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THE DAY OF THE LORD COMETH

05-08-11

(2 Pet 3:8)  But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

(Zec 14:1,2)  Behold, the day of the LORD cometh [beginning the thousand year Millennium reign of Christ], and thy spoil [Heb: booty] [“plunder” NIV] shall be divided in the midst of thee [“among you” NIV]. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled [“ransacked” NIV], and the women ravished [“raped” NIV]; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue [Heb: the rest] of the people shall not be cut off [separated] from the city.

(Zec 14:3-5)  Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives [Heb: an olive (as yielding illuminating oil)], which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave [be split in two] in the midst [Heb: middle] thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley [created by the split]; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south [Is this a metaphor for the worldwide dispersion of illumination?]. And ye shall flee to [through] the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains [2x] shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come [“shall be revealed in us” Rom 8:18], and all the saints with thee [i.e., this is “the first resurrection” Rev 20:4-6].

1.      Commentary: Uzziah king of Judah: a wise, pious, and powerful king who reigned 52 years, but died a leper because he entered the Temple to burn incense and when confronted by the priests with his sin, he responded in anger rather than repentance, and God struck him immediately with leprosy.

(Zec 14:6,7)  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night [“It will be a unique day, without daytime or nighttime – a day known to the LORD” NIV] [a day known and knowable only to the LORD]: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.

(Zec 14:8)  And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former [“eastern” Amplified Bible] sea [the Dead Sea], and half of them toward the hinder [“western” Amplified Bible] sea [the Mediterranean Sea]: in summer and in winter shall it be [please note the continuation of seasons].

1.      (John 4:13,14)  Jesus answered and said unto her [the Samaritan woman at the well], Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well [Gk: (through the idea of gushing plumply); a fount, a source or supply (of water)] of water springing up into everlasting life.

2.      (John 7:38)  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly [Gk: fig. the heart] shall flow rivers of living [quickening (everlasting life)] water.

(Zec 14:9-11)  And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD [“in the recognition and worship of men” Amplified Bible], and his name one. All the land shall be turned as a plain [Heb: a desert: sterile][and level] from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: [but Jerusalem shall remain] and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king's winepresses. And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely [Heb: securely] inhabited.

(Zec 14:12)  And this shall be the plague [Heb: pestilence: slaughter] wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume  away [Heb: melt: dissolve] while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away [Heb: melt: dissolve] in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away [Heb: melt: dissolve] in their mouth [an accurate description of nuclear warfare].

(Zec 14:13-15)  And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult [Heb: confusion or uproar: destruction, discomfiture, trouble, vexation] [panic] from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold [Heb: seize] every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour [versus “love thy neighbour as thyself” Mat 22:39]. And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance. And so shall be the plague [Heb: pestilence: slaughter] of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague [on men].

(Zec 14:16-19)  And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left [Heb: left behind, remains] of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague [Heb: pestilence: slaughter], wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen [unbelievers] that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

1.      Commentary: Please note that there are saved people living, worshipping the LORD, and attending the feast of tabernacles during the thousand year Millennium, and there are “the heathen” unbelievers still. And quite possibly there may be a third category of people actively ministering to the latter two groups who are called resurrected saints (Rev 20: 4-6).

(Zec 14:20,21)  In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD'S house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite [Heb: peddler: merchant, trafficker] in the house of the LORD of hosts [now called “the house of prayer” Mat 21:13].

1.      (Mat 21:13)  And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

2.      Commentary: We may recall that Jesus Christ entered into the Jerusalem Temple (“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God” 1 Cor 3:16) twice to cleanse it of merchants, at the beginning of His earthly ministry and 3 ½ years later at the end of His earthly ministry. “Twice,” symbolically meaning that He entered into us first on the occasion of our new birth (salvation) to initiate the transformation process (Rom 12:2) and began to cleanse us with “the earnest” (2 Cor 1:22; 5:5; Eph 1:14) of the Holy Spirit. Later, upon the occasion of our death, Jesus Christ will enter into us once again the second time (typified in John 6:21) to perfectly cleanse us with the fullness of the Holy Spirit “and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” (1 Thes 4:17). Hallelujah!

Amen