The Day of the Lord

The Wonderful Kingdom

Book of Zechariah Chapter 14

In Chapter 14 of Zechariah we will see the prophecy of Chapter 12 and Chapter 13 expanded. There is coming a time when most all the nations of this world will gather against the tiny nation of Israel. It will seem that all the prophesies of the Scriptures have failed. It will seem that Jerusalem the City of Peace, that has never seen peace, will be no more. It will seem that the Word of God has been a lie. It will seem that all hope is lost.

It will have been 7 years since the Antichrist came onto the scene and he has spent the last 3 and 1/2 years destroying everything and everyone who has challenged him.

He has most all the world behind him and he has decided he will be the true king of the world and he has set his eyes upon Jerusalem and his plan now to destroy the Jews.

The Scriptures say this is the time of Jacob's Trouble:

Jer 30:7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.

Jer 30:8 For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him:

Jer 30:9 But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.

It will be that day that none have ever seen, the world at war but the enemy of the world will be one tiny nation, Israel, who has defied the Antichrist.

What is Armageddon?

Rev 16:14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

Rev 16:15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

Rev 16:16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

The one thing that much of the world has forgotten is that the Scriptures cannot lie, and there is a God, and He is the Lord Jesus Christ. The true and Living God!

How does our Lord explain it?

*****Zec 14:1 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.

Zec 14:2 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.

We know that there have already been many wars and many battles fought before this day comes.

Mat 24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

Mat 24:5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

Mat 24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

Mat 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

Mat 24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

Mat 24:9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.

Mat 24:10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.

Mat 24:11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

Mat 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

Mat 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Mat 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

Mat 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

Mat 24:16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

Mat 24:17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:

Mat 24:18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.

Mat 24:19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!

Mat 24:20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:

Mat 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

Mat 24:22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

All these things have taken place. The "elect", the Church has been saved from these days. The Lord promised we would not see His wrath upon us.

It is in these final days of the Great Tribulation and just when it looks like the Antichrist will be the winner, the world will meet the Lord Jesus Christ, but He will not be that humble Shepherd, He will come as King.

It is the Lord who gathered all these nations against Jerusalem.

In order for Jerusalem to be saved, all the people would have forgotten their own power, and will call upon the Lord!

2Ch 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Just as the City of Peace is falling to the enemy. Just as the enemy is stealing all they can from the Jews. Just as the women and children are falling into the hands of the enemy. Just when half the city falls into the hands of the enemy.

The Lords says half of the city will not be cut off from safety.

Rev 12:14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

Rev 12:15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.

Rev 12:16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

Rev 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Now I cannot explain all these things, but I do know that just when all seems lost, that is when the Lord can do His best!

*****Zec 14:3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.

What do we know for sure?

The Lord will visibly appear and fight against all the nations that go against Israel and Jerusalem!

Our Lord does many things in this world, He is in control of all things that surround us, and He is not seen.

On this day the Lord God, when He steps out of Heaven, He will be seen and when He is seen, then He is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Remember He said they look upon the One they had pierced as proof.

He is the "Word of God in person"

He is King of all kings.

He is Lord of all lords.

He is also the Mightiest of all warriors!

Rev 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

He will fight as He did against the Egyptians as He protected His children and opened the Red Sea.

He will fight as He did when He led Joshua through Canaan Land. This time there will be no covenants made and there will be none that escape to intermingle with those that survive.

Rev 14:14 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.

Rev 14:15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.

Rev 14:16 And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.

And when He arrives, He will first stand on the Mount of Olives, for He was not afraid to tell the enemy the exact spot He would return.

*****Zec 14:4 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.

Zec 14:5 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.

Remember at this time the people of Israel and Jerusalem are in peril thinking it is finally over and the world has succeeded in destroying them forever, but this will never happen because Jehovah, the Lord, made a sure covenant with them.

They had to be broken and humbled until they finally called on the Lord with sincerity!

2Ch 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Remember in Chapter 12 the Lord had poured out the Holy Spirit upon Jerusalem and Judah.

What do we know? We know the Lord has already observed the happenings around Israel, because His eye is always upon His children!

The Lord always knows what we endure!

The Lord knows when we are in peril, but He may leave us in that peril long enough to learn whatever lesson we needed to learn!

The Lord will make a way for deliverance!

The Church has always known that the Lord will return to this place.

