Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
The Lord Himself will go forth to fight the nations gathered against Jerusalem after they have taken the city and divided its spoil, as He fought for Israel in former battles. It specifically recalls His victory in Joshua 10 when great stones fell from heaven, which foreshadows the great hailstones of the seventh plague. The weight holds its fulfillment at the second advent at the opening of the day of the Lord before the first resurrection and the thousand years, when the wicked then living are slain, while those who held the other teach its fulfillment at the end of the thousand years when Christ returns with all the saints to destroy sin and sinners. The day of the Lord is longer than the 1,000 years of Revelation 20, beginning before them and extending beyond them, so that the fight is the final universal war of Armageddon in the vicinity of Jerusalem, the same gathering described in Joel 3 and Revelation 16 ending in utter defeat. That divine intervention is followed by His standing on the Mount of Olives when it splits and is leveled to prepare a plain where the New Jerusalem will descend with Christ and the saints, after which the wicked surround the beloved city and God destroys them with fire from heaven.
Words and Gathering Against Jerusalem
The Lord Himself will go forth to fight the nations gathered against Jerusalem. After the nations gather against the city, take it, and divide its spoil, He goes out against those victorious nations and fights them as in a battle of old. When the nations gather to fight against the Lord and His army, Jerusalem becomes the scene of the closing events and His outward, visible coming to establish His kingdom on earth. That battle brings the complete victory of God's children over their foes, when sin ends and the reign of righteousness begins.
The conflict has two stages and involves three powers. First a power holds Jerusalem and is defeated, then the attacking nations take the city, and then the Lord fights those victorious nations.
The words as in the day of battle recall how the Lord fought for Israel in former battles. They point to Christ descending in the final day of judgment to fight against the nations gathered against God, as He fought in an earlier day of battle, even Satan's army surrounding the saints and the beloved city after the thousand years. They therefore assure God's people that the Lord will fight for them now as He did then, so that opposition and trials will not stop His work from progressing.
More specifically, the fighting recalls His victory for Israel in Joshua 10, when great stones fell from heaven upon His enemies. That falling of great stones foreshadows the great hailstones of the seventh plague at the second advent, when the Lord goes out to fight the nations gathered against Jerusalem, while the later events of the chapter belong to the third advent after the thousand years.
Time of Fulfillment Disputed
The battle belongs to the second advent, at the opening of the day of the Lord, before the first resurrection and the thousand years. At that time the wicked then living are slain in the first death in the great battle at Jerusalem, with the voice of God, and this battle is distinct from the later final destruction after the thousand years when the raised wicked are destroyed. His fighting then is as when He fought for Israel in Joshua's day when great stones fell from heaven, foreshadowing the great hailstones of the seventh plague. The later events of the chapter belong to the third advent, after the thousand years. The same going forth is placed at the great battle at Jerusalem in the valley of Jehoshaphat during the final plague and the day of trouble.
The battle is also placed at the end of the thousand years at Christ's later return to earth, when He comes with all the saints to destroy sin and sinners, complete the restoration of the earth, and establish His everlasting kingdom. At the beginning of the thousand years Jesus does not touch the earth but His people are caught up to meet Him in the air, while this describes the end of the thousand years when He comes to the earth and stands on the Mount of Olives. Then the mountain splits and is leveled to prepare a place on a mighty plain where the Son of God shed His blood for the New Jerusalem, which descends with Christ and the saints after the thousand years. After the city descends the wicked are raised in the second resurrection, deceived and led by Satan to surround the saints and the beloved city to capture it by force, but God destroys them with fire from heaven which purges the earth of sin, and none is able to enter it.
The day of the Lord is longer than the 1,000 years of Revelation 20, beginning before them and extending beyond them. Parts of the chapter therefore belong to its beginning and parts to its close, and events are not always recorded in strict chronological order but must be placed by comparing Scripture with Scripture. In the beginning of that day comes the great battle of the nations and the wicked are utterly destroyed, and in the close of that day the Lord descends, His feet touch Mount Olivet, it parts and becomes a great plain made fit by the touch of Christ's presence for the site of the holy city, Jerusalem descends upon that plain, and the wicked raised in the second resurrection, led by Satan, surround the city to capture it when they are destroyed. The beginning scenes are the overthrow and slaughter of Gog and his allied hosts on the mountains of Israel, and when that work is finished the Lord goes forth Himself to fight against those nations as in the day of battle in the after-scenes of the final judgment.
