Zechariah 14

The LORD Comes and Reigns

1 A day of the LORD is coming, Jerusalem, when your possessions will be plundered and divided up within your very walls.

2 I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city.

3 Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights on a day of battle.

4 On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south.

5 You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake^[a] 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 will be neither sunlight nor cold, frosty darkness.

7 It will be a unique day—a day known only to the LORD—with no distinction between day and night. When evening comes, there will be light.

8 On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it east to the Dead Sea and half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea, in summer and in winter.

9 The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name.

10 The whole land, from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem, will become like the Arabah. But Jerusalem will be raised up high from the Benjamin Gate to the site of the First Gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses, and will remain in its place.

11 It will be inhabited; never again will it be destroyed. Jerusalem will be secure.

12 This is the plague with which the LORD will strike all the nations that fought 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 On that day people will be stricken by the LORD with great panic. They will seize each other by the hand and attack one another.

14 Judah too will fight at Jerusalem. The wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected—great quantities of gold and silver and clothing.

15 A similar plague will strike the horses and mules, the camels and donkeys, and all the animals in those camps.

16 Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.

17 If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, they will have no rain.

18 If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. The LORD^[b] will bring on them the plague he inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.

19 This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.

20 On that day HOLY TO THE LORD will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, and the cooking pots in the LORD’s house will be like the sacred bowls in front of the altar.

21 Every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the LORD Almighty, and all who come to sacrifice will take some of the pots and cook in them. And on that day there will no longer be a Canaanite^[c] in the house of the LORD Almighty.

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Zechariah 14 Commentary

Chapter 14

The sufferings of Jerusalem. (1-7) Encouraging prospects, and the destruction of her enemies. (8-15) The holiness of the latter days. (16-21)

Verses 1-7 The Lord Jesus often stood upon the Mount of Olives when on earth. He ascended from thence to heaven, and then desolations and distresses came upon the Jewish nation. Such is the view taken of this figuratively; but many consider it as a notice of events yet unfulfilled, and that it relates to troubles of which we cannot now form a full idea. Every believer, being related to God as his God, may triumph in the expectation of Christ's coming in power, and speak of it with pleasure. During a long season, the state of the church would be deformed by sin; there would be a mixture of truth and error, of happiness and misery. Such is the experience of God's people, a mingled state of grace and corruption. But, when the season is at the worst, and most unpromising, the Lord will turn darkness into light; deliverance comes when God's people have done looking for it.

Verses 8-15 Some consider that the progress of the gospel, beginning from Jerusalem, is referred to by the living waters flowing from that city. Neither shall the gospel and means of grace, nor the graces of the Spirit wrought in the hearts of believers by those means, ever fail, by reason either of the heat of persecution, or storms of temptation, or the blasts of any other affliction. Tremendous judgments appear to be foretold, to be sent upon those who should oppose the settlement of the Jews in their own land. How far they are to be understood literally, events alone can determine. The furious rage and malice which stir up men against each other, are faint shadows of the enmity which reigns among those who have perished in their sins. Even the inferior creatures often suffer for the sin of man, and in his plagues. Thus God will show his displeasure against sin.

Verses 16-21 As it is impossible for all nations literally to come to Jerusalem once a year, to keep a feast, it is evident that a figurative meaning must here be applied. Gospel worship is represented by the keeping of the feast of tabernacles. Every day of a Christian's life is a day of the feast of tabernacles; every Lord's day especially is the great day of the feast; therefore every day let us worship the Lord of hosts, and keep every Lord's day with peculiar solemnity. It is just for God to withhold the blessings of grace from those who do not attend the means of grace. It is a sin that is its own punishment; those who forsake the duty, forfeit the privilege of communion with God. A time of complete peace and purity of the church will arrive. Men will carry on their common affairs, and their sacred services, upon the same holy principles of faith, love and obedience. Real holiness shall be more diffused, because there shall be a more plentiful pouring forth of the Spirit of holiness than ever before. There shall be holiness even in common things. Every action and every enjoyment of the believer, should be so regulated according to the will of God, that it may be directed to his glory. Our whole lives should be as one constant sacrifice, or act of devotion; no selfish motive should prevail in any of our actions. But how far is the Christian church from this state of purity! Other times, however, are at hand, and the Lord will reform and enlarge his church, as he has promised. Yet in heaven alone will perfect holiness and happiness be found.

