The Day of the Lord, Zechariah 14:1-9
Introduction
The great “Day of the Lord” will be the topic of our discussion this morning. The blessed hope of the redemption of God’s covenant people will be our primary concern today. That terrible Day of Judgment when the nations of the earth will be nations of the earth will be mighty hand of God will be a part of this discussion.
As I go to my text this morning it is with great fear and trembling as I handle this most precious of the doctrines of the Church.
For today we peer into the future through the lens of the prophecy of Zechariah, gazing to that great and terrible day when the Lord shall consummate this present age, ushering in a millennial reign of Christ on earth when we shall know Him perfectly, when all that is broken will be healed, and when the sin-sickened creation of God which all around us groans under the weight of sin’s curse shall be restored. The great reformer Martin Luther once wrote, “I hope that the day is near at hand when the advent of the great God will appear, for all things everywhere are boiling, burning, moving, falling, sinking, groaning.”
Indeed, all things are boiling, burning, moving, falling, sinking, and groaning. We look forward to the consummation of this age when all shall be restored to its former state, before sin brought about the curse which we now know.
The coming of Christ again need not be as it is for many, a means of hopeful escapism. No. Never let it be that we who are called to be salt and light in this world – we who are called to transform this world for Christ – would allow ourselves the ease of escapism through the vehicle of prophecy!
The promise of His coming fuels our passion and zeal for building His kingdom now. The promise of His coming and the knowledge of the consummation of this age (the current dispensation of redemptive history) are to inform us that the time is short: repent, believe, live for Christ, evangelize, win others to Christ, promote missions, and be reconciled to God and men!
We live for Christ today filled with the blessed hope of His return! We long for Christ return because we are filled with love Him and a desire for His glory to be known fully and manifest completely in this world!
The “Day of the Lord” is the blessed hope of God’s covenant people and it is a terrible reality for those who reject Him. This is entirely because His love is as an unquenchable fire which burns so brightly, so hotly, that it refines all that is consistent with it and burns away to nothing all that is inconsistent with it.
For believers the fire of God’s love is dazzling beauty, radiant, intensely warming. For unbelievers it is an unquenchable destroying fire which burns so strongly that it cannot be extinguished.
Transition
It is to that end that we proceed this morning. My aim will be to exposit the text, explaining the details of the great battle of Armageddon, albeit in a concise way, and then offer a few points of practical application for us in the “here and now” of the Christian pilgrimage today.
Exposition
Everyone has heard of “Armageddon.” The idea of the last great battle of the ages and the end of the earth, or at least the end of the earth as we currently experience it, is a common theme. It is made popular in secular and religious books, films, and other forms of popular media.
What is it? Allow me to first say that it is not in any fashion, in any way, a biblical notion that it will occur in 2012 at the end of the Mayan calendar.
In an article which appeared in the USA Today in 2007, in the wake of several books and films about the supposed end time predictions of the Mayan Indians of Central America, author G. Jeffrey MacDonald writes,
“Authors disagree about what humankind should expect on Dec. 21, 2012, when the Maya's "Long Count" calendar marks the end of a 5,126-year era. Journalist Lawrence Joseph forecasts widespread catastrophe in Apocalypse 2012: A Scientific Investigation into Civilization's End. Spiritual healer Andrew Smith predicts a restoration of a "true balance between Divine Feminine and Masculine" in The Revolution of 2012: Vol. 1, The Preparation. In 2012, Daniel Pinchbeck anticipates a "change in the nature of consciousness," assisted by indigenous insights and psychedelic drug use… [He goes on to write] … University of Florida anthropologist Susan Gillespie says the 2012 phenomenon comes "from media and from other people making use of the Maya past to fulfill agendas that are really their own."
The battle of Armageddon is a biblical prophecy related to the consummation of this present age and the return of Jesus Christ, and the full acceptance of her Messiah and the restoration of national Israel.
Popular notions, the picking of dates, and all of the hysteria that has at times, even very recently, surrounded the idea of the end of this age are completely foreign to biblical doctrine. Believers rightly distance themselves from these popular cultural ideas, instead, clinging to the word of God and the hope of Christ, looking unto His return to end this age and usher in a new reign of peace.
