14:1Many times in the Bible we are encouraged to watch for the day of the LORD. What if you knew exactly when this would happen? Would you live differently? Christ could return at any moment. Be ready for him by studying the Scriptures carefully and by making sure that you live as he intends—in obedience and spiritual readiness.
Life Application Study BibleZechariahChapter 14
Zechariah 14
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 1516, 1517
A few verse numbers on this page were hard to read in the scan and are marked with a dotted underline — compare with the original page image if in doubt.
14Zechariah 14
The LORD Will Rule the Earth
114 Watch, for the day of the LORD is coming when your possessions will be plundered right in front of you! 2I will gather all the nations to fight against Jerusalem. The city will be taken, the houses looted, and the women raped. Half the population will be taken into captivity, and the rest will be left among the ruins of the city. 3Then the Lor will go out to fight against those nations, as he has fought in times past. 4On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem. And the Mount of Olives will split apart, making a wide valley running from east to west. Half the mountain will move toward thenorth and half toward the south. 5You will flee through this valley, for it will reach across t8 Azal.* Yes, you will flee as you did from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all his holy ones with him.* 6On that day the sources of light will no longer shine,* 7 yet there will be continuous day! Only the LORD knows how this could happen. There will be no normal day and night, for at evening time it will still be light. 80n that day life-giving waters will flow out from Jerusalem, half toward the Dead Sea and half toward the Mediterranean,* flowing continuously in both summer and winter. 9And the LORD will be king over all the earth. On that day there will be one LORD—his name alone will be worshiped. 10Al the land from Geba, north of Judah, to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem, will become one vast plain. But Jerusalem will be raised up in its original place and will be inhabited all the way from the Benjamin Gate over to the site of the old gate, then to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king's winepresses. 11And Jerusalem will be filled, safe at last, never again to be cursed and destroyed. 12And the LORD will send a plague on all the nations that fought against Jerusalem. Their people will become like walking corpses, their flesh rotting away. Their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths. 13On that day they will be terrified, stricken by the LORD with great panic. They will fight their neighbors hand to hand. 14Judah, too, will be fighting at Jerusalem. The wealth of al! the neighboring nations will be captured—great quantities of gold and silver and fine clothing. 5This same plague will strike the horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all the other animals in the enemy camps. 16In the end, the enemies of Jerusalem who survive the plague will go up to Jerusalem each year to worship the King, the LORD of Heaven's Armies, and to celebrate the Festival of Shelters. 7Any nation in the world that refuses to come to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of Heaven's Armies, will have no rain. 18If the people of Egypt refuse to attend the festival, the LORD will punish them with the same plague that he sends on the other nations who refuse to go. 19Egypt and the other nations will all be punished if they don’t go to celebrate the Festival of Shelters. 20On that day even the harness bells of the horses will be inscribed with these words: HoLy To THE LORD. And the cooking pots in the Temple of the LORD will be as sacred as the basins used beside the altar. 21In fact, every cooking pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the LORD of Heaven's Armies. All who come to worship will be free to use any of these pots to boil their sacrifices. And on that day there will no longer be traders* in the Temple of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.
Textual footnotes
- there will be no light, no cold or frost. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
- sea and half toward the western sea.
- 14:5a The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
- 14:5b As in Greek version; Hebrew reads with you.
- 14:6 Hebrew
- 14:8 Hebrew half toward the eastern
- 14:21 Hebrew Canaanites.
Life Application Notes 10 notes
14:1-21This chapter portrays the eventual triumph of the Messiah over all the earth and his reign over God's people. But the chronological order of these future events is not clear. They show that God has various ways of dealing with his people. Now we are to watch as the events unfold and God provides an escape for his people.
14:2-6The familiar phrase “Like father, like son” implies that children turn out like their parents. But here, God warned Israel not to be like their forefathers, who disobeyed him and reaped the consequences—his punishment. We are responsible befare Gad for our actions. We can't use our heredity or environment as excuses for our sins. We are free to choose, and individually we must return to God and follow him.
14:4On the Mount of Olives, Jesus spoke with his disciples about the end times (Matthew 24). Near this mountain, an angel promised that Jesus would return in the same manner as he had left (Acts 1:11; see also Ezekiel 11:23).
14:5Only God's people will escape God's punishment (Matthew 24:16-20). In this time of confusion, God will clearly know who his peaple are, (See the note on Amos 1:1 concerning the earthquake in King Uzziah’s day.)
14:10Jerusalem is honored as the city of God and the focal point of all the world’s worship. Jerusalem's elevation is a dramatic way of showing God's supremacy.
42:11Hadad-rimmon could refer to the place near the plain of Megiddo, where King Josiah was killed. Josiah’s death was greatly mourned by his people (see 2 Chronicles 35:22-25).
14:16This Festival of Shelters is the only festival sti!l appropriate during the Messiah's reign. The Passover was fulfilled in Christ’s death; the Day of Atonement, in acceptance of Christ's salvation; the Festival of First Harvest, in his resurrection; and Pentecost, with the arrival of the Holy Spirit. But the Festival of Shelters, a festival of thanksgiving, celebrates the harvest of human souls for the LORD. Jesus may have alluded to it in John 4:35.
14:20,21In the future, even such common objects as horses’ bells and cooking pots will be holy. This vision of a restored, holy Jerusalem stands in contrast to its broken walls and unpleasant living conditions. One day God would fulfill the people’s dreams for Jerusalem beyond what they could imagine. God wants to do much more for us than we can imagine (Ephesians 3:20}. As we walk with him, we will discover this day by day.
14:21Zechariah was speaking to a people who were enduring hardships: They were being harassed by neighbors; they were discouraged over their smalt numbers and seemingly inadequate Temple; and their worship was apathetic. But God said, “My love for Jerusalem and Mount Zion is passionate and strong” (1:14). He promised to restore their land, their city, and their Temple. Like other prophets, Zechariah blended prophecies of the present, near future, and final days into one sweeping panorama. Through his message we learn that our hope is found in God and his Messiah, who are in complete control of the world.