As you read it, let me encourage you to read the text literally, lest you be carried away by a vivid imagination and come up with an "eighth" interpretation, and end up totally missing the glory and grandeur of this majestic chapter which underscores the Greatness and Glory of our God IN THAT DAY! To help understand Zechariah 14 keep two basic points in mind as you read and study: (1) Every use of the term "day," mentioned 12 times in 11 verses, refers to a time which can be placed under the more general, all-inclusive term the Day of the LORD, which is not a single day but a period of time which encompasses a number of events that span two "ages." (See Charts and Timelines) Thus the day spans two time periods or ages which can be characterized in several ways: The end of this present age and the beginning of the next age (Messianic age) The end of the kingdom of man and the beginning of the Kingdom of God The end of the old world order and beginning of a new world order The end of the old age and beginning of the new age. The end of Satan's dominion over earth and the beginning of Christ's dominion over the earth. The end of the era of godlessness and beginning of the era of holiness. (2) In Zechariah 14 the prophet skips back and forth between events in these two ages and unless you realize this, this chapter can be confusing, when it is actually relatively straightforward. Stated another way, Zechariah 14 shifts between events in a day of war (7 verses) to the events in a day of peace (12 verses) as shown below... Day of war - Zechariah 14:1-3 and Zechariah 14:12-15. Zechariah 14:4,5 describes a time that marks the beginning of the end of war and the beginning of peace (as shown by the topographical changes that will extend into the new age). Day of peace - Zechariah 14:6-11, Zechariah 14:16-21 Charles Feinberg - The final chapter of this important prophetic book opens, as did Zechariah 12, with the last invasion of Jerusalem by the nations of the earth. The time setting in both chapters is the same. Some have claimed that this chapter surpasses all the others in Zechariah in obscurity, and have thought the passage defies historical explanation. On the other hand, the prophecy has been assigned to the invasion of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC or to the siege of the city by Titus in 70 AD with his Roman legions. Suffice it to say, every feature of this invasion differentiates it from the two just mentioned. We have before us the depiction of the War of Armageddon (ED: I WOULD SLIGHTLY DISAGREE - HAR-MAGEDON IS THE PLACE IN THE PLAIN OF MEGIDDO WHERE THE ARMIES OF THE WORLD ARE GATHERED, BUT MEGIDDO IS NOT ACTUALLY WHERE THE BATTLE TAKES PLACE, cf Rev 16:12-16+). It is a day peculiarly the Lord’s when Jerusalem’s spoil will be divided in the midst of the capital. The day is so designated because in it God means to vindicate His justice and destroy the wicked. It is the day of the Lord as in prophecies of Joel, Zephaniah, Malachi, and elsewhere. (The Minor Prophets) Few chapters, if any, in the Scriptures are of greater eschatological significance than the chapter before us, and few passages reveal more clearly the vast difference between the literal interpretation of prophecy and the figurative or spiritualizing. Feinberg in his exegetical work on Zechariah adds "The last three verses of chapter 13 (Zec 13:7-9) are amplified in this chapter. The beginning of the chapter takes us back to the time indicated in the first part of Zec 12. It is customary with the prophets to give a general statement and then expand the theme later by the addition of details. From other Scriptures we know that before the events outlined in this passage take place, the nation Israel is regathered to the land in unbelief and has made a covenant with the false Messiah, the foolish shepherd of Zec 11:15–17. Few chapters, if any, in the Scriptures are of greater eschatological significance than the chapter before us, and few passages reveal more clearly the vast difference between the literal interpretation of prophecy and the figurative or spiritualizing. Lowe is prepared to confess: “We almost agree with De Wette that this chapter defies all historical explanation…. We are compelled therefore to interpret the chapter wholly in a figurative and Messianic sense.” Hengstenberg, interpreting the chapter by the same method, refers its events not “exclusively to the termination of the Church’s history, but to the whole of the Messianic era from its commencement till its close.” Wright (in loco) understands the chapter to be an ideal description of the last things, that is, of the Jewish dispensation. When the passage is interpreted in the literal sense, (ED: Read the Bible Literally -- unless clearly figurative!) it harmonizes with all that Zechariah has revealed thus far and with the prophecies concerning the consummation for Israel found throughout the Scriptures. (The Great Consummation: Israel’s Deliverance and God’s Earthly Kingdom, 14:1-21) George Klein introduces this great eschatological chapter writing "Zechariah 14 serves as the climax to the entire book by drawing together themes woven throughout the previous 13 chapters. These motifs include the return of fertility like that in paradise (cf. Zech 8:12 with Zech 14:6–8); the prosperous city of Jerusalem living securely without walls (cf. Zech 2:9; 9:8 with Zech 14:11); the curse going out over all of the land and the ban removed (cf. Zech 5:3 with Zech 14:11); God’s judgment on the nations (cf. Zech 2:1–4, 12–13; Zech 9:1–8; Zech 10:11; Zech 12:4 with Zech 14:12–15); the alteration of worship practices (cf. Zech 8:18–23 with Zech 14:20); and the nations coming to Jerusalem to worship (cf. Zech 2:11; Zech 8:20–23 with Zech 14:16). More broadly, Zech 14 makes extensive use of earlier biblical texts, applying and sometimes broadening the focus of these passages in presenting the eschatological message." (New American Commentary - Zechariah). The cosmic, eschatological sweep of this last portion, nine times punctuated by the phrase “in that day”... is almost without compare in the prophetic literature of the OT for the richness of its imagery Eugene Merrill - The second great oracle and the entire prophecy of Zechariah end on the grand and glorious note of the sovereignty of YHWH and the establishment of His universal and eternal kingdom. The cosmic, eschatological sweep of this last portion, nine times punctuated by the phrase “in that day” or the like, is almost without compare in the prophetic literature of the OT for the richness of its imagery, the authority of its pronouncements, and the majestic exaltation of the God of Israel who will be worshiped as the God of all the earth. The pivotal concern of the passage is to show that YHWH comes on their behalf in order to complete at long last all the purposes for which He had elected, redeemed, and preserved them. It is, in fact, as YHWH proves true to His covenant word to Israel that He most effectively and dramatically evinces His glory. When Israel has finally fulfilled her covenant mandate as a kingdom of priests, drawing the nations of earth redemptively to YHWH her God, then, and only then, will her mission and the course of human history simultaneously come to an end. Then and only then will YHWH be all in all. This is the organizing principle of Zechariah’s climactic word, the summation of all that has gone before. (Exegetical Commentary-Zechariah) Behold - Indeed, what a glorious chapter to behold! But there is a bad start to a glorious chapter! The NLT says "Watch, for the day of the LORD is coming when your possessions will be plundered right in front of you!" Sadly, some modern translations (NIV, NET) ignore the Hebrew word for behold. Behold (02009)(hinneh) is an interjection meaning behold, look, now; if. "It is used often and expresses strong feelings, surprise, hope, expectation, certainty, thus giving vividness depending on its surrounding context." (Baker) Hinneh generally directs our mind to the text, imploring the reader to give it special attention. In short, the Spirit is trying to arrest our attention!