Intro
The book of Zechariah ends on an extremely positive note. During the Millennium, the hopes
and dreams of God’s people will be realized like never before. The perfection that will be in the
new heaven and the new earth is not entirely realized. But compared to the previous ages, the
Millennium will be absolutely glorious with Jesus ruling the world in righteous as King of Kings
and Lord of Lord.
When we study biblical prophecy, it is easy to lose perspective on the future. The book of
Revelation gives a lot of detail about the horrors of the Tribulation period when God pours out
his wrath on a rebellious world. But the Tribulation period is only seven years long compared to
the thousand years of glory that follows it. The Tribulation period is less than one percent of the
time experienced in the Millennium. And of course, the Millennium is followed by the eternal
kingdom of everlasting bliss.
The extensive detail concerning events leading up to and including the Tribulation period are
given as a warning and as a protection against deception. Deception will be particularly
problematic during that time.i So, we need to know those details. But we must maintain an
overall perspective on biblical prophecy as we study those predictions. God has not appointed us
to wrath.ii Even those of his people who go through the Tribulation period will not experience
God’s wrath. They will be preserved through the judgement just as Noah was preserved through
the flood.iii God’s wrath is aimed toward the wicked, never toward his own. He chastens and
corrects his own.iv But Jesus bore the wrath for believers on the cross.v
So today we consider the glorious reign of Christ during the Millennium. What does the
Millennium have to do with you? You will be there in a glorified body reigning with Christ. Can
you enlarge your thinking and imagine that? What will it be like during those thousand years
fulfilling the assignment the Lord gives you? God is currently preparing you for that and for your
eternal assignment in the new heaven and new earth that follows. The promise in 2 Timothy 2:12
is, “If we suffer, we shall also reign with him” (KJV). Sometimes in this life we are called upon
to suffer for the sake of Christ.vi That is never in vain. God knows how to reward those who stay
faithful to him. Jesus’s Parable of the Pounds gives us insight on how that reward is distributed.
Remember in that parable how the nobleman rewarded the servant who and gained ten pounds
from one? Commending his faithfulness, the noblemen made him ruler over ten cities. And the
servant who gained five pounds from one was made ruler over five cities.vii It’s not difficult to
relate that to reigning with Christ during the Millennium.
So, keep all that in mind as we read Zechariah 14:16-21 from the Amplified Bible.
“Then everyone who is left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to
year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and celebrate the Feast of Booths
(Tabernacles). 17 And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to
Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them. 18 If the family of
Egypt does not go up [to Jerusalem] and present themselves, then no rain will fall on them. It
will be the plague with which the Lord will strike the nations who do not go up to celebrate the
Feast of Booths (Tabernacles). 19 This will be the [consequent] punishment [for the sin] of Egypt,
and the [consequent] punishment [for the sin] of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the
Feast of Booths (Tabernacles). 20 In that day there will be written on the little bells on the horses, “HOLY TO The Lord.” And the cooking pots in the Lord’s house will be [holy to the Lord] like the bowls before the
altar. 21 Every cooking pot in [all the houses in] Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to
the Lord of hosts, and all who sacrifice will come and take them and boil [their sacrifices] in
them. And in that day there will no longer be a Canaanite [that is, any godless or spiritually
unclean person, whether Jew or Gentile] in the house of the Lord of hosts.”viii
We find three characteristics of the Millennium in that passage.
1. Universality of Worship (vs 16)
2. Strictness of Administration (vs 17-19)
3. Pervasiveness of Holiness vs 20-21).
Last week we dealt with verse 16 and the Universality of Worship. In this message we will
address the other two: Christ’s discipline of the nations and the holiness of his reign.
I. STRICTNESS OF ADMINISTRATION is described in verses 17-19.
The withholding of rain is the discipline specifically named in our text. Verse 17 says, “And it
will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the
King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them.” The previous verse (16) declared the
requirement of all nations to send representative to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles every
year.
