Zechariah 14

Zec 14:1-21.

LAST

STRUGGLE WITH THE

HOSTILE

WORLD-POWERS:

MESSIAH-JEHOVAH

SAVES

JERUSALEM AND

DESTROYS THE

FOE, OF

WHOM THE

REMNANT

TURNS TO THE

LORD

REIGNING AT

JERUSALEM.

1. day of the Lord--in which He shall vindicate His justice by

punishing the wicked and then saving His elect people

(Joe 2:31; 3:14;

Mal 4:1, 5).

thy spoil . . . divided in the midst of thee--by the

foe; secure of victory, they shall not divide the spoil taken from thee

in their camp outside, but "in the midst" of the city itself.

2. gather all nations, &c.--The prophecy seems literal (compare

Joe 3:2).

If Antichrist be the leader of the nations, it seems inconsistent with

the statement that he will at this time be sitting in the temple as God

at Jerusalem

(2Th 2:4);

thus Antichrist outside would be made to besiege Antichrist within the

city. But difficulties do not set aside revelations: the event will

clear up seeming difficulties. Compare the complicated movements,

Da 11:1-45.

half . . . the residue--In

Zec 13:8, 9,

it is "two-thirds" that perish, and "the third" escapes. There,

however, it is "in all the land"; here it is "half of the

city." Two-thirds of the "whole people" perish, one-third

survives. One-half of the citizens are led captive, the residue

are not cut off. Perhaps, too, we ought to translate, "a (not 'the')

residue."

3. Then--In Jerusalem's extremity.

as . . . in . . . day of battle--as when Jehovah fought for Israel

against the Egyptians at the Red Sea

(Ex 14:14; 15:3).

As He then made a way through the divided sea, so will He now divide in

two "the Mount of Olives"

(Zec 14:4).

4. The object of the cleaving of the mount in two by a fissure or

valley (a prolongation of the valley of Jehoshaphat, and extending from

Jerusalem on the west towards Jordan, eastward) is to open a way of

escape to the besieged (compare

Joe 3:12, 14).

Half the divided mount is thereby forced northward, half southward; the

valley running between. The place of His departure at His ascension

shall be the place of His return: and the "manner" of His return also

shall be similar

(Ac 1:11).

He shall probably "come from the east"

(Mt 24:27).

He so made His triumphal entry into the city from the Mount of Olives

from the east

(Mt 21:1-10).

This was the scene of His agony: so it shall be the scene of His glory.

Compare

Eze 11:23,

with Eze 43:2,

"from the way of the east."

5. ye shall flee to the valley--rather "through

the valley," as in

2Sa 2:29.

The valley made by the cleaving asunder of the Mount of Olives

(Zec 14:4)

is designed to be their way of escape, not their place of refuge

[MAURER].

JEROME

is on the side of English Version. If it be translated so, it

will mean, Ye shall flee "to" the valley, not to hide there, but as the

passage through which an escape may be effected. The same divinely sent

earthquake which swallows up the foe, opens out a way of escape to

God's people. The earthquake in Uzziah's days is mentioned

(Am 1:1)

as a recognized epoch in Jewish history. Compare also

Isa 6:1:

perhaps the same year that Jehovah held His heavenly court and gave

commission to Isaiah for the Jews, an earthquake in the physical world,

as often happens

(Mt 24:7),

marked momentous movements in the unseen spiritual world.

of the mountains--rather, "of My mountains," namely, Zion and

Moriah, peculiarly sacred to Jehovah

[MOORE]. Or, the mountains formed

Azal--the name of a place near a gate east of the city. The

Hebrew means "adjoining"

[HENDERSON]. Others give the meaning,

"departed," "ceased." The valley reaches up to the city gates, so as to

enable the fleeing citizens to betake themselves immediately to it on

leaving the city.

Lord my God . . . with thee--The mention of the "Lord

my God" leads the prophet to pass suddenly to a direct address to

Jehovah. It is as if "lifting up his head"

(Lu 21:28),

he suddenly sees in vision the Lord coming, and joyfully exclaims, "All

the saints with Thee!" So

Isa 25:9.

saints--holy angels escorting the returning King

(Mt 24:30, 31;

Jude 14);

and redeemed men

(1Co 15:23;

1Th 3:13; 4:14).

