Zechariah gives us a dreadful glimpse of the battle of the end times, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. The miraculous deliverance the Lord promised to the Jews will be theirs when the King returns to reign forever.
"A day of the Lord is coming, Jerusalem, when your possessions will be plundered and divided up within your city walls. I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city." (Zechariah 14:1-2) Many scholars apply these two verses to the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD and I agree that this part of the prophecy was fulfilled when Rome, made up of a coalition of all the nations she had already conquered, plundered Jerusalem and perpetrated war atrocities on the people and took nearly 100,000 Jews captive. But like a number of Biblical prophecies, I think this one is twofold, for the mighty victory that follows did not take place after the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD. Another battle is yet to come...one that will be won by Israel's King.
The Lord Jesus gave a twofold prophecy regarding the fall of Jerusalem and the dark days of the end times in Matthew 24. He provided this glimpse into the near future and the far future in one seamless tale, though thousands of years would separate both events. I think there is a good reason for this: the years in between are what are known as "the times of the Gentiles". In 70 AD the Jews effectively lost all claim to being a sovereign state, stopping the clock of Israel in a sense, because "the times of the Gentiles" began. (Luke 21:24b) A sign that the clock of Israel is about to begin ticking again is her reinstatement as a sovereign nation in 1948, but it cannot yet be said that Israel is not still "trampled on by the Gentiles". (Luke 21:24a) I believe the Lord skipped over the period of time between the fall of Jerusalem in the first century AD and the final battle of Jerusalem because that period of time contains the church age. The gospel began in Jerusalem and ever since has been spreading throughout the world. This age must be fulfilled before the time of the end. As the Lord Jesus said, "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." (Matthew 24:14)
Jerusalem is probably the most fought-over territory in the whole world. During the final war, when the nations are gathered together against her, the King bursts onto the scene like a mighty warrior charging into the fray. "Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as He fights on the day of battle." (Zechariah 14:3)
"On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. You will flee by My mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee 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 14:4-5) The prophet Isaiah predicted this day, saying to his people, "But your many enemies will become like fine dust, the ruthless hordes like blown chaff. Suddenly, in an instant, the Lord Almighty will come with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with windstorm and tempest and flames of a devouring fire." (Isaiah 29:5-6) In the 28th chapter of Ezekiel the prophet describes enemies coming against the Jews in the last days and the Lord's retribution against these enemies, "This is what will happen in that day: When Gog attacks the land of Israel, My hot anger will be aroused, declares the Sovereign Lord. In My zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel." (Ezekiel 38:18-19)
Little is known about the earthquake that occurred during the reign of King Hezekiah of Judah. The prophet Amos mentions it in passing in Amos 1:1, but apparently it was of such a frightening magnitude that the people fled the city while it was happening. When the King returns and shakes the earth, He will use the earthquake as a means to save His people by opening up a way of escape for them.
Meeting God, or any supernatural messenger of His, has always been a horrifying experience for the characters of the Bible. There is something terrible about His holy majesty, and I think that's because when man sees God as He is, man sees himself as he is. Bible scholar Barry G. Webb describes the moment of the Lord's appearing like this, "It is clearly, at one level at least, a moment of terror, as mere human beings are confronted with the world-shaking power of God. But...it is a moment of liberation; their great and awesome God has stepped in to save them. The splitting of the Mount of Olives recalls the dividing of the Red Sea at the exodus from Egypt---the experience of deliverance par excellence in the Old Testament." (from The Message Of Zechariah, pg. 178-179)
Zechariah foresaw the King riding a donkey, an animal of peace, at His first advent. But at His second advent the King comes to wage war. We find Him in Revelation 19 charging into battle on a warhorse, accompanied by the armies of heaven. This corresponds to what Zechariah tells us today, that, "The Lord my God will come, and all His holy ones with Him."
In tomorrow's study the book of Zechariah comes to its glorious conclusion with the King of all kings setting up His eternal kingdom. The One whom Zechariah envisioned as King and High Priest and the Good Shepherd will be the political and spiritual leader of the world, yet for all His awesome power and majesty He will know how to tenderly care for His flock.
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