Zechariah 14:8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
10 All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin’s gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king’s winepresses.
There has been a lot of talk in the news about Jeffrey Epstein and who was all involved in his wickedness. The way our corrupt systems work, we will never know the details of that situation. We know there were young women who were misguided and put themselves in harms way and became involved in a situation they never expected to be in. That is still the problem for many young women today. Our godless society is parading women around in very improper ways and it is breaking down the shamefacedness that God intends for them.
We do not need to go the Muslim route of having women covered so that only their eyes can be seen. Rape and multiple marriages are common in the Muslim world. What is needed is the fear of God. Due to the secularization of our society, the fear of God has been greatly suppressed. This has not been helpful to our society.
Jeffrey Epstein and many other men are guilty and will be judged by God. In hell they will not have any comfort. Evil men will exist until God destroys this world by fire. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is needed as much today as at any time in history. The problem is, that message is being silenced more than at any time in the history of mankind.
Zechariah lived in a time of trouble as well. Some of the Jews had come back to Jerusalem, but they were not excited about serving the LORD. They just wanted to get on with their own lives. If God is not the centre of your life, you are wasting your time. You can get rich, but at death that all stays behind. Jesus said:
Matthew 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
That truth was needed in Zechariah’s day and it is still needed today. In the midst of seeking to help his generation, Zechariah was also directed to write and speak to future generations, even beyond our time. Chapter 14 is dealing with a time beyond our time.
God was continuing to speak of the time of the Millennium. Jesus Christ will build the final Temple and because He will be there, living waters shall go out from Jerusalem. Jesus has already stated:
John 4:10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
Jesus Christ is the living water and He offered that water to the Samaritan woman and to the men that came to hear Him as a result of her testimony. He also offers that water to us today and He will offer that water to the saints in the Millennium.
Good water is refreshing. Bad water is not good. Good doctrine is important and necessary, but seldom appreciated. Bad doctrine is destructive to the soul and body, and is often embraced.
Jesus will show the blessing of receiving this living water in the Millennium. The people will have great opportunity to be blessed by Him. It will not matter which season they are in; that water will flow to all and at all times.
In verse 9 we see that the LORD shall be king over all the earth at that time. There are people who are trying to bring about a one world government. Our P.M. recently talked of bringing in the “new world order”. He is not smart enough to do so, but he is part of a movement that will seek to bring that about. Mr. Trump has pushed other nations to work more seriously toward that end. He has great power, but God is greater. God does not want any one nation to wield as much power as Mr. Trump wants to have. The antichrist will have great power for a short seven year period, but God will be bringing many challenges into play during that time as well.
In verse 9 we see that the world will have one LORD during that time and His name shall be one. There will be no Mary worship. There will be no Mohammed or Buddha or any other false god. Jesus Christ will not allow that. There will be many people over that thousand year reign that will not like submitting to Jesus Christ, but they will not have the ability to organize their opposition like we see so much of now.
In verse 10 we see that the land will be changed. There will be flat land made available for the benefit of the people. God will make conditions better for the people than they currently are. Keep in mind that during the Millennium, the Middle East will be the place to be. Personally, I do not believe North America will be inhabited at that time. We are on the verge of collapse now. We do not know how long we have, but when we read Bible prophecy, we read about the Middle East and Jerusalem as the world capital.
God will make the land in that area much more productive than it currently is. He can do that. He created the earth. He changed the topography of the earth with the flood of Noah’s day. He has changed things with earthquakes to a degree. According to our text, things will be drastically changed in the Millennium. God knows how to make land productive. He will prove Himself again to be the only true source of help.
Currently our government runs ads from time to time trying to convince us that we need to run to them them for help in various ways. The government wants us dependent upon them. We know that communist countries force the people to depend on the state for their existence. This is true in North Korea and in China and other communist countries. Those who have lived in communist countries know that their governments cannot meet the needs of the people. In fact, those governments have no intention of meeting the needs of their people. They want to keep the people hungry and lacking the basic needs of life, in order to control them. It is much easier to get people to do what you want of them, if they are convinced that the only way they will get food and shelter is by submitting to the state. When people have options, some will submit to the state, but many will only do so within their predetermined limits. The governments do not like that. They want absolute control.
Jesus Christ will be in charge during the Millennium. However, He will not cause starvation in order to be in control. He will simply prove to be Who He claims to be and at the start of the Millennium, there will only be God-fearing people on this earth. Over time rebels will appear, but they will not be able to express themselves until the end of the thousand years.
Zechariah was told to speak of a future time of blessing. God created man to bless him. Man chose to reject God and thus rejected His blessings. God has not given up on man. He still desires to bless us today. The way to know His blessing is through repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Those who follow that path, will be blessed with eternal life and a desire to glorify their Saviour and Lord. Are you one of those individuals?
Pastor Bartel