Bible Commentaries
Zechariah 14

Verse 1

Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.

Behold, the day of the Lord cometh - in which He shall vindicate His justice, by punishing the wicked, and then Behold, the day of the Lord cometh - in which He shall vindicate His justice, by punishing the wicked, and then saving His elect people (Joel 2:31; Joel 3:14; Malachi 4:1; Malachi 4:5).

And thy spoil shall be 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.

Verse 2

For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle ... The prophecy seems literal (cf. Joel 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 (2 Thessalonians 2:4); thus Antichrist outside would be made to besiege Antichrist within the city. But obscurities and difficulties of detail do not set aside the main facts of revelations: the event will clear up seeming difficulties. (Compare the complicated movements, Daniel 11:1-45.) The beast that leads the secular hosts is distinct from the second beast that wields the spiritual power, and who is also called "the false prophet" (Revelation 13:1-18; Revelation 16:13-14) Moreover, Antichrist, who at one time sits in the temple as God, may subsequently prove to be at the head of the hosts which shall assail Jerusalem and perish finally, after a temporary success.

And half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. In Zechariah 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.'

Verse 3

Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.

Then - in Jerusalem's extremity.

Shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle - as when Yahweh fought for Israel against the Egyptians at the Red Sea (Exodus 14:14; Exodus 15:3). As He then made a way through the divided sea, so will He now divide in two "the mount of Olives" (Zechariah 14:4).

Verse 4

And 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 in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

And 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 in the midst thereof. The object of the cleaving of the mount in two by a fissure or valley (a prolongation of "the valley of Jehoshaphat," the scene of the battle, Joel 3:2; Joel 3:12; Joel 3:14, and extending from Jerusalem, on the west, toward Jordan, eastward), is to open a way of escape to the besieged. Half of the divided mountain 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 (Acts 1:11). He shall probably come from the east, "as the lightning cometh out of the east" (Matthew 24:27). He so made His triumphal entry into the city from the Mount of Olives on the east (Matthew 21:1-10). This was the scene of His agony: so it shall be the scene of His glory. Compare Ezekiel 11:23 with 43:2, "Behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east."

Verse 5

And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye 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.

Ye shall flee to the valley - rather, [ geey' (H1516)] 'through the valley,' as in 2 Samuel 2:29. The valley made by the cleaving asunder of the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:4) is designed to be their way of escape, not their place of refuge (Maurer). Jerome is on the side of the 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 day is mentioned (Amos 1:1) as a recognized epoch in Jewish history. Compare also Isaiah 6:1: perhaps the same year that Yahweh held His heavenly court, and gave commission to Isaiah for the Jews, an earthquake in the physical world, us often happens (Matthew 24:7), marked momentous movements in the unseen spiritual world [ haaray (H2022)].

Of the mountains - rather, 'of my mountains'-namely, Zion and Moriah, peculiarly sacred to Yahweh (Moore). Or, the mountains formed by my cleaving Olivet into two (Maurer).

Azal - the name of a place near a gate east of the city. The Hebrew [ `Aatsal (H682)] means adjoining - i:e., adjoining the city (Henderson). 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. Piscator and Tarnovius take the Hebrew in a verb, 'The valley of the mountains shall reach to (the mountain which God hath chosen, namely) Mount Zion.' But this requires too great an ellipsis to be supplied. Ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah - (See note, Amos 1:1; also Isaiah 6:1). It must have been a notable earthquake, since it is here referred to as a fact fresh in the minds of the Jews after a lapse of more than two centuries from its occurrence. Palestine abounds in traces of volcanic action. Uzziah's sin in relation to the spiritual world seems to be connected with the convulsion in the physical world (cf. Matthew 24:7).

And the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. The mention of the "Lord my God" leads the prophet to pass suddenly to a direct address to Yahweh. It is as if, "lifting up his head" (Luke 21:28), he suddenly sees in vision the Lord coming, and joyfully exclaims (passing from speaking OF God to speaking TO God), "All the saints with thee!" So Isaiah 25:9.

