Zechariah

Chapters 11-14

Chapter 11 Verses 15-17

“And the LORD said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd. For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces. Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.” He is talking about the Antichrist here. This is all about the Last Days.

Chapter 12

“The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.” (Verses 1-2)

We are beginning an actual description of the attack of the hordes of Gog and Magog against Jerusalem. Really it is getting toward the end of the Battle of Armageddon because they are getting toward the walls of Jerusalem.

“And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. (Verse 3”)

It sounds like an awful lot of people coming in that army to gather against Jerusalem in the siege of Armageddon. It sounds like a World War. It will be the last war of the World, at least for a thousand years.

“In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness. And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God.” (Verses 4-5)

After the battle the governors of Jerusalem after the war will be the Christains.

“In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.” (Verse 6)

The governors of Jerusalem are going to be like fire We are going to have the power of Angels, power of fire over our enemies.

“The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah.” (Verse 7)

The Lord says He is going to save at least some of the remaining Jews in the Last Day. He even comes down to rescue Jerusalem, because if He did not they would have all been slaughtered.

“In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them.” (Verse 8) The World is going to come to the point that finally God is going to say of the Jews, "They have had enough, that is enough, stop!" Two-thirds of them slaughtered in Israel and only one-third left.

Even the feeblest among you with the power of the Lord in that day is going to be like David, a mighty warrior riding his white charger destroying the wicked. "The house of David shall be as God” Because it is God's house, we are God's house. "As the Angel of the Lord before them." You will be like Angels with the power of Angels.

“And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.” (Verse 9) This is a battle in which many nations join together in battle against Jerusalem. In Daniel and Ezekiel the names of some of the nations are named that are going to fight alongside the Antichrist and his forces against Israel.

“And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” (Verse 10)

After we come down out of the sky on white chargers and win this battle, we are going to be occupying Jerusalem. We will be the conquerors. When conquerors capture a city they occupy it and they rule it and govern it. They are going to be very thankful. Thankful that we came and saved them or they all would have been destroyed.

God is going to have mercy upon some, perhaps the sincere Orthodox Jews that really were trying to worship God. “And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him." He is talking about Jesus. The Jews are doing the mourning. They are going to think about Jesus, they are going to see Him then, and they're going to be sorry. They are going to be mourning and sorry and repenting as though He were their only child that they killed.

“In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. (Verse 11) Hadad and Rimmon were both gods of the Syrians which some of the ancient Jews had taken to worshipping in the Valley of Megiddo.

“And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.” (Verses 11-13) They are going to go into mourning when they realize it is Jesus that has saved them.

Chapter 13

“In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.” (Verse 1)

Those that are of the actual bloodline of Judah, the Tribe of David, God is going to have grace and mercy on them and forgive them, because they are sorry and they repent. They are going to get saved in that day when they finally see the Lord!

“And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land. And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the LORD: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive: (Verses 2-4) Jesus said there would be a lot of false prophets in the Last Days. (Mat.24:24)

There are many false prophets today. Every day when you read the newspaper you read prophecy after prophecy that all these economists and politicians are prophesying and promising what is going to happen, a bunch of lies, just lie after lie. The newspaper is just loaded with lies.

“But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am an husbandman; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.” (Verse 5)

“And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.” (Verse 6) This is Jesus speaking proving to the Jews that it is Jesus, by showing the wounds in His hands, as he did Thomas and the wound in his side. (Luk. 24:39) Also pointing out it happened in the “house of my friends” my own people.

“Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.” (Verses 7-8)

He is talking about the antichrist. He going to turn His hand upon the little ones, the little shepherds, all of them, the antichrist’s leaders, followers, soldiers, and also false religious leaders, blind leaders of the blind!

“And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.” (Verse 9) Only a third will be left, and they are really going to go through it.

