In Zechariah chapter 14, as we
begin to close out this book of prophecy, he begins verse
one by saying, behold, the day of the Lord cometh. And I've
entitled this message, the day of the Lord cometh. This day
of the Lord. What does that mean? The day
of the Lord signifies the day of the Messiah. There's quite
a bit of controversy over these last few chapters of Zechariah,
this chapter included, over what time period this covers. Some
are adamant to say that it only covers the time period of his
second coming. Some say that it covers the time
period of his first coming up until the destruction of Jerusalem
in AD 70. But I've read a lot of it, I've
read a lot about it, I've read a lot of the commentaries on
it, and I'm convinced, and I'll show you why, I'm convinced that
this covers the whole time period between Christ's first coming
and His second coming, the gospel age. There are things here that
can be applied to our day, the day of the Lord. And there are
things here that certainly are applicable to His second coming.
And so it is the day of the Lord, His day, the gospel age, the
day of His power, His first and His second coming and the days
in between. And that's the gospel age, that's
the new covenant age, that's the New Testament established
in time. It's a day in which the Lord
will bring judgment to the wicked, but it's also a day in which
the Lord will bring salvation to His people. And the beginning
of this day was the first coming of Christ, and established by
his obedience unto death on the cross to bring victory for his
people over sin and over Satan and over death in the grave.
It's what he accomplished on Calvary. That marked the beginning
of these days, this day of the Lord. This marked what had already
been established in the mind and purpose of God eternally.
How else could we talk about a salvation, or how could Paul
talk about a salvation that was given us in Christ Jesus before
the world began? So this is what God had in mind
and in his purpose all along, the judgment of the world and
the casting out of Satan and the gathering of all his elect.
Our Lord spoke of this in John chapter 12 and verse 31 when
he says, now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the
prince of this world be cast out. And then he said, and I,
if I be lifted up, talking about his death, he said, if I be lifted
up from the earth will draw all unto me. The consummation and
completion, final completion of this day of the Lord will
be marked with that great event that we all look forward to and
anticipate, the second coming of Christ. He is coming again.
And he's coming to destroy all of his enemies, but he's also
coming to glorify his people whom he redeemed and whom he
calls into his kingdom. Now for Zechariah and the people
of Judah in this day, both these glorious events were future.
But for us, one is past, and that's the cross of Christ. But
that's why I read in Hebrews chapter 9 here, where it spoke
of Christ, how he did not enter into the holy place made with
hands. You see, as a high priest, as
a mediator, as a surety, as a representative, he had no right to minister in
the earthly tabernacle. Only the priest of Levi, the
high priest of Levi, and the other priest of Levi had a right
under the Old Covenant to minister in that earthly tabernacle. Christ
was not of the tribe of Levi. He was of the tribe of Judah.
so when he entered in, the scripture says, when he entered into the
holy place it wasn't that earthly tabernacle and I want to tell
you something, it won't be that earthly tabernacle at his second
coming that he enters in when he entered into the holy place
to appear in the presence of God for us, he entered into the
heavenly Having done his work, having finished the transgression
and making an end of sin and establishing righteousness, he
entered into the heavenly place. And then it says here, so Christ
was once offered to bear the sins of many. That's his first
coming. And unto them, and that's our
sin imputed to him. Christ made sin and he died for
those sins. And it says, and unto them that
look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto
salvation. When he comes again, he won't
be bearing our sins. Our sins have been put away by
Christ on the cross. And that's what Zechariah's talking
about. He's talking about both the day of the Lord. Now some
things written here refer to the events that characterize
the whole Gospel age, even the time that we're living in. and
others refer to events connected only with his second coming but
let's look at this look at verse one behold the day of the lord
cometh and in thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee
for i will gather all nations against jerusalem now that's
the spoiling that he's talking about the plundering of jerusalem
talking about the nations attacking and plundering jerusalem And
he says, I'm going to gather all the nations against Jerusalem
to battle, and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled,
they'll be rifled through, they'll be plundered, that's what that
means. And the women ravished, even the women wouldn't be safe,
you see. In other words, the enemies of
Jerusalem would have no respect for gender, they'd have no respect
for anything. And half of the city shall go
forth into captivity, But he says there's a residue. Now the
residue is a remnant, but hold on to that thought. The residue
of the people shall not be cut off from the city. They'll remain
in the city. They'll remain as citizens. So
here we have the spoiling, the plundering of Jerusalem. Now
at the time of this prophecy, Jerusalem had already been spoiled
by the Babylonians. That's when Nebuchadnezzar brought
the army in and destroyed the city and destroyed the temple.