Its complete fulfillment is the great battle of Armageddon at the close of time, while the attack on Jerusalem in A.D. 70 was a partial fulfillment. The prophecy of His coming to reign is to be fulfilled as literally as Isaiah's prophecy of Christ's suffering, as Isaiah 53, was fulfilled. The last chapters of Zechariah were given in B.C. 487 as the latest prophecy concerning the return of the Jews to the literal land of Canaan. Every such promise of restoration to the literal land of Canaan was completely fulfilled to them as a nation 42 years later, by B.C. 445, when all Israel dwelt in their cities, leaving no unfulfilled promise requiring God to take the scattered Jews back to old Jerusalem and there re-establish David's throne and kingdom.
Armageddon Final Battle Described
The fight is the final universal war of Armageddon at the close of time, when all nations are gathered for battle in Syria and Palestine in the vicinity of Jerusalem. It is the same battle described as the gathering of all nations in the valley of Jehoshaphat in Joel and the gathering of the kings of the earth in Revelation, belonging to the judgment scene that brings the destruction of earthly kingdoms. Its complete fulfillment is at that final conflict associated with Christ's second advent, while the attack on Jerusalem in A.D. 70 was a partial fulfillment. Christ appears to defeat and ruin the assembled hosts, and afterward wars cease and His reign brings peace.
In that final conflict none of the assembled warriors escapes alive, for the Lord destroys those engaged in the conflict, including those not already killed by one another. It comes as the after-scenes of the final judgment, after the beginning scenes are accomplished in the overthrow and slaughter of Gog and his allied hosts on the mountains of Israel, and when that work is finished the Lord goes forth Himself to fight against those nations as in the day of battle. In that going forth the Mohammedans are weakened and made vulnerable and then fall by the sword, and God strikes the conquering nations with a plague, presumably the sixth plague.
The battle is fought at Jerusalem in the valley of Jehoshaphat during the final plague and the day of trouble. Jerusalem is the city outside which the winepress of the wrath of God is trodden when the Lord goes forth to fight against the nations, in the gathering of the clusters of the vine and casting them into the great winepress. The blood coming out even to the horses' bridles for 1,600 furlongs points to a line of battle 200 miles in length. The wheat harvest of the righteous into the heavenly garner comes first and is close, and then this destruction of the wicked vintage comes as certain sudden destruction upon those saying peace and safety.
At the time of the battle of the great day many of literal Israel's remnant are gathered and delivered in Jerusalem. God's people in every nation are also delivered at that time and receive His Spirit. Afterward they are redeemed from their nations with the righteous dead at Christ's second appearing.
Mount of Olives and Holy City
The going forth to fight the gathered nations is followed by His standing upon the Mount of Olives, the same spot associated with His ascension. At that standing the mount splits and the whole land before Him becomes a vast plain. The mountain is leveled and made fit and sanctified by the touch of His presence to prepare the site where the New Jerusalem will stand when it descends from heaven. That descent comes with Christ and all the saints after the thousand years, upon the mighty plain prepared by God where the Son of God shed His blood. The city first descends there before the later judgment, before its later descent as the bride, after which the holy city descends and the earth is renewed. The surrounding prophecy describes the country about Jerusalem as inhabited, for the prophecy concerns the antitypical Jerusalem, not the old city of stones and mortar, and points to the redeemed dwelling in a real, tangible place.
After the city has come down upon Mount Olivet, the wicked are raised in the second resurrection. Deceived and led by Satan, they gather to attack and surround the saints and the beloved city to capture it by force. None of them is able to enter it, and at that time they meet their final destruction by fire from heaven from God. That battle precedes and brings the fire that purges the earth of sin and completes the destruction of sin and sinners. The same prophecy includes that people will again be punished in the valley of Hinnom, the place associated with Gehenna.
At the beginning of the thousand years Jesus does not touch the earth, but His people are caught up to meet Him in the air. He stands upon the earth only at this later return at its end, when He comes to destroy sin, complete the restoration, and establish His everlasting kingdom. Its time is after the thousand years, when Christ takes His great power and reigns, a fulfillment postponed from the return from Babylon to that later day.
