Zachariah

Zechariah Chapter 14

• Zechariah 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.

As with many times when the Lord fights a battle, it will look like all is lost at first. It will seem as if there is no hope and the enemies of Israel will think they are going to completely destroy Israel. He will save Israel and woe to the nations that come against her. I didn't say this. This is not my own opinion, the bible says this.

The day of the Lord is not the rapture as some assume. It is the day of wrath first and His literal second coming when He returns to set up His kingdom with all His saints with Him that were previously taken up by way of the rapture. Coming with His saints (all believers in Jesus), was  prophesied by Enoch and mentioned by Jude and also in this chapter later on. The day of the Lord always refers to judgment. The rapture is what takes place before His judgment upon the world for their unbelief and their persecution of believers in Jesus and also judgment against those that try to destroy the nation of Israel.

• Isaiah 13:9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.

This was not fulfilled in 70 AD or any previous time in history. This time the Lord saves Israel, they are not scattered all over Europe.

• Zechariah 14:3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.

Joel chapter 3 prophesies also of this time.

• Joel 3:1 For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,
• 2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

I would cry and plead with the United States, Europe and other nations to please stop trying to divide the land of Israel. We will bear the judgment of God if we do. Bush, Obama, Clinton, Biden, Trump or whoever...will not get away with trying to divide the land of Israel. It is God's land He has chosen to give to Israel.

I sometimes wonder when I read about latter day prophecy, "Where is the United States?" The United States has always stood with Israel. That is why she is a nation hated second to Israel. Where is she though? Will she be part of the armies that go against Israel at this battle of Armageddon? Will the enemies of the United States have succeeded in destroying her completely before this part of prophecy is fulfilled? Another thought is that she has become so weak she can hardly defend herself or the government has changed so much that they no longer take part in world affairs. This would be preferable to going against Israel but it would show that we abandoned Israel at some point in the future because the Lord alone saves Israel from her enemies.

Perhaps the sins of the United States will grow so big that God destroys it Himself. Now in 2025, I see that the wickedness of the United States has grown more so than when I first wrote this study. In just a short amount of time. Our wickedness as increased to the point that we may no longer exist as a nation when the armies are gathered around Jerusalem or our armies have joined the armies of the anti-Christ. 

Some of the leadership in the United States has been very anti Israel lately. Scary thought.  However since writing this, we have a pro Israel president right now that the deep state was trying to get rid of in the first 4 years of his presidency. He was cheated out of his 2nd term and re-elected after four years of craziness. Through President Trump we may have a little more time to repent and get our nation right with God. As I go back over this writing, it is December 2025. It is was in a bad state during the Biden years. They succeeded in getting the real president out of office and the whole country was one big mess but God is greater than all these things. Trump won again but he is only human. We need the help and presence of God. We must stay close to Him, put Him first, trust in Him and not depart for the refuge we have in Jesus our Christ. Be filled with the Holy Spirit, we need Him more than ever. 

The reason our guilt is greater than other nations is that we know better. The United States has had more gospel preached within its borders than any other country. It has bibles of all translations in every store yet we have cast God out of our schools and even ruled Him as unconstitutional. Where the bible use to be the textbook in public schools, it is now shunned as something evil. God is ignored more than ever before. Abortion on demand is legal. Now we are discovering that the abortion mills are harvesting body parts for sale to medical research companies. Immorality is commonplace and those that warn against sexual immorality are called hate mongers. It is no wonder that we do not play much a part in latter day affairs. Perhaps we will no longer exist.

God is merciful however, and if His people which are called by His name shall humble themselves and pray, God will delay any evil so that the gospel can go forth one last time. Some of us may have to repent and turn from any evil we have gone along with out of the fear of losing our tax exempt status.

Lest we assume this prophecy has already been fulfilled in 70 AD, we must consider the rest of the prophecy. Jesus Christ and His literal return which is yet to happen immediately following the prophecy in this chapter. There is to be a great battle called the battle of Armageddon that God Himself shall fight. It cannot be defeated by the armies of the world.

• Zechariah14:4 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.

Here describes the visible physical return of Jesus Christ to the land of Israel to reign and rule with His faithful followers.

• 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.

Saints are not people who are made saints by any church. They have no power to make saints. Saints are all faithful followers of Jesus Christ from the past to the present. Jude also prophesies of this quoting from the the prophecy of Enoch as I mentioned previously:

• Jude 1:14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
• 15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

All the faithful in Christ Jesus whether dead or alive will rise and return with Jesus when He comes back a Second time. Many believe and I hold with this belief that the Lord comes first to gather His believers previous to the coming where He fights for Israel and establishes His kingdom. This first coming is what we call the rapture or catching away, in which He takes away the faithful ones before the great tribulation. We are never appointed to God's wrath although believers may suffer the wrath of men who oppose them. Only the backslidden church, the unbelievers and the wicked will remain through the tribulation period.

Many have difference views on the rapture and those that believe that it doesn't take place until the visible return get their view from Matthew 24.

• Matthew 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
• 31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Those scriptures may just be referring to the tribes of Israel gathered together as the elect of God that were saved after the rapture and survived the tribulation from all parts of the earth.

Some references are:

• Hosea 1:11 Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

Also in Ezekiel in many places but I'll only use this one:

• Ezekiel 28:25 Thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob.

We do not know the day or hour so readiness should be emphasized rather than timing. There is promises to the faithful to escape the great tribulation if we are saved and walking in Christ at the time of the tribulation. If we want to be part of those that go to be with Christ we must totally follow Him in spirit and in truth. We must never persecute or harm another believer or the Jewish people even if we think they are in the wrong. Jesus said that those that do those things (persecute others) do not know the Father nor me (Jesus).

