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THE BOOK OF ZECHARIAH
Lesson 31, Chapter 14

Christians have traditionally looked primarily to the Book of Revelation for
their guide on End Times matters and information about the return of Messiah.
In addition, we find other New Testament books like Matthew, Luke, John, and
Thessalonians, which seem to provide additional, but sparse, reference to that
event.

The reality is that most of what is reported there was already spoken of in a
few of the 12 Minor Prophets as well as a couple of the Major Prophets. And, a
further reality is that, despite the many books that have been written about
the End Times and about Revelation, and about the Messiah’s return, with
most claiming to be authoritative and scholarly, the vast majority of what is
written is based on speculation, opinion, some older and newer denominational
Church doctrines, and just plain imagination. The various beliefs and opinions
about these subjects have morphed over time, often appearing starkly
different in a matter of 50 years or less. And then, there are the books such as
Tim LaHaye’s entertaining and wildly popular Left Behind series that are
fictional novels bearing little resemblance to biblical truth (and to Tim’s credit,
saying upfront that this book series is a fictional novel series).

My point is this: prophecy is inherently fuzzy and has always been. While it
points us to certain dramatic events and helps us to envision God’s path of
Redemption as it plays out, its fulfillment is only realized in hindsight. For
instance, we can look back at the coming of Yeshua, and His path to the Cross,
and to some of the things that happened later, but until it all happened, and
people had the chance to put the pieces together, they couldn’t have imagined
it all playing out as it did. Ironically, once played out, the fit with prophecy was
perfect. In fact, it turned out more literal in most cases than what anyone
thought possible, because the circumstances necessary for it to happen so
literally had not yet manifested. We face exactly the same thing concerning
our long-awaited hope of Yeshua’s return. That it will happen is certain; how,
when, and what it will look like is anything but certain.

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Despite various denominations and book authors coming up with timelines,
names, places, and some even attempting dates, these are so speculative and
depend on inserting meaning into biblical passages that are doubtful, at best,
that we must be careful not to give them too much credence. One of the
reasons this happens is that human beings hate uncertainty. And the more
modern the times, the more precision is demanded. So, authors and Church
governments attempt to satisfy that demand. This same thing happene d in
Jewish history, and the result was that when Messiah first came, He didn’t
meet their widely accepted but speculative assumptions and so the vast
majority of Jews refused to accept who Yeshua was.

Especially as we read the final chapter of Zechariah, the things that have been
assumed for a very long time especially in the Evangelical branches of the
Church about Messiah’s return become greatly questionable, if not outright
proved incorrect. The thing is, that doesn’t necessarily mean that as satisfying
of a substitute answer can be supplied. Rather, I’m sorry to say we’re probably
going to add more mystery to the matter rather than solving some. But, it is
better to know as much as we can know and to leave it there, than it is to fill
in the blanks with doctrines, opinions, and our imaginations. I cannot begin to
tell you the number of conversations I have with folks who seem to be more
interested in End Times matters than just about anything else in their faith
walk, but biblically the return of Messiah and many other End Times concerns
offer the least amount of discernable information. So, they tend to come up
with some pretty creative solutions.

Biblically, we indeed are offered some important milestones, and some
“trouble ahead” signposts, but details are frustratingly lacking. We are going
to stick with what God’s Word actually says. And you are today going to find
out that when read literally, and taken from the original Hebrew, much of
Zechariah 14 is going to throw a monkey wrench into the works of some of the
most accepted Christian doctrine on the subject of Messiah’s return. I may
offer an opinion, but when that happens I will tell you it is opinion and not fact
(and I don’t intend to do much of that). So, let’s get on with it. Open your
Bibles to Zechariah chapter 14. We’ll re-read it all.

RE-READ ZECHARIAH CHAPTER 14 all

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As I stated in our previous lesson, Zechariah 14 is about the final battle for
Jerusalem. It will be another David versus Goliath scenario, with Israel alone
fighting the governments of the entire planet. In other sense, we must see this
as gentiles versus Hebrews, even though no doubt some gentiles will be Pro-
Israel… but they, we, shall be the exception. Nonetheless, even we shall suffer
the fates of the nations that results.