Chapter 14

“Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.” (Verse 1) Throughout the Bible and the Prophets “the day of the Lord” is usually talking about the Battle of Armageddon and the period of time surrounding it, especially that period leading up to it. More generally speaking, "the day of the Lord" is spoken of almost always in connection with the day of God's final judgements the last day of the Wrath of God. The "thee" He is talking about is Jerusalem. He is talking about how Jerusalem is going to be attacked and conquered and spoiled.

“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.”(Verse 2) “Ravished” in this verse means forced sexual intercourse, rape. This is not the same event as the two-thirds who going to be killed and the one-third who are going to be saved. He is describing how half of them are going to be taken as slaves and the rest of them "shall not be cut off from the city," they will be left there. God looks back at this period of these invasions, the days of the Antichrist, the Tribulation and all that as a certain day, but as a succession of events that covers years.

“Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.” (Verse 3) Through out the Bible you read about battles where God fought for His People and helped them to win the battle. This is the last battle of this dispensation, this time, the Endtime, the last battle of the Day of God's Wrath. Many theologians call this third coming of Jesus “the Revelation of Jesus Christ”. (Jesus first came as the baby in the manger, the second time He came was at the rapture, and the third time is the Battle of Armageddon.)

“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.” (Verse 4) Jesus is going to land back on earth from the very place from which He ascended after His resurrection. When Jesus lands on the mount of Olives it shall cleave, that means it shall part, the mount of olives shall break in two. This is the location of six inch wide crack that is on top of the Mount of Olives right now.

The cleavage will be toward the East and the West. "And half of the mountain shall remove toward the North, and half of it toward the South." There could possibly be an earthquake and a roar and that mountain is going to crack wide open and there is going to be a very great valley in the middle, right where Jesus lands. It is almost going to be like the final proof of His Messiahship, this miracle is going to occur to demonstrate His power and who He is and prove that He is the Messiah!

The Garden of Gethsemane is located on the slopes of the Mount of Olives. That is where He spent his last night before his crucifixion, with His disciples, and where He went through that agonising prayer, and where He made the decision to allow Himself to be sacrificed to save the World, the Garden of Decision. It was the decision that Jesus made there on the Mount of Olives that saved you and me.

“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.”

He is going back a little bit before the arrival of Jesus, and saying before Jesus comes they are going to flee to the mountains. That was what Jesus told them to do, flee to the mountains. (Mat.24:16) He says something very specific about a certain place that is called the "valley of the mountains." The actual interpretation here that most Bible authorities make is that He is talking about a very amazing place that is alternately known as the Valley of the Mountains, a valley right in the middle of some surrounding mountains, like a fortress, a very good refuge.

There was a special place in southern Israel that was alternately known as the valley of the mountains, in Edom, Petra. It is completely surrounded with tall cliffs a thousand feet high on both sides, and the only way to get in and out is through a small passageway not even as wide as a table, just a narrow tunnel.

An entire army could not even capture you, only about three men abreast at a time could march in. From inside the defenders get up on the tops of those cliffs and pour boiling water down on invaders, or they would drop big rocks and stones on them, shoot bows and arrows on them, throw spears and all kinds of things. They only had to kill the first three invaders each time until the bodies stacked up and the rest of could not get in over the stack of dead bodies. It was a very easy place to defend, Petra.

“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.” (Verse 6-7) It looks like the battle is just about over, but it must have kicked up a lot of dust and smoke.

“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.” (Verse 8) There is going to be another temple in Jerusalem. (Ezekiel 40-48) This sounds pretty literal, "toward the former and the hinder sea” the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. If there is anything that Israel needs, it is irrigation. Some people believe this is really going to be a big geyser here in verse 8, an artesian spring that is going to burst forth in Jerusalem. Jerusalem was on top of sort of a mountain or a range of hills, therefore the watershed on the East side goes down into the Dead Sea, and the water flowing from the West side would go into the Mediterranean. So that is a simple physical possibility if it means a natural fountain of water.

“And the LORD ( Jesus) 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. (Verses 9-11)

“The land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem:” This area is now all mountains. Some how this area is all going to be leveled. It will make a little more level land in Israel instead of so many mountains. “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.” He is describing the exact boundaries of Jerusalem as it will exist during the millennium. (See Jeremiah 31: 38-40) Today's boundaries of modern Jerusalem have fulfilled those boundaries.

