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After having been away from the study of Zechariah for several weeks, we return once again, and we're going to be wrapping our study up this week; and then the next time I'm with you, which will be in about four weeks, because after today, Nancy and I are going to be taking a break from you all. I didn't mean that the way it sounded. Well, maybe a little bit.

So if you will take your Bibles and turn to Zechariah 14, under the heading "The Glorious Day of Messianic Retribution, Rescue and Restoration." And as always, I'm humbled to be able to open up the Word of God to you so that you can see Christ, so that you can hear from him, especially in the days in which we live. It's so sad to see the gospel so terribly distorted. It's so frustrating to see the world drowning in immorality, corruption, deception. I look at the pop culture, and I see people worshiping those who are even the most depraved amongst us. I had never heard of Bad Bunny until this week. I looked into it; it's just another indication of what the world is. Taylor Swift, Jimmy Kimmel, I mean, you hear all these things, and you see how the world is drawn to these people who really represent this whole system that's in opposition to God. These people need our love. They need our prayers that they might come to saving faith in Christ. I was reading that from the Geneva Academy right now, there are 45 armed conflicts taking place in our world. It's a powder keg. Our country is a powder keg. And yet, as we've just read, we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, because the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. And I find great hope in that, especially as I look at the world in which my precious children and grandchildren are having to live, and that you must live in - that we all must live in - until the Lord takes us home.

And I want to say from the outset here this morning as a pastor, it is my heart's desire to see Christ formed in each one of you. It's just the passion of my life to see you know and love Christ, to see you enjoy Him, to see you manifest his goodness and his grace in your life. But it is also my desire to see Christ glorified in this world that hates him; to see him exalted in all of the earth. And certainly, the passage that we have before us is a profound prophecy that speaks to the glory of Christ that is coming that the world will be able to see publicly one day, because God's covenants and his promises are all going to be fully realized, just as he has said. And to that end, we can all be encouraged that he said what he meant. He means what he says, and he will accomplish those things. And therein lies our hope.

A brief technical word about the context here, of course, this prophecy was given to the Jews that had returned from exile. They were discouraged. They were trying to rebuild the temple as God had commanded them to do. And all of this is meant to be words of encouragement; gracious and comforting words we read. In Zechariah 14, where we're at today, this is really the conclusion of the second oracle of Zechariah. The second one was from chapter 12 through 14, which describes the first Advent of Christ. It describes the rejection of Messiah, which is all preparatory for his second advent, his second coming. And you will recall in that second oracle, it began with a description of the future deliverance and national conversion of Israel in chapters 12 and 13, which paves the way for the Messiah's magnificent royal return in the future establishment of the theocratic kingdom on earth. And chapter 14 is really the crowning glory, you might say; the consummating glory of all of the comprehensive prophetic visions revealed in Zechariah's prophecies concerning the hope of Israel, as well as the hope of all of the redeemed that will share in glory - the glory of Christ.

By way of context, what is being described here is going to happen right before the Lord returns. I believe, on the basis of Scripture, that the Church will have already been snatched away in the rapture, and then we will return with the Lord at his second coming, as the word says, so, this is really depicting much of what's happening in Daniel's 70th week. I will address that again in a moment. But the remnant that is described here in chapters 12 through 14 is the Jewish remnant. It's the ethnic, national, territorial Israel regathered to their promised land at the end of the age, underscoring God's faithfulness to his covenant promises. Now this morning, we're only going to look at the first eight verses, but for you to get a flavor of what God is communicating here, I want to read the entire chapter. It's only 21 verses. So follow along. Zechariah 14,

1 Behold, a day is coming for the Lord when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you.

2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished, and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.

3 Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle.

4 In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south.

5 You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him!

6 In that day there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle.

7 For it will be a unique day which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at evening time there will be light.

8 And in that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter.

9 And the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one.

10 All the land will be changed 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.

11 People will live in it, and there will no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security.

12 Now this will be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem: their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth.