And here in Zechariah's time, the temple has been rebuilt,
but the city hasn't, and the city is about to be rebuilt.
That was going to come under, and you read about that in the
book of Nehemiah, come under Zerubbabel and Joshua. But even
though that city, the city in their day was about to be rebuilt,
listen to him, it's going to be spoiled again. It's going
to be spoiled again, several times. But mainly, it's going
to be spoiled by Rome. It's going to be utterly destroyed.
That took place in A.D. 70. And Christ spoke of this. He spoke of it in Matthew chapter
24. Turn over there with me in Matthew 24. Now this is important
to see the connection between this prophecy and the time period
of what this is talking about. In Matthew 24, it's called the
Olivet Discourse because it was a message that the Lord delivered
to his disciples on the Mount of Olives. Back over here in
Zechariah chapter 14 and verse four, it talks about how his
feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives. And
we'll talk more about that in just a minute. But here's what
he's talking about. It says in verse one of Matthew
24, and Jesus went out and departed from the temple And his disciples
came to him for to show him the buildings of the temple. And
Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? Verily
I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another
that shall not be thrown down." This temple is going to be destroyed,
he's saying. And he goes on in this discourse.
We won't read the whole thing, but look at verse 3. He says,
And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, The disciples came
unto him privately saying, tell us, when shall these things be?
And when shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of
the world? So he tells them about the destruction of Jerusalem
in Matthew 24, and then he begins to tell them about his second
coming in Matthew 24. He goes from one to the other.
That's what Zechariah's doing in chapter 14. He's going to
talk about the destruction of Jerusalem and he's going to talk
about the second coming of Christ. And he's going to do it through
prophecy of Christ back here in Zechariah 14, turn back, he
says in verse 4, and his feet shall stand in that day upon
the Mount of Olives. Now what's he talking about?
Well, he's certainly talking about God's wrath that came on
the Jews because they've As First Thessalonians chapter two tells
us, as Paul wrote, they filled up the measure of iniquity, crucifying
the Lord Jesus, murdering the prophets, persecuting the saints.
They were guilty of those sins. So are we. So are we. We're all
sinners. We all deserve damnation. None
of us have ever earned salvation or deserve it. We know that all
who come to Christ, Jew and Gentile, are citizens of a city. Now the Bible tells us that.
Look over in Hebrews chapter 12. But not an earthly city. It's a heavenly city. Look at
Hebrews chapter 12. All who come to Christ for salvation
are citizens of a heavenly city. Look at verse 22. Hebrews chapter
12. Verse 22. Now he's comparing
the glory of the new covenant, the gospel age, and the church,
the glory, the greater glory of it in Christ spiritually and
eternally and unchangeably with the lesser glory of the old covenant
in things that could be shaken, things that could be destroyed.
You see, aren't you glad that your eternal citizenship is not
in an earthly city because if it were it could be destroyed?
But look here, he says in verse 22, but you are come unto Mount
Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly
and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven,
and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men
made perfect. And later on, he tells you, you
read the whole chapter there, he tells you that can't be shaken.
That can't be spoiled. like Jerusalem, the earthly city
back here in Zechariah 14. It's gonna be destroyed. It's
gonna be spoiled. So the significance of all this
in Zechariah's prophecy back there for the people of Jerusalem
in his time is this, don't put your trust in earthly things. That's what he's telling them.
