Zechariah 14
Sermon Bible
Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.


Zechariah 14:7


There are two principles in this promise, which do for the most part regulate all the dealings of God.

I. The first part is a principle of surprise. God delights to frustrate expectations. He introduces His power in a manner and at a moment the least anticipated. The day seems just passing—the darkness gathering—everything looks for night—when all in a moment the light kindles into more than meridian lustre. "At evening time it is light." Thus God keeps to Himself the sovereignty; man is humbled to the dust; reason is all put aside, and God's glory and God's love stand out all alone in the ascendant.

II. The second principle is that of patience. The blessing waits till the evening. It was not in hope's first beaming; it was not in the world's full glare; but in the quiet waiting-time it comes. When faith has been exercised, and graces have been tried, and the heart has been disciplined, do not doubt but that the morning's gifts, be they what they may, are as nothing to the evening's love. The sun may have been shining on you all the day through; still "at evening time it shall be light."

J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 2nd series, p. 187.

References: Zechariah 14:7.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iii., No. 160. Zechariah 14:8.—Ibid., Morning by Morning, pp. 183, 278; J. Wells, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. v., p. 205.

Zechariah 14:20I. Let us inquire what holiness is. What precisely do we mean when we say of a man that he is holy? We imply not simply that he is virtuous, but rather that his virtue has a special and peculiar quality. The virtuous man regulates his conduct by moral principles alone, while the holy man maintains a close and constant fellowship with the living God. The one gives you a lofty idea of his own excellence, the other makes you feel the greatness and purity of God; the life of the one may be maintained without any thought of Jehovah, that of the other is entirely supported by the communion of his soul with God. The root principles of holiness are constant fellowship with God, and unreserved consecration of the soul and life to God.

II. Let us ask how this holiness is to be obtained. By no mere process of development or natural selection can the unholy man train himself into holiness. Neither can this change be accomplished by means of external rites. The Scriptures tell us with the utmost explicitness that we are regenerated by the power of the Holy Ghost. In order to holiness, the sinner needs to be reconciled to God, and to be made like to God; these are the very things which are to be accomplished through his belief on the Lord Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Ghost.

III. Where is this holiness to be manifested? In the text it is declared that it will be on the bells of the horses, and that is to be understood only as a specimen of a class. The horse is a common animal employed for ordinary purposes every day; and so the prophet would illustrate the principle, that under the new economy holiness would not be restricted to any person, place, or thing, but would characterise the believer's life in all occupations and under any circumstances.

W. M. Taylor, Limitations of Life, p. 175.

References: Zechariah 14:20.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. vii., No. 399. Zechariah 14:20, Zechariah 14:21.—J. Fraser, Penny Pulpit, No. 537. Zech 14—Expositor, 3rd series, vol. iv., p. 453.

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.
William Robertson Nicoll's Sermon Bible

Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.

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