THE TEMPTATIONS OF CHRIST

Welcome to Bible study online! Our topic today concerns the three temptations of Jesus Christ as recorded in the gospels. There are plenty of scripture references, so don't forget to grab your Bible. Thanks for following along.

THE TEMPTATIONS OF CHRIST

Hebrews 4:15-16 says, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” These verses indicate to me that Satan repeatedly tried to introduce willful rebellion against the Father into the life of Jesus as He lived on earth, but was always unsuccessful. There simply was nothing in Jesus that made Him want to put His own wishes or even His perceived needs above the will of His Father. The Bible records three particular temptations, however, that go beyond the simple temptations that ordinary people face every day. These three temptations were recorded for the benefit of believers because they were the temptations, not just of an ordinary man, but of God, and when the life of Jesus Christ, through the presence of the Holy Spirit, resides in us, those temptations will become our temptations.

TEMPTATION DEFINED

Often people seem to mentally equate temptation with sin, but this is not the case. Temptation is merely the presentation of a choice that involves moral principles. Oswald Chambers defined temptation as “the testing by an alien power of the possessions held by a personality in order that a higher and nobler character may come out of the test.” When seen in the light of this definition, we see that temptation has a two-fold purpose. The positive side of temptation is that it tests to see what we are made of. It reveals the true personality. The test is not so that God can see what we are because He already knows us inside out—much more intimately than we can know ourselves (Psalm 139)—but so that we can know ourselves better and so that our character can be known by others. Recalling the testing of Job, the tenacity of his faith in God was proved beyond doubt when he continued to hold fast to his faith even though Satan had been allowed to rob him of all his possessions and wreak havoc on his personal health. His creed, that is, his belief that if he lived a morally upright life God would bless him, had to go in the tank, but after it was gone, his true faith in the goodness of God remained despite the perplexity of his circumstances. The result was that Job came out of his testing knowing himself and his God much more intimately. The negative side of temptation is that it is an enticement to sin. There is always the possibility that we will fall into sin through temptation. If we hold to the definition mentioned above, we can see that not all sin is the result of temptation. In fact, I think personally, most sin is not the result of satanic influence, but a result of the fact that we are born with a sin nature and behave accordingly. The devil gets blamed for a lot of things that he has absolutely nothing to do with. I think a good case can be made that only regenerated believers experience any kind of true temptation. Unbelievers are spiritually dead and there is absolutely no need in testing a dead man. In fact, it is to the devil’s advantage to leave unbelievers alone in their sin, because if they are ever seriously tempted, they might become awakened to their spiritual need. To be without temptation is to be beneath contempt, and I don’t think Satan has any respect for the lost, but he does have a great desire to ruin the witness and usefulness of the saved.

THE CONTEXT OF THE THREE TEMPTATIONS

In order to correctly understand the three recorded temptations of Jesus, it is important to back up and see the immediate context of His life. The temptations are recorded in the opening verses of Matthew 4, but in the preceding verses of Matthew 3:13-17, we see the baptism of Jesus as the apostle recorded it. I have heard several different explanations concerning why Jesus sought baptism, and indeed, John protested strongly when Jesus came and asked to be baptized. Why did John protest? The baptism of John was not the same as baptism for believers in Jesus. John’s baptism was a symbol of repentance, not regeneration, as it is for believers. John’s message to the people was, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3:2) John knew that Jesus was not there because He needed to repent of anything; He had never sinned. He was there to receive John’s baptism because He knew He had come into the world to bear away its sin, and without repentance, there is no forgiveness of sin. This is a defining moment, I believe, in the life of Jesus signifying that He has formally accepted the vocation of Sin Bearer for the world. He understands that in order to accomplish this, He must die as the Sacrificial Lamb, and He is agreeing to do it. The response of His Father is, “This is My Beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17)

From this context we see that immediately prior to His temptation, Jesus was on a spiritual “high.” He has just made a momentous public decision to do the will of His Father, and He has heard the voice of God from heaven confirming that He is indeed the Son of God. The Spirit of God has descended from heaven and lighted on Him, empowering Him uniquely to carry out His mission. Immediately, He is taken and plunged into a crucible of testing that will reveal His true willingness to carry out the decision He has just made.

OBSERVATION: Whenever we make any kind of momentous decision for the Lord, we can look for testing along those lines to see if we are really committed. The emotional “high” will be knocked away and the bald facts placed before us.

