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May 16, 2023 |
| Zechariah 11 - 14 | ||
Zechariah is not a commonly cited book for students of prophecy. That shouldn't be the case. Like Ezekiel's prophecies it is only lightly symbolized. So it's very accessible. The chapters that we will be studying contain very important information that is not duplicated in any other book of prophecy.
As prophecy often does, these chapters jump around a little in time. The chapters cover the First Coming lightly and then jump into our future. They cover Ezekiel's battle and then skips to the anti-Christ's attack on Jerusalem and what happens with the people who escape that. That leads to the Second Coming and the events that follow that.
Open your doors, Lebanon,
So that a fire may feed on your cedars.
2 Wail, juniper, because the cedar has fallen,
For the magnificent trees have been destroyed;
Wail, oaks of Bashan,
Because the impenetrable forest has come down.
3 There is a sound of the shepherds' wail,
For their splendor is ruined;
There is a sound of the young lions' roar,
For the pride of the Jordan is ruined. (Zechariah 11:1-3)
I am preserving the poetic form of the prophecy where it exists. This prophecy jumps in an out of that form and there is very likely a meaning to that, but I am not aware of that meaning.
This part of the prophecy seems disconnected from the remainder but it may not be. If there is a linkage it is likely telling us something about the person who is described in the following verses.
These verses are telling us that the seemingly-invincible elite of Lebanon have been diminished. It then refers to shepherds wailing - which would mean their flocks are gone or the source of their income in gone. It also refers to a young lion - which would refer to a young strong prince.
They also refer to the Jordan, but that is strange here. The Jordan River is a minor feature in the current boundaries of Lebanon. It only crosses through the southeastern corner of the country and is only one of the headwaters feeding into the Jordan River in Israel.
Putting all of this together and including the "hooves Messiah" who is described next, the message seems to be this. There will be a young strong leader raised near the Jordan River in Lebanon. At first Lebanon will be proud of him but later he will bring disgrace and ruin on them.
This is what the Lord my God says: "Pasture the flock doomed to slaughter. 5 Those who buy them slaughter them and go unpunished, and each of those who sell them says, 'Blessed be the Lord, for I have become rich!' And their own shepherds have no compassion for them. 6 For I will no longer have compassion for the inhabitants of the land," declares the Lord; "but behold, I will let the people fall, each into another's power and into the power of his king; and they will crush the land, and I will not rescue them from their power." (Zechariah 11:4-6)
This is telling us that Israel is doomed to be slaughtered. This slaughter will be spoken about later.
In the meantime, God will no longer show compassion on his people and he throws away that duty to another. The result will be that Israel will be conquered and abused. Even those who should be their shepherds will have no compassion on them. This period of time before the doomed slaughter also includes some slaughter. This is more of a spiritual slaughter but in places and times it has been and will be a physical slaughter.
In the context of this prophecy, most of which we haven't studied yet, the message is this. There will be a time period, during which, God will allow horrible things to happen to his people. At the end of this period there will be a great slaughter.
As we'll see right away, that period begins with the destruction of Israel in AD 70 and ends with the future "hooves Messiah." We know part of that from history. The Jews were conquered and driven out of Israel. They were treated very badly wherever they went. Some examples are the Russian eviction of Jews, the Roman Catholic crusades, Spain's expulsion and robbery of Jews, and, of course, Hitler's slaughter of Jews.
Despite this, God has not abandoned Israel completely. Instead he has thrown them into the care of another person, who tells his story next.
So I pastured the flock doomed to slaughter, therefore also the afflicted of the flock. And I took for myself two staffs: the one I called Favor, and the other I called Union; so I pastured the flock. 8 Then I did away with the three shepherds in one month, for my soul was impatient with them, and their soul also was tired of me. 9 Then I said, "I will not pasture you. What is to die, let it die, and what is to perish, let it perish; and let those who are left eat one another's flesh."
This person shows them favor and keeps them together - for a time. He gets rid of some bad shepherds. Ultimately he realizes they are tired of him and there is no longer a point in trying to shepherd them. His attitude becomes, "let whatever is going to happen to them, happen to them."
