As Israel was placed around the tabernacle of Moses and the temple of Solomon (including Jerusalem); we too as “Israel” (comprised of the twelve spiritual tribes), gather around Christ who is our temple and the New Jerusalem. For Isaiah writes:
Look upon Zion, the city of our festivals; your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful abode, a tent that will not be moved; its stakes will never be pulled up, nor any of its ropes broken. There the LORD will be our Mighty One. It will be like a place of broad rivers and streams. No galley with oars will ride them, no mighty ship will sail them…No one living in Zion will say, "I am ill"; and the sins of those who dwell there will be forgiven (33:20-21, 24; cf. vv. 16-19, 22-24; [cp. Heb. 6:19]; cp. Rev. 22:1-3).This is all to be spiritually understood, and not to be taken literally. Notice also how God is describing the city from its humble beginnings as the Tabernacle of Moses, and as a “tent” with its tent “stakes” and “ropes,” without all the glory and splendor. And the fact that the “stakes will never be pulled up, nor any ropes broken,” reminds us of Heb. 6:19 where the work of Christ is said to be “an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” And the fact that it “will not be moved” or “ever pulled up” also reminds us of Heb. 12:18, 22 and 28 of the mountain (Zion), kingdom, and even the heavenly Jerusalem that is said to never to be “touched” or “shaken,” and surely never to be “moved” or “pulled up.” And though we, the New Jerusalem, are honored and exalted with Christ above the heavens, we are always to remember from whence we came, our humble beginnings. For it is only those who are of a humble and contrite spirit that God truly adores, lifts up, and adorns as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband and arrayed with all manner of precious jewels (Rev. 21:2, 9-11). For God also says,
For this is what the high and lofty One says—he who lives forever, whose name is holy: I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite (Isa. 57:15).Isaiah, in 33:24, had also said, “no one living in Zion will say, ‘I am ill’; and the sins of those who dwell there will be forgiven." This also reminds us of Isaiah’s and Peter’s words: “He himself bore our sins in His body” and “by His wounds you have been healed” (Isa. 53:9; I Pet. 2:24; see also Psm. 41:4). Isaiah 33:24 is not talking about physical healing either now or in some future earthly utopia; Isaiah is referring to what exactly Peter was explaining to us, how that by Christ’s stripes were we are all delivered and healed from the ravages and “ills” of sin. And another reason we can tell that these words of Isaiah above are not to be understood literally, is by the fact “no galley with oars will ride them, no mighty ship will sail” on these rivers and streams that surround the city. For it is Isaiah who similarly wrote,
The Lord Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled), for all the cedars of Lebanon, tall and lofty, and all the oaks of Bashan, for all the towering mountains and all the high hills, for every lofty tower and every fortified wall, for every trading ship and every stately vessel. The arrogance of man will be brought low and the pride of men humbled; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day (Isa. 2:12-17, esp. v. 16).When one truly begins to understand God’s usages of these images, then they can begin to understand that God is saying that not many “mighty” and not many “nobleman” shall be there. And no “stately” vessels of war or animosity shall sail on these peaceful waters. Nothing there will be by man’s might or by his power, but only by God’s Spirit. And we also do not need any man-made “oars” to move in God’s waters, for we are all “moved” by the work of God’s Holy Spirit upon us. Nothing that is of man’s efforts will be found there.
Now if one notices carefully, the New Jerusalem in Revelation also has no Gentiles. There is none anywhere to be found. Just the names of the twelve Jewish tribes and the twelve Jewish apostle’s, out of those twelve tribes. And yet Paul says to the Galatians (Gentiles) in chapter four that they are indeed a part of this New Jerusalem that is from above. So what can we understand here from all of this? What is to be understood here is the fact that “in Israel,” in type, there were to be no Gentiles allowed in the “inner sanctum,” so-to-speak. Salvation was “of the Jews.” And Zechariah says of this New Jerusalem that “on that day there will be no longer a Canaanite” (Zech. 14:21; see also Joel 3:17). So what we have here goes back to all that was said earlier about being considered as “native-born Israelites,” or even as those who are “born in her”— or in spiritual Israel. We are all (both Jews and Gentiles) “members” together in God’s household, included in citizenship in Israel, and even being able to surname ourselves with the name, “Israel.” In other words, it is as Paul said elsewhere “there is no difference” between us. What was mainly in the past said of only His “elect” people out of the Jews, is now said of us Gentiles as well. We too are now said to be “His people” (Rom. 9:25), or "Israel." This is the point God is trying to make. We are all “one” new man in Christ. And when God sees Christ (who is called, “Israel”), He sees us also in Him as “Israel.” And it is exactly in this sense that we are all one and the same. This is what natural Israel according the flesh was typifying. And it was “in type” that they were also God’s greater Son who was “called out of Egypt.” And so when Rev. 7:4-10 and 14:1-5 speak of 144,000, or 12,000 out of each tribe, God is describing his “remnant” which makes up the spiritual Israel of God. Natural Israel isn’t even in the picture here. For God knows of no natural Israelite after the flesh or after natural descent, but only knows of His "children of promise" who are born by a spiritual birth and who are of a spiritual descent. And from every tribe from the four corners of the earth God has exacted an exact number: Only twelve tribes, and only 12,000 out of each tribe. He knows exactly where they are, who they are, and how many there are. This is the truth that God is portraying to us here. They are “the Israel of God” in whom dwells “no Canaanite” (or no Gentiles). For this is no longer what we Gentiles who are saved are called. This vision in Revelation of John’s has nothing to do with “natural” Israel. All the descriptive terms in these chapters that characterize this called-out “assembly” are the terms God uses repeatedly only for His people, the Church. As such, they are (1) “sealed on their foreheads” (Rev. 9:4; 22:4; cp. II Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:13; Rev. 20:4; Ezk. 9); (2) they are the “servants” of God (Rev. 22:3, et al); (3) they “stand with the Lamb” and “on Mount Zion” (Heb. 12:22; Psm. 87, et al); (4) the Father’s name is “written on their foreheads” (see “sealed on foreheads” for same idea); (5) they “sing a new song” (Psm. 40:3; indeed we sing new “spiritual” songs that we never sang before, Eph. 5:19); (5) they are “the redeemed” (et al); (6) they do not “defile themselves,” but are “pure” even as He is pure; (7) they are sheep that “follow the Lamb wherever He goes” and they are “purchased from among men” (Rev. 5:9, et al); (8) they are the “firstfruits to God and to the Lamb”; and (9) no “lie” is found in their mouths, and “they are blameless” before Him. What is true of this group, is only true of God’s chosen remnant before and after the cross—the true and spiritual Israel of God. They are His “remnant” according to the election of grace, His tithe, His firstfruits and His firstborn ones. And, spiritually speaking, Abraham is the father of all such people who are in this group; whereas, he is not the father of all naturally born Jews (Jhn. 8:39-44; Rom. 9:6-7). No one else is allowed into this group. The door of the ark is shut to all Christ haters. And no longer will there “be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord Almighty” (Zech. 14:21); but “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood” (Rev. 22:14-15). And this includes all unsaved Jews as well.