• Zechariah 14:6 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.

Ezekiel speaks of the waters also:

• Ezekiel 47:8 Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed.

This is a great day. All the earth will be at peace after the wicked ones are removed. I warn though because the false shepherd or antichrist will come first to make people think he is the one that is going to bring peace on the earth. Don't be fooled by material prosperity, signs and wonders or any other wonder in that day.

True faith will bring forth holiness, true love, unselfishness, and those that lay down their lives for their brothers and sisters in the Lord. The fruits of the spirit will follow. There may be signs and wonders done by the power of the Holy Spirit but they will glorify Jesus Christ, not some man or woman in this present time. They will bring people to Christ, not exalt people to a high position.

• 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.

What a day that will be when Jesus Himself in person reigns over the earth. There will be no religion but faith in God.

• Revelation 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

God does all this and sets up a righteous kingdom. We cannot do this ahead of time before the literal return of Jesus Christ. So many have tried to set up God's kingdom for Him and it is a disaster every time someone gets ahead of God. We can't do it. No religion can succeed in building the kingdom of God by their own efforts or the use of forced conversions.

True conversion to Jesus Christ is by the Holy Spirit. We cannot do any work whether it is sacraments, baptisms or some other ritual to make one a child of God. The spirit of God working within individual souls is what saves. Man cannot do this. God does it. God converts the soul, not man. We are to preach this message, and allow the Holy Spirit to work among us but we cannot force someone to be saved or lost. We must not hide the word of God or cover it up by our own traditions, commandments or rituals. We must preach and teach the word faithfully just like it is written. Avoid false unity ahead of time and the use of image worship. Our salvation is not an institutionalized religion, it is through Jesus Christ. 

• 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.
• 11 And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.

At last at last Jerusalem will be a place of peace and safety.

• Jeremiah 23:6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

This will only be accomplished by Jesus Christ Himself in person. No president, king, religious leader or prime minister etc. or the United Nations will never accomplish this.

• 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.

A message to all nations to please not be part of any army that surrounds and attacks Jerusalem or even any part of Israel.

• 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 neighbor, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor.

There are religions even now that fight against each other if they break just one rule.

• 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.

Here is a verse in Ezekiel:

• Ezekiel 39:10 So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord GOD.

He that lives by the sword shall die by the sword. Those that come against Israel will not get away with a thing. I didn't say it, it's all over the bible. Some say all bible prophecy in the Old Testament was fulfilled but we can see clearly that prophecy is sometimes a pattern and has partial fulfillments until the time that is is finished in the latter days. If it was fulfilled already, Jesus would already be reigning and there would be peace on the earth.

• 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.
• 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.

After the battle is over, those that are left will worship God by coming to Jerusalem every year. It would seem to me that formerly they rejected the gospel. The gospel brings in a worship that is in spirit and in truth which does not depend upon a place such as Jerusalem. Since they rejected this new and living way, they are required to worship in this way by making a trip to Jerusalem. That is my own speculation here. Take is or leave it as you choose.

• 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.
• 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.

In Isaiah:

• Isaiah 66:23 And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.

Also in Isaiah concerning all families coming to worship:

• Isaiah 60:12 For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.

In the future kingdom of Christ, the feasts that the Lord appointed for Israel will be kept by all. Notice that there is no requirement to keep any holidays except that which the Lord ordained for Israel. Christmas and Easter is never mentioned as holy days.

• 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.

In Isaiah:

• Isaiah 35:8 And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.
• 9 No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:
• 10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

God sure gives us a great cloud of witnesses in the writings of the prophets.

• 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.

It would seem that memorial sacrifices of clean animals resume. I cannot figure out why this is necessary but God knows. Before Christ came animal sacrifices pointed toward the perfect one to come that would sacrifice Himself for the sins of all who believe. Animal sacrifices could never remove the curse of sin against us. The death of Jesus Christ does have the power to remove our sins. The resurrection of Jesus bring in all who believe the hope of being resurrected unto life eternal.

Perhaps future animal sacrifices are again kept as a memorial to look back to the time of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. I don't see animal sacrifices continuing in the New Jerusalem and the New Heaven and earth though that takes place at the final end spoken of in Revelation 21 and 22. I do see it in the 1000 year reign of Christ. 

Zechariah may not have understood all the prophecy that he wrote. There were still mysteries that are not revealed until the time of John the one who penned the book of Revelation. The mystery of the church is hidden in the Old Testament when God opens the door to salvation to Gentile nations as well as Israel.

The gospel started with Israel. The Gentile believers came part of them through faith in Jesus Christ and unbelieving Jews were cut off, Israel lost their place as a nation until 1948. After the time of the Gentiles, Israel awakes to the true Messiah, Jesus Christ and is grafted back into the vine of Christ from which they were formerly broken off. All become one by the spirit of God, not the efforts of man.

• John 10:16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

Here Jesus is speaking to His disciples (Jews). The believing Jews were the original fold. The ones Jesus speaks of that were not of the original fold are the Gentile believers which came later. They were to be one fold and with one shepherd.

This is not a teaching as some may believe that all denominations will join together and become one worldwide church. That is a false teaching. That may happen but it will be a false church not the real one. The real congregation of the Lord will include Jews who have come to believe in Jesus Christ. The head of these will be Jesus Himself, not any bishop, pope, overseer, or any natural man living on the earth. We become part of this great body of Christ when we are born again by God's spirit. This cannot happen by the will of man or any ecumenical movement. God does it, not man.

Another false teaching is that the church replaces Israel. That is false and has led to anti-Semitism.  This view should never be held by a true believer in Christ. We are to love and spread the gospel, not set up any earthly kingdom or political power to control the world. That is God's job, not ours.   DC

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