See, a day is coming for the Lord, when the plunder taken from you will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses looted and the women raped; half the city shall go into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives, which 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 withdraw northward, and the other half southward. And you shall flee by the valley of the Lord's mountain, for the valley between the mountains shall reach to Azal; and you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.
On that day there shall not be either cold or frost. And there shall be continuous day (it is known to the Lord), not day and not night, for at evening time there shall be light.
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.
And the Lord will become king over all the earth; on that day the Lord will be one and his name one.
Comments: I am told that even Martin Luther was flummoxed by this prophecy. Zechariah is telling of a time that he envisions that God will come and rule Israel and rule of kings will be over. It was the kings and their dealings with one another that had gotten Israel into the mess they were in. No longer was the nation paying attention to God Almighty. This vision that Jerusalem would be overrun would come to pass. One third of the nation was taken off into slavery to Babylon and the words of Zechariah would ring in the peoples’ ears.
Today we hear these words and look for the second coming of Christ. Personally, I believe that the second coming of Christ will be more like fog, coming on cat’s feet. The coming of Christ into our hearts is less a battle as it is assent, less triumphant, as it is true friendship. The reign of God is when we say yes to allowing God to be first in our lives all the time.
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