ZECHARIAH FOR TODAY
Chapters 12 - 14
From The New Living Translation
CHAPTER 12
Seige of Jerusalem
1 This* (Heb. "An Oracle") message concerning the fate of Israel came
from the LORD: This message is from the LORD, who stretched out
the heavens, laid the foundations of the earth, and formed the
spirit within humans. 2 "I will make Jerusalem and Judah like an
intoxicating drink to all the nearby nations that send their
armies to besiege Jerusalem. 3 On that day I will make Jerusalem
a heavy stone, a burden for the world. None of the nations who
try to lift it will escape unscathed."
......
It is God who forms the "spirit within humans." Many do not
realize that God gives a special "spirit" to work with the
physical brain. It is a unique spirit that gives mankind the mind
he has to do all the things that humans can do. There is NOT ONE
animal on land, sea, or air, that can perform all the things that
mankind has and will yet do. As science continues to expand and
expand, it is just mind blowing what the human mind can master
and invent. It is the "spirit in man" together with the physical
brain that makes human kind so dominant over all other physical
creatures. The truth of the matter concerning this "spirit in
man" can be found in studies on this Website.
These THREE chapters use the phrase "On that day" or "In
that day" quite a number of times. To understand the time that
this phrase is referring to, one must look to the CONTEXT.
The context of the first use of this phrase, is the context
of Jerusalem being besieged by a number of nations, and it is the
time when Judah is to be like a burning torch among sheaves of
grain.
This CANNOT be the beginning of the last 42 months of this
age, as at that time Judah will go into CAPTIVITY, as we have
seen over and over again from all the prophets of the Lord. It
then must be referring to the very last day or days of this last
42 months, the time when Jesus the Messiah will come to deliver
Jerusalem from the Gentile nations, and also deliver Judah and
Israel from captivity.
The Beast Babylon of Europe will have destroyed Jerusalem,
killed many in Judah, driven more out to flee for their lives,
and enslave any Jews left in the Holy Land. This happens at the
BEGINNING of the Great Tribulation. We are into the last 42
months or so (Daniel remember gives extra days - Daniel 12) of
the end of this age. The kings of the East will have also come
into the Holy Land to overrun some nations there. By the time the
end of this 42 months comes, Jerusalem will be the center of
world politics and dispute and down and out fighting over this
historic city, that is Jerusalem. God goes on to show in the rest
of this prophecy from Zechariah that indeed Jerusalem will be a
HEAVY STONE, A BURDEN FOR THE WORLD, NONE OF THE NATIONS WHO TRY
TO LIFT IT WILL ESCAPE UNSCATHED!
......
4 "On that day, says the LORD, I will cause every horse to panic
and every rider to lose his nerve. I will watch over the people
of Judah, but I will blind the horses of her enemies. 5 And the
clans of Judah will say to themselves, 'The people of Jerusalem
have found strength in the LORD Almighty, their God.'
6 On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a brazier that
sets a woodpile ablaze or like a burning torch among sheaves of
grain. They will burn up all the neighboring nations right and
left, while the people living in Jerusalem remain secure." 7 The
LORD will give victory to the rest of Judah first, before
Jerusalem, so that the people of Jerusalem and the royal line of
David will not have greater honor than the rest of Judah. 8 On
that day the LORD will defend the people of Jerusalem; the
weakest among them will be as mighty as King David! And the royal
descendants will be like God, like the angel of the LORD who goes
before them! 9 For my plan is to destroy all the nations that
come against Jerusalem.
......
From all the prophets (including Revelation) we know this: On
the day of Christ's coming to fight the nations, the armies of
those nations will gather at the plain of Megiddo, about 70 miles
north-west of Jerusalem. At the same time the Jews in and around
Jerusalem will be freed from captivity and will, with the
strength of the Lord with them, also fight their enemies. It will
truly be for Judah, "Let the force be with you." The force of God
will give mighty power to the Jews at that time.
......