Kingdom Restoration and Judgment
Zechariah 14:3 belongs to Zechariah 9-14, which predicts Christ's kingdom, the great day of the Lord, and punishment of the wicked of earth. It belongs to the closing prophecies of Zechariah, which look forward to the final restoration and foretell judgments on those who reject God. It belongs to a prophecy that looks forward to the final glorious restoration when Christ comes.
The verse presents the Lord as going forth to fight against the nations, as in a day of battle, and stands listed among the prophets' testimony that Christ will come. It points to the Lord going out to fight the nations in the final universal war, when they are gathered for battle at Armageddon. It shows the Lord going out to fight the nations gathered for the final universal war, and His appearing brings their defeat and ruin. It points to a future crisis in which Jerusalem becomes the scene of the closing events, all nations gather against it, and the Lord fights for His people, and the outward, visible coming of Christ to establish His kingdom on earth takes place at that time. It is cited in connection with Christ's return and the establishment of His eternal reign in Zechariah 14:1-11, after which the holy city descends and the earth is renewed. Afterward wars cease, and Christ begins His reign of peace.
It shows the Lord going forth to fight the nations as part of the great day of the Lord, a period in which God deals with both the wicked and the righteous. It shows the Lord going out to fight the nations gathered against Jerusalem, and this battle points to the complete victory of God's children over their foes, when sin ends and the reign of righteousness begins.
Assurance for Faithful Living
The verse gives assurance that the Lord Himself will fight on behalf of His people just as He fought for them in the battles of former times. With that divine support behind them, they have reason to expect that opposition and trials will not be able to prevent His work from moving forward. It shows His personal coming down to Palestine to stand upon the Mount of Olives. Before Him the whole land will be made a vast plain, and He will make it a Holy Land indeed with a restoration far beyond any of its former greatness and glory.
That leveled land will become the place where the New Jerusalem will stand when it comes down from heaven. No human crusade of money or politics to buy and restore Palestine can accomplish that work, for bringing greatness and glory to the earth belongs to His plan alone. The true gospel worker therefore leaves that restoring work to Him and labors in the lines laid down by the Master, preparing the way of the Lord by teaching men to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
The Lord Himself will go forth to fight the nations gathered against Jerusalem after they have taken the city and divided its spoil, as He fought for Israel in former battles. It specifically recalls His victory in Joshua 10 when great stones fell from heaven, which foreshadows the great hailstones of the seventh plague. The weight holds its fulfillment at the second advent at the opening of the day of the Lord before the first resurrection and the thousand years, when the wicked then living are slain, while those who held the other teach its fulfillment at the end of the thousand years when Christ returns with all the saints to destroy sin and sinners. The day of the Lord is longer than the 1,000 years of Revelation 20, beginning before them and extending beyond them, so that the fight is the final universal war of Armageddon in the vicinity of Jerusalem, the same gathering described in Joel 3 and Revelation 16 ending in utter defeat. That divine intervention is followed by His standing on the Mount of Olives when it splits and is leveled to prepare a plain where the New Jerusalem will descend with Christ and the saints, after which the wicked surround the beloved city and God destroys them with fire from heaven.
Words and Gathering Against Jerusalem
The Lord Himself will go forth to fight the nations gathered against Jerusalem. After the nations gather against the city, take it, and divide its spoil, He goes out against those victorious nations and fights them as in a battle of old. When the nations gather to fight against the Lord and His army, Jerusalem becomes the scene of the closing events and His outward, visible coming to establish His kingdom on earth. That battle brings the complete victory of God's children over their foes, when sin ends and the reign of righteousness begins.
The conflict has two stages and involves three powers. First a power holds Jerusalem and is defeated, then the attacking nations take the city, and then the Lord fights those victorious nations.
The words as in the day of battle recall how the Lord fought for Israel in former battles. They point to Christ descending in the final day of judgment to fight against the nations gathered against God, as He fought in an earlier day of battle, even Satan's army surrounding the saints and the beloved city after the thousand years. They therefore assure God's people that the Lord will fight for them now as He did then, so that opposition and trials will not stop His work from progressing.
More specifically, the fighting recalls His victory for Israel in Joshua 10, when great stones fell from heaven upon His enemies. That falling of great stones foreshadows the great hailstones of the seventh plague at the second advent, when the Lord goes out to fight the nations gathered against Jerusalem, while the later events of the chapter belong to the third advent after the thousand years.