I realize that some Evangelical Christian doctrines believe that the so-called
Rapture will occur prior to this battle, and so Believers will not have to suffer
the collateral damage of the World War against Israel. Although I accept the
concept of the Rapture, nothing I read says we will no longer be here to avoid
the troubles and death that leads up to what is often called The Great
Tribulation. It is true that at some point, after what is called tribulation (there
is no such thing in the Bible as “The Tribulation”), which is essentially
mankind’s evil gone viral more than ever before, then God’s wrath will begin (I
think it is at the opening of the 6
th
seal of the Seal Judgments when that
happens, but that is my opinion). I further think that very shortly (even
hours?) before God’s wrath begins, the Rapture of Believers will happen for
those of us who remain alive (and while that is my opinion, I’m a bit stronger
on it than I am about exactly at what point of the so-called 21 Judgments that
the tribulations end and God’s wrath begins).

The war against Jerusalem and Israel depicted here is The War of
Armageddon. I will add that many Church denominations believe that what
we’re reading has already occurred, and it was when Nebuchadnezzar attacked
Jerusalem early in the 6
th
century B.C. What we know from the Bible about the
prosecution of that war and its aftermath bears little resemblance to what is
depicted here in Zechariah. Here, in the War of Armageddon, is what is called
The Day of Yehoveh, or Judgment Day, and the pas sages specifically say so.
That was not the case of Babylon attacking Jerusalem so very long ago. So,
what is prophesied here has yet to happen.
An interesting feature of this attack of the nations on Jerusalem is that they
will win; or at least, it appears so for a while. And, if you were the nations you
would think the same. We are told that by the conclusions of the war fully two-
thirds of residents of Jerusalem are killed (which I think probably means

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Israel, here, as Jerusalem often stands for the entire country), Jerusalem is
ransacked, much of it destroyed, and so the enemy starts to divide up the
spoils of war. This false confidence might seem merited to them at the time,
but suddenly Yehoveh Himself intervenes, turns the tables, and Israel is the
victor.

The reality that it is God who has intervened will be so obvious, that the
people of Israel will acknowledge it, as will their leaders, and weep and mourn
bitterly that they had been so rebellious towards God for so many centuries.
Will the nations also realize it? It seems that some will, and some won’t.

Verse 2 explains that many atrocities will be visited upon the Israelis, and
especially so for the women. They will be sexually violated. Some scholars
have argued that this language of wholesale rape is merely language that is
wrapped up in ancient warfare in which these sexual assaults were the norm.
But, that today, we should probably discount that. Wrong. All one has to do is
listen to the Jewish victims and hostages of the October 7, 2023 Hamas and
Gaza attack on Israel about what happened to women and female children as
young as 5 or 6 years old and as elderly as their mid-80’s to know that these
brutal sexual assaults will indeed be part of what this future war will involve,
just as prophesied.

The damage to Jerusalem will be so extensive that one-half of the people who
live in some unnamed section of the city will be captured and hauled off. But,
somehow the other half will be spared. But then, begins verse 3, the entire
direction of the war changes. Virtually every English Bible says that suddenly
The Lord will go forth and do direct battle with the nations. That is factually
incorrect as the original Hebrew says it is Yehoveh that will go forth and do
direct battle to aid Israel. It is critical that we understand that this insistence
on using the term The Lord has an ulterior motive, which I shall get to shortly.
Please note: what I am telling you about the Hebrew actually saying Yehoveh
and not Adonai is in no way disputed by Bible or language scholars.

So Yehoveh is here depicted as a warrior God. It emphasizes this point when
the verse continues by saying that He will go out to fight as on the day of
battle. What does that mean? It has not been satisfactorily explained by

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academics, since it is rarely used in the Scriptures. It is my opinion that The
Day of Battle is essentially but yet another name for Day of Yehoveh,
Judgment Day, The Day, and a few others used to describe this final war. That
is, we ought to just add The Day of Battle to the list as appropriate because
the day has arrived and His personally going to fight for Israel is the action
God is described as taking on Judgment Day. But now comes one of the most
talked about, exciting, dramatic events ever recorded regarding the End: God
standing upon the Mt. of Olives and it splitting in two.

