Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20090823.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Zechariah: Paving The Path Toward A Blessed Future
Part IV: Informing God's People About The Messianic King And His Kingdom, Zechariah 9:1-14:21
F. Predicting The Final Arrival Of Messiah And His Kingdom, Zechariah 12:1-14:21
2. God's Turning The Tide For Repentant Jerusalem At Messiah's Second Coming
(Zechariah 14:1-21)
  1. Introduction
    1. It is easy for us believers to feel distraught when godless foes harass us in God's discipline for our sins.
    2. Yet, if we repent, God turns the tables to bless us, and Zechariah 14:1-21 dramatically illustrates this fact:
  2. God's Turning The Tide For Repentant Jerusalem At Messiah's Second Coming, Zechariah 14:1-21.
    1. Zechariah 14:1 promises that a day of the Lord is coming when the spoil taken from Jerusalem by Gentile foes in divine judgment will be retrieved and divided by Jerusalem's inhabitants as their own spoil!
    2. This will occur with the turning of the tide of blessing due to Israel's repentance toward Christ, 12:10.
    3. Accordingly, Zechariah 14:2-21 describes this great turning of the tide of Jerusalem's welfare as follows:
      1. Initially, in judgment, Israel's Gentile foes will surround and successfully attack Jerusalem, Zech. 14:2:
        1. God had warned Israel that if she sinned, she would suffer Gentile invasion, Deut. 28:15, 25, 30-32.
        2. Since Israel rejected her Messiah at His First Coming, and God promised to hold her accountable in judgment for doing so in Deuteronomy 18:18-19, unrepentant Jerusalem will initially suffer horrific trauma at the invasion of her enemy Gentiles during the Great Tribulation Period, Zechariah 14:2-3: (1) Initially, God will cause Israel's foes to fight against Jerusalem, conquering the city, plundering its houses, ravishing its women and taking half of the city captive, Zechariah 14:2.
      2. However, when Israel repents, Messiah will come and wonderfully deliver Jerusalem, Zech. 14:3-15:
        1. Jerusalem's horrific sufferings will be reversed when Israel repents, and Messiah returns in His Second Coming to fight in Jerusalem's behalf as He did in the Old Testament days, Zechariah 14:3.
        2. Messiah with God's angels will descend from heaven to stand on the Mount of Olives in fulfillment with the Acts 1:11-12 word of the angels that Jesus would return to that spot, Zechariah 14:4a.
        3. When Christ's feet touch the Mount, it will split east-and-west, with half of the mount moving north and the other half south so repentant Israel might flee into that valley from the Antichrist, 14:4b-5.
        4. This deliverance will be accompanied by unusual signs in the earth and heavens (Zech. 14:6-7), with a fountain of "living waters" starting to flow year round from Jerusalem toward the Mediterranean and the Dead Seas (Zech. 14:8), with the Messiah ruling the world as the only God (Zech. 14:9), with the land around Jerusalem becoming a level plain and mount Zion being highly exalted to produce a safe dwelling (Zech. 14:10-11; Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978 ed., ftn. to Zech. 14:10).
        5. God will strike Jerusalem's Gentile foes and their beasts of war with rotting flesh and morbid fear (Zech. 14:12-13, 15), and repentant Israel will take spoil of her foes in abundance, Zechariah 14:14.
      3. Thus, Messiah will enforce righteousness in both Israel and the nations, Zechariah 14:16-21:
        1. God will then require those who survived of Israel's Gentile foes to come up to Jerusalem every year and observe the Feast of Tabernacles, which feast typifies the Messianic Kingdom, Zech. 14:16; J. Vernon McGee, Thru The Bible with J. Vernon McGee, 1981, Volume 1, p. 432-433.
        2. Failure to keep the feast will result in judgment, a lack of rain, and even Egypt that depends on the Nile and not rain for water will suffer drought, Zech. 14:17-19; Bible Know. Com., O. T. , p. 1571.
        3. In Jerusalem, holiness will affect public life (bells on the horses), religious life (the cooking pots in the temple) and private life (every pot in Jerusalem), Zech. 14:20-21a; Ibid., p. 1572. The reference to there being no more any Canaanite in the temple (Zech. 14:21b) means there will not be any ungodliness there as the term "Canaanite" came to typify unclean, ungodly entities, Ibid.
Lesson: For repenting of her rejection of Christ, Jerusalem will experience a huge turn of events from horrific trauma to immense triumph over her Gentile foes and blessing in God's power.

Application: (1) If we suffer at the hands of foes, and realize it is God's discipline, may we repent for blessing. (2) May we yield to the Headship of Christ that we not suffer God's great discipline!