The Word of the Lord to Zechariah

Chapter 14

The destroyers of Jerusalem destroyed, 1, 2. The coming of Christ and the graces of his kingdom, 3-11. The plague of Jerusalem's enemies, 12-15. The remnant shall turn to the Lord, 16-19 and there shall be universal holiness among them, 20, 21.

1 Behold, the day of the LORD comes, and your plunder shall be divided in the midst of you. 2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken, the houses plundered, and the women ravished. Half of the city shall go forth into captivity, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 3 Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. 4 And his feet will 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 of it toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley. Half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south. 5 And you shall flee to the valley of the mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. Indeed, you shall flee as you 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 you.

6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark. 7 But it shall be one day which is known to the LORD, neither day, nor night, but it shall come to pass, that at evening it shall be light.

8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem: half of them toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea. In summer and in winter it shall be.

9 And the LORD will be king over all the earth. In that day there will be one LORD, and his name one.

10 All the land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem. And it shall be lifted up and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gate to the place of the first gate, to the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel to the king's wine-presses. 11 And men shall dwell in it, and there shall no longer be utter destruction. And Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.

12 And this shall be the plague with which the LORD will smite all the people who have fought against Jerusalem: their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. 13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them, and they shall each lay hold upon the hand of his neighbor, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor. 14 And Judah shall also fight at Jerusalem. The wealth of all the heathen around shall be collected: gold, silver, and apparel in great abundance. 15 And so the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, of the donkey, and of all the beasts that will be in these tents, shall be as this plague.

16 And it shall come to pass, that everyone who 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. 17 And it shall be, that whoever will not come up of all the families of the earth to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, there shall be no rain upon them. 18 And if the family of Egypt shall not go up and shall not come, they shall have no rain. There the plague shall be, with which the LORD will smite the heathen who do not come up to keep the feast of tabernacles. 19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all nations that do not come up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

20 In that day there shall be upon the bells of the horses, "HOLINESS TO THE LORD," and the pots in the LORD'S house shall be like the bowls before the altar. 21 Even every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness to the LORD of hosts. And all those who sacrifice shall come and take some of them and boil in them. And in that day the Canaanite shall no longer be in the house of the LORD of hosts.

Commentary

Matthew Henry Commentary - Zechariah, Chapter 14[➚]

Notes

John Gill's Chapter Summary

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 (verses 1-2), when the Lord will appear and fight for them, and will appear to them, and with them (verses 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 (verses 6-7); the Gospel will be spread far and near, attended with the Spirit and grace of God in great plenty (verse 8); which will bring on the spiritual reign of Christ over all the earth (verse 9); particularly the land of Judea, and the city of Jerusalem, shall be inhabited by men with safety (verses 10-11); and all those who 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 (verses 12-16); and as for those who 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 (verses 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 (verses 20-21).

[v.5] - "and all the saints with you" - From the Pulpit Commentary: "[Many] versions have, "with him," and thus many Hebrew manuscripts. But such abrupt changes of persons are not uncommon [in Hebrew]."

[v.6] - "that the light shall not be clear, nor dark" - An alternate translation of this is, "that there shall not be light; the bright ones shall withdraw themselves" (ASV). That is, the heavenly bodies will withdraw their light (Pulpit Commentary).

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