But, here we have a shock awaiting us. Verse 4 says this:

CJB
Zechariah 14:4 On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of
Olives, which lies to the east of Yerushalayim; and the Mount of Olives
will be split in half from east to west, to make a huge valley. Half of
the mountain will move toward the north, and half of it toward t he
south.

Awesome! So, whose feet will stand on the Mt. of Olives? The Church says it is
the returned Jesus! The problem is, that is not what the Scriptures say.
Obviously the word “his” refers to the previous verse where every English
Bible says “The Lord”. And who does the Church say The Lord refers to? Jesus,
of course. But, we just saw that verse 3 is Yehoveh. So, it is Yehoveh’s feet
that will stand on the Mt. of Olives, causing it to split. Is Yehoveh who is
always described in the Bible as God the Father also actually Yeshua?
Christianity says it is.

How are we to understand this? Because it is a long-held Church doctrine that
any mention of God interacting with humans in any physical corporeal manner
must be Jesus, then it is no problem for them to simply insert Jesus here. Yet,
is that legitimate? The first thing to discern is if this idea of God actually
standing on the Mt. of Olives is meant literally. Or is it somewhat like the
statement from Isaiah 66 that reads:

CJB
Isaiah 66:1 "Heaven is my throne," says Yehoveh "and the earth is
my footstool. What kind of house could you build for me? What sort of
place could you devise for my rest?

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Does Heaven actually have a throne that God actually sits on, and does
Yehoveh actually have feet that actually use the planet earth as a footstool
while seated on His throne? Most Bible scholars would readily admit that this is
but an expression, not to be taken fully literally. So, can we also, then, apply
the same to Zechairah 14:4? That is, that God depicted as physically standing
on the mountain is but an expression of His overwhelming presence? My
answer is: I don’t know. I can make a case that it might be Messiah, but an
even better case that it is God the Father. Yet, when deciding it is God the
Father, then we also cannot think of it in terms of Him having actual
anatomical feet that has Him virtually standing on a mountain. In the end, the
better solution is to know that the Mt. of Olives splitting will happen at God’s
direction and intervention. How, exactly, God manifests Himself when He does
that is simply not known. Thus, we just need to leave that part as mystery.

The Temple Mount in the city of Jerusalem is separated from the Mt. of Olives
by the Kidron Valley. Both the Mt. of Olives and the Kidron are situated
geographically on a north-south line. Thus, when the mountain is split in half,
then the split is also along an east-west fissure, thus when the split opens
wide, the gap itself is caused by a north-south movement. When this happens,
Yehoveh’s intervention cannot, and will not, be doubted.

The ravine that is created won’t be a mere crack; it will become a gaping
valley. The purpose for this event is not merely a show of unworldly power and
violence by Yehoveh, it is to provide an escape path for the surrounded
Israelites to flee. This is where the half of the nation (or, at least, half the
people of Jerusalem) will escape in order to survive. But, we get another
mystery when we are told that the split will reach to Atzel. What is Atzel?
There is no consensus about this.

For starters, most Bible academics agree that the word is probably Azel and
not Atzel. Agreement doesn’t make it correct, but as of this point in history it
is probably our best estimation. Very likely it is a place name, because we do
read of something similar in the Book of Micah.

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CJB
Micah 1:11 Inhabitants of Shafir, pass on your way in nakedness
and shame. The inhabitants of Tza'anan have not left yet. The wailing
of Beit-Ha'etzel will remove from you their support.

Reading this Hebrew word Beit-Ha’etzel more literally would be House of The
Etzel. Although we find the word here pronounced the “E” vowel sound, it is a
guess and could just as easily have been an “A” sound (Atzel). This is hardly
proof, but I think it offers sufficient evidence to believe that this obvious place
name is the same as being referred to in Micah. One more clouded piece of
evidence exists. It is that there is a family name within the Tribe of Benjamin
that is Azel (although not Atzel). Again, the difference between these phonetic
spellings has to do with exactly how one pronounces a word, and so it could be
that both pronunciations are speaking to the same place. All this is about the
best we can do.

