The Consequences of YHWH's Reign (Zechariah 14:10-21).
In Zechariah's day when a king came to the throne he did not become king over a kingdom with neat boundaries and receive total control. Various rivals would be seeking to take the kingship and the boundaries would be disputed. A king ruled as far as his power went. This explains why in Israel, for example, after a long reign a following king would regularly have a short reign. His bid for power proved unsuccessful.
So when a new king declared his rule his first task was to establish himself against all other rivals. For a mild example of this see 1 Kings 1-2. Sometimes the fighting would be very bitter and last for a considerable period. He then had to exert his authority over the areas he sought to rule, and boundaries regularly changed when a new king came to power, depending on how powerful the forces he could control.
This was why it was the custom for kings in Judah at a certain point to take their selected heirs into joint kingship, a fact which explains many of the ‘dating problems' in Kings and Chronicles. The hope was that it would enable a fairly smooth changeover.
And this is part of the picture we have here in Zechariah. Having become king over the earth YHWH now goes about to establish His rule. He wins men's hearts by establishing prosperity (Zechariah 14:10-11), He deals with those who have resisted against Him (v. 12), He squashes civil war (Zechariah 14:13-15) and He establishes peace (Zechariah 14:16-21). Zechariah pictures this in terms of what he knows and understands. YHWH is still going about to establish His kingly rule as His people proclaim His word and take it to the nations.
‘All the land will be turned as the Arabah, from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem. And she will be lifted up and will dwell in her place, from Benjamin's gate to the corner of the first gate, to the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananel to the king's winepresses. And men will dwell in it, and there will be no more curse, but Jerusalem will dwell safely.'
The Arabah is basically the Jordan trench, the rift valley from the Sea of Galilee (Tiberias) (Deuteronomy 3:17; Joshua 11:2; Joshua 12:3) to the Gulf of Aqabah (Deuteronomy 1:1; Deuteronomy 2:8), which is well below sea level. The Dead Sea is called the Sea of Arabah (Joshua 3:16; Joshua 12:3; Deuteronomy 4:49; 2 Kings 14:25).
‘From Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem.' This was the way in which Zechariah indicates that he is speaking of the land around Jerusalem (there was no specific name for it). Basically he is declaring that ‘Jerusalem', the people of God, will be surrounded by fruitfulness.
‘All the land will be turned as the Arabah.' The idea is that all the land will be lowered to the level of the rift valley, thus becoming, by virtue of the new river running through it, farmable, fruitful and prosperous. Instead of a mountainous region there will be flat plain. This is the equivalent of Isaiah's prophecy in Isaiah 35:1-2, ‘the wilderness and the solitary place will be glad, and the desert will rejoice and blossom as the rose'. Indeed this levelling of the land was to be preparatory to the coming of God's chosen One (Isaiah 40:3-5, cited concerning the first coming of Jesus in Luke 3:4-6).
The only exception is Jerusalem, whose boundaries are carefully outlined in order to indicate with what exactness God watches over His people, and which will be lifted up and exalted, taking her rightful place over all (compare Isaiah 2:2; Micah 4:1). Men will dwell in it, the curse will be removed and Jerusalem will dwell safely.
This is, of course, an idealistic picture. Judah was a mountainous country. This had contributed to her comparative security over the centuries, but she must often have looked with envy at the fruitful plains. Now that YHWH is king she will be levelled out with only Jerusalem exalted. We can ignore the geographical problems (the Dead Sea and the Arabah are well below sea level) because it is not to be taken literally. Like the river previously this has a spiritual significance. The river spoke of life, this speaks of prosperity and blessing. The people of YHWH will prosper in their spirits and enjoy fullness of blessing.
The exaltation of Jerusalem (compare Isaiah 2:2) pictures the triumph of God's truth and the final evidence that He, the One God, rules over all. The curse is overturned (compare Genesis 3:14-19) and man can begin again. ‘Jerusalem', His people, can now dwell in safety for she needs no protecting mountains because YHWH is her defence. It represents the blessing and security of the people of God.
The removal of the curse may have reference to Genesis 3. The curse will have been dealt with through the cross. On the other hand ‘no more curse' may indicate that there will now be no need for the flying scroll (Zechariah 5:1-4). God's people are now fully obedient to His will. Compare also Zechariah 8:13.
Jesus defined all this in terms of the Reign of God, invisible yet effective (Luke 17:21), the security of His people (‘the very hairs of your head are all numbered' - Matthew 10:30; Luke 12:7), the prosperity they would enjoy (Matthew 6:25-34) and the final triumph of God at His second coming.