The verses here make an important description. There are those who are destined for slaughter and those who are afflicted. The word "afflicted" means "to damage, harass, or torment." Other words could be used such as persecuted or oppressed. We'll come back to that later.
Getting rid of three shepherds in a month is a very specific prophecy. There is no reason to spiritualize it but that is what many choose to do because they can't identify, from history, who these people would be.
There is another interpretation that fits. They could be the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the Essenes. While these are thought of as philosophical groups within Judaism, they each began from a shepherd. They did indeed end suddenly, perhaps even in a month.
It should be clear now that the person speaking is Jesus. If there was any doubt about that, it will be erased right away.
And I took my staff Favor and cut it in pieces, to break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples. 11 So it was broken on that day, and so the afflicted of the flock who were watching me realized that it was the word of the Lord. (Zechariah 11:10-11)
The verses refer to "that day" indicating a special day that the reader will recognize when it comes or has passed. The speaker says the afflicted, the persecuted believers, are watching him on that day. He also says they came to know that this was happening by the command of God. This is plainly a statement that:
Neither of these observations is news to us.
The verses say "… my covenant which I had made with all the peoples." We often think of the Old Covenant being a covenant only for the Jews, but it wasn't. It was God's intent that Israel would bring all nations to God. Obviously, they were less than successful.
And I said to them, "If it is good in your sight, give me my wages; but if not, never mind!" So they weighed out thirty shekels of silver as my wages. 13 Then the Lord said to me, "Throw it to the potter, that magnificent price at which I was valued by them." So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the Lord. 14 Then I cut in pieces my second staff Union, to break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. (Zechariah 11:12-14)
Shepherds were commonly members of the owner's family but it was not uncommon to have a hired shepherd. As with any employee, he is due his wages for the shepherding work he has done. In this case though, the verse asks if the wages are due - were the sheep cared for and lead?
We are talking about Jesus, of course, so we might ask if a shepherd has been successful if the sheep reject him and kill him? We see the prophecy telling us that the shepherd would not be entirely successful. Isaiah raises the same question when he asks, "who has believed our report?" (Isaiah 53:1).
The prophecy then tells us the price that would be paid for the betrayal of Jesus. That is what Jesus' work as a shepherd was worth. That was how value they had for him. That was also commonly the price paid to buy a person to be a slave.
Verse 13 then describes what happens to that money. The verse begins with "then." This often indicates sequential events or a time skip in the prophecy. We do not know when Judas killed himself. Matthew 27 provides a sequence of events that could have taken a few days. He is probably dead before Jesus' resurrection.
We do know, as this verse tells us, that the money was thrown away, first by Judas, into the temple and then by the priests, who did not want blood-stained money, into buying "the potters field."
Verse 14 also begins with "then." This verse is probably referring to the conquering of Jerusalem, 40 years later. This resulted in the Jews being driven out of Israel. From there they spread out in many directions and received the persecutions mentioned earlier.
And the Lord said to me, "Take again for yourself the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 16 For behold, I am going to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for the perishing, seek the scattered, heal the broken, or provide for the one who is exhausted, but will devour the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their hoofs.
17 Woe to the worthless shepherd
Who abandons the flock!
A sword will be on his arm
And on his right eye!
His arm will be totally withered,
And his right eye will be blind." (Zechariah 11:15-17)
Now the prophecy returns to the beginning and to the message to a people doomed to slaughter. It will be at the hand of a leader (shepherd) who cares only for himself. He will not do the things that a real shepherd would do.
Note the things on the list that he should be doing this is what Jesus did do. The implication then is that the people will believe he is the promised Messiah. Remember that the Jews do not accept Jesus as their Messiah and, in our time. are still waiting for him. We are being told that this foolish shepherd will be thought to be the Messiah. He is sometimes called the "Hooves Messiah", the last false Messiah of the Jews.