Now, in getting back to the Feast of Tabernacles and with regards to the end of year harvest, God uses the language of us being gathered “out” of the field. The early Feast of Firstfruits that are sown in the field, are contrasted with the end of year Feast of Tabernacles harvest that are gathered out of the field. Again, bear in mind that the three major feasts that Israel was to observe in Jerusalem (which is now the Church), were all “shadows” pointing to the fulfillment of all these concepts or ideas in Christ, in the New Covenant era.
James 1:18 says,
Of His own will begat He us with the Word of Truth, that we should be a kind of Firstfruits of His creatures.We are called “firstfruits” because Christ was “the” Firstfruit. When God sees Christ as the “Firstfruits,” He sees all those “in Christ” as “firstfruits” as well. Do you see this? The same is to be said of the “firstborn” concept or idea. The Bible says Christ is “the firstborn,” and it also says we are His “firstborn-ones” in Heb. 12:23 (lit. trans.). Natural Israel was also said to be His “firstborn” and “firstfruits” in Ex. 4:22 and Jer. 2:3, but they were so only as a “type” of what God was going to do ultimately regarding His spiritual seed or remnant, also called "Israel." Natural Israel according to the flesh was never to be designated as God's eternal inheritance. Only those chosen according to "promise," like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David, etc., are His true spiritual seed and inheritance, and thus reign with Him forever. There is a great harvest of souls taking place throughout the whole world, and they are all His “firstfruits” from out of all of His created beings, realized not only in the Jews, but also in the Gentiles, when the figurative waving of the two wheat loaves in the Feast of Firstfruits began to actually be realized in Christ's current rule and reign, from His first coming to His second coming. There was a precise timetable that had to be followed in these feasts, starting with forgiveness in the Feast of Passover, the gathering into the fold of both Jews and Gentiles beginning at Pentecost (or in the Feast of Firstfruits), and then the final in-gathering when we all meet the Lord in the air as expressed in the Feast of Tabernacles. All of these feasts are being followed meticulously. And at the end of the week in God’s economy, on the last great day of the feast of tabernacles, God will gather out of the world all the wheat into His barn, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. None of this has anything to do with natural Israel according to the flesh, either in the past, present or future. But it has everything to do with what God (in Christ) is doing with the Israel of God according to the Spirit who are His "children of promise" from both Jews (Rom. 9:8) and Gentiles (Gal. 4:28).
By these three annual feasts and pilgrimages to Jerusalem, God was demonstrating His predetermined will that the Passover sacrifice given only to the children of Israel was pointing to the true Passover, Christ, and the children that were to be only given to Him. And Christ as the initial “Firstfruits” in this feast sanctified the rest of His harvest that was to come (who are likewise called "firstfruits"). In the Feast of Firstfruits, God also predetermined that the "firstfruits" of the increase of the field (which typifies us) point to Christ who unites both Jews and Gentiles (in the presentation of the two leavened wheat loaves that were waved before the Lord). And in the Feast of Tabernacles, God predetermined that the sacrifice by fire that was to be observed along with the booths in the Feast of Tabernacles that Israel was to dwell in, pointed to the true Tabernacle (or Christ) in whom we now dwell. These booths represent the fact that Christ was going to be in us, and we in Him. And thus when anyone sees us, they see Christ, for we are in His likeness. Anyone who thinks that the Feast of Tabernacles isn't also pointing to Christ and His Church has certainly not been reading the Scriptures very carefully. From the time of Christ's death, (Passover) to the time of Christ's return (Tabernacles), the children of spiritual Israel are keeping all these feasts year after year, having partaken in that everlasting sacrifice by fire.
Passover is a continual feast. It didn't just start and end at the cross. It "continues" to be available to all who come unto Christ after us. As such, the Feast of Firstfruits is also a continual festival. And as Peter said on the day of Pentecost, "The promise is for us and your children...for all whom the Lord our God shall call" (Acts 2:39). So, with that being said, the Feast of Tabernacles is also a continual festival, for we all throughout this era dwell in these earthly temporary tabernacles of flesh as strangers and sojourners in this world, waiting for the final redemption of our bodies. The wheat (or us) is now being separated from the chaff (or the world) even as we speak. But on the last and final day our bodies will be redeemed and gathered into His barn in heaven, while the the tares will be burned with unquenchable fire.
Now Ezekiel 37:26-27 says,
Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be My people.Christ is our tabernacle that is set among us forever. The New Testament is that everlasting New Covenant also mentioned in Jer. 31:31-33; Heb. 8:8-13 (it is not another one made with natural Israel in the future which the dispensationalists teach), and this is what the Old Testament feasts or festivals commemorated with regards to Christ and all of us (of God tabernacling with men after they are brought forth out of Egypt after having celebrated the Passover). And the emphasis here in Ezekiel is on a spiritual temple, and the tabernacle of God being with us now, spiritually speaking. It is a temple made without hands. This is the true tabernacle of God dwelling with us, which makes our bodies tabernacles for His shekinah glory. This is our festival of rejoicing, in these tabernacles of our flesh.
