Zechariah 14:10, commentary and pictures

All the country from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem is made a level plain, while Jerusalem itself is lifted up and lived in on her own site within her gates from Benjamin's gate to the first and corner gates and from the tower of Hananeel to the king's winepresses. It does not picture the old city of stone rebuilt, but the true city of peace, the place made ready for the New Jerusalem to occupy and be inhabited. Its fulfillment belongs to the day of the Lord at its close, after the thousand years and after the resurrection and destruction of the wicked, when the new earth appears. At Christ's final personal coming He stands upon the Mount of Olives, and the land before Him becomes a vast cleansed plain where the New Jerusalem comes down from heaven with all the saints before the earth is renewed. There Jerusalem is raised, inhabited, and safely inhabited forever as the capital of Christ's eternal kingdom over all the earth, with no more utter destruction.

Land Leveled, City Raised

The whole district around Jerusalem from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem is turned into a plain, while Jerusalem itself is lifted up and inhabited in her own 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. The leveled and uplifted land is the location of the Holy City where the Lord comes with the saints after the thousand years, the plain formed and sanctified by Christ's feet when the holy city first descends to earth. Together with the following verse it presents Jerusalem as raised, inhabited, and safely inhabited with no further utter destruction, the transformed and inhabited Jerusalem being the capital of the eternal kingdom connected with the new creation and the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven.

Geba to Rimmon spans about thirty miles, with Rimmon lying about twenty miles west of Jerusalem. The strip surrounding the city is about five times as wide as the city itself, which extends to the limits of its walls and rises above the plain in grandeur. Hananeel named as its northern landmark is one of several towers in Jerusalem.

The city so lifted up and inhabited is not the old literal city of stones and mortar but the antitypical city, the true possession of peace as its name signifies. The old Jerusalem is utterly destroyed and known no more, and the broad leveled plain from Geba to Rimmon becomes the site where the New Jerusalem will be located and inhabited. In its restoration setting, the leveling of the land into a plain, its raising, and its inhabiting within stated boundaries depicts the restoration of Jerusalem.

Timing and Manner Fulfilled

The setting is the day of the Lord, which begins before the thousand years of judgment in Revelation 20 and continues beyond them, and is not identical to those thousand years. Because the chapter describes events occurring in that day, they cannot all be assigned to the thousand years merely because they occur in that day. That day is the great day when God deals with both the wicked and the righteous.

The place of the leveling and raising is at the end of that day, after the thousand years, after the resurrection and destruction of the unjust, after the third advent and the destruction of the wicked, when the new earth appears. It belongs to the final state in the eternal world after the earth is renewed, when the land will no longer devour its people and there will be no more utter destruction and no wicked inhabitants.

At His personal, final advent Christ Himself stands on the Mount of Olives, and the whole land before Him becomes a vast plain. It is a mighty plain prepared by God at the place where He shed His blood for humanity. His presence forms it and sanctifies and cleanses it, making that part of the earth holy and clean.

The leveled and raised land is where the New Jerusalem descends from heaven at the close of the thousand years, when the Lord comes with all the saints. The holy city comes down to this earth before it is renewed, first descending to earth upon the plain formed and sanctified by Christ's feet. At Christ's final advent this elevated, cleansed region becomes the capital of the renewed earth, and when the Lord comes down upon Palestine He makes it a Holy Land indeed and restores it to a greatness far beyond anything it had before. The camp of the saints extends beyond the city, and this renewed area is distinct from the rest of the earth, which remains under the curse until the fires of the last day purify it.

The prophecy looks beyond the restoration from Babylon to the final glorious restoration when Christ comes. It belongs to the closing prophecies that look forward to the final restoration and offer hope to God's people who seek Him and trust the promises of the Spirit.

It speaks of Christ's coming to reign, an event not yet fulfilled. That coming will be fulfilled as literally as the prophecy of His suffering in Isaiah 53 was fulfilled.

The chapter includes the final universal war that precedes Christ's appearing, when all the nations of the earth are prepared for battle and gather for battle at Jerusalem. That great battle at Jerusalem occurs during the final plague, when the Lord's day of vengeance brings judgment upon the wicked and the gathered nations are defeated. It is the great coming war of Armageddon.

Because the sequence ends with no further utter destruction, the raised and inhabited city does not describe a peaceful age that precedes the final destruction of earthly powers.

Those who held a literal return placed it as the latest prophecy about the Jews' return to literal Canaan, given in 487 B.C., with the return and restoration completed by 445 B.C., forty-two years later.

The prophecy speaks in the language of Zechariah's time, and its picture of the Lord's people coming to Jerusalem to worship and keep the Feast of Tabernacles represents the saved people's faithful worship and service and their joyful response to what God asks of them. In the new earth there will be no sacrifices, and the feast may be kept to commemorate salvation from earthly things.

Eternal Kingdom Securely Inhabited

Together with the following verse, the verse presents Jerusalem as raised up, inhabited in her appointed place, and safely inhabited with no further utter destruction. In that final setting there are no wicked inhabitants remaining, the land will no longer devour its people, and the sequence ends with no destruction that follows. The leveling, raising, and inhabiting within the stated boundaries prepares the place for the New Jerusalem to rest upon when the Lord comes with all the saints after the thousand years. The Jerusalem there inhabited, with men dwelling in it safely and with no more utter destruction, is the holy city New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven to this earth before it is renewed.

The safely inhabited city is the heavenly city itself, not a city built by human hands that will later be replaced. It belongs to the eternal world after the earth is renewed, after the third advent and the destruction of the wicked, when the new earth appears. There it remains forever, with no further destruction.

This transformed, inhabited Jerusalem is the capital of the eternal kingdom and is connected with the new creation and the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven. Christ's kingdom will be where His residence is, and its capital will contain His throne. The verse stands with the declaration that the Lord shall reign over all the earth, supporting the promise that Christ will reign on David's throne and establish His kingdom on earth. It belongs to the time when Christ reigns as King over all the earth after sin and sorrow have ended, associated with lasting peace and the end of war. It is cited as support for the holy city's descent at the end of the millennium, the earth's renewal, and Christ and His people reigning forever, belonging to the prophecy of the Kingdom of God.

At Christ's final, personal advent the land around Jerusalem is raised into a broad, level plain, and this elevated, cleansed region becomes the place where the New Jerusalem descends from heaven as the capital of the renewed earth. When the Lord comes down upon Palestine He will make it a Holy Land indeed, restoring it to a greatness far beyond anything it had before.

The verse describes the place on earth where the city of God will descend at the end of the thousand years with His people in it. There the wicked dead will be raised and with Satan will come up over the breadth of the earth and compass the camp of the saints and the beloved city to take it. There the old and the young who have shut themselves from mercy will live a hundred years and die. After the purifying fire purges sin, that place will remain as the dwelling place of God's people forever in the new heavens and new earth.