And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.
It describes the eternal state of the new earth after the wicked are destroyed, when Jerusalem is inhabited in safety with no further destruction and stands secure forever. No more utter destruction means the final destruction has already taken place, the second death in the burning of the earth and the wicked and the old order, so that death and devouring remain no more. The Jerusalem in view is the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem, the real and tangible antitypical home of the redeemed, not a human-built city nor the old city of stones and mortar. Its safe habitation follows the Lord's return when the Mount of Olives is divided beneath His feet into a great plain, and at the close of the thousand years the saints descend with the city while the raised wicked surround it and are consumed by fire from God that purges the earth of sin. It points to the time when the Lord reigns over all the earth and Christ as King ends all sin and sorrow and war, enthroned in the renewed Jerusalem as the capital lit by God and the Lamb.
Meaning of the Promise
The verse describes the eternal state on the new earth after the wicked are destroyed, when Jerusalem is inhabited in safety with no further destruction and remains secure forever. That Jerusalem is the heavenly city come down from heaven, not a human-built city to be later replaced, resting on the plain where the Mount of Olives once stood more than a thousand years after Christ's return, at the beginning of eternity. It is lit by God and the Lamb rather than by sun or moon, contains the River of Life, and has the Lord as King, and the land around it is made level with the city raised and inhabited in its place throughout its walls as the renewed Jerusalem of the everlasting kingdom inhabited by God's people.
No more utter destruction means the final destruction has already taken place, identified as the second death and the burning of the earth and the wicked and the old earthly order, so that no further destruction or death remains. Jerusalem's safe habitation therefore comes at the last end of the day of the Lord, after the thousand years of judgment and after the resurrection and destruction of the unjust, when the New Jerusalem is located on earth and the land no longer devours its inhabitants. Once the wicked and the earth have undergone utter destruction and the beloved City is inhabited, with the wicked raised and destroyed by fire, there is no further destruction.
The promise of safe habitation implies that an utter destruction has already occurred before that time, so utter destruction will occur before or by the time Jerusalem is securely inhabited. The end of destruction comes after the events described in verses 4-11, and therefore does not describe a future age in which utter destruction is postponed until after the general judgment or in which no utter destruction takes place.
The Jerusalem in view is the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem, not a human-built city or a city rebuilt during the thousand years, and that state with no further destruction has no end and belongs to the new earth. It is not the old city of stones and mortar but the antitypical city, the peaceful, real and tangible home of the redeemed, whose settled and inhabited surrounding country is connected with the promised inheritance of God's people. The old Jerusalem is destroyed and the new city is inhabited only by the saints, who dwell safely there while the resurrected wicked are destroyed and the earth is purified by fire, with the land around Jerusalem leveled and raised as the setting for Christ's everlasting kingdom.
The verse speaks in the language of the prophet's time about God's people being safe in the land, belonging to a prophecy covering the great day of the Lord when God deals with both the wicked and the righteous, and it points to the salvation of God's people in the new earth. The earth was made to be inhabited and will exist forever, and Jerusalem will finally be inhabited in safety with no utter destruction when the glory of the Lord fills the earth, though before this restoration the day of the Lord brings burning and the melting of the elements.
Setting in Prophecy
The prophecy looks beyond the restoration from Babylon to the final glorious restoration at Christ's coming, standing among the closing prophecies of Zechariah that look forward to the final restoration and offer hope to those who truly seek God and grasp the promises of the Spirit. The chapter contains prophecies about events widely separated in time, so placement beside surrounding prophecies does not mean consecutive fulfillment, and Scripture must be compared with Scripture to determine when each applies. Its general tenor is the prediction of Christ's kingdom, the great day of the Lord, and the punishment of the wicked.
The day of the Lord and the phrase in that day begin before the thousand years of Revelation 20 and extend beyond them, and are not identical with or limited to those thousand years, so description of events as occurring in that day does not show that they all take place during those thousand years. The promise that Jerusalem will be safely inhabited without utter destruction speaks of Christ coming to reign and is expected to be fulfilled literally, as the prophecy of Christ's suffering was literally fulfilled.
