Zechariah 14:10

The Bible says in Zechariah 14:10-11, “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. And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.” These verses are telling us more about the time of the Millennial reign of Christ on the earth. The emphasis is on Jerusalem, both the ascendency of Jerusalem and the peaceful times that will be in effect. God gives peace and prosperity wherever it exists. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. If you want peace, then seek Jesus. Of course, Jesus is the One who brings peace to Jerusalem. As we have seen in previous verses in Zechariah, at the Second Coming of Christ, Jesus will defeat all the enemies of Israel once and for all at the Battle of Armageddon. It is not a good thing to be opposed to Israel. All who are opposed will eventually be destroyed by Jesus Christ. Until that day comes, we who believe in Jesus will continue to preach the gospel so that as many as possible will be saved.

Notice two important phrases of the verses above. It says, “there shall be no more utter destruction,” and “Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.” This is talking about the permanent peace that will come on the earth, centered in Jerusalem. Permanent peace does not come until Christ defeats the enemies of God at the Battle of Armageddon. What this means is that we do not have and will not have permanent peace in our lifetime. War has taken place almost constantly in the history of the human race. It is a good thing to strive for peace. But because of the nature of evil in this world, often peace only comes when we are properly prepared to defend ourselves. A bully will attack those whom he thinks cannot defend themselves. But even in this age when we have times of peace and prosperity, we know that such times only come by the grace of God. If God has given us a time of peace and prosperity, then He wants us to do something with it. He certainly does not want us to squander it on ourselves. There are so many wars that have cursed the world, and some cannot be avoided because we must defend ourselves from the aggressor. Even though wars have come often, humans will give an account for what they did with the times of peace. Did we take the opportunities that peace affords, and use it for the Master or did we use it for ourselves?

The Bible says in Zechariah 14:12-16, “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. 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. 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. 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. 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.” What’s interesting about Zechariah 14:12 is that in our day and age this passage sounds like events that could happen in a nuclear war. The book of Revelation goes into much detail about the many sufferings that people will endure during the time of the Great Tribulation. It says in Revelation 16:8-11, “And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.” It also says in Revelation 19:21, “And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.”

Once again we see in the book of Zechariah that Jesus is called Jehovah. Notice that it says in Zechariah 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.” It says that the people on the earth during the Millennial Kingdom will “worship the King, the LORD of hosts.” Who is the King? The King is Jesus. Who is the LORD? The word “LORD” is translated from the Hebrew word for “Jehovah.” In other words, the King is Jehovah. Another way of saying this is, “Jesus is Jehovah.”

Zechariah 14:16 tells us one of the activities that will take place during the Thousand Year reign of Christ when it says that they will “keep the feast of tabernacles.” The Israelites were told to keep the feast of the Tabernacles back during the time of Moses. It says in Leviticus 23:33-43, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD. On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein. These are the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, every thing upon his day: Beside the sabbaths of the LORD, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings, which ye give unto the LORD. Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath. And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days. And ye shall keep it a feast unto the LORD seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month. Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths: That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.”

Evidently the Feast of Tabernacles is very important to the Lord because He is going to have all of us keep this feast during the One Thousand Year Reign of Christ. The Feast of Tabernacles is a reminder that the children of Israel lived in tents during the time after they were delivered from Egypt, and before they entered into the Promised Land. What do the “tents” or tabernacles signify? They teach us that God is going to provide for us. When we are saved through faith in Christ, He delivers us from the slavery to the world which once had us trapped, just like the Israelites were delivered from the land of Egypt. Once we become true Christians by the mercy of God and our Savior Jesus Christ, this world is no longer our home. We are just passing through on our way to glory and our true home. Of course, Christians know better than anyone else that life is temporary and we are on the move. We understand that we can lose our home and our possessions at any time, but if we do, God will take care of us. This truth that God will provide our physical needs is symbolic of the fact that He will also provide our spiritual needs. There is a reference to the Feast of Tabernacles in the New Testament where Jesus emphasized this truth. The entirety of John chapter seven took place near or during the Feast of Tabernacles. It says in John 7:1-2, “After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him. Now the Jews’ feast of tabernacles was at hand.” Notice what Jesus said in John 7:37-39, “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified.”

It is interesting that Jesus made this statement at the Feast of Tabernacles. What does water have to do with the Feast of Tabernacles? Remember that there were several times that the Lord miraculously provided the material needs of the children of Israel after they left Egypt. One of those times was when a river of water gushed forth from a rock to provide much-needed water for the Israelites. It says in Exodus 17:6, “Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.” Because of what Jesus said, we know that this life-giving water was symbolic of the Holy Spirit that is given so abundantly to those who believe in Jesus. The rock symbolizes Jesus. Once the rock was smitten, then the water came out. Jesus was smitten upon the cross of Calvary, and because of that we have the blessings that constantly flow for the benefit of the believer.

The Bible says in Zechariah 14:17-21, “And it shall be, that 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. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD's house shall be like the bowl's before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.” The last two verses of the book of Zechariah tell us what God’s great purpose for mankind has always been: “holiness,” and they tell us how to achieve “holiness” unto the Lord: separation from the world. The word “holiness” is used twice, once in verse 20 and once in verse 21. It says in Ephesians 1:4, “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.” It says in First Peter 1:15-16, “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” It says in First Peter 2:9, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” We are holy in our position in Christ. That is why God calls all of His believers “saints.” But why do we not become holy in our practice? One of the reasons has to do with the “Canaanites,” who symbolize the unbelievers who are all around us. Bad influences have corrupted many. The Canaanites have taken over most of the educational institutions, Hollywood and the entertainment business, and most of the agencies and officials of all levels of government. How are you going to live a holy life in such a world with such influences? The answer to that question is found in Second Corinthians 6:14-17, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” It is not easy to accomplish, and it takes wisdom from the Lord to accomplish it and to know how to be in the world, but not of the world. Not many have accomplished the proper separation. That is why we live in a time of compromising Christians. But God will create true holiness in the Millennial Kingdom of Christ. In that kingdom everyone will see and experience “HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD.” “and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.”

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