THE WILDERNESS

“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.” Matthew 4:1-2

POINT ONE: Jesus was led by the Spirit of God; He did not choose the time and place of His own testing, but God did. No right-thinking person will deliberately place himself in the way of temptation. There have been any number of people eager to prove themselves who have deliberately placed themselves in the way of temptation, but this is not of God—it is arrogance. God will choose the time and place of your testing—rest assured.

POINT TWO: The wilderness is a place where you are cut off from “civilization.” There are no people to help you in the wilderness, and therefore, you must trust in God. In Mark 1:12-13, it says that Jesus was with the wild beasts. When you are in your “wilderness”, it will seem like you are surrounded by wild beasts. There are always those who are willing to take advantage of your helplessness and the Evil One is tearing at your soul. But there is a kind of spiritual safety in the wilderness, because you can see God sustaining you moment by moment. When the Israelites were in the wilderness for forty years, they were daily sustained by manna from heaven, water from the Rock, and even their clothes and shoes did not wear out.

POINT THREE: In the wilderness, Jesus fasted forty days and forty nights (forty is the number that symbolizes testing in the Bible). I think this was a fast during which Jesus’ physical body was sustained by God. What did He do during those forty days? We can speculate endlessly. I am sure He prayed and communed with His Father continually. Perhaps He wrestled over the idea of being a Sin Bearer and the implications it would have. Perhaps He looked down the road of history and saw all the suffering that would fall on His own believers and the agonizing choices they would have to make when they chose to follow Him by daily taking up their crosses. Was this the only way, or was there an easier way? I think He may well have wrestled with this very question, because in the Garden of Gethsemane, it was the final thought in His mind before the cross. (Mark 14:36) Could there be any other answer? All things are possible. . .

STONES TO BREAD

“Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, ‘If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.’” Matthew 4:3

On the surface, the temptation is to satisfy His hunger in an illegitimate way. The Spirit of God has descended on Him to empower Him to do miracles and carry out His mission. I think this is like a temptation to “go joy-riding” with the power of God. This power was not given to Him for such purposes, but was meant to be used in accordance with the will of God. During the entire course of Jesus’ ministry, we never see Him using His miraculous power to serve Himself—ever.

Below the surface temptation of self-satisfaction, there is the idea, I think, that He can take a short cut and achieve the kingship of man by using His divine powers to satisfy the physical needs of men. If He went around feeding them miraculously and taking care of their physical needs, they would follow Him, wouldn’t they? Wouldn’t the cross be unnecessary then? John 6 records the miraculous feeding of 5,000 as Jesus took 5 loaves and 2 fish and fed a large crowd with enough leftovers to feed another crowd. How did the people react?

“Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king…” John 6:15

Could He get a following by feeding people? Absolutely! Reading on in John 6, we see that the people followed Him around asking for more miraculous “handouts.” But then Jesus disappointed them by talking about Bread from Heaven for their souls. He went so far as to say that they had to “eat His flesh and drink His blood.” Now to us this sounds like cannibalism or something, but in biblical terms He is using covenant language. When a covenant relationship was formed, the two making the covenant joined their lives together, and this was symbolized by sharing a meal. Jesus is telling them that they must join their lives to Him by faith in a lifelong, unbreakable commitment. How do they respond?

“From that time, many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.” John 6:66

It is fair to say that the people wanted fleshly gratification, but not a relationship. They wanted to use Jesus, but they did not want to know Him. In that respect, they were self-satisfied.

How does Jesus respond to the devil’s temptation?

“But He answered and said, ‘It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

Jesus responds to the devil’s temptation by quoting authority; He does not attempt to reason or rationalize. He simply depends on the Word of God, its authority, and its truth. Bread alone is not enough to sustain a human being. He has just proved that it is entirely possible for God to physically sustain a man for 40 days without food. But a man cannot live even one second without the life of God; that is why we are spiritually dead until we receive life from God by faith in Christ.

