Zechariah
Zechariah 14
Chapter XIV · Vol. III, pp. 1500–1501
1 The destruction of Jerusalem. 3 The coming of Christ, and the graces of his kingdom. 12 The plague of Jerusalem's enemies. 16 The remnant shall turn to the Lord, 20 and their spirits shall be holy.
1 Behold, the aday of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
a Joel 2.31. Zep.1.14-18. Ac.2.20.
2 For bI will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the cwomen ravished; and dhalf of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the eresidue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
b De.28.49-68; 29.18-28; 32.21-27. Is.5.26-30; 8.21,22. Mat.22.7; 23.37,38. Lu.21.20-24; 19.27,43,44. Eze.xxxviii. Da.12.1.
d ch.13.8. Lu.21.24.
e ch.13.8,9. Mat.24.13,22,31.
3 Then shall the LORD go forth, gand fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
g Re.6.12-17; 8.7-12; 12.7; 14.14,20; xvi.; 19.11-21. Eze.38.18-22; 39.1-22. Is.66.15,16. Joel 3.2,9-14. ch.9.14,15; 10.4,5; 12.3-6.
4 And his feet hshall stand1 in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave2 in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be ia very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
h Eze.11.23; 43.2. Ac.1.11,12. Re.14.1.
1 As our Lord stood upon the mount of Olives, near Bethany, when he ascended into heaven, Lu.24.50,51; so, it seems here to be intimated that upon the same mountain, shall he again descend at the resurrection, when he comes to judge the world. See Job 19.25-27. Ac.1.11,12.—C.
2 At the death of our Lord there was an earthquake, and a 'great earthquake' preceded his resurrection, after which there was a resurrection of 'many bodies of the saints who slept,' Mat.27.50-53; 28.2. There seems therefore much reason to conclude that this passage describes not a figurative, or political and ecclesiastical, commotion, but a literal earthquake, introductory of judgment, and the general resurrection of the just and the unjust. See Eze.38.19,20. Jn.5.28,29. 1 Th.4.16.—C.
5 And ye shall flee to the valley of 3the mountains; 4for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the jearthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and kthe LORD my God shall come, and all the lsaints with thee.
7 But it shall be oone day,7 which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at pevening time it shall be light.
8 And it shall be in that day, that qliving waters8 shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former9 sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
q Eze.47.1-12. Is.35.6. Joel 3.18. Jn.4.14; 7.38. Lu.24.47. Ac.1.8. Re.22.1,2,17.
8 Living waters. The power of the Spirit accompanying the gospel message, Jn.4.10,14; 7.38,39.—C.
9 Or, eastern, Joel 2.20.
9 Andr the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
10 Alls the land shall be turned1 as a 2plain, from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it tshall be lifted up, and inhabited3 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.
11 And men shall udwell in it, and there shall be vno more utter destruction; but xJerusalem 4shall be safely inhabited.5
12 Andy this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; zTheir 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.
y Ps.110.5,6; 21.8-12. Is.66.15,16. Eze.38.18-22; 39.4,6.
z Ps.90.11; 92.9; 68.2,21. Le.26.39. Ac.12.23; 13.11. Lu.16.24. Re.16.10. Ps.112.10.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, athat 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 ch.12.4. Eze.38.21, with 1 Sa.14.15,20. Ju.7.22. 2 Ch.20.23.
14 Andb Judah also shall6 fight at7 Jerusalem;8 and cthe wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance.
b ch.12.5-7; 10.4,5.
6 Or, thou also, O Judah, shalt.
7 Or, against.
8 That Jerusalem will again be 'surrounded with armies' seems unquestionable; and if the fighting of Judah signify anything beyond 'the good fight of faith' (1 Ti.6.12) to which every soldier of Christ is called (2 Ti.2.3), the statement that the fight will be 'at Jerusalem' indicates that it will merely be that defensive war for 'brethren, for sons, for daughters, for wives, and for houses' (Ne.4.14. 2 Sa.10.12), which, so far from being forbidden, may become a moral duty, the neglect of which would incur the deepest moral guilt.—C.
