Mining the Minors: Zechariah (26)

We are coming down the home stretch in Zechariah, moving topic by topic, though not necessarily in the order these future events will take place. Today’s four verses are set in millennial Israel, describing the geographic upheaval that will take place at the second coming of the Lord Jesus and continue into the millennium, as well as a couple of statements concerning the rule of Christ during this period.

That rule is a well-established Old Testament fact. Zechariah can sum it up in two sentences.

III. Two Oracles (continued)

2/ Concerning Israel (continued)

The Gathering of Nations, the Second Coming and Reign (continued)

Zechariah 14:8-11 — King Over All the Earth

“On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea. It shall continue in summer as in winter.

And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one.

The whole land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. But Jerusalem shall remain aloft on its site from the Gate of Benjamin to the place of the former gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses. And it shall be inhabited, for there shall never again be a decree of utter destruction. Jerusalem shall dwell in security.”

Living Waters

The tendency among commentators to read the words “living waters” in Zechariah 14 as metaphorical or spiritual rather than literal comes from the Lord’s use of the term with the Samaritan woman at the well in Sychar. The water of which the Lord Jesus spoke wells up to eternal life inside those who drink it so that they never thirst again, having found the source of all refreshment and fulfillment in this life and the next. As we have repeatedly found in our study of the Minor Prophets, Old Testament prophecies often have multiple fulfilments, both literal and spiritual. I believe Zechariah’s use of the same term is intended literally.

When Zechariah describes living waters flowing from Jerusalem in a future day all the way to both the eastern and western seas, he is surely speaking of a literal river that starts at the new temple and runs east and west through the valley we read about last week, which will be created at the Lord’s return. Ezekiel also writes about this river:

“Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east; and behold, the water was trickling out on the south side.

Going on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was waist-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through. And he said to me, ‘Son of man, have you seen this?’

Then he led me back to the bank of the river. As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other. And he said to me, ‘This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh. And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.’ ”

Excuse the extended quotation, but I think you can probably see the passage demands we take it literally, though it works as an allegory or illustration as well. Anyone who wants to insist its meaning is only figurative ought to be put to the task of explaining what the Holy Spirit was trying to convey through Ezekiel concerning the deepening waters, trees, leaves, the Arabah, living creatures, fish, fishermen, swamps, marshes, Great Sea and fruit. If we are not to take them literally, what exactly do these things signify? (No points for saying, “It’s spiritual!” and opting out.)

Allegories and Interpretations

Matthew Henry made every effort to allegorize this passage. He makes the living waters the gospel going out from Jerusalem historically through the apostles, eventually producing the eastern and western churches, and Jerusalem itself the “gospel church”. Concerning the other details mentioned, he simply insists, “When the churches of Christ in all places are replenished with great numbers of holy, humble, serious Christians, and many such are daily added to it, then this promise is fulfilled.” (Actually, I very much appreciate him not stopping to speculate about what it means that the swamps and marshes will be “left for salt”. It might be amusing, but we don’t want to be cruel.)

Henry’s improbable application of Israel’s millennial blessings to the present-day Church is as arduous as the labors of Hercules and almost as incredible. It’s much easier to simply take the prophet at his word. A literal river will flow from the temple, bringing the Dead Sea — 9.6 times as salty as the ocean — to life. Currently, the only organisms that can survive in the Dead Sea environment are brine shrimp, bacteria, fungi and ciliated protozoa. The pure water flowing down from the Temple Mount during the thousand year reign of Christ in Jerusalem will fill the Dead Sea with fish and living creatures, making it a visual parable about the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those who put their faith in Christ. It will be a parable the entire world can see and, if willing, understand.

Ezekiel wrote many years prior to Zechariah, so Zechariah surely knew what he was describing was consistent with earlier prophecy. If the latter prophet calls this river “living waters”, he is not exaggerating even a little. They will make life possible where it could not exist before. The only thing Zechariah adds to Ezekiel’s description is the revelation the waters will run west as well as east, and that they will pour down from the Temple Mount year round. Like the Holy Spirit’s work in the believer’s life, once they start, they will never stop.

The Lord is King

“The Lord will be king over all the earth.” The personal millennial rule of Christ is a scriptural theme explored explicitly as early as David’s Psalm 24 and the Sons of Korah’s Psalm 47 (both around 1000 BC) and Psalm 98, which is uncredited and therefore difficult to date. These paeans are not merely concerned with God’s sovereign rule over the affairs of man from his throne in heaven (he has always been “king” in that sense), but with his crushing enemy nations, exalting Israel and ruling over the world personally. When we hit the Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea and Zephaniah all have the Lord dwelling among his people and ruling over the earth. Zechariah provides little explicit detail concerning the rule of Christ over the earth, but perhaps there is no need for him to repeat things already declared earlier in the word of God.

He then adds, somewhat enigmatically, “On that day the Lord will be one and his name one.” We should not take this statement to suggest anything about the unity of the Godhead. The Lord is always “one” in that sense. I suspect it’s more of a statement about the nations recognizing him. The Hebrew word for “one” here is often translated “first”. During his millennial reign, the Lord will be first in the sense that the nations will no longer worship other gods. Christ will have the primacy not just in Israel, but in every nation on earth. His name will be first.

The Land Turned into a Plain

Verses 10 and 11 describe the millennial geography near Jerusalem. The land will become a broad plain from somewhere in the north to somewhere south of the city. How broad exactly is a matter for debate, since the reference points Zechariah cites are a little enigmatic. For example, there are two Gebas in the Old Testament, both a bit north of Jerusalem, and the location of Rimmon is uncertain. Some commentators are more definite than others about their ancient geography, in one case locating Geba six miles north of Jerusalem and Rimmon thirty miles south. If this is correct, the plain would be as much as 40 miles wide, with the city of the king as the only high point. The flatness of the land around it will exaggerate the prominence of Jerusalem, which will be the high point of the country literally as well as figuratively. The locations of the Gate of Benjamin, the former gate, the Corner Gate, the Tower of Hananel and the king’s winepresses are also matters of discussion, but most commentators agree Zechariah is working his way around the city, with the winepresses in the south and the Gate of Benjamin the north.

Zechariah leaves the most important points to last: Jerusalem will be inhabited confidently for the first time in years, dwelling in security. With the Lord in her midst, no enemy will ever again successfully assail her, and with her occupants repentant and restored, no judgment of God will again fall upon her. (The words “decree of utter destruction” translate a Hebrew religious term that refers to things cursed or destined for total destruction.)