CHAPTER 13

“On that day a fountain will be opened for the dynasty of David and for the people of Jerusalem, a fountain to cleanse them from all their sins and impurity.”
‭‭Zechariah‬ ‭13‬:‭1‬ ‭NLT‬‬

We need to ask, “What day?” And the answer seems to be in chapter 12. The phrase “in that day” appears in verses 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, and 11. And what is described as happening “in that day” is this:

• ALL the people of the earth are gathered against Jerusalem (v3)
• The cavalry horses are made blind and their riders will go insane (v4)
• The Judeans will be like a torch that ignites a blaze (v6)
• God will protect the people of Jerusalem, they will fight with the courage of King David (v8)
• God will “seek to destroy” all the nations that attack Jerusalem (v9)
• The inhabitants of Jerusalem will mourn bitterly because they will see the One they pierced (v10)

THAT is the day which continues to be described in chapter 13.

You know how we’ve talked about Har Moede – the Mount of Assembly. It’s Jerusalem. Here is yet another list of evidences that the great final battle is not on the plain of Megiddo in northern Israel. It’s at Jerusalem.

And “in that day” all of the idols and false prophets will be removed. And I don’t think it’s suggesting that they pack up and leave. They are being “unalived.”

Israel (as we know from reading all of their history up to this point) had a BIG problem with idol and false prophets. Even in Babylon there were a few false prophets around. And Zech. 13:4 seems to suggest that they dressed like Elijah in rough garments of leather or hides in order to really project the persona of “holy man.” Zechariah says there is coming a day when there will be zero tolerance for false prophets.

😒 Well we know THAT hasn’t happened yet.

True.

But on a small scale, it did happen for Israel. After the 70 years of exile, they are a very different nation. No more idols. No false prophets in league with wicked kings and shady priests. Those days are over.

In the middle of this description of false prophets being executed by their own parents we have a speaker who denies being a prophet and instead claims to be a man who works the earth.

First – the “husbandman.” This is actually 3 words in Hebrew. Different translations render them as “farmer,” “tiller of the soil,” “cultivator of the ground,” and “worker of the soil.”

Adamah is the word from which Adam got his name because he was made from the soil. Abad is what Adam was given to do.

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭2‬:‭15‬ ‭ESV‬‬

That’s the word abad in the Hebrew text.

And Adam was the first iysh. He was made on the same day as the “cattle” and he named them. And cattle figure into this verse as well. The phrase translated as “keeping cattle” is nuanced. It it based this word:

Many really good translations render it in a way that suggests this Adam-figure was “procured” (perhaps even purchased as a slave) for the purpose of working the soil.

This word qanah appears in Genesis 4:1. It’s the basis for the name Cain. Eve said, “I have gotten (qanah) a man with the help of the LORD.”

So this prophecy is very “Genesis-coded” and heavily points to Adam.

But this Adam has scars. In His hands.

So we have a picture of an incognito prophet who is a kind of 2nd Adam figure with wounds in his hands. And he is qanah.

Time for Paleo-Hebrew Pondering…

QNH is the Hebrew, 3-letter “lemma.”

Quf, Nun/Nachash, Hey:

Sun, Circuit, Day

God-given, Life, Serpent

Behold this man-with-arms-raised

“And I will say to him, ‘What are these wounds in the middle of your hands?’ And he will say, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my beloved.’” – Zech. 13:6 LXX

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CHAPTER 14

So in chapter 12 we have Jerusalem under attack and the appearing of the Pierced One. We find out He is pierced specifically in His hands. And then He lands on the Mount of Olives just to the east of Jerusalem and it splits in two.

This prophecy in Zechariah is what the angel was referring to at the Ascension.

“As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!” Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, a distance of half a mile.”
‭‭Acts of the Apostles‬ ‭1‬:‭10‬-‭12‬ ‭NLT‬‬

And when Jesus shows up, He’s not alone.

“…Then the Lord my God will come, and all his holy ones with him.”
‭‭Zechariah‬ ‭14‬:‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭25‬:‭31‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones,”
‭‭Jude‬ ‭1‬:‭14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

(Jude is quoting 1 Enoch 1:9. That chapter describes God coming in judgment and everything on earth perishing but the “elect” being protected and helped because God “makes peace” with them)

“And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭19‬:‭14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Zechariah describes this as an unusual day:

“On that day there will be no light; the luminaries will die out. For it will be a unique day which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at the time of evening there will be light.”
‭‭Zechariah‬ ‭14‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

This is very consistent “Day of the LORD” language. We encountered it first in Isaiah 13:9-10. We saw it in Joel 2:10, 31 and 3:15. Habakkuk hinted at it in 3:11. Jesus said it in the “Olivet Discourse,” Matt. 24:29, and Mk. 13:24-25. There are multiple scenes in Revelation where the sun, moon, and stars are darkened.

