Zechariah chapter 14 is difficult to comprehend because it suffers from a really bad translation mistake. And, we tend to assume that it is part of the prophecy of Zechariah 12 and 13.
It isn’t.
Not even close.
It also makes Amillennialists and Postmillennialists very unhappy, since it kills their theory about how the Millennium plays out.
Yes, Virginia, there really is a God who will rule from Jerusalem.
However, challenges remain. And some of them will connect directly with what we’ve already looked at in other books.
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Zechariah Part 14
We find our first problems in the first two verses:
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.
– Zechariah 14:1-2 (KJV)
I remember reading verse two and thinking of people being taken captive and sent to concentration camps. But, that is not what the original Hebrew word ‘captivity’ means. The word is גולה (go-lah), and it means exile. It means that half of the city goes into exile.
Also, look at the first words of verse one.
Does that sound like it is connected to the previous chapter?
No, of course not. There is no way that this wording connects with anything previous. This is a separate prophecy. If you wish to connect Zechariah 12 and 13 with this chapter, you will need to find some other prophecy that makes that connection, since you won’t find it here. And, I can tell you that no such prophecy exists. There may be decades or even centuries between Zechariah 13 and Zechariah 14.
Now, what did Jesus tell us about the coming of the Antichrist?
15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
– Matthew 24:15-18 (KJV)
What part of Daniel was Jesus speaking about?
31 And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.
32 And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.
– Daniel 11:31-32 (KJV)
This means that those who listened to Christ, got out of Jerusalem and away from the Judean hills. Now, if you want to claim that half of Jerusalem really was taken captive, you will need to find a verse for that.
Oh, and what was the covenant that Daniel spoke of?
Is it the Old Covenant?
No, of course not.
God promised to give them a New Covenant:
31 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord:
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
– Jeremiah 31:31-33 (KJV)
Let’s see… that covenant sounds familiar. What could it possibly be?
Oh, I know. Christianity. Israel will become a Christian nation. They will accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. And, if you’ve spent any time reading what the prophets have said, you’ll know that they say this in many different places.
There will be no return to the Old Covenant of sacrifice.
Okay, back to our story, so far. The half of the city that goes into exile sounds a lot like the flight into the wilderness of Revelation 12, where the woman is given sanctuary for three and a half years, along with what Jesus told us in Matthew 24.
Back to Zechariah 14…
Then, we have the second coming:
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.
– Zechariah 14:3-5 (KJV)
How much time is there between verse two and verse three?
Right about three and a half years. The clock doesn’t start ticking until the Abomination that makes Desolate is set up. However, Daniel 11:21-45 speaks of many things happening BEFORE that moment arrives. So, there’s some fuzziness here. But, that still doesn’t change the amount of time between verse two and verse three.
What happens in verse three?
Armageddon Begins!
And, you will notice that Jesus starts the Battle of Armageddon from Jerusalem. And, He does that by doing what two angels said that He would do. After Jesus gives His final words to His disciples:
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, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day’s journey.
– Acts 1:9-12 (KJV)
So, they were standing on the Mount of Olives, and Jesus ascends into Heaven. And, the angels standing by say that He will return to earth and land on the Mount of Olives. But, there’s a difference that the angels left out, which Zechariah describes:
Jesus lands on the Mount of Olives and it splits in two,
creating a massive valley that those who are left in Jerusalem can flee through.
Now, who are these saints that Jesus comes with?
The phrasing of the last part of verse five is curious:
…and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
Does it really say all the saints with you?
The wording isn’t exactly like that, but it’s close. The word for ‘saints’ here is קדשים (K-doh-sheem). That word literally just means holies. Now, having a plural for holy sounds foolish unless it refers to ‘holy ones’.
Who are these ‘holy ones’?
Now, before you jump in and say that these are the ones who have been raptured and resurrected, is there a place where it refers to those who are holy, who follow Jesus wherever He goes?
Well, consider the 144 thousand ‘holy ones’ who follow the lamb, in Revelation 14:
1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.
2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.
5 And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.
– Revelation 14:1-5 (KJV)
And, we saw them earlier in Revelation 7 when God signed His name on 12 thousand men from each of the 12 tribes of Israel.
So, in Revelation 14, these holy ones come with Jesus to Mount Zion, which would correspond with what Zechariah 14:5 says.
But, what happens later in Revelation 14?
The destruction of Babylon, the Resurrection and the Battle of Armageddon.
That’s significant, but Revelation 14 is not a ‘timeline chapter’. It is a parenthetical chapter that describes events that will happen later in the chronology of Revelation.
Revelation 12, Revelation 13 and Revelation 14 are all parenthetical chapters that add detail to certain events in the chronology of Revelation. And, you will notice that chapter 14 is the only chapter pointing forward. And, the chronology within that chapter would appear to show the Second Coming, The Resurrection and Rapture, and then Armageddon.
But first, Jesus must return with His Saints to the Mount of Olives.
So, it shows that there is some period of time between Jesus landing on the Mount of Olives and the Resurrections and Rapture. Revelation seems to say this. Zechariah 14 seems to show it. And then, Daniel 12 gives us this:
11 And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.
12 Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.