It's gonna be spoiled, you see. Don't put your trust in earthly
things. Don't put your trust in this earthly covenant. Don't
put your trust in an earthly priesthood or the blood of animals. These things are types and pictures
of something even greater. Look to the future. That's what
he's telling them. Look to the Messiah who has been
promised of God who will come and by his work in obeying the
law and in going to his death will put away the sins of his
people. Now he mentions here in verse
2 of Zechariah 14, the residue of the people shall not be cut
off from the city. Well, what's he talking about?
He's saying that even out of the Jews who are plundered and
even some that are murdered and spoiled and all that there's
going to be a remnant survives that's a picture of the remnant
or that's a reality of the remnant according to the election of
grace that's what he's talking about whom Christ will preserve
even in the worst times And here's what he says, however this is
fulfilled historically or whenever it is, the spiritual battle that
he's talking about here has been going on between Satan and his
seed and Christ and his church all along. And he tells us that
the battle's gonna be won by Christ. Look at verse three.
Then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations
as when he fought in the day of battle. Under the old covenant,
God fought against all nations that came against national Israel. He preserved them. He protected
them until the time of reformation, until the time of change. Well,
listen to this, on the cross of Calvary, Christ fought against
all the enemies of his church. He fought against sin. How did
he fight against sin? He was made sin. He became our
sin bearer. He became our sin offering and
he died. He fought against Satan. That's
what he said there in John 12 that we read before, now is the
prince of this world cast out. He fought against death. He arose
from the dead. That's why we have victory in
Christ over death. He fought against hell. grave
could hold us, eternal damnation is not even a possibility for
the ones whom God fights for the ones whom Christ fought for
on the cross because there is therefore now no condemnation
in Christ no charge against us now during the gospel age he
fights against all enemies of the church through the preaching
of the gospel the bible tells us in the book of revelation
that all nations are going to fight against the church just
like they're fighting against jerusalem here and nations represented
by the beast that arose up out of the sea the ungodly anti-christian
governments and kings and empires and nations would stand against
the church in their philosophy in their economies in their morality
in their religion and in their doctrine which is simply put
salvation by the works and the will of men that those ungodly
nations that tell people don't trust the Lord God trust the
state we can do we can do more for you than what your god can
do for you that's what well they all come against the church you
see in the gospel age but christ fights for his church he's gained
victory over the world and he's gathering his sheep into the
fold into the heavenly city against all opposition and in the end
he'll come again and put down all nations that oppose him his
church and his truth Scripture says that this man, after he
had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the
right hand of the God from henceforth, expecting till his enemies be
made his footstool. Every knee's gonna bow, every
tongue's gonna confess. And of course, we know that the
culmination of this victory, this battle, is Armageddon. at
the end of the age when Christ comes again to put down all opposition
that great spiritual battle which Christ in his second coming in
his glory will put down and defeat all his enemies and gather his
church together unto himself. Well look at verse four of Zechariah
14 he says 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. That's going to be split in two.
That's what he's talking about. In the midst thereof, toward
the east and toward the west. Anytime you see east and west,
that's infinity. And what he's talking about is
covering the earth here now. God has a people out of every
tribe, kindred, tongue and nation. And he has infinite love and
infinite power for every one of them. And he's going to save
them infinitely, eternally. And there shall be a very great
valley. That mountain is split in two.
And half of the mountain shall be removed toward the north and
half of it toward the south. In other words, this direction
of the split is going to be east and west. Verse 5, he says, You
shall flee to the valley of the mountains. where the valley of
the mountains shall reach unto Azel. Yea, you shall flee, like
as you 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, that is with him, that's what that's, with you, that's
all. One commentator says it's like
Zechariah looked up into the sky and said, with you, Lord.
And that's what he's saying. Well he talks about the Mount
of Olives here. You know, the Mount of Olives
was very significant in the Lord's earthly ministry. It's connected,
and connected with both His first coming and His second coming,
the Mount of Olives. The Mount of Olives was east
of Jerusalem. It was separated from Jerusalem
by the Brook Kidron, the Valley of Jehoshaphat. You know, you
remember the Brook Kidron. I think it's in John chapter
18, it's called Cedron, C-E-D-R-O-N, but it's Kidron in the Old Testament.