13 It will come about in that day that a great panic from the Lord will fall on them; and they will seize one another’s hand, and the hand of one will be lifted against the hand of another.

14 Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered—gold and silver and garments in great abundance.

15 So also like this plague will be the plague on the horse, the mule, the camel, the donkey, and all the cattle that will be in those camps.

16 Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths.

17 And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them.

18 If the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the Lord smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.

19 This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.

20 In that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “HOLY TO THE LORD.” And the cooking pots in the Lord’s house will be like the bowls before the altar.

21 Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord of hosts; and all who sacrifice will come and take of them and boil in them. And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts in that day.

Now, it is impossible for us to imagine the impact that this prophecy, and all of Zechariah's prophecies, would have had upon those returning exiles. Put yourself in their place. They knew from history that God had protected them in many ways; provided for them, preserved them - his covenant people - delivered them from their enemies, but nothing like what is described here and elsewhere. And here in Zechariah's prophecy, they are reminded anew of the faithfulness of God to his covenant promises. And you will remember that even Zechariah's name means "Yahweh remembers." The words he received again were "gracious and comforting words" according to chapter one and verse 13. So what hope this must have been to these beleaguered people, and what confidence in his power and in his purposes - and we all are recipients of this - to know that even in the midst of great affliction, God is in control. He has a plan. He is working his plan, and it will be accomplished. Nothing can thwart his purposes. To know that he would one day rescue and restore these rebellious people - persecuted people - to a place of national blessing under his earthly rule.

Now, these prophecies would have undoubtedly been on the mind even of Jesus' disciples in the New Testament. I think of when Jesus appeared to them after his resurrection in Acts 1:3, by many convincing proofs appearing to them over a period of 40 days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God, that would have been the dominant topic that they were discussing, that Jesus was teaching them. In that same passage, it says that he commanded them to stay in Jerusalem until the promised Holy Spirit would come upon them in verses four and five; and then, according to verse six, it says that, "they were asking him, saying, 'Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom of Israel?'" Undoubtedly, they were thinking of these great prophecies and all that the Lord had told them over the last 40 days. Moreover, promises of a restored Israel at Messiah's second advent would have dominated their thinking at Christ's ascension. You remember, in Acts 1:11, you've got some angelic messengers that say to them, "'Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.'" In other words, a physical, literal return. Likewise, these restoration promises would have informed Peter, in his sermon, recorded in Acts three. Remember in verse 19, he tells the people, “Repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that the times of refreshing," literally of rejuvenation,

"...may come from the presence of the Lord;

"and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you,

"whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from ancient time."

What is this restoration? Well, it's a reference of Israel's future restoration to her promised land under the theocracy of the Messiah King Priest. Indeed, this has been the dominating theme of Zechariah's prophecy, along with Isaiah and Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Joel and so many others. And we see these astounding realities played out even in the book of Revelation, and many other New Testament passages. So as we look at the first eight verses, I want to do it under three simple headings. We're going to see a day of divine retribution, a day of divine rescue and a day of divine restoration. And together, these great promises should animate all of our hearts with a sense of excitement as we anticipate the day of our Lord's glorious public glorification. What a day that will be when all of the foul-mouthed protesters and all of the dirty-mouth politicians and all of these people that mock Christ will finally see who he really is. So with this, let's look at the text.

"Behold" - in other words - look at this. This is an amazing thing. "Behold, a day is coming for the LORD." The idea here is the day designated for Yahweh. It is coming the Day when he will fulfill his promise to deliver Israel; put his glory on display before a watching world where they will see that which they've never seen before. And what a comfort this would have been. This is a day when he will deliver the Jewish remnant from the hour of their greatest peril, conquer his enemies, establish his mediatorial kingdom and righteousness and peace upon the earth. And this day, reserved for Yahweh and designated for him, is a term that - a concept, I should say - that dominates Bible prophecy. Let me give you a few passages. In Isaiah two, beginning in verse 12, "For the LORD of hosts will have a day of reckoning against everyone who is proud and lofty and against everyone who is lifted up, that He may be abased." Joel, chapter two, verse one, "Blow a trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming." Malachi, chapter four, verse one, "'For behold, the day is coming burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evil doer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,' says the LORD of hosts, 'so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings."

