Zechariah 14: Embodied Hope

​Key Verse
9 And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one.
 
Meditation
Hope is embodied by assurance, certainty, and surety in God and His promises...  notwithstanding the problems of life. Hope is concrete confidence in God’s covenant faithfulness despite life's frustrations and fears. Today’s reading will fuel hope in your heart.
 
Zechariah’s prophecy provides promises to a people living in a world of pain and problems. Specifically, God promises He is working His plan for His purposes. “The day” Zechariah begins with becomes the certainty of “On that day” repeated seven times (vv. 4, 6, 8, 9 (x2), 13, and 20), reinforcing that all of history is in the grip of God’s sovereign grace. God will return to Jerusalem, defeat His enemies, be recognized as the true King, consecrate the land, and cleanse His people to worship Him in holiness. 
 
With providential precision, Jesus brings many of these promises into focus. Jesus is the great King who establishes God’s kingdom (Mark 1:15). During Jesus’ passion, several apocalyptic signs from this chapter were evidenced (Matthew 27:51-54). Also, Jesus is the fullness of Zechariah’s hopeful imagery, the true “light of the world” (7, John 8:18) and  “Living Water” (8, John 4:10-15; Revelation 21:6). Jesus is the foretaste of God’s future fulfillment of His covenant promises, all of God’s promises are “yes” and “amen” in Him (2 Corinthians 1:20).
 
Jesus reigns above everything (Ephesians 1:17-22) and “on that day” when He returns, the “Lord will be king over all the earth” (v. 9). The invitation today is to submit in faith to King Jesus, so “on that day” you will be safe from His justice.
 
Today’s Reading
Behold, a day is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. 2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 3 Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. 4 On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. 5 And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.

6 On that day there shall be no light, cold, or frost. 7 And there shall be a unique day, which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but at evening time there shall be light.
8 On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea. It shall continue in summer as in winter.
9 And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one.

10 The whole land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. But Jerusalem shall remain aloft on its site from the Gate of Benjamin to the place of the former gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king's winepresses. 11 And it shall be inhabited, for there shall never again be a decree of utter destruction. Jerusalem shall dwell in security.
12 And this shall be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples that wage war against Jerusalem: their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.
13 And on that day a great panic from the Lord shall fall on them, so that each will seize the hand of another, and the hand of the one will be raised against the hand of the other. 14 Even Judah will fight at Jerusalem. And the wealth of all the surrounding nations shall be collected, gold, silver, and garments in great abundance. 15 And a plague like this plague shall fall on the horses, the mules, the camels, the donkeys, and whatever beasts may be in those camps.

16 Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths. 17 And if any of the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them. 18 And if the family of Egypt does not go up and present themselves, then on them there shall be no rain; there shall be the plague with which the Lord afflicts the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Booths. 19 This shall be the punishment to Egypt and the punishment to all the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Booths.

20 And on that day there shall be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “Holy to the Lord.” And the pots in the house of the Lord shall be as the bowls before the altar. 21 And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holy to the Lord of hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and take of them and boil the meat of the sacrifice in them. And there shall no longer be a trader in the house of the Lord of hosts on that day.
 
Richly Dwelling
-What stands out to you from today’s reading, especially the certainty of God to execute His plan “on that day”? 
 
-Do you struggle with hope, being sure of God’s promises and confident in His covenant faithfulness? Why or why not?
 
-How do the connects of Zechariah’s prophecy to the work of Christ help us have a longer view of God’s faithfulness, giving us strength for today AND hope for tomorrow?
 
-Where do you need to trust God’s promises, fueling hope in your heart?
 
Key Verse
9 And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one.