‘And this will be the plague with which YHWH will smite all the peoples that have warred against Jerusalem. Their flesh will consume away while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will consume away in their sockets, and their tongue will consume away in their mouths.'
This vivid picture, based on Zechariah's experiences of dreadful diseases to which there was no cure, describes the awfulness of the judgments of God. The strength of those who oppose Him and His people will be dissipated. Their eyes will be darkened. Blindness was regularly the way by which men were prevented from doing evil (Genesis 19:11; 2 Kings 6:18). Their tongues would become ineffective. Again it is not the literal idea but the spiritual significance that matters. Those who stand against God's truth and against His people will wither away spiritually, be blind to truth, and have nothing worth saying. And finally they will be judged and condemned and face the wrath of God. To take up a stance against the people of God is no light thing.
‘And it will happen in that day that a great tumult from YHWH will be among them, and everyone of them will lay hold of the hand of his neighbour, and his hand will rise up against the hand of his neighbour, and Judah also will fight in (or ‘against') Jerusalem, and the wealth of all nations round about will be gathered together, gold and silver and clothing in great abundance. And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of all the beasts that shall be in those camps, as this plague.'
Zechariah wants us to be aware that the nations are not to be seen as united through all this. There will be great disagreement and squabbling among them, they will fight each other and the means of their prosperity, their very beasts of burden, will be plagued. Man has ever been thus.
‘And Judah will also fight in Jerusalem.' The phrase is ambiguous. It could indicate Judah also fighting against Jerusalem, or it could indicate that they had gathered in Jerusalem in order to fight off the enemy. In view of the previous reference to neighbour fighting against neighbour the likelihood is that the former is in mind. This would serve to confirm that Jerusalem represents the people of God, with Judah representing the Jews, the idea being that even the Jews will be against God's true people, something which, of course, happened in 1st century AD. On the other hand it may indicate that the people of God (‘Judah') will prosper as they take their stand in ‘Jerusalem' and gather up the treasures of the nations, plentiful in the greatest luxuries. Then it would be in deliberate contrast with Zechariah 14:2. The positions have been reversed. The enemy are defeated and the people of God triumph. The luxuries are of course spiritual luxuries. The idea is that finally the world will lose everything, and the people of God will gain everything.
It is probably best if we translate as ‘Judah will fight against Jerusalem'. If so this is a remarkable indication that even Judah will fight against the people of God. And in the first century AD it was the Jews who were the implacable enemies of Christians (Revelation 2:9). It was often they who denounced the Christians in times of persecution.
‘And it will happen that everyone who is left of all the nations who came up against Jerusalem will go from year to year to worship the king, YHWH of Hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it will be that whoever of all the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the king, YHWH of Hosts, on them there will be no rain. And if the family of Egypt does not go up, and does not come, nor will it be on them. There will be the plague with which YHWH will smite the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.'
‘Everyone who is left of all the nations who come up against Jerusalem' following God's judgment on the nations. This would suggest reference to the believing remnant. Some of those who originally set off opposing God's people have eventually come to believe. That is why they now come to worship YHWH.
‘Keeping the Feast of Tabernacles' is mentioned three times, once positively and twice negatively. It is clearly central to Zechariah's message. This is because the feast of Tabernacles was seen as the Feast which, coming before the rainy season, was the cry to God for plentiful rain over the coming months which would guarantee fruitful fields following. It was at the Feast of Tabernacles that Jesus stood and declared that for those who drank of Him, out of their innermost being would flow rivers of living water (John 7:37-39). So as Zechariah looks forward to times of great spiritual refreshing he thinks in terms of the Feast of Tabernacles. But in the light of New Testament revelation it could not be a literal fulfilment. The Feast of Tabernacles was a Feast in which constant offerings were made for atonement. However, once our Lord Jesus Christ had offered Himself up as a sacrifice once for all the Old Testament such feasts were redundant.. What did survive in the case of the Feast of Tabernacles was the looking to God for abundant rain, the rain of the Holy Spirit (John 7:37-39).
Indeed we notice that those who do not observe the Feast will have no rain. Even though they were believers they would be barren because they were failing to worship God. And the Egyptians who could rely on the Nile instead of rain are punished differently for that reason, with a repetition of the plague that had destroyed the nations (Zechariah 14:12).
It was not by coincidence that Jesus chose the Feast of Tabernacles to make His great declaration about the coming of the Holy Spirit like life-giving water (John 7:37-39). He had specifically in mind this passage, combined with Ezekiel 47.