Taken from Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise)

Cross References 57

1. Isaiah 13:6; S Joel 1:15; Isaiah 13:9; Malachi 4:1
2. S Isaiah 23:18
3. S Isaiah 2:3; S Zechariah 12:3
4. S Ezekiel 5:8
5. S Genesis 34:29; S Lamentations 5:11
6. Isaiah 13:6; S Zechariah 13:8
7. Zechariah 9:14-15
8. S Isaiah 8:9; S Zechariah 12:9
9. Ezekiel 11:23
10. S Numbers 16:31
11. Amos 1:1
12. Isaiah 29:6; Isaiah 66:15-16
13. S Deuteronomy 33:2; Matthew 16:27; Matthew 25:31; Jude 14
14. S Isaiah 13:10; S Jeremiah 4:23
15. Jeremiah 30:7
16. Revelation 21:23-25; Revelation 22:5
17. S Isaiah 13:10; S Isaiah 30:26
18. Ezekiel 47:1-12; John 7:38; Revelation 22:1-2
19. S Isaiah 30:25
20. Joel 2:20
21. S Genesis 8:22
22. S Psalms 22:28; S Obadiah 1:21
23. S Deuteronomy 6:4; Psalms 47:7; Isaiah 45:24; Revelation 11:15
24. Habakkuk 2:14; Ephesians 4:5-6
25. 1 Kings 15:22
26. S Joshua 15:32
27. Isaiah 2:2; Jeremiah 30:18; S Amos 9:11
28. Zechariah 12:6
29. S Jeremiah 20:2
30. S 2 Kings 14:13
31. S Nehemiah 3:1
32. Zechariah 2:4
33. S Psalms 48:8; S Ezekiel 34:25-28
34. S Isaiah 11:4
35. ver 18; S Leviticus 26:16; S Deuteronomy 28:22; Job 18:13
36. S Genesis 35:5
37. S Judges 7:22; S Zechariah 11:6
38. Zechariah 12:2
39. S Isaiah 23:18
40. ver 12
41. S 2 Kings 19:31
42. S Psalms 22:29; S Psalms 86:9; S Isaiah 19:21
43. S Obadiah 1:21
44. S Exodus 23:16; Isaiah 60:6-9; S Micah 4:2
45. S 2 Chronicles 32:23
46. S Jeremiah 14:4; S Amos 4:7
47. S Genesis 27:29
48. S ver 12
49. S Ezra 3:4
50. S Exodus 39:30
51. S Ezekiel 46:20
52. Zechariah 9:15
53. S Jeremiah 31:40; Romans 14:6-7; 1 Corinthians 10:31
54. Nehemiah 8:10
55. Zechariah 9:8
56. S Nehemiah 11:1
57. S Ezekiel 44:9

Footnotes 3

[a]. Or 5"My mountain valley will be blocked and will extend to Azel. It will be blocked as it was blocked because of the earthquake"
[b]. Or "part, then the " Lord
[c]. Or "merchant"

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO ZECHARIAH 14

This chapter treats of the coming of Christ with all his saints, and his personal appearance among them; and of the signs of the times before that; and of what shall befall the enemies of the church, both open and secret; and of the happy state and condition of the church itself. First there will be a time of great affliction to the people of God, Zec 14:1,2, when the Lord will appear and fight for them, and will appear to them, and with them, Zec 14:3-5 but before this time it will be an uncommon season, neither day nor night; at the close of which, light will break forth, Zec 14:6,7 the Gospel will be spread far and near, attended with the Spirit and grace of God in great plenty, Zec 14:8 which will bring on the spiritual reign of Christ over all the earth, Zec 14:9 particularly the land of Judea, and the city of Jerusalem, shall be inhabited by men with safety, Zec 14:10,11 and all those that oppose and fight against the Lord's people shall be destroyed, partly by an immediate plague from the Lord upon them, and partly by the hands of one another, and also by the saints of the most High; and the plague shall not only be upon their persons, but upon their cattle likewise, Zec 14:12-16 and as for those that profess the Christian name, and yet neglect or refuse to worship the Lord in a spiritual and evangelical manner, there shall be no rain upon them, Zec 14:17-19 and as for the church and people of God, there shall be universal holiness among them, and not a single Canaanite to be found in the midst of them, Zec 14:20,21.