How does this temptation apply to the Church? The idea is that we can fill the pews of our churches if we just meet the physical needs of people. If you feed them, they will come. How many pizza suppers have been offered to youth and children in order to secure the maximum attendance at a special rally? While there may certainly be people who can testify that wanting to have their flesh satisfied ultimately resulted in hearing the gospel and being saved, using the flesh in order to introduce the Spirit does not seem like a right principle. Gratifying the flesh generally results in more pizza orders, but not in changed lives. While there is nothing wrong with feeding people or helping meet their physical needs, this should never be the centerpiece of evangelistic efforts. Jesus is the centerpiece. People can live a day without food, but they can’t live a moment without Jesus. Oswald Chambers said, “Every temptation of Satan will certainly seem right to us unless we have the Spirit of God.”

Jesus met this temptation successfully and showed that His heart was focused on His Father’s will. The temptation to take a short cut and do God’s will in His own way found no place of resonance in the life of Jesus. What will the Antichrist—that evil counterpart who will masquerade as the true messiah—what will he do in respect to ruling over man by gratifying his fleshly needs and desires? Revelation 13:16-17 says,

“He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”

The Antichrist will say, “If you want to eat, you must worship me. If you aren’t loyal to me, you will have nothing to eat. If you are loyal to me, you can have your fill.”

DO SOMETHING SPECTACULAR

“Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: “He shall give His angels charge over you, and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.”’” Matthew 4:5-6

The pinnacle would have been a very high part of the temple and it happened to be situated at the edge of a sort of cliff. Jumping off in full view of thousands of people, including the Roman rulers, and being caught up by angels would have dazzled the people witless. The underlying temptation was to forget the cross and “wow” people into following Him. He could become king instantaneously—nobody would have to suffer anything.

“Jesus said to him, ‘It is written again, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.”’”

God’s character is immutable and revealed as perfect goodness; it needs no testing. Satan, we see, has changed his tactics a little bit and is trying to use Scripture to tempt Jesus. He pulls verses out of context and applies them to suit his own purposes.

CAUTION: Always check out the context of verses. There are MANY who will quote parts of Scripture to prove their own point and ignore the context which indicates a totally different interpretation. Sometimes this is done through simple error (there are no perfect teachers or preachers), but often through device. People who know the Scriptures, but who do not know God, can turn verses inside out to make them appear to mean whatever they want.

Following the ministry of Jesus in the gospel accounts, we never find Him trying to dazzle anyone into following Him. He never begs, charms, browbeats, or tries in any way to make it “easy” to follow Him. He never tries to catch anyone off guard and make a quick “sale.” Luke 9:57-62 records a series of would-be followers who first wanted to go and attend to something else, but Jesus insisted that following Him had to come first. In Luke 14:33, He said,

“Whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.”

This does not mean that we are to abandon all our earthly responsibilities, but that Jesus is to have first place in everything. As a result of taking God’s long road, rather than the proffered short cut, the life and ministry of Jesus was considered an abject failure by the world, and His apostles were counted as spectacles to be jeered, mocked, and put to death. (I Corinthians 4:9) But Jesus never lost sight of God’s “endgame.”

So how does this temptation apply to the church? Are we ever tempted to use something “exciting” to entice people to attend? Is there any sort of “show business” in the church these days that is there to draw a crowd? Are there any Christian groups that try to work up some mystical “ecstasy” to bring people in? Are people coming because they want Jesus, or because we have found a lure that appeals to their flesh? I personally think that this very thing has been the grossest failing of the church in the United States for decades. Virtually everything done for children and youth especially has to be “fun”, “exciting”, etc. It often includes “goodies” in the form of food or giveaways. Most Vacation Bible Schools offer less than twenty minutes of biblical instruction in an entire morning. A lot of mission trips that people go on are to places that offer plenty of opportunities for sight-seeing and entertainment, and there is no training requirement beforehand to determine the seriousness or maturity of the attendees. Mega-churches often look more like playgrounds, video arcades, sports centers, etc. than houses of prayer. I could go on, but I might get in trouble! The problem with show business is that it gets tiresome! Six Flags was popular only as long as it offered a new thrill ride every year, because once you’ve done one, you want an even bigger thrill. Jesus isn’t here to give us a thrill—He is here to remake our lives.

“We are apt to have the idea that we can only estimate what God is in us by what He does through us.” (Oswald Chambers) It is not about us or our spiritual resumes and it is not a numbers game.

How will the Antichrist use the temptation of dazzling people in order to achieve a following? Revelation 13:14-15 says,

“He (the false prophet) deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast (Antichrist), telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.”