Saints - holy angels, escorting the returning King (Mark 24:30-31; Jude 1:14, "Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints" - i:e., holy angels) and redeemed men (1 Corinthians 15:23; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; 1 Thessalonians 4:14). Compare the similar mention of the "saints" and "angels" at His coming on Sinai, Deuteronomy 33:2-3; Acts 7:53; Galatians 3:19; Hebrews 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 4,000 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 (cf. Zechariah 14:8; Ezekiel 47:1, etc.; Joel 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 (Ezekiel 48:1-35). There are seven spaces of fifty miles each from Jerusalem northward to the Euphrates, and five spaces of fifty miles each southwards 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 Ezekiel 48:1-35. He thinks 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. This is favoured by Genesis 15:18; Exodus 23:31; Deuteronomy 11:24; Joshua 1:4; 1 Kings 4:21; 2 Chronicles 9:26; Isaiah 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 Ezekiel 48:1-35. But it is of course very conjectural, and seems to push literalism of interpretation rather far.

Verse 6

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear nor dark. Jerome, Vulgate ('frigus et gelu'), Chaldaic, Syriac, and the Septuagint [kai psuchos kai pagos] translate, 'there shall not be light, but cold and ice' - i:e., a day full of horror (Amos 5:18). But the Hebrew [ yªqaarowt (H3368), from yaaqar (H3365), to count precious] for "clear" does not mean 'cold,' but precious, splendid (cf. Job 31:26). Literally, 'there shall not be the light of precious things.' Calvin translates, 'the light shall not be clear (but) dark' [yªqipaa'own, or, rather, wªqipaa'own (H7087), the Qeri' reading] - (literally, of condensation - i:e., of thick mist, from [ qaapaa' (H7087)] to condense); like a dark day in which you can hardly distinguish between day and night. The English version accords with Zechariah 14:7, "not day, nor night:" 'there shall not be altogether light nor altogether darkness,' but an intermediate condition, in which sorrows shall be mingled with joys. The Kethibh (written Hebrew text) reads [yiqpaa'uwn], 'the clear (luminaries) are withdrawn - i:e., withdraw their light (Gesenius). I incline to this, as the oldest reading.

Verse 7

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.

But it shall be one day - a day altogether unique, different from all others (Maurer). Compare "one," i:e., unique, Song of Solomon 6:9; Jeremiah 30:7. Not as Henderson explains, 'one continuous day, without night' (Revelation 22:5,25 ): the millennial period (Revelation 20:3-7). For it is not until "evening time" that the "light" comes. Meantime, it shall not be such daylight as the sun produces, nor yet shall it be altogether "night," such as there is in the absence of the sun: there will be some light, but dim and uncertain twilight, corresponding to the state of mind in the world - "distress of nations with perplexity" (Luke 21:25). There shall be neither the joy of day nor the repose of night.

Which shall be known to the Lord. This truth restrains man's curiosity, and teaches us to wait the Lord's own time (Matthew 24:36).

Not day, nor night - answering to "not ... clear, nor dark" (Zechariah 14:6); not altogether daylight, yet not the darkness of night.

At evening time it shall be light toward the close of this twilight- like time of calamity "light" - yea, the full and everlasting effulgence of light-shall spring up to the elect remnant (Psalms 97:11; Psalms 112:4; Isaiah 30:26; Isaiah 60:19-20).

Verse 8

And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.

Living waters shall go out from Jerusalem - (Ezekiel 47:1; Joel 3:18).

Half of them toward the former sea - i:e., the front or east, which Orientalists face in taking points of the compass: the Dead Sea.

And half of them toward the hinder sea - the west, or Mediterranean. In summer and in winter shall it be - neither dried up by heat, nor frozen by cold; ever flowing.

Verse 9

And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.

And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. Isaiah 54:5 implies that this is to be the consequence of Israel being again recognized by God as His own people. For after saying "Thy Maker is thine husband ... and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel" the prophet states, as the consequence, "The God of the whole earth shall He be called" (Daniel 2:44; Revelation 11:15).

In that day shall there be one Lord, and his 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 Yahweh 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 (Ephesians 4:3-6). But externally there are sad divisions. Not until these disappear shall God reveal fully His unity to the world (John 17:21; John 17:23). Then shall there be "a pure language, that all may call upon the name of the Lord with one consent" (Zephaniah 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" (1 Corinthians 15:24).

