Zechariah 14:1-8

1 See, a day is coming for the Lord, when the plunder taken from you will be divided in your midst.
2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses looted and the women raped; half the city shall go into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
3 Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle.
4 On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives, which lies before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley; so that one half of the Mount shall withdraw northward, and the other half southward.
5 And you shall flee by the valley of the Lord's mountain, for the valley between the mountains shall reach to Azal; and you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.
6 On that day there shall not be either cold or frost.
7 And there shall be continuous day (it is known to the Lord), not day and not night, for at evening time there shall be light.
8 On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea; it shall continue in summer as in winter.

Zechariah 14:1-8 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ZECHARIAH 14

This chapter treats of the coming of Christ with all his saints, and his personal appearance among them; and of the signs of the times before that; and of what shall befall the enemies of the church, both open and secret; and of the happy state and condition of the church itself. First there will be a time of great affliction to the people of God, Zec 14:1,2, when the Lord will appear and fight for them, and will appear to them, and with them, Zec 14:3-5 but before this time it will be an uncommon season, neither day nor night; at the close of which, light will break forth, Zec 14:6,7 the Gospel will be spread far and near, attended with the Spirit and grace of God in great plenty, Zec 14:8 which will bring on the spiritual reign of Christ over all the earth, Zec 14:9 particularly the land of Judea, and the city of Jerusalem, shall be inhabited by men with safety, Zec 14:10,11 and all those that oppose and fight against the Lord's people shall be destroyed, partly by an immediate plague from the Lord upon them, and partly by the hands of one another, and also by the saints of the most High; and the plague shall not only be upon their persons, but upon their cattle likewise, Zec 14:12-16 and as for those that profess the Christian name, and yet neglect or refuse to worship the Lord in a spiritual and evangelical manner, there shall be no rain upon them, Zec 14:17-19 and as for the church and people of God, there shall be universal holiness among them, and not a single Canaanite to be found in the midst of them, Zec 14:20,21.

Footnotes 4

  • [a]. Heb [my mountains]
  • [b]. Meaning of Heb uncertain
  • [c]. Cn: Heb [there shall not be light]
  • [d]. Compare Gk Syr Vg Tg: Meaning of Heb uncertain
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.