Time of Fulfillment Disputed
The battle belongs to the second advent, at the opening of the day of the Lord, before the first resurrection and the thousand years. At that time the wicked then living are slain in the first death in the great battle at Jerusalem, with the voice of God, and this battle is distinct from the later final destruction after the thousand years when the raised wicked are destroyed. His fighting then is as when He fought for Israel in Joshua's day when great stones fell from heaven, foreshadowing the great hailstones of the seventh plague. The later events of the chapter belong to the third advent, after the thousand years. The same going forth is placed at the great battle at Jerusalem in the valley of Jehoshaphat during the final plague and the day of trouble.
The battle is also placed at the end of the thousand years at Christ's later return to earth, when He comes with all the saints to destroy sin and sinners, complete the restoration of the earth, and establish His everlasting kingdom. At the beginning of the thousand years Jesus does not touch the earth but His people are caught up to meet Him in the air, while this describes the end of the thousand years when He comes to the earth and stands on the Mount of Olives. Then the mountain splits and is leveled to prepare a place on a mighty plain where the Son of God shed His blood for the New Jerusalem, which descends with Christ and the saints after the thousand years. After the city descends the wicked are raised in the second resurrection, deceived and led by Satan to surround the saints and the beloved city to capture it by force, but God destroys them with fire from heaven which purges the earth of sin, and none is able to enter it.
The day of the Lord is longer than the 1,000 years of Revelation 20, beginning before them and extending beyond them. Parts of the chapter therefore belong to its beginning and parts to its close, and events are not always recorded in strict chronological order but must be placed by comparing Scripture with Scripture. In the beginning of that day comes the great battle of the nations and the wicked are utterly destroyed, and in the close of that day the Lord descends, His feet touch Mount Olivet, it parts and becomes a great plain made fit by the touch of Christ's presence for the site of the holy city, Jerusalem descends upon that plain, and the wicked raised in the second resurrection, led by Satan, surround the city to capture it when they are destroyed. The beginning scenes are the overthrow and slaughter of Gog and his allied hosts on the mountains of Israel, and when that work is finished the Lord goes forth Himself to fight against those nations as in the day of battle in the after-scenes of the final judgment.
Its complete fulfillment is the great battle of Armageddon at the close of time, while the attack on Jerusalem in A.D. 70 was a partial fulfillment. The prophecy of His coming to reign is to be fulfilled as literally as Isaiah's prophecy of Christ's suffering, as Isaiah 53, was fulfilled. The last chapters of Zechariah were given in B.C. 487 as the latest prophecy concerning the return of the Jews to the literal land of Canaan. Every such promise of restoration to the literal land of Canaan was completely fulfilled to them as a nation 42 years later, by B.C. 445, when all Israel dwelt in their cities, leaving no unfulfilled promise requiring God to take the scattered Jews back to old Jerusalem and there re-establish David's throne and kingdom.
Armageddon Final Battle Described
The fight is the final universal war of Armageddon at the close of time, when all nations are gathered for battle in Syria and Palestine in the vicinity of Jerusalem. It is the same battle described as the gathering of all nations in the valley of Jehoshaphat in Joel and the gathering of the kings of the earth in Revelation, belonging to the judgment scene that brings the destruction of earthly kingdoms. Its complete fulfillment is at that final conflict associated with Christ's second advent, while the attack on Jerusalem in A.D. 70 was a partial fulfillment. Christ appears to defeat and ruin the assembled hosts, and afterward wars cease and His reign brings peace.
In that final conflict none of the assembled warriors escapes alive, for the Lord destroys those engaged in the conflict, including those not already killed by one another. It comes as the after-scenes of the final judgment, after the beginning scenes are accomplished in the overthrow and slaughter of Gog and his allied hosts on the mountains of Israel, and when that work is finished the Lord goes forth Himself to fight against those nations as in the day of battle. In that going forth the Mohammedans are weakened and made vulnerable and then fall by the sword, and God strikes the conquering nations with a plague, presumably the sixth plague.
