A Day For The Lord
Zechariah 14:1-21
March 26, 2016
The last couple of weeks we’ve been talking about “Bringing Israel Home”
Israel was broken off (called scattered sheep)
Because of their rejection of the Good Shepherd.
Since that day they have been a wayward prodigal literally forced to deal with the hardships that they have brought on themselves.
However there is coming a day when the Lord will in fact call them home.
We saw it in chapters 12 & 13 how the Lord will do this.
He will pour on them a Spirit of mourning and will cause them to look on the One whom they pierced, and then will forgive their sin.
This redemption will finally bring about the commitment
That God has wanted from Israel
Since the day He called them out of Egypt.
So we are seeing how God will bring them back.
And we’ve been comparing it to that story of The Prodigal Son
Which Jesus told in Luke 15.
HOWEVER, there is plenty of reason to believe that the story of the prodigal in Luke 15 DID NOT END WELL FOR THE FATHER.
TURN TO: LUKE 15
(I know several of you studied this passage a few years ago when I was out for the summer)
The key to understanding the real point of the story of the Prodigal Son
Comes in reading the reason why Jesus gave the parable to begin with.
Most just assume that it is a story about salvation, and a sinner’s repentance,
But that wasn’t the main reason the story was given.
The context here matters greatly.
(READ LUKE 15:1-3)
The setting finds Jesus doing the unthinkable.
He is eating with tax collectors and sinners.
Now of course the Pharisees and scribes took great issue with this.
And there are a few reasons why.
1) They didn’t care about the salvation of tax collectors and sinners.
2) They did not understand who Jesus was. Had they spotted Him as the Savior, they would have understood that tax collectors and sinners were exactly who He should have been with.
3) They didn’t care about the desire of God. It did not matter to the Pharisees if God desired the salvation of sinners.
And that is what prompts these 3 parables from Jesus.
The first is the parable of the lost sheep and the point is clear that rejoicing should occur when a lost sheep is found.
(READ 15:7)
Then comes the parable of the lost coin, and the point is the same.
(READ 15:10)
And then comes the parable of the prodigal.
Now, understanding the players is key to understanding the parable.
We’re pretty sure we know who the YOUNGER BROTHER is.
• He is the tax collectors and the sinners.
• He is the one who is so offensive to the Father that there is no way anyone
would expect the Father to give him a second chance.
The OLDER BROTHER then is clearly the Pharisees and the scribes w
• Ho just can’t seem to rejoice over salvation.
The Father is the one we typically get wrong. Everyone wants to call the Father – God.
But the reality is that THE FATHER in this parable is Jesus
Who is welcoming these sinners in even when they don’t deserve it.
Well, you know the story.
• The son leaves,
• The son comes to his senses,
• The son returns
• The Father (Jesus) rejoices and welcomes and throws him a banquet (a.k.a. dines with him)
But then the story becomes relevant.
(READ LUKE 15:25-32)
I love the way John MacArthur pitched his book “A Tale of Two Sons”
He pitched it as “An ending you’ve never heard before.”
That almost sounds like a heresy alert,
But if you read the parable, THERE IS NO ENDING.
But there is…if you read the rest of Luke’s gospel.
Remember this story stemmed from Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners and the Pharisees were grumbling about it.
Jesus told these parables to address their lack of joy
Over the return of a wayward brother.
Let me ask you, how did the Pharisees and scribes end up responding to Jesus after He pleaded with them?
They killed Him.
That’s why if you’ve read MacArthur’s book
He speaks of how if the story were to continue it would say that
The older son at once picked up a club and beat the father to death.
THE POINT I am making for our purposes tonight is to reveal that the story of the prodigal son did not end well for the Father in that story.
AND THAT WAS REALLY WHO THE STORY WAS FOR.
Well that is where these two stories part ways.
Because what God is going to do in the future salvation of Israel
Will most certainly end well for God.
IN FACT, THAT IS THE POINT.
I often try to warn you about the dangers of Humanism.
Humanism says “the chief end of all things is the happiness of man.”
But the truth is that “the chief end of all things is the glory of God.”
Well, don’t take a humanistic approach
To this future salvation of Israel.
Their future salvation is not about their happiness,
It is about God’s glory.
And that is why I love the way this chapter begins.
(1) Behold, a day is coming for the LORD…”
• We are not just talking about The day OF the Lord here.
• Nor are we talking about a day for Israel.
• We are talking about a Day FOR the LORD.
What God has been doing in Israel is about His pleasure and His glory.
Indeed that is the reasoning behind all salvation.
And that is where the book of Zechariah comes to an end.
So…Last time
We saw all the struggle and turmoil that God will put Israel through
In order that He might draw them to Himself and redeem them.
And then He ended that section with a sort of summary.
Zechariah 13:8-9 “It will come about in all the land,” Declares the LORD, “That two parts in it will be cut off and perish; But the third will be left in it. “And I will bring the third part through the fire, Refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are My people,’ And they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.'”
That summary ended with God alone
Getting the glory that He deserves from His people Israel.
Tonight we look at that reality in a little more detail.