Act 1:7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

Act 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Act 1:9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

Act 1:10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;

Act 1:11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

Some believe that there will be an earthquake on the Mount of Olives because the Muslim made a great cemetery in the pathway of the Lord and would not defile Himself walking on the dead.

Some believe the entire area will be broken up because of all the Saints that left in the Rapture.

What we know for sure is, that this sinful, bloody earth will melt before the feet of Jesus!

What we know for sure is, that the Lord will part this mountain just as He did the Red Sea in order for the children of Israel to escape!

Rev 12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

Rev 12:14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

Azal means they will escape to a place that is very near. A place of safety while the Lord deals with the enemy. This could be Edom.

It is a fact, earthquakes cause a panic and while those enemies of the Jews are confused, those true Israelites the Lord will save, will escape to safety!

In the days of Uzziah there was such an earthquake it was the cause of much panic!

Amo 1:1 The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

We know that this is true because the words of each true prophet of the Lord spoke only the truth!

And we already know that the Lord will never leave us, so at the Rapture when all the Saints went to meet the Lord in the cloud, we then returned with Him.

*****Zec 14:6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:

Zec 14:7 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.

We live in a world where nature is thought of as something that just exist just as we do. Evolution teaches that we are a product of evolution over billions of years.

They first used millions of years, now billions of years, it’s just a matter of time before they use Trillions of years.

This theory is used about mankind and the animal world, but nothing is ever said about nature evolving!

Why? Because all this is nonsense and we have a Creator and our Creator holds the power of all His creation and the power over all of nature.

I do believe our nature was put in place to operate without much assistance, but all I know for sure is that the Lord can manipulate all of nature as His will sees fit.

On this day of earthquakes, probably volcanos and all the other such things of nature that we think are terrible, the Sun may be shining, but it cannot shine through, it will not be totally dark, but it will be dark enough to hinder sight.

After the daytime hours are passed and the evening comes it will be light.

How does the Lord explain this?

Isa 13:10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.

Isa 13:11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.

Isa 13:12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.

Isa 13:13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, "and the earth shall remove out of her place", in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

I cannot imagine what will go on in this world when the orbit of the Earth has changed!

Already some earthquakes have caused the tilt of the earth to change. I suppose that this does not affect our climate because it is never mentioned as a reason.

The Lord says:

Joe 3:14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

Joe 3:15 The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.

Joe 3:16 The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; "and the heavens and the earth shall shake": but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.

What did Jesus say about this day and Jesus was speaking to the Jews?

Luk 21:25 "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring";

What are some of the results of the earth shaking?

Luk 21:26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

Luk 21:27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

How did John the Apostle write about this day, and remember the Church is already with the Lord?

Rev 6:12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, "there was a great earthquake"; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

Rev 6:13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

Rev 6:14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

If the earth has moved out of its orbit, there will be so many things going on that we cannot imagine but the Lord will still be in control!

It will be this very day that life to this planet will be restored!

It may be that a nuclear holocaust has destroyed all that we know now.

Again the Lord Jesus has everything under control!

*****Zec 14:8 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.

Zec 14:9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.

The "River of Life" that we studied from our lesson in Ezekiel Chapter 47 and have mentioned it many times in other lessons.

So here it is again the "Living Waters", the "River of Life", will flow out of Jerusalem to heal our earth to as it was in the time of Adam.

We know that we will still have the seasons and summer will still be hot and winter will still be cold and hotter or colder depending upon your location on this remade earth.

Joe 3:18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.

Joe 3:19 Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.

Joe 3:20 But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.

Joe 3:21 For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwelleth in Zion.

And the Lord Jesus Christ will be King of the entire earth!

Psa 22:27 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.

Psa 22:28 For the kingdom is the LORD'S: and he is the governor among the nations.

Psa 22:29 All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.

Psa 22:30 A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.

Psa 22:31 They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.

Gen 49:10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

Everything in this world will change when King Jesus sits on His throne in Jerusalem!

*****Zec 14:10 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.

Zec 14:11 And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.

All the land of Judah, which will be a type the whole earth, shall be filled with the knowledge of God!

All high places, all uneven places, all rocky ground, and all barren grounds, will be level as a plain and changed into fruitful vineyards and all crops will be abundant.

One man wrote "it will all be as a valley of abnormal fertility".

Only Jerusalem will be lifted up, while all the world around it will also be as a garden.

Psa 125:2 As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from henceforth even for ever.

Jer 23:6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

The name Jerusalem means the city of peace and Jerusalem will finally become that City of Peace!

