Hope has a Name - Zechariah 14

Well, good morning, church. Good to see you all here this morning. And I love this, like! Fourth of July weekend, where did all the people go? But you're all back. That's so good.

If you have a copy of the scriptures, turn open to Zechariah. We are in chapter 14. We are in the final chapter of this book. We are going to finish the book this morning, and we got our work cut out for us. This may be one of those sermons that you'll have to go back and listen to again, because there's a lot of content, and I apologize ahead of time. That's all I'm going to say. With that, let me pray for our time, and then we will spend some time in the Lord's Word together. Let's pray.

Father, it is good to be here this morning to gather with your people. Lord, we've made it our, just our normal rhythm as your people to gather weekly with other believers to adore you, to sit under the teaching, the preaching, the proclamation of your Word. And I pray, Lord, that you would open our eyes this morning, that we would behold wonderful things from your law.

Lord, I pray that you would help me in this text and give me ability to communicate clearly. And Lord, I pray that we would each leave here this morning with something to consider, maybe something we haven't thought about in terms of you and your promises. I pray that we would each have a sense that you have met with us. And so we delight to gather and to begin our week hearing from you.

So in Jesus' name we pray, and all God's people said, amen. Amen. Well, I've entitled this sermon, The King Returns, because I've heard like the return of the king has been taken.

So I changed it. And we are in chapter 14 of Zechariah here. And I said, we do have our work cut out for us. It's interesting. Martin Luther, in his commentary on Zechariah, he only got through about verse 10 in chapter 13. And then for chapter 14, this is what he wrote. Here in this chapter, I give up. I am not sure what the prophet is talking about. That's it. So we have our work cut out for us.

We are finishing up the study as we have considered this past few months. This is a book where we've seen that Zechariah, he's preaching to a people that had been in exile for 70 years. They're back in Jerusalem. And Zechariah has eight visions the Lord gives to him to encourage the Lord's people. And then he also then ends this book with two oracles. So the book is eight visions and two oracles. And the oracle, what is an oracle? It's a burden. This is God's burden for his people. And we looked at the first one and we're finishing the second one this morning. This book is a hopeful book. It's a reminder that God hadn't forgotten his people after 70 years of living life in exile in Babylon.

And it's interesting because Zechariah's name actually means God remembers. And this whole book is about God saying, I remember you. I'm with you. I'm for you. There's some difficult days ahead, but there are some hopeful, some very good days ahead as well. And so today as we end, we finish up this final oracle, which is contained within chapters 12 to 14. Today we're reminded that the story will end as it should with the king returning on a future day. King Jesus will judge the nations.

He will rescue Israel. He will set up his earthly kingdom for a thousand years that will eventually usher in then the eternal state. And in this final oracle, there is a phrase that Zechariah repeats.

In fact, it shows up 16 times in these three last chapters, this phrase on that day. On that day.

So this is something yet future. That day or the day of the Lord. And what is meant by this phrase? The day of the Lord. Is this a single day or is this a period of time? Much happens on that quote unquote day. Actually too much for just one day because the day of the Lord, it includes the events of the rapture, the seven-year tribulation where the nations are judged and Israel is saved.

The battle of Armageddon completing that seven-year period. Then the hero of the story returns, King Jesus returning in all his glory at his second coming. And then he sets up his kingdom on earth. A lot happens on the day of the Lord. So it's a period of time. We've already read in chapters 12 and 13 that the day of the Lord will cause Israel to recognize their Messiah.

We read in Zechariah 12.10, And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy so that when they look on me on whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly over him as one weeps over a firstborn. So Israel is going to recognize their Messiah one day. This is not the church being spoken of here. This is ethnic Israel, the house of David, and they're going to recognize the Messiah they rejected.

It goes on in Zechariah 13.1, On that day there shall be a fountain opened in the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness. The people who were initially chosen to proclaim the Messiah, to proclaim Jesus who said, no, instead crucify him, they're going to get a second chance.