That was the stream that King David crossed when he went up
barefoot and weeping in sorrow when he fled from his son Absalom.
And he was a type there. David was a type of our Savior
as he went over into Gethsemane and wept and suffered, began
to suffer for our sins charged to him, passing over the same
brook Kindred. That's what it typifies. Luke
tells us that our Lord went there often to the Mount of Olives
and that His disciples often followed Him there. When the
Pharisees sought to kill the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bible
says in John chapter 8, He went unto the Mount of Olives. And
you know what He did there? He rescued a poor woman who was
caught in the act of adultery. That's where He said, let he
who is without sin cast the first stone. It's a picture of a place
of rescue, isn't it? A place of salvation. He sat
down on the Mount of Olives to give his great Olivet Discourse.
We read part of it in Matthew chapter 24. It all carries over
into chapter 25. He spoke some of his greatest
parables there. He spoke of the destruction of
Jerusalem, his second coming, the parable of the fig tree there,
the wise and the foolish virgins, the wise and the foolish servants,
Separation of the sheep and the goats in the day of judgment.
And then after establishing and instituting the Lord's supper
with his disciples, Judas having already left him, the Lord and
his disciples, they sung a hymn and it says in Matthew 26, they
went out into the Mount of Olives. And from there he went to Gethsemane,
and from there he went to Calvary. 40 days after his resurrection,
He ascended into heaven from this mount, Mount of Olives. That's recorded in Acts chapter
one. And it said, you remember how the angel told the disciples,
he said, the one you've seen ascending up, he'll come back
in like manner. That's why a lot of people believe
that the exact location of his second coming will be the Mount
of Olives. I don't know if that's so or
not. I know he's coming in the clouds. I know he's going to
come and the whole earth's gonna see it and gonna hear it. They're
gonna be aware of it. Scripture says that. I don't
think you can really restrict him to a certain location, but
whatever, he's coming again and he's going to defeat his enemies
and gather his people. He's going to judge the world
in righteousness. And those who are not found in Christ, the
Christ of the cross, the Christ who put away sins, the Christ
who established righteousness, shall be damned. Now there's
the issue there. Mount of Olives was called that
because it was covered with olive trees. And you know in Romans
chapter 11, the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to tell us that spiritual
Israel is the true olive tree. The Lord's elect people. The
remnant according to the election of grace. And what do you get
from olives? You get olive oil. That's a symbol
of the work of the Holy Spirit. That's the unction that John
spoke of. That unction that delivers us
from the deception of Antichrist. You have an unction from the
Holy One and you know all things. You remember he said that, 1
John 2. You look to Christ alone for your salvation, for your
forgiveness, for your righteousness and eternal life. That's the
anointing poured out upon his chosen people. Now here he says
I'm gonna split them out. And symbolically what he's saying
is this mountain is going to be split and flooded with grace
and bringing them to flee to Azel. Now what is Azel here in
verse five? Well, there's an argument among
commentators on this. Is it actually an actual place? Some say it is, some say it isn't.
Some say it's an area just outside of Jerusalem. There's even an
argument over what the word means. Some say it means near. Just
near. Near Jerusalem. Well, that might
be so. The only thing I can say about
that, if that's what it means, I know exactly what the spiritual
lesson here is, is that those who are flooded in this valley,
that God, by his work, he splits this mountain and floods this
valley with his grace, they're brought near unto God in Christ. Some say it means the separated
place. It may mean that. I know this,
that God separates his people out from the world. in Christ. He did that in eternity in divine
electing grace. He did it on the cross when Christ
died for their sins. When he was made sin, the sins
of his people were laid upon him. And he does it in the calling
of the Holy Spirit when he separates us out from the world. That's
what it may mean that. He mentions an earthquake here
in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah. We don't know much about
that earthquake, but we read about it in the book of Amos.