Jerusalem has always been a divided city, but it will now be unified because of the Lord!

Many other peoples have claimed Jerusalem, but it will now truly be the City of God!

To the Lord, Jerusalem is the Holy City!

Psa 135:21 Blessed be the LORD out of Zion, which dwelleth at Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.

Psa 46:4 There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.

Psa 46:5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.

God says, do you remember what I did to Egypt?

What does radiation do to those who are exposed to it?

*****Zec 14:12 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.

In Japan the first thing people noticed was an "intense ball of fire" according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

The atomic blast in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 killed 140,000 people; tens of thousands died instantly, while the rest succumbed to injuries or illness in the weeks, months and years afterwards.

The atomic bomb had a yield of 15 kilo tons, equal to 15,000 tons of TNT, yet was 3,300 times less powerful than the biggest hydrogen bomb tested by the Soviet Union in 1961.

Temperatures at the epicenter of the blast reached an estimated 7,000 degrees Celsius (12,600 Fahrenheit), which caused fatal burns within a radius of about three kilometers (five miles).

ICRC experts say there were cases of temporary or permanent blindness due to the intense flash of light, and subsequent related damage such as cataracts.

A whirlwind of heat generated by the explosion also ignited thousands of fires that burned several square kilometers (miles) of the largely wooden city. A firestorm that consumed all available oxygen caused more deaths by suffocation.

It has been estimated that burn-and fire-related casualties, accounted for more than half of the immediate deaths in Hiroshima.

Verse 12 describes what happened to 185,000 people instantly in Japan when one atomic bomb was used.

But there is more.

*****Zec 14:13 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.

These enemies will be struck with so much delusion and pain, and confusion, that they will not know who their enemy is, and who is their friend and they will destroy each other.

In these cases it says the Lord will cause these things, but in fact, He will not be the cause. The Lord always takes the blame, but these will be people destroying people. These armies will turn on each other!

Whether by accident or on purpose, some military commander will do the wrong thing and what follows will be mayhem.

All these things will be similar to the things that happened to Egypt and the things Jehovah did in the battles in the time of Joshua, and we could add the things that happened to the enemies of Israel in the war in 1948 and the war of 1967.

The world never learns from mistakes of those who came before them!

Remember the Lord has already poured out the Holy Spirit upon His people and here is an example from the Scriptures:

2Ch 20:21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.

2Ch 20:22 And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.

2Ch 20:23 For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.

2Ch 20:24 And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.

2Ch 20:25 And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much.

*****Zec 14:14 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.

When you go against the Lord, it will cost more than you want to pay! Judah will rally to defend their capitol city Jerusalem.

Judah will gather all the spoil and return it to Jerusalem to offer it to King Jesus.

The military of Israel will go to battle this day and they will by the "Supernatural" things of the Lord, destroy their enemies.

All those nations who came against Israel and the Lord will give the wealth of those nations to Israel, just as they had given control of it to the Antichrist!

And the Lord is not done yet.

Not only are all the military men and women confused, their equipment will fail them when they try to use it on Israel!

*****Zec 14:15 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.

The same plague, probably radiation, will also make the equipment of all those militaries useless against Israel!

None of the equipment of the enemy used in warfare will operate on this day as they try to attack Jerusalem!

We must again remember the truth of God!

Rom 12:18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

Rom 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

We will never make peace with this sinful and evil world.

Evil and good cannot stand on the same ground.

Right and wrong cannot ever agree.

Immorality and Godly righteousness will never agree!

On this day it will be the vengeance of the Lord in full view!

*****Zec 14:16 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.

Here we see the "Mercy" of the Lord, because there will be some that will be saved for whatever reason that we will not know until that day!

Everyone who survives this "Day of the Lord" will go yearly to worship King Jesus, who will sit upon His throne upon this world for 1000 years.

Everyone who is born into this world, since creation and even today, have it within them to seek out their Creator, but the lies of this world cause them confusion and delivers most of them to Hell.

In the days King Jesus sits upon His throne all those babies will grow up without the influence of Satan, and without those lies, because that old world will not exist anymore.

All the world will know Jesus as the Messiah who came to be King, and He will teach all that there is still a better place called the New Heaven and the New Jerusalem that will be in the future of all who will believe.

Faith will still be the key to everlasting life!

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

But in the end, there will still be some who would rather stay on this world than go with the Lord to an even better place, the New Heaven and the New Jerusalem!

Amen

Let's Pray!