His Certain Victory, Your Greatest Hope

On the way back home, I looked down at my little Yorkie and said, “Always remember, Joey, I got bit for you. That could have been you, but I took the hit.” Joey didn’t seem to be all that impressed by my sacrifice. He just kept walking and wagging his tail. But I do think he knows, somehow, that his safety simply depends on his closeness to me. As long as he’s with me, he knows I will to do everything I can do to protect him.

Here’s what the Bible says about you and your God: Your safety does not depend on your distance from danger. There will be times when the path that God has for you will take you into dangerous, difficult, tragic, and even hurtful circumstances. But your safety does not depend on your distance from danger; it depends on your nearness to your God.

At the Battle of Armageddon, when danger will encircle God’s people, when they will be attacked and brutalized by Satan’s forces in ways that are beyond our imagination, the Lord Jesus will show up and take the hit for them. He will fight the battle for them. And, in the same way, He will fight for us today. The cross of Jesus Christ has already proved that fact conclusively. When Jesus died on the cross for our sin, He bore the brunt of every attack that Satan has to offer and He came out of the tomb on the third day victorious. We can praise the Lord because we share in His victory.

Verse 4 tells what will happen when Jesus returns physically to earth, setting His feet on the Mount of Olives. Situated to the east of the Kidron Valley, right next to Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives rises to a height of 2,710 feet, making it higher than the Temple Mount. The grey soil of the mountain is suited to the growth of olive trees (Barker, “Zechariah,” 691). The Mount of Olives occupies a prominent place in the earthly ministry of Jesus. We read in the Synoptic Gospels that Jesus preached His most extensive sermon concerning the future, end times, and prophecy from the Mount of Olives. Recorded in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21, it is often called the “Olivet Discourse.” Then all four Gospels tell us that during His last night on earth before His crucifixion Jesus went to the foot of the Mount of Olives, to the Garden of Gethsemane, and offered up His soul to the Father in surrender (Matt 26:36-56; Mark 14:32-53; Luke 22:39-53; John 18:1-14).

Acts 1 says that after appearing numerous times following His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples on the Mount of Olives and ascended to heaven. As the disciples gazed into heaven, two angels appeared to them with this message: “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen Him going into heaven” (Acts 1:11). The place from which Jesus ascended is identified as the Mount of Olives in Acts 1:12.

Writing over 500 years before the birth of Christ, Zechariah prophesied that at the climax of the Battle of Armageddon, the Lord will one day personally, physically, and visibly descend to earth at the Mount of Olives, just as He ascended into heaven from that place. At the instant Christ appears on the Mount of Olives, Zechariah identifies six amazing events that will happen:

(1) The Mount of Olives will divide in two. Verse 4 promises that the mountain “will be split in half from east to west, forming a huge valley, so that half the mountain will move to the north and half to the south.” A hairline fault line runs east and west through the Mount of Olives, and there a new valley will be formed on the day Jesus returns. This cleaving of the mountain may be caused by an earthquake that will accompany the Lord’s return, although not necessarily. Certainly, the dramatic physical change in the landscape surrounding Jerusalem will be a sign of God’s supernatural judgment.

(2) The people of Israel will flee through the newly formed valley to Azal. Verse 5 says to the people of Israel: “You will flee by My mountain valley, for the valley of the mountains will extend to Azal.” Students of the Bible have offered various guesses about the exact identity of Azal. The word itself may be a preposition meaning “near to,” “beside,” or a noun meaning “the side.” For that reason, the word could be translated “very near,” implying that escape will be easy. Others have surmised that Azal may be the Valley of Jehoshaphat mentioned in Joel 3:2 and 12, or that it may be the Wadi Yasul, a tributary of the Kidron River (Barker, “Zachariah,” 691). These are only guesses, however. The location of Azal remains a mystery. What is sure is that Azal is a place to which the inhabitants of Jerusalem will flee for security, and that their flight to Azal will be as urgent as when their ancestors had fled from a notable earthquake during the time of King Uzziah, also mentioned in Amos 1:1.