10 "Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the
family of David and on all the people of Jerusalem. They will
look on me whom they have pierced and mourn for him as for an
only son. They will grieve bitterly for him as for a firstborn
son who has died. 11 The sorrow and mourning in Jerusalem on that
day will be like the grievous mourning of Hadad-rim-mon in the
valley of Megiddo.
12 All Israel will weep in profound sorrow, each family by
itself, with the husbands and wives in separate groups. The
family of David will mourn, along with the family of Nathan,
13 the family of Levi, and the family of Shimei. 14 Each of the
surviving families from Judah will mourn separately, husbands and
wives apart."
......
It is the time and day that Judah, the Jews, will KNOW that
the very Jesus Christ of 2,000 years ago, is the Son of man and
the Son of God, that He is the Messiah! They will weep and cry in
joy but also in repentance, for not accepting Jesus as THE SAVIOR
MESSIAH who came to them 2,000 years ago. They will weep an individuals
whereever they mat be, personal weeping as is personal repentance.
......
CHAPTER 13
A Fountain of Cleansing
1 "On that day a fountain will be opened for the dynasty of David
and for the people of Jerusalem, a fountain to cleanse them from
all their sins and defilement."
2 "And on that day," says the LORD Almighty, "I will get rid of
every trace of idol worship throughout the land, so that even the
names of the idols will be forgotten. I will remove from the land
all false prophets and the unclean spirits that inspire them."
......
Yes, what we read about in Revelation 16:12-21 and unclean
spirits will be VANQUISHED. Jesus will be the victor over all
evil, sins, deception, and all false religion. Truly after that
battle ends, no one will want to continue any of the Satanic
deceptions of the Devil. The Holy Land will be HOLY, and the
Christ will be King of kings and Lord of lords. Yes, the THREE
unclean spirits that came out of the mouth of the Dragon, the
mouth of the man "beast" and out of the mouth of the false
prophet (Rev.16) will be GONE!
......
3 If anyone begins prophesying again, his own father and mother
will tell him, 'You must die, for you have prophesied lies in the
name of the LORD.' Then his own father and mother will stab him.
4 No one will be boasting then of a prophetic gift! No one will
wear prophet's clothes to try to fool the people. 5 No, he will
say. 'I'm not a prophet; I'm a farmer. The soil has been my means
of livelihood from my earliest youth.'"
......
Most teachers of the Christian religion today SHOULD NOT BE
TEACHING, THEY SHOULD BE FARMING! Or doing other than saying they
are a teacher of the Word of God! Most today are FALSE teachers,
that do and have, deceived MANY! The prophets of fundamental
Christian theology (and many are out there with their books and
CDs and DVDs) SHOULD BE FARMING! They are not the prophets of
God, they are false prophets!
In that day, those still alive, will admit they should have
been farmers, or ranchers, or construction workers, ANYTHING but
trying to teach Bible prophecy!
......
6 "And if someone asks, 'Then what are those scars on your
chest*?' (Or "scars between your hands) he will say, 'I was
wounded at the home of friends!'"
......
This is a verse that seems out of place, but it is not. It
is in the right place, the day of Christ's coming. IF (does not
say there will be) someone should look at Christ and should ask
Him why He has scars in His hands, He will tell them how they
came to be there - He will have to point out He was killed on a
stake of wood by His very natural blood-bound friends, His Jewish
family, but also, and more importantly, the very friends of His
human race of people, because of sins. This must always be
remembered as the number ONE reason why Christ has scars in His
body of flesh and bone. He was nailed to a piece of wood and died
for ALL sinners, which means he died for EVERY flesh and blood
person, for as the apostle Paul said, "ALL have sinned and come
short of the glory of God."
......
The Scattering of the Sheep
7 "Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, the man who is my
partner," says the LORD Almighty. "Strike down the shepherd, and
the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn against the lambs."
8 "Two-thirds of the people in the land will be cut off and die,"
says the Lord. "But a third will be left in the land. 9 I will
bring that group through the fire and make them pure, just as
gold and silver are refined and purified by fire. They will call
on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, 'These are my
people,' and they will say, 'The LORD is our God.'"
......
