Living A Sacred Life Series

In a sense, this morning marks the end of a journey that we began last July in the book of Joel and which has made its way through Amos, Isaiah, Obadiah, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Daniel, Ezekiel and now Zechariah. Next week, we’ll pause for a moment to reflect upon what we’ve learned on that journey and then on May 2, we’ll begin the next leg of our journey as we begin to examine the Book of Revelation.

Go ahead and turn in your Bibles to Zechariah 14. As we’ll see even more clearly this morning, even though we have looked at each chapter separately, Zechariah chapters 12-14 form one complete prophecy that describes the events of the Day of the Lord which correspond to the return of Jesus the Messiah. And as we have seen with many of the other prophets, this prophecy is not recorded in a strictly chronological manner. So much of what we read about here in chapter 14 actually gives us another view of some of the same events that were described back in chapters 12 and 13.

But before we look at this final chapter of Zechariah, I want to remind all of us that this prophecy, like prophecy in general, is not about drawing up some cool charts that allow us to somehow figure out exactly how and when all these events will take place. God didn’t give this prophecy merely so we could speculate about the end times. He wants us to apply these passages to our lives right here and now. So as always, as we look at this passage, we want to focus on application, and not just information.

Chapter 14 can easily be broken down into two distinct sections, so we’ll look at them one at a time this morning.

JESUS RETURNS TO DEFEAT HIS ENEMIES (vv. 1-15)

1 Behold, a day is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. 2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 3 Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. 4 On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. 5 And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.

6 On that day there shall be no light, cold, or frost. 7 And there shall be a unique day, which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but at evening time there shall be light.

8 On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea. It shall continue in summer as in winter.

9 And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one.

10 The whole land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. But Jerusalem shall remain aloft on its site from the Gate of Benjamin to the place of the former gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king's winepresses. 11 And it shall be inhabited, for there shall never again be a decree of utter destruction. Jerusalem shall dwell in security.

12 And this shall be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples that wage war against Jerusalem: their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.

13 And on that day a great panic from the Lord shall fall on them, so that each will seize the hand of another, and the hand of the one will be raised against the hand of the other. 14 Even Judah will fight at Jerusalem. And the wealth of all the surrounding nations shall be collected, gold, silver, and garments in great abundance. 15 And a plague like this plague shall fall on the horses, the mules, the camels, the donkeys, and whatever beasts may be in those camps.