Some Further Thoughts About Zechariah 14
Now some may ask: “What about the other prophesies of Zechariah 14, like that of the plagues or the splitting of the Mount of Olives, etc.?” While Zechariah 14 is not the scope of this study, all of the prophesies in that vision are primarily symbolic references that point to either salvation or judgment in the current ministry of the Messiah here on earth now. In Zechariah, God is speaking figuratively, just like Christ did repeatedly in the gospel of John.
For example, we see a similar usage of this type of language being used by God in Isaiah’s prophecy against Egypt in chapter 19. Verse 1b starts out using clouds figuratively (storm clouds in this case; see also Isa. 28:2; 29:6; 30:30; Jer. 23:19; 25:32; 30:23) to depict God’s coming judgment upon Egypt. Then in verses 1c-4 there it is shown the literal calamities and inward turmoil’s that are to befall Egypt. In verses 5-7 God starts to speak about all the peoples of the land using metaphors, while in verses 8-13b He gives the detailed interpretation regarding each one of them in whatever position they had retained in life in Egypt; from the lowly fishermen and those who work with flax, to all the wise men and officials. Then in verses 13c-15 the Lord switches back to metaphors again, using a condensed version of all that He had said earlier about them in verses 5-7. If one carefully pays attention when reading all of that, they should be able to "see" all that I have just stated above. And by letting Scripture interpret Scripture we can see that this is exactly what God means in Isa. 19:15, when compared with Isa. 9:13-16 (please, read this verse in order to see this!). In fact, that is exactly why Jesus always spoke like this with His disciples. He wanted to exercise their senses to no longer think like how they use to think, and begin thinking and seeing how God thinks and says things. Zechariah 14 is to be understood with this same mindset. If not, then we will only continually just keep “stumbling” over God’s words and ways of saying things, and begin to put a literal meaning upon words and events that He has not intend for us to do. This is a matter of fact that we as Christians are going to have to deal with if we are going to use the law lawfully. And until we do, we will always see everything through literal eyeglasses, until God takes the blinders off and shows us otherwise.
Now, I can’t explain all the details in Zechariah's prophecy (just as I, nor anyone else, can explain all the details of the Tabernacle of Moses or of the Temple of Solomon), but I do notice that there are little “red flags” all over the place in Zechariah 14 that indicate to us that God is talking about things that have to do with His kingdom here and now, from Christ’s first coming to His Second Coming; because a lot of things that are said to be happening are all descriptive terms with regards to all that we have already discussed above, and which is happening right now, such as, “Living Waters” that are to flow out of Jerusalem; and how that in that day there will be “one Lord,” which reminds us of the words of Paul, “One Lord, one faith, one baptism.” As such, “Jerusalem” with "Living Waters" flowing out of her is no longer to be understood as referring to the earthly, literal Jerusalem, but the heavenly one that Paul and John talk about that is “from above.” And, of course, the “Feast of Tabernacles” is not to be "literally" observed anymore, for as we have already discovered, such “shadows” have all passed away.
It is during these days that Zechariah says Christ is the one who is actually doing all of these things, but not literally, mind you, but figuratively speaking by the use of such graphic images as, for example, the rending of the Mount of Olives. And it should not go without saying that "mountains" in Scripture are typical of kings or kingdoms. As noted earlier, Isaiah had said,
The Lord Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled), for all the cedars of Lebanon, tall and lofty, and all the oaks of Bashan, for all the towering mountains and all the high hills, for every lofty tower and every fortified wall, for every trading ship and every stately vessel. The arrogance of man will be brought low and the pride of men humbled; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day (2:12-17).Also notice again, similar to Isaiah 19 above, and also in context here, that God switches between literal language and metaphors, and then back into literal terminology again. And such figurative language of using mountains, hills, valleys and streams is common place throughout the Prophets.
John the Baptist cried out,
As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: "A voice of one calling in the desert, Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all mankind will see God's salvation” (Lke. 3:5-6).“Every mountain and hill will be brought low, and every valley raised” is speaking of the humbling and exalting process in the kingdom of God in the world with people right now, not sometime later in the future. Clearly, the Lord is not speaking about "literal" mountains being made low, nor of "literal" valleys being filled in (or raise up). He is talking about humbling the proud and lifting up the lowly, the humble, and the poor in spirit right now. Christ said it in another way, “the first shall be last, and the last shall be first” (Lke. 13:30). Christ is not talking about someone being last in line as opposed to someone being first in line. He is talking about a person who thinks he is “first,” such as one who has “firstborn” rights, and how that such a status does not guarantee them a place in God’s kingdom, but the honor goes only to those whom He chooses to bestow such “firstborn” rights and privileges to. And we all know by now that such privileges go to only those who are lowly in heart.
Adam Clarke could not have said it better with regards to what Christ meant here in Luke 13:30,
The Jews, who have been the first and most distinguished people of God, will in general reject the Gospel of My grace, and be consequently rejected by Me. The Gentiles, who have had no name among the living, shall be brought to the knowledge of the truth, and become the first, the chief, and most exalted people of God (Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible, p. 808).Even all the Edomites, or descendents of Esau (i.e., Gentiles), who had lost their firstborn privileges, will again be restored to such privileges when they turn to Christ. The Jews, on the other hand, who had the firstborn rights, will be overlooked. This is how God always seems to work. Such a concept even seems to be depicted in God’s judgment upon the Edomites in Isa. 34 where they were to become the haunt of wild animals, jackals and owls with a future spiritual restoration for them seemingly foretold in 43:18-21. Such concepts seem to be speaking of the spiritual condition of a people (all the night creatures) whom the Lord would transform from their dark state and condition, and cause them to drink from the cool, refreshing waters of His Holy Spirit. One cannot help when reading Isaiah how the Lord repeatedly makes use of such language of “making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland…to give drink to My people” (as similarly seen in Isa. 43:20 above). All of these examples have to do with the outpouring of God’s Spirit upon a dry and thirsty people, who are often signified by a dry and parched land. Additionally, Isaiah 35 which follows on the heals of chapter 34, again picks up on this theme saying:
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow (35:5-7).Now when Zechariah 14 says that Christ will cleave the Mount of Olives, one can only think about Him rending the kingdom from Israel and giving it to all those who are lowly and of a contrite heart. As John the Baptist had said, “Every mountain” was going to be made low, and “every valley shall be filled in” (or raised). This Mount of Olives is rent from top to bottom, from the highest officials, to those who “work with flax” so-to-speak, as Isaiah mentioned earlier about those in Egypt in chapter nineteen. Jesus had told the Pharisees that the kingdom would be taken from them and given to a nation bearing the fruit that He required (Mat. 21:43). All this began to take place at the cross and was similarly portrayed by the veil of the temple being “rent” from “top to the bottom.” When Christ cleaves this mountain, which symbolized the kingdom of Israel, He is not literally splitting a physical mountain in two. He is rending the kingdom from Israel in order to form a “great mountain valley” wherein all the meek and lowly from the east, to the west are to take refuge. It was Joel’s “Valley of Jehoshaphat” (ch. 3 [4]), and John’s “great street” (Rev. 22:2) into the city of the New Jerusalem. It is “the highway” of God which is really the low way. God in Zechariah 14 calls it, literally, “My mountain valley,” for it is both of these ideas of "mountains" and "valleys" that are being revealed to us in this one sweeping and single metaphor used by the Lord. All Christ’s saints are seated together with Him in heavenly places, but at the same time it is only for those who are of a lowly and contrite spirit. Our hearts must be "rent" and made low, before we are raised. And it is only all those who are "lowly" in nature who will find deliverance from the enemy and for their own souls.