Amos chapter one and verse one mentions a great earthquake that
took place in those days. And apparently it was enough
that people remembered it and they fled and it was a scary
thought to them. But here's what he's saying here. As God splits this mountain,
he's going to provide in this valley that he makes through
this chasm that he makes, he's going to provide for his people
a way of escape from all that would harm us. And that way is
Christ. Christ and him crucified. And
there the Lord our God comes with all his saints. That describes
the powerful presence of God and his omnipotent grace and
the outpouring of his spirit upon his elect. That's the culmination
of his purpose when he returns. Not one, not one of God's chosen
people is going to be missing. That spirit of grace is going
to come out. Look at verse six. He says, and
it shall come to pass in that day that the light shall not
be clear nor dark 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. Now there can be some difference
of opinion on these things. Some say this describes physical
changes in the actual heavens, the light of day, the light and
the moon at night, the stars, the sun, all connected with the
coming of Christ. And that's not uncommon in God's
providence, is it? God operates this way to show
forth his glory. The Bible says he made the sun
to stand still in Joshua's day. Now we know literally that's
what they were describing things as they saw it. Don't get down
on the Bible for that. Our weathermen do the same thing.
They talk about sunrise and sunset. I got news for you. The sun doesn't
rise or it doesn't set, but that's the way it looks to us. And that's
all they were doing. We've seen incidents in the Bible
where God split the Red Sea. God opened up the Earth. The
created universe is under the control of Almighty God. He's
the creator. He can do with it as he pleases,
am I not right? When Christ was born in Bethlehem,
a star appeared to guide the wise men. When Christ died on
the cross there was a great earthquake and rocks split in two, the book
of Matthew chapter 27 tells it. When he arose there was a great
earthquake and the stone was rolled away. At his second coming
the book of Revelation seems to indicate that there's going
to be a change in the patterns of the heaven and that's so. The point is this, And here's
the issue of these two verses, whether you take them one way
or another. There is a spiritual application here, but here's
the issue, the point, is that the only real, lasting, eternal,
glorious light that's going to shine in these days is the light
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And his is the
only light we'll need. the days before our Lord's first
coming were days of darkness I believe this is what he's actually
saying here it shall come to pass in that day that light shall
not be clear nor dark think about this when our Lord appeared upon
the scene in his birth and in his youth and in his... those
were days of darkness but God still had a little light didn't
he? it was clear but not dark in other words it was it was
kind of dim but not dark, and then light burst out upon the
scene, the coming of Christ. As the gospel age began, a light
burst forth at Pentecost, the light of the gospel. And then
the spread of the gospel to the Gentiles, it burst forth out
into the Gentile world. As the gospel age proceeds forth
and we approach the second coming of Christ, the gospel light will
grow dimmer. it will shall not be clear that's
what he says here but it won't be totally snuffed out not dark
you see and there's a day that he's coming again one day he
says here in verse seven it shall be one day but that day is known
only to the Lord look at it shall be one day which shall be known
to the Lord not to you not to me the day of his return when
it appears to those who will be alive at that time believers
now to be totally dark You might wonder, where is the gospel preached
anywhere? But in that day, Christ, the
Son of Righteousness, will break forth in the light of His glory
and He'll come on the scene. And His is the only light that'll
matter. The light of the sun won't matter at all. The light
of the moon won't matter at all. Look at verse 8. He says, And
it shall be in that day that living waters shall go out from
Jerusalem, half of them toward the former sea, That's the Eastern
Sea. Some say that's the Mediterranean
it's referred to, and half of them toward the Hinder Sea, that's
the Dead Sea. In summer and in winter shall
it be, in other words, in all seasons. As in all days, in that
day there's a hope of salvation only in Christ, who is the living
waters, that's Christ. I don't see how anybody can even
read their Bible very far and not know that. He is the living
waters. It flows out from Jerusalem,
from the heavenly city, from his church, Mount Zion, as we
preach Christ to the world. And these living waters will
quench the thirst of anyone who's made thirsty. Isn't that right?
