The Return of the King (Zechariah 14)
Zechariah pulls back the curtain of time to give us a glimpse of the glory that awaits.
Zechariah 14 forms the pinnacle of the powerful prophecies in the book of Zechariah. The many visions leading up to this final chapter weave a thread of truth about the coming Messiah, culminating with Christ returning to the earth to rescue the nation of Israel, destroy its enemies, and establish His earthly Kingdom over the whole world.
Four sections reveal some of the elements of this exciting part of God’s Word:
1. Jerusalem comes under fire.
Zechariah 14:1–2
The Lord is active as He pours out Tribulation judgments on the planet, including those He directs toward Israel and Jerusalem. It is truly the Day of the Lord when He breaks through history to judge humankind.
God allows Israel’s goods to be divided (v. 1) and gathers the world’s nations to battle against Jerusalem (v. 2). The city will fall, with half its inhabitants going into captivity; but a remnant of Jewish people will remain. This event takes place near the end of the future seven-year Tribulation and coincides with what is called the Battle of Armageddon. (See Revelation 16:15–16.)
From the Jewish perspective, it is a tragic, scary event. Yet, it appears that Israel is being purified by fire to prepare it for its Kingdom.
2. God desires to deliver His people.
Zechariah 14:3–5
This section shows God’s love for Israel. Some Christians claim God is finished with the Jewish people and has replaced them with the church, but these verses contradict such erroneous thinking: “The LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle” (v. 3).
Far from rejecting Israel, God vigorously defends the nation. In perhaps the most famous verse in the book of Zechariah, Scripture declares, “In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east” (v. 4). When Messiah Jesus’ feet touch the mount, it will split in two (v. 4) and make a path for Israel’s remnant to flee and escape (v. 5).
Another important fact is that when Jesus comes, the “saints” will come with Him. The Old Testament prophet declared, “Thus the LORD my God will come, and all the saints with You” (v. 5). The word saints refers either to Church Age saints, who were raptured before the Tribulation; Old Testament and Tribulation saints; or God’s angels.
This spectacular event is none other than the Second Coming of Christ to Earth to end the Tribulation, a devastating period the prophet Jeremiah called “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jer. 30:7). Revelation 19:11–16 provides the New Testament perspective on the same event. Jesus returns as a warrior to judge His enemies by the power of His spoken word.
There can be no doubt that the person in view in Zechariah 14 is the Messianic King of Israel. Zechariah described the King of Israel’s judgment on Israel’s enemies in gruesome language:
And this shall be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, and their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths.
It shall come to pass in that day that a great panic from the Lord will be among them. . . . Such also shall be the plague on the horse and the mule, on the camel and the donkey, and on all the cattle that will be in those camps. So shall this plague be (vv. 12–13, 15).
The divine plague will panic the nations gathered against Israel, as body parts evaporate on both humans and animals and the wealth of surrounding nations is gathered on behalf of Israel (v. 14).
The punishment seems severe but is justified. To borrow words from the third bowl judgment in Revelation, “You are righteous, O Lord, the One who is and who was and who is to be, because You have judged these things. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. For it is their just due” (16:5–6).
3. The glorious result of the coming of the King.
Zechariah 14:6–11
Messiah Jesus will establish His Kingdom on this earth. The key statement is Zechariah 14:9: “And the LORD shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be—‘The LORD is one,’ and His name one.”
Three things about this statement stand out:
1. The Lord is not merely King over Israel but over the entire universe. In His general sovereignty, God always reigns over all the earth. However, here, through the Messiah, He explicitly establishes the particular Messianic Kingdom predicted by the Old Testament prophets.
2. God will be worshiped as the universe’s one and only true God, a fact also expressed later in the chapter.
3. The capital city of this worldwide Kingdom will not be Washington, DC; London; Paris; Moscow; or any other metropolis. It will be Jerusalem in Israel. Although the Kingdom will cover the earth, it is Israel that will play a central role in its administration.
It appears that darkness prevails when the Lord returns (v. 6); but His appearance leads to light, even at twilight (v. 7). Year-round living waters (spring water) will flow from Jerusalem, a new occurrence (v. 8). This water will flow both to the “eastern sea” (Dead Sea) and “western sea” (Mediterranean Sea). The topography will even change, with Jerusalem being lifted up (v. 10; cf. Isa. 2:1–4).
The most important change is that “Jerusalem will be safely inhabited” (Zech. 14:11). The Jewish people’s millennia-long ordeal will be over. They will have been delivered from their enemies forever and will finally enjoy peace in their own land.
4. Israel’s centrality in the Kingdom.
Zechariah 14:16–21
All nations will go up to Jerusalem to worship the King (vv. 16–21). Specifically, those that opposed Israel will make annual pilgrimages to Jerusalem to join the Jewish people in celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot, v. 16). If they do not, the King will withhold rain from their land (vv. 17–19).
Withholding rain is an ongoing judgment during the Millennial Kingdom and is not the judgment of the nations that takes place at the Kingdom’s inception (Joel 3; Mt. 25). The people of these nations somehow survived the judgment of the nations at the Kingdom’s onset. That judgment was based on how they treated Israel.
Another aspect of this worshipful time is its character of holiness or sacredness in light of the Lord’s presence (Zech. 14:20–21). Even the bells on the horses will be engraved with “HOLINESS TO THE LORD.” The cooking pots in the Temple will be considered holy bowls before the altar (v. 20). In fact, all cooking vessels throughout the land will be considered holy (v. 21). The period’s extreme degree of holiness caused Zechariah to remark, “In that day there shall no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts” (v. 21).
Christians who believe a literal, earthly Kingdom will be established at the Second Coming are often accused of harboring a carnal view of the Kingdom and emphasizing earthly matters without regard for spiritual concerns. This passage shows that one can correctly hold to an earthly Kingdom that is simultaneously holy and spiritual unto the Lord.
This final section also shows that the Kingdom contains the “LORD’s house,” meaning a Temple (v. 20), which involves sacrifices (v. 21) and signifies the existence of death. This fact, coupled with the ongoing judgments concerning rain, help us identify this period as the Millennium, the thousand years of Revelation 20. It cannot be the eternal state of Revelation 21—22, where there is no death, sorrow, or Temple.
The Millennium plus the eternal state constitute the coming Kingdom the prophets foresaw. The Millennium is the “kickoff party,” or beginning phase of God’s forever Kingdom. Zechariah pulled back the curtain to the future to give us a glorious glimpse of what awaits.