Zechariah speaks of “living waters” flowing from Jerusalem which is very similar to Ezekiel’s river that came from under the threshold of the temple. These two texts are often considered together.

And the new river is not the only change to the landscape:

“All the land will change into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site from Benjamin’s Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses.”
‭‭Zechariah‬ ‭14‬:‭10‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

What. On. Earth?!

It seems to suggest a dramatic topographical change. If there’s an earthquake powerful enough to split the Mount of Olives in TWO and cause all the cities of planet earth to collapse, level every mountain range and sink every island (Rev. 16:18-20), then we are talking civilization-ending catastrophe.

Zech. 14:10 is honestly almost… fantastical. The ESV has it as “Jerusalem shall remain aloft on its site.” Excuse me? Aloft?

The Lexham English Bible says “it will rise up high and stay in its place.”

Some commentators tie this to Ezekiel’s huge space for a temple. Maybe so.

Interesting how this Jerusalem “ascends” in some way while John sees New Jerusalem “coming down” out of heaven. If I may speculate a second…

What if this is the same event?

What if the 3D earthly “plain” is elevated perhaps in both a physical and spiritual way? And also the Heavenly City descends (out of a higher dimensional reality) and becomes accessible to flesh-and-blood humans again as Eden was? Eden was the space where the terrestrial and celestial overlapped. Adam and Eve and physical fruit trees inhabited the same “space” as God, the tree of life, and a talking rebel serpent-cherub. Access to God-space was lost after the Fall. Maybe the earthly Jerusalem and the heavenly Jerusalem are reunited?

🤔 So like, you could just walk into…heaven?

Maybe. I think the text and the whole context of scripture at least supports it as a theory. I’m excited to find out.

🤓 So somebody in the suburbs of the “aloft” Jerusalem could say, “Just gonna run into heaven this morning and stop by that bakery shop on the corner. Their bagels are divine!” 🥯 And they really would be “divine bagels?”

😐 That. Would. Be. WILD.

Oh.. if you thought that was wild, wait til we get to the Zombies…

😐 Uh… do you need a break? Maybe you’ve been staring at your screen for too long. I think you just said that the Bible has…zombies. 🧟🧟‍♀️🧟‍♂️

Well, you read this and tell me what is being described:

“And the Lord will send a plague on all the nations that fought against Jerusalem. Their people will become like walking corpses, their flesh rotting away. Their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.

This same plague will strike the horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all the other animals in the enemy camps.”
‭‭Zechariah‬ ‭14‬:‭12‬, ‭15‬ ‭NLT‬‬

😧 Well I’ll be jiggered. Zombies.

🤓 Somebody needs to make a Night of the Zombie Donkeys movie. I’d go see that.

😧 So… the “Zombie Apocalypse” is real?

If by “Zombie Apocalypse” you mean this:

Or this:

Then, no.

Zechariah’s zombies are in no condition to attack anyone. This is the “plague” with which Yahweh strikes the people who attack Jerusalem. It sounds like some kind of supernatural leprosy and it kills them immediately.

🤓 It sounds kinda like how the Nazi guy died in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. He drank from the wrong cup and turned into a corpse.

We should probably understand this plague to fit right into Rev. 19:15-21 with the sword (deadly word) proceeding from the mouth of Christ and the carrion birds feasting on all the corpses.

😐 They just die and get eaten by birds? That’s it?

🤓 Sounds like the Zombie Apocalypse is gonna be a big ol’ nothing-burger.

Well, anyone who manages to survive the civilization-ending earthquakes and the 15-minute Zombie Apocalypse will realize that Jerusalem is the new world capital and Jesus is the King. And they will be required to attend the annual Festival of Shelters (Sukkot/Tabernacles). And Jerusalem will be so sacred that even cooking pots and jingle bells will be holy.

😯 That. Is. Wild. 🤯

I know, right?

A lot of times people study Daniel and Revelation together. But the more I learn about the Bible, the more I think we should study Zechariah with Revelation. It’s a massively under-appreciated book.

Here’s what we really need to take away from this book:

The LORD is in control.

He has declared the end from the beginning. Down to the very wounds of Christ in His hands, He was unfolding His plan. He revealed the very name of the Savior, Yeshua. And our God is every bit as much in control now as He was then. All of the things prophesied about the first-coming of Christ came to pass just as foretold. All of the things prophesied about the second-coming of Christ will to pass as foretold too.

That means one day you will be in Jerusalem and see those cooking pots inscribed with “Holy to the LORD.” And horses will go by with bells jingling. And the bells will be engraved “Holy to the LORD.”

And I am SO here for it.

There isn’t nearly enough time in this mortal life. And thank the LORD this isn’t all there is. Those who are in Christ will be feasting in Jerusalem a thousand years from now.

Don’t miss out. It’s gonna be awesome.

😐 Just gotta get past the part with the zombies first.