The false prophet who is the Antichrist’s PR man will use supernatural power to cause a statue of the Antichrist to speak! Don’t you know that will “wow” a lot of people? He chooses the easy way—the short cut. He appeals to the flesh and sense of excitement and sways the masses with hysteria-driven showmanship. Do we have any groups today that rely on emotional shows for attendance and following? It sure does fill those empty coffers!

COMPROMISE

In the final recorded attempt,

“the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, ‘All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.’” Matthew 4:8-9

This temptation needs to be understood as a legitimate temptation. The devil was not promising something that was not his to give. He is offering the kingdoms of the world, and he is the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2) and the ruler of this world (John 12:31). He had the world in his grasp, and Jesus had come to throw him out. The temptation is to compromise, be reasonable. “I will give you what you have come for without a fight if you will let me have what I want in return—worship.” Lucifer rebelled against God by trying to usurp His heavenly throne and was consequently expelled. (Isaiah 14:12-15) He succeeded in taking the heart of man and thereby usurping God’s throne on earth, but Jesus has come to reclaim it. The temptation is this: don’t be so hard as to demand righteousness and holiness—people are just people after all. Make them feel good about themselves—don’t tell them they have to be perfect. But Jesus says,

“Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”

Sin is not a defect which can be cleared up with a little makeup or a botox injection. It is mutinous anarchy and it has to be dealt with decisively. Jesus knows that compromise will not raise the dead, and all people are ultimately dead because they are cut off from the life of God. Only a new birth will be of any real help to people—the problem is that they seldom ever realize this. (John 3:3) So He successfully repels the tempting of Satan one more time by holding true to His Father, and not compromising in order to “pseudo-save” people. The Father’s plan is the only one that will really work—but it is going to be a long, hard road.

What about the church? Do we ever compromise with the world in order to try to “win” a few? You really can’t “win” anybody to Christ; that is a misnomer. You cannot win a mutinous rebel; he has to be totally changed, and that is what Jesus is all about. The true power of the gospel is that the life of Christ Himself can be placed inside a believer, giving him a new life that truly loves and wants to follow Christ. Sin is not a disease or a defect and the devil and hell are real. Do we make “allowances” for certain sins today because if we preached against abortion, divorce, sexual sins of all kinds, people would stop coming because we have “stepped on their toes?” Are we telling the truth that we are all helpless, ungodly sinners, (Romans 5:6) or are we trying to make people feel good about themselves and “build them up”? Is Jesus Christ on the throne or are our kind and good intentions ruling the day? Please indulge me in one last Oswald Chambers quote:

“The only way in which the Kingdom of God can be established is by the love of God as revealed in the Cross of Jesus Christ, not by the lovingkindness of a backboneless being without justice or righteousness or truth. The background of God’s love is holiness. His is not a compromising love, and the Kingdom of our Lord can only be brought in by means of His love at work in regeneration. Then when we are regenerated we must not insult God by imagining that in dealing with our fellow men we can afford to ignore the need for Redemption and simply be kind and gentle and loving to all.”

How will the Antichrist deal with this final temptation? II Thessalonians 2:3 says,

“Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”

Like Satan himself, he will demand to be worshiped. He will attempt to take the rightful place of God, even in the Lord’s own temple. Those who will worship him will enjoy his “kingdom”, but those who don’t will be in danger of death.

How have we done in facing the temptations of Christ in us? We want men to follow Him and be saved, but are we willing to compromise with the flesh, the world, and the devil to try to accomplish it? What means will we use to bring people in? Are we bringing them to Christ, in truth, or are we just getting them to attend our services and support our programs? The day when the Lord will judge our lives as His servants is coming. Will we be found to have been friends of the “Bridegroom” or have we been aiding the one who competes against him for the hearts of men? The road that Jesus deliberately chose was long and hard and discouraging. It did not look like it would result in much. Hagar, Sarah’s handmaid and a symbol of the world, had no problem conceiving a child, but Sarah had to wait a long time for the son of promise. (Genesis 16) Are we of Sarah, or Hagar? Sarah was a free woman, but Hagar was a slave (Galatians 4:21-31)

Thanks for following along! My next lesson is going to cover the topic of the Covenant of Marriage. Hopefully, it will be ready in a couple of weeks.

