Wednesday Evening Bible Study

Zechariah 14:1-21

"HOLY TO THE LORD"

Listen to the lesson!

 

There are times when the hardships of the age force God's people to look to him for help.  In Bible times, encouragement came in the form of apocalyptic preaching.¹  The word we need in hard times is the assurance that God has not forgotten us.  In his due time, he will act to vindicate his people.  Apocalyptic writing looks to the future, but its application is to its contemporary audience.  How fitting it is for the book of Zechariah to conclude with an apocalyptic vision, especially since the prophet's name means "Yahweh Remembers."

1. The vision begins with the statement, "Behold the Day of the LORD is coming."²  Did the scene described in verses 1b-2 ever actually happen?  If so, when?
2. Similarly, we have read elsewhere in scripture how the nations have gathered in battle against Israel.³  Who actually does the fighting?  What does this imply for us?
3. The LORD's "touchdown" on the Mount of Olives causes a great earthquake which creates a huge valley.  What is the purpose of the valley?  Which direction from the Temple is the Mount of Olives?  If Zechariah remembers Ezekiel's vision of the LORD's departing glory over the Mount of Olives, what does this detail signify?
4. Cosmic phenomena (continuous day and living water) lead to a theological statement.  What does that statement reference?
5. Discuss the relationship between apocalyptic visions and history.  How are they similar?  How are they different?
6. Judging by popular literature, movies, and such, we must be living today in what could legitimately be called an apocalyptic age.  How and why would this be so?  How have the attitudes of the world affected popular interpretations of the Bible?
7. What will be the final state of the world?  Is it possible to see things that way now?  How?

 

⁽¹⁾ The most famous example of apocalypse is the book of the Revelation of John.  The book of Revelation was filled with many Old Testament references (some of which appear in tonight's passage).

⁽²⁾  In Hebrew, hinei yom boh la Yahweh.  This formula is not so much announcing an event that is going to happen some day, as it is speaking of something that is already underway.

⁽³⁾  Judges 5:4, the Song of Deborah, Habakkuk 3:13 are a couple of examples of the Lord's willingness to defend his people against their enemies.  More abstract, if not apocalyptic, examples are Psalms 46 and 48, and Ezekiel 38 and following.