Zechariah 14:5

5 Then you will run for your lives down the valley, your escape route that will take you all the way to Azal. You'll run for your lives, just as you ran on the day of the great earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah. Then my God will arrive and all the holy angels with him.

Zechariah 14:5 Meaning and Commentary

Zechariah 14:5

And ye shall flee [to] the valley of the mountains
To seek for shelter and safety in them, for fear of the Lord, and the glory of his majesty, whom every eye shall see, ( Isaiah 2:19 ) ( Revelation 1:7 ) : for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal;
a name of a place not known; it may be thought to be at some considerable distance: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in
the days of Uzziah king of Judah;
two years before which Amos prophesied, ( Amos 1:1 ) and which, according to Josephus F9, was at the time when King Uzziah was stricken with a leprosy for invading the priest's office; when, as he says, at a place before the city called Eroge, half part of the mountain towards the west was broken, and rolled half a mile towards the eastern part, and there stood; so that the ways were stopped up to the king's gardens: and the Lord my God shall come;
the Lord Jesus Christ, who is truly God, and the God of his people; and who will appear to be so at his second coming, which is here meant, by raising the dead, gathering all nations before him, and separating them; by bringing to light all secret and hidden things; judging the whole world, and executing the sentence on them; and particularly by taking his own people to himself: [and] all the saints with thee:
the Targum, and the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, read, "with him"; meaning either the holy angels; so Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melech; who will attend him partly for the glory of his majesty, and partly for terror to the wicked, and also for service; or rather glorified saints, the spirits of just men made perfect, whom Christ will bring with him to be united to their bodies, which will now be raised, and to be with him in the new heavens and new earth, which will now be formed, and to be presented to him, and dwell with him, during the thousand years.


FOOTNOTES:

F9 Antiqu. l. 9. c. 10. sect. 4.

Zechariah 14:5 In-Context

3 But then God will march out against the godless nations and fight - a great war!
4 That's the Day he'll take his stand on the Mount of Olives, facing Jerusalem from the east. The Mount of Olives will be split right down the middle, from east to west, leaving a wide valley. Half the mountain will shift north, the other half south.
5 Then you will run for your lives down the valley, your escape route that will take you all the way to Azal. You'll run for your lives, just as you ran on the day of the great earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah. Then my God will arrive and all the holy angels with him.
6 What a Day that will be! No more cold nights - in fact, no more nights!
7 The Day is coming - the timing is God's - when it will be continuous day. Every evening will be a fresh morning.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.