Zechariah 14
Expositor's Dictionary of Texts
Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
Zechariah 14:7

The Prophet is speaking of the last times—the period after 'that day' when the 'feet' of the Lord 'shall stand upon the Mount of Olives'.

Whether 'that day' refers to the occasion when our Lord made His public entry into Jerusalem, and, pausing on Olivet, 'wept' over the doomed city, or whether it refers to His future Second Coming, when He shall 'reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients gloriously,' one thing is certain, that after that day a period follows, which is described as being 'neither clear nor dark: but it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not day, nor night'.

I. 'At evening time it shall be light' There are two principles in this promise which, for the most part, regulate all the dealings of God. There is—

1. A principle of surprise. God delights to frustrate human speculation. The day seems passing; the darkness deepening; night falling, when, in a moment, the light kindles into meridian lustre; 'at evening time it shall be light'. Thus human pride and reason is humbled, and God's glory and love stand out alone and supreme.

2. The principle of patience. The blessing waits till the 'evening'. You look for it in the morning watch, or you seek for it at midday, but it is nowhere to be found; it is 'evening' now; soon it shall be night, when—lo! it is here. Do not doubt but that the morning's gifts, be they what they may, are as nothing to the evening's blessing. The sun may have been shining on you throughout the day, but still, 'at evening time it shall be light'.

II. Consider how true the text is of old age under certain conditions. The old age of a purely worldly man or woman is one of the most distressing and abject of all sights. One cannot be surprised that such dread to be even thought old. The very power to please or to derive pleasure, as they understand it—all gone Boon companions, where are they? A solitary being, with very uncomfortable thoughts of the past, looking back on sin and folly—forward, to a dark unknown. But mark the Christian man. He, too, has reached the verge of life's pilgrimage. He has had his share, perhaps more than the average, of cares and trials by the way; his physical powers, too, are waning fast, many a loved object has passed from his sight; but all along he knew full well that this world is no resting-place, and that there is nought abiding; and therefore he did not set his affections on things below, but on things above. Now in such a man there are things—sweet memories of the past, confidence in that Arm which has supported him throughout his pilgrimage, hopes of the future, 'sure and certain'; and the old man's 'mouth is filled with praises, and his tongue with joy'. His old age is the happiest and brightest period of his life; while others are nearing the tomb in darkness and uncertainty, his last words will be the triumphant cry, 'At evening time it shall be light'.

References.—XIV. 7.—T. De Witt Talmage, Sermons (1st Series), p. 16. T. A. Gurney, Nunc Dimittis, p. 10. T. L. Cuyler, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxi. 1902, p. 121; see also vol. lxxii. 1907, p. 94. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iii. No. 160. XIV. 8, 9.—W. Green, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlvii. 1895, p. 315. XIV. 9.—F. E. Paget, Helps and Hindrances to the Christian Life, vol. i. p. 14. XIV. 20.—J. Pulsford, Infoldings and Unfoldings, p. 58. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. vii. No. 399. J. Stalker, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lv. 1899, p. 118. G. T. Candlin, ibid. vol. lxi. 1902, p. 396. XIV. 20, 21.—C. Brown, ibid. vol. xliv. 1893, p. 373.

For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
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, 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 ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains 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, and all the saints with thee.
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: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.
And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: 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 inhabited.
And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.
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 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.
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.
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, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen 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.
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 in the house of the LORD of hosts.
Nicoll - Expositor's Dictionary of Texts

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