We actually can divide this chapter up into 6 points.
As we look at this Day FOR The Lord.
#1 A DAY OF PERIL
Zechariah 14:1-2
Here we are talking about this day through which God will be glorified,
And as it was alluded to in chapter 12, it won’t begin well for Israel.
It begins with Jerusalem under attack.
“Behold a day is coming for the LORD when all the spoil taken from you will be divided among you.”
This does not mean that people are giving all the spoil back and dividing it evenly among the people.
What is being referred to here is the reality that they aren’t afraid of the remaining remnant.
One could read it “the spoil taken from you will be divided in front of you.”
And we know this based on verse 2.
(2) “For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.”
God speaks of a day when the city will be so plundered
That they will be able to stop and divide the spoil
Right there in the midst of the city square.
Now, of course this is referring to that day of great tribulation.
• This is Israel who has made that firm covenant with Antichrist, but at the 3 ½ year period has seen that covenant broken and have come under his attack.
• You will remember from Revelation 12 that God is helping them escape, but for those who remained in Jerusalem it is a dark day indeed.
These people are being handed over to great tribulation.
WHY?
Well it is exactly for the purpose that God revealed back in chapter 13.
“I will bring the third part through the fire, refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested.”
God is preparing them to return to Him.
This is where that prodigal is wishing he could eat the pods that he is feeding to the pigs.
God is purposely walking them through a day of peril.
This obviously isn’t being done for Israel’s happiness,
It is being done for God’s glory.
We are aware then that many of the difficulties we walk through
Are not meant to make us happy.
They are meant to make us holy, which brings glory to God.
#2 A DAY OF POWER
Zechariah 14:3-5
Soon we find that the peril is really more of a setup than anything.
Remember how we said in chapter 12 that those who attacked Israel would do so to their own hurt, well that is certainly the case here.
“The LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle.”
Just when Israel looks defeated, and just when the enemy is at ease counting the spoil, the LORD will show up “and fight”
This is yet another reference to that battle we know as Armageddon.
(4-5) “In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him!”
It will look hopeless for Jerusalem.
In a moment, Christ returns and the armies of heaven return with Him.
This is also as story told by Isaiah.
(For them Assyria was the background)
But through this analogy, God actually used Assyria as a picture of Antichrist
And the way in which God would bring him down.
TURN TO: ISAIAH 10:5
In verses 5-19 we have the arrogance of the Assyrian (Antichrist) and we have the promise of God to chop him down to size.
And we see how God is going to use this all to turn Israel back to Him.
(READ 20-23)
The sermon continues. (READ 24-34)
At the last moment, when it appears that Jerusalem will fall,
It is then that the LORD will intervene and return with His holy ones
To deliver His people Israel.
This is the day being told of here in Zechariah as well.
And it is not primarily being done for Israel’s sake,
It is being done for the Lord’s sake.
Listen to what God has to say to Israel about her deliverance.
Isaiah 48:1-11 “Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are named Israel And who came forth from the loins of Judah, Who swear by the name of the LORD And invoke the God of Israel, But not in truth nor in righteousness. “For they call themselves after the holy city And lean on the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is His name. “I declared the former things long ago And they went forth from My mouth, and I proclaimed them. Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass. “Because I know that you are obstinate, And your neck is an iron sinew And your forehead bronze, Therefore I declared them to you long ago, Before they took place I proclaimed them to you, So that you would not say, ‘My idol has done them, And my graven image and my molten image have commanded them.’ “You have heard; look at all this. And you, will you not declare it? I proclaim to you new things from this time, Even hidden things which you have not known. “They are created now and not long ago; And before today you have not heard them, So that you will not say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’ “You have not heard, you have not known. Even from long ago your ear has not been open, Because I knew that you would deal very treacherously; And you have been called a rebel from birth. “For the sake of My name I delay My wrath, And for My praise I restrain it for you, In order not to cut you off. “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. “For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; For how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another.”
This whole thing is not about Israel, it is about God.
It is a day for Him!
A day of peril, A day of power
#3 A DAY OF PREEMINENCE
Zechariah 14:6-11
And all of a sudden we find that the return of the Lord
Was not just about the deliverance of Israel.
The return of the Lord is about the glory of the Lord.
On this day “the LORD will be the only one, and His name the only one.”
(6-7) “In that day there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle. For it will be a unique day which is known to the LORD, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at evening time there will be light.”
Indeed, the sun and moon and starts will even be ashamed at His coming.
But there will be no need of them because the Lamb will be the light.
Revelation 21:22-23 “I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.”
The point is that He alone is the center of all things.
Everything comes from Him.
And His glory is finally evident to the world.
(8) “And in that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter.
Revelation 22:1-2 “Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”
We are talking now about a return to the state of the Garden of Eden.
Sin is judged, the curse removed, Christ on His throne,
And everything is back to the way in which it was supposed to be.
(9-11) “And the LORD will be king over all the earth; in that day the LORD will be the only one, and His name the only one. All the land will be changed into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site from Benjamin’s Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses. People will live in it, and there will no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security.”