Even this idea of access for people to come from the “east” and “west” in Zechariah is seen in Mat. 8:11-12, where Jesus said,
I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.In Luke, He includes those from the “north” and “south”:
There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last (13:28-30).And this all agrees with what Isaiah the prophet has also written:
In that day the Lord will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, O Israelites [the spiritual remnant out of Israel, Rom. 11:4-5, 26], will be gathered up one by one. And in that day a great trumpet will sound. Those who were perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled in Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem (27:12-13).Again Isaiah says,
The Lord will dry up the gulf of the Egyptian sea; with a scorching wind he will sweep his hand over the Euphrates River. He will break it up into seven streams so that men can cross over in sandals. There will be a highway for the remnant of his people that is left from Assyria, as there was for Israel when they came up from Egypt (11:15-16).Not only was this to occur for His spiritual remnant out of the Jews, as on the Day of Pentecost where there were Jews out of every nation that got saved that day (Acts 2:5-12, 37-41), but the Lord was going to dry up the Egyptian sea and the river Euphrates (not literally), not only so the Jews could cross over and be saved, but so that even the Gentiles could go up unto the Mountain of the Lord (the Mount that “cannot be touched, shaken, or moved in Heb. 12:18, 22, 28). God, through Christ, was going to supernaturally make a way for all to come to His holy mountain and city, New Jerusalem. We also saw this in Psalm 87:4, where “Babylon” who comes from the “north,” and “Cush,” who comes from the “south,” are all said to be “born in her.” In other words, God was going to make a way for peoples’ hearts to be opened up to Him in order that they would come to His banqueting table and feast with Him and all of His saints.
Similar language like this above that is used, figuratively speaking, can also be found in Isa. 10:26, which says: “The Lord Almighty will lash them [the Assyrians] with a whip, as when He struck down Midian at the rock of Oreb; and He will raise his staff over the waters, as he did in Egypt.” God didn’t “literally” split the waters of the Great River Euphrates. He is using this to illustrate that the judgment that was going to come upon the Assyrians was not going to be by might or by power, but by the power of His outstretched arm, as demonstrated with the Egyptians at the Red Sea. And the reason I know that God is not talking about the literal "waters" of the literal Euphrates here, is the fact that just earlier in Isaiah 8:6-8 He speaks of the king of Assyria as the "River" with all of his "floodwaters" (or his people) swirling and overflowing all of Israel's "channels" and "banks" and reaching even "up to their necks." And the same thing is said in Jer. 46:7-8 of the "Nile" and the "tributaries" of Egypt as referring to Pharaoh and all his hosts. And it is in Ezk. 30:10-12 that the Lord again speaks concerning the drying up this "Nile" (or Pharaoh of Egypt): "I will put an end to the hordes of Egypt by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He and his army—the most ruthless of nations—will be brought in to destroy the land. They will draw their swords against Egypt and fill the land with the slain. I will dry up the streams of the Nile and sell the land to evil men; by the hand of foreigners I will lay waste the land and everything in it.” Essentially, the Lord was making a path for Nebuchadnezzar to overthrow Egypt (the great “Nile” here) by overthrowing the small tributaries (or its people). By doing so Nebuchadnezzar would lay waste the rest of the land and everything in it.
