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!