So given this, let's look first of all at a day of retribution that's recorded here in the first couple verses, "Behold a day is coming," the text says, "for the LORD, when the spoil taken from you," will be divided among you. Bear in mind, as we look at other prophetic passages, we can understand that the invading forces of the Antichrist have come upon Jerusalem by now, and here we see that they're going to distribute the plunder that they have taken from Jerusalem; distribute that amongst themselves. And this certainly reveals the dire circumstances of this event; what Israel will finally face just before the Messiah's dramatic intervention.

And in verse two, we read "For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle." Notice the Lord speaks here in the first person. This not only underscores his sovereign rule over what is going to happen - that he is providentially orchestrating all of this entire scenario, that he is ordained, that he is actively involved in this - but it also reinforces the incredible, literal reality of what will transpire in this inconceivably glorious scenario. "For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem into battle." Now mind you, not every nation, not every person, is going to be there, but the forces deployed from those nations. You talk about shock and awe. Do you remember when we first went, I think it was against Iraq, and they talked about shock and awe, and we got to see some of that. I've got friends that were soldiers one click out when all of that happened, and they told me what they saw. It was shock and awe. But folks, what is going to happen here causes all of that to pale into absolute insignificance. What we saw in Iraq would be tantamount to the fireworks that we shoot off in our yard on the Fourth of July. So here, the Lord will make a final purging of his ancient covenant people - the Jewish people - who reject Him; most of them today do. While at the same time, you see here that he's setting a trap for the nations, those who hate him, who serve the Antichrist.

Moreover, he's going to create a siege against his people so great, so powerful, that only divine intervention can possibly save them. This is exactly the kind of odds that the Lord loves, right? That way he gets all of the glory. "I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle," all of the rebellious Antichrist worshiping nations. Now, why would they want to do this? Why are they going to come against Israel? Well, just briefly, it's because they hate Christ, and they know how many Jews worship him, even though they won't understand all of the nuances of theology; but they're certainly going to be a Jewish remnant, as we're going to see here, that believe in him and worship him; Gentiles as well. And they're also inspired by Satan, and Satan knows that Jesus had predicted to return at Jerusalem. That's why it is the most disputed place on the planet to this very day. There are two opposing kingdoms, the kingdom of Satan and the kingdom of Christ. They know this is where he's going to return, and Satan has to do something about that, and he deceives all of these people under the rule of the Antichrist. But you must also understand that by now, at this point in the tribulation period, the people are absolutely apoplectic because of all that's been going on, they are motivated to do everything they can to destroy anybody that names the name of Christ, because of all that they have endured from the Seal and the Trumpet and the Bowl judgments. Their hatred for Christ is going to be beyond anything we can imagine, and they will hate the remnant of Israel.

By the way, at this point, there's only going to be a third left alive. Remember, after the great earthquake of the sixth seal, in Revelation, we read in Revelation six, verse 12, that the sun is going to become "black as sackcloth", the stars of the sky will fall to the earth, and then it says the sky will be

"split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

"Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains;

"'..Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb;

"'for the great day of their wrath has come and who is able to stand?'"

And this is just at the sixth seal; they still have to go through the Trumpet judgments and the Seal judgments. So this is at the very beginning, and they know who it is that's pouring out these horrible judgments upon them. So again, they're blinded, they're inspired by Satan, and they're going to be rabidly determined to do everything they can to destroy anyone who worships him. By the way, we can already see this hatred, not only for Jews, but for Christians. We see it growing every day. This will be what Jeremiah called in Jeremiah, 30 verses five and following, "the time of Jacob's trouble."