And I love this about our God, that he's a God of great forbearance, of great patience, of grace. And we see it here in this final chapter. And so we find ourselves at the end of the tribulation period as the battle of Armageddon is getting underway. Recall the tribulation. It's initiated by the Antichrist deceiving Israel and entering into a treaty. Halfway through, three and a half years in, he breaks the treaty, revealing his true nature. The last three and a half years of the tribulation are difficult for Israel as God refines them. How difficult will it be in those days? Well, listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 24, 21. For then there will be a great tribulation such as not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.

Today you don't want to be a part of. And as a church, I don't think we're going to actually be present. It's interesting because this final three and a half years we have in Jeremiah 37, it says, verse 7, it's called the time of Jacob's trouble.

And Revelation, if you want to read about this tribulation period, you can read Revelation about chapter 6 to 16, and you're going to see God's wrath poured out on a wayward planet for seven years. And you have these different judgments. We have in Revelation 6, just note these and look at them later, we have what's called the seal judgments. That happens probably in about the first three and a half years. And then we move on to the trumpet judgments, chapters 8 and 9, that occur mostly, I think, in the second half of the tribulation period, the last three and a half years. And then it ends with the bold judgments described in Revelation 16. And I believe those are happening primarily at the very end of the tribulation, many of them part of the final battle. But these judgments, as we read in Revelation, they increase in severity. There's warfare, there's famine, there's plagues, there's earthquakes.

And if you're alive just after the first six of the seal judgments, Revelation 6.16 says here that kings and the earth, they're calling out to the mountains and rocks saying, fall on us, hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come. And who can stand? It's going to be an awful time. It's going to be a time of devastation the world has never known. And in fact, by the time the trumpets begin, a third of the earth is burned up. There's massive loss of aquatic life. By the time the bold judgments arrive, the world's rivers have turned to blood. There's astronomical chaos. The sun is scorching the earth. I mean, global warming in that day is a very, very real thing. And all of this is taking place leading up to the climactic end as the king prepares to return to intervene in the final battle at the 11th hour and then set up his kingdom. And so that's where we find ourselves. That's just all the introduction.

And here we go. Let's read about this climactic ending this morning. And we're just going to work through this chapter because there's a lot here. And I'm going to give you at least one application at the end. Maybe two. Let's read about this climactic end here at the end of the tribulation period beginning here in verse 1. Behold, Zechariah writes, a day is coming for the Lord when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. So at the end of the tribulation as part of the battle of Armageddon spoils wealth of Jerusalem will be taken by the invading armies of the world who have been deceived into following the Antichrist. And there are many that follow the Antichrist.

Scripture describes 10 kings, 10 nations who follow the Antichrist in Revelation 17. There's a coalition of kings from the east who also joined in Revelation 16. It's a massive army. Many are deceived. And you're maybe perhaps wondering, like, how could that many people be so deceived? But I don't think it's probably as troubling a question as we live in this day and age where we have many in the world who are like, you know what, we live in a day where men can become women. And we're just like, what? That's never been the case in the history of man. But all of a sudden, we live in a time where there is this deception. There is, and I would say, a demonic deception that's present on planet Earth.

Well, we know how the nations are deceived because actually, John tells us in Revelation 16.4, it says, for they are demonic spirits performing signs who go abroad to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. So there is a demonic influence on planet Earth during the tribulation period unseen by any of us. It's worse than even today.

And in fact, it's worse because God's people indwelt by His Spirit, the church, I believe is part of the restrainer of evil in our day. And you can read about that in 2 Thess chapter 2.

The church has been removed. We have been raptured, and Satan is having his way. Or so he believes. Because recall, the Antichrist armies have assembled in the Jezreel Valley. This is the staging area for war. I think we have a map I'm going to throw up there for us. There in the pink is the Jezreel Valley.

And it says actually in Revelation 16.16, they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. And so they assemble here, and are they wanting to fight in this valley? Is that where the Antichrist armies are wanting to do battle? No. The aim is to make the final push to take down Jerusalem.

