The Minor Prophets Speak To Today
The Mountains Will Become A Plain:
Zechariah 14:9-11 NLT
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And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day there will be one Lord—his name alone will be worshiped.
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An Unspoken Truth
There will be one Lord - but it does not say all people and nations will accept his lordship. There will be one name worshiped, but it does not say there will be no opposition.
It seems to be a joint belief of Muslims and Christians that when the Lord returns to earth the whole world will accept their belief and those who do not will be punished severely or destroyed. Somebody, some religion will be greatly disappointed.
For those who believe the recorded prophecies of Jesus and his claim to be the only begotten son of God, the Lord who returns refers to Christ himself. We, therefore, believe that those among the Muslims who reject the Sonship of Christ will be dreadfully cast into a turmoil as these Old Testament Prophecies come true.
And here is the unspoken truth, one which we will see borne out in the remainder of Zechariah and in the great rebellion against Christ which will be raised many years after the fulfillment of the current passage.
The Lord alone will be worshiped, but not all will worship him. Many while compliant will still reject his Lordship. The day will come when they stop complying with his kingship and seek to destroy him.
For those who believe the recorded prophecies of Jesus and his claim to be the only begotten son of God, the Lord who returns refers to Christ himself. We, therefore, believe that those among the Muslims who reject the Sonship of Christ will be dreadfully cast into a turmoil as these Old Testament Prophecies come true.
And here is the unspoken truth, one which we will see borne out in the remainder of Zechariah and in the great rebellion against Christ which will be raised many years after the fulfillment of the current passage.
The Lord alone will be worshiped, but not all will worship him. Many while compliant will still reject his Lordship. The day will come when they stop complying with his kingship and seek to destroy him.
An Interesting Modern View of The Worlds Reaction to Christ's Lordship
In the Revelation, John sees Christ and he says:
12 When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands. 13 And standing in the middle of the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man. He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest. 14 His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were like flames of fire. 15 His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves. 16 He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was like the sun in all its brilliance.
The Christ who returns will not look the pictures on our walls and in our churches. He will be brilliant and have his new body. All who come with him will have bodies like his and a brightness of their own.
Some people today think that all the talk about extraterrestrials is Satan preparing the world to see Jesus and interpret him to be an alien and all of us who are transformed as part of his alien race. Coming in the clouds with a grand entrance will be seen as an alien invasion of the planet. Taking Lordship and Kingship will be the conquest of the human species.
And so, as portrayed in the movies, a day will come when we humans rise up to overthrow the extraterrestrials and take back the planet for ourselves.
Now, I do not believe that to be a prophecy of God. However, it does illustrate how the understandings of people in the early church probably did not fit the reality of what Christ and his followers return will look like. Likewise, our visualization these events, and His Lordship and Kingship also most likely will not fit the coming reality either.
This reminds us that prophecy is not given so that we will know the full details of what will come to pass. Prophecy is given so that as these things are coming to pass we will remember God's words and recognize what is happening.
One World Government
Among American evangelicals, there is a great fear of terms "one world government."
I do not understand why.
When Jesus returns he will establish a one world government. This is a huge part of our great hope. We need to grasp these words and make them refer to this passage in Zechariah.
Of course, that will make us suspect to those who think they are creating a new world order, but have no place in it for the historical Jesus returning to rule. These foolish humans believe they, not God, will usher in this great era of peace.
Let us use this understanding of prophecy to remind our fellow earthly citizens that we humans do not have the power to create a united world or bring peace. This should be fairly easy to do if we become students of the past and students of the present.
Human one world orders always fail. There is no
example of those who sought to create them even coming close without producing some form of tyranny and authoritarianism. Some kind of haves and have nots. Some form of intolerance and even destruction of those who oppose their ideas. We are not gods nor did we create God. The seeds of these necessary evils are clearly visible in the words and actions of those who believe they are on the cusp of ushering in the era of one world government and unity.
Look at the two present American Presidential Candidates. Each has their own view of creating a new world order. Both, if you listen, are already setting up an us/them dichotomy. Their 'us' believes it must get rid of the 'thems' who stand in their way.
True, scripture predicts a powerful, false one world government which will organize and seek to impose itself upon the whole earth. It even predicts that their power will be exercised by controlling the world's economy.
Scripture also predicts that they will not succeed.
I suppose what makes us fearful is that this false government will try to destroy all the Christians who will not accept their ideas and systems. It will be a terrible time for us and others who oppose this beast of human making and power.
But, God himself steps in and destroys these pretenders. His care of his children plus the poor and oppressed is never compromised. He has sent us the prophecy of this beast to encourage us. He has sent us the prophecy of this beast to remind us that nothing can separate us from Him. He has sent us the prophecy of this evil one world order to remind us to be prepared to trust only in him. He did not send it so that we can plan a way to escape of be captured by fear so far in advance. The false world order will test the faith of many and they will be found to not actually trust God.
If your faith is so weak that now, before the beast consolidates its power, you are already afraid and you work against God to assure that this precursor to heaven is stopped or delayed, then you already do not trust God. You are already working against him and his prophecy.
But --
One world government - what are you afraid of. It is our great hope and even the evil one world government means our great hope is very near. Our Christ is already king over all.
An Amazing Capitol City
The king will set up his rulership in Jerusalem and his kingdom will never end.
I do not know if the Jerusalem at this point in Zechariah is an existing earthly Jerusalem or the New Jerusalem come down to earth and occupying the place of the old and present Jerusalem.
(A New Jerusalem would sure feed the thought of an alien invasion.)
But this we do know!
The mountains among which Jerusalem is now nestled will disappear. Apparently, the mountain upon which Jerusalem sits will also be removed and a great plain will replace all of the mountains in an area roughly the size of the Old Testament Judah.
Will it be by major earthquakes or the movement of tectonic plates?
Will be the mountains flee in the presence of the descending New Jerusalem?
Again we do not know.
But it will be an amazing sight.
It will catch the whole world's attention.
And Jerusalem will then be lifted up and returned to its elevated position above the plain.
Perhaps the valley highway Christ provides to let the inhabitants of Jerusalem escape will define the elevation of the plain and become the main highway by which the city can be entered. Who knows.
Whatever happens,
Jerusalem, the capitol of Jesus kingdom
will be physically awesome!
A Point Of Security
Jerusalem will be filled, safe at last, never again to be cursed and destroyed. vs.11
The plain will encircle Jerusalem making its defense easier.
It will provide a fertile area capable of feeding the city.
It will be awesome.
A point of Security!
Bring on the aliens
and traitors.
Photo Credits:
Alien by Angel Ortega, some rights reserved @ flickr.com
The New Jerusalem @ awildernessvoice.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/new-jerusalem.jpg
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