Verse 10

All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king's winepresses.

All the land shall be turned as a plain - or 'changed round about' [ yicowb (H5437), from caabab (H5437)] - 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" (Isaiah 40:4).

From Geba to Rimmon - Geba (2 Kings 23:8) in Benjamin, the northern border of Judah. Rimmon in Simeon (Joshua 15:32), the southern border of Judah; not the Rimmon northeast of Michmash. "The plain from Geba to Rimmon" (i:e., 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.

And it shall be lifted up - namely, Jerusalem shall be exalted, the hills all round being lowered (Micah 4:1).

And inhabited in her place - (Zechariah 12:6). And inhabited in her place - (Zechariah 12:6).

From Benjamin's gate - leading to the territory of Benjamin. The same as Ephraim's gate, the northern boundary of the city (2 Kings 14:13).

Unto the place of the first gate - where the former gate stood, west of the city (Grotius). "The place of," etc., implies that the gate itself was then not in existence. "The old gate" (Nehemiah 3:6).

Unto the corner gate - east of the city (Grotius). Or the "corner" joining the north and west parts of the wall (Villapandus). Grotius thinks "corners refers to the towers there built (cf. margin, Zephaniah 3:6).

And from the tower of Hananeel - south of the city, near the sheep gate (Nehemiah 3:1; Nehemiah 12:39; Jeremiah 31:38). (Grotius.)

Unto the king's wine-presses - (Song of Solomon 8:11). In the interior of the city, at Zion (Grotius).

Verse 11

And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.

And there shall be no more utter destruction - (Jeremiah 31:40). literally, no more curse [ cheerem (H2764)] (Revelation 22:3: cf. Malachi 4:6), for there will be no more sin. Temporal. blessings and spiritual prosperity shall go together in the millennium: long life (Isaiah 65:20-22), peace (Isaiah 2:4), honour (Isaiah 60:14-16), righteous government (Isaiah 54:14; Isaiah 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 (Romans 8:21). (Auberlen.)

Verse 12

And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.

And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem. Punishment on the foe, the last anti-Christian confederacy (Isaiah 59:18; Isaiah 66:24; Ezek. 38:39; Revelation 19:17-21).

Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue - a living death: the corruption (Galatians 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.

Verse 13

And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.

A great tumult from the Lord shall be among them - "a tumult:" a consternation (Zechariah 12:4; 1 Samuel 14:15; 1 Samuel 14:20).

They shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour - instinctively grasping it, as if thereby to be safer, but, in vain (Menochius). Rather, in order to assail 'his neighbour' (Calvin). Ezekiel 38:21 confirms the latter view: "Every man's sword shall be against his brother." Sin is the cause of all quarrels on earth: it will cause endless quarrels in hell (James 3:15-16). The so-called "wisdom" which breeds "bitter envying and strife," is "earthly, sensual, and devilish."

Verse 14

And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance.

And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem - namely, against the foe; not against Jerusalem, as Maurer translates, at variance with the context.

And the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together. As to the spoil gained from the foe, cf. Ezekiel 39:10; Ezekiel 39:17.

Verse 15

And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague.

And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, of the ass. 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 ( 1Ma 13:49 ; 2Ma 9:5 ).

Verse 16

And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.

Every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts - (Isaiah 66:19; Isaiah 66:23). God will conquer all the foes of the Church. Some He will destroy, others He will bring into willing subjection.

From year to year, [ mideey (H1767) shaanaah (H8141) bªshaanaah (H8141)] - literally, 'from the sufficiency of a year in a year.'

And to keep the feast of tabernacles. The other two great yearly feasts, the 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 40 years in the wilderness, but for almost 2,000 years of their dispersion. So it was kept on their return from the Babylonian dispersion (Nehemiah 8:14-17). It was the feast on which Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:8) - a pledge of His return to His capital to reign (cf. Leviticus 23:34; Leviticus 23:39-40; Leviticus 23:42). Allusion to this feast of tabernacles occurs in Revelation 7:9; Revelation 21:3. For as the Israelites, when settled in their land of rest, made at this feast booths of palm branches (Nehemiah 8:15; Nehemiah 8:17), in order to stir themselves up to thanksgivings to God in the remembrance of their preservation in their least wanderings and their present happiness and rest, so the redeemed are represented as about to bear "palms in their hands" when they shall have reached the heavenly Canaan, in order to enhance the joy of their salvation by the recollection of the "great tribulation" which they shall have endured in this wilderness, out of which they shall then have safely come.