ZECHARIAH LESSON SIXTEEN

Welcome to Bible study online! Zechariah is a terrific book to study, especially as we see the Day of the LORD approaching. I like to think of it as the “Apocalypse of the Old Testament”, because it contains so many parallels with the New Testament book of Revelation. There are plenty of Scriptures to look up, so grab your Bible, and thanks for joining us!

ZECHARIAH LESSON SIXTEEN


When Adam and Eve fell into sin in the Garden of Eden, certain consequences were set in motion that have affected all humanity since that time. The earth was cursed in that problematic plants have made cultivation more difficult, but also life itself has become just as “weedy” as the earth, making it challenging oftentimes to get along. Childbirth became a painful event, and this process is seen in almost any type of “birth” whether it is a child, a new nation, a new invention, or whatever. There is often a certain amount (sometimes a tremendous amount) of suffering in order to bring about something new. Chapter 14 of Zechariah illustrates this principle because we see that before the new kingdom can come upon the earth, there is going to be a lot of suffering. The good news is that, after the birth has occurred, the memory of pain recedes quickly in the joy of the new arrival.

HARD LABOR BEGINS

Our final lesson is actually going to begin in Matthew 24:3-8. Jesus has made a rather apocalyptic prediction and the disciples have come to Him privately asking for more information. He warns them that there will be many wars and that nations will fight against each other and there will be famines, pestilence, and earthquakes in many different places. Then He says,

“All these are the beginning of sorrows.”

These things are like the beginning of labor pains. Having given birth three times, I can say that the beginning is not too bad. You may have to stop what you are doing for a moment until it passes, but it does not stop you from whatever work you need to get done. However, there comes a time when things begin to get serious. A time comes when you have to stop working and doing other things and devote all your concentration to childbirth. There is no more time for working, eating, or even talking. There is only enduring moment by moment, breathing as much as possible (it takes a lot of oxygen to endure pain), and waiting for the inevitable. Finally, the body takes over and the drive to deliver the baby is largely beyond the woman’s ability to control. History, to me, looks a lot like that. All along, there have been moments—wars, and rumors of wars—and sometimes the world at large was inconvenienced and had to stop and wait for the war to end before resuming normal work. But ever since World War II, I think things have taken on a more serious turn. The coming of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction, together with the holocaust and the resulting rebirth of Israel, has made for an increasingly serious situation. The world’s dependence upon the Middle East for oil has added another dimension to the ongoing distraction and the world is increasingly being forced to pay attention to the birth pangs. 9/11 ratcheted up the whole business to an even more serious level, and the emergence of Ahmadinejad in Iran and Putin in Russia are working to bring the situation to an all out crisis. Short of a miraculous intervention, war is inevitable because there are too many people who will not settle for less than having their own way about things—in short, there will be no peace as long as the Jews are alive and breathing in Israel. So what will the world’s solution be? Zechariah 14:1-2 says,

“Behold the day of the LORD is coming, and your spoil will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; the city shall be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city.”

These verses correspond in our childbirth analogy to the moment of delivery. The pain has become unendurable and the nations have gathered together to take care of the “Jewish problem.” Notice that God is really in control of the whole thing. He knows that the nations have been against Him all along, so He has brought them here to this focal point in order to accomplish His purpose. He allows them to attack Jerusalem and temporarily succeed. The spoil is divided—the people in the city have wealth that is worth taking. All of the nations have come against Jerusalem—for those of you who might still be wondering which side the United States will eventually choose. The attackers will go house to house stealing the plunder and abusing the women. The good news is that we clearly are not talking about a nuclear holocaust here—it is the old fashioned sort of war. Half of the city goes into captivity—they are not murdered. All this leads me to believe that this is not the battle of Ezekiel 38-39 in which Russia, together with a lot of the Islamic people, attempts to invade Israel, but is destroyed by God. I believe that this is the “Time of Jacob’s Trouble” spoken of by Jeremiah and further described in Daniel 7 as a time of tribulation. This is the hour of the Antichrist and his forces are invading Israel and trampling the sanctuary and the city for 3 ½ years. I think that this is the battle to which Jesus alluded in Matthew 24 when He told the people in Judah to flee to the mountains and not to return to their houses for anything. Many scholars believe that when they do flee at this time, they will go to the rock city of Petra. It is largely invulnerable to aerial attack and its entrance is narrow and difficult for an army to penetrate.