So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." (Acts 1:6-11 NIV)
It is not for us to know the time, the day, or the hour. It is hours to watch, to wait, and to proclaim His truth until the day of His coming. For a complete understanding of Zechariah’s prophecy we must look at the broader scope of biblical prophecy. This is how biblical interpretation works.
The parts are understood in the context of the whole. The “Day of the Lord” (v.1) is the time spoken of in Revelation, Daniel, the Psalms, and elsewhere. The phrase Armageddon comes from the Hebrew language.
Har means mountain and Megiddo is the place of the ruins of an ancient city in the Jezreel Valley, often called by the name of the ancient city, the Valley of Megiddo.
So, the biblical revelation points us to a great battle at the consummation of this age at the Valley of Megiddo.
Zechariah tells us that the purpose of this great army of the end time ruler, the Antichrist, is to come against Israel to plunder Jerusalem and destroy her inhabitants. In Zechariah 12:2-3 we read that the armies of Antichrist, the great world ruler who brings about a false peace in the last days, shall attempt to “drink up” Jerusalem only for her to prove a poison to them. The Lord will make Israel, Jerusalem, as an immovable rock.
The armies of the earth who come against her in the last days will attempt to crush her but they will only crush themselves upon her. When the nations of the earth come against the Most High their plans are thwarted.
God is sovereign over creation. His plans never fail. Dear Saints, His plans for Israel, His plans for the Church, His plans for my life and yours will not cease because of the evil intentions or vile plans of men. In verse 3 we are told that the Lord will go out and right against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle. I am reminded of the words of Psalms 24: 7-10.
“Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty-- he is the King of glory.” (NIV)
In that day when the armies of the Antichrist come against Israel, God’s chosen nation, the power of the Lord will be kindled against them and they shall be crushed. Gentle Jesus meek and mild, the Lamb of God, is also the Lion of the tribe of Judah who shall come to crush His enemies and establish His throne upon the earth that shall know no end! (v.9)
Think not that we serve a King who failed in His mission on earth by being murdered at the cross. His mission was to die in our place to atone for our sin at the Cross and His ultimate mission is to return to establish His throne.
Whatever battles we face in this life we do so as disciples of the Master of Mercy who is also the Prince of Peace: He shall one day establish His reign of perfect peace but not before He conquers His enemies.
We need a complete picture of Jesus to make sense of Jesus. His love is as immense as His strength is immeasurable. His love is expressed perfectly at the Cross and His glory must be vindicated, displayed through the promise of His perfect dominion and reign.
What battles are you fighting? The Lord encouraged the ancient Israelites with the promise that “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." (Exodus 14:14 NIV) Speaking of Jesus we are told that “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he leads justice to victory.” (Matthew 12:20 NIV)
What battles are we fighting in our own strength? On that great and terrible day the only help that will come will from the Lord and what a great help it will be!
“We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name” (Psalms 33:20-21 NIV)
Conclusion
“Both the Old and New Testaments are filled with promises of the second coming of Christ. Someone has reported that there are 1,845 references in the Old Testament alone and a total of 17 books that give it prominence. Of the 260 chapters in the entire New Testament, there are 318 references to Christ’s second coming. That averages one out of every 30 verses. Furthermore, 23 of the 27 New Testament books refer to this great event. That leaves only four books that do not refer directly to the Second Coming. Interestingly, three of these four books are single-chapter letters which were written to specific persons on a particular subject.” (QuickVerse 2010, A Treasury of Bible Illustrations)
The biblical doctrine of the Second Coming of Christ is of particular importance in the Bible. The battle of Armageddon is a legitimate biblical reality, not to be confused with so popular speculation. In Matthew 24:36-37 Jesus says, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.” (NIV) It is not difficult to imagine that we are living in the last days before the return of Christ.
The doctrine of the immanency of the return of Christ has characterized the Church from the very beginning of the Church age.
So much so that many of the Church Fathers believed that these and other events would transpire in their lifetimes.
With the international sentiment and unrest in Israel it is certain more imaginable than ever before that a great world leader would be able to mass a great coalition of armies against her. We should pray for the peace of Jerusalem. (Psalms 122:6)
Even more, we should watch and wait. Live for Christ now because the time of the great “Day of the Lord” drawn near! Amen.
