THE KING IS COMING
The Book of Zechariah #20
Pastor Dennis Clanton
Woodland Church
Wednesday, July 27, 2022
(Zechariah 14:1, NLT) (see also 14:4, 6-9, 20-21) “Watch, for the day of the Lord is coming …”
(Matthew 24:30–31, NLT) “And then at last, the sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from all over the world—from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.”
Jesus returns establishes His Kingdom upon the earth.
1. At the Lord’s Second Coming his enemies are defeated. (verses 1-15)
a. The defeat will be sudden.
(Zechariah 14:12–15, NLT) “And the Lord will send a plague on all the nations that fought against Jerusalem. Their people will become like walking corpses, their flesh rotting away. Their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths. On that day they will be terrified, stricken by the Lord with great panic. They will fight their neighbors hand to hand. Judah, too, will be fighting at Jerusalem. The wealth of all the neighboring nations will be captured great quantities of gold and silver and fine clothing. This same plague will strike the horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all the other animals in the enemy camps.”
(Revelation 18:10, NLT) “They will stand at a distance, terrified by her great torment. They will cry out, “How terrible, how terrible for you, O Babylon, you great city! In a single moment God’s judgment came on you.”
b. Don’t be deceived, God is in control.
(Zechariah 14:2, NLT) “I will gather all the nations to fight against Jerusalem.”
c. Don’t despair, Christ returns in power.
(Zechariah 14:4, NLT) “On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem. And the Mount of Olives will split apart, making a wide valley running from east to west. Half the mountain will move toward the north and half toward the south.”
(Zechariah 14:5, NLT) “You will flee through this valley, for it will reach across to Azal. Yes, you will flee as you did from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all his holy ones with him.”
(see also 1 Thessalonians 3:13; 4:16-17)
(Zechariah 14:10, NLT) “All the land from Geba, north of Judah, to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem, will become one vast plain. But Jerusalem will be raised up in its original place and will be inhabited all the way from the Benjamin Gate over to the site of the old gate, then to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses.”
(Zechariah 14:6–7, NLT) “On that day the sources of light will no longer shine, yet there will be continuous day! Only the Lord knows how this could happen. There will be no normal day and night, for at evening time it will still be light.”
(see also Isaiah 13:9-10; Joel 2:31; 3:15; Matthew 24:29; Revelation 6:12-14; 8:10-12; 16:8-10)
d. Don’t backslide, the LORD alone will be king.
(Zechariah 14:9, NLT) “And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day there will be one Lord—his name alone will be worshiped.”
(Revelation 20:7–10, NLT) “When the thousand years come to an end, Satan will be let out of his prison. He will go out to deceive the nations—called Gog and Magog—in every corner of the earth. He will gather them together for battle—a mighty army, as numberless as sand along the seashore. And I saw them as they went up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded God’s people and the beloved city. But fire from heaven came down on the attacking armies and consumed them. Then the devil, who had deceived them, was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
(Psalm 2:8–9, NLT) “Only ask, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the whole earth as your possession. You will break them with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots.”
2. The return of Jesus Christ means a kingdom of living waters.
(Zechariah 14:8, NLT) “On that day life-giving waters will flow out from Jerusalem, half toward the Dead Sea and half toward the Mediterranean, flowing continuously in both summer and winter.”
(Zechariah 14:11, NLT) “And Jerusalem will be filled, safe at last, never again to be cursed and destroyed.”
(Zechariah 14:16, NLT) “In the end, the enemies of Jerusalem who survive the plague will go up to Jerusalem each year to worship the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, and to celebrate the Festival of Shelters.”
a. Refreshing. (Verse 8)
b. Peace. (Verse 11)
c. Joy. (Verse 16)
3. The return of Christ means that every facet of life is holy.
(Zechariah 14:20–21, NLT) “On that day even the harness bells of the horses will be inscribed with these words: Holy to the Lord. And the cooking pots in the Temple of the Lord will be as sacred as the basins used beside the altar. In fact, every cooking pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. All who come to worship will be free to use any of these pots to boil their sacrifices. And on that day there will no longer be traders in the Temple of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” (Revelation 22:17, NLT) “The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life.”