The fourteenth chapter of Zechariah is commonly regarded as one of the corner-stones of the age-to-come doctrine, and not susceptible of a reasonable explanation if viewed from any other stand-point. The writer does not give credit to such a sentiment, but holds, on the contrary, that the chapter furnishes no support for the future-age sentiment, and that it can only be consistently interpreted as viewed from the stand-point of “the present truth.” The following, in his opinion, is a correct exegesis of the chapter, taking it verse by verse:— VERSE 1. “Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.” The day of the Lord] The great and terrible day of the Lord, so frequently mentioned in both the Old and the New Testament. Zeph. 1:7, 14–18; Joel 2:1; Isa. 13:6; 2 Pet. 3:10, etc. Thy spoil] The spoil of those who are “of Israel,” but who are not the true Israel of God. It is a prediction of what will take place in the awful time of trouble. Dan. 12:1; Rev. 16. In the midst of thee] Old Jerusalem. See Rev. 14:20. VERSE 2. “For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.” I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle] A prediction of the grand muster of the armies of earth to the battle of Armageddon. Compare carefully Joel 3:2, 12; Rev. 16:13–16; Zeph. 3:8; etc. This gathering is to be in the vicinity of old Jerusalem. It occurs after probation ends, just before the second advent. City taken—houses rifled—women ravished] These are some of the terrible concomitants of war. Half of the city shall go forth into captivity—and not cut off from the city] refer to local particulars in the battle of the great day, in connection with Jerusalem, which may not at present be so clearly understood. During the greater part of the gospel dispensation, the holy city has been the “bone of contention” among the leading nations, and this will be the case down to the time when “the winepress is trodden without the city.” Rev. 14:20. VERSE 3. “Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.” Then shall the Lord go forth] This clause represents Jehovah as “rising up” against this host whom Satan, as generalissimo, has assembled for the final conflict. See Isa. 28:21; Job 31:14. As when he fought in the day of battle] Very probably this is an allusion to the time when Satan was cast out of Heaven. Rev. 12:7. Then Omnipotence triumphed. It will be the same in the coming battle of God Almighty. VERSE 4. “And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.” This verse carries us over to events at the end of the day of the Lord, while verses 1–3 speak of things at the beginning of that period. The day of the Lord begins with the end of probation, and extends to the final execution of the Judgment. It is more than 1,000 years long. His feet] Christ’s feet. Shall stand . . . upon the Mount of Olives] At the end of the 1,000 years, when “the Lord my God shall come and all the saints with thee.” Verse 5. At the second advent, the feet of Christ do not touch the earth. See 1 Thess. 4:17. The parting of the Mount of Olives, without doubt refers to a place being prepared for the Holy City when it descends from Heaven. Rev. 21:2. Perhaps the center of that vast city will be geographically located where the veritable mount stood. There shall be a very great valley] Note these words. This valley must include more than Mount Olivet, for if that entire mount was removed, it would not make a place larger than many a modern farm. But the New Jerusalem is 375 miles on one side, and 1,500 miles around, which gives the vast area of 140,625 square miles! Truly, this would be a “very great valley.” Palestine itself has only about 9,600 square miles. The city would therefore cover an area about fourteen times as large as all the holy land! The great Mediterranean would have to be removed, at least in part. The prophet may allude to this when he says, “And there was no more sea.” Rev. 21:1. VERSE 5. “And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal; yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah; and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.” Ye] This pronoun refers to the same class as “they” in verse 1,—carnal, faithless Israel. See Luke 13:28. Such language, fleeing, etc., could not well apply to the righteous. Prov. 28:1. The “earthquake” here spoken of is doubtless the one mentioned in Amos 1:1, and probably refers to that awful movement which occurred when King Uzziah attempted to burn incense in the temple. 2 Chron. 26:16–20. See Josephus’ graphic description of this in his “Antiquities,” b. ix. c. x. s. 4. He says a “part of a mountain broke loose, and was moved four furlongs!” The last part of verse 5 refers to our Saviour’s return to this earth, with the redeemed, at the end of the 1,000 years. VERSE 6. “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark.” Perhaps the marginal reading gives a better sense: “It shall not be clear in some places, and dark in other places of the world”—as it is in the present state. Doubtless the term “that day,” refers to the glorious new-earth day, for which we, with the apostle, look. 2 Pet. 3:13. The present murky state of the atmosphere will be unknown to the nations of the saved. VERSE 7. “But it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not day, nor night; but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.” Doubtless this verse, with the preceding, is a prediction of that new and better system of days and nights which will be enjoyed by the redeemed in the earth renewed. “Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun; and the light of the sun shall be seven-fold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.” Isa. 30:26. The same thing is hinted at in Job 26:10. At evening time it shall be light] In the new system of days and nights, in the restitution. VERSE 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.” This is a prophecy that the waters from the river of life will meander through the plains of the new earth. See Rev. 22:1; Joel 3:18. The river of life is mentioned in the latter part of the verse with a particularity which is not found elsewhere in the Scriptures. The “former sea” and “hinder sea,” refer to the old Mediterranean and Dead Seas. It is quite improbable, however, that either of these veritable seas will exist in the future state; but their names here mentioned would seem to show the direction in which the two branches of the river of life will flow, as they diverge from the celestial city. In summer and in winter] This is proof that there will be seasons in the new earth, though doubtless without the extremes of the present state. VERSE 9. “And the Lord shall be King over all the earth; in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.” There will be in the new world a theocratic government. There the Lord will be king, according to abundance of scriptures. In that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one] A prediction of that oneness of heavenly sentiment which will exist among the family of the redeemed. There will be no schisms nor sects, but the nations of the saved will be “one” in the sense of the Scriptures. John 17:21–23. VERSE 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.” All the land shall be turned as a plain] This is an allusion to the “very great valley” spoken of in verse 4, the prophet again directing the mind to the place prepared for the reception of the mighty city. It should also be borne in mind that when Zechariah penned this prophecy, sixteen years had passed since the end of the 70 years’ captivity, and that in consequence of the opposition of enemies the temple was not built. The particulars about the “gates,” “tower,” “winepresses,” etc., would convey to the mind of the Jew at that time a hope more inspiring than to say all Palestine will yet be restored. Their whole soul and affections were centered on the literal city and temple. Perhaps this verse, like many others, has both a present and a future application; a kind of application after the end of the 70 years’ desolation when Jerusalem should be inhabited again, and another and grander one, when the New Jerusalem is established as the metropolis of the new earth. The term “lifted up,” according to Rashi, the great Jewish commentator, means to be exalted.