Old Testament - Zechariah 12-14 - 12 - 9 - 2022

 12/9/2022 – Zechariah 12-14

Chapter 12: It is in this chapter that Zechariah prophecies of a great battle—the battle of Armageddon [the final great war in which all nations shall be engaged and it will be at Jerusalem]—that will precede the Second Coming of Christ. It will be a terrible battle. In v’s 8-9 the Lord tells us that He shall “defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them. And it shall come to pass in that day the I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.”  Then He tells us “And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son…” (v 10)

Chapter 13’s synopsis: “The Jews shall gain forgiveness at the Second Coming—They shall ask Jesus: What are these wounds in thy hands? And then, the remnant, tried and refined, shall be His people.”

In v’s 8-9, the Lord describes the ending of this huge battle: “And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them. I will say, It is my people: and they shall; say, The Lord is my God.”  

It will be so very difficult to get through this ‘end of days’. But if we are there in this huge ending, then we must do as the Lord has taught us to do in all our difficult times: We must fully remember to call upon the Lord…and remember to LISTEN to what He tells us and what He gives to us, and then follow Him in every way.

Chapter 14 is Zechariah’s final chapter. V 2 describes this terrible final war: “For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravish; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.” But v 3 explains that it is “Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations…”  

“And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives” (v 4) At that time there will be changes in the mountain, for half of that mountain will move and that will create a great valley. At that point the atmosphere will change, and the people will not be able to tell whether it is day or night—but finally at evening time “it shall be light”  (v 7)  And at that time “living waters shall go out from Jerusalem”.  It is then, that “there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.” (v 11)

It will not go well for those who fought against the Savior, for the Lord will smite them with a plague in which “their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth” (v 12) And a plague will also come upon the animals.

V’s 16-17 tells us that “every one that is felt of all the rations which came against Jerusalem shall” worship the Lord…of hosts…even upon them shall be no rain.”  Next, we are told that there will be famine and plagues, and this will be a punishment of Egypt. (v 19) Basically, when the battle ends, many of those who have fought against Jerusalem will be destroyed, and those who remain will truly worship the King, the Lord of host, or suffer droughts and plagues. It is in that day that Jerusalem shall believe and practice “HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD” and “all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them”  (v’s 20-21) 

Elder Neal A Maxwell spoke of the Second Coming, telling us that we should not wait unto then to truly acknowledge Jesus Christ as our Lord and King: “If you sense that one day every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord, why not do so now? For in the coming of that collective confession, it will mean much less to kneel down when it is no longer possible to stand up!” [Ensign, Nov 1974, p13 ‘Why Not Now?]


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