Similarly, in Isa. 37:25, God talks about the king of Assyria as having the soles of his feet “dry up all the streams of Egypt.” When we think of such images, what immediately comes to mind here is the children of Israel parting the Jordan river when the soles of their feet touched the water. God seems to use this for illustrative purposes, as He did with the parting of the Red Sea above in Isa. 10:26, when describing the power of the king of Assyria coming to an end. None of this is to be understood literally, but was to depict the king’s rule and reign over the peoples of Egypt, who in turn are portrayed under the similitude of a stream. Streams, rivers, and oceans are also a common figure in Scripture used for the peoples of a land. Even in Isa. 26:5-6, God talks about bringing down the lofty cities by “the feet of the oppressed, [and] the footsteps of the poor,” something that is just unheard of in the natural. Only the poor in spirit and those who are of a contrite heart, in Christ, will be able to accomplish such lofty ideals through their petitions and prayers to the Lord. To interpret the “soles” of any of these people's “feet” as literally doing all of this, borders on absurdity. Even with regards to king Sennacherib, when the Lord speaks in Isaiah 37:24 of the king “ascending the heights of the mountains” and “the utmost heights of Lebanon,” of cutting down “the tallest of cedars,” “the choicest of pines” and “the finest of its forests,” and of "digging wells" and "drinking the water there," all of this has to do with what this king was going to do with the people, and has nothing whatsoever to do with the literal objects and ideas that were being used by God to convey all of this. And see also Isaiah 10:33-34 where the Lord again uses these trees as a metaphor of Israel whom this king would fell; and then the Lord also speaks of him in the same manner in verses 18-19 after using him to judge (or cut down) Israel. What this reigning king Sennacherib does “with the soles of his feet” upon the streams of Egypt is no different than what Christ does “with the soles of His feet” on the Mount of Olives which represents Israel. Sennacherib overthrows the lowly peoples (or tributary streams) to get to the big fish of the Nile; while Christ, on the other hand, strikes the heads of state (as depicted by the mountain) in order to get to, and even make a way for, the lesser people that are in the lowly valley. All of this speaks of “judgment” upon a nation, and has nothing whatsoever to do with rending or lowering of literal mountains, or drying up literal streams or rivers. It is not unusual for the Lord to speak of "rending" a nation in this manner as described for us in the "rending" of the Mount of Olives from top to bottom. In Micah, the Lord similarly says concerning Israel, “Look! The Lord is coming from His dwelling place; He comes down and treads THE HIGH PLACES of the land. The mountains MELT beneath Him, and [even] the valleys SPLIT apart” (1:4). And of Israel the Psalmist again declares, “You have SHAKEN the land and TORN IT OPEN; mend its FRACTURES, for it is QUAKING” (60:2). And it is Isaiah who again says, “As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down [O Lord] to make Your name known to your enemies and cause the nations [or peoples] to QUAKE before you” (64:2). How does all this occur? By the Lord using another nation to mete out His judgments upon another nation, causing their kingdom to "fracture" and "split apart" and to become like chaff which the wind drives away.
Now, Isaiah again writes with such ethereal language with regards to our time and day,
In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The LORD Almighty will bless them, saying, "Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance” (19:23-25).“My mountain valley” in Zech. 14:5, depicts the place created by God through the work of Jesus Christ by which all who are humble in spirit and of a contrite heart can “flee” for refuge: God says, “You will flee by My mountain valley.” Flee to where? All Jews and Gentiles (or true, spiritual Israel) “flee” to Christ who is our refuge in the day of trouble. For king Jehoshaphat it was a valley in which "praise" saved them from their enemies (II Chr. 20, esp. v. 26), but for the unbelieving and unrepentant, it is a valley of judgment. What is a fiery trial for some, actually consumes others (see also Jer. 4:11 for this same idea). It is only those who are repentant and of a holy and contrite heart who are able to pass through this valley of life and of judgment unscathed. This valley in Zechariah 14, as was the case with Israel in the Red Sea, safely leads God’s people to victory, “which the Egyptians, assaying to do, were drowned” and judged (Heb. 11:29). For it is in this valley, that Joel tells us, that God will sit (in this lowly and humble valley) and Judge (Joel 3:12; see also footnote [5]). It is a time, even now, where Jesus likewise had said in Matthew 25 upon His ascension and immediately coming into His glory by being seated at the right hand of the Father, that “all the nations will be gathered before him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd [in this lowly valley] separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left” (25:31).[6] Today is the day of salvation for “multitudes, multitudes” in this great "Valley of Decision" (Joel 3:14); and a judgment that is fore-to-come, not only in this life, but also on the last and final day when Christ will say, “Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels” (Mat. 25:41). And the true test of all of these who are to be judged is whether or not they received Christ via His disciples, from the least to the greatest, or whether or not they showed disdain for Him by their rejection of His disciples (Mat. 25:40, 45; see also 10:11-15, 40-42; Mk. 6:11; 9:41; Jhn. 13:20-21; Gen. 12:3).
Again, Zechariah says it all this way,
If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, they will have no rain. If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. The Lord will bring on them the plague he inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles (14:17-19).All this judgment takes place now in this life. And not only in this life, but in the life to come with an eternal punishment—which is the second death.
Now, in getting back to Zechariah, the Lord says whole land will become like the Arabah, literally “a desert [or flat] plain” from Geba (north) to Rimmon (south), a region known for its mountains (see A. T. Robinson's, Palestine), and this was to correspond with the “highway” the Lord was to create in Isa. 19:23. But (New) Jerusalem (His bride), the Lord says will “be raised up” and given a place of honor before Him. And this City of His will indeed “remain in its place” (v. 10 NIV); for as you remember, Christ’s mountain, city, and kingdom “cannot be moved” as other natural cities, kingdoms, mountains and valleys can be. Its tent ropes and pegs are “securely in place” (Isa. 33:20-21). This is why such a “natural” understanding of Christ’s kingdom in a future millennium on earth cannot be taught. For Christ’s kingdom is not an earthly, worldly kingdom ruling from literal cities and temples that can be shaken. Only that which is “unseen” and "spiritual" is eternal and unmovable. A carnal, worldly, "moveable" earthly kingdom is nowhere to be found in Christ’s vocabulary.
Zechariah has even said in verses 6-8 that,
On that day there will be no light, no cold or frost. It will be a unique day, without daytime or nighttime—a day known to the Lord. When evening comes, there will be light. On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea and half to the western sea, in summer and in winter (14:6-8).Clearly, this is the time of the Church age where “living waters shall go out from Jerusalem.” This is the New Jerusalem that the apostles write about and who say is the Church, the bride of Christ. It is the city that is set on a hill and which cannot be hid (Gal. 4:21-31; Heb. 12:22; Rev. 3:11-13; 21:2-3, 9-10), and out of whose belly Christ said would spring forth “rivers of living water” (Jhn. 7:37-38, NAS). If this is the case, then what is said just prior to this about light and darkness must be understood in a similar manner, not literally, but figuratively speaking. So let's get started.
“On that day,” the Lord says, "there will be no light [or sun], no cold or frost.” Here we see two extreme sides of inclement weather being depicted: “light,” or heat from the sun and, “cold or frost.” Neither will be present in Christ’s kingdom. These two opposites sides of the coin depict not blessing, but cursing. What this can only mean in Christ’s kingdom is that such inclement bad weather (“curses”) will not come upon God’s children. Using the similitude of the sun and frost, the Lord says the heat of the scorching sun will not dry us up, and the cold or frost will not immobilize us. His Spirit will provide all the warmth, comfort, and blessing that we will need to make us fruitful trees with leaves that are always green. As Zechariah says, “it will be a unique day” unlike any other natural day. The Lord is not talking about a literal day with “daytime” or “nighttime,” it’s a different (or a “unique”) kind of day. It is a spiritual day, or the day of salvation. Where there is spiritual darkness all around us—there will be the light of Christ to dispel it!
