God’s Plan for His People

God’s Plan for His People!

Zechariah 14:1-11

This final section of the book is ‘apocalyptic’ in tone.  Reformed thinkers have seen it as describing the experience of the church of God in the period from the first coming of the Lord through to His second coming.  Many scholars see this as a ‘recap’ of what Zechariah has already taught.  In a way similar to Revelation there is a progression in the recap!  This time Zechariah goes as far as the second coming of the Lord.  Remember that the use of the terms ‘Israel’ and ‘Jerusalem’ are often used to mean God’s whole redemptive race, not only the OT Church, but the NT Church. In this scenario, the attack upon Jerusalem is identified as the culminating assault of the nations on the city which had begun in 12:3-9.

1. The Day of the Lord!  V1

Zechariah says, ‘Behold the day of the Lord is coming!’  The day of the Lord was a well known OT idea, but it is just as important in the NT!  Let’s see what the Bible teaches us about it!  On the day of the Lord:-

• The Lord will be EXALTED!  Isaiah 2:17   
• The Enemies of God will be Judged and will be Lost forever!  Isaiah 13:11  . One of the most poignant passages regarding the day of the Lord is found in Zeph. 1:14-18      The New Testament carries a similar message about that great day.  2 Peter 3:12    
• It will be a day of JOY for the Believer!  After all, on that day, we will have risen from the grave and be in heaven for all eternity!  John 6:39    We will meet together with other believers, from all over the world and from other ages!  There will be a great reunion! 2 Cor. 1:14  We will receive our reward for service rendered unto the Lord here on this earth!  2 Tim. 4:8    

So, the Day of the Lord is a Biblical idea that stretches beyond the OT and into the future!  It is still to come!  Christ will return, and we must be ready to meet Him.  Christians must be found working for Him on that day!  

What about you and me today?  The first fact that we need to get into our minds is that there will be a ‘Day of the Lord!’

2.  The Design of the Lord! V2

Now notice that the Bible indicates here that God Himself will gather all the nations of the world to oppose His people!  Zech. 14:2  

The church is described here in terms of a city under siege.  This is certainly a picture that can be seen of the church throughout time.  Revelation describes the church in the same terms in Rev. 20:9  But notice that the one who raises up the nations against God’s people is God Himself!  There will be times that God will sift the church, will provide challenge and opposition to the church, to discipline them, and to fulfil His purposes in the heathen.

  Exodus 14:1-4  

It was God who hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and God who caused Pharaoh to pursue God’s own people, and what a fearsome sight that must have been, as the whole might of the armies of Egypt appeared on the horizon to return the Hebrews to bondage.  But God has a plan!  All this is happening in the great design of the Lord.  He has raised up the armies of Pharaoh for a purpose!

• The people would cast themselves wholly upon the Lord!  Exodus 14:10  
• Moses would be established as the prophet of God and the leader of Israel! Exodus 14:13  
• God would be glorified ion the sight of His people and before His enemies!  Exodus 14:17-18  
• Pharaoh would be defeated and punished for his wickedness!  Exodus 14:26-27 

So it is in Zechariah!  God is going to raise up enemies against His people, and the purpose will be the same, that God would be glorified before His people, and his people would be chastened and driven to the point where they will truly trust in Him and not on their own strength.  Practically, we still need that cleansing, chastening, God-glorifying work of God in our Christian Churches and in our individual lives!  There is much dross in Christianity, and God needs to come again and sift His church and purify it!  

3. The Deliverance of the Lord! V3

Zech. 14:3 Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. 

Having raised up those nations against His own people, now God stands between them and his people, and he defends his people from the very nations that he has so motivated!  His people see again, the mighty delivering power of the hand of God!  In God’s church, when the hour of greatest need has come, then shall come God’s greatest deliverance!  Psalm 45:3-5  . Psalm 18:1 He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me. 

Bob McEvoy  September 2019