Well, if you would please open your Bible to Zechariah chapter 14. Zechariah 14. This morning we're in the final chapter of this Old Testament prophetic book. And if you've been with us all summer, the summer began early. And it ends late because this is a longer book that we're studying here from the Old Testament. But I commend you. I commend you for hanging in there. It's been a challenging book for us to study together. All the prophetic books are challenging, and this one seems especially so. but you're going to really reap a reward today for being here for our study. I just want to review briefly the last few chapters of Zechariah focus on Messiah's second advent. Chapter 12 focuses on Israel's reaction in that day. Chapter 13 focuses on Israel's need for cleansing in that day. And chapter 14 focuses on Israel's great victory in that day. Now chapter 14 is a little bit longer, it's 21 verses, and I would like to read through the whole chapter, and then we'll pray and get into our study this morning. Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoils shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle. In the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished, and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley. And half of the mountain shall remove toward the north and half of it toward the south. And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal. Yea, ye shall flee like as ye fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. And the Lord my God shall come and all the saints with thee. And it shall come to pass in that day that the light shall not be clear nor dark, but it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord. Not day, not night, but it shall come to pass that at evening time it shall be light. And it shall be in that day that living waters shall go forth from Jerusalem, half of them toward the former sea and half of them toward the hinder sea. In summer and in winter shall it be. And the Lord shall be king over all the earth. In that day there shall be one Lord and His name one. All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Ramon, 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 Henaniel unto the king's wine presses. And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction, but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited. 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 neighbor, And his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor. 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 everyone 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. 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 reign, 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 bowls 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 seed therein. And in that day, there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts. Let's pray together. Our Father, we really stand in awe of your marvelous sovereignty, your total control over all the things that happen on this earth. You are, after all, the creator God, the maker of all of these things. As we studied in Sunday school today, you are the one who sets one up and removes another. You are sovereign over the nations, over the kings of the earth, And Lord, as we consider this final chapter of Zachariah's prophecy today, I pray that we would be comforted and reflect upon the fact that you are working your sovereign plan and that all these things shall indeed come to pass. And that Jesus will come and he will establish his kingdom on this earth. And I pray, Lord, that everyone here will be part of that kingdom because they know Jesus as their Savior. Lord, bless our study this morning, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. This final chapter of Zechariah wraps up God's plan for His people Israel. Jesus will come, conflict will end, and He will reign over all the earth. forever and ever. Charles Feinberg says, Jeremiah told of the capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. Josephus, he's a Jewish historian, told of the siege of the Romans. But Zechariah told of the desolations toward the end of the Great Tribulation. So as we've been saying in our study of these last few chapters, we're now looking forward into the future. We're looking forward to what happens even on the other side of the tribulation, toward the end of the tribulation, the seven-year period foretold by the prophet Daniel, known also as Daniel's 70th week. I like how John MacArthur explains the prophetic eschatological context of this passage, and here's what he writes. Prior to Christ's triumphant return, Israel will face an unparalleled existential threat. In an effort to secure peace and protection, the nation's leaders will make a seven-year covenant with the Antichrist. They will initially experience a superficial peace But in the middle of this seven-year period, the Antichrist will break his pact with Israel. He will desecrate the Temple and demand to be worshipped. When the people refuse, he will gather a global military force against Israel. This will lead to a devastating siege of Jerusalem and the surrounding regions, culminating in the Battle of Armageddon." So that's the period of time that we're talking about here. We're looking forward now through Zechariah's prophecy to the end of the tribulation period. I want you to notice the opening words of this chapter. It begins, Behold, the day of the Lord cometh. Here once again we encounter that attention getting word, behold. It's a word that occurs some 24 times in the book of Zechariah and every time it's to get our attention, to help us to realize that what's about to be declared is something very important. And we see what that is. The declaration is, the day of the Lord is coming. The day of the Lord cometh. The Hebrew here literally reads, behold, a day belonging to Yahweh comes. You see, mankind is having his day now. But the time will come when the Lord will reclaim the day for himself. To again quote from Charles Feinberg, the day spoken of here is one in which he, the Lord, will manifest his power and glory. in which the Lord will vindicate His honor in His name, in wrath upon His adversaries, and in which He will bring to a speedy climax His purposes of grace for Israel and for the earth." Now, as we look at this chapter, if you think about what I've read through here, there are really two major sections in this chapter. In verses one through eight, there's a focus on the coming conflict. And then in the remaining verses of the