Reading… and Thinking

Think you can’t grasp “last days” Bible prophecy for yourself? I disagree! Take about 20 minutes and read Zechariah chapters 7 through 14. It is not hard to figure out, providing you are willing to read carefully.

Zechariah was among the Jews who returned from Babylon, as Jeremiah foretold would happen after 70 years of captivity. They were back in the land, but things weren’t real good. Chapters 7-14 present 4 prophecies, which have such strong linkages that we have to take them as views of the same set of events. Ready? Let’s dive in.

Prophecy 1: Chapters 7-8-9 – In chapter 7, God reviews why the Jews were sent into exile—because of their refusal to obey Him. Chapter 8 then begins with God saying He is very jealous for Zion (the hill Jerusalem is built on), and He says, “I have returned to Zion, and I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem”. A past tense and a future tense. The prophecy goes on to detail a scene of peacefulness and prosperity in the city. God says He will (future) save His people out of the east & west countries—although at this point they had been sent only to the east, and they had already been regathered from there. Peace and blessing would characterize this time. Now in Zechariah’s time, there was serious opposition coming from the Arabs, and people were barely scraping along. God says that as He determined to bring disaster on them, and did so, He now determines to bring good in these days (present). But a condition is attached: speak truth, render justice, don’t devise evil. The chapter concludes with a prophecy of people from many nations coming to Jerusalem to seek the favor of the Lord, and people seeking out Jews to guide them, because the Lord is with the Jews. This last is plainly prophetic of the Kingdom of God on the earth, and dovetails with other prophecies of the Kingdom from other prophets, notably Isaiah and Micah.

Clearly there are two scenarios here, somewhat mingled together because they are to be alike. There is a present restoration, which the contemporary generation did recognize as a blessing from God—but no one would have looked around them and thought that all of it was fulfilled in their own time. They would have made the connections with Isaiah and Micah, and realized that the ultimate fulfillment would be when Messiah comes and reigns, not only over Israel but over the whole world, because only then will the nations of the world seek guidance from the Jews and come to Jerusalem to seek the favor of God. There is a mix of present tense and future tense. It was impossible to miss the point, that the present regathering was a small scale, preliminary fulfillment, and that a greater fulfillment was to come. And in both cases there was a condition of repentance, embracing God’s ways.

Flowing directly from the end of chapter 8, chapter 9 goes on to foretell judgments on Israel’s enemies, and the coronation of Messiah on his throne in Jerusalem. This is to be accompanied by the ultimate salvation of God’s people.

Prophecy 2: Chapter 10 – This prophecy counsels the people (that is, the Jews) to seek God and ask Him for deliverance, and repudiate all false gods. God says he will punish the bad spiritual leaders, and then regather and strengthen His people, pulling them from various nations, and they would then walk in His name. In Zechariah’s time, they have been regathered from one nation, Babylon, which isn’t mentioned here. So this has to be another, future, call to repent, and another, future, regathering.

Prophecy 3: Chapters 11-12-13:1-6 – In chapter 11 Zechariah is told to become a shepherd, and enacts a scene whose meaning is explained: God foretells worthless shepherds (spiritual leaders) are coming who will not care for the flock, and He will judge those shepherds. Then in chapter 12 God says He will make Jerusalem a “cup of staggering” for all the surrounding nations, who will besiege Jerusalem. All the nations will wage war against Jerusalem, then God will strengthen Judah and will give them David their king (i.e. Messiah, the Son of David), and Israel will recognize the one they pierced, and mourn over him. On into chapter 13, idolatry will be permanently eradicated at last. (The chapter breaks are artificial, and don’t do us a favor here. This prophecy concludes in verse 6 of chapter 13.)

Prophecy 4: Chapters 13:7-9 & 14 – Beginning at 13:7 there is a prophecy of God’s good shepherd being struck down, and the sheep scattered. This is quoted in the New Testament as applying to the betrayal and execution of Jesus. (Matthew 26:31) Two thirds of the people are to perish, and the final third to be refined by fire, after which they acknowledge God as truly their God, and He embraces them as His people. Into chapter 14, all the nations are gathered against Jerusalem, and they conquer it—but then God goes forth and fights against those enemies. “His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives”, a prophecy of Jesus returning to the place where he left – compare Acts 1:11-12. There is a tremendous earthquake, Jerusalem is exalted as the capital of the world, the Lord is king over all the earth, and all nations are required to go up to Jerusalem to worship.

It is really not hard to put it all together. There is a preliminary, partial fulfillment of a number of prophecies in the then-present-day regathering, but with clear indications that there is something much greater for the future. There is repeated statement that the final gathering is conditional on spiritual reformation, which will follow spiritual decline and a resulting catastrophe. Specifically, Messiah would be rejected and sent again only when they turn back to God, and then even in their deliverance they would mourn to see what their ancestors had done. There will be a final, desperate time for Israel & Jerusalem, and a final regathering, conditional on national repentance. When that occurs, the next step is the coming of Messiah and establishment of God’s Kingdom throughout the earth.