The battle is fought at Jerusalem in the valley of Jehoshaphat during the final plague and the day of trouble. Jerusalem is the city outside which the winepress of the wrath of God is trodden when the Lord goes forth to fight against the nations, in the gathering of the clusters of the vine and casting them into the great winepress. The blood coming out even to the horses' bridles for 1,600 furlongs points to a line of battle 200 miles in length. The wheat harvest of the righteous into the heavenly garner comes first and is close, and then this destruction of the wicked vintage comes as certain sudden destruction upon those saying peace and safety.
At the time of the battle of the great day many of literal Israel's remnant are gathered and delivered in Jerusalem. God's people in every nation are also delivered at that time and receive His Spirit. Afterward they are redeemed from their nations with the righteous dead at Christ's second appearing.
Mount of Olives and Holy City
The going forth to fight the gathered nations is followed by His standing upon the Mount of Olives, the same spot associated with His ascension. At that standing the mount splits and the whole land before Him becomes a vast plain. The mountain is leveled and made fit and sanctified by the touch of His presence to prepare the site where the New Jerusalem will stand when it descends from heaven. That descent comes with Christ and all the saints after the thousand years, upon the mighty plain prepared by God where the Son of God shed His blood. The city first descends there before the later judgment, before its later descent as the bride, after which the holy city descends and the earth is renewed. The surrounding prophecy describes the country about Jerusalem as inhabited, for the prophecy concerns the antitypical Jerusalem, not the old city of stones and mortar, and points to the redeemed dwelling in a real, tangible place.
After the city has come down upon Mount Olivet, the wicked are raised in the second resurrection. Deceived and led by Satan, they gather to attack and surround the saints and the beloved city to capture it by force. None of them is able to enter it, and at that time they meet their final destruction by fire from heaven from God. That battle precedes and brings the fire that purges the earth of sin and completes the destruction of sin and sinners. The same prophecy includes that people will again be punished in the valley of Hinnom, the place associated with Gehenna.
At the beginning of the thousand years Jesus does not touch the earth, but His people are caught up to meet Him in the air. He stands upon the earth only at this later return at its end, when He comes to destroy sin, complete the restoration, and establish His everlasting kingdom. Its time is after the thousand years, when Christ takes His great power and reigns, a fulfillment postponed from the return from Babylon to that later day.
Kingdom Restoration and Judgment
Zechariah 14:3 belongs to Zechariah 9-14, which predicts Christ's kingdom, the great day of the Lord, and punishment of the wicked of earth. It belongs to the closing prophecies of Zechariah, which look forward to the final restoration and foretell judgments on those who reject God. It belongs to a prophecy that looks forward to the final glorious restoration when Christ comes.
The verse presents the Lord as going forth to fight against the nations, as in a day of battle, and stands listed among the prophets' testimony that Christ will come. It points to the Lord going out to fight the nations in the final universal war, when they are gathered for battle at Armageddon. It shows the Lord going out to fight the nations gathered for the final universal war, and His appearing brings their defeat and ruin. It points to a future crisis in which Jerusalem becomes the scene of the closing events, all nations gather against it, and the Lord fights for His people, and the outward, visible coming of Christ to establish His kingdom on earth takes place at that time. It is cited in connection with Christ's return and the establishment of His eternal reign in Zechariah 14:1-11, after which the holy city descends and the earth is renewed. Afterward wars cease, and Christ begins His reign of peace.
It shows the Lord going forth to fight the nations as part of the great day of the Lord, a period in which God deals with both the wicked and the righteous. It shows the Lord going out to fight the nations gathered against Jerusalem, and this battle points to the complete victory of God's children over their foes, when sin ends and the reign of righteousness begins.
Assurance for Faithful Living
The verse gives assurance that the Lord Himself will fight on behalf of His people just as He fought for them in the battles of former times. With that divine support behind them, they have reason to expect that opposition and trials will not be able to prevent His work from moving forward. It shows His personal coming down to Palestine to stand upon the Mount of Olives. Before Him the whole land will be made a vast plain, and He will make it a Holy Land indeed with a restoration far beyond any of its former greatness and glory.
That leveled land will become the place where the New Jerusalem will stand when it comes down from heaven. No human crusade of money or politics to buy and restore Palestine can accomplish that work, for bringing greatness and glory to the earth belongs to His plan alone. The true gospel worker therefore leaves that restoring work to Him and labors in the lines laid down by the Master, preparing the way of the Lord by teaching men to