Again, in verse two, "I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished” - that is raped - "and half the city exiled." They'll be made prisoners of war. "But the rest,” - that is the remainder, the remnant of the people - "will not be cut off from the city"; a reference to the elect remnant that will be protected. Now, remember again, these are the divinely chosen people of God, who, as a nation, are the recipients of the covenants and the promises given to their fathers. Paul makes this clear in Romans 9 and Romans 11.

A little further insight, earlier in Zechariah, we read in chapter 13, verse eight, "'It will come about in all the land,' declares the LORD, 'That two parts in it'" - in other words, the surrounding land - "'will be cut off and perish; but the third will be left in it.'" And this is going to be the righteous remnant, the elect of Israel. "'And I will bring the third part through the fire, refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them; I will say, "They are My people," and they will say, "The LORD is my God."'"

Now, bear in mind, this has been God's plan all along for his covenant people Israel. May I remind you of Daniel's prophecy that we studied in great detail a couple years ago? Now, according to Daniel 9:24 we read that God has determined 490 years to be cut off from all of the rest of history to accomplish his restoring purposes; to deliver the people of Israel in their capital city and in Jerusalem. This is all consistent with Daniel's prayer. None of this happened at his first coming. And you will remember that in that text, there are six major and magnificent objectives that will be accomplished during this 70th and final weeks. Let me read it to you in Daniel 9:24, "'Seventy weeks,'" literally 70 weeks of years, "'have been decreed for your people and your holy city.'" And here's the first one, here's the first objective, "to finish the transgression"; specifically, now, Israel's unrelenting and unrestrained rebellion against God. Secondly, "to make an end of sin." That means to judge it with finality. Number three, "to make atonement for iniquity"; and of course, that happened through the death of Christ. Number four, "to bring in everlasting righteousness," which speaks of the removal of sin accomplished on the cross. This will be appropriated by Israel as a nation when Christ returns.

In fact, Jeremiah speaks of this, if I can digress for a moment, Jeremiah 23, verse five,

"'Behold, the days are coming,' declares the LORD, 'When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch,; and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land.

"'In his days, Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is His name by which he will be called, "The LORD our Righteousness."'"

So he's going to, fourthly, "bring in everlasting righteousness." But number five, it says "to seal up vision and prophecy." In other words, it's referring to hiding from view and demonstrating that these visions in prophecy, they no longer are functioning in the same way. A vision referring to revelation; prophecy referring to the message of the prophets. And then finally, number six objective, "to anoint," which means to officially inaugurate into public ministry, "to anoint the most holy place." Literally the Holy of Holies. And this underscores the profound importance of the millennial temple that we see described in Joel 3 and Isaiah 60 and Jeremiah 33, Ezekiel 37, Ezekiel 40 through 48. All of this is going to happen. Though it may seem absurd to us, because we are so “Gentileized,” we can't imagine a millennial temple.

So we've seen, first of all, a day of divine retribution, this holy purging and refinement that is going to come, but secondly, it will be a day of divine rescue. Notice, verse three, "Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle.” Will you notice the direct personal intervention of the Lord himself here? Indeed, according to verse one, this is a day that is coming for the Lord, a day designated for Yahweh, so in the hour of their greatest peril, when the forces of Antichrist are coming upon them - overwhelming them - when antisemitism is at its very zenith, when extinction seems inevitable, we read that, "the LORD will go forth." In other words, the Messiah himself will descend from heaven to deliver his people. He will "go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle." As I reflected upon this, I was reminded of how many times he has done this before, and certainly the Jewish people would understand this as they hear this prophecy. Of course, they've never seen him deliver on this scale. Remember when he fought for his people at the Red Sea? He parted the Red Sea. Now we're going to see, he's going to part a mountain. Remember when we read quote "the Lord fought for Israel" in Joshua 10:14, when he gave Joshua the victory at Gibeon; and when he fought for them over and over again in the conquest of Canaan, when he caused the walls of Jericho to come tumbling down, as we used to sing as a kid. When, according to Judges 4:15 quote, "The Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army with the edge of the sword before Barack; and Sisera alighted from his chariot and fled away on foot." I think of Second Kings 19. You will remember when the pre-incarnate Christ killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in a single night, causing Sennacherib to return in retreat to his capital, Nineveh. And there are so many more. But folks, all of these victories again will pale into insignificance in comparison to the return of our Messiah King.

