(7x) “In that day” [KJV]: After the nations are punished and Israel has been purified the Lord will establish His righteous kingdom on the throne of David. The Lord will be King over all the earth and there will be one Lord. It is the day on which the Lord will reign over all the earth. If the Lord is reigning over all the earth then the Kingdom of God has come.
I will briefly summarize Zechariah 14:1-21. The deliverance of Jerusalem from the nations. In the day of the Lord Jerusalem will be sacked. We see allusion here to the coming millennial kingdom also. The plunder referred to is the plunder taken from Jerusalem by the Gentile nations “in their midst” or “among you” within the city itself. The conquerors appear as if they will be brazen. Jerusalem will be sieged by all the nations. This appears to be the Battle of Armageddon. Before the peoples of Judah and Jerusalem will be empowered for victory and before the Lord destroys the Gentile armies, the Gentiles will at first appear to gain a small but fleeting victory in Jerusalem. Half of the population will be left in the city or the Lord will destroy the enemies before their job is half done. The Lord will go out and fight against the nations. The king will go out to battle for His people. The Messiah will stand on the Mt of Olives physically which is the very place from which He ascended. There will be an earthquake that will split the Mount of Olives in two forming a valley. When the Lord returns he will be accompanied by angels.
The Messianic Kingdom will be established. It will be a unique day without day or night which appears to be celestial darkness accompanying the Lord’s return. Regardless, the Return will be accompanied by unparalleled natural phenomena. ”Living Water” will spring from Jerusalem dividing its waters between the Dead Sea (eastern sea) and the Mediterranean Sea (western sea). This new source of abundant water will produce fertility throughout the land. The Lord will not only reign as the King of Israel but the entire world. Idolatry will be removed from the land. The whole land of Judah will be leveled to a flat plain like Arabah, the low plain below Mt. Hermon to the Jordan River. This change will make Jerusalem more prominent and pronounced compared to its surroundings. It will be the capital city of the Great King. The King that has returned.
There is then what appears to be a flashback. The nations that fought with Jerusalem (Gentile) and surround Jerusalem will be destroyed. There will be a divine plague on both man and beast. There will be panic sent from the Lord and then plunder taken from the Gentile armies. Some of this plunder will probably be the plunder they are reclaiming as their own having just been plundered themselves.
After Jerusalem has been secured and the Messiah’s reign begun, there will be worship of the Messiah-King by all surviving nations. The survivors from the nations will not be Jewish since they will have already been re-gathered. These survivors will probably be non-military personnel of the nation’s whose armies have been destroyed by the Messiah. They will enter the Kingdom as sheep. Just because they come to worship at Jerusalem doesn’t mean they will be Jewish. The millennial worship will be a newly instituted worldwide order embracing Jews and Gentiles and will center on Jerusalem. Worship annually will be necessary for people to enjoy fertility of crops. Those that refuse will forfeit their water supply. For most this will be no rain. “In that day” holiness will characterize the life in the Millennium. Zechariah’s book which begins with calls to repentance concludes with all will be holy unto the Lord.
Lindsey, F. Duane. "The Return of The King ." The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition Of The Scriptures. Ed John Walvoord & Roy Zuck. Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books, 1985. 1490-1492. Print.
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