Thus once again the picture is symbolic and we do not need to consider the logistics of how all the people in the world can gather in Jerusalem and Judah at one time. The point is that under the Kingly Rule of God constant submission to Him and true worship of Him will result in the outpouring of spiritual blessing, the ‘rain' of the Holy Spirit (which the baptisms of John and Jesus signified) as promised regularly in the prophets (Isaiah 32:15; Isaiah 44:3-5; Isaiah 55:10-11; compare Joel 2:28), and those who refuse look to the Holy Spirit will become spiritually dried up, parched and withered.
It should perhaps be noted that the keeping of the Feasts was an essential part of God's covenant with His people. It constituted continual submission to and renewal of that covenant. When the people failed to observe the Feasts they failed to observe the covenant. Thus covenant renewal is at the centre of the significance of this passage in Zechariah. Men will continually renew their covenant with YHWH. When we keep our harvest festivals, and renew our covenant with God at the Lord's Table (Holy Communion) and at covenant meetings, we are fulfilling God's requirement here. But we must beware lest it become just a formality for then it ceases to have meaning.
‘In that day there will be on the bells of the horses HOLY TO YHWH and the pots in YHWH's house will be like the bowls before the altar. Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to YHWH of Hosts, and all those who sacrifice will come and take of them, and seethe in them. And in that day there will be no more a Cananean in the house of YHWH of Hosts.'
This final description brings out the symbolism of the whole passage. It is not only the inner sanctuary of YHWH and its contents that will be holy to Him, set apart and unapproachable because of His ‘otherness', but every pot in His house, yes and every pot both in Jerusalem and in Judah, and every bell on the harness of their horses. The whole of God's people will be equally ‘holy' and will be the house of YHWH.
‘The pots in the house of YHWH will be like the bowls before the altar.' The latter were especially sanctified and set apart for their purpose. Now the meanest pot will be equally holy.
‘Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and Judah.' This demonstrates that by ‘the house of YHWH' Zechariah means not the Temple but the whole people of God (see Zechariah 9:8; Hosea 8:1). This is confirmed by the fact that the pots in the house of YHWH would be ‘like the bowls before the altar'. This would not have been said of pots within the Holy Place. They would have been seen as more holy than the pots before the altar.
‘And all those who sacrifice will come and take of them, and seethe in them.' In Exodus 29:31 it is the ram of consecration that is seethed in a holy place when Aaron and his family were consecrated to their positions as priests of YHWH. This is the only place where seething (cooking) is specifically commanded with regard to sacrifices. Thus in the light of the context here we have here the idea of an overall priesthood, with all the people of Jerusalem and Judah seen as priests. Seething is also indirectly connected with the offering of the firstfruits where it simply means cooking (Exodus 23:19; Exodus 34:26).
Zechariah could only think of worship in these terms. To him and to the people the offering of sacrifices was central to worship. There could be no worship without them. And his emphasis is therefore on the widespread nature of the sacrifices. But now that our Lord Jesus Christ has offered Himself up once and for all, causing to cease for ever the offering of atoning sacrifices, the idea is rather of the nations coming and responding to the sacrifice of Christ. They will come to His people in order to experience the benefit of His sacrifice, and in order to partake of Him. (As we have said before this cannot signify so-called ‘memorial sacrifices'. Such sacrifices would not be a literal fulfilment of Zechariah's prophecy, for he was undoubtedly speaking of atoning sacrifices.
‘In that day there will be no more a Cananean (or Canaanite) in the house of YHWH.' The word Cananean can also be translated as ‘trafficker, merchant'. This looks back to the traffickers in the sheep of Zechariah 11:5; Zechariah 11:11 (see on that section), the leaders who misused God's people. Never again will God's people be subject to such careless treatment.
But as the house of YHWH represents the people of YHWH it is possible that this does indicate the exclusion of Canaanites (Deuteronomy 7:1-2). But not literally, as the universalism of the passage demonstrates. It is what the Canaanites represented that is in mind. They represented idolatry, and idolatry in its crudest form. There can be no place for such in God's kingdom. The idea would then be that only Canaanites who have ceased to be Canaanites will be welcome.
So we have here a picture of purified worship, of an extended overall priesthood which knows nothing of the Levites, and of worldwide submission to God, in contrast with those who have faced judgment and are miserably destroyed, the result of the activity of the people of God through the Holy Spirit, and pointing forward to when all will be complete and God will be all in all. This glorious feast of Tabernacles depicts the worldwide successes of the people of God and God's final triumph as described in the physical terms of Zechariah's day.