John the Baptist, Christ, and all His apostles picked up on the spiritual application of this concept of being in the light, as opposed to walking in darkness (see Jhn. 1:5; 3:19; 8:12; 12:35, 46; Mat. 6:22; Rom. 2:19; 13:12-13; 1Ths. 5:5-7; 1Pet. 2:9; 1Jhn. 1:5-6; 2:8-11). In this holy City of God’s, or the New Jerusalem, there will be no such “darkness” in it, but only continual “light” and “illumination” from the Son of light, as also depicted inside the tabernacle of Moses and inside the temple of Solomon. The apostle John says, “The Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light…” (Rev. 21:23-24). So with all that in mind, the Lord in Zechariah is depicting the conditions that are to occur in His present church age, using such metaphors as day, night, light, darkness, cold and heat. And it is just this sort of “light” that is the true or "unique" light “that lights every man that comes into the world.” And the “light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it” (Jhn. 1:5). All the verses in the NT that speak of “light” as opposed to “darkness” in this manner are referring to these spiritual ideas and concepts as foretold by God's prophets, and are not to be taken literally as we all should very well know by now.
Isaiah even spoke of the Church age as “the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall, streams of water will flow on every high mountain and every lofty hill. The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the LORD binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds he inflicted” (30:25-26).
Again, this is not literal language here. Are we really to suppose that “the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days”? Is God going to make a brighter and hotter Sun than we have now? What would the need be for that? We all see just fine with the literal sunlight that we now have. And for the literal sun to literally burn brighter, it would consume us all in an instant. That is why the Lord uses the language in Zech. 14:12 of “flesh rotting while still standing, eyes rotting in their sockets, and tongues rotting in their mouths.” Such people will receive "the light" of God’s judgment in such a manner that the light, power and glory from God’s presence is a consuming fire which will devour them in an instant while they are still standing on their feet. The Indian Jones movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark, was a graphic portrayal of the effect that God's words will have, spiritually speaking, upon all such people who disobey Him; and not only in this life, but in the life to come. These people are dead men walking, and they don't even know it.
What Isaiah is depicting above here in chapter 30 is an age (in Christ) where the mighty (“the towers”) are brought down and God’s Holy Spirit works on all such people (also depicted as the “high mountain” and “lofty hill”), which will be raised to even a higher status (seated together with Christ) and be given a glorified state that shines even brighter than the sun or the moon. For we all will be like the Sun of Righteousness some day “when the righteous shall shine forth as the sun” (Mat. 13:43), and in whom we all now “shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the Word of Life” (Php. 2:15). And even now, as He is seated far above all principalities, powers, mights and dominions, we too have been raised up together with Him to an exalted position and status (Eph. 2:18-23; 2:6; see also Rev. 2:26-27).
Clearly, all the apostles got all these ideas of theirs from reading all the prophets, and they gave their divinely inspired “interpretation” of what the prophets were saying for all of us to now more fully understand. All of creation stands as a “type” and “shadow” of all of these things that are now "spiritually" upon us, and the apostles understood all of this. Do you want to get a glimpse of what heaven just might be like? Just look around, His creation screams out the wonderful powers and glories of God. They are all but just a dim light or "shadow" in comparison to the glory which is now revealed in and to us. And to use the analogy of the apostle Paul of all of the heavenly bodies, we are all now changing from glory to glory. There is one glory of the sun, one glory of the moon, and one glory of the stars. But the "glory" that we will see and experience in heaven, and even to some extent now, will be seven times greater than the light of the natural sun.
Paul said it all this way,
There are heavenly bodies (sun, moon, and stars) and there are earthly bodies (men, animals, and plants), but the beauty and glory of the heavenly bodies is of one kind, while the beauty and glory of earthly bodies is a different kind. The sun is glorious in one way, the moon is glorious in another way, and the stars are glorious in their own [distinctive] way; for one star differs from and surpasses another in its beauty and brilliance. So it is with the resurrection of the dead. [The body] that is sown is perishable and decays, but [the body] that is resurrected is imperishable (immune to decay, immortal). It is sown in dishonor and humiliation; it is raised in honor and glory. It is sown in infirmity and weakness; it is resurrected in strength and endued with power. It is sown a natural (physical) body; it is raised a supernatural (a spiritual) body. [As surely as] there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body (I Cor. 15:40-44 AMP).Now Zech. 14:11 says, “Jerusalem” (us) “will remain secure.” But the ungodly throughout the world who fight against God’s Church and refuse to come to Jerusalem (Christ’s Church) will have to endure all kinds of “plagues,” and the Lord will strike them with physical and spiritual devastation when the text says, by using another similitude, that, “their flesh will rot while they are standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths” (v. 12). All this takes our thoughts back to Lev. 26:16 and Deut. 28:22 where “curses” are on all those who disobey God—whatever natural curses in the land there might be, as well as spiritual death and blindness. Ezekiel calls them the Lord’s four sore judgments: Sword, famine, plagues, and wild beasts (14:12-23). Literal earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes and tsunamis that kill thousands upon thousands are just some more similar examples. The saints on the other hand, receive the “rain” of God’s blessing; whereas the ungodly do not. Those who fail to enter Jerusalem (the Church via Christ) and who do not partake in the Feast of Tabernacles (again, which is being in Christ and Christ in us) will have no rain from heaven; for from Jerusalem will be the “only place” where people will be able to find these refreshing, living waters of life and "rain" of God's Holy Spirit.
Some will ask, “Well, what about all the Christians who have been slain in similar calamities with those of the ungodly?” We don’t know how those individuals were living before God, but the Scripture do say that bad things can happen, even to saints, such as with Job (see my article Two Baskets of Figs: In the Same Place at the Same Time and even The Case For Job). For the sinner, such calamities are judgments unto death; but for the righteous these things are used as God’s refining fire. And Christ said, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Mat. 10:28).