So from the Jezreel Valley, the staging area in the pink, they're marching south some 55 miles to wage war on the capital city of Israel, Jerusalem. In fact, let's look. Verse 2. Zechariah 14, verse 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 the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. So this, friends, is a bleak scene. This is a difficult scene. It's heartbreaking.

It's evil. Think about the events of October 7th in 2023 when Hamas came into southern Israel. Like, that doesn't even compare to what is ahead in the tribulation. And that's the picture that is painted here. That the city shall be taken. The house is plundered. Half of the city is scattered.

And what I want us to see that in this final, like, push, the Antichrist trying to gain power, the planet is stacked against the nation of Israel. The people who were first entrusted with the good news for a wayward planet, the nations are raging against them. The odds are stacked against them.

They're insurmountable. It's hopeless. It's the ultimate David and Goliath story. This is game over for Israel. The nations are coming against this small little city.

It's game over. It's game over. Or so it appears. Notice, who's the one actually gathering the nations aligned under the Antichrist? What does it say there? Verse 2, I will gather the nations.

I will gather. God. God is the one gathering. And I want us to see, friends, in this prophetic passage, God. This is God's story. The Antichrist, the rebellious nations, they are pawns.

And just when all hope is lost, the battle is raging and Israel is about to fall, what happens? Verse 3, then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when He fights on a day of battle.

Who shows up? Who shows up? The King. The King shows up. Just when you thought all hope was lost. This is not a great parallel, but it makes me think of the story when one of my three-year-olds, seven of them had been three, but one of them, without naming them, I still remember when we were at Disneyland and they were climbing on the ladder in Toontown and they got stuck and there were big kids running over them and they couldn't get down and they were frozen. And older sister was like, come up, come up. And they're like, they couldn't move. So I had to like get into and climb into this little contraption thing. And then I grabbed this three-year-old Turner, brought her down and put her down. And she looked up and she told Julie, dad rescued me. Dad rescued me. This is, this is dad rescuing.

This is the ultimate dad rescuing story in all the Bible. The King shows up and he's ready to make battle. Jesus hasn't done that before. When He came the first time, He came humbly. Picked up a basin towel.

Here He's pricking up a thord. The King, all hope is lost and the story turns in a most unexpected way because dad shows up. The King is ready to fight. Where does he specifically return? Look at verse 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. Friends, this is not hyperbole.

This is not allegorical. This is prophetic. And in fact, the location of His return, it's promised here in the Old Testament. Okay? 500 years before Jesus even shows up on the scene.

It's prophesied where He will return one day. It's also prophesied in the New Testament because in the book of Acts, 40 days after the resurrection, it says, verse 10, And while they were gazing into heaven, as He went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes and said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven.

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away. Where were the disciples when Jesus ascended? It tells us. Scripture tells us the Mount called Olivet. This is the place where Jesus is going to return, prophesied in the old, prophesied in the new. Same spot. And I want us to understand that this return of Christ, okay? This is the return of, this is His second coming. This is different than the rapture.

The rapture occurs, as I understand it, prior to the tribulation. If I'm in the tribulation, I'm changing my position. We can all rally around that. But for today, I believe that it's happening prior to the events of the tribulation. And maybe you're like, well, Jay, if we're raptured, if God, if Jesus returns for His bride, the church prior to the tribulation, what are we doing during this time for seven years? I'm going to tell you what I believe we're doing. We're celebrating the marriage feast of the Lamb in heaven with Jesus. Revelation 19, 7 talks about this, where Jesus is reunited with His bride. The rapture and the second coming are different. I think a lot of folks get these things confused. I believe they're two separate events. I think they're described differently. The rapture is described as believers joining Christ in the clouds, being caught up. 1 Thessalonians 4, 17, you can jot that down. It talks about where we meet the Lord in the air. Okay? So He calls for His church. He stays in the air. We meet Him in the air. Receive our glorified bodies in the air.

