Zechariah Fourteen
by Dr. Henry M. Morris
(taken from the Defender's Study Bible)
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Zechariah 14:1 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
Zechariah 14:2 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.
Zechariah 14:3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
Zechariah 14:4 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.
mount of Olives. As Christ ascended from Mt. Olivet, there He shall stand again (Acts 1:11-12).
shall cleave. The great splitting of the Mount of Olives, beneath which are known to exist even now great fault lines, will probably result from the global earthquake of Revelation 16:18-19.
Zechariah 14:5 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.
the earthquake. This earthquake is also mentioned in Amos 1:1, and must have been a terrible catastrophe, to be remembered so long—approximately three hundred years by the time of Zechariah. Geologists have generally confirmed this.
the saints with thee. When the Lord Jesus—the Messiah—does return at this time, He will, indeed, be accompanied by a host of “saints” (or “holy ones”). These will include both angels and redeemed men and women in their resurrection bodies (see 2 Thessalonians 1:7, 1 Thessalonians 3:13; 4:16-17; Revelation 19:7-14).
Zechariah 14:6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:
that day. The phrase “in that day” refers to “the day of the Lord,” the period when God is judging and cleansing the earth and its inhabitants. It occurs twenty-one times in the book of Zechariah—first in Zechariah 2:11, last in Zechariah 14:21.
Zechariah 14:7 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.
shall be light. The strange atmospheric phenomena described in Zechariah 14:6-7 may be related in some way to the great earthquake, but may as well be entirely supernatural, events properly heralding the personal presence of the Creator.
Zechariah 14:8 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.
living waters. Emerging from a great aquifer beneath Jerusalem, and released by the earthquake, two great rivers will flow, one to the Dead Sea, one to the Mediterranean. See the more detailed account of these waters in Ezekiel 47:1-12. There were similar rivers in Eden, flowing out from God, and there will also be such in the New Jerusalem (Genesis 2:10-14; Revelation 22:1-2). All of these are literal models of the great spiritual prototype, the living water from Christ Himself (Isaiah 44:3; John 4:14; 7:37-39; Revelation 22:17).
Zechariah 14:9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
one Lord. No more will men worship the creation rather than the Creator, by way of thousands of pantheistic, polytheistic delusions. All will know and obey the one God, our Creator/Savior, through Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:9-11; Ephesians 1:21; etc.).
Zechariah 14:10 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.
Zechariah 14:11 And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.
Zechariah 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.
Zechariah 14:13 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.
Zechariah 14:14 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.
Zechariah 14:15 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.
Zechariah 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.
Zechariah 14:17 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.
Zechariah 14:18 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.
Zechariah 14:19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
Zechariah 14:20 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 bowls before the altar.
Zechariah 14:21 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.