THE ARRIVAL OF MESSIAH

Verse 3 says,

“Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations as He fights in the day of battle.”

I think we see this verse elaborated on in Revelation 19:11—

“Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.”

This is the Battle of Armageddon, and the rightful King has come to fight and make war. The opportunity to willingly make peace was offered and largely rejected and now the time has come to settle the issue once and for all. Why did He wait until His beloved Jerusalem was conquered and the people in such distress? Why not intervene beforehand like He did in Ezekiel 38-39? Zechariah 13 told us that God will refine and purify His people. In Genesis, God told Abraham that his children would be enslaved in Egypt for 400 years until the sin of the Canaanite people was complete before He would rescue them and bring them into Canaan to destroy the wicked people living there and establish them in the land. I think that God has done the same thing here. He has allowed the wickedness of the world to reach a stage in which it is completely and totally against God, and now God is totally justified in waging war and destroying His enemies.

Exodus 15:3 says,

“The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is His name.”

You know, we forget all about this aspect of God. We get the mistaken notion that He is not going to do anything about wickedness because it seems as though He has been letting the wicked prosper for a long time. People have forgotten about the Flood and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. More than a century of “modern” notions of science have established such things in the minds of most people as myths, and they no longer accept biblical views of right and wrong. So when the Lord returns, the world is going to be ripe for destruction and the Bible is very clear that there will be massive destruction. Just as only a remnant of Israel will survive, only a remnant of the world’s population will survive according to Revelation. That is why we call it “apocalypse.”

Zechariah 14:4-5 says,

“And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north, and half of it toward the south. Then you shall flee through My mountain valley; for the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah.”

Just as the Lord parted the Red Sea in Exodus to provide an escape route for His people to flee from Pharoah, so He will part the Mount of Olives, creating a valley for their escape from Jerusalem. Incidentally, Amos 1:1 references this same earthquake during the days of Uzziah.

Zechariah 14:5b says,

“Thus the LORD my God will come, and all the saints with You.”

This is the day that all the Jews and Christians have been anticipating. When the Lord left the earth, the disciples’ eyewitness account as recorded in Acts 1:9-11 says,

“Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into Heaven.’”

Notice that His return will be the same as His leaving—visible, physical, and in the clouds. He is not coming alone—who are those with Him?

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.” Matthew 25:31

“For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” Mark 8:38

“When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” Colossians 3:4

“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.” I Thessalonians 4:14

“. . . when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God. . .” II Thessalonians 1:7-8

“Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” Jude 14-15

“These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.” Revelation 17:14

These are verses that make the hair stand up and the blood run fast. But they indicate that the saints coming back with Jesus are both holy angels and human believers—the faithful.

COSMIC DISTURBANCES

The moment for delivery of the new era has come and it is excruciating. The Evil One has been trying to induce a late term abortion and bring in his own kingdom, but God has not been willing to allow any such thing. Poor Israel, the woman in Revelation 12, suffered terribly when Messiah was born so long ago and Herod murdered many trying to destroy Him. Now she is suffering again as the kingdom is coming to earth, and the earth is darkened in the violent confrontation between the Rightful Ruler and the Evil Would-be Usurper. Zechariah 14:6-7 says,

“It shall come to pass in that day that there will be no light; the lights will diminish. It shall be one day which is known to the LORD—neither day nor night. But at evening time it shall happen that it will be light.”

Jesus said in Matthew 24:29,

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.”

Joel 2:30-31 says,

“And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.”

And again in 3:9-16,

“Proclaim this among the nations: prepare for war! Wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near, let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’ Assemble and come, all you nations, and gather together all around. Cause Your mighty ones to go down there, O LORD. Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down; for the winepress is full, the vats overflow—for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will diminish their brightness. The LORD also will roar from Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; the heavens and earth will shake; But the LORD will be a shelter for His people, and the strength of the children of Israel.”

And lest we belabor the point too much, I would like to quote Isaiah 13:9-10:

“Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and He will destroy its sinners from it. For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be darkened in its going forth, and the moon will not cause its light to shine.”

So we see that this day will be a time of incredible upheaval. There are more verses that refer to these things, particularly in Revelation, but it should be plain here that many prophets from the beginning have anticipated this day. They have not given conflicting accounts, such as we would expect if they were simply making up their own stories, but rather they give the same details over and over during the course of hundreds of years. This day is the focal point of history, next to the day of the crucifixion only. It is the day when God takes over again and runs things His way—like it or not.