The second coming, Jesus doesn't stay in the air. He doesn't call us to the air. He returns to earth, plants His feet on terra firma, right on the Mount of Olives. So they're different.

What happens, I believe, prior to the tribulation, the second coming happens at the very end. And even though predicted in both the Old and the New Testament, this is what's shocking to me, that it's prophesied that Jesus is returning, the King is returning, the King is returning, and yet the armies of the world are going to be gobsmacked. They're going to be like, we didn't see this coming. How come no one told us? You have been told. And during this time, Jews are going to be fleeing Jerusalem as God deals with the invading armies. Look at verse 5.

And you, speaking of Israel, will flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azael. Not really sure where that's at. You can do some study. 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. So the scene is this. The Antichrist is pummeling Jerusalem. The Jews are fleeing out of the city as though an earthquake has occurred.

Kind of like the earthquake that's referred to here. It actually happened like 250 years prior to Zechariah. Amos actually predicts that this would come. You can look at Amos 1.1 and there's a few texts within that book that perhaps he was actually prophesying that earthquake. It was so significant though that the people in Zechariah's day remembered it, recalled that. That great earthquake 250 years ago. It'll be like that. And right in the middle of their terror, the Lord arrives. Do you guys have the scene kind of in your mind's eye? You kind of see like this final battle and the army's raging and Israel fleeing and it's like, and they're like all hope is lost. And you kind of, kind of see this in your mind. And I love it that the Lord then arrives. He shows up. And the great thing is He's not alone because it says, and all the holy ones with Him. Well, who are the holy ones that are with the Lord on His return? The Hebrew word here, it means those who are set apart. Who might this be?

That's us. That's the church. In fact, 1 Thessalonians 3.13 says, at the coming of the Lord Jesus with all His saints, we are joining the Lord on His return on the second coming. We are coming with Him. Revelation 19.14, the armies of heaven arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, we're following Him on white horses. Can I get an amen? Because there's going to be a Sunday. I don't know if it's a Sunday. We're not going to be sitting in pews. This is kind of nice. It's okay. We're going to be on horseback, all of us, behind our King. I know some of you young men are like, we don't have to sit through church. Right? It's going to be a good, good day. Armies of heaven will also include the angels. Matthew 25.31, when the Son of Man comes in His glory and all the angels with Him.

His entrance this time is very different than His first advent. He's not on a donkey. He's on a charger.

And we're with Him. And I just think, what a scene. This is the battle of Armageddon. Like the nations. They have come against Jerusalem. They have surrounded the city. They're thinking, man, this is easy pickings. Just when all hope is lost, the story gets really, really good.

Because the Antichrist sees. And I think he turns ash white. The hubris, it just crumbles. This is the scene in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings when Aragorn, the rightful King of Gondor shows up.

And he has the armies of the dead. We're the armies of the living. So it's a little different. But just think about that scene. They show up and they just mow down Sauron's armies. And it's just this picture, right? The second coming of Christ is going to be a day, friends, unlike any other. In fact, look at verses 6 and 7. On that day, there shall be no light, cold or frost. I think this is where Luther was like, I'm out. I don't know. Verse 7.

And there shall be a unique day which is known to the Lord, neither day or night, but at evening time there shall be light. I mean, I could make something up.

No light, cold, frost. I don't really know. I mean, I think the normal patterns of sunlight seasons have been radically affected. We know that from the tribulation. Revelation 6.12, when he opened the sixth seal, look, behold, there was a great earthquake and the sun became black as sackcloth. Full moon became like blood. It may be that the only light on Christ's return is Christ himself. Light emanating from King Jesus because in Revelation 1.14.16, it says, you know, his eyes were a flame of fire, his face like the shining sun at full strength.

I love this description in 2 Thessalonians 2.8, and then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth.

I'm just going to whoo, whoo, and bring to nothing by the appearance, by the appearance of his coming. Appearance literally means manifestation or brightness.

That's remarkable. And if you read the story ahead, what you see is actually in the new Jerusalem, Revelation 21.22, eternity, God will be the light of this new creation.