chapter, there is a focus on the coming kingdom. So those are my two main points today. Let's begin with a focus on the coming conflict. The chapter opens with Jerusalem under siege. What we see here in verses 1 and 2 is devastation, devastation. And these verses appear to correlate with the events that are described in Revelation 16 as part of Antichrist's final military conquest And this is commonly referred to as the Battle of Armageddon. It's really a military campaign, not a single battle. And so that's what seems to be pictured here. So I'd like you to hold your place here in Zechariah and turn over to Revelation chapter 16. I am gonna take you to a few other passages today, as time permits, so that you can see this for yourself. Revelation 16, in verses 16 through 19. And he, referring to Antichrist, or actually it could be God who's behind all this, gathered them together into a place in the Hebrew tongue, Armageddon. And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air. And there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven from the throne saying, it is done. And there were voices and thunders and lightnings. And there was a great earthquake such as as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake and so great. And the great city," now that refers to Jerusalem, and the great city was divided into three parts. And so it is, there seems to be a correlation between these events. This is what we're looking at. We're looking at what's happening as the seventh vial is poured out, the seventh bowl judgment, and we're coming now to the very climax of the seven-year tribulation period. So as we go back to Zechariah 14, It indicates that there will be the siege of the city of Jerusalem, and the siege will be so devastatingly successful that the enemy armies will come into the city, and right there in the midst of the city, they're gonna divide the spoil of the city. And yet, in verse two, we're reminded that the Lord God is in sovereign control of all of these things. He's in sovereign control. God declares, I will gather the nations against Jerusalem. Yeah, He's in control of what's happening here. He permits the horrendous events described here to take place as part of the purification process for His people near the end of the tribulation. We studied about that purification process in the previous chapter. So that's what God is doing here. And we're told that half of the city's inhabitants will be exiled, but a remnant will remain in the city. God always preserves to Himself a remnant. Now, as we consider the details here, it confirms our understanding that this prophecy pertains to a future event. For there is no event in history that would exactly line up to what is described in this verse. So as part of the coming conflict, we see devastation. But then we come to verses three through five, and we see deliverance. Verse three changes the mood with the word then. You see after devastation comes deliverance. And we're told that the Lord himself will fight on behalf of his people, just like he did for them in the Old Testament era. Consider what Moses declared after the Lord had defeated the Egyptians. In Exodus 15.3, he says, the Lord is a man of war. The Lord, that is Yahweh, is his name. And so the Lord fought for his people in the Old Testament era, and we're told that he will once again fight for them in the end of the tribulation period. Verse four paints a vivid scene for us. We're told that his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east. This is one of only two Old Testament references to the Mount of Olives. And this verse speaks of Messiah. Ultimately, Messiah is in view here. This is the Lord Jesus Christ returning to earth and he will stand on the Mount of Olives. He will take his stand there as he returns. And we're told that the mountain is going to split in two so as to create this valley of escape for God's people so that the inhabitants of Jerusalem can flee from the enemy armies. They will go out through this new valley that's been created. We come to verse 5 and references made to a place called Azal or Azal. And unfortunately, there's no consensus on exactly where this place is. We just know, based on this passage, that it is somewhere to the east of Jerusalem, probably beyond the ascent of the Mount of Olives. But beyond that, we really don't know exactly where that is. But it's certainly, the point here is we see the people fleeing from Jerusalem, heading out eastward through this new valley to a place of safety. Now we're told that their fleeing will be like that of the flight of God's people from the earthquake in the time of Uzziah, king of Judah. Now this particular earthquake is actually mentioned in the Bible. It's mentioned in Amos chapter 1 verse 1. So it was a historic earthquake, a massive and uniquely memorable earthquake because they were still talking about it in the time of Zechariah after the Babylonian captivity. I want you to notice the final phrase here in verse five. It says, the Lord my God shall come and all the saints with thee. Christ is going to come and he will bring with him all the saints. All those who are his will come with him. This is paralleled in the New Testament in a couple places. In 1 Thessalonians 3.13, it speaks of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. And then again, if you'll hold your place here and turn over to Revelation 19, here's the New Testament prophecy that predicts exactly how this unfolds. Revelation 19, verses 11 through 14. And I saw heaven open, and behold, a white horse. And he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True. And in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns, and he had a name written that no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. And then note this next verse, and the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. Folks, that's us. We're included in that. And I hope you can learn how to ride a horse because we're gonna be joining Christ in his second coming. We will be with him. And so we see here as we look forward to this coming conflict that's described in Zechariah 14, we see devastation. We see deliverance. And then in verses six through eight, we see dramatic change. These verses described dramatic signs and changes that will take place right around the time of the beginning of the millennial kingdom age. First, we see that there will be a dramatic change in the day-night cycle. The cycle that we're accustomed to, you know, light in the day, darkness