Then the "earthly tabernacle" shall have been exchanged for the "building of God," the "house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (2 Corinthians 5:1). A feast of special joy, as being commemorative of completed salvation and rest after weary wanderings (Psalms 118:15; Hosea 12:9). The feast on which Jesus gave the invitation to the living waters of salvation ("Hosanna," save us now was the cry, Matthew 21:9: cf. Ps. 108:25-26 ) (John 7:2; John 7:37). 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 seed time 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.

Verse 17

And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.

Whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King ... even upon them shall be no rain - including every calamity which usually follows in the East from want of rain-namely, scarcity of provisions, famine, pestilence, etc. Rain is the symbol, also, of God's gracious favour (Hosea 6:3). That there shall be unconverted men under the millennium appears from the outbreak of Gog and Magog at the end of it (Revelation 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 (Isaiah 2:2; Micah 5:7). However, Isaiah 66:19 may imply the converse. And it may be that, after the Jews, as missionaries, shall have converted the Gentiles, the latter, by representatives, shall come up to worship at the city of Jerusalem, where especially the heavenly King shall manifest His presence.

Verse 18

And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

If the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain, there shall be the plague - specified as Israel's ancient foe. Also, in the Persian times, wherein Zechariah lived, Egypt, by her perpetual efforts to throw off the Persian yoke, would naturally be in opposition to Judah, which was under Persia's protection. This would suggest the language and imagery under which this prophecy of events, still future now, is couched. If Egypt go not up, and so there be no rain on them (a judgment which Egypt would contemn, as depending on the Nile's overflow, not on rain), there shall be the plague, etc. Because the guilty are not affected by one judgment, let them not think to escape, because God has other judgments which shall plague them. Maurer translates, 'if Egypt go not up, upon them also there shall be none' (no rain). Psalms 105:32 mentions "rain" in Egypt. But it is not their main source of fertility.

Verse 19

This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

This shall be the punishment, [ chaTa't (H2403)] - literally, sin - i:e., punishment for sin.

Verse 20

In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD's house shall be like the bowls before the altar.

In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD - namely, this inscription, "Holiness to the Lord," the same as was on the golden plate worn on the forefront of the mitre of the high priest (Exodus 28:36). This implies that all things, even the most common, shall be sacred to Yahweh, and not merely the things which under the law had special 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 are found represented on the walls of Sennacherib's palace at Kouyunjik attached to horses.

And the pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the altar - the vessels used for boiling, for receiving ashes, etc., shall be as holy as tile bowls used for catching the blood of the sacrificial victims (note, Zechariah 9:15; 1 Samuel 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, because the marriage feast of the Lamb will be celebrated in heaven (Revelation 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 the New Testament glory, (Isaiah 1:26; Ezekiel 45:1.) (Roos.)

Verse 21

Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of

Yea, 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 Yahweh.

And all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them - as readily as they would take of the pots of the temple itself, whatever number they wanted for sacrifice.

There shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts - no unclean or ungodly person, such as the accursed Canaanite was (Isaiah 35:8; Isaiah 52:1; Joel 3:17). Compare as to the final state wherein there shall be nothing that defileth, or worketh abomination, subsequent to the millennium, Revelation 21:27; Revelation 22:15. Maurer, not so well, translates, 'merchant' here, as in Proverbs 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).

Remarks:

(1) It is the Lord's way at times to suffer His people to be reduced to the sorest straits, in order that He may magnify the riches of His grace in their deliverance. The Church's extremity is the Lord's opportunity. There is a fearful ordeal at hand, when "there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation" (Daniel 12:1). Already Popery and Infidelity, Socialistic insubordination, false spiritualism, and the self-deifying pride of human intellect, are preparing the fuel for the fiery furnace which is to try the Church. But when the triumph of the anti-Christian host seems most secure, "then the Lord shall go forth and fight" (Zechariah 14:3) for Israel and for His Church.