This pilgrimage will have both political and religious components. Politically they are to come in
affirmation of their allegiance to Jesus as the king. Religiously they are to participate in the Feast
of Tabernacles in worship of the one true God, Yahweh. In last week’s message, we discussed
the centrality of the Feast of Tabernacles during the Millennium. The Feast of Tabernacles is also
called the Feast of Ingathering because it celebrates “the final reaping of the summer’s bounty
before the onset of the rainy season in mid-October. . . .”ix
Keep in mind, this is not a regression to the Mosaic Law. It is rooted in that revelation, just as the
New Testament Communion service is rooted in the Old Testament Passover. But the feasts
during the Millennium will be adapted by God to appropriately accommodate that age.x We have
already noted a significant difference in the Mosaic celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles
versus the celebration during the Millennium. During the Millennium, representatives from all
the nations are required to participate. In the Mosaic ordinance, only the Jewish men were
required to attend.xi That alone changes the dynamics significantly.
Christ’s transformation of the Passover into the New Testament Communion service is a perfect
example of how this works. The Old Testament Passover Feast looked forward to the cross. The
New Testament Communion ordinance (Lord’s Supper) is a memorial to that event.xii All the
feasts of every age celebrate God’s redemption plan. But worship during the Millennium will be
in memory of God’s redemptive acts, especially the cross and resurrection of Christ, especially
the deliverance and ingathering of God’s elect (Jew and Gentile). Worship during the
Millennium will be characterized by joyful thanksgiving for God’s faithfulness throughout the
ages.
In Zechariah 14:17 the judgment on nations that do not attend the Feast of Tabernacles is the
withholding of rain.xiii First notice, this judgment is directly tied to the activities at the Feast of
Tabernacles.xivDuring this feast, God’s people look to him in faith for rain. The worshippers are
thanking God for supplying this in the past, but they are also asking him to give rain in the
future.xv They are operating in the principle of asking and receiving as taught by Jesus in Luke
11:9. James later affirmed this necessity of prayerfully asking when he told his readers, “You do
not have because you do not ask [it of God]” (James 4:2). This same admonition could be said to
the nations that refuse to come to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles: “You do not have
because you do not ask [it of God]” (James 4:2). You failed to come and petition God for that
rain.
Notice also that this is a supernatural punishment. Christ does not have to send armies to punish
those nations that do not come to the Feast. God supernaturally withholds this life-supporting
essential. The judgment comes swiftly and decisively.
Peace during the Millennium is maintained through strict and decisive discipline.xvi This is not
sloppy-agape peace-at-any-price. It is peace administered through wise leadership, executing
righteous judgment that yields the highest good for all. Anytime people with an Adamic nature
are involved, there must be a system of rewards and punishments. This is true even during the
glorious Millennial age. It will not be necessary in the eternal kingdom for at the end of
Revelation 20 all evil is put away. In our heavenly home there will be no disobedience for
“nothing that defiles or profanes or is unwashed will ever enter it, nor anyone who practices
abominations [detestable, morally repugnant things] and lying, but only those [will be admitted]
whose names have been written in the Lamb’s Book of Life” (Rev. 21:27). But during the
Millennium peace will be preserved by judgments such as the withholding of rain.
Zechariah 14:18-19 singles out Egypt as an example of how impartial judgment will be during
the Millennium. “If the family of Egypt does not go up [to Jerusalem] and present themselves,
then no rain will fall on them. It will be the plague with which the Lord will strike the nations
who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles). 19 This will be the [consequent]
punishment [for the sin] of Egypt, and the [consequent] punishment [for the sin] of all the
nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles).”
Various explanations for this special reference to Egypt have been suggested.
Eugene Merrill understands Egypt to simply typify the world, thus representing all the nations.xvii
Feinberg and others think it is because with the Nile River, Egypt is not as dependent “on a
balanced arrangement of rainfall (as in Palestine), hence appear to be untouched by the warning
of withholding of rain for disobedience.”xviii But draught brought serious hardship on Egypt in
Genesis 41:53-56. The Nile is dependent on rainfall. Both explanations seem inadequate.xix
The historic context in Zechariah’s day offers the most logical reason for why he singled out
Egypt in verses 18-19. Based on passages in Hosea and Jeremiah, we know many Israelites from
both the northern and the southern kingdoms had migrated to Egypt.xx Correspondence near the
time Zechariah gave this prophecy document the celebration of feasts in Egypt by Jews living in
that country. “A number of the Aramaic papyri document the Jewish community among soldiers
stationed at Elephantine under Achaemenid rule, 495–399 BCE.”xxi Elephantine is an island on
the southern border of Egypt.xxii Among those documents was a letter known as the Passover
Papyrus. “The letter was written c. 419 BCE by a Jewish man named Hananiah and is addressed
to his brother Jedoniah and the rest of the Jews garrisoned at Elephantine. The letter states that
King Darius II (r. 424 - 404 BCE) has instructed the Persian satrap Armases (c. 5th Century
BCE) to allow the Jewish garrison at Elephantine to observe a seven-day festival of unleavened
bread. This is believed to be an early reference to observance of the Passover holiday.”xxiii
Hananiah is probably Nehemiah’s brother, listed as Hanai in Nehemiah 1:2.xxiv That historical
context may have prompted the need for Zechariah to clearly declare in verses 18-19 that Egypt
would not be exempted from the pilgrimage to Jerusalem during the Millennium.