The last chapters of Zechariah are the latest Old Testament prophecy concerning the return of the Jews to literal Canaan, dated to B.C. 487. Every such promise was completely fulfilled to them as a nation forty-two years later, by B.C. 445, when all Israel dwelt in their cities. No unfulfilled promise of that kind remains requiring a future gathering of scattered Jews back to old Jerusalem to re-establish David's throne and kingdom.
Surrounding Prophetic Events
The secure dwelling comes after the Lord returns and stands upon the Mount of Olives, when the mount is split beneath His feet and opened into a great plain. That leveled plain is an earnest of the new earth, a place that will never again be spoiled by sin nor defiled by the wicked. The splitting occurs at the close of the thousand years of Revelation 20, preparing the site where the New Jerusalem descends.
The surrounding context shows the land around Jerusalem made level while the city itself is lifted up and inhabited in its own place. It is inhabited throughout the full extent of its walls, upon the plain where the Mount of Olives once stood. That plain is prepared by God at the very place where Christ shed His blood, and there the Lord arrives with all the saints after the thousand years at the beginning of eternity. From the city the life-giving river flows through the plain and across the earth while the Lord reigns over all.
The chapter stands within the prophecy of the final universal war and Armageddon, when all the nations of the earth are prepared and gathered for battle. That gathering is at Jerusalem in the valley of Jehoshaphat under the seventh last plague, when the powers of heaven are shaken and the great hail reserved to the day of trouble falls while men still blaspheme God, and Christ is seen coming in the clouds with power and great glory. Christ appears to overthrow the assembled nations, and only after His intervention do wars cease, weapons perish, and His reign of peace as the true Solomon begin.
At the close of the thousand years God's people descend with the city while the wicked are raised and surround it, and then fire from God destroys them and the works of evil. That fire removes the curse and purges the earth of sin, leaving the earth restored as the saints' everlasting home where they dwell forever. The beloved city is thus inhabited only after the wicked and the earth have undergone utter destruction, at the end of the thousand years when the wicked are raised and destroyed by fire upon the renewed earth. The holy city first descends to the plain sanctified by Christ's feet before the subsequent judgment, then descends again as the capital of the new earth representing the redeemed earth and its inhabitants. Utter destruction therefore occurs before or by the time Jerusalem is safely inhabited, after the events of verses 4-11, so the verse does not describe a future age in which destruction is postponed until after the general judgment.
Christ's Everlasting Kingdom
The promise looks to the time when the Lord is King over all the earth and Jerusalem is dwelt in securely with no more utter destruction. It is the reign of Christ as King from David's throne, with His kingdom established in mercy. Then all sin and sorrow are ended and peace endures without war.
While the Lord reigns over all, the life-giving river from the city flows through the plain and across the earth, and Jerusalem is inhabited throughout the full extent of its walls after the time of destruction has passed. The Jerusalem so inhabited is the renewed Jerusalem of the everlasting kingdom, the capital where Christ's throne will be. It is the city of God resting on the plain where the Mount of Olives once stood, more than a thousand years after Christ's return, lit by God and the Lamb rather than by sun or moon, containing the River of Life and having the Lord as King.
That securely inhabited Jerusalem is the final resting-place of the New Jerusalem in the new earth when Eden is restored. When Christ descends at the close of the millennium His feet touch the Mount of Olives, which spreads out into a great plain prepared for the descent of the city. There Jerusalem becomes the place of general meeting and harmony where people assemble to worship, and those coming from the east and those coming from the west bring the same day with them and all keep the same Sabbath at Jerusalem, which proves the day-line is not at Eden and Jerusalem but on the very opposite side of the earth. The land around Jerusalem is thus leveled and raised, and this Jerusalem is the New Jerusalem descending to earth, where the saints dwell safely while the resurrected wicked are destroyed and the earth is purified by fire, and the renewed earth becomes the setting for Christ's everlasting kingdom. The promise belongs with the redeemed returning to the Jerusalem above and with the holy city's descent after the millennium, when the earth is renewed and Christ and His people reign forever on the renewed earth as their everlasting home and inheritance.
The Lord's coming transforms the land of Palestine, and the Jerusalem descending from heaven makes it truly holy and restores its greatness beyond anything it had before. The country around Jerusalem will then be inhabited and safe from destruction. That Jerusalem is the antitypical city, the peaceful, real and tangible home of the redeemed, not the old city of stones and mortar, and its settled, inhabited land is the promised inheritance of God's people.
