Zechariah 14

Only God could tell us what the end of all things will be. We could not entirely figure that out from observation and reasoning, at least not with the kind of certainty that would convince our weak minds. For this reason, we are so greatly blessed that the Lord has spoken to us. The facts of our destiny did not wait to be revealed till the coming of Jesus Christ, although we are much more certain of our interpretation of these matters because of the brightness of the light of His revelation in His person and works. Yet even in the Old Covenant, we see now how very clear the story of the future was. When we hear the promise that there will be a day when there will be no trader in the house of the Lord, we know that we are talking about the day of the perfect world. The hardest thing for us to understand in the final chapter of Zechariah is that complete blessing under the reign of Messiah King does not seem to insist on the eradication of the wicked, at least not in every sense. We do know that the righteous win, but there is some continued existence for the reprobate. Yet the spoil that they robbed from the innocent will be divided among the righteous. As in the final book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation, it can be rightly said about the book of Zechariah, "I have read the end of the book. God wins."

This does not mean that reaching that final victory will be easy. All of the nations will be gathered together against the Messiah and His people. We noted in an earlier place that this has a double fulfillment according to the New Testament. Christ faces something of the venom of the nations against the Lord and His people in His death on the cross. But the final display of this anticipated battle, which is even now being played out in the war of faith and faithfulness in this era of martyrs which we call the gospel age, this final display will come as this age of the gospel comes to a close in the arrival of our Messiah King in glory with the angels and saints of the heavenly host. Before that day, churches will be harassed, people will be murdered, women will be raped, children will be killed, many will be abandon the fellowship of worshipers, but nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ. The enemies of the church can only kill the flesh. When they do this, the spirits of just men go to a place of greater power, where angels live, and where angelic hosts are more obviously and visibly performing the bidding of the redeemed of the Lord who have now been perfected in holiness. To kill a true martyr now is to send a friend of God to a place where He may do more good for the cause of Christ that He loves.

The world forgets about heaven and the forces of heaven. The world is impressed with its own weapons. When the Lord comes again to some new Mount of Olives in order to establish His final victory, that victory will not conclude with a dead man on a cross. It will conclude with the establishment of a new heavens and a new earth where righteousness reigns and where we are together forever as the people of God from all ages. On that day, winning will be winning, and you will not need the eye of faith to see the victory.

That day shall be different and obvious. It will not be a secret. All of the great expectations that have been revealed in the prophetic oracles over many centuries will find their perfect establishment in a new world that cannot be taken away. Everything about that world will be right; the light, the temperature, the waters, the seasons, the government, the religion, the communion with God, the security, the topography, the company, the blessing of God, it will all be forever right.

Despite this great perfection, there is mention here of great destruction. The vision is not one of the utter annihilation of the wicked. The wicked live, but not in a resurrection unto glory and blessing, but in a resurrection unto ugliness and shame. Those who have made it their aim to hate and to hurt the Lord's people will be like the living dead. They will be rotten, but alive. They will be full of panic and attack, yet the people of the Lord will be safe and at peace in every way. This is the separation of the sheep and the goats that Christ speaks of in Matthew 25. This is the difference between everlasting destruction and everlasting life.

The blessed survivors out of all of the nations will be the ones who come to the New Jerusalem. They will be the ones who will worship at the Feast of Booths. It is very appropriate that this feast was chosen in this prophecy, for this was the feast that symbolized the Lord eternally dwelling with His people. The Passover spoke of the cross of Christ, by which our salvation was won by God's grace. The Firstfruits was a testimony to the Resurrection of Christ, the firstborn among many brethren. The Feast of Pentecost was about the gathering in of the people of God from the field of the world by the gift of the Spirit and the preaching of the Word during the gospel age. The end of the calendar came in the Feast of Booths, after the sounding of the final trumpet, and the separation of the wicked and the righteous. This Booths or Tabernacles speaks of the Lord dwelling with His people forever and ever.

When God is with His people, everything is holy. Now there is no separate temple. The whole renewed world is the place of His perfect realm, and it is all much holier than the old Holy of Holies. The horses will have bells that say "Holy to the Lord" in that place, and every common dish that people eat off of will be holy. Then there will be no hypocrite or spy in God's house, for the Lord will be with His people forever and ever. Beloved of the Lord, when you face the daily battle of faithfulness, never forget the end of the book. Rejoice and be glad. God wins, and in Him we shall have life.