Compare the similar mention of the "saints" and "angels" at His coming

on Sinai

(De 32:2, 3;

Ac 7:53;

Ga 3:19;

Heb 2:2).

PHILLIPS thinks Azal is Ascalon on the

Mediterranean. An earthquake beneath Messiah's tread will divide Syria,

making from Jerusalem to Azal a valley which will admit the ocean

waters from the west to the Dead Sea. The waters will rush down the

valley of Arabah, the old bed of the Jordan, clear away the sand-drift

of four thousand years, and cause the commerce of Petra and Tyre to

center in the holy city. The Dead Sea rising above its shores will

overflow by the valley of Edom, completing the straits of Azal into the

Red Sea. Thus will be formed the great pool of Jerusalem (compare

Zec 14:8;

Eze 47:1,

&c.; Joe 3:18).

Euphrates will be the north boundary, and the Red Sea the south.

Twenty-five miles north and twenty-five miles south of Jerusalem will

form one side of the fifty miles square of the Lord's Holy Oblation

(Eze 48:1-35).

There are seven spaces of fifty miles each from Jerusalem northward to

the Euphrates, and five spaces of fifty miles each southward to the Red

Sea. Thus there are thirteen equal distances on the breadth of the

future promised land, one for the oblation and twelve for the tribes,

according to

Eze 48:1-35.

That the Euphrates north, Mediterranean west, the Nile and Red Sea

south, are to be the future boundaries of the holy land, which will

include Syria and Arabia, is favored by

Ge 15:8;

Ex 23:31;

De 11:24;

Jos 1:4;

1Ki 4:21;

2Ch 9:26;

Isa 27:12;

all which was partially realized in Solomon's reign, shall be

antitypically so hereafter. The theory, if true, will clear away many

difficulties in the way of the literal interpretation of this chapter and

Eze 48:1-35.

6. light . . . not . . . clear . . .

dark--JEROME, Chaldee, Syriac, and

Septuagint translate, "There shall not be light, but cold and

ice"; that is, a day full of horror

(Am 5:18).

But the Hebrew for "clear" does not mean "cold," but "precious,"

"splendid" (compare

Job 31:26).

CALVIN translates, "The light shall not be clear,

but dark" (literally, "condensation," that is, thick mist); like

a dark day in which you can hardly distinguish between day and night.

English Version accords with

Zec 14:7:

"There shall not be altogether light nor altogether darkness," but an

intermediate condition in which sorrows shall be mingled with joys.

7. one day--a day altogether unique, different from all others

[MAURER]. Compare "one," that is, unique

(So 6:9;

Jer 30:7).

Not as

HENDERSON

explains, "One continuous day, without night"

(Re 22:5; 21:25);

the millennial period

(Re 20:3-7).

known to . . . Lord--This truth restrains man's curiosity and teaches

us to wait the Lord's own time

(Mt 24:36).

not day, nor night--answering to "not . . . clear nor

. . . dark"

(Zec 14:6);

not altogether daylight, yet not the darkness of night.

at evening . . . shall be light--Towards the close of this

twilight-like time of calamity, "light" shall spring up

(Ps 97:11; 112:4;

Isa 30:26; 60:19, 20).

8. living waters--

(Eze 47:1;

Joe 3:18).

former sea--that is, the front, or east, which Orientalists face

in taking the points of the compass; the Dead Sea.

hinder sea--the west or Mediterranean.

summer . . . winter--neither dried up by heat, nor frozen by cold;

ever flowing.

9. king over all . . . earth--

Isa 54:5

implies that this is to be the consequence of Israel being again

recognized by God as His own people

(Da 2:44;

Re 11:15).

one Lord . . . name one--Not that He is not so

already, but He shall then be recognized by all unanimously as

"One." Now there are "gods many and lords many." Then Jehovah alone

shall be worshipped. The manifestation of the unity of the

Godhead shall be simultaneous with that of the unity of the Church.