Any shepherd knows how true verse 7 is. If there is NO
shepherd over the sheep, the sheep will soon become lost and
easily ready for the devouring enemy to kill and eat.
In these few verses God gives an overall summery of the
detestation to come on the Jewish people living in the Holy Land
during the last 42 months of this age. TWO THIRDS will be slain.
ONE THIRD will be left in the land, but they must come through
some terrible trying fire as like gold and silver being purified.
In the end those still living WILL CALL OUT to God. The Lord will
answer that they are His people and they will acknowledge He is
their God. As I've stated a number of times, the Jewish people
today are in the MAIN: NOT RELIGIOUS! THE LARGEST part of those
Jews living in the Holy Land today are SECULAR! The time and day
will come when all Jews will be deeply CONVERTED to God, which
will also mean they acknowledge and accept Jesus Christ as
Messiah, the Son of God!
......
CHAPTER 14
The LORD Will Rule the Earth
1 Watch, for the day of the LORD is coming when your possessions
will be plundered right in front of you! 2 On that day I will
gather all the nations to fight against Jerusalem. The city will
be taken, the houses plundered, and the women raped. Half the
population will be taken away into captivity, and half will be
left among the ruins of the city.
......
Here we have the phrase "day of the Lord." Now it is
possible that it is talking about the somewhat common "day of the
Lord" in many of the prophets. Or it may simply here mean, a time
is coming that God allows such and such to take place.
If the former, we are into the last part of the last 42
months of this age, when for whatever reasons not specified,
Jerusalem and its inhabitants, will face more destruction and
sorrow and pain. If the latter, then it is talking about the
Beast Babylon of Europe entering the Holy Land and desolating
Jerusalem and its people; the start of the Great Tribulation on
earth, the like of which has never before been seen nor ever will
be seen again.
......
3 Then the LORD will go out to fight against those nations, as he
has fought in times past. 4 On that day his feet will stand on
the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east.
......
On what day, a literal day this time, will His feet stand on
the Mount of Olives? Well it is the literal day Jesus comes forth
to FIGHT the nations at Jerusalem. The day He fights the battle
is the day His feet land on the Mount of Olives. Nothing could be
more clear!
......
And the Mount of Olives will split apart, making a wide valley
running from east to west, for half the mountain will move toward
the north and half toward the south. 5 You will flee through this
valley, for it will reach across to Azal.* (The meaning of the
Hebrew is uncertain) 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.
......
This earthquake has NEVER TAKEN PLACE in Jerusalem in any
age. It is a prophecy for the yet future. A KEY to knowing all
this is still to come to pass. Not until Jesus returns to fight
the nations will it be fulfilled.
The holy ones with Christ will be both the angels and the
saints resurrected from the dead or "changed" as the apostle Paul
spoke about it in 1 Thessalonians 4 and 1 Corinthians 15, at the
LAST TRUMPET, THE 7TH AND FINAL TRUMPET. They will come with Christ
from the CLOUDS where they have been gathered together by the angels
to meet Jesus on the sea of glass. The saints will have met Christ
in the air, in the clouds, on that sea of glass, and from there they
will all descend to the Mount of Olives and Jerusalem, to destroy
the armies of the nations in the "battle of Armageddon" (Revelation 16).
As I prove in many studies the saints are NOT NOW living,
walking, talking, playing on harps, or looking down on us, from heaven.
They are asleep in death, waiting for the day of the resurrection, when
they will be with Christ in the clouds and come down to the Mount of Olives
at Jerusalem.
......
6 On that day the sources of light will no longer shine,*
(Heb."there will be no light, no cold or frost") 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. 8 On that day life-giving waters
will flow out from Jerusalem, half toward the Dead Sea and half
toward the Mediterranean,*(Heb. "half towards the eastern sea and
half towards the western sea") flowing continuously both in
summer and in winter.
......
It will be one of those strange days, one in a million we
might say. It will be the literal day, the 24 hour day, of the
return of Christ. It will be the day when the great earthquake of
the Mount of Olives splitting in two as we've read in verse 4;
the day of life giving waters flow to the seas, for much life has
been lost in the sea during all that is ti happen in the last 42
months of this age, as foretold in the book of Revelation.