Verse four, "in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east.” Again, this makes it clear that it's speaking of a literal, physical, bodily return of the Lord Jesus Christ at his second coming. And I keep going over this, even in my own mind, it's impossible for me to even envision the magnitude of the supernatural event. You must understand, just to back up a little bit, no one is going to miss Christ's second coming. They did at his first coming, when he came in humility. But the next time he's coming in glory; nobody will miss him. In fact, Jesus spoke of this in Matthew 24 verse 27 he says, "'For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of man be.'" What a graphic illustration. I mean, when the lightning comes, you don't miss it, right? Everybody sees it. And he goes on to say in Matthew 24 verse 29 and following, "'But immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky.'" What is the sign of the Son of Man? Well, undoubtedly it will be the glory of his Shekinah; that ineffable, brilliant, dazzling light of his presence.

"'The sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, then all of the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.

"'And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.'"

So again, back to Zechariah's prophecy in verse four, "In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east..." and then we read, "and the Mount of Olives will split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south." Again, reminiscent of the parting of the Red Sea. Now, by the way, is this not what the angels promised? He's going to come back physically, and here we see it.

I wanted to digress again for just a moment. I was thinking of the theological significance and the geographical sequence of his original departure from Israel and his future arrival. It's fascinating. In Ezekiel, chapter eight through nine, or eight through 10 I should say, there is a description of the hideous corruption of idolatry that characterized the people, underscoring the fact that joy and the blessed communion associated with God's glory is utterly impossible when there's persistent sin, which should be something we all bear in mind. And because of Israel's sin, we see in that passage, and others, how God transfers world power to the Gentiles. It's especially recorded in Daniel two and because of all of that, the presence - the Shekinah glory of the Lord - departed from the temple. And in that passage, that whole section, we see how Ezekiel watches the Shekinah presence gradually departing from Israel. By the way, "Shekinah" comes from a Hebrew term, "mishkan," which means "to dwell." And so it's a term that's used to speak of the glory of his presence. And so he watches the shekinah leaving, departing from Israel, which, by the way, is the meaning of the name "Ichabod." It means "the glory has departed."

And at first, the prophet sees the glory of Jehovah in the rightful place in the temple in Ezekiel, chapter eight and verse four. And then we see how that it begins to go up and hover over, quote, "the threshold of the house" in chapter nine and verse three. And it says that it illuminates the court with the ineffable brightness of his deity in chapter 10 and verse four. And then it's really interesting. It moves again and pauses over the east gate of the Lord's house, the same gate from which the Savior would depart when he was rejected. And finally, we see how the cherubim lifted up their wings, and the prophet records the tragic end in Ezekiel 11 verse 23 and, "The glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city and stood over the mountain which is east of the city." That's the Mount of Olives, upon which he will descend, that will be split. And it's fascinating that the precise sequence of the departure of his glorious presence will be reversed when he returns in power and great glory. Ezekiel 43 verse two, "behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the way of the east." Ezekiel 43 verse four,

"And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate facing toward the east.

"And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house.

"Then I heard one speaking to me from the house, while a man was standing beside me.

"He said to me, 'Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet where I will dwell among the sons of Israel forever. And the house of Israel will not again defile My holy name."

So back to Zechariah’s prophecy, verse four, "The Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north the other half toward the south." Again, think of this, folks. This is the very mount where in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus agonized with his Father as he communed with him, where he shed tears mixed with blood; that place of soul-wrenching turmoil that will become a place of soul, exhilarating triumph - the Mount of Olives. I might also add that this kind of pre-kingdom, cataclysmic earthquake was promised by the prophets; a number of different earthquakes that will happen towards the end. Of course, this will be the greatest one. For example, Micah, chapter one, verse three,

"For behold, the LORD is coming forth from His place. He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.

