The end of the end of all things- Zechariah, Zephaniah, and Revelation part two

 

Every so often, God gives me clear direction where to go in these studies, and this was one of them, that the End Times final chapters of Zechariah and Zephaniah should be combined with the long-delayed treatment of Revelation into one cohesive post.  And the combination tells two complete stories- the first is a basic timeline of what will happen, and the second is a description of what lies after.

Somewhat out of the alphabetic way we've done these, this story starts in Zephaniah with the reasoning for why the end comes.  It is interesting to note that God lays out His case against the earth- Jerusalem in particular- before He acts.  And the case has 2 sections:

Zep 3:1  Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled, the oppressing city! 

Section one: she- and the world by extension- is rebellious.  He brings three specific charges against her/us in this section:She listens to no one; she doesn't trust in the Lord; and she doesn't draw near to him (all in Zeph 3:2).

Section 2: She is defiled.  Her leadership is corrupt; her priests are profane; and her people are violent (VV3-4).  Contrasted against this is the Holy behavior of God towards them all this time:

Zep 3:5  The LORD within her is righteous; he does no injustice; every morning he shows forth his justice; each dawn he does not fail; but the unjust knows no shame.

He follows up with all the warnings He had given her/us to repent, and then brings final battle- which is where we switch to Zechariah.

The case made, Zechariah 14 goes right to the war.

Zec 14:1  Behold, a day is coming for the LORD, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst.
Zec 14:2  For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
Zec 14:3  Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle.

This is one of those places that, in my opinion, should have given the Jews the ability to recognize Christ as Messiah.  Because where God could not physically come to earth, He does...

Zec 14:4  On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that 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 move northward, and the other half southward.
Zec 14:5  And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.

Note that Jesus ascended from the same mount, and what did Luke tell us about that?

Act 1:10  And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes,
Act 1:11  and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven." 

The landing of his feet will cause an earthquake "like in the days of King Uzziah", splitting the mount in two and giving the faithful- and PREPARED- a means of escape from the plague about to strike the rebellious and defiled earth:

Zec 14:12  And this shall be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the peoples that wage war against Jerusalem: their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.
Zec 14:13  And on that day a great panic from the LORD shall fall on them, so that each will seize the hand of another, and the hand of the one will be raised against the hand of the other.

And as the dust settles, we go to Revelation for the terms of the new peace.  These terms are threefold.  First, comes the invitation:

Rev 22:17  The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. 

But, with the invitation comes the requirement:

Rev 22:14  Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.

And nothing washes those robes but the blood of Jesus.  Without faith in Jesus, the resulting judgment will be merciless:

Rev 22:15  Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

And for those who fulfill the requirement, a warning:

Rev 22:18  I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book,
Rev 22:19  and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

A note to unrepentant Mormons, Catholics who put the church before the savior, and Jews who ignore the Messiah- your moment at the gate won't be what you expect:

Mat 22:11  "But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment.
Mat 22:12  And he said to him, 'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless.
Mat 22:13  Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
Mat 22:14  For many are called, but few are chosen."

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Now, the good news is, each chapter adds layers to the description of what is to come for those who pass the requirements and enter in.  Zephaniah says:

There will be one speech, so that everyone may be understood and worship together;

The proud and haughty will be gone, a people of humility will remain;

Because of this, sin and pain and fear will be gone. (Zeph 3:9-13)

Zechariah adds to this:

A river of living water will flow from east to west;

All the hills and hard spots will melt away into a flat, easy land, with Jerusalem lifted up;

And everyone will gather yearly for the Feast Of Booths there to praise God, under penalty of withholding of blessing. (Zech 14:9-11, 14-19)

One interesting note:  The last verse in my physical Bible (and several of the other translations) ends with this:

...and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts. 

And Canaanite is a correct, if misleading, translation, because the original intend meant trader, peddler, merchant.  THERE WILL BE NO MORE BUYING AND SELLING THEN.

Revelation then will add the last layers:

That same river will run right through the city, and on its banks...

 ...the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (Rev 22:2)

And at last, time becomes meaningless...

Rev 22:5  And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

Sounds pretty good to me!  Next week, Lord willing, I believe I will start weaving my way through Isaiah, so pray for me on this new adventure!