2. The punishment (vv. 17-19)
a) An absence of rain (v. 17)
“It shall be that whoever 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.”
Nations who refuse to come to Jerusalem to worship Christ will experience a drought. Such a condition could result in disaster.
b) An affliction by plague (vv. 18-19)
“If the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain, there shall be the plague, with which the Lord will smite the nations 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.”
One nation that might not care if it didn’t rain is Egypt. It hardly ever rains there and the Nile River supplies all the water it needs. Such nations will be afflicted by a plague.
B. Its Way of Life (vv. 20-21)
“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 boil in them; and in that day there shall be no more a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts.”
The phrase “holiness unto the lord” was engraved on a gold plate attached to the high priest’s turban. It signified that he was set him apart from every other man. He had a uniquely holy function. There was no one like the high priest. Zechariah prophesies that everything–even mundane and ordinary things like the bells that decorate horses and common pots and pans–will be as holy as the high priest and the altar bowls once were to Israel in days gone by. The Kingdom won’t be like the world is today with its division between sacred and secular. Everything will be sacred.
The promise that there will no longer be “a Canaanite in the house of the Lord” is a euphemistic way of saying that the morally and spiritually unclean person will be excluded from entering the millennial Temple. Before Israel conquered the Promised Land, the vile Canaanites inhabited it. The term “Canaanite” became proverbial in Israel for a morally degenerate person.
In the Kingdom the whole world will be considered holy to the Lord. The Lord wants a holy people and He has called His church to be holy. In Ephesians 5 the apostle Paul tells believing husbands, “Love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it … that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (vv. 25-27). God wants a holy church and a holy people. And in that day He’s going to have it!
Focusing on the Facts
1. Although the nation of Israel is being gathered by God while still in a state of unbelief, what are they being prepared for (see p. 1)?
2.What is the opening scene of Zechariah 14 (p. 1)?
3.What does “the day of the Lord” refer to (see p. 1)?
4.What will the seemingly victorious armies do in the midst of Jerusalem (v. 1; see p. 2)?
5.Explain God’s objectives for bringing the nations against Israel. According to Revelation 16, what agency does He use to accomplish that (see p. 2)?
6. Although the battleground will probably cover the entire land of Israel, where will the focal points of the final battle be (see p. 3)?
7.What will happen to Jerusalem when the siege is successful (v. 2)? Whom might “the residue of the people” be (see p. 3)?
8.What will happen to protect those people (v. 3; see p. 3)?
9.List other biblical victories in which the Lord played a decisive part (p. 3).
10.Identify the place of the Lord’s return to deliver His people and give New Testament confirmation of that (see p. 4).
11.Describe what happens the moment the Lord touches ground (v. 4; see pp. 4-6).
12.Who will accompany the Lord at His return? Support your answer with Scripture (v. 5; see p. 6).
13.What will happen to the appearance of the sky at Christ’s second coming? What will those peculiar changes highlight (vv. 6-7; see p. 7-8)?
14.What will the literal fountain in Jerusalem be symbolic of (v. 8; see p. 8)?
15.Describe the religious focus in the Millennial Kingdom (v. 9; see p. 8).
16.Describe how the status of Jerusalem and the topography around it will be changed (v. 10; see p. 8-9).
17.What are three elements that will play a part in the conquest of the nations (vv. 12-14; see p. 9-10)?
18.How will the tables be turned when the nations are conquered (v. 14; see p. 10)?
19.What will the believing remnant from the nations do on an annual basis in the Millennium? What will happen to those who fail to come (vv. 16-19; see p. 10)?
20.How will life on earth in the Kingdom be different from what it is now (vv. 20-21; see p. 11)?
Pondering the Principles
1.Christ is the theme of the book of Zechariah. In chapter 1 He is the Riding One. In chapter 2 He is the Measuring One. In chapter 3 He is the Cleansing One. In chapter 4 He is the Empowering One. In chapter 5 He is the Judging One. In chapter 6 He is the Crowned One. In chapter 7 He is the Rebuking One. In chapter 8 He is the Restoring One. In chapter 9 He is the Kingly One. In chapter 10 He is the Blessing One. In chapter 11 He is the Shepherding One. In chapter 12 He is the Returning One. In chapter 13 He is the Smitten One. In chapter 14 He is the Reigning One. Zechariah saw Christ. Did you catch his vision? Ezra 6:14 tells us that the people of Israel “prospered through the prophesying of … Zechariah.” Have you? Now that you’ve gone through this study, read the entire book of Zechariah straight through. Make sure you know the Christ Zechariah looked so forward to, and share Him with those around you.
2.God’s purpose throughout history has been to show man that he is a sinner in need of a Savior. That theme will come to a climax at the return of Christ to judge the nations and deliver the believing remnant. Knowing His goal is to establish a people “holy and blameless before Him” (Eph. 1:4), are you living your life in a way that reflects that noble goal? Meditate on 1 John 3:2-3 and 2 Peter 3:10-15. Commit yourself to being more sensitive to sin in your life, and more willing to confess and repent of it. Seek now to be a holy example of the perfection we will experience in His Kingdom.
“This article originally appeared here at Bible Bulletin Board.”