Verse 5 continues with, “You will flee as you fled before the earthquake in the
days of Uziyah king of Judah.” Interestingly, when English translations come
from the Hebrew Masoretic texts, we indeed find “flee, fled”. But, when the
translations come from the Greek texts (the Septuagint), it is rendered
block/blocked. Pretty much the opposite. I’ll spend just a couple of minutes
explaining why the Greek can at times be so different than the Hebrew.

The first thing to realize is that all Scripture is Hebrew in nature and thought,
nearly exclusively in its writers, and yet the Septuagint that is a Greek
translation of the Hebrew causes errors to be introduced. There are a few
reasons why. To begin, languages reflect their cultures. Therefore, it is most
common that there are words in one language that have no direct equivalent
in another language, and there are some instances that the attempt of Greek
to translate Hebrew runs into this problem.

The next issue is that when Greek is used, Greek has a similar characteristic
as Hebrew in that while Hebrew has its own modern-day dialect and meaning,
there is also a more ancient dialect and meaning that is not equivalent to
modern Hebrew. It is the more ancient that we find in the Old Testament.
Thus, when in more ancient times a language scholar attempted to tie a Greek
word to a Hebrew word, he may have arrived at a pretty accurate solution.

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But, most Greek speakers did not speak this higher academic brand of Greek.
Thus, the same Greek word could have one meaning in the Septuagint but a
bit different meaning in the more commonly used Greek.

In the first century, by far the most commonly available Bible was the
Septuagint, created in the middle part of the 3
rd
century B.C. The Greek world
was totally dominant. Thus, the privileged people who had a Bible saw it’s
words not in the light of it’s higher Greek meanings, but rather in it’s more
common everyday meanings. And, especially when the New Testament was
created early in the 3
rd
century A.D., which itself is composed of around 50%
Old Testament quotes, then when Greek speakers began to read the new
Greek Bible along with the so-called New Testament, they read those Greek
words in ways that some of those words were not intended. The same thing
happens today with Hebrew, when people will diligently study Hebrew, but
then understand what they read in the Hebrew Scriptures in the sense of
modern Hebrew and not ancient biblical Hebrew. 21
st
century English speakers
ought to perfectly understand this problem. If we attempt to read English
language documents from the 14
th
century and onward, the words they use
sound strange, foreign, and out of place. They are even spelled differently.
And, I assure you, even if they used the same English words we use today,
what they meant is often quite different from how we use those words. Just
try reading William Bradford’s In Plimoth Plantation from early in the 17
th

century, and you will immediately run into this.

A fine example of this issue is right here in verse 5. The Bibles that are taken
from the Greek Septuagint take the Greek word used to translate the Hebrew
word so as to come up with the meaning, “You will be blocked as you were
blocked before the earthquake in the days of Uziyah…”. But, when going from
the Hebrew directly to English, it comes out, “You will flee as you fled…”. The
Greek misunderstands the intent. That’s all I want to say about it for now, but
this is how some of these strangely divergent readings of the same Scripture
passage can happen in different Bible versions. Without doubt, the proper
reading is flee/fled because it works within the context of the entire scene,
whereas block/blocked doesn’t.

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So, the idea is that this earthquake during the time that the King of Judah
named Uziyah reigned was so terrifying that it had become a permanent part
of Israelite historical memory. The Prophet Amos specifically mentions it, and
probably so does Isaiah although not by name. Apparently, the damage to
Jerusalem was so bad and the situation so dire, that a large part of
Jerusalem’s population left the city in a big hurry. This next time (in the End
Times), no doubt there will be an earthquake, but instead of natural causes, it
will be at God’s order, and it will include the splitting of the massive Mt. of
Olives into two halves. It is through this ravine that is created that many
Hebrew survivors of the War of Armageddon will use to get out of the city and
out of the grip of the nations’ armies that have overrun Israel. Exactly what
that looks like, and exactly how that ravine provides the cover for their
escape, is not given to us.