(3) The Lord will return, accompanied by His holy ones. Verse 5 concludes, “Then the Lord my God will come and all the holy ones with Him.” God’s holy ones are not only the angelic armies of heaven but also resurrected and glorified believers. In the OT “holy ones” or “saints” is used to refer to angels (Deut 33:3; Ps 89:5-7; Job 15:15) as well as to godly people (Lev 11:44-45; Ps 16:3; Dan 8:24). Jesus described His own return by promising to come with both angels and His saints:

And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. (Matt 24:30b-31)

Along with His angels, the souls of the redeemed who have been saved, resurrected, and glorified with Jesus will come back with Him in victory.

(4) Jesus will make dramatic changes in the heavens. Verses 6 and 7 say that on the day of Christ’s physical return “there will be no light; the sunlight and moonlight will diminish. It will be a day known only to the Yahweh, without day or night, but there will be light at evening.” This depiction is very similar to how the new Jerusalem is described in Revelation 21:23, where John writes that the city will not need the sun or the moon to shine on it because the glory of God will give it light and Jesus, the Lamb, will illuminate it.

(5) Jesus will cause a river to flow that will refresh and restore the land. Verse 8 describes a river that will flow in two directions. Half will flow to the Dead Sea, identified as “the eastern sea.” The other half will flow to the Mediterranean Sea, called the “western sea.” This renewing water will never dry up or stop running. Instead, “in summer and winter alike,” it will keep flowing year round. The perpetual and abundant fertility of the land of Israel during the millennial reign of Christ, described in places such as Isaiah 27:6 and 35:1-3, as well as Amos 9:13-14, may be attributed to the river.

(6) Jesus Christ will rule as King over the earth. This is the most glorious thing that will happen. Verse 9 states that Yahweh, in the person of Jesus Christ, “will become King over all the earth.” The verse concludes that the ruler of the earth will be “Yahweh alone, and His name alone.” This means that everyone will acknowledge Jesus as the only Lord. No longer will people claim that you can call God this name, that name, or some other name. No longer will they say, “There are many paths to God. Jesus is a good path, but not the only path.” Instead, the whole world will acknowledge that there is only one Lord: Yahweh, revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. He will rule and reign over the earth.

Some words and melodies are inseparably linked to one another. When we read the words from the “Hallelujah Chorus,” taken from Revelation 11:15, our minds automatically replay the striking and famous melody as well:

The kingdom of this world Is become the kingdom of our Lord, And of His Christ, and of His Christ; And He shall reign for ever and ever.

Those majestic words resonate together with the prophecy of Zechariah 14:9 fulfilled here: “Yahweh will become King over all the earth.” Jesus is coming to reign. Every time we repeat the words of the Lord’s Prayer—“Your kingdom come!”—we are praying for this day. Zechariah foretold a day when Jesus Christ will bring into fulfillment the victory that He has already won through His cross and His resurrection from the grave.

The story is told of a Midwestern farmer who hated God, hated the church, and hated religious people. Every Sunday morning, as he was out plowing in his field, he would shake his fist at all the people driving past on their way to church. October came, and the farmer had his finest crop ever. In fact, he had the biggest crop of anyone in the county.

When the harvest was complete, that farmer placed an advertisement in the local paper. In that advertisement, he belittled the Christians in his community for their faith in God. At the end of his letter, he wrote, “Faith in God must not mean much, if someone like me can prosper.”

The response from the Christians in the community was quiet and polite. Someone placed a small ad in the next edition of the town paper, and it said simply, “God doesn’t always settle His accounts in October.”

God does not always settle His accounts in October, or in our lifetimes, or even in centuries of history. Injustice and great wickedness seem sometimes to go unaddressed by our holy and righteous God. But He will settle His accounts. Jesus will come to rule the world in God’s justice and righteousness. The kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. And He shall reign forever and ever, hallelujah! His certain victory, in His own time, gives us reason to praise Him and to give thanks in every circumstance.

Verses 10-21 of our text provide three assurances that God graciously promises to His people. The promises He made centuries ago to the people of Judah have real implications for us, assuring us of victory in the future and providing us with hope right now.

(1) The Bible assures us that King Jesus will establish His kingdom. Verse 10 describes a total transformation of the area surrounding Jerusalem. From the northern border at Geba to the southern border 35 miles south in Rimmon, the region will become flattened into a plain, so that the city of Jerusalem will become more prominent. Additionally, Verse 10 lists a number of gates and other landmarks in the city, promising that Jerusalem will “remain on its site.” With Jesus reigning from the city, Jerusalem will dominate the landscape and will be firmly established. In light of the fact that Zechariah and his contemporaries were working hard to restore the ruined city of Jerusalem, this prophecy must have been especially encouraging.