He likely becomes their Messiah and the leader of Israel by saving Israel from it's enemies. This may be by military defense. This is what the Jews are currently expecting from their conquering-king Messiah, and they accept him as such.
Next we are told how to identify him. The problem here is that we all change in appearance over time. Those who have been through battle, show its marks after the battle. We cannot tell if this description of him is before or after the battle that gives him the marks that are the sign.
My guess is that he gets the marks after he is accepted as the Messiah. Before the description above of his arm and right eye, we were given another description of him, one based on his behavior, not appearance.
We also see the event that results in him disgracing the leaders of Lebanon - he abandons the people he is leading
The pronouncement of the word of the Lord concerning Israel: The Lord who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of a person within him, declares: (Zechariah 12:1)
The introduction to the prophecy contains an interesting statement, though a little off-topic. Here we see a clear declaration that man has a spirit within him and that spirit is created by God. There are some Christian groups that doubt this.
We also see an interesting commonality in three things God is said to do.
The first two are clearly references to creation, but the third one does not seem to be. By listing them together here, the message to us is that they are all great acts of creation. In fact, I think it is clear that the spirits of man were all created during creation week.
"Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes staggering to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. 3 It will come about on that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will injure themselves severely. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it. 4 On that day," declares the Lord, "I will strike every horse with confusion and its rider with insanity. But I will watch over the house of Judah, while I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. 5 Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, 'The inhabitants of Jerusalem are a strong support for us through the Lord of armies, their God.' (Zechariah 12:2-5)
I believe this describes the battle of Ezekiel 38-39 because of:
The result of this battle is that the armies of these nations are slaughtered. Ezekiel says that Israel spends a lot of time cleaning up the body parts that remain.
"On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot among pieces of wood and a flaming torch among sheaves, so they will consume on the right and on the left all the surrounding peoples, while the inhabitants of Jerusalem again live on their own sites in Jerusalem. 7 The Lord also will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem will not be greater than Judah. 8 On that day the Lord will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the one who is feeble among them on that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord before them. 9 And on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. (Zechariah 12:6-9)
This seems very similar to the previous passage but it is different in important ways. I believe this is referring to the Beast's attack on Jerusalem. This comes about 25 years after the previous failed attack.
This is not a failed attack. The Beast manages to capture Jerusalem and begins killing many Jews and shipping others out of Israel. Some are protected by God and escape. Zechariah refers to that later. Revelation also presents that idea.
We see here:
The Hooves Messiah isn't mentioned here but the earlier verses indicate that he gives up Israel here. Perhaps he is even complicit.
"And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and of pleading, so that they will look at Me whom they pierced; and they will mourn for Him, like one mourning for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. 11 On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be great, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12 The land will mourn, every family by itself; the family of the house of David by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself and their wives by themselves; 13 the family of the house of Levi by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the Shimeites by itself and their wives by themselves; 14 all the families that are left, every family by itself, and their wives by themselves. (Zechariah 12:10-14)
Remember that the "house of David" and the "inhabitants of Jerusalem" have escaped. They are no longer in Israel.
Wherever they are, they find themselves shocked that they fell for a false Messiah. As mentioned above, the Hooves Messiah is now recognizable from the physical description given above. Though they have escaped, they know the others of their people were slaughtered or enslaved and driven out of their land … again.
They begin to re-evaluate and turn back to God. They come to recognize, perhaps with the help of these verses we are studying, that they rejected and killed their Messiah, the "only son". This becomes true repentance.
"On that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for defilement. (Zechariah 13:1)
Again note that the focus of this chapter is on the "house of David" and the "inhabitants of Jerusalem" who are outside of Israel at the time.
It would be easy to believe that this fountain is a spiritual reference but there are good reasons to believe it is physical. After their repentance, baptism would be needed to wash away "sin" and "defilement". That requires living (flowing) water.
This also parallels the Israelite's time in the wilderness, when Moses brought water from a rock. In fact this whole escape from enslavement under God's protection and later return parallel that wilderness journey.
