Zechariah 14:4 Komentář

Divers things were foretold, in the two foregoing chapters, which should come to pass "in that day;" this chapter speaks of a "day of the Lord that cometh," a day of his judgment, and ten times in the foregoing chapters, and seven times in this, it is repeated, "in that day;" but what that day is that is here meant is uncertain, and perhaps will be so (as the Jews speak) till Elias comes; whether it refer to the whole period of time from the prophet's days to the days of the Messiah, or to some particular events in that time, or to Christ's coming, and the setting up of his kingdom upon the ruins of the Jewish polity, we cannot determine, but divers passages here seem to look as far forward as gospel-times. Now the "day of the Lord" brings with it both judgment and mercy, mercy to his church, judgment to her enemies and persecutors. I. The gates of hell are here threatening the church (Zac 14:1, Zac 14:2) and yet not prevailing. II. The power of Heaven appears here for the church and against the enemies of it (Zac 14:3, Zac 14:5). III. The events concerning the church are here represented as mixed (Zac 14:6, Zac 14:7), but issuing well at last. IV. The spreading of the means of knowledge is here foretold, and the setting up of the gospel-kingdom in the world (Zac 14:8, Zac 14:9), which shall be the enlargement and establishment of another Jerusalem (Zac 14:10, Zac 14:11). V. Those shall be reckoned with that fought against Jerusalem (Zac 14:12-15) and those that neglect his worship there (Zac 14:17-19). VI. It is promised that there shall be great resort to the church, and great purity and piety in it (Zac 14:16, Zac 14:20, Zac 14:21).

INTRODUCTION TO ZECHARIAH 14 This chapter treats of the coming of Christ with all his saints, and his personal appearance among them; and of the signs of the times before that; and of what shall befall the enemies of the church, both open and secret; and of the happy state and condition of the church itself. First there will be a time of great affliction to the people of God, Zac 14:1, when the Lord will appear and fight for them, and will appear to them, and with them, Zac 14:3 but before this time it will be an uncommon season, neither day nor night; at the close of which, light will break forth, Zac 14:6 the Gospel will be spread far and near, attended with the Spirit and grace of God in great plenty, Zac 14:8 which will bring on the spiritual reign of Christ over all the earth, Zac 14:9 particularly the land of Judea, and the city of Jerusalem, shall be inhabited by men with safety, Zac 14:10 and all those that oppose and fight against the Lord's people shall be destroyed, partly by an immediate plague from the Lord upon them, and partly by the hands of one another, and also by the saints of the most High; and the plague shall not only be upon their persons, but upon their cattle likewise, Zac 14:12 and as for those that profess the Christian name, and yet neglect or refuse to worship the Lord in a spiritual and evangelical manner, there shall be no rain upon them, Zac 14:17 and as for the church and people of God, there shall be universal holiness among them, and not a single Canaanite to be found in the midst of them, Zac 14:20.

And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives,.... Where he often was in the days of his flesh, and from whence he ascended to heaven, Luk 21:37 but here he did not appear at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem; wherefore this must refer to a time to come; and seeing it is certain that he will stand in the latter day on the earth, at the time of the resurrection, and will come down from heaven in like manner as he went up; it seems very probable that he will descend upon that very spot of ground from whence he ascended, Job 19:25. The Jews, (e) have a notion, that, at the general resurrection of the dead, the mount of Olives will cleave asunder, and those of their nation, who have been buried in other countries, will be rolled through the caverns of the earth, and come out from under that mountain. This is what they call "gilgul hammetim", the rolling of the dead; and "gilgul hammechiloth", the rolling through the caverns. So they say in the Targum of Sol 8:5. "when the dead shall live, the mount of Olives shall be cleaved asunder, and all the dead of Israel shall come out from under it; yea, even the righteous, which die in captivity, shall pass through subterraneous caverns, and come from under the mount of Olives.'' This is sometimes (f) represented as very painful to the righteous; but another writer (g) removes this objection by observing, that at the time of the rolling through the caverns of the earth, we may say that this rolling will be of no other than of the bone "luz", out of which the whole body will spring; so that this business of rolling will be easy and without pain; but they are not all agreed about the thing itself: Kimchi says (h), "there is a division in the words of our Rabbins, concerning the dead without the land (i.e. of Israel); some of them say that those without the land shall come up out of their graves; and others say they shall come out of their graves to the land of Israel by rolling, and by the way of the caverns; but this verse Eze 37:12 proves that those without the land shall live, as the dead of the land of Israel; for it says, "I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves"; and after that, "and I will bring you into the land of Israel".'' Which is before Jerusalem on the east; a sabbath day's journey from it, about a mile, Act 1:12, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west; and there shall be a very great valley, and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south; and this valley will be made by cleaving and removing the mountain in this manner, to hold the dead together when raised; and this is thought by some to be the same with the valley of Jehoshaphat, called the valley of decision, into which the Heathen, being awakened and raised, will be brought and judged, Joe 3:2. (e) Targum in Cant. viii. 5. (f) T. Bab. Cetubot, fol. 111. 1. (g) Judah Zabarah apud Pocock. Not. Miscell. p. 119. (h) Pirush in Ezek. xxxvii. 12.