The plague (maggephah) in Zechariah 14:18 refers to the withholding of rain spoken of in the
previous verse (17).xxv Of course, the Lord will not be restricted to that form of punishment alone
during the Millennium. The withholding of rain is the specific judgment executed on any nation,
including Egypt, for not celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. The greatest
motivation for coming to Jerusalem is not the negative judgment spoken of in verses 17-18. The
positive motivation of enjoying the awesome presence of God in Jerusalem will inspire
multitudes to come. So, we move now from the strict administration of Christ’s rule described in
verses 17-19 to:
II. PERVASIVENESS OF HOLINESS described in verses 20-21.
The text focuses on holiness manifest in Jerusalem. Of course, that is the center of worship for
the world. The Shekinah glory of God will have returned to the temple there (Ezek. 44:1-3).
Christ will sit on the throne in his glorified body. The presence of the Holy Spirit will saturate
the city.
But the holiness of God will ripple forth throughout the world from that center in Jerusalem.
“For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover
the sea” (Hab. 2:14).xxvi The natural light will be enhanced seven times, but the spiritual light
will be brighter than ever before as well.xxvii So, as we examine the conditions in Jerusalem
during the Millennium, know that the spiritual conditions in the whole world will be much
improved. Of course, we would expect that with Satan bound and his host neutralized. We would
expect that with Christ ruling over the whole world. We would expect that with glorified saints
from the Church age doing the King’s bidding. We would expect that with every Israelite
savedxxviii and fulfilling their priestly function to the nations (Ex. 19:5-6).
Everything in Jerusalem and in Judah will be consecrated to the Lord for sacred use. Zechariah 14:20 prophecies, “In that day there will be written on the little bells on the horses, ‘HOLY TO The Lord.’ [KJV says, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD.] And the cooking pots in the Lord’s house will be [holy to the Lord] like the bowls before the altar.”
Two common items, the bells on the horses and the household cooking pots, are referenced to illustrate radical transformation of all Israel. Nothing could be more mundane than the bells on the horses’ harness. But even that secular décor will be labeled as “HOLY TO The Lord.” In Israel’s history that label was engraved on the high priest’s turban (Ex. 28:36). It was an indication of his consecration to the Lord’s service. But now Israel is so set apart unto God and his service that even the bells on the horses are declared “HOLY TO The Lord.”
This elevation of holiness is also illustrated by the sanctification of “the cooking pots in the Lord’s house.”xxix In Israel’s history these cooking pots were considered less sacred than “the bowls before the altar.” The bowls before the altar were used to catch the blood from the brazen altar so that it could be sprinkled “in front of the curtain leading to the holy of holies.”xxx The blood was even carried into the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16:11-19). This use in and near the Most Holy Place distinguished these bowls as more sacred than the cooking posts used in the outer court. But in the Millennium even the common cooking pots will be elevated to higher status of holiness.
Zechariah 14:21 continues this theme: “Every cooking pot in [all the houses in] Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord of hosts, and all who sacrifice will come and take them and boil [their sacrifices] in them.” Holiness will be so pervasive that “Every cooking pot,” including those in all the Jewish homes will be sacred. The whole nation will be priests unto the Lord, and all that they have will be set apart for his purposes.
There is a practical aspect associated with this comprehensive sanctification of Israel. How can the convergence and worship by representatives from the whole world be accommodated? It would require much more manpower, pots, and other resources than was available in the Old Testament temples. It will take all of Israel functioning as priests along with all their resources to accommodate this during the Millennium.