Continuing with Zechariah 14:8,

“And in that day it shall be that living waters shall flow from Jerusalem; half of them toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea; in both summer and winter it shall occur.”

We are back to the imagery of the Fountain. As we studied before, Jesus is the spiritual fountain and His blood is the flow that cleanses from sin and death. But this verse is pointing to the physical counterpart (it is quite interesting to study the spiritual and physical counterparts found in the Bible) and it is actually real water. A huge fountain opens up near Jerusalem and it flows east to the Dead Sea and west to the Mediterranean Sea. You can read more about this coming river in Ezekiel 47:1-12. It is a year round river, quite gigantic in its dimensions, and it provides vegetation and is strong enough to heal the Dead Sea, so that it is able to overcome its salinity and support all sorts of life. Imagine! Just as the living blood of Christ overcomes sin, the living water of this river overcomes the deadness of the Dead Sea.

Verse 9 says,

“And the LORD shall be King over all the earth, in that day it shall be—‘The LORD is one,’ and His name one.”

In Matthew 25, Jesus told His disciples that when He returned with His angels, He would sit on His throne and judge the nations. This verse echoes the Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is One.”

Verse 10 describes a geologic realignment in which the mountainous region surrounding Jerusalem will be turned into a plain and the city itself will be raised up. God will in effect build His own fortress at Jerusalem. Verse 11 tells us that the people living in Jerusalem will dwell in safety. Jeremiah 23:5-6 and Jeremiah 31:38-40 echo these promises.

Verses 12-15 describe a terrible plague that will break out among those nations that attacked Jerusalem. Their flesh will rot while they are standing on their feet. It will be a plague that will also affect their livestock. Concerning the Battle of Armageddon, Revelation 19:21 says,

“And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.”

It appears that the sword (weapon) coming from the mouth of the returning Lord of lords is the pronouncement of a plague on His enemies. As the plague begins to be manifested, the people begin to panic. That is easy to understand—I would be afraid too if I watched somebody’s flesh rot away in front of my eyes! Hollywood attempted to depict this, as I am sure you recall, in Raiders of the Lost Ark. I think this is a physical manifestation of the rottenness of sin. The Jews will get all the booty back that was taken from them, with more to spare.

In verses 16-19, Zechariah tells us that part of the new rule that will be instituted when the Lord is King over all the earth is that all the nations will be required to send at least a delegation to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles each year in Jerusalem. This feast commemorated the fact that God “tabernacled” with the Israelites during their 40 years in the wilderness. He lived among them and they saw His glory rising out of the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle. This will be a time of celebrating the fact that God has come to live and reign among men. Any nation that is “too busy” to send a delegation will be punished with a drought. During His millennial reign, Jesus will not allow the people to “forget their God” as so many do today. They will have to worship Him if they want to receive any blessings from Him. Today, most people either don’t believe in Him or take His blessings for granted. That will not happen in the new Kingdom.

The concluding verses of Zechariah anticipate a day when everything on earth will be holy to the Lord. The word “holy” means “set apart.” We won’t be holding on to anything for ourselves, but it will all belong to God in truth. Since that will be the case, there will be no need for any fighting over it. There will be no unholiness of any kind. When it says that there will be no Canaanite in the land, it refers to the trafficking in religion for commercial purposes. During Jesus’ life here, He was so offended at the commercialism in the Temple that He drove the merchants out with a whip. What would He drive out of our churches today? Are there any who turn our faith into a chance to profit materially? These things will not exist in the millennial kingdom. Concerning the Gentiles, Ephesians 2:19 says,

“Now therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.”

The coming Kingdom will be made up of Jewish and Gentile remnants who have passed through the fire of a terrible ordeal but are unified in holy devotion to the true God. Because the rule of God will be absolute, life in this kingdom will be absolutely wonderful.

Thanks for following along through this study of Zechariah. There is so much more throughout the entire Bible concerning the Day of the LORD and all that will happen. It is a terrible and glorious time—much like our childbirth analogy—but the result is worth all the suffering. I have three more lessons in mind for the summer: The Temptation of Jesus; The Covenant of Marriage; and The Sabbath of God. It will take a couple of weeks to get the first lesson ready, but I hope you will check back with me. Thanks again!