Well, let's continue here, verses 8 and 9. Zechariah 14, on that day, living waters will flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea, dead sea, half of them to the western sea, the Mediterranean sea.

It shall continue in summer as in winter, and the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day, the Lord will be one as his name is one.

So, Christ's return will be so concussive in nature, and back in verse 4, it says, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west, and a very wide valley created.

It will be so concussive in nature that this valley is created through Jerusalem, from the Mediterranean to the Dead Sea, that fresh water will flow in this valley from the Temple Mount of Jerusalem, connecting these seas.

That's remarkable. And in fact, it says that the Dead Sea, that is six times saltier than the ocean, will become fresh.

Zechariah, or Ezekiel 47, 8, when the waters flow into the sea, the water will become fresh. Here, we're starting, church, to get a peek into the renewal of the land, I believe, in the Millennial Kingdom.

And even though Messiah's throne sits in Jerusalem, what does Zechariah say here? That Jesus is what? King over just Jerusalem? No. Jesus is king over all the earth.

On that day, the Lord will be one, and his name one. Guess what? Jesus gets all the worship, all the praise, one day.

Every knee will bow, one day. It's remarkable to think about this, because the name of the Lord is not used in a reverent tone in much of culture.

I see it every time I drive, Uber, and spend time with people. The name of the Lord is not used in a reverent way. He is the rightful king.

He's the king over all the earth. And he will be worshipped. There's no king Baal. There's no king Zeus. There's no king Allah. There's only one God, which is why it says in Acts 4 that salvation is found in no one else.

There's no other name under heaven by which men must be saved. I drove a gentleman last night, or Friday night. We got talking. He shared he's a Buddhist.

I said, you need to know about Jesus. Invited him. I don't know if he's here. You need to know the king. You need to know the one that made you. The eternal God.

Well, let's continue. Verse 10. You guys are doing so good. Okay? I want to commend you. Okay? We're almost halfway. The whole land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Ramon 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...

I'm not sure where the accent is, but I'm going to go for it. I don't know. I don't know.

I don't know. Dr. V is going to talk with me afterwards. Just know that's going to happen. To the king's wine presses. All right. This is interesting, church, because the holy land, it says here, is going to be turned to a plain as a result of the upheaval, I think, of the land during the tribulation and the return of Christ.

Recall, the Mount of Olives is no more. It's now a valley. It's not a mount. So Mount Zion, Jerusalem, now in this region sits alone, and I think it reflects then the prophetic word that Isaiah brings in Isaiah chapter 2, where he writes in chapter 2, verse 2, it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains and shall be lifted up above the hills and all the nations shall flow to it and they flow to it for worship.

So Jerusalem is now the epicenter of worship in God's millennial kingdom. Jesus rules from Jerusalem. The king has returned.

And when the king is present, there's blessing. And there's peace. Peace that Jerusalem has never known.

In fact, that's what Zechariah then tells us. Look at verse 11. And it shall be inhabited. For there shall never again be a decree of utter destruction. Jerusalem shall dwell in security.

When has that ever happened in the history of mankind? In the future kingdom, it will. Friends, this is a day to look forward to.

I hope that this passage, even though there's a lot here, you're like, ooh, that sounds pretty good. Like God's got a plan. Yeah, he's got a good plan. He's got a very good plan.

And now, as prophets often do, because they are involved in dark sayings and hard to understand, but Zechariah now flips back to the battle of Armageddon.

We were talking a little bit about the millennial king. Now he's going to shift back. Battle of Armageddon. And this whole title, Battle of Armageddon, is a misnomer. The battle is focused on Jerusalem. Okay?

Armageddon, Valley of Jezreel, staging area. But let's look at it. Verses 12 to 15. Look, I'm picking up speed. See? Look at us. 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. Their tongues will rot in their mouths. 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.

Just pause for a second here. There's great irony here. Man in his evil, in his vitriol, they're like, man, I've got friends. They're with me. We're in this together.