"And it will come about on that day," declares the Lord of armies, "that I will eliminate the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered; and I will also remove the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land. 3 And if anyone still prophesies, then his father and mother who gave birth to him will say to him, 'You shall not live, because you have spoken falsely in the name of the Lord'; and his father and mother who gave birth to him shall pierce him through when he prophesies." (Zechariah 13:2-3)
This section speaks of a future time, though not a distant future time, after the Second Coming, after the Israelites have returned. From their repentance, that may begin as little as 40 days in the future.
After the Second Coming, all unclean things will be removed. This includes evil beliefs held in the worlds cultures that came from ancient times. Also, prophecy will be no more. It will not be needed. Prophecies other than this one from Zechariah repeat this idea. Anyone claiming to be a prophet would be known to be a liar. This would be such an evil claim that his own parents would gladly kill him.
4 Also it will come about on that day that the prophets will each be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies, and they will not put on a hairy robe in order to deceive; 5 but he will say, 'I am not a prophet; I am a cultivator of the ground, because a man sold me as a slave in my youth.' 6 And someone will say to him, 'What are these wounds between your arms?' Then he will say, 'Those with which I was wounded at the house of my friends.'" (Zechariah 13:4-6)
This section begins with a similar topic as the previous section but it refers to the time while the Israelites are outside of Israel. Then it slips into an important statement about their repentance - the Messiah is present with them.
The Israelites who have repented will not hear false prophets. If any of them thought he was a prophet before, he will be ashamed of his visions. If he feels an idea come to him that he previously would have called a prophecy, he will be ashamed. He will not dress up like a prophet in order to convince people that he was a prophet and they should believe his prophecy.
Jesus also rids them of their previous idolatry. Current Judaism is focused on Rabbis instead of God.
Somewhere in the repentance process they find a man among them. It seems like there are people looking for people who call themselves prophets - I could be wrong there. In any case, he reveals himself to be the Messiah they had killed. They know this because he reveals the same wounds that he showed his disciples after his resurrection.
The idea here closely matches what is seen in Amos.
Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit: (Amos 7:14)
I don't know why it is this way. Perhaps this rejection of the title of "prophet" is somewhat of an idiom of the time. Maybe there is more to it than that.
"Awake, sword, against My Shepherd,
And against the Man, My Associate,"
Declares the Lord of armies.
"Strike the Shepherd and the sheep will be scattered;
And I will turn My hand against the little ones.
8 And it will come about in all the land,"
Declares the Lord,
"That two parts in it will be cut off and perish;
But the third will be left in it.
9 And I will bring the third part through the fire,
Refine them as silver is refined,
And test them as gold is tested.
They will call on My name,
And I will answer them;
I will say, 'They are My people,'
And they will say, 'The Lord is my God.'" (Zechariah 13:7-9)
If we hadn't guessed it before, it becomes apparent now that not all of the escaped Israelites have accepted Jesus as their Messiah. When has a group of people ever 100% converted? Never. More than that though, it appears the majority have not converted, which is more like what we would expect. Some will find other explanations for the holes in his hands, side, and feet.
With the Messiah being made known to them, they attempt to attack him. Their plan is to get rid of him and then they will be able to break the unity of the believers and then bring the others back to Judaism.
Verse 7 is quoted in the New Testament as a reference to the attempt to kill Jesus and drive off his disciples. Multiple fulfillment prophecies are common in the Bible.
In that time, they succeeded in killing the shepherd but not in scattering the sheep. In this prophecy, neither is successful. We don't know what becomes of the attackers. The word used is perish but that doesn't necessarily mean death.
One third of the group are believers. The Messiah works with them to purify them. The result is a people that call on his name and he calls them his people. This will also be a fulfillment of the "not my people, now my people" prophecy beginning in Hosea 1:9.
Behold, a day is coming for the Lord when the spoils taken from you will be divided among you. (Zechariah 14:1)
The focus of the next sections will be on the idea that "the spoils taken from you will be divided among you." Therefore we are going to see the spoils taken from them at first. This jumps backward in time to just before some Israelites escape the attack. Then there will be a time jump and we'll see the spoils being given to them.