Something we need to keep in mind is that the ravine is NOT going to be a
hiding place; it is only a road to get out of the city to go somewhere else…
perhaps to the place called Azel. The verse ends with:

CJB
Zechariah 14:5 … then Yehoveh my Elohim will come to you with
all the holy ones.

That’s right… whereas Christianity says that this is referring to Jesus the
Messiah that will come, that in no way is what the passage says. Yeshua is not
referred to as Yehoveh, nor as Elohim, even though some denominational
leaders seem to think that it does. Those names are never synonymous in the
Bible and so it seems out of the question that it is otherwise here in Zechariah.
Is it impossible that it could be? No. That can never be said. However,
choosing the “not entirely impossible” answer as the solution is never a good
approach. So, how exactly to mentally picture this is tough to do, I grant you.
It is best we leave this mystery a mystery for now and not get hung up on it.

Next mystery: who are these Holy Ones? In the Hebrew, this is translating the
word qodeshim, and Holy Ones is probably as close to the original meaning
as we’re going to get. Biblically, this term can refer to people, but, at other
times it can refer to heavenly beings, likely to angels. Some commentators say
this passage is speaking of both people (redeemed people) and angels that

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are coming back to earth from Heaven as the Holy Ones. Perhaps. The older
commentators that are sort of the pre-Evangelical Church representatives as
we think of it today, say that the Holy Ones are angels and not people. They
equate the more typical Heavenly Hosts that God uses for battle with this term
“Holy Ones”, and sees them as more or less synonymous. It seems to be a
more modern phenomenon since the enormous interest in the End Times
aroused by such people as Hal Lindsey, when we find the idea that these Holy
Ones are not angels at all, but rather martyred saints coming back to earth
with Jesus from their place in Heaven. I’m not saying that this cannot possibly
be the case, but neither does it seem entirely likely. I lean towards agreeing
with the older commentators, that this is more probably speaking of heavenly
angels or maybe some other category of divine beings. For now, another
mystery best left as a mystery unless and until more revelation comes forth.

Verse 6 explains that with this coming of God and the Holy Ones, there will at
some point also be visible cosmic changes happening of a very dramatic
nature. This is actually par for the course, because whenever we read of God
making an appearance on earth, also known as a theophany, (other perhaps
than the very private appearances that happened within the Tent Tabernacle
and later the Temple), there were shakings, thunder and lightning, trumpets
sounding, and all sorts of scary things that happened in the heavens. Again,
we get the End Times signature phrase of “On that day”, to begin this verse,
so there is no doubt that we are continuing with what is going to happen as
the events of the End Times do nothing but increase in their awesomeness and
intensity.

The CJB does a good job of expressing how this verse is best translated to
English from the earliest Hebrew version of it that we have of it, which is the
Masoretic Text of around 1000 A.D. Although we do find much of Zechariah in
the much older Dead Sea Scrolls, no fragment of what we call chapter 14 has
survived. And, what we find is this reading:

CJB
Zechariah 14:6 On that day, there will be neither bright light nor
thick darkness.

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The issue is this; the CJB clearly is relying on what the next verse, verse 7,
says and is one of those translations that have attempted to solve what many
Bible scholars have, for a long time, been troubled with this wording. To
show you what I mean, here is the nearly universal translation we’ll find that is
actually more literally true to the Masoretic text.

YLT
Zechariah 14:6 And it hath come to pass, in that day, The precious
light is not, it is dense darkness,

So, the more traditional, but indeed most literal, translation of the only
Hebrew text we have to translate from, says that all light will be gone, and it
will be only dense darkness. Yet, when we read verse 7 it says:

CJB
Zechariah 14:7 and one day, known to Yehoveh, will be neither
day nor night, although by evening there will be light.

Scholars say that verse 7 has no discernable issues with it, so we can more
rely on it than we can verse 6. After the part that says, “there will be neither”
or “there will not be”, we find the Hebrew word owr, which does mean light.
However, the next verse says that there will not be light or darkness. So, the
way we have it almost makes it sound like something in between day and
night, such as the light of dusk, is what is going to become a condition for a
while. So, which is right? A long-term dusk, or complete darkness? What is the
solution?