We're going to do bad things together. And then what happens is, guess what? They begin to turn on one another. And you actually see it here. Okay? Because it's there in verse 13.

It's like in their rebellion to God, they're facing the dread of the Lord, and they're looking for comfort from one another. Because for the first time, they're like, whoa, God is serious and real, and we have been rejecting Him, ignoring Him, cussing Him out, but He's here.

And so man's like, man, I need comfort. And it says, they'll seize the hand of one another. I think this is reaching out, looking for friends, looking for, oh, comfort me? Let's hold hands. But what do they find?

The hand raised against the other. I'm looking for comfort, and now we're battling one another. And I think it's sort of reminiscent of the confusion God brings to the armies of Midian back in Judges 7.

Right? If you recall that story, Gideon's men blows, he blows the trumpet and breaks the pitchers, torches revealed, and then what it says, the men, each man, turned his sword on his comrades.

And that's what you have here on this day, this final battle. But it continues, verse 14, even Judah will fight at Jerusalem.

The wealth of the surrounding nations shall be collected, gold, silver, and garments in great abundance. And a plague, like this plague, shall fall on the horses, mules, camels, the donkeys, and whatever beast may be in those camps.

So this scene right here, the swords that these nations of the world are experiencing, even their beasts, their animals used in war.

It's very akin to the first bowl judgment where if you read in Revelation 16, that harmful and painful swords come upon people that bore the mark of the beast and worshipped its image.

And you see it then reflected here at the battle of Armageddon, the final battle. And these swords aren't just on the people, this flesh-eating plague, whatever it is, it touches every living thing, even animals used for war. And I would say, man, nothing breaks man faster than when God takes his health.

And that's happening here. And all of a sudden, all this hubris, and I'm invincible, and I'm untouchable, and all of a sudden, my body's forsaking me? I'm not actually my own sovereign?

That's right. That's right. I think the dread of the Lord is now falling upon the wicked nations. The day of the Lord is, it's not a meme, it's not a joke.

I think the bravado of man on this day is going to be replaced with great panic, unlike man has ever experienced in this present life. I think it's going to take his breath away.

I think it's going to crush him. And maybe this is why Amos writes, Amos 5.18, he says, woe to you who desire the day of the Lord.

Why would you have the day of the Lord? It's darkness, not light. But what's shocking here is that even by the time we get to the final bowl judgment, remember, we had the seals, trumpets, bowls at the end of the tribulation, part of the battle of Armageddon, by the time you get to the bowl judgments, man is still shaking his fist at God.

It's shocking. Revelation 16.21, a great hailstorm, about a hundred pounds each, great hailstones, excuse me, about a hundred pounds each fell from heaven on people, and they cursed God for the plague of the hail because the plague was so severe.

They should be crying out for mercy. Lord have mercy on me. And what does it say? They're cursing God. The great plot twist, the armies of the Antichrist think victory is about to happen.

Jesus could just, whoosh. Here he's raining down boulders. Can you even imagine? And we can connect the scene in Revelation 14.20 where it says that blood will flow as high as a horse's bridle for about 180 miles.

Oh, now that's starting to make sense. The lamb, the lamb is a lion, friends. Let's not forget.

Let's be a people that walk in the fear of the Lord. Additionally, Israel, who was just plundered in this section now, takes back all their wealth.

It says, all the wealth of the surrounding nations will be collected. It's sort of akin to Israel collecting the gold, the silver, the garments from Egypt before the Exodus and in Exodus 3.

And I love the fact that the story at the end, it's a repeat. It's a retelling in a way. Just as God led, fought, protected, delivered in the days of the Exodus, so again, at the very end of days with His ancient people, He will do the same.

Those that He endured so long with. Zachariah now ends with an image of the millennial kingdom set up directly following Christ's return.

I know. We're doing a little bit of this. A little tennis game. Okay? But we're now going to stay here. We're not going to go back to Armageddon. We're now just staying right here in the millennial kingdom. Let's look at it. Verses 16 and 19.

