The Nations Worship the King
July 8, 2021
Commentary
Zechariah describes the destruction of Israel’s enemies which is the second phase of the invasion of Jerusalem by the Gentile armies (vv. 12-15). In this phase the Gentile armies will be destroyed. Then the survivors from all the nations will worship annually in Jerusalem. Millennial religious worship will not be a restored Judaism but a newly instituted worldwide religious order embracing both Jews and Gentiles. It will center in Jerusalem and will incorporate some features identical with or similar to certain aspects of Old Testament worship (v. 16). One of these aspects is the annual celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles (Lev. 23:33-43; Zech. 14:18-19).
Worshiping annually in Jerusalem will be necessary for the people to enjoy good crops (vv. 17-19). Those nations that neglect or refuse such opportunities for worship will forfeit their water supply. For most nations this simply means they will have no rain. But Egypt, whose irrigation depends not on rain but rather on the flooding of the Nile, will still experience the plague of drought as punishment from the Lord. The priest had “Holiness to the Lord” engraved on a gold plate on the turban he wore as a reminder and expression of his consecration (v. 20). The holiness of Judah and Jerusalem during Messiah’s reign will characterize millennial life whether it be in public life (the bells of the horses), religious life (the cooking pots in the Lord‘s house, the millennial temple, or private life (every pot in Jerusalem and Judah) (v. 21). In the Old Testament there would be no “Canaanite” because no person outside of the covenant would be in the house of the Lord. A Canaanite had become symbolic of anything ceremonially unclean and ungodly. In the millennial temple no such defilement will occur. Thus Zechariah’s prophetic book which began with a call to repentance (Zech. 1:2-6) concludes with an affirmation that all will be holy.
Application
It is important worship the Lord according to what the Lord has outlined for that dispensation. For this it means to worship the Lord in Spirit and in truth.
Zechariah 14:12– 21 (NET)
12 But this will be the nature of the plague with which the Lord will strike all the nations that have fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh will decay while they stand on their feet, their eyes will rot away in their sockets, and their tongues will dissolve in their mouths. 13 On that day there will be great confusion from the Lord among them; they will seize each other and attack one another violently. 14 Moreover, Judah will fight at Jerusalem, and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered up —gold, silver, and clothing in great abundance. 15 This is the kind of plague that will devastate horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all the other animals in those camps.
16 Then all who survive from all the nations that came to attack Jerusalem will go up annually to worship the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, and to observe the Feast of Shelters. 17 But if any of the nations anywhere on earth refuse to go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, they will get no rain. 18 If the Egyptians will not do so, they will get no rain—instead there will be the kind of plague that the Lord inflicts on any nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Shelters. 19 This will be the punishment of Egypt and of all nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Shelters.
20 On that day the bells of the horses will bear the inscription “Holy to the Lord.” The cooking pots in the Lord’s temple will be as holy as the bowls in front of the altar. 21 Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and Judah will become holy in the sight of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, so that all who offer sacrifices may come and use some of them to boil their sacrifices in them. On that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
Illustration: Dante failed to kneel at the appropriate time
Deeply immersed in meditation during a church service, Italian poet Dante Alighieri failed to kneel at the appropriate moment. His enemies hurried to the bishop and demanded that Dante be punished for his sacrilege. Dante defended himself by saying, “If those who accuse me had of had their eyes and minds on God, as I had, they too would have failed to have noticed what I was doing.” (Today in the Word, March 10, 1993)