(2) The mount of Olives, the scene of Christ's agony in Gethsemane, shall be the scene of His glory. The same hill which witnessed His ascension shall witness His return "in like manner" (Acts 1:11). As the disciples stood "gazing up into heaven," when "a cloud received him out of their sight," so, "Behold, he cometh with clouds" (Revelation 1:7). As angels escorted their Lord at His ascension, so shall they in countless hosts attend on Him in His return. His people, "lifting up their heads as their redemption draweth nigh," shall, at the sudden manifestation of their returning Lord, exclaim, "The Lord my God is come, and all the saints with Thee" (Zechariah 14:5).

(3) The exact time of "the day of the Lord" (Zechariah 14:1) is "known to the Lord" alone (Zechariah 14:7). This thought should stifle, not reverent inquiry, but presumptuous dogmatism, in fixing dates of the future.

(4) The ushering in of that day shall be amidst circumstances of gloom; not indeed the blackness of "night," but yet not the "clearness" of "day" (Zechariah 14:6-7). There shall be neither the cheering light of daytime nor the calm quiet of night, but the uneasy forebodings and fears attendant upon a state of twilight. It shall be a day unique, and without a parallel. How earnest, therefore, we ought to be, that we may be prepared for it!

(5) "At evening time it shall be light," not indeed to all, but to them that believe. The night may be dark, and even the twilight of life clouded to the saint, but in due time the full "light" shall break forth (Zechariah 14:7). "The Lord shall be" at last His people's "everlasting light, and the days of their mourning shall be ended" (Isaiah 60:20).

(6) The waters of life flowed forth at Jerusalem first, when Christ the Rock was smitten; and "repentance and remission of sins was preached in Christ's name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem" (Luke 24:47). So again the "living waters" shall go out from Jerusalem far more abundantly than ever before, when her people shall have turned to the Lord. Then "shall the Lord be king over all the earth" (Zechariah 14:9), and "the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ" (Revelation 11:15).

(7) As yet divisions among Christians, and errors of doctrine and practice among many, and covetousness, and idolatries, prevent the universal recognition of Him who is "the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords" (1 Timothy 6:15). But "in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one" (Zechariah 14:9).

(8) Mountains of opposition and distrust shall then be leveled "as a plain" (Zechariah 14:10); "Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited;" "and there shall be no more utter destruction," because then sin shall cease to reign. After the chastisement of the Church by Antichrist, he himself shall perish forever, and then holier and happier days shall dawn upon the purified Church and world.

(9) The most fearful punishments await the reprobates (Zechariah 14:12). Sin shall be left to its unrestricted workings on undying bodies and souls. Sin is hell in embryo: and then sin shall have its full and awful development. The consciousness of life shall be realized in ghastly union with the corruption of ever-continuing death, as if a person had a decaying corpse ever clasped in closest union with his living body. Then, in hell, everyone's hand among the lost shall rise up in perpetual bitterness against his neighbour (Zechariah 14:13).

(10) While God shall destroy some, He shall convert others to Himself (Zechariah 14:16). After the anti-Christian foes of Jerusalem shall have perished there, the surviving nations shall tender their allegiance to the King, the Lord of hosts, who shall hold His Royal court there in manifested glory (Zechariah 14:16).

(11) Then shall the Jews celebrate the feast of tabernacles literally, with a joy exceeding that of former feasts as much as their future deliverance from their wanderings for ages shall exceed all former deliverances. The spiritual Israel, the perfected and transfigured elect Church, shall also, after a heavenly manner, celebrate, with the palms of victory in their hands, their deliverance out of the great tribulations of this wilderness-world. Then, when punishments (Zechariah 14:18-19) shall overtake all the wicked, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD, even in the minutest particulars, and its inseparable companion, happiness (Zechariah 14:20), shall be the portion of God's people in heaven and on earth, and there shall be none to disturb or defile them (Zechariah 14:21). Let us begin this holy and happy consecration of all that we are and all that we have to the Lord: so even now shall we have a foretaste of heavenly joys.