And I just want to, like, remind us as we read this, this, this doesn't sound like the eternal state. Okay? I don't think this is allegorical language.

Something's happening. There is this unique time in the history of man, yet future, for a thousand years with this renewed earth that's very different than what we experience today and what we will experience in eternity future.

But let's read about it. Verses 16 and 19. 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 Booth.

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. 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. 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.

Now, what do we learn here? There are people, because it says, of all the nations who actually survive the tribulation. They make it through.

How they make it through? I have no idea. Based upon all of the judgments, all of the wrath. I just, but they do. There are some that make it through. They survive the tribulation. They enter into the millennial kingdom.

This is not the church. The church has been raptured. We are with Christ. We've been raptured prior to the tribulation. We help rule with Christ in the millennium.

We have our glorified bodies, but there are some that go into the millennium in their earthly bodies. Those who enter are those who have trusted in Jesus during those seven years.

And I believe that their faith is demonstrated in how they then sought to protect Israel during this horrific time. Jesus actually talks about this in Matthew 25, where he says, hey, that which you did to the least of me is you did unto me.

At the end of the tribulation period, Armageddon has occurred. There's a judgment of sheep and goats. We read about that in the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 25.

It describes those who get in to enter this millennial kingdom in their earthly bodies. Those who enter the millennium in earthly bodies will then repopulate this earth over a thousand years.

And although everyone begins, they start by worshiping Jesus. There are generations that will follow that will rebel. The rebellion of man's heart will again rear its ugly head.

And it's shocking because even in a renewed earthly state where Jesus is physically ruling, man has every advantage to worship the Lord.

Satan is actually bound for a thousand years, it says, in Revelation 20, verse 2. So even under the best conditions, guess what man still chooses to do? Rebel.

And I think what we see is the story is always about a sovereign God drawing a people unto Himself. We're still dependent on God's sovereignty and His grace.

But what's interesting in this section as it's described by Zechariah, the nations will annually worship in Jerusalem in this renewed kingdom. And if they choose to not worship, there are consequences.

God, it says, withholds rain for crops to grow. Friends, I had no idea how important water was until I moved to eastern Washington.

I mean, I lived in the city. I thought water was just magical. But here I realize you need it desperately. We have like a whole app that follows all the fires we create every summer.

water. Like, we need, like water is life. And so, that's the consequence. You don't go and participate in this festival, this feast, God's going to withhold water from your nation.

And guess what? Egypt, it's interesting, is highlighted here. I'm going to take a stab on why. There may be other reasons, but I think Egypt's highlighted here because that was a nation that didn't actually depend on rain.

They had the Nile. But what Zechariah is saying is, you're not exempt. You don't have like, you know, your insurance and you're going to be okay.

Even Egypt will not escape God's judgment for rebellion in the millennium. And so, you've got to ask yourself the question that why are the nations required to worship annually in Jerusalem? Well, what's in Jerusalem?

What's in Jerusalem? King Jesus! The king is in Jerusalem! Jerusalem! That's why you go to Jerusalem. Why do you celebrate the Feast of Booths?

Tabernacles? Seems a little strange, perhaps? I'm just giving you thoughts. Luther didn't say anything. I'm just giving you thoughts.

All right? What did the Feast of Booths commemorate? Israel's 40-year wandering during the Exodus before entering the Promised Land.

They lived in tents. Guess what? The millennium is the ultimate fulfillment for Israel of entering the Promised Land. The best I can do.

Well, let's end this chapter. Zechariah, he ends with, I think, just highlighting the goodness of the Millennial Kingdom. Let's look at verses 20 and 21. It says, 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. And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holy to the Lord of hosts, so that all whose sacrifice may come and take of them and boil the meat of the sacrifice in them.

And there shall no longer be a traitor in the house of the Lord of hosts on that day. I think what we see here in this final section is that in the Millennial Kingdom, even the ordinary is very special.