(Verse 3, 4.) And the Lord shall 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, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And the mount of Olives shall be split in two, one part to the east and the other to the sea, by a very great abyss. We should understand worthy of God the things which are said in the holy Scriptures in a human and carnal way, and which are contained in them. Otherwise, when the Apostle speaks: Who is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). And again: To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God (1 Timothy 1:17). And it is written in the Gospel: No one has ever seen God: the only-begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him (John 1:18). And again: Not that anyone has seen God, except the one who is from the Father (Ibid., 6): just as we understand his anger and repentance, and his soul, and his hands, and his feet, and his belly, and his eyes, and the other members of his body, according to the diversity of causes and interpretations of the senses: so we also understand this which is written, The Lord will come forth, and will fight, in accordance with what we read in Habakkuk: You went forth for the salvation of your people, for salvation with your anointed (Habakkuk 3:13). And in Micah: For behold, the Lord will come out of his place, and come down and tread upon the high places of the earth, and the mountains will melt under him, and the valleys will burst open (Micah 1:3-4). Also in Isaiah: The Lord of hosts will go out and fight against the nations, and stir up zeal, and cry out against his enemies with strength (Isaiah 42:13). Therefore, God will come out of his place when he is compelled to break his peace, meekness, and clemency for the sake of correcting sinners. Although he is naturally sweet, he becomes bitter due to our fault, that is, he becomes bitter not for himself, but for those who are suffering, for whom bitter torments are. He who speaks elsewhere through the prophet: I am God, and I do not change (Malachi III, 6). And it is said to him: But you are the same, and you remain (Psalm CI, 28). And in the letter of James: With whom there is no change (James I, 17): now he goes out and fights as in the day of battle, when he submerged Pharaoh in the Red Sea, and fought for the people of Israel (Exodus XIV). And his feet will stand on those whom he has shown mercy to, and they will not be moved at all, so that it can be said again of him: And the Lord will sound the trumpet; and he will walk with the threat of his anger (Zechariah IX). He will not walk, as the sun is already setting, and darkness comes after midday, which we read that Adam did (Gen. III). And when he stands, he will not stand in the valley and low places, but on a mountain, which does not have fruitless trees and a barren forest; but where olive groves are born, which nourish eternal light, and weaknesses are dissolved, and rest is given to the weary. And the Mount of Olives itself, on which the feet of the Lord stand, is opposite Jerusalem and to the East, where the sun of justice rises, and it is planted with those olive trees of which it is said: Your children are like young olive trees, around your table (Ps. CXXVII, 3). Whose middle part will be divided towards the east, in which there are trees planted by the nations, of which one speaks: But I am like a fruitful olive tree in the house of God (Ps. LI, 10). And the other middle part will be divided towards the west and the sea, with a very deep precipice, which is the circumcised people, to whom God speaks through the prophet: What has my beloved done in my house, committing abomination? Will vows and holy flesh take away evils from you (Jer. XI, 15); or will you escape in them? She, beloved in the house of God, committed abomination, that she might crucify the Son of God, and [said] that you, O Lord, were called the shady and wooded olive-tree, and that your branches were useless, which were broken from the good root, that we might be grafted in their place. And consider the secrets of the Scriptures, when (rather, how) the middle part, which leans towards the west, is dashed upon by salt and bitter waves, not simply said to be in the sea, but in a steep abyss of the sea, which also Micah speaks of: 'I will uncover its stones in the valley' (undoubtedly Jerusalem), 'and will reveal its foundations' (Micah 1:6). These things, as we have said in very difficult and obscure places, due to the weakness of our strength. However, the Jews following the letter of the western alphabet, try to show that the Lord is standing on the Mount of Olives, and that the mountain itself is divided into two parts, so that at the beginning of one part there is a tear against the east, and the other part stretches towards the west: and in the middle of a very steep valley, one part is divided to the north, the other to the south.