......
9 And the LORD will be king over all the earth. On that day there
will be one LORD - his name alone will be worshipped. 10 All 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 lower of Hananel to the king's
winepresses. 11 And Jerusalem will be filled, safe at last, never
again to be cursed and destroyed.
......
Once more this shows this prophecy is for the yet future;
Jerusalem is not a safe city today, it is still being cursed and
destroyed in various ways at various times.
......
12 And 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 shrivel in their
sockets, and their tongues will decay in their mouths. 13 On that
day they will be terrified, stricken by the LORD with great
panic. They will fight against each other in hand-to-hand combat;
14 Judah, too, will be fighting at Jerusalem. The wealth of all
the neighboring nations will be captured - great quantities of
gold and silver and fine clothing.
......
It is mind-bending to think that human being will try to
fight the very God who created them, but the demonic powers that
are ruled by Satan the Devil will have deceived the "beast man"
and the false prophet and the kings of the East (over to the East
and above the Euphrates river - Rev.16) to think they can fight
and defeat this invasion from outer space. And we see again here,
the people of Judah will also fight their enemies in that day.
It will be no contest as Jesus with the saints and angels with Him,
shall melt away the enemy.
......
15 This same plague will strike the horses, mules, camels,
donkeys, and all the other animals in the enemy camps.
......
A way of saying even the space age implements of war will
melt away.
......
16 In the end, the enemies of Jerusalem who survive the plague
will go up to Jerusalem each year to worship the King, the LORD
Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Shelters. (Tabernacles
- KJV). 17 And any nation anywhere in the world that refuses to
come to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, will
have no rain. 18 And if 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. 9 Egypt and the
other nations will all be punished if they don't go to celebrate
the festival.
......
This does not mean every person in every nation on earth
will go to Jerusalem to observe the Feast of Tabernacles. A city
large enough to house all people from all nations of the world
during the 1,000 years, is hard and even silly to imagine. It
means "representatives" from all nations will go up to Jerusalem
to observe the Feast of Tabernacles. If nations refuse to send
representatives to the Holy City, then God will punish them by
sending no rain - drought will reign (pun intended) down on them.
......
20 On that day,
......
The context for the phrase "on that day" is the context of
the nations of the earth coming to Jerusalem to observe the Feast
of Tabernacles, hence a period of time (years perhaps) has taken
place.
......
even the harness bells of the horses will be inscribed with these
words: SET APART AS 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. 21 In fact, every cooking pot in Jerusalem and Judah
will be set apart as holy to the LORD Almighty. 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*
(Heb. "Canaanites") in the Temple of the LORD Almighty.
......
Yes, we have seen, the Ezekiel Temple will be built! The
priesthood and sacrificial system will be RESTORED! There is a
full in-depth study on "animal sacrifices in the Millennium" on
this Website.
It will be an age unlike any other in the history of
mankind. An age of PEACE and SALVATION for all nations. An age
when the knowledge of God and His Word will cover the earth as
the waters cover the sea beds!
PRAISE THE LORD, GIVE HONOR TO HIS NAME; FOR WHAT IS WRITTEN
CONCERNING THAT AGE WILL SURELY COME TO PASS. WHAT HE HAS
PROMISED FOR THAT AGE WILL COME TO FULFILMENT. ISRAEL AND JUDAH
WILL YET TO UNITED AS ONE PEOPLE AGAIN, AND WILL BLOSSOM AS A
ROSE GARDEN; THEY WILL YET BE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD TO ALL
NATIONS. JERUSALEM WILL YET BE THE CAPITAL CITY OF THE WORLD, THE
HOLY CITY, WHERE DWELLS THE GOD OF ISRAEL. HE WILL INDEED THEN BE
THE LORD OF LORDS AND KING OF KINGS, RULING PLANET EARTH FROM THE
THRONE OF DAVID!
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Entered on this Website October 2008
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