Again, the Lord through Isaiah His prophet writes with regards to all of this:
The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death. But you—come here, you sons of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!….When you cry out for help, let your collection of idols save you! The wind will carry all of them off, a mere breath will blow them away. But the man who makes Me his refuge will inherit the land and possess My holy mountain (Isa. 57:1-3, 13).And the prophet Jeremiah likewise writes in 4:11-12:
At that time this people and Jerusalem will be told, "A scorching wind from the barren heights in the desert blows toward my people, but not to winnow or cleanse; a wind too strong for that comes from me. Now I pronounce my judgments against them.And Jeremiah additionally adds:
This is what the LORD says: "If those who do not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, why should you [the ungodly] go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, but must drink it” (49:12).It is a cup of suffering that all of God’s people must at sometime bear, one way or another, at some point and time in their lives. Jesus said it this way, “You will drink the cup that I drink and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with” (Mk. 10:38). All who follow Christ must drink this cup in one way or another. And I do not think that any sincere Christian who has died in some calamity here upon earth is regretting the fact that the Lord took them home to heaven. So let’s not grieve for such as if there was no hope, and bemoan and lament over why bad things happen to good people. The resurrection is what we are all hoping for someday, not living physically here on earth in these bodies. We do not have our minds set on such “earthly” things. And to suffer for Christ in this life, is only gain. And as Paul said, "If in this life only we have hope, we are of all men most miserable" (1Cor. 15:19). And "I would not have you be ignorant brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope" (1Ths. 4:13, KJV).
Again, Daniel put it all this way:
Those who are wise will instruct many, though for a time they will fall by the sword or be burned or captured or plundered [sounds like Paul’s "perils of robbers," doesn't it?]. When they fall, they will receive a little help, and many who are not sincere will join them. Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time….Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand (11:33-35; 12:10 NIV).Now, I will stop here for now with Zechariah; but to suffice it to say that what is being portrayed there are things that are basically "heavenly" in nature, where Christ is NOW ruling and reigning over His Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife, also called the “New Jerusalem,” and wherein “living water” now resides and flows from out of her. And contrary to the popular opinions nowadays of both dispensationalists and non-enlightened Jews, we will never again literally observe the Feast of Tabernacles which was only a mere "type" or "shadow"; the reality, Christ's body, is now upon us (cf. Col. 2:17). (Click here for part 3)
Footnotes:
[4] Adam Clarke says of this “Valley of Jehoshaphat”:
The prophecy in this chapter is thought by some to relate to the latter times of the world, when God shall finally deliver his people from all their adversaries; and it must be confessed that the figures employed are so lofty as to render it impossible to restrain the whole of their import to any events prior to the commencement of the Christian era. The whole prophecy is delivered in a very beautiful strain of poetry; by what particular events are referred to is at present very uncertain….Verse 1. For, behold, in those days: According to the preceding prophecy, these days should refer to Gospel times, or to such as should immediately precede them. But this is a part of the prophecy which is difficult to be understood. All interpreters are at variance upon it; some applying its principal parts to Cambyses…Others apply this to the victories gained by the Maccabees, and to the destruction brought upon the enemies of their country; while several consider the whole as a figurative prediction of the success of the Gospel among the nations of the earth….The valley of Jehoshaphat: There is no such valley in the land of Judea; and hence the word must be symbolical. It signifies the judgment of God.... Any place where God may choose to display His judgments against His enemies" (Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Whole Bible; Joel, chapter 3).Chapter three in the letter of Joel is clearly on the heels of chapter two which speaks of the days of the outpouring of God’s Spirit during the Church age, and the judgment of Israel in 70 AD by the usage of such metaphors as the sun becoming dark and the moon turning into blood, which is common apocalyptic language used by the prophets to denote the waning of the glory of kingdoms under God’s judgment (see for example Isa. 13:9-10 on the prophecy against Babylon; Ezk. 32:7, for the lament against Egypt and Pharaoh; and the language employed in Dan. 8:10 when Antiochus Epiphanes overthrew many of the Jews in Israel. Rev. 12, like Joseph’s dream, also employs the sun, moon, and stars as concepts denoting people, even Christ’s people who are spiritual Israel. She is the Jerusalem that is from above and the mother of us all that Paul talked about in Galatians chapter four. Rev. 12 is not about natural Israel, as many dispensationalists would have us believe, but is talking about the Israel of God from above. All of us, like the Christ-child in this vision, all have our birth “from above,” which is the literal rendering in the Greek of Jhn. 3:3 and 7. And this "woman" is the spiritual Israel, or Jerusalem, and the Mother of us all).
All of this is what Isaiah the prophet wrote about when God said, “You will drink the milk of nations and be nursed at royal breasts. Then you will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.” Or when He said, “Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over her. For you will nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts; you will drink deeply and delight in her overflowing abundance. For this is what the LORD says: I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees. As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.” And again, “Before she goes into labor, she gives birth; before the pains come upon her, she delivers a son. Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children.” And still again, “Then you will say in your heart, 'Who bore me these? I was bereaved and barren; I was exiled and rejected. Who brought these up? I was left all alone, but these—where have they come from?….Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband, says the LORD.” And in all this Isaiah cries, “Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost.” And then Joel concludes, “In that day the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will flow with milk; all the ravines of Judah will run with water. A fountain will flow out of the Lord’s house and will water the valley of acacias” (Isa. 60:16; 66:11-13; 66:7-8; 49:21; 54:1; 55:1 [NAS]; Joel 3:18).
The Church, raised from her humble beginnings, is now seated in heavenly places with Christ. The lowly valleys have been raised to the status of that of “mountains” and “hills,” and we drink from Israel’s breasts (the heavenly Jerusalem and Mother of us all) the rich milk of God’s word, and drink in the New Wine of God’s Holy Spirit. It is the milk of all the nations who had a part in giving us our new birth, even the milk of the breasts of all who are kings and priests in Christ Jesus! Hallelujah! He who is mighty has done great things. For He has regarded the low estate of His people and has showed strength with His arm. He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their own hearts. He has put down the mighty from their seats, and has exalted them who were of low degree. He has filled the hungry with good things; and the rich He has sent away empty. He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His sure mercies; as He spoke to our fathers, even to Abraham, and to his seed forever.