But it might happen that he should sit upon a foal; give us rather a sign where the king who enters will stand. Give us a sign not far from the city, that it may not be unknown to us; give us a sign nearby and clearly visible, that being in the city we may behold the place. Again the prophet answers, saying, “That day his feet shall rest upon the Mount of Olives, which is opposite Jerusalem to the east.” Is it possible for anyone standing within the city not to behold the place?

The commencement of this chapter relates to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and to the calamities consequent on that event. From this great Jewish tragedy the prophet immediately passes to the utter extermination of the enemies of Christianity in the latter days. God will display his power in behalf of his people in a manner so astonishing and miraculous, that even they themselves, and much more their enemies, shall be struck with terror, Zac 14:4, Zac 14:5. The national prosperity of the Jews shall then be permanent and unmixed, Zac 14:6, Zac 14:7; and these people shall be made the instruments of converting many to the faith of the Messiah, Zac 14:8, Zac 14:9. The great increase and prosperity of the Christian Church, the New Jerusalem, is then described in terms accommodated to Jewish ideas; and the most signal vengeance denounced against all her enemies, Zac 14:10-19. From that happy period God's name will be honored in every thing, and his worship every where most reverently observe, Zac 14:20, Zac 14:21.

And his feet shall stand - He shall appear in full possession of the place, as a mighty conqueror. And the mount of Olives shall cleave - God shall display his miraculous power as fully in the final restoration of the Jews, as he did when he divided the Red Sea that their forefathers might pass through dry-shod. Some refer this to the destruction of the city by the Romans. It was on the mount of Olives that Titus posted his army to batter Jerusalem. Here the tenth legion that came to him from Jericho was placed. Joseph. De Bello, lib. 6 c. 3. It was from this mountain that our Lord beheld Jerusalem, and predicted its future destruction, Luk 19:41, with Mat 24:23; and it was from this mountain that he ascended to heaven, (Act 1:12), utterly leaving an ungrateful and condemned city. And half of the mountain shall remove - I really think that these words refer to the lines of circumvallation, to intrenchments, redoubts, etc., which the Romans made while carrying on the siege of this city; and particularly the lines or trenches which the army made on Mount Olivet itself.

LAST STRUGGLE WITH THE HOSTILE WORLD POWERS: MESSIAH-JEHOVAH SAVES JERUSALEM AND DESTROYS THE FOE, OF WHOM THE REMNANT TURNS TO THE LORD REIGNING AT JERUSALEM. (Zec. 14:1-21) day of the Lord--in which He shall vindicate His justice by punishing the wicked and then saving His elect people (Joe 2:31; Joe 3:14; Mal 4:1, Mal 4:5). thy spoil . . . divided in the midst of thee--by the foe; secure of victory, they shall not divide the spoil taken from thee in their camp outside, but "in the midst" of the city itself.

The object of the cleaving of the mount in two by a fissure or valley (a prolongation of the valley of Jehoshaphat, and extending from Jerusalem on the west towards Jordan, eastward) is to open a way of escape to the besieged (compare Joe 3:12, Joe 3:14). Half the divided mount is thereby forced northward, half southward; the valley running between. The place of His departure at His ascension shall be the place of His return: and the "manner" of His return also shall be similar (Act 1:11). He shall probably "come from the east" (Mat 24:27). He so made His triumphal entry into the city from the Mount of Olives from the east (Mat 21:1-10). This was the scene of His agony: so it shall be the scene of His glory. Compare Eze 11:23, with Eze 43:2, "from the way of the east.