"The mountains will melt under Him and the valleys will be split, like wax before the fire, like water poured down a steep place."

The prophet Nahum in chapter one, verse five,

"Mountains quake because of Him and the hills dissolve; indeed, the earth is upheaved by His presence, the world and all the inhabitants in it.

"Who can stand before His indignation? Who can endure the burning of His anger? His wrath is poured out like fire and the rocks are broken up by Him."

There will be other earthquakes that will happen during the time of the tribulation, prior to the final one here on the Mount of Olives. The book of Revelation speaks of this in Revelation 16, beginning in verse 17, we read,

 "Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, 'It is done.'

"And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty.

"The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.

"And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found."

Now, currently, the Mount of Olives is a high ridge, basically of limestone, that rises about 200 feet above Mount Zion, about 300 feet above Mount Moriah. A number of you have been there; a lot of you have been there with me, and it stretches about a mile on the east side of Jerusalem. And at the bottom of the mountain, there is a real steep valley that goes down to the city, and at that point you have the Brook Kidron; and together - the mountain, the brook and all of it - it forms a great obstacle for anyone trying to flee out of that side of the city. But this great earthquake is going to remedy all of that. It will be a supernatural seismic shift in the land, which will cause the mountain to recede northward, the other half southward, and that will form a huge valley; a massive geological fracture; a valley extending toward the west and toward the east. And this will also make the city even more conspicuous, more prominent to the world when Christ reigns from it. My mind goes to Psalm 48 beginning in verse one,

"Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, in the city of our God, His holy mountain.

“Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion in the far north, the city of the great King.

"God in her palaces, has made Himself known as a stronghold."

But the Lord will have another purpose for this cataclysmic seismic upheaval, and that is deliverance, to deliver his people away; for his remnant to escape from their enemies there at the final moment when he returns. Notice verse five, "You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel," - that was an ancient place of hiding and refuge and defense; Micah 11:1 speaks of this. This is where they will flee. He goes on to say, "Yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah.” You read about that in Amos 1:1. Then I love this next section, this next sentence, notice what the prophet says. "Then the LORD, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him!" "Then the Lord"...I love, the next phrase, it's like he he's just so excited, "The LORD my God," that's the idea. Folks, this is my God. This is my Jesus that's going to do this. This is the one I love, the one I serve. And I'm sure you would say the same thing; the Lord my God, will come. In other words, make no mistake about it, this is going to happen, and "all the holy ones with Him"; primarily a reference to his angelic hosts, as indicated, for example, in Psalm 89 verses five and nine. Although there's indication, too, that we, as the saints will also join him; Colossians three and verse four speaks of that.

I'm reminded of here again, of what Jesus said in Matthew 24 verse 31, "'And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.'" And likewise, he says in Mark 8:38, "'...when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.'" And Paul says this in Second Thessalonians one, beginning in verse seven,

 "...when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire,

"dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Now, I know this is, in some ways, an exercise in futility, but I like to do it, especially as I meditate upon passages of Scripture. Try to put yourself there first as the enemy. The lights go out, basically, and you see all of this. And then, as we see their eyes, their tongues begin to rot, they begin to fight amongst each other. Their hearts melt with fear. The remnant is fleeing, and they see it, and they know that this is the time of their great deliverance. It's an astounding thing to consider.

So we've seen a day of retribution and a day of divine rescue. Finally, in closing, a day of divine restoration. "In that day," verse six, "there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle. "For it will be a unique day," - literally, a one of its kind day, one that's never happened before, - "which is known," or could be translated understood, "to the LORD." In other words, it will be a unique day that was ordained by him, a day ordained by him for his purposes; and a day that is utterly incomprehensible and inexplicable to uniformitarian scientists; never seen anything like this. "neither day nor night" it says. By the way, in Scripture, darkness is always symbolic of judgment. Again, imagine the terror. Imagine the terror if right now, all of the sun, if everything went dark. It’s as if the Lord is saying, you know, you loved darkness rather than light, and so now I'm going to leave you in the darkness, a foretaste of hell. Jesus said in Matthew 8:12 that hell is outer darkness. He said the wicked will be cast “out into the outer darkness. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." May I remind you that all of this was prophesied? Isaiah 13, beginning in verse nine,

"Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, cruel, with fury and burning anger, to make the land a desolation; and He will exterminate its sinners from it.