at night, that's going to be altered. Now, the Lord has done this before a couple of times in the Old Testament era. There's a record of Him altering the day-night cycle, such as the very long day that's recorded in Joshua 10.13. And so the Lord, of course, the creator of all, can change things anytime He wants. He is going to alter this day-night cycle. And this phenomenon described here seems to align with what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 24. Listen to verses 29 and 30. Jesus said, immediately after the tribulation of those days, Shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn. And they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. So this altering of the day-night cycle of the light-dark cycle that we have every 24 hours will take place as a sign immediately preceding the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The other dramatic change that's described here is that of fresh flowing spring water proceeding outward from Jerusalem in two directions. It's heading eastward to the Dead Sea and westward to the Mediterranean Sea. Now, in Jerusalem today, we have the Gihon Spring, and it may be that the Lord is going to enhance and significantly increase the flow of water from that spring. Or maybe He's going to create a new spring. We don't know. But the fact is, there's going to be this fresh, flowing spring water outward from Jerusalem in both directions. You say, how in the world is it going to get to the Dead Sea? Well, remember, the Lord's going to split the Mount of Olives. There's going to be a new valley there. I mean, God's doing some dramatic changes. even to the terrain. So there'll be all of these changes taking place. And other topographical changes will provide a path westward then to the Mediterranean. So we see that Jesus will come. Conflict will end and He will reign in holiness over all. So we've studied about the coming conflict. Let's turn our attention now to the coming kingdom. the very kingdom that we've been singing about in our hymns this morning. The coming kingdom, verses nine through 21. First, we see in this coming kingdom, the exalted king. In verse nine, it says, and the Lord shall be king over all the earth. In that day shall there be one Lord and his name one. One commentator, Kenneth Barker, writes, statements like the Lord will be king over the whole earth stand at the very center of a truly biblical theology. When this comes true in the fullest sense, the prayer of Matthew 6, 9 through 10 will be answered, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. So we have the exalted king and then in verses 10 through 11 we have the exalted city, the exalted city. Verse 10 describes some significant topographical changes that take place in the land of Israel at the dawn of the millennial kingdom. We're told that from the hill of Geba, north of Jerusalem, to the rocky steeps of Ramon, south of Jerusalem, the whole region is going to be pressed down and flattened into a great plain. But in contrast, the full extent of the city of Jerusalem will be lifted up and exalted. It's described, in terms of the boundaries of the city, are described as being from the Benjamin Gate and the First Gate, that would be in the northeast corner of the city, to the Corner Gate, that's at the northwest corner of the city, to the Tower of Henoniel on the east, the Royal Wine Presses to the south. And so we're mapping out really the perimeter, the boundary of the city of Jerusalem. We're being told here that the entire city is going to be lifted up in this transformation of the terrain. This prophecy agrees with that of Isaiah in Isaiah 2, verses 1 and 2. The word that Isaiah the son of Amos saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, and it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the hills and all nations shall flow unto it." Isn't it amazing how all of these Old Testament prophets are basically saying the same thing? All of their prophecies perfectly harmonize. Why is that? Because they're proclaiming God's revelation. That's why. God is the one who gave this revelation. God is the one who gives the prophecy. This is the Word of God. It is perfect. It is infallible, inerrant in all its ways. So we have the city of Jerusalem being exalted. It is the exalted city during the Kingdom Age. It will be a place, we're told, of everlasting safety and security. So we have the exalted king, the exalted city. We also see in verses 12 through 15 the defeated enemies. We're told here that the Lord is going to strike the enemies of Israel, and He's going to do so in three ways. Number one, He's going to strike them and their animals with a terrible flesh-eating plague. I mean, you stop to think about what's being described here, and it's really almost gross. Some kind of plague is going to come upon them and it's just going to consume their flesh. I have a great deal of respect for those who work in hospitals and work in doctor's offices and take care of those who are sick. We've had a little bit of our share of that with my mother and some of the wounds that she's had and I've had to do wound care. I'm not trained to do this, folks. And I'll just be a little bit honest with you, sometimes it's a bit gross, you know? Wounds can smell bad, and that kind of thing, and stuff comes out of them, ooey-ooey stuff, you know? And so think about what's being described here. This plague is going to come upon the enemies of Israel. God is going to literally consume their flesh with this plague. Secondly, He's going to strike them with a great panic. causing them to turn on one another. They're going to attack one another. They're going to attack their neighbor, the one standing next to them. And this is reminiscent of something that happened in the Old Testament when a coalition of adversaries came up against King Jehoshaphat of Judah. And God had the enemies turn on one another and they killed one another. So the Lord's going to strike them in that way also. And thirdly, the Lord is going to strike Israel's armies with the armies of Judah. And so God's people are going to look upon their enemies who are now in a weakened state because of the plague, because of their fighting one another, and they're just going to come in and say, okay, let's go to battle and hey, we won. It's going to be kind of like that. And after so great a victory of our enemies, the people of Israel will spoil the nations. And what a great spoil it will be. Gold and silver and garments in abundance. I mean they're