"And men shall dwell in it and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited." The final last thing that precipitates our invasion of this Earth from the Heavens is the Antichrist comes up to the walls of Jerusalem. We come down to save Jerusalem. He is going to spare the old city of Jerusalem. That is the crisis turning point in the war. The war rages from the Height of Megiddo, all the way up the Valley of Megiddo, clear up to the walls of Jerusalem, to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.” (Joel 3:14)

Until that time the antichrist forces are victorious they are winning the Battle of Armageddon. They have come to the very walls of Jerusalem and have surrounded them and are besieging Jerusalem when we come down and save the city and save the people and win the war and destroy the Antichrist and his forces. Isaiah 29:1-8 is another reference to when the Lord comes down to save Ariel, which is another name for Jerusalem.

“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.” (Verse 12) This is the plague that is going to smite all the people who have come up against Jerusalem. The description here sounds like what happens when an atomic bomb falls.

This is what happened to some of the people in Nagasaki and Hiroshima who looked at the blast and their eyeballs melted right in their sockets and ran down their cheeks. It has already happened. Maybe we're going to use some kind of atomic power as our weapons in destroying these enemies, or they are destroying each other with atomic blasts.

“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.” (Verse 13) They will be fighting among themselves. (See Jud.7:22; 2Kngs. 19:35.)

“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. (Verse 14) God is going to even help the Jews to defend themselves and give the wealth of the heathen.

“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.” (Verse 15) It sounds like the Antichrist army is going to have a lot of animals and will be using a lot of beasts of burden.

“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.” (Verse 16)

It says "everyone that is left" of all those nations. There are going to be Antichrist forces out of every nation. There are going to be people left out of every nation who did not go up, who refused to go up. The nations who officially, governmentally came up with the Antichrist to besiege Jerusalem, those that are left out of those nations who did not. The religious people who are sincere and trying to do right, just the people who are left. They're all going to "go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles."

The feast of tabernacles was a tent barbeque. They went out and camped out and had a big feast and a barbecue, not only in tents, but they would build little shanties and little shacks out of palm branches, etc. Some of the Jews still do that to this very day. I have seen them out on their porches in Miami Beach during the Feast of Tabernacles. They built a little shelter out on the porch out of palm branches. They are celebrating the time that they spent 40 years wondering in the wilderness.

“And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, (Jesus) the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.” (Verse 17) We are talking about the Millennium and the people who refuse to obey, the rebels who don't come up. One of the most death-dealing catastrophes that God can possibly perpetrate on the Earth comes very quietly and very slowly, it is the slowest form of catastrophe. He just withholds the rain, which causes a drought, which causes the crops to fail and the beasts to die and then the people die. The Bible calls it Famine. Deserts around the world are growing rapidly. The famine, beloved, has already begun.

“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.” (Verse 18) Here He can be speaking of the literal country of Egypt, but Egypt also typifies the System, the World, the wicked.

“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.” (Verse 20) We are going to go back to horses and carriages and buggies and sleighs and bells on the horses. Ordinary pots are going to be like golden bowls in that day. God's Word says the time is going to come when gold and silver are going to be as common as the stones in the streets of Jerusalem.

“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.” He is saying that everything is going to be holy then, everything is going to be right. People are going to sacrifice to the Lord true sacrifices. The natural people living on the Earth still have to eat and cook, etc., so they will just boil food in pots and bowls, etc, but there is not going to be any more meat. “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. (Isa. 11:9) The last part of the verse says there will be no more Canaanites. Maybe it is used in a symbolic, spiritual sense, no more of the wicked, idolatrous, sexually-sinning people like the Canaanites were. Perhaps that is what it means and you can translate it spiritually if you want to. Things are going to go back to the beautiful, wonderful, original kind of creation God made, almost like the Garden of Eden.

Taken from the informal talks of David Brandt Berg

Edited by Almondtree Productions