Everything is actually used to the glory of God. Household pots are used for sacrifice. And what you see here is that worship is pure. There's no buying or selling in the temple.

There's not a traitor in the house of the Lord. It says, Inscribed on the bells of the horse, holy to the Lord. Everything, even down to what's inscribed on the bells of the horse, this animal that was once unclean and now it's like, like, friends, we inscribe things on things.

I actually brought something up here. I have a teaching aid. Look, a dollar. I know. And I actually underlined something we inscribe on this. You know what it says here? I mean, there's some Latin.

None of us really know of why we have a flying eye and up here, I don't know. At any rate, it says, in God we trust. We don't mean this. We don't mean this.

Our nation doesn't mean this. We're a post-Christian nation. In this day, however, holy to the Lord, yes, we believe this.

It's inscribed. We believe this. Worship is true. We are going to sing. We are going to live in the very presence of Jesus.

Okay, I'm going to talk about it. It says here that all who sacrifice will come, take them, and boil the meat. So yes, part of the worship in the millennial kingdom appears to be sacrifices are done.

And I know, this is very confusing. Like, what? I thought the final sacrifice occurred. It did! These are done in commemoration, I believe.

This is not meritorious. Reminds us of what the Lamb accomplished on our behalf. You want to read about like this whole temple being rebuilt, Ezekiel 40-48 describes.

It's wild. That temple's never been built, so it's obviously future. But again, the millennium is that golden age where man has every advantage to follow Jesus.

I think even in the way that people celebrate communion, that the imagery is far more intense it reminds us of actually what Jesus endured with the sacrifice and meal of the animal and yet man still rebels.

There's still some that say, I don't want you, Jesus. And I think it just highlights the goodness of a sovereign God who draws men unto himself despite themselves. But what I love about sacrifices here in the millennium is that in the Old Testament sacrifices pointed forward to Jesus.

In the millennium, they point back. They point back. But remember, in neither age were those sacrifices able to atone for sin. So don't get all weird and scared on this.

Okay? The centerpiece, whether you're looking forward or backwards, is the Lamb who was slain for all time for the sins of the planet.

Now, let me give us an application. It's simply this. Are we ready for Christ's return? Because we read things like this and we're like, I haven't thought about any of that, Jay, in a long, long, long time.

Well, maybe you should go and you should read the book that says there's a blessing as you read it called the book of Revelation and consider the fact that Jesus says, I'm going to return. I am going to return.

Let us not be caught surprised, church. Let's not use our days poorly. Let's not live in this day without the fear of the Lord. Amen? I would commend to us the words of Zechariah 1-3 where God says, return to me.

Return to me, says the Lord of hosts. And I think as we return to Him, if there's things we need to repent of, I think we will begin to look forward more and more to the day when Christ says, I'm coming back.

Amen? Father, we thank You that we live in a day that's actually not the final state of things. We now live as it were in the shadowlands as Lewis calls it.

The real is yet to come. And so Lord, we look forward that there is a day we will live in the land of the living. Presently, we're in the land of the dying.

And Lord, there's a day when You are going to reverse the curse. You're going to come back for the bride. You're going to deal with evil. You're going to reign from Jerusalem for a thousand years.

It's going to usher in forever. Lord, there are so many good things to look forward to, but Lord, we don't want to be slack today. We want to use our time well. We want to use our days well.

You are worthy, Lord, even in that day in the Millennial Kingdom. Even on the bells it will say, holy to the Lord. But Lord, we want others to see our lives today and recognize there's a God in heaven.

He's real. Jesus, thank You that You are a God who decided to die for sinners and You delight to forgive them.

We are very blessed to be Your people. We're so thankful to be on the winning side. Lord, we don't want it to cause us to be slack, but we want it to stir in us greater zeal, greater urgency.

We can look and we can see that evil continues to increase on this planet. So Lord, I don't know how long You will tarry, but Lord, when You decide to return, we want to be ready. We pray all this in Your name, Jesus, for Your glory.

Amen.