For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be taken, the houses plundered, the women raped, and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be eliminated from the city. (Zechariah 14:2)
This is the slaughter that was mentioned in the first chapter of this study. While murder isn't mentioned here, Muslim prophecy speaks of this time.
Judgement Day will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews. The Jews will hide behind the stones and the trees, and the stones and the trees will say, oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew hiding behind me - come and kill him. (Hadith by Abi Hurira)
The word "eliminated" in the verse is translated as "taken", "removed" or most often as "cut-off" in other translations. That word in Hebrew can refer to a range of actions from ostracism, to eviction, to separation of head from body. I think the way to understand it as "not forcibly removed". Does it mean that half of the city will be protected and escape? We can't be sure of that.
Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. 4 On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west forming a very large valley. Half of the mountain will move toward the north, and the other half toward the south. 5 And you will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him! (Zechariah 14:3-5)
This is how the Lord fights to protect his people from the attack. In our time we might imagine powerful beams of light or large explosions. Instead we get an escape route.
Jesus' feet settle on the Mount of Olives, just as the angels told the disciples Jesus would return. This isn't the Second Coming though. These feet touchdown a few years before the Second Coming. This is actually the completion of the First Coming.
The words "massive earthquake" aren't used here but that is what people will call it. The Mount of Olives splits in half vertically and the halves move in opposite directions. This creates a large valley that reaches to Azel, but no one now knows where that is. It is called the "valley of the mountains", indicating more than one mountain is involved.
The Mount of Olives is not the only geographic hurdle to an eastward journey. There are more and larger mountains east of it. We'll see in a later verse that a stream will begin flowing eastward out of Jerusalem. Other prophecies add to that saying it flows all the way to the Jordan and Dead Sea. Therefore the valley would need to extend about 15 kilometers, and cut through other mountains.
It's impossible to miss the parallel with the crossing of the Red Sea, with the difference being walls of land instead of water.
Later, we'll see that Jerusalem rises. There are also other prophecies that indicate that Jerusalem will be heaved up, to a height greater than the surrounding hills. I suppose the height of the surrounding hills could be reduced and achieve the same thing. That seems to be contradicted by a verse we'll see later that says Jerusalem "rises", but rising and falling are a matter of perspective. Either way, this will be an earthquake for the record books.
The last half of the last verse contains a "then" which gives us a peak at the future, to the Second Coming. Later, other Second Coming events will be detailed.
On that day there will be no light; the luminaries will die out. 7 For it will be a unique day which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at the time of evening there will be light. (Zechariah 14:6-7)
The NASB translation, "die out", is different from most others here. The phrase "die out" is understood to mean decrease to zero. The Hebrew is more accurately translated as "diminish." This lines up with the following verse which says "neither day nor night."
There are two possible causes: the Sun, Moon, and stars all become dimmer, or something in the air is blocking their light. The verse doesn't actually mention the Sun, Moon, or stars. Literally it says, "there will be no light sparkles". Since there has just been a strong earthquake that moved a lot of earth around, the most likely explanation is that a heavy dust cloud is kicked up that blocks all light, Sun, Moon, and stars plus street lights and flashlights, where the cloud descends.
It isn't normal for an earthquake to kick up dust. Earthquakes usually happen far below the surface of the ground. Sometimes the fault plane comes up to the surface and the contours of the earth change a little. This will be something different.
Jesus refers to the events described in this section of Zechariah.
But in the day that Lot went out from Sadom, the lord Yahweh caused it to rain fire and brimstone from the sky and destroyed all of them. 30 Thus shall it be in the day when the son of Man is revealed. (Luke 17:29-30)
Jesus' point here is that destruction falls on the unprepared. It isn't specifically that fire and brimstone will fall … but that could be a small part of it. As we'll see right away, the main part of it is the capture of those who are not prepared.
Jesus continues describing the events from Zechariah.
