Zechariah 14:15
And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague. And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague.
The plague that strikes the enemies of Jerusalem strikes their horses, mules, camels, asses and all the beasts in their tents and camps just as literally as it strikes the people themselves. It belongs to the coming of Christ to reign as literally as His suffering was fulfilled, in the great day of the Lord when God deals with the wicked and the righteous. That fulfillment comes in the final universal war of Armageddon, when all nations are gathered against Jerusalem and the Lord destroys those who fought against it and delivers His people, which is the destruction of the then-living wicked by the first death and not the fire of the second death after the thousand years. It is also taught to fall in the final destruction after the thousand years, when Christ stands on the Mount of Olives, the city of God descends, the wicked are raised to attack Jerusalem, and they are consumed by fire amid confusion before the earth is purged of sin. The plague shows God's punishment of the wicked on earth for sin, falling on all who oppose His kingdom because to oppose Jerusalem is to oppose God, and by these judgments Christ as King establishes peace among the nations.
Wording and Literary Setting
The same plague that strikes the people strikes the horse, the mule, the camel, the ass, and every beast found in their tents or camps. Those animals are the animals of the nations gathered against Jerusalem, and they share fully in the plague of their owners. The plague is literal. No separate explanation is given of what the plague on the animals means, and in one setting forth of the end-time events the plague imagery of the chapter is left without explanation.
The wording reflects the prophet's own time. The Jerusalem of the prophecy is the antitypical city of peace, to be inhabited together with its surrounding country, and not the old city of stones and mortar. The chapter is not arranged in chronological or consecutive order but brings together prophecies applying at widely separated times. Its placing of the animal plague after the description of the eternal Jerusalem therefore does not make that plague eternal, for the plague belongs to the present world while the Jerusalem described belongs to the eternal world. For that reason each application of the chapter must be tested against other scriptures.
The prophecy belongs to the restoration era and is set forth as a type of the last reformation. It stands among the book's closing prophecies, which look forward to the final restoration. Those closing prophecies foretell judgments upon those who reject God and offer hope to those who seek Him and trust the promises of the Spirit.
Prophetic Timing and Fulfillment
The prophecy concerns Christ's coming to reign, and its unfulfilled details including the plague on animals as well as people are to be fulfilled as literally as the prophecy of His suffering was fulfilled. It predicts the great day of the Lord when God deals with both the wicked and the righteous, covering the punishment of the wicked on earth and the salvation of God's people to the new earth. That day is not identical to the thousand years of Revelation 20, for it begins before those thousand years and extends beyond them. The language reflects the prophet's own time.
The plague belongs to the final universal war of Armageddon, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against Jerusalem and prepared for battle. It is the battle in the valley of Jehoshaphat during the last or seventh plague when the great hail falls, in which the Lord destroys the nations that fought against Jerusalem and delivers His people. The same literal plague that strikes the gathered enemies in the battle at Jerusalem strikes their horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all the beasts in their tents and camps, falling not only on the people who oppose God, including false teachers, but also on the animals with them. Carried out to the ultimate, that war means the destruction of earthly kingdoms.
Wars therefore precede His appearing as signs pointing to its nearness, and peace begins only afterward when Christ reigns as king. Preparation for war stirs a spirit of boasting and aggressiveness in the prepared nation and drives other nations to prepare in turn. The plague belongs to the destruction of the then-living wicked in the battle at the beginning of the day of the Lord. This is the first death, distinct from the utter destruction by fire after the thousand years, which is the second death. The plague continues the judgments poured out at the beginning of the thousand years and is present again when the wicked rise at its end, representing sin's punishment and reflecting the same sin-poisoned conditions on earth.
Other teaching places the verse at the final destruction after the thousand years, when Christ stands on the Mount of Olives and it splits to form a great plain. Then the city of God descends with His people in it, the wicked dead are raised, and Satan deceives them into believing they can take the city and its kingdom, so they gather from over the breadth of the earth to attack Jerusalem and surround the camp of the saints and the beloved city in order to establish Satan's rule. Jerusalem represents God's kingdom, so opposing it is opposing God. During that gathering the hundred years of life and death of Isaiah 65:20 runs its course before the purifying fire purges the earth of sin for God's people to dwell in forever. Outside the plain at the evening of the day of the Lord, when God's glory floods the earth, the resurrected opponents are consumed by fire amid anarchy and confusion.
Still other teaching holds that the last chapters of Zechariah are the latest Old Testament prophecy concerning the return of the Jews to the literal land of Canaan, given in B.C. 487. That prophecy was completely fulfilled to national Israel forty-two years later, by B.C. 445, when all Israel dwelt in their cities. In this view every promise ever made to the Jews as a nation concerning restoration to the literal land of Canaan was thereby fulfilled.
Judgment Teaching and Hope
The plague is the punishment of the wicked on earth in the great day of the Lord. It is sin's punishment, reflecting the same sin-poisoned conditions on earth, and it continues the judgments poured out at the beginning of the thousand years and is present again when the wicked rise at its end.
Jerusalem represents God's kingdom, so to fight against Jerusalem is to oppose God himself. The plague of Armageddon therefore falls not only on the people who oppose God, including false teachers, but also on the horses, mules, camels, asses, and all the other beasts in their tents. This applies to the final gathering against the beloved city after the thousand years, when those who oppose God are consumed amid prevailing anarchy and confusion. These are the judgments by which Christ as king establishes peace among the nations throughout the earth.