It describes the eternal state of the new earth after the wicked are destroyed, when Jerusalem is inhabited in safety with no further destruction and stands secure forever. No more utter destruction means the final destruction has already taken place, the second death in the burning of the earth and the wicked and the old order, so that death and devouring remain no more. The Jerusalem in view is the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem, the real and tangible antitypical home of the redeemed, not a human-built city nor the old city of stones and mortar. Its safe habitation follows the Lord's return when the Mount of Olives is divided beneath His feet into a great plain, and at the close of the thousand years the saints descend with the city while the raised wicked surround it and are consumed by fire from God that purges the earth of sin. It points to the time when the Lord reigns over all the earth and Christ as King ends all sin and sorrow and war, enthroned in the renewed Jerusalem as the capital lit by God and the Lamb.
Meaning of the Promise
The verse describes the eternal state on the new earth after the wicked are destroyed, when Jerusalem is inhabited in safety with no further destruction and remains secure forever. That Jerusalem is the heavenly city come down from heaven, not a human-built city to be later replaced, resting on the plain where the Mount of Olives once stood more than a thousand years after Christ's return, at the beginning of eternity. It is lit by God and the Lamb rather than by sun or moon, contains the River of Life, and has the Lord as King, and the land around it is made level with the city raised and inhabited in its place throughout its walls as the renewed Jerusalem of the everlasting kingdom inhabited by God's people.
No more utter destruction means the final destruction has already taken place, identified as the second death and the burning of the earth and the wicked and the old earthly order, so that no further destruction or death remains. Jerusalem's safe habitation therefore comes at the last end of the day of the Lord, after the thousand years of judgment and after the resurrection and destruction of the unjust, when the New Jerusalem is located on earth and the land no longer devours its inhabitants. Once the wicked and the earth have undergone utter destruction and the beloved City is inhabited, with the wicked raised and destroyed by fire, there is no further destruction.
The promise of safe habitation implies that an utter destruction has already occurred before that time, so utter destruction will occur before or by the time Jerusalem is securely inhabited. The end of destruction comes after the events described in verses 4-11, and therefore does not describe a future age in which utter destruction is postponed until after the general judgment or in which no utter destruction takes place.
The Jerusalem in view is the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem, not a human-built city or a city rebuilt during the thousand years, and that state with no further destruction has no end and belongs to the new earth. It is not the old city of stones and mortar but the antitypical city, the peaceful, real and tangible home of the redeemed, whose settled and inhabited surrounding country is connected with the promised inheritance of God's people. The old Jerusalem is destroyed and the new city is inhabited only by the saints, who dwell safely there while the resurrected wicked are destroyed and the earth is purified by fire, with the land around Jerusalem leveled and raised as the setting for Christ's everlasting kingdom.
The verse speaks in the language of the prophet's time about God's people being safe in the land, belonging to a prophecy covering the great day of the Lord when God deals with both the wicked and the righteous, and it points to the salvation of God's people in the new earth. The earth was made to be inhabited and will exist forever, and Jerusalem will finally be inhabited in safety with no utter destruction when the glory of the Lord fills the earth, though before this restoration the day of the Lord brings burning and the melting of the elements.
Setting in Prophecy
The prophecy looks beyond the restoration from Babylon to the final glorious restoration at Christ's coming, standing among the closing prophecies of Zechariah that look forward to the final restoration and offer hope to those who truly seek God and grasp the promises of the Spirit. The chapter contains prophecies about events widely separated in time, so placement beside surrounding prophecies does not mean consecutive fulfillment, and Scripture must be compared with Scripture to determine when each applies. Its general tenor is the prediction of Christ's kingdom, the great day of the Lord, and the punishment of the wicked.
The day of the Lord and the phrase in that day begin before the thousand years of Revelation 20 and extend beyond them, and are not identical with or limited to those thousand years, so description of events as occurring in that day does not show that they all take place during those thousand years. The promise that Jerusalem will be safely inhabited without utter destruction speaks of Christ coming to reign and is expected to be fulfilled literally, as the prophecy of Christ's suffering was literally fulfilled.