The last sentence in this book (Zech. 14:21) adds one more statement about holiness during the Millennium. “And in that day there will no longer be a Canaanite [that is, any godless or spiritually unclean person, whether Jew or Gentile] in the house of the Lord of hosts.” The Amplified Bible has rightly understood Zechariah’s use of the word Canaanite (Kena ‘aniy) in this verse. It represents “any godless or spiritually unclean person, whether Jew or Gentile.”
After the exodus, Israel was commanded to drive out the wicked inhabitants of Canaan Land.xxxi This land was occupied by a number of groups (Josh. 3:10). However, “the term ‘Canaanite’ is often used to denote all such groups, perhaps because the Canaanites were culturally, territorially, and/or politically dominant.”xxxii God instructed Israel to utterly destroy them “so that they will not teach you to act in accordance with all the detestable practices which they have done [in worship and service] for their gods” (Deut. 20:18).xxxiii From those early days of Israel’s history, the Canaanites came to epitomize those who are morally degenerate and rejected by God. And that is the way Kena ‘aniy (Canaanite) is used in Zechariah 14:21.
Since the Hebrew word is sometimes used to indicate a merchant (Job 41:6; Prov. 31:24), some scholars erroneously translate it trader (ESV) or merchant (YLT).xxxiv “The Canaanites (the Phoenicians) were renowned merchantmen . . . and notorious for their unprincipled and wicked way.”xxxv So the term was sometimes used to indicate a merchant, and perhaps an unethical merchant. But Zechariah 14:21 is not using the word in that way.
The promise here is that insincere, ungodly people will be purged, so that the community is pure.xxxvi This confirms the promise we examined in Zechariah 13:1-6. During the Millennium, Israel will not be made up of wheat and tares, but only the finest of wheat. This is one way we know the term “in that day” at the beginning of this verse does not refer to the Church age. During the Church age the wheat and tares grow up together (Matt. 13:24-30). But here God promises to remove the spiritually uncircumcised and unclean. Isaiah 52:1 made the same promise: “Awake, awake, Put on your strength, O Zion; Put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; For the uncircumcised and the unclean Will no longer come into you.”xxxvii
Imagine the impact all these promises had on Zechariah’s original audience. They have sacrificed much to journey from Babylon to Jerusalem for the rebuilding of the temple. They have endured resistance and discouragements in the building process. The temple they have built is inferior to the former temple built by Solomon. Life for them has not been easy. But they now get a glimpse of the end the matter.xxxviii It is all moving toward a wonderful conclusion. It may not happen today. It may not even happen in their mortal lifetime. But it will happen, and it will be glorious. The investment of their lives in obedience to God will be worth it all.
Let us be encouraged by these promises in the same way. Like Zechariah and his companions, we have our own discouragements and setbacks to deal with. But God has wonderful plans for his people. His plans for us will end well.xxxix James encouraged the believers in his day with these words: “You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful” (James 5:11). Keep serving God every day; it will be worth it all.
The crowning subject of Zechariah’s prophecies is HOLINESS. This reflects fulfillment of God’s purposes for Israel and for all the nations. The two are inextricably tied together. Daniel 9:24 lists six objectives God is working toward in his plan for Israel. The first three were accomplished at the First Advent. One of the other three is “to bring in everlasting righteousness.”xl God is holy, and he wants his people to be holy as well. Peter declared that in his first epistle: “But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves in all your conduct [be set apart from the world by your godly character and moral courage]; 16 because it is written, ‘You shall be holy (set apart), for I am holy’” (1 Pet. 1:15-16).xli Our sanctification is a work of the Holy Spirit, but God expects us to cooperate with that work.xlii
In a time when holiness is seldom preached in the churches, we need to look closely at the value God places on our separation from the world and its compromises. People want happiness. They want to prosper and be in health. They may even want spiritual power. But all that depends on holiness. “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14 KJV). Foundational to everything is our separation to God. God places a high premium on this thing called holiness.
Holiness indicates separation from the pollutions of this world. It indicates a separation unto God, intimacy with him, and commitment to his will. Many people equate holiness with legalism.xliii Legalism is a misunderstanding of holiness. Legalism is a dependance on self to follow rules and regulations. Holiness is empowerment by God through relationship. Holiness is a manifestation of God’s influence causing us to love the things he loves and hate the things he hates. Without holiness “no man shall see the Lord.”