Revelation 22:3 “There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him;”
We are talking now about the day in which Jesus reigns.
It is for Him.
Certainly we long for that day and we will enjoy that day,
But primarily it is a day about Him and not us.
This will be the day when Jesus will be the preeminent one on the earth.
This is the day when every knee bows and every tongue confesses.
It is a day of peril, which leads to a day of power, which leads to a day of preeminence.
Then we backtrack just a little to explain HOW God is going to defeat His foes.
#4 A DAY OF PUNISHMENT
Zechariah 14:12-15
Here we have it.
The LORD has returned and the armies of earth
Are gathered in the plain to kill Christ and rule the world.
But we’ve often said that it won’t be much of a battle
And that certainly is revealed here.
(12) “Now this will be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth.”
Do you remember those bowls of wrath we saw in the book of the Revelation?
Revelation 16:1-10 “Then I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.” So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth; and it became a loathsome and malignant sore on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image. The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood like that of a dead man; and every living thing in the sea died. Then the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters; and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters saying, “Righteous are You, who are and who were, O Holy One, because You judged these things; for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. They deserve it.” And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.” The fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun, and it was given to it to scorch men with fire. Men were scorched with fierce heat; and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give Him glory. Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened; and they gnawed their tongues because of pain,”
• We aren’t given a lot of detail in Revelation about the specifics of those plagues.
• We don’t exactly what those sores are, or what it means that the kingdom is darkened, or why they are gnawing their tongues.
But I tend to think, without having many specifics,
That we are talking about the same days here.
God will cause “their flesh [to] rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets; and their tongues will rot in their mouth.”
You really don’t want to fight against the Lord.
There will be absolutely no doubt
Who the deliverer was or who is now in charge.
There will be no longer a confusion regarding who deserves the worship.
It will be Christ and Christ alone.
And at this point the Lord takes His seat upon the throne.
#5 A DAY OF PRIORITY
Zechariah 14:16-19
The Feast of Booths was one of the feasts that every Jewish male was required to attend.
• It was the feast after the harvest when you came to Jerusalem and lived in a booth or a tabernacle for a week and remembered God’s deliverance from Egypt when the children of Israel dwelled in tabernacles in the wilderness.
Well here we find that it is a feast which will again be celebrated
By all the world throughout the Millennium.
Every nation on the planet will come to worship King Jesus
And to celebrate the feast.
In fact, if you don’t go up, you don’t get any rain.
The Lord will be glorified by all people on the earth.
• Nothing will take priority over worship of Him.
• Nothing will take priority over His glory.
• The idols of man will be gone.
Revelation 21:24-26 “The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it;”
Some have wondered why it even mentions the possibility that someone might not come and worship Christ.
• After all, everyone who enters the millennium will certainly be believers, for all those who did not believe will have been killed.
• That is true, but it is also true that over the course of the 1,000 years there will be those who will cease to believe and who will cease to desire to worship Christ.
• In fact, it is these non-believers whom Satan will rally at the end of the millennium when he is loosed for one more attempt to overthrow Christ.
• But even though there may be some who may not want to worship, it will not be optional, for drought is what they receive if they refuse.
This world will be united under worship of King Jesus alone.
IT IS FOR HIM
And then finally we read:
#6 A DAY OF PURITY
Zechariah 14:20-21
When you read the Old Testament Law you find that
It was the turban of the priest which read HOLY TO THE LORD.
And you remember that God set apart the Levites for Himself.
• And then you had certain utensils and pots that were for Levitical use which had to be cleansed and then they were also holy to the Lord.
But on this day there will be no need for a distinction
For everything will be “HOLY TO THE LORD”
That is to say that there will no longer be any notion of a segregated life.
Today we seek to give God part of our money, part of our time,
Part of devotion, part of our love, etc.
On that day, it is as He intended, everything is His.
It is all His for His use and His glory.
“And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts in that day.”
That is to say that no one unclean is ever going to defile it.
This place will be exactly and only what God desires.
TURN TO: ISAIAH 35
AND THIS IS A FITTING END TO THE BOOK.
Here you have a group of refugees who have returned from Babylon to rebuild a temple and they have been met with hardship on every side.
• The inhabitants of the land don’t want them there.
• The temple doesn’t look all that spectacular.
• Most of the Jews wouldn’t even return.
And perhaps those refugees are wondering
If it is really worth it to stick it out and continue.
Well God first reminds them that He is for them
And He will cause them to succeed.
BUT EVEN THAT ISN’T THE ULTIMATE REASON TO CONTINUE.
THE ULTIMATE REASON TO CONTINUE
IS BECAUSE EVERYTHING IS ABOUT GOD’S GLORY.
EVERYTHING IS MEANT TO BE FOR HIM.
And if God wants this temple in this land,
Then God’s people should understand the calling to give it to Him.
That is the real motivation to this book.
And that is the chief motivation of our lives.
We can never place the happiness of man at the center of all things,
For then we stop when we cease to find enjoyment in our calling.
We must always place the glory of God at the center of all things,
For then we endure no matter the cost.
Romans 11:36 “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”