[5] Upon the heels of John the Baptist’s ministry, Malachi had prophesied that the Lord would suddenly come to His temple and sit as a refiner’s fire and be as a fuller’s soap (3:1-4). When John came, he announced that “after me will come one who is more powerful than I…His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor, gathering His wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Mat. 3:11-12). And John had prefaced all this with the statement: “the ax is already at the root of the trees…” (v. 10).
On this statement, Adam Clarke writes:
And now also the axe is laid. Or, Even now the axe lieth. As if he had said: There is not a moment to spare—God is about to cut off every impenitent soul—you must therefore either turn to God immediately, or be utterly and finally ruined. It was customary with the prophets to represent the kingdoms, nations, and individuals, whose ruin they predicted, under the notion of forests and trees, doomed to be cut down. See Jer. xlvi. 22, 23; Ezek. xxxi. 3, 11, 12. The Baptist follows the same metaphor: the Jewish nation is the tree, and the Romans the axe, which, by the just judgment of God, was speedily to cut it down. It has been well observed, that there is an allusion here to a woodman, who, having marked a tree for excision, lays his axe at its root, and strips off his outer garment, that he may wield his blows more powerfully, and that his work may be quickly performed. For about sixty years before the coming of Christ, this axe had been lying at the root of the Jewish tree, Judea having been made a province to the Roman empire, from the time that Pompey took the city of Jerusalem, during the contentions of the two brothers Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, which was about sixty-three years before the coming of Christ. See Joseph. Antiq. l. xiv. c. 1-5. But as the country might be still considered as in the hands of the Jews, though subject to the Romans, and God had waited on them now nearly ninety years from the above time, expecting them to bring forth fruit, and none was yet produced; he [God] kept the Romans as an axe, lying at the root of this tree, who were ready to cut it down the moment God gave them the commission.William Cox also adds here:
But what of John’s understanding, from God himself, that Jesus came to bring judgment and separation? And where was the fan with which Messiah was to sweep clean the floor of His kingdom? Were these promises future? No. John himself taught that the first advent represented the ax of judgment being placed at the root of the tree of God’s kingdom (Mat. 3:10-12). The winnowing—the separating of the wheat from the chaff—is already in motion, and will be consummated at the second coming (Amillennialism Today, p. 24).Similarly, in Isaiah 10:15, God calls the Assyrians His “axe” that was to wield His judgment upon the ten northern tribes of Israel. Again, this “axe” was “laid to the root” in the prophecy of Isaiah, and didn’t occur until some time later after Isaiah had predicted this. But the judgment was inevitable. The “ax” was being prepared by God even as Isaiah was speaking. And God had fulfilled His Word in their lifetime.
Matthew Henry likewise writes:
Now the axe is carried before you, now it is laid to the root of the tree….It is now declared with the axe at the root, to show that God is in earnest in the declaration, that every tree, however high in gifts and honors, however green in external professions and performances, if it bring not forth good fruit, the fruits meet for repentance, is hewn down, disowned as a tree in God’s vineyard, unworthy to have room there, and is cast into the fire of God’s wrath—the fittest place for barren trees: what else are they good for? If not fit for fruit, they are fit for fuel. Probably this refers to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, which was not, as other judgments had been, like the lopping off of the branches, or cutting down of the body of the tree, leaving the root to bud again, but it would be the total, final, and irrecoverable extirpation of that people, in which all those should perish that continued impenitent. Now God would make a full end, wrath was coming on them to the utmost….the day comes that shall burn as an oven (Mal. 4:1),….Now he sits as a Refiner….The temple, a type of church, was built upon a threshing-floor. In this floor there is a mixture of wheat and chaff. True believers are as wheat, substantial, useful, and valuable; hypocrites are as chaff, light, and empty, useless and worthless, and carried about with every wind; these are now mixed, good and bad, under the same external profession; and in the same visible communion (Matthew Henry’s Commentary, Matthew, pp. 19-20).Jesus had also said,
I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo [first], and how distressed I am until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division (Luk. 12:49-51).To be sure, Jesus is separating the sheep from the goats even now as we speak. It is a present ongoing reality. But the final separation will be on the last day. Today is the “valley of decision” (or as the KJV margin reads: “the valley of threshing”) where the "decisions" of all in this present “sieve” of life will decide their fate, not only in this life but in the life to come.
As was ascertained in one of my other articles "You Will Not See Me Again Until You Say, Blessed is He Who Comes in the Name of the Lord," when Jesus said in such verses as Mat. 16:27, that when the Son of Man was "to come in the glory of His Father" (His coming in power upon the ascension of His throne at the resurrection), He says, "then He shall reward every man according to his works." Now it was already determined in the body of my article that Christ didn't have His second coming in mind when He spoke those words. He was talking about His coming in power upon His ascension to the throne. Now the Greek word here for "then" is "toto." It is an adverb. And adverbs answer the the question "How?", "in what way?", "when?", "where?", or "to what extent?". Here it is answering the question of "When will every man be rewarded according to his work?" It is "when" Christ says the Son of Man "shall come in the glory of His Father," which is when He ascended upon the throne in power. And this concept of ongoing "rewarding" or not rewarding is happening right now, even as we speak. Will there be a physical 2nd coming and judgment Day of Christ? Yes! But that is not what Christ is talking about here. He was talking about His coming into power after His sufferings on the cross.
Peter also affirms,
For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And, ‘If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?’ So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good (I Pet. 4:17-19).[6] See also my article “The Coming of the Son of Man” for a more biblical understanding of Christ’s coming in His glory (now) when seated at the right hand of God (see also Adam Clarke’s commentary on such a concept with regards to Mat. 24:27-30. Adam Clarke also thought it possible that Mat. 25:31 could be speaking of the same idea, but wasn’t sure. Purchase also the book, Matthew 24 Fulfilled by John Bray, or Last Days Madness by Gary DeMar for a further and more biblical understanding of all of this).