15 Andd 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.
d With ver.12. Is.30.22. Nu.31.22,23.
16 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall eeven go up from year to year to worship the gKing, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the hfeast of tabernacles.
e Is.66.23. ch.8.21-23. Re.11.13,15.
A.M. cir. 3504. B.C. cir. 500.
g Ps.2.6; 24.7-10. 1 Ti.1.17; 6.15. Mat.28.18. Jn.5.22,23. Phi.2.9-11. Re.17.14.
17 And it shall be, ithat 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.
i Is.45.23,24; 60.12. Ps.21.8-12; 110.5,6, with De.28.23,24. Is.30.23. Mi.5.7.
18 And if the jfamily of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no9 rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep kthe feast of tabernacles.
j Is.19.22.
9 Heb. upon whom there is not, De.11.10,11.
k ver.16,19, with Le.23.34,43. Ho.12.9. Jn.7.2.
19 This shall be the punishment1 of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
20 In that day lshall there be upon the bells2 of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the npots in the LORD's house shall be like the bowls before the altar.
l Ps.110.3. Is.60.21; 62.12. Zep.3.9,11. Eze.36.25-27; 43.12. Phi.3.20. Re.21.27. Is.23.18, with Ex.28.36.
2 Or, bridles.
n Is.60.7. Eze.46.23,24. Mal.1.11.
21 Yea, oevery pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and pall they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the qCanaanite3 in the rhouse of the LORD of hosts.
o See ver.20. Col.3.17. 1 Pe.4.11. 1 Co.10.31. 1 Pe.2.16.
q Is.35.8. Eze.44.9. Joel 3.17. Zep.3.11. Re.21.27; 22.15. Mat.21.12,13. Phi.3.19.
3 The Canaanite may be translated 'merchant,' and the prediction be considered a spiritual realization of our Lord's typical act in driving the 'buyers and sellers' out of the temple, Jn.2.16. 2 Pe.2.3.
r 1 Co.6.9-11. Ep.2.19-22. 1 Ti.3.15. He.3.6. 1 Pe.2.5.
Notes
Perhaps this chapter had the first step of its fulfilment in the signal victories of the Maccabees over the Syro-Grecians, who had taken Jerusalem by force and ravaged the country; and in the restoration of Jerusalem, and the reformation of religion that followed. But it had a more signal fulfilment in the destruction and dispersion of the Jewish nation by the Romans; afterwards of the heathen empire of Rome by the Goths; and the spread of the gospel, and erection, enlargement, or prosperity of the Christian church, which attended the same. Yet it will have a further accomplishment in God's destroying the Turks, who shall attack the newly returned Jews, and in the prosperity and reformation of the Jewish nation attending the same; in his destroying the Antichristian and Mahometan powers when making their final attack upon the Christians; and in the powerful spread of the gospel, the subjection of all nations to Christ, and the remarkable devotion and holiness of church members, in the gospel period. And it will have its last step of fulfilment in God's destroying the armies of Gog and Magog, which attack his church, at the end of gospel time, and in the final extirpation and damnation of the wicked at the last day, and the glories of the new heaven and new earth in the eternal state. 4, 5. In consequence of Christ's ascension, he shall be manifested in the gospel preached by his apostles, according to the commission given them on Mount Olivet; and the ceremonial worship shall be removed, and Jews and Gentiles, having equal admission, shall, in multitudes, eagerly flee to the Redeemer, and unite in the gospel church. 6, 7. For a time the condition of the Jews shall neither be happy nor absolutely miserable; for a time the ceremonies shall not seem wholly abolished; nay, for many ages the Christian church shall have but a mixed lot of prosperity and adversity; but the Lord shall graciously take notice of and manage all; and at last, in God's time, great shall be the prosperity and purity of the Jewish nation and gospel church. 8, 9. Issuing forth from Jerusalem and the church of God, the gospel shall, amidst prosperity and adversity, be preached by the apostles and others in all quarters of the world, till all nations be turned to the Lord; and men, renouncing all their idolatries and delusions, shall harmoniously unite in the faith, profession, and obedience of Christ. 10, 11. Every obstacle of conversion, and every noted abomination, shall be removed; and the Jews, happily settled in Canaan, shall gloriously and safely share the privileges of the gospel church. 12-15. By signal judgments and mutual contentions the opposers of the Jews and Christians shall be infatuated and destroyed, and their wealth left for a spoil to enrich those whom they had attempted to destroy. 16-19. The keeping of the feast of tabernacles denotes an observance of the various ordinances of the gospel filled with the consolations of Christ. 20, 21. Wars shall be exchanged for serious devotions; or, even in their war and most common employments, men shall act from gracious and holy motives, in a holy manner, and to holy ends; and the church shall be purged from all apparently unclean and mercenary ministers and professors.