"For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not flash forth their light; the sun will be dark when it rises and the moon will not shed its light.

"Thus, I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud and abase the haughtiness of the ruthless."

Zephaniah one, verse 15, "A day of wrath is that day, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness." In Matthew, as I have already read, 24, the Lord speaks about how that Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Jeremiah 30, verse seven, "Alas, for that day is great. There is none like it, and it is the time of Jacob's distress; but he will be saved from it."

Zechariah, verse seven in chapter 14, "but it will come about that at evening time there will be light." Well, what is this? The lights go out, and now there's going to be light? Well, yes. It's because the light of Christ has come, the Shekinah of his glory. Now bear in mind, when he comes, everything's going to be changed. There's going to be a renovated earth. There's going to be a new order of nature; the latter will be replaced eventually by a new heaven and a new earth. In fact, in Revelation, 21 you may remember, there's a description of the New Jerusalem, and in verse 23 we read how that there will be no need for the sun or the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. And we see a preview of that here. His glory is going to replace the sun and the moon and the stars. Again, this is incomprehensible to all of us. Isaiah 60, verse 19, "'No longer will you have the sun for light by day, nor for brightness will the moon give you light, but you will have the LORD for an everlasting light, and your God for your glory.'" As I read earlier, Malachi 4:2, "But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings."

So when the Lord returns to this earth, dear friends, everything is going to be changed. There's going to be a sense in which it will return to Edenic splendor. There will be a renovation, a restoration. There's eventually at the end of the millennial kingdom, there will be a re-creation; a new heaven and a new earth, but when he returns again, we read, for example, in Habakkuk two and verse 14, that the earth "will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." And we know that creation has been subjected to vanity because of the curse. I'll not take time, we're running out of time, but Romans eight verses, 19 through 22, we read about the anxious longing of all creation, waiting for this time, and what a glorious restoration it will be.

Notice the massive change in the ecological system, verse eight, "And in that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea." What's that? It's the Dead Sea. I have floated in the Dead Sea. Some of you have and you can't do anything but float in the Dead Sea, right? And it's going to be fresh water. In fact, Ezekiel 47 and verse 10 says that people will be able to catch fish out of it. "And the other half," it says, "toward the western sea." That's the Mediterranean. "It will be in summer as well as winter"; in other words, no more water problems. No wonder Isaiah 35:1 says, "The wilderness and the desert will be glad, and the Arabah," that is the desert, "will rejoice and blossom."

Well, folks, I long for that glorious day of Messianic retribution and rescue and restoration. And as I think about it, we are told that we are the children of God. We are fellow heirs with Christ, and we're going to be glorified with Him, because we are in Christ. We ourselves have the first fruits; first fruits of the Spirit. But it also says that we groan within ourselves, don't we? We groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons and the redemption of our body. Beloved, right now as believers, we are in Christ, but we long for the day when we will be with Christ and we will see Christ, and that day is coming. Let's pray together.

Father, thank you for the great truths of your word. I pray that they will find lodging within our hearts, that they will germinate in such a way as to bear much fruit to the praise of your glory and for our joy. And if there be one that knows nothing of what it means to truly be reconciled to you as a holy God, oh Lord, won't you overwhelm them with such conviction as to make them miserable in their sin, until they fall on their face before you and cry out for your undeserved mercy, that you will grant them so rich and so free. So we commit all of this to you, and for you, and long for the return of our Savior and Lord, the lover of our souls, and it's in his name that I pray. Amen.