In that day, whoever is on the roof, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take them. And whoever is in the field, let him not turn back. 32 Remember Lot's wife. (Luke 17:31-32)
When the Beast attacks Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives is split, the people need to be ready to go. There will be no time to pack up their belongings. Jesus adds this warning - don't let your desire for the things you had, cause you to turn back, as Lot's wife did.
Jesus continues describing the events from Zechariah.
Whoever chooses to save his life shall lose it, and whoever will lose his life shall find it. (Luke 17:33)
This is a general expression about not being attached to worldly things. Here, though, it is specifically about the residents of Jerusalem and the immediate area of Judea and their attachment to things of the world. The message is to abandon everything they have in life (the physical things) and they will have life (the spiritual things). They will find their Messiah.
Jesus continues describing the events from Zechariah.
I say to you, in that night, two shall be in one bed; one shall be taken captive and the other shall be left. 35 Two women shall be grinding meal together; one shall be led away captive and the other shall be left. 36 Two shall be in a field; one shall be taken captive and the other shall be left. (Luke 17:34-36)
The Beast's forces will be grabbing people, killing some. Some will escape; others will not. The difference will be their preparedness to abandon all that they have and run for the hills.
Now, back to Zechariah.
And on that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter. (Zechariah 14:8)
The time skipped ahead before this verse. We are now at the Second Coming.
The waters flowing east will flow down the new valley, reaching the Dead Sea. These waters will have an unusual characteristic to them. The word "living" hints at it and Ezekiel describes it somewhat. I won't go into it here though.
And the Lord will be King over all the earth; on that day the Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one. (Zechariah 14:9)
This is pretty obvious.
All the land will change into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site from Benjamin's Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king's wine presses. 11 People will live in it, and there will no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will live in security. (Zechariah 14:10-11)
From the context, this change appears to happen at or after the Second Coming. Therefore it is being done by Jesus, not by earthquake.
The location points that are given here are mostly not known now. The general understanding is that the flattening will go from about 5 miles north of the city gates of Jerusalem to about the same distance south. The part that rises is probably enclosed by the outermost walls of the city.
If this was done by an earthquake, it would be hard to imagine how any buildings could survive this shift. Even so, it will likely be Jesus' intent to destroy most of the Jerusalem infrastructure. This change will make it possible to build Ezekiel's temple after the Second Coming. It requires a flat area much larger than the current temple but centered on the Temple Mount.
Now this will be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth. 13 And it will come about on that day that a great panic from the Lord will fall on them; and they will seize one another's hand, and the hand of one will be raised against the hand of another. 14 Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered, gold, silver, and garments in great abundance. 15 And just like this plague, there will be a plague on the horse, the mule, the camel, the donkey, and all the cattle that will be in those camps. (Zechariah 14:12-15)
Revelation describes an un-welcoming party thrown for the coming Messiah, which is commonly called the Battle of Armageddon. That is probably the group and "camps" that are referred to here. This passage gives us more detail of the destruction that they receive - likely more detail than we need. Yuck.
Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of armies, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 17 And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of armies, there will be no rain on them. 18 And if the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 19 This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. (Zechariah 14:16-19)
Another "then" gives us a look at future events. Annually, the nations that attacked Jerusalem will come to worship Jesus and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. In this new world, refusing to do what is right, will have consequences.
It may seem odd that only the Feast of Booths is mentioned here and the other feasts are not. Leviticus 23 has the answer and my study of that can be found at Leviticus 23 Structure.
In that chapter, the Feast of Booths comes in two pieces. One piece, the one without a sacrifice, and also the Sabbath are in a separate group from the other feasts. It seems they are intended to continue on without a temple, except the Feast of Booths is only to be for the native-born of Israel.
It seems then that, in the time of Ezekiel's temple, the Feast of Booths becomes a requirement for the representatives of the nations that attacked Jerusalem.