Ver. 1. The day of the Lord—which he has appointed for punishing the sins of the Jews who had, 'with wicked hands, slain the Holy One and the Just.' C.
Ver. 6. Clear nor dark. The word 'nor' is supplied by the translators, and mars the sense. The meaning of the expression is, that 'the day' (the twenty-four hours) should no more consist of 'the evening and the morning'—the alternate succession of light and darkness—but become a period of continuous light. A state of the church unlike its past history, in which good and evil, spiritual light and darkness, have been so continually commingled, that it has become a serious question to decide which has been predominant; but 'the just shall live by faith' in the promise, and be 'saved by hope' of the latter-day light and glory. C.
Reflections.—Judgments commonly begin at the house of God; where then shall the ungodly and sinner appear at last! Scarcely ever do nations or armies prosper much after they have imbrued their hands in the blood of God's people. Thrice happy is the gospel church which hath Jesus Christ for her superintendent and her root, in which both Jews and Gentiles cordially unite! Open is the access to her made by his ascension and published gospel; and with great earnestness ought men to flee into her. It is new spiritual relation to God that can alone render us happy amidst manifold commotions. And let providences be ever so dark and intermixed, if our God knows and manages them they will all issue in a comfortable manner. It is a great honour to be a mother of churches, from whence gospel messengers, oracles, ordinances, and influences do spread into the world, and render the whole a united kingdom of Jesus Christ. Remarkable deliverances of the church are generally attended with terrible ruin to her opposers; if one plague answer not, another is inflicted; and it is for the honour of Jesus' grace that the remnant of such are often converted by his Spirit and saved by his blood. Divine influences graciously rectify men's devotions, with respect to their object, Mediator, manner, and seasons. And if men contemn and neglect the ordinances of God and means of grace, they forfeit not only the blessings of salvation, but even of common providence. But thrice happy shall be the blessed future, when holiness shall not only shine forth in every devotion, but even in the most ordinary business, and everything be used as devoted to the service of Christ.
Concluding Remarks on the Book of Zechariah.
Zechariah was contemporary with Haggai, and his coadjutor in the great national work of building the temple, reorganizing the worship of Jehovah, and reforming the principles and habits of the people. But, though there appear no companion but Haggai, it does not necessarily follow, that upon them alone the prophetic spirit was poured out, and the supply of instruction, so inadequate to the spiritual wants of the people. How few of our Lord's disciples and apostles have left any written record of their thoughts or labours!—Even so, there may have been many enlightened and faithful prophets in the days of Joshua the high-priest—who laboured abundantly in the word and doctrine, who were living epistles addressed to all their countrymen—and who yet have transmitted no memorial of their persons or works to posterity. God desired not that his Bible should become a large book—Jn.20.30,31; 21.25—a load for the memory, or a toil for the understanding—but merely that it should present such specimens of providence and grace, as would render it a book of sufficient precedents for all times and circumstances—of reproofs for all forms of sin, and of encouragement to all duties.
Ch.9.9; 12.10; 13.7, seem evidently quoted or referred to in Mat.21.4,5; 26.31; Mar.14.27; Jn.12.14,15; 19.37; Re.1.7.