Believers are one in spirit already, even as God is one

(Eph 4:3-6).

But externally there are sad divisions. Not until these disappear,

shall God reveal fully His unity to the world

(Joh 17:21, 23).

Then shall there be "a pure language, that all may call upon the name

of the Lord with one consent"

(Zep 3:9).

The Son too shall at last give up His mediatorial kingdom to the

Father, when the purposes for which it was established shall have been

accomplished, "that God may be all in all"

(1Co 15:24).

10. turned--or, "changed round about": literally, "to make a circuit."

The whole hilly land round Jerusalem, which would prevent the free

passage of the living waters, shall be changed so as to be "as a

(or the) plain"

(Isa 40:4).

from Geba to Rimmon--Geba

(2Ki 23:8)

in Benjamin, the north border of Judah. Rimmon, in Simeon

(Jos 15:32),

the south border of Judah; not the Rimmon northeast of Michmash.

"The plain from Geba to Rimmon" (that is, from one boundary to

the other) is the Arabah or plain of the Jordan, extending from the Sea

of Tiberias to the Elanitic Gulf of the Red Sea.

it shall be lifted up--namely, Jerusalem shall be exalted, the hills

all round being lowered

(Mic 4:1).

inhabited in her place--

(Zec 12:6).

from Benjamin's gate--leading to the territory of Benjamin. The same

as Ephraim's gate, the north boundary of the city

(2Ki 14:13).

the first gate--west of the city

[GROTIUS]. "The place of," &c.

implies that the gate itself was then not in existence. "The old gate"

(Ne 3:6).

the corner gate--east of the city

[GROTIUS]. Or the "corner" joining

the north and west parts of the wall

[VILLALPANDUS].

GROTIUS thinks

"corners" refers to the towers there built (compare

Zep 3:6,

Margin).

tower of Hananeel--south of the city, near the sheep gate

(Ne 3:1; 12:39;

Jer 31:38)

[GROTIUS].

king's wine-presses--

(So 8:11).

In the interior of the city, at Zion [GROTIUS].

11. no more utter destruction--

(Jer 31:40).

Literally, "no more curse"

(Re 22:3;

compare

Mal 4:6),

for there will be no more sin. Temporal blessings and spiritual

prosperity shall go together in the millennium: long life

(Isa 65:20-22),

peace

(Isa 2:4),

honor

(Isa 60:14-16),

righteous government

(Isa 54:14; 60:18).

Judgment, as usual, begins at the house of God, but then falls fatally

on Antichrist, whereon the Church obtains perfect liberty. The last day

will end everything evil

(Ro 8:21)

[AUBERLEN].

12. Punishment on the foe, the last Antichristian confederacy

(Isa 59:18; 66:24;

Eze 38:1-39:29;

Re 19:17-21).

A living death: the corruption

(Ga 6:8)

of death combined in ghastly union with the conscious sensibility of

life. Sin will be felt by the sinner in all its loathsomeness,

inseparably clinging to him as a festering, putrid body.

13. tumult--consternation

(Zec 12:4;

1Sa 14:15, 20).

lay hold . . . on . . . hand of . . .

neighbour--instinctively grasping it, as if thereby to be safer,

but in vain

[MENOCHIUS].

Rather, in order to assail "his neighbor"

[CALVIN],

(Eze 38:21).

Sin is the cause of all quarrels on earth. It will cause endless

quarrels in hell

(Jas 3:15, 16).

14. Judah . . . fight at Jerusalem--namely, against the foe: not

against Jerusalem, as

MAURER translates in variance with the context. As

to the spoil gained from the foe, compare

Eze 39:10, 17.

15. The plague shall affect the very beasts belonging to the foe. A

typical foretaste of all this befell Antiochus Epiphanes and his host at

Jerusalem

(1 Maccabees 13:49; 2 Maccabees 9:5).

16. every one . . . left--

(Isa 66:19, 23).