The last chapters of Zechariah are the latest Old Testament prophecy concerning the return of the Jews to literal Canaan, dated to B.C. 487. Every such promise was completely fulfilled to them as a nation forty-two years later, by B.C. 445, when all Israel dwelt in their cities. No unfulfilled promise of that kind remains requiring a future gathering of scattered Jews back to old Jerusalem to re-establish David's throne and kingdom.
Surrounding Prophetic Events
The secure dwelling comes after the Lord returns and stands upon the Mount of Olives, when the mount is split beneath His feet and opened into a great plain. That leveled plain is an earnest of the new earth, a place that will never again be spoiled by sin nor defiled by the wicked. The splitting occurs at the close of the thousand years of Revelation 20, preparing the site where the New Jerusalem descends.
The surrounding context shows the land around Jerusalem made level while the city itself is lifted up and inhabited in its own place. It is inhabited throughout the full extent of its walls, upon the plain where the Mount of Olives once stood. That plain is prepared by God at the very place where Christ shed His blood, and there the Lord arrives with all the saints after the thousand years at the beginning of eternity. From the city the life-giving river flows through the plain and across the earth while the Lord reigns over all.
The chapter stands within the prophecy of the final universal war and Armageddon, when all the nations of the earth are prepared and gathered for battle. That gathering is at Jerusalem in the valley of Jehoshaphat under the seventh last plague, when the powers of heaven are shaken and the great hail reserved to the day of trouble falls while men still blaspheme God, and Christ is seen coming in the clouds with power and great glory. Christ appears to overthrow the assembled nations, and only after His intervention do wars cease, weapons perish, and His reign of peace as the true Solomon begin.
At the close of the thousand years God's people descend with the city while the wicked are raised and surround it, and then fire from God destroys them and the works of evil. That fire removes the curse and purges the earth of sin, leaving the earth restored as the saints' everlasting home where they dwell forever. The beloved city is thus inhabited only after the wicked and the earth have undergone utter destruction, at the end of the thousand years when the wicked are raised and destroyed by fire upon the renewed earth. The holy city first descends to the plain sanctified by Christ's feet before the subsequent judgment, then descends again as the capital of the new earth representing the redeemed earth and its inhabitants. Utter destruction therefore occurs before or by the time Jerusalem is safely inhabited, after the events of verses 4-11, so the verse does not describe a future age in which destruction is postponed until after the general judgment.
Christ's Everlasting Kingdom
The promise looks to the time when the Lord is King over all the earth and Jerusalem is dwelt in securely with no more utter destruction. It is the reign of Christ as King from David's throne, with His kingdom established in mercy. Then all sin and sorrow are ended and peace endures without war.
While the Lord reigns over all, the life-giving river from the city flows through the plain and across the earth, and Jerusalem is inhabited throughout the full extent of its walls after the time of destruction has passed. The Jerusalem so inhabited is the renewed Jerusalem of the everlasting kingdom, the capital where Christ's throne will be. It is the city of God resting on the plain where the Mount of Olives once stood, more than a thousand years after Christ's return, lit by God and the Lamb rather than by sun or moon, containing the River of Life and having the Lord as King.
That securely inhabited Jerusalem is the final resting-place of the New Jerusalem in the new earth when Eden is restored. When Christ descends at the close of the millennium His feet touch the Mount of Olives, which spreads out into a great plain prepared for the descent of the city. There Jerusalem becomes the place of general meeting and harmony where people assemble to worship, and those coming from the east and those coming from the west bring the same day with them and all keep the same Sabbath at Jerusalem, which proves the day-line is not at Eden and Jerusalem but on the very opposite side of the earth. The land around Jerusalem is thus leveled and raised, and this Jerusalem is the New Jerusalem descending to earth, where the saints dwell safely while the resurrected wicked are destroyed and the earth is purified by fire, and the renewed earth becomes the setting for Christ's everlasting kingdom. The promise belongs with the redeemed returning to the Jerusalem above and with the holy city's descent after the millennium, when the earth is renewed and Christ and His people reign forever on the renewed earth as their everlasting home and inheritance.
The Lord's coming transforms the land of Palestine, and the Jerusalem descending from heaven makes it truly holy and restores its greatness beyond anything it had before. The country around Jerusalem will then be inhabited and safe from destruction. That Jerusalem is the antitypical city, the peaceful, real and tangible home of the redeemed, not the old city of stones and mortar, and its settled, inhabited land is the promised inheritance of God's people.