If you can't understand the perfectly simple Scripture then I can't say it any better than God did.
Zechariah 14
1 Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, ...
2 For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; ...
3 Then the LORD will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle.
4 And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, ...
12 And this shall be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, Their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, And their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths.
It is you who do NOT understand what God talked about in Zechariah 14.
Zec 14:1-3
(1) Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and
thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
(2) For I will gathe
r all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and th
e 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.
(3) Then shall the
LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
This chapter describes the great conflict or warfare of
God's congregation (Jerusalem) and how her enemies bring her by force into spiritual captivity (Matthew 11:12). It explains how the coming of Christ ends the warfare and brings comfort to Jerusalem by setting her captives free and judging her enemies.
The language of "dividing the spoil" in the midst of Jerusalem is to signify the people (who are the spoil) being taken by the enemy. All these descriptive prophesies of Zechariah chapter 14 must be understood
symbolically. The enemy took the spoil of the kingdom (which were God's people) and the Lord Jesus Christ brings restoration by defeating them and freeing the spoil from this enemy. Christ spoke of this in His parable about His kingdom, His defeat of the ruler Satan and His binding and spoiling of that house.
Matthew 12:25-29
- "And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:
- And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?
- And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges.
- But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.
- Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house."
Christ said that if He had cast out Satan by the power of God, then the Kingdom of God had come unto them. Satan is the enemy, this strong man illustrated here in this parable, and his spoil are those whom Christ came to release from bondage under Satan. But
first Satan had to be bound. The same Kingdom that Christ said suffered violence and was taken by force by the enemies of God. Jesus took a remnant from those in control of the kingdom, returned the captivity (the spoil), and gave the kingdom representation to another (Matthew 21:43). All of these things of Zechariah 14, includig the gathering of the nations/gentiles against Jerusalem as judgment, the mount of Olives (verses 2-4), the removal of the mountain, the fleeing to the valley, the great earthquake (verses 5-6), neither light nor dark, the waters flowing from Jerusalem, earthquake and the one king over all the earth (Zechariah 14:7-9), it turning as a plain, Jerusalem again safely inhabited while there is judgment for her enemies as plagues (Zechariah 10-15), the assemblage of all nations at Jerusalem to keep the feast of tabernacles, the holiness to some and judgment to others, and the use of "every pot in Jerusalem and Judah" for sacrifice (Zechariah 16-21),
is all part of this prophecy of the coming of Christ and must be understood symbolically.
When Zechariah 14:1 says "
Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee," that is describing the great conflict or warfare in God's kingdom on earth with the enemies that spoil her, before Christ comes to comfort Jerusalem, spoil the enemies and give the kingdom to New Testament Congregation who will bring forth fruits. It speaks of the apostasy and conflict in Old Testament Israel when Christ came and took the spoil of the enemy. As also Christ Himself taught in Luke chapter 11 when He said that "all that were not with Him were against Him." In other words, they were the enemies that fought against Him.
Luke 11:20-22
- "But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you./i]
- When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace:
- But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.
- He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth."
All that were not with Christ were the enemies that were gathered together against Jerusalem. These are they who fought against the Holy City, who were judged of the Lord for doing so, and the remnant enjoyed that prosperous estate promised by the Lord. It was Christ who freed the captivity and restored the Kingdom to Israel. Not as national Israel and Premillennialists dreamed, but as God had always intended.
Zec 14:4
- 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.
His feet did stand upon the mount of olives, and the mount did cleave. The problem is, a lot of people don't accept that the Bible is a very Spiritual book that has to be understood Spiritually. Sadly, like YOU, understanding Scripture "Spiritually" has become almost like a "dirty word" to them. Nevertheless, mount or mountain
represents a Kingdom. For example, Christ came to the Mount of Olives, indeed rode into Jerusalem on a colt
as King from the Mount of Olives.
He preached on the
mount of Olives, prayed on the
mount of Olives, was betrayed by Judas with a kiss on the
mount of Olives, indeed left earth from the
Mount of Olives. And by His coming (and the consequent rejecting of Him by His people) He destroyed the
mountain or Kingdom. The valley that was left was for the remnant to flee. This is not physical but Spiritual, just as nearly all of God's prophecies are. Why would this be any different. Take for example the prophesy of Isaiah 40.
Isaiah 40:3-4
- "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
- Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:"
Who takes this literally/Physically? No one. But they would if it suited their purpose. This has
NOTHING whatsoever to do with literal/physical Mountains and valleys being made low by physical earthquakes. It has nothing whatsoever to do with building a physical highway in the physical desert. But this is
The Way God speaks in His prophecies to show us Spiritual truths. For example, Elijah didn't Physically come back to earth to do this, nevertheless, this prophesy was
very "literally" fulfilled by John The Baptist. He was
Spiritually "the Elijah" (Luke 1:17) prophesied to come. Selah! Spiritual discerned!
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