On that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, "Holy to the Lord." And the cooking pots in the Lord's house will be like the bowls before the altar. 21 Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord of armies; and all who sacrifice will come and take of them and boil in them. And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of armies on that day. (Zechariah 14:20-7)
We've covered a lot of ground here and a review is necessary. I'm going to put everything in a narrative form and into time order. Most of the information in these chapters has been in time order already, but there have been looks ahead and the whole story is in medias res, meaning it starts in the middle.
The story begins with God saying he is tired of his people and "will no longer have compassion" for them or rescue them. He refers to them as "the flock doomed to slaughter". So, God passes the responsibility for them on to Jesus.
On the timeline, this probably happens after the last of the Old Testament prophets. The people who still had a heart for God came back from captivity, but they haven't changed. They keep falling away.
Jesus takes care of the flock for a while but they become tired of him … and kill him. Then he, like God before him gives up and says, "What is to die, let it die." He withdraws the favor he has been showing them, and breaks the unity that has kept them together. This breaks the covenant he made with them.
The verses then tell us that Jesus' wages for the work he did would be 30 shekels of silver, the price of a slave and the price that Judas was paid. It also says that this money would go to the temple and then to the potter, which we know happened.
This occurs just before the destruction of Israel in AD 70 and the slaughter continues through history.
Then the verses make a large jump in time, into our future. It begins to tell the story of a shepherd who does not care for his flock. He only sees them as a benefit to him. Ultimately he will be a disgrace to Lebanon for what he does.
We are told this shepherd will come from the southeast of Lebanon. The verses don't say anything more about him but it seems certain he would be a Jew. He likely becomes the leader of Israel by his military conquests, because that is what the Jews are expecting from their savior Messiah, and they accept him as such.
The world becomes angry with Israel again and decides to act. But it is the foolish act of trying to end the country of Israel by removing all of the people. We can easily imagine that this might be an attempt to achieve peace in the Middle East.
The verses tell us that this attack on Israel only results in the attacking forces being destroyed. This appears to be Ezekiel's Battle. Despite this destruction clearly being the work of God, it may be the event that brings this man to power.
Everything is peaceful in Israel for a generation, but another man is coming on the stage - the anti-Christ. He also sees Israel as a problem that needs to be fixed, and he is the man to do it.
Despite likely coming to power as a military man and savior, when the anti-Christ attacks Israel, this shepherd abandons his flock. Israel is conquered and Lebanon is disgraced. The plan is again to end the country of Israel by removing its people.
This time God steps in to save them, though not in the way we might expect. He causes a massive earthquake that reshapes the land so much that a valley to the Jordan river is formed. This is the escape route though we aren't told the destination. It's impossible to miss the parallel with the crossing of the Red Sea, with the difference being walls of land instead of water.
The people who escape Israel via this valley begin to reassess what has happened and discover they have chased after a false Messiah. One-third of them begin to repent and turn back to God. As they do, they come to realize that their Messiah is among them. They see the crucifixion marks on his body and realize they killed their true Messiah long ago.
Not everyone there is happy about this. Some kind of revolt erupts that tries to get rid of Jesus, scatter his new followers, and turn the others back to Judaism. We know this doesn't succeed but that's all we know.
Jesus schools his followers and grows them in his ways. He rids them of their previous idolatry. These verses don't tell us what happens next with them.
The next thing we see is the Second Coming and the changes that come with that.
He arrives to an un-welcoming party thrown for him by the followers of the anti-Christ. Their "flesh rots while they stand on their feet, and their eyes rot in their sockets, and their tongues rot in their mouths". They die. It's not a pretty sight.
Jesus flattens a swath of land north and south of Jerusalem. The old city of Jerusalem is raised above the hills that surround it and previously looked down on it.
Streams of living water begin flowing out of Jerusalem, half toward the Jordan and Dead Sea (east) and the other half west toward Mediterranean.
Society also begins to change. The changes in Jerusalem make it possible to build Ezekiel's Temple. The leaders of the nations that attacked Jerusalem will be required to travel to the temple to worship Jesus and to celebrate the Feast of Booths.
All the area of Jerusalem will become a holy place.