God will conquer all the foes of the Church. Some He will destroy;

others He will bring into willing subjection.

from year to year--literally, "from the sufficiency of a year in a

year."

feast of tabernacles--The other two great yearly feasts, passover and

pentecost, are not specified, because, their antitypes having come, the

types are done away with. But the feast of tabernacles will be

commemorative of the Jews' sojourn, not merely forty years in the

wilderness, but for almost two thousand years of their dispersion. So it

was kept on their return from the Babylonian dispersion

(Ne 8:14-17).

It was the feast on which Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem

(Mt 21:8);

a pledge of His return to His capital to reign (compare

Le 23:34, 39, 40, 42;

Re 7:9; 21:3).

A feast of peculiar joy

(Ps 118:15;

Ho 12:9).

The feast on which Jesus gave the invitation to the living waters of

salvation ("Hosanna," save us now, was the cry,

Mt 21:9;

compare

Ps 118:25, 26)

(Joh 7:2, 37).

To the Gentiles, too, it will be significant of perfected salvation

after past wanderings in a moral wilderness, as it originally

commemorated the ingathering of the harvest. The seedtime of tears

shall then have issued in the harvest of joy

[MOORE].

"All the nations" could not possibly in person go up to the feast, but

they may do so by representatives.

17. no rain--including every calamity which usually follows in the

East from want of rain, namely, scarcity of provisions, famine,

pestilence, &c. Rain is the symbol also of God's favor

(Ho 6:3).

That there shall be unconverted men under the millennium appears from

the outbreak of Gog and Magog at the end of it

(Re 20:7-9);

but they, like Satan their master, shall be restrained during the

thousand years. Note, too, from this verse that the Gentiles shall

come up to Jerusalem, rather than the Jews go as missionaries to the

Gentiles

(Isa 2:2;

Mic 5:7).

However,

Isa 66:19

may imply the converse.

18. if . . . Egypt go not up--specified as Israel's

ancient foe. If Egypt go not up, and so there be no rain on them (a

judgment which Egypt would condemn, as depending on the Nile's

overflow, not on rain), there shall be the plague

. . . . Because the guilty are not affected by one

judgment, let them not think to escape, for God has other judgments

which shall plague them.

MAURER

translates, "If Egypt go not up, upon them also there shall be none"

(no rain).

Ps 105:32

mentions "rain" in Egypt. But it is not their main source of

fertility.

19. punishment--literally, "sin"; that is, "punishment for sin."

20. shall there be upon the bells--namely, this inscription, "Holiness

to the Lord," the same as was on the miter of the high priest

(Ex 28:36).

This implies that all things, even the most common, shall be sacred to

Jehovah, and not merely the things which under the law had peculiar

sanctity attached to them. The "bells" were metal plates hanging from

the necks of horses and camels as ornaments, which tinkled (as

the Hebrew root means) by striking against each other. Bells

attached to horses are found represented on the walls of Sennacherib's

palace at Koyunjik.

pots . . . like . . . bowls--the vessels used for boiling, for

receiving ashes, &c., shall be as holy as the bowls used for catching

the blood of the sacrificial victims

(see on

Zec 9:15;

1Sa 2:14).

The priesthood of Christ will be explained more fully both by the

Mosaic types and by the New Testament in that temple of which Ezekiel

speaks. Then the Song of Solomon, now obscure, will be understood, for

the marriage feast of the Lamb will be celebrated in heaven

(Re 19:1-21),

and on earth it will be a Solomonic period, peaceful, glorious, and

nuptial. There will be no king but a prince; the sabbatic period of the

judges will return, but not with the Old Testament, but New Testament

glory

(Isa 1:26;

Eze 45:1-25)

[ROOS].

21. every pot--even in private houses, as in the temple, shall be

deemed holy, so universal shall be the consecration of all things and

persons to Jehovah.

take of them--as readily as they would take of the pots of the temple

itself, whatever number they wanted for sacrifice.

no . . . Canaanite--no unclean or ungodly person

(Isa 35:8; 52:1;

Joe 3:17).

Compare as to the final state subsequent to the millennium,

Re 21:27; 22:15.

MAURER

not so well translates "merchant" here, as in

Pr 31:24.

If a man would have the beginnings of heaven, it must be by absolute

consecration of everything to God on earth. Let his life be a liturgy,

a holy service of acted worship

[MOORE].

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