Verse 11 continues with another promise for Jerusalem: that the city will be inhabited, that it will never again be completely destroyed, and that it will dwell in security—a Hebrew phrase that carries the idea of enduring and staying. This promise was not fulfilled in the time of Zechariah, nor in the era of Jesus and the early church. But when Jesus rules and reigns at His return, the city of Jerusalem—attacked, besieged, and destroyed so many times in history—will be absolutely secure forever. Verses 12 through 15 tell us that any enemies that would dare to rise up against Jerusalem and its King will be struck with a plague and wiped out instantly.

(2) The Bible assures us that all nations will worship King Jesus. In verses 16-19 Zechariah prophesies that all of the survivors who did not die at the Battle of Armageddon will celebrate the Festival of Booths, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles, annually. Since Jesus will destroy all of the soldiers of the nations that come against Jerusalem at the Battle of Armageddon, these “survivors” are those who did not engage in the attack. Instead, they are noncombatant citizens of the nations that had attacked God’s people. Along with the people of Israel, they will come to Jerusalem each year for the Festival of Booths, which was a celebration of the harvest. It was a time of giving thanks and praise to the Lord. Verses 17-19 tell us that any nation that refuses to worship King Jesus will suffer drought. Specifically, the text warns against Egypt refusing to come and to worship Jesus. Egypt depended on the overflowing of the Nile to irrigate its crops. With no rain, the river would not flood and the fields would dry up and die.

Imagine what would happen in our lives if we suffered drought every time we failed to give God thanks? What if the blessings started to dry up in our lives? We can be grateful that Jesus is gracious enough to care for us even when we neglect to give Him thanks. Still, we miss out on certain blessings when we fail to give God thanks. We can live our lives day by day giving thanks to King Jesus and worshiping Him because of the ways He has blessed us.

(3) The Bible assures us that the holiness of King Jesus will prevail. Verses 20 and 21 show how Christ’s holiness will permeate the entire city of Jerusalem. The bells on the bridles of common horses will be engraved with the same words inscribed on the turban of the high priest when he served in the temple: “HOLY TO THE LORD.” Further, every pot in the temple would be just as holy as the bowls used in service at the altar. Even more, verse 21 promises that common pots and vessels in the houses of Jerusalem would be so holy that they could be used for service in the sanctuary. Wicked and unholy people, described as “Canaanites” in our text, would no longer be in the house of the Lord at all. Though Jerusalem has often been called the “Holy City” in Scripture and in history, with Jesus reigning, Jerusalem will truly be holy. Every part of the city—to the smallest part, such as bells on horses and pots in cupboards—will be holy to the Lord because Jesus is ruling. His coming promises our certain victory.

I heard about a high school football game where the home team was losing terribly. They could not close the gap in the score, no matter what they did. The clock was about to run out, everyone was discouraged, and the coach was frustrated. Then he looked over to see all the cheerleaders for his team sitting on the grass, their pom-poms down beside them. Their heads were hung low.

Irritated, the coach ran over the cheerleaders and said, “Girls, don’t you think that our team would do better if you girls would stand up on the sidelines and cheer?”

The head cheerleader looked up and as sincerely as she could, said, “Coach, I think our team would do better if we girls would go out on the field and play!”

Maybe you’ve seen a game like that, when victory becomes not just unlikely but humanly impossible. That will be the story in the last days for God’s people. The whole world, led by a satanic ruler empowered by the Devil himself, will be bearing down, not only on the little sliver of land called Israel, but on one city, Jerusalem. The attack will be such that it will be humanly impossible for anything to happen other than defeat. And then Jesus will show up, He will place His feet on the Mount of Olives, and He will change the game.

The same thing that’s true for Israel in its last days is true for followers of Jesus right now. When defeat is absolutely inevitable, when victory is humanly impossible, Jesus shows up. He’s the game changer. For followers of Jesus, victory is on the same road as defeat. Victory’s just a little further on down the road. So if you’re being defeated right now, be assured, based on the Word of God, Your victory is sure in Jesus Christ. Because of His coming, we can have certain victory and the greatest hope.