A very good approach is to return to verse 6 and assume that this is the
problem verse. There is another and different Hebrew word, od, which more or
less means “there will no longer be”. Owr is spelled with a reysh, and od is
spelled with a dalet. These two Hebrew letters are almost identical in
appearance and are regularly mistaken for one another when Bible transcripts
are copied by hand, as they were so many centuries ago. If we can make the
judgment that this accidental transposition is what has happened here, then
we have the passage read: “then there will no longer be only darkness. This
makes more sense and it agrees much better with the next verse.

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So, verse 7 is traditionally taken as claiming there will be this strange
condition that will not be like a typical day or night. And, when this says it is
known to Yehoveh, it seems to have the notion that 1) only He knows it,
and/or 2) He knows this in the sense that only He has full divine omniscience
of every condition of the future.

I suspect that this happening can be tied to what we read in the Prophet Joel.

CJB
Joel 2:1-2 "Blow the shofar in Tziyon! Sound an alarm on my holy
mountain!" Let all living in the land tremble, for the Day of ADONAI is
coming! It's upon us!-
2
a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds
and thick fog; a great and mighty horde is spreading like blackness
over the mountains. There has never been anything like it, nor will
there ever be again, not even after the years of many generations.

The several Prophets that do speak of the End Times are in harmony about
many of the events that will happen, even though they might use different
terms from different perspectives of how these happens will look.

What is really interesting is how after this time when there will be neither day
nor night, when evening arrives, there will be light. So, I want to present an
alternative way that we might consider the combined meanings of verses 6
and 7. It is this: day and night used together typically is speaking about one
day… one 24-hour period. Here’s what makes me suspicious of understanding
this in the more traditional way: although these 2 verses have spoken of light
and darkness, now this changes course and speaks of day and night. The
typical Hebrew word for daytime is used: yom. And the typical Hebrew word
for nighttime is coupled with it: layil. And, this verse begins by speaking
about “one day”. So, it seems to me the likelihood is that this is denoting the
matter of a day and night cycle that has been present and a constant since a
certain point in God’s original creation efforts.

Prior to Creation, the entire Universe was in one stable state that didn’t
change: darkness. No light. And, perhaps this verse is looking to a time when
the pre-creation dynamic of no cycling between light and darkness will again
happen. However, after this period of transition that Zechariah is speaking

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about (neither light nor darkness), there will be only light. No cycling between
light and dark, daytime and nighttime. In fact, the entire definition of light or
daytime will change.

CJB
Revelation 22:5 Night will no longer exist, so they will need
neither the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because Yehoveh,
God, will shine upon them. And they will reign as kings forever and
ever.

This Revelation event, however, is not an End Times event (at least as we
think of what the End Times era means) nor is it even present during the
Millennial reign of Yeshua. Rather, this is speaking of the time when an
entirely different dynamic will be at play, and we read about that in Revelation
21.

CJB
Revelation 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the
old heaven and the old earth had passed away, and the sea was no
longer there.

That is, beginning at Revelation chapter 21 verse 1, all that follows to the end
of the book concerns a re-creation. The old earth and heavens are gone, and a
re-created earth and heavens are brought into existence. And, one of the
several new elements of it is that no longer will a bright, burning Sun be
necessary to light the earth. Instead, God Himself is going to provide light,
and there will never be a period of darkness. The cycle of day and night will be
obsolete. And, according to Yeshua, this is the moment that the Torah and all
Covenants of God finally end, as there will no longer be any need for them.

CJB
Matthew 5:17-18
17
"Don't think that I have come to abolish the
Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete.
18

Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away , not so
much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah - not until
everything that must happen has happened.

So, as vague as Zechariah 14:7 is when looked at closely, when it says that
there will be neither day nor night, but in the evening there will be light, I lean

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towards thinking that “evening” is a prophetic symbol in this use of referring to
a time AFTER the End Times, that actually brings the End Times to a close
(just as evening is the final moments of a Hebrew day that brings it to a
close), and ushers us into the new and eternally permanent heavens and earth
of absolute sinless perfection. But, that’s just me.

We will continue next time at verse 8.