Zech. 12-14

Some of this section will need some speculation. Historicists loathe speculating on unfulfilled prophecy. When we do, we are almost always off. Then again, so is everyone else. (This is small comfort.)

There is little telling of how prophecies will play out exactly until they are actually written up in the newspapers and then in the history books. While reading older commentaries, we see that past speculations tend to be far too literal for what the fulfillment actually turns out to be. We forget to properly apply the hermeneutics of symbolic language, which is learned through the study of fulfilled prophecies. Our speculations are always too literal. These older fulfilled passages are there to guide our study. We are supposed to learn from them. But unfortunately, we never quite learn this lesson. So we rather bumble off into vain speculation.

Can you imagine coming up with an accurate picture of the Messiah’s life: hometown of Nazareth, birthplace of Bethlehem, and “coming out” of Egypt? How about being born a servant, and yet born to be a king? How about dying, yet not undergoing decay? Once Messiah came and walked the earth, it all became plain and simple. And in case one didn’t get it, the Gospel writers quoted the old prophecies and explained the fulfillment. The big question is, is this last oracle of Zechariah unfulfilled prophecy?

Three Opinions

There are three schools of thought, and they all must resolve who or what is Jerusalem.

• Is it the literal Jerusalem, the capital city of Judah in ancient times?
• Is it modern Jerusalem, the capital of present-day Israel?
• Is it the Gospel Jerusalem, the Jerusalem above, which is the spiritual mother of all believers [Gal 4:24-25]?

Ancient Jerusalem

Those who believe that this prophecy is about the historical Jerusalem have the advantage that the standard hermeneutical rule for prophecy, which is that the next historical event fulfills the prophecy. They believe that the sack of Jerusalem in chapter 12:1-9, is the historical sack by Antiochus Epiphanes in 167 B.C. Chapters 12:10- 13:9 are roughly about the life of Messiah and His sacrifice. Chapter 14 is the sack of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 A.D. They make Messiah descend on the Mount of Olives, as the Gospel goes out to the nations, no longer being inhibited by the Temple.

Modern Jerusalem

Those who say it is modern Jerusalem have the advantage that current events certainly appear to be that Jerusalem is a cup of reeling. If it is modern Jerusalem, then we should expect the city to be sacked two more times. Those who hold this view teach that the anti-christ and his 10 nations will sack the city sometime in the near future. Chapters 12:10-13:9 are intended to explain to the modern nation of Israel, which will come to salvation through the Messiah they had rejected. The battle of chapter 14 is said to correspond to the yet future battle of Gog and Magog. [Ezek. 38 and Rev 20]. Messiah’s feet on the Mount of Olives is made to be the New Jerusalem descending in triumph. (See Also: The Hoax of a One World Government)

New Jerusalem

Those who say it is gospel Jerusalem believe that the first sack is the persecution of the Church by both the Jews and the Roman Empire, culminating in the great tribulation between 303 – 313, after which Constantine made Christianity the state religion. Chapter 13 is salvation being unfettered and free to spread throughout the Empire. Chapter 14 becomes the INQUISITION, They have Messiah on the Mount of Olives as the Reformation.

We are going to follow the oracle as a whole, Chapters 12, 13, and 14, as if a “running” narrative. The important pauses give us a clue as to what actions stand together, which, for the most part, are similar to the chapter designations. The oracle reads as a narrative; there is none of the symbolic imagery as we have seen in previous chapters; certainly no colored horses patrolling for the LORD, no horns, no scrolls, or any of the usual things that are symbolic prophecy.

Chapter 12:1-9 appears to be the sack of the city in 167 B.C.

The chapter closes with a future “day” in which the Lord pours out His spirit on the house of David, to be able to recognize the Messiah.

Chapters 12:10 – 13:9 appear to be about the cleansing of sin through the Messiah, his being cut off as the shepherd, and the scattering of the sheep. This scattering occurred between AD 30-70. At the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, one-third of the people were sent to the copper mine of Egypt, one-third were taken to Rome for the games, and one-third were left with nothing in a completely destroyed city.

Chapter 14, Messiah is coming to get his people. As the Congregation of the Lord scattered, they took the Gospel to all nations. As mountains in prophecy represent nations and specific mountains specific nations, so the Mount of Olives being split is the removal of Jewish polity that held the Congregation to the temple and Jerusalem. Coming up to Jerusalem for the feast of Tabernacles, a feast that celebrates living with our God. It is now every day in the life of the Believer. If a nation will not live with God, it will not be favored by the LORD.