The End We All Hope For

Zechariah 14:1–2 (ESV) Behold, a day is coming for the LORD, when the spoil 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 plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

The last chapter of Zechariah begins on a dark note. Jerusalem will be utterly destroyed and exiled once again. History repeats. 

Now, as to the question of what timeframe Zechariah 12-14 refers to, we come to the verse that seems to suggest the second coming in the strongest sense:
Zechariah 14:4 (ESV) On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that 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 move northward, and the other half southward.

You could take this figuratively. As in, when Christ came the first time, the city was split in two between those who received Him and those who rejected Him. But you can also take this literally, as there now lies a fault line running east to west along the Kidron Valley in the city, just waiting for the eschatological fulfillment of this event. The Lord will come at a time when the nation of Israel is surrounded and plundered by enemies. This could refer to the moment in Revelation where Jerusalem is trampled by the nations.

Revelation 11:2 (ESV) but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months.

But just when it seems hopeless, the Lord will come. 

Zechariah 14:5 (ESV) And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.

Jesus told the disciples in the Olivet Discourse to flee to the mountains when Jerusalem is surrounded. Now that happened in 70 AD... and it will happen again in the last days. Yet the Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem and saved from among them a great number, will come back with His holy ones, those who have gone before. 

Then the recreation shall be fulfilled, the redemption of creation at the return of the One to whom it belongs and who purchased it back to God. 

Zechariah 14:6–7 (ESV) On that day there shall be no light, cold, or frost. 7 And there shall be a unique day, which is known to the LORD, neither day nor night, but at evening time there shall be light.

Just as in the original plan of God at creation, where the 7th day had no evening, and as it reads in Revelation about the holy city coming down from heaven, there will no longer be darkness. The New Jerusalem will dwell securely as the uniquely chosen city of God.

Zechariah 14:10–11 (ESV) The whole land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. But Jerusalem shall remain aloft on its site from the Gate of Benjamin to the place of the former gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses. 11 And it shall be inhabited, for there shall never again be a decree of utter destruction. Jerusalem shall dwell in security.

After describing the plagues that will be visited upon those who fought against Jerusalem, the prophet concludes with the picture of an elevated, completely holy city - set apart for God's glory. 

Zechariah 14:20–21 (ESV) And on that day there shall be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “Holy to the LORD.” And the pots in the house of the LORD shall be as the bowls before the altar. 21 And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holy to the LORD of hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and take of them and boil the meat of the sacrifice in them. And there shall no longer be a trader in the house of the LORD of hosts on that day.

The image of even the bells on the horses, with their inscriptions, signifies that holiness will pervade every part of life. No longer will there be a distinction between the sacred and profane, for all will be made holy. 

Add to that "no trader in the house of the Lord". This means worship will no longer require systems or places or things, for all of creation will be made new and holy, bringing glory to God. The original plan of God will be fulfilled, and He will dwell in paradise with His people.

What a glorious hope we have.

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