Zechariah 14:15-21
Zechariah
14:15
And so shall be the plague 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.
Not only will the enemies of Christ suffer but also their
instruments of war will also suffer and will suffer the plagues which affected
the people who came against the church.
The horse was used to carry the cavalry soldiers along with pulling
chariots of war and the mule, camel, and donkey were used to carry the tools of
war and their sustenance. The
plague is so thorough that not only the people are affected but their ability to
make war is also destroyed.
Zechariah
14:16
And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left 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.
“Every one that is left” is speaking about the remnant of
true believers who went from enemies of God to children of God.
Therefore being justified by faith, we
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
(Romans 5:1) The feast
of tabernacles was held as a remembrance of Israel’s journey in the wilderness.
Since all the Jewish Feasts were abolished at the coming of Christ, this
is not speaking about reviving the physical feast but is speaking spiritually.
Notice the wording that it is year to year which means a perpetual
keeping of the feast.
And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye
shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it
a feast by an ordinance for ever.
(Exodus 12:14)
Notice in Exodus 12:14, Israel was commanded to keep the
Passover forever. Of course, again
the Jewish Feasts have been done away with so we keep the Passover in Christ.
Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new
lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
(1 Corinthians 5:7)
But Christ being come an high priest of good things to
come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to
say, not of this building; (Hebrews
9:11)
Christ is the Tabernacle as he tabernacled among his
people.
For where two or three are gathered
together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
(Matthew 18:20) It was he who formed the New Jerusalem and those who
become saved are celebrating their journey in the wilderness of this world and
the fact that they became saved out of it and placed into the New Jerusalem.
Only then can they offer perpetual praise and glory to God as one
partaking of the joyous feasts.
Zechariah 14:16 is speaking about those who have become saved and also the joy
found in the New Heaven and New Earth where the true believer will spend
eternity.
Zechariah
14:17
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.
What is in view in this verse is not the physical rain
because the Lord stated that the Father makes it rain on the just and unjust,
that is, those who are believers and those who are unbelievers.
That ye may be the children of
your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on
the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
(Matthew 5:45) The rain
which is in view is the rain of the gospel.
Those who will not come to Jerusalem, to wit, the New Jerusalem where the
LORD is worshipped in spirit and in truth are the non-elect and will not have
the rain of the gospel.
Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap
in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he
come and rain righteousness upon you.
(Hosea 10:12) The rain
of righteousness was promised to the true church in Judah as well as to every
believer throughout history and in the future.
Those who are outside the church will have no gospel.
For without are dogs, and
sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth
and maketh a lie. (Revelation
22:15)
Zechariah
14:18
And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that
have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the
heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
In the book of Exodus, the country of Egypt is seen as a
representative of the world as the Israelites were seen as a representative of
the church of God. The family of
Egypt would be representative of the entire world of unbelievers in every
country. If they continue to reject
and persecute the church then they will suffer the plagues of Zechariah 14:12.
As we saw the feast of tabernacles in verse 16 is symbolic of the Lord
Jesus Christ who tabernacled among his people.
Those who are unsaved do not have the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and
therefore are not partakers of his tabernacling among the people of faith.
As we read in this verse those of the family of Egypt come not up to the
feast because they have no rain, that is, the rain of righteousness which is
another synonym for the true gospel of Christ.
Zechariah
14:19
This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment
of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
Not only will the individual family of Egypt suffer the
fires of eternal damnation but all the nations that neglect the feast of
tabernacles which was fulfilled in Christ.
This means the entire world until the last day.
All the nations that reject and persecute the true church will receive
the plagues or the great slaughter which will come on judgment day when all of
the unbelievers will stand for judgment and be sentenced to eternal damnation
thus losing all the material goods they cherished while living upon earth.
Zechariah
14:20
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.
Now Zechariah ushers in a new era and that is the New
Heavens and the New Earth. Nevertheless
we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein
dwelleth righteousness. (2 Peter
3:13) It was quite common in
ancient times that bells hung around the necks of the horses.
It was to accustom the horses to the sound of noise especially those
horses which were used in war. It
is believed that they were shaped like cymbals which made a tinkling noise
whenever they moved. They were not
only used as ornaments but to keep the animals together especially in a caravan.
The pots in the temple were not holy as these prepared the food for the
priests and workers in the temple.
The bowls were by the altar and were used to catch the blood from the sacrifices
and were considered holy unto the LORD.
As the verse in Peter states that the New Heavens and New Earth will have
righteousness dwelling in it which means that there will be no vestige of sin
and even the smallest object will be holy.
Zechariah
14:21
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 in the house of the LORD of hosts.
Continuing the theme of the extreme holiness in the New
Heavens and New Earth, every item shall be holy in that environment.
The sacrifice in view is not animal or blood sacrifice but the sacrifice
of the new heart which is the sacrifice of praise which is offered to God
through Christ.
By him therefore let us offer the
sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving
thanks to his name. (Hebrews 13:15)
The people shall partake of the sacrifice freely as one takes of the
seething food which means “ripe.”
Then finally there is no more Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.
This means there is no unsaved person in the redeemed house of the LORD
as all have been saved through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Sin will be no more in the presence of the true believer just as idolatry
was in the presence of Israel and caused them to sin mightily against the LORD.
The New Heavens and the New Earth will be comprised of complete holiness
unto the LORD.
Thus ends