just going to rake it in, all of this spoil of the nations. So we see the defeated enemies and then in verses 16 through 19 we see the subjugated nations. The survivors from among the nations of the world, and these would be people who from among the nations of the world become a converted remnant. They become believers as they enter into the kingdom age. They will make an annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem to worship the King of Kings, to worship King Jesus. The verb indicates here that they will bow down and do obeisance unto him. They will recognize his sovereign authority as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And we're also told that these worshipers will keep the Feast of Tabernacles, sometimes it's called the Feast of Booths. And so this Old Testament feast that the people of Israel observed will become the millennial kingdom feast. And I would envision that all of us will be partaking in this kingdom feast. What does this kingdom feast celebrate? Well, it celebrates the fact that the Lord himself tabernacles with his people and that he gathers all of his people and all of the nations unto himself. This kingdom harmony is spoken of in Revelation chapter 7. So again, turn over to Revelation chapter 7. We see Old Testament prophecy, we see New Testament prophecy saying exactly the same thing. Revelation 7, verses 15 through 17. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple. And he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more. Neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. And so we know that as believers we're going to be in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. We will be with Him forever. And in His presence there will be such peace, such harmony, such joy and rejoicing. And whether we are with Jesus beginning in heaven and then coming back with Him at His second advent, we will enjoy those blessings in heaven and on earth. So we see the subjugated nations and then finally we come to the last two verses of the book of Zechariah. And in these last two verses we see consecrated Israel. These verses bring God's plan for Israel to its final conclusion. We're told that all will be cleansed, all will be made holy, holy unto the Lord. There will no longer be the need for any distinctions between that which is cleansed and that which is uncleansed, that which is holy and that which is unholy. So there won't be these distinctions that there have been in the Old Testament era between holy and profane. For sin will be removed and all will be made holy. There will be holiness in public life, in religious life, in private life. No one unclean will come anywhere near the house of the Lord. The unclean person in the Old Testament was the Canaanite. They were forbidden from entering into the house of the Lord. There will be no one unclean anywhere near the house of the Lord. To quote one commentator, the final scene of the book of Zechariah anticipates Revelation 11, 15, toward which all history is steadily moving. The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever. Isn't it wonderful to know the end of the story? Such hope for us. Such blessing awaits us. What a wonderful conclusion to our study in the book of Zechariah. Let me just review what we've covered in this chapter. We focused first of all on the coming conflict. Yes, all the events in the tribulation period will be like this great crescendo to the coming of Jesus Christ. But during the tribulation, there will be such devastation upon this earth. So many judgments poured out upon this earth. We studied them in detail in our study in Revelation. And all of that is like warning after warning after warning. You better get right with God. You better get right with God. You better believe on the Lord Jesus Christ before he comes. And so in Zechariah's prophecy, we see devastation. devastation upon Jerusalem. But then quickly we see deliverance. God himself will fight for his people. And then we see these dramatic changes that are taking place in preparation for the beginning of the kingdom age. And then we focused on the coming kingdom. We've seen the exalted King, Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords reigning over all the earth. We see the exalted city, Jerusalem. We see the defeated enemies, the subjugated nations, and consecrated Israel. Be encouraged. We know how the story ends. But it's important for each one who's here today, each one who's listening or watching, to make sure you're gonna be in the kingdom. to make sure that you have entered in to God's kingdom. There is only one way in. There's only one door into the sheepfold, and that is through the Good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ. You must come to that point where you see your own sinfulness, your own need for a Savior, and you look to Jesus and acknowledge Him as your Savior and your Lord. And if you've done that, then you're in. You're in the kingdom. You will participate in all of the kingdom blessings. So make sure you're in the kingdom today. Jesus will come. Conflict will end. And He will reign in holiness over all. He will come in power and great glory. He will take His stand on the Mount of Olives. All of Israel's enemies will be utterly defeated. Picture that. We can't see that today, can we? But picture that. All of Israel's enemies will be utterly defeated. Conflict will end. The Prince of Peace will reign over all the earth and all will be consecrated as holy unto the Lord. In a moment, we're gonna sing the hymn And we'll sing these words. Jesus shall reign wherever the sun does its successive journeys run. His kingdom stretch from shore to shore till moons shall wax and wane no more. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you that we can look forward to the coming of your kingdom on this earth. In fulfillment of our prayers, thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. We look forward to and anticipate the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ at His second advent. And so, Lord, I do want to pray that everyone here has come to that point where they receive Christ as their Savior, recognize Him as their Lord, so that they may be included in that kingdom. Lord, we thank you for the great hope that you give us through the scriptures, these wonderful prophecies that speak of how things will turn out, for your people, Israel, and for all the people of the world who have put their faith in Christ. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.