Zechariah 14:18, commentary and pictures

The verse warns that any nation refusing to come up to keep the feast of tabernacles will receive no rain and will be struck with the same plague appointed for all the heathen who refuse to come. It belongs to Zechariah's final prophecy concerning the Kingdom of God, Christ's coming to reign as King, the great day of the Lord, the punishment of the wicked, and final restoration with judgment on those who reject God. That day begins when human probation closes and the seven last plagues fall, beginning before the thousand years of Revelation 20 and extending beyond them. Egypt is named as the example of every family that fails to go up, showing that even those who received great light are not exempt, for having no rain means receiving no more of the Spirit of God, including the latter rain, and the plague is the destruction of those who finally refuse the Gospel invitation. The feast is not a reinstatement of the former Levitical observance but the antitypical feast pictured in the language of the prophet's time, speaking of going up to the antitypical Jerusalem to worship the King in the promised restoration of the redeemed. Those who held it to apply at the end of the thousand years taught that it is then fulfilled when the New Jerusalem is on earth with Christ reigning as King, the wicked dead are raised and come as an invading army to compass the camp of the saints, and they perish in the final consuming fire when they try to besiege the city.

Context and Timing

Zechariah 14:18 belongs to Zechariah's final prophecy in Zechariah 14:4-21, concerning the Kingdom of God and Christ's coming to reign as King, the great day of the Lord and the punishment of the wicked, and final restoration with judgment on those who reject God. The chapter predicts the final universal war of Armageddon, God's repeated prediction of a great coming war when all the nations of the earth shall be prepared for battle and gather against Jerusalem in the valley of Jehoshaphat, and the Lord appears to defeat and overthrow them. That great battle at Jerusalem occurs under the last plague before Christ comes.

The chapter brings together prophecies for widely separated times and is not one consecutive chronological sequence to be read as applying in order. Its warning of plagues against nations that do not come to keep the Feast of Tabernacles is not in chronological order with its description of the eternal world and the heavenly Jerusalem. Some of its declarations about future events can be located with confidence while others are obscure and hard to distinguish as past or future, so the verse must be compared with scripture and with the Bible's plain declarations about the future, with which properly understood it does not conflict.

The verse belongs to the day of the Lord, described as occurring in that day, which begins when human probation closes and the seven last plagues fall. That day begins before the thousand years of Revelation 20 and extends beyond them and is not limited to them or confined to them. On one understanding it is fulfilled in the present world as part of the chapter's description of plagues, not in the eternal world of the heavenly Jerusalem. Its cutting off takes place before the new earth becomes the saints' possession, and being obscure it cannot outweigh direct testimony that there will be no death there and cannot be used to prove that death will exist in the new earth.

On another understanding the verse applies to the end of the thousand years, when the New Jerusalem with the city of God is on earth and Christ reigns as King over all the earth, and God's people have ended their wandering to possess the earth. Then the wicked dead are raised and, deceived by Satan, come as an invading army over the breadth of the earth to compass the camp of the saints and the beloved city. Egypt is named as an example of nations refusing to come to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles, with the surrounding verses also mentioning no rain, and the refusing army is struck by the plague and consumed by fire. The feast, during which Israel read the law for seven days, represents the law that the world of unbelievers will face, so those who refuse to honor God fall under the judgment described, connected with the resurrection of the wicked and Satan's final deception of them into attacking the city and the law of God. This provides the time and setting for the hundred years of Isaiah 65:20, in which the guilty old man and the responsible child live and then die, after which the purifying fire purges sin from the earth so God's people dwell there forever in the new heavens and new earth where weeping is banished, and once the city is safely inhabited there is no more utter destruction.

The promised peaceful outcome under Christ as King, in which He would use judgments to establish peace among the nations throughout the earth, depended on Israel receiving Him as king. Israel did not meet the conditions and rejected Him, so the promised protection was withdrawn. Though parts of the prophecy could have applied to the Jews in their own time, their failure to receive its promised benefits means it will not be fulfilled just in the way it is stated. Not one good promise God has given to His children will fail, so He will fulfill it in a far larger sense entirely in the glorious earth made new, when all His children will come home to their Father's house. Thus the warning about Egypt receiving no rain and suffering a plague for not coming to Jerusalem is not punishment in the new-earth state but describes the destruction of the wicked, who rebelled against God's commands throughout their lives. On a different dating, the chapter is part of the latest Old Testament prophecy concerning Israel's return to the literal land of Canaan, given in 487 B.C. and completed in 445 B.C., forty-two years later.

Meaning and Application

The promises are to be fulfilled literally, not turned into symbols of the church age, as literally as the suffering foretold in Isaiah 53 was fulfilled. They belong to the future time when God's people worship the Lord with victory over foes, with sin ended and the reign of righteousness begun. In that time those who refuse to come up will not receive the latter rain of God's Spirit and will perish under the plagues.

The feast of tabernacles is antitypical, not a reinstatement of the former observance under the Levitical law, and it does not establish an age to come in which nations remain on probation. Its picture of going up to Jerusalem to worship the King is given in the language of the prophet's time and speaks of the antitypical Jerusalem, not merely the old city of stone and mortar. That city and its land belong to the promised restoration of the redeemed, when God's saved people in the new earth will gladly honor Him in worship and service, and the feast may commemorate their salvation from earthly troubles.

Egypt is named as an example, showing that what is said of Egypt applies to any nation or family that fails to go up. Even those who received great light are not exempt. Egypt represents the family of darkness.

To have no rain means to receive no more of the Spirit of God, including the latter rain. The invitation to the feast is the Gospel invitation extended to all, and those who finally refuse it no longer receive the Spirit and are struck by the plague and consumed.

The plague is the destruction of those who refuse to come and keep the feast. It includes the seven last plagues that fall when human probation closes in the day of the Lord. It is also the final consuming fire upon the resurrected wicked when, after the thousand years, they rise as an invading army and try to besiege the New Jerusalem but cannot tread the holy ground or take the city.

The feast points beyond Israel's harvest thanksgiving to God's final ingathering of His people. It points to the rejoicing of Abraham's faithful children, the true Israel who inherit the earth made new and the heavenly Canaan. After their wanderings end and the earth is renewed they come up year after year in joy to celebrate at the New Jerusalem. There God's children commemorate their final deliverance from sin and death, pictured as bondage in spiritual Egypt, and their homecoming to the Father's house in the glorious earth made new when not one good promise will fail, though Israel of old did not meet the conditions. It is a worship in which the saved gladly honor God in service, including weekly and monthly convocations in the New Jerusalem, and the warning calls people now to choose worship and keep God's Sabbaths so as to escape the impending plagues.

The invitation to the feast is the Gospel invitation extended to all. The feast, during which Israel read the law for seven days, represents the law that the world of unbelievers will face, so those who refuse to honor God fall under judgment. This is connected with the resurrection of the wicked and Satan's final deception of them into attacking the city and the law of God when the city of God descends and Christ reigns as King over all the earth at the end of the thousand years.