– Daniel 12:11-12 (KJV)
TRANSLATION NOTE: The word for sacrifice is not sacrifice. It just means ‘the always’ or ‘the constant’ (התמיד, ha-Tah-meed). No sacrifices are going on, because there’s no temple. But, offerings are happening, just like we do in our churches.
The important part about these two verses is the time difference. The Great Tribulation is 1,290 days. That’s a few days over three and a half years, which is what we were told about the length of the Great Tribulation. But, Daniel 12:12 adds a blessing for those who survive an extra 45 days.
Why?
Is this the amount of time it takes to get the Kings of the East to make it to the Battle of Armageddon?
So, from Zechariah 14, we see Jesus liberate Jerusalem. That would end whatever control the Antichrist has over Jerusalem. From Daniel 12, we see a waiting period. And, from Revelation we see a need to wait for the Kings of the East to arrive.
Once that waiting period is over, is THAT when the Resurrection and Rapture happens?
NOTE: you should take none of the above as ‘gospel truth’. I am assuming that these passages fit together in the way that I describe. I could be wrong, but it does tell us something about what most people have ignored for decades.
Then, in verses six and seven of Zechariah 14, we see something interesting:
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.
– Zechariah 14:6-7 (KJV)
Do we have any comparison to this?
I’m not sure.
During the greatest solar event in recorded history, the 1859 Carrington Event, the Aurora Borealis (northern lights) were seen almost as far as the equator. They were so bright that people woke up, thinking that it was morning, and many could read the newspaper by the light of this aurora.
A much greater event will be what I call Ezekiel’s Fire, which is either a small nova event or a solar flare thousands of times greater than what we saw in 1859.
You can actually see what that looks like here:
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
– Isaiah 30:26 (KJV)
NOTE: This is during the coming of Gog and Magog and not Armageddon.
You don’t want to be on the side of the earth that experiences the sun being that bright. However, it can’t last all that long because superheated material from the sun would start stripping away earth’s atmosphere and turning the sun-ward side of the earth into charcoal and glass. But after it’s over, the auroras would be incredibly bright. You probably could drive at night without headlights or streetlights, as if it were day.
The same thing cold happen again at the time of Armageddon. And, we also have the angel in Revelation with the Fourth Bowl, who pours it out on the sun and scorches the earth with fire.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
– Revelation 16:8-9 (KJV)
We also see this in Isaiah 24 after Armageddon:
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.
– Isaiah 24:23 (KJV)
How would the moon be confounded and the sun ashamed?
Well, the glory of the Lord would be truly awesome. Also, there still might be a lot of material out in space causing the sun and moon to be dim. There is a lot that we can’t know about the time of the Millennium because very little is described. Most of what we have are questions with no good answers. And we should be okay with that.
Avoid those who think that they should have an answer to every question.
The next two verses are what will make the Amillennialists and Preterists howl:
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.
9 And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.
– Zechariah 14:8-9 (KJV)
I know why Augustine created Amillennialism. The fall of Rome was traumatizing to him, so much so that he created a new theology to replace Rome as the ‘holy city’. But, Augustine’s foolishness should not convince Christians to be equally foolish.
The Millennium is not here, but it is coming.
The Millennium will be on Earth with God ruling over all the earth from Jerusalem.
This is what God told Zechariah, Isaiah and John. If you want to call God a liar, you will have to answer for that when you see Him after this life is over. I don’t think that God will give you a break for having been ‘deceived’. We have the Bible to tell us what the truth is, so we won’t have a good excuse if we believe the doctrines of men over the doctrines of God.
It’s that simple.
In the next two verses, we see that physical changes will be made to the area around Jerusalem – and probably the rest of the world.
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.
– Zechariah 14:10-11 (KJV)
So, the land will be changed, and Jerusalem will be safely inhabited, and here is what God does to those who came against Jerusalem during Armageddon:
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.
– Zechariah 14:12-15 (KJV)
So, everyone who is against God at the Battle of Armageddon and at Jerusalem, dies. But, that doesn’t mean that everyone in the world dies. That’s foolish.
Why?
Well, the following verses from Zechariah tell us that there are survivors who will come to Jerusalem, once a year during the feast of Tabernacles (Succot):
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 bowls 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.
– Zechariah 14:16-21 (KJV)
Those who want to say that this is the New Heavens and New Earth, are not reading carefully enough. There is punishment for sin during this time.
What sin will there be in the Millennium?
If you don’t obey God and refuse to go up to Jerusalem for Hag haSuccot, you will be punished.
Therefore, this cannot be the New Heavens and New Earth. It cannot be the New Jerusalem. It must be the Millennium, and Revelation says this about Our Lord’s rule during the Millennium:
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.
– Revelation 19:15 (KJV)
So, during the Millennium, Jesus will rule with a rod of iron.
What does it mean to be ruled with a rod of iron?
Every sin will be punished. Every. Single. One. No one will get away with ANYTHING. There will be perfect justice and a perfect peace. Every thought, word and action will be judged by God. And, the world will hate it, and will be ready to be deceived when Satan is released from the bottomless pit at the end of the Millennium.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
שאלו שלום ירושלים
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My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you… Hosea 4:6
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Keep this ministry alive with a donation.
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I created five Android Apps that will help you read through the Bible in a Year. You can find them here:
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If you miss my rantings about geopolitics, idiocy, resource collapse and incompetent globalism, follow me on Twitter.
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