Come ye to the waters and drink. flowing toward the east and the
west, covering the whole earth, that's what that means, without
any end. And look at verse 9. And the
Lord shall be king over all the earth. In that day shall there
be one Lord and his name one. That's his mediatorial kingship. And what did Paul write in Ephesians
chapter 4? You remember that when he's talking
about the unity of the church? And the fellowship of faith brought
forth by God Almighty in Christ? and he says here in Ephesians
chapter four let me just read some of it to you he says in
verse four there is one body one spirit even as you're called
in one hope of your calling that's the simplicity of Christ right
there he spoke of it in second Corinthians 11 Satan and his
deceivers try to corrupt our minds from the singleness of
Christ He says there's one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God
and father of all who is above all and through all and in you
all. You see, it's just one, just
one thing. Christ and his glory, Christ and his righteousness.
And they're all brought together in that day, not under a Judeo-Christian
ethic, but under Christ. Not some by the Ten Commandments
and some by the gospel. No, all under Christ. Not some
by law and some by grace. No, all by grace. Not some in
an earthly Jewish temple and others in a heavenly temple.
Oh no, all in the heavenly. You see, not some earthly citizens
of an earthly Jerusalem and others of a heavenly. No, all in the
heavenly Jerusalem. That's what he's talking about.
Look at verse 10. Now look here, he says, all the land shall be
turned as a plain. from Geba to Arimmon south of
Jerusalem and it shall be lifted up and inhabited in her place
from Benjamin's gate under the place of the first gate under
the corner gate from the tower of Hananiel under the king's
wine presses. What he's doing here is describing
Jerusalem, the physical Jerusalem and the area surrounding it and
there was a great plain there. It's literally Erebot, it's what
it's called in the original language. And what it is, there was a great
deep rift in the land there. and here's what he's saying here
and these points are just measurements for the gates of jerusalem and
he's simply saying this all the land surrounding jerusalem will
be smoothed out and jerusalem's going to be lifted up exalted
see what he's saying Now, there are people who think that's a
literal fulfillment. Geographical changes are gonna
take place, all that land's gonna... But I don't believe that's what
it's talking about because the measurements here are so big
that it's infinite. It's talking about how the whole
earth, when Christ comes again, the whole earth is going to be
flattened, laid out like a plane, and Jerusalem, the heavenly city,
the church of the living God, is going to be lifted up, that
is, exalted unto glory in Christ. Not like the ruins that Zechariah
and his people see in their day. I imagine them looking at those
ruins, they wonder, could this place ever be rebuilt again?
See, it's not going to be like that. And somebody asked, does
this speak of the earthly Jerusalem or the heavenly? It speaks of
the heavenly. Christ said, my kingdom is not of this world.
It's a spiritual kingdom. And when he comes again, and
this is taking place even today, spiritually speaking, in the
preaching of the gospel, it's already taken place. Because
when you come to see Christ, listen to it, when you come,
let's put it this way, when you come to see your sinfulness and
your depravity and your wretchedness and deservedness of damnation,
And God brings you to a saving knowledge of Christ. What does
he do? He lifts you up, doesn't he? He exalts you, not by your
works, not by your efforts, not by your will, but in Christ.
Washed in his blood, clothed in his righteousness. Can you
get any higher than that? Well, when he comes again, this
whole world is going to be flattened like that great rift in that
Ereba. Put down, that's what it means.
Destroyed. and the church is going to be
exalted. So look at verse 11. He said, under the king's winepresses,
you know what that's about. That's Christ going through the
winepress of God's wrath to lift us up. And it says in verse 11,
and men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter
destruction, but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited, secure in
Christ. The church of God Now this is
one of the reasons I believe the mainstay here is of the heavenly
Jerusalem because it says there shall be no more utter destruction. The Bible teaches that whatever's
on this earth in whatever form when Christ comes again is going
to be burned up and destroyed. Read it in 2 Peter chapter 3.
But here he says it shall be no more utter destruction. This
is an eternal city. a heavenly city. And he says,
but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited. The church of the
living God in Christ, represented by Jerusalem, shall be fully
inhabited, again not one missing, and made fruitful in every place
where she's found. All right.