Second Corinthians 7:1 gives this instruction to Christians: “Therefore, since we have these [great and wonderful] promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, completing holiness [living a consecrated life—a life set apart for God’s purpose] in the fear of God.” The proper response to the wonderful promises of God is not a stance of presumption. It is not “saying that God's forgiveness allows us to live immoral lives.” It is cleansing “ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1 KJV).xliv May that always be our response to the goodness of God. May it be written upon each of us: “Holy to the Lord.”
ENDNOTES:
i Matt. 24:8-12, 22-27; 2 Thess. 2:9-12; 1 John 2:18-19; Rev. 6:2; 13:13-14. Richard W. Tow, Rapture or Tribulation: Will Christians Go Through the Coming Tribulation? (Bloomington, IN: WestBow Press, 2022), 141-145, 161-162, 177-200. Authentic Christianity: Studies in 1 John (Bloomington, IN: WestBow Press, 2019), 111-120.
ii 1 Thess. 5:9; Cf. Richard W. Tow, Rapture or Tribulation: Will Christians Go Through the Coming Tribulation? (Bloomington, IN: WestBow Press, 2022), 16-17, 52, 91-92, 121-123.
iii Cf. 2 Pet. 2:4-9. Cf. Michael L. Brown and Craig S. Keener, Not Afraid of the Antichrist: Why We Don’t Believe in a Pre-Tribulation Rapture (Minneapolis, MN: Chosen, 2019), 123-131.
iv Cf. Heb. 12:5-11.
v Cf. Isa. 53; Rom. 2:5-10; 5:17-19; 2 Cor. 5:19-21.
vi Cf. 1 Pet. 3:14; 4:16-19; 5:10.
vii Cf. Luke 19:12-19; Matt. 24:14-23.
viii All Scripture quotes are from the Amplified Bible unless indicated otherwise. Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
ix Meyers and Meyers, Zechariah 9-14, 473. Emphasizing this dynamic of the feast, Charles Feinberg writes, “There are many views as to why choice was made of the Feast of Tabernacles [we discussed one of these extensively in our last message], but the most probable is that, speaking of the joys of the ingathering, it will celebrate the gathering of the nations to the Lord and especially His tabernacling among them. The millennial feast is the Feast of Tabernacles, because then God will tabernacle with men more fully than ever before in man’s long history.” Charles L. Feinberg, God Remembers, 203. There ae probably multiple reasons God has chosen the Feast of Tabernacles as central to Millennial worship.
x Ezekiel 40-46 provides considerable detail about worship during the Millennium. Based on divine revelation in the book of Hebrews, we know that Christ’s one perfect sacrifice at the cross alone has taken away sin and provided salvation to all who believe (Heb. 10:10-14). Therefore, all other sacrifices and offerings either look forward to Christ’s sacrifice (those in the Mosaic system) or memorizes that one sufficient sacrifice as our Communion service does and as worship during the Millennium will. Cf. C. I. Scofield, ed. The New Scofield Reference Bible, 1909 (London: Oxford University Press, 1967), 888.
xi Ex. 23:14-17.
xii Cf. Luke 22:13-20; 1 Cor. 11:23-26.
xiii While the rain (geshem) in Zechariah 14:17 is a reference to literal rain, it probably also refers to spiritual blessing as well. Cf. Ezekiel 34:26.
xiv Those coming to the Feast of Tabernacles were to “not appear before the Lord empty-handed” (Deut. 16:16). At this feast the nations were to bring their offerings to the Lord. In Isaiah 60:5 God promised Israel, “The wealth of the nations will come to you.”
xv Abraham Cohen says prayers for rain were a part of the Feast of Tabernacles by the time of the Second Temple. Abraham Cohen, The Twelve Prophets (Bournemouth, UK: Soncinco Press, 1948), 331.
xvi Cf. Ps. 2:10-11: Rev. 19:15.
xvii Merrill, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, 331.
xviii Feinberg, God Remembers, 203; Baron, Zechariah, 529-530.
xix Keil’s explanation is that Egypt “showed the greatest hostility to Jehovah and His people in the olden time, and for the purpose of showing that this nation was also to attain to full participation in the blessing of salvation bestowed upon Israel (cf. Isa. 19:19ff)” in loco. While this explanation is helpful, it too does not adequately explain Zechariah’s designation of Egypt in the text. Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.).
xx See Hosea 7:11, 16; 9:3, 6). And Jeremiah 41:16-17; 43:7; 44:12-15, 24-30.
xxi “Elephantine papyri and ostraca,” Wikipedia. Accessed at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephantine_papyri_and_ostraca#:~:text=The%20Elephantine%20documents%20include%20letters%20and%20legal%20contracts,years%2C%20during%20the%205th%20to%204th%20centuries%20BCE.
xxii Bezal Porten, Archives from Elephantine: The Life of an Ancient Jewish Military Colony (Berkley, CA: University of California Press, 1968), vii.
xxiii “The Passover Papyrus from Elephantine,” World History Encyclopedia. Accessed at https://www.worldhistory.org/image/10468/the-passover-papyrus-from-elephantine/. See also Bezalel Porten, The Elephantine Papyri in English: Three Millennia of Cross-Cultural Continuity of Change (New York: E. J. Brill, 1996) 125. Accessed at https://vk.com/doc278943367_491366146?hash=624Uho7EDZs3dlkNTUnB82y6BcLRY0wxa7n8XZdz9WL
xxiv Barker, Kenneth L., ed., The NIV Study Bible, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011) s.v. “Hanani” by E. Yamauchi and R. F. Youngblood. 778.
xxv Meyers understands the plague in verse 18 as a “second punishment.” Meyers and Meyers, Zechariah 9-14, 477.
xxvi Cf. Isa. 11:9.
xxvii Cf. Isa. 30:26.
xxviii Cf. Zech. 12:10-13:6; Rom. :26.
xxix This is probably a reference to the bronze pots “used to carry away ashes from the burnt offerings, as well as the remnants of the sacrificial animal, and in some cases they served as cooking utensils for meals prepared for the priestly families from portions of the sacrifices designated as edible (cf. Exod. 27:3; 38:3; Lev. 7:6, 15).” Andrew E. Hill, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, 272. Cf. Meyers and Meyers, Zechariah 9-14, 484.
xxx Meyers and Meyers, Zechariah 9-14, 485. The “bowls before the altar” may be a reference to utensils used in connection with the Altar of Incense located in the Holy Place. If so, the same idea of elevated sanctification would be communicated. There is no modifier of altar in verse 20 for a clear distinction. For a more detailed discussion of this see Meyers and Meyers, Zechariah 9-14, 482-486.
xxxi The timing of this was not until their iniquity was complete (Gen. 15:16). That is, they had exhausted God’s patience (2 Pet. 3:9-10), become fully settled in their choice against godliness, and their space for repentance had expired (Rev. 2:21).
xxxii Meyers and Meyers, Zechariah 9-14, 490.
xxxiii Cf. Lev. 18:2-3.
xxxiv “Tyre and Sidon, their famous cities, were the centres of great commercial activity; and hence the name ‘Canaanite’ came to signify a ‘trader" or "merchant.” Easton's Bible Dictionary, “Canaanites,” PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc.
xxxv Feinberg, God Remembers, 205.
xxxvi Cf. Ezek. 20:34-38; Zech. 5:1-4.
xxxvii Of course, this also indicates the end of the times of the Gentiles. Foreign nations will no longer control Jerusalem. But the spiritual implications are here as well. Cf. Isa. 35:8.
xxxviii Cf. Eccl. 7:8.
xxxix Cf. Jer. 29:11.
xl In Daniel 9:24 God reveals six objectives behind his dealings with the nation of Israel. The first three were accomplished at Christ’s First Advent. The last three will be fulfilled at the Second Advent and the Millennium that follows.
xli Cf. Lev. 20:7.
xlii Cf. Rom. 6:12-14; Phil. 2:12-13; Heb. 11:6.
xliii The Holiness Movement often failed to understand the biblical process of sanctification, and as a result fell into legalism. Repulsed by the hypocrisy often associated with that error, many today have moved to the other erroneous extreme: antinomianism. Instead we must revisit the revelation of holiness in Scripture and cooperate with his desire that we separate unto him and from all that defiles.
xliv Cf. Richard W. Tow, Authentic Christianity: Studies in 1 John (Bloomington, IN: WestBow Press, 2019), 95-110, 162-169.
