Zechariah 14, Part #1: Things that can’t occur any time after the ministry of Jesus.

Dear in Christ,

Most of the eschatological talk about Zechariah 14 is restricted to whether the Mount of Olives was split into two in 70 AD (Zec 14:4). Most haven't discerned the chapter in its entirety. In this series I will try to explain to you my understanding of the entire chapter. In this post I would like to draw your attention to some of the logical issues with the futurist interpretation of this chapter.

Things that can’t occur any time after the ministry of Jesus.

Zec 14:16-21 (please read the passage from your Bible) talk about people arriving in Jerusalem for the Feast of the Tabernacles and the punishment for those Egyptians who fail to show up for the feast. There are details about the sacrifices and people seething (boiling) animals (marked as holy) in the holy vessels in the house of the LORD. The passage ends with the statute that Canaanites shouldn’t be seen in the house of the LORD.

Let’s ask ourselves: If this passage has any futurist applications, doesn’t this passage imply that there would be a physical temple in Jerusalem, where animal sacrifices would be carried out? Will God reinstate sacrifices that can’t take away sins? (Heb 10:4)

If a physical temple is envisaged in God’s scheme of things, why does Revelation 21 tell us that there’s no temple in the New Jerusalem?

Rev 21:22: And I SAW NO TEMPLE THEREIN: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

If God were to be biased against Canaanites, why does the Bible teach us that there’s no difference between Jews and gentiles?

Col 3:11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.

As I have said previously, most of the things prophesied in Zechariah 14 had to be fulfilled well before the ministry of Jesus.

The Feast of the Tabernacles (booths) OR Hanukkah

Almost everyone who has studied this chapter knows that the Feast of Tabernacles mentioned here is the same as the Feast of Dedication, which was instituted by Judas Maccabeus. It was in this festival (also known as Hanukkah) that Jesus took part.

Joh 10:22 And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.

Since the Feast of Tabernacles was instituted by the Maccabean rulers, the instructions to Egyptians that they should take part in the feast also should have been instituted by them. Yes, that’s what they did.

2Ma 1:1 The brethren, the Jews that be at Jerusalem and in the land of Judea, wish unto the brethren, the Jews that are throughout Egypt health and peace:
2Ma 1:9 And now see that ye keep the feast of tabernacles in the month Casleu (Kislev).

Please note that it’s the Jews who were in Egypt who have to celebrate the feast. Many commentators have opined that Egyptians would be forced to celebrate the feast as they have been the traditional foes of Israel, without realizing the fact that there were Jewish settlements in Egypt since the days of Israelites returning from Assyrian and Babylonian captivities. It makes no sense to say that heathens would be permitted to take part in a Jewish feast.

On the restriction banning Canaanites from the temple.

Since the New Testament makes it abundantly clear that there can’t be any difference between Jews, Greeks, Pagans and Barbarians, it’s obvious that the prohibition regarding Canaanites entering the temple of the LORD can’t be applicable to the New Testament times.

You may have observed that the Hebrew word translated as Canaanite, H3669 in Strong’s Lexicon, is also translated as merchant or trafficker in passages like: Job 41:6; Pro 31:24; Isa 23:8 (King James Version). Please note that many versions render this word as traders or merchants in:

Zec 14:21 (YLT) .. there is no merchant any more in the house of Jehovah of Hosts in that day! (See also: DRB)
Zec 14:21 (ESV)...there shall no longer be a trader in the house of the LORD of hosts on that day. (See also, LITV, MKJV and RSV)
Zec 14:21 (JPS) ...in that day there shall be no more a trafficker in the house of the LORD of hosts.

Apart from Jesus objecting to the presence of traders in the temple at Jerusalem, Jeremiah also instructed Jews not to bring their merchandise to the city, especially on Sabbath days. (Jeremiah 17:21f). Anyways, the restriction regarding traders entering the house of the LORD had to do with the physical temple which once existed in Jerusalem.

I believe that the restriction regarding traders (not Canaanites) entering the house of the LORD has to do with the misdeeds of Nicanor, one of the generals under Antiochus Epiphanes, the Seleucid ruler who oppressed Jews and desecrated their temple. Nicanor waged several wars against Jews and had access to the Mount Zion and the priests at the temple. (1Ma7:33). This Nicanor once brought slave-traders to Jerusalem, so that he could sell Jews to them.

2Ma 8:10 Nicanor determined to make up for the king the tribute due to the Romans, two thousand talents, by selling the captured Jews into slavery.
2Ma 8:11 And he immediately sent to the cities on the seacoast, inviting them to buy Jewish slaves and promising to hand over ninety slaves for a talent, not expecting the judgment from the Almighty that was about to overtake him.
2Ma 8:34 The thrice-accursed Nicanor, who had brought the thousand merchants to buy the Jews,

My point is that people coming to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Tabernacle (The Feast of Dedication) and the restriction regarding traders entering the temple may not hold good after Jerusalem and its temple were destroyed in 70AD.

In the next post we will discuss about the allusions to the New Jerusalem / Heavenly Jerusalem in Zechariah. (I am a lazy bum, so be patient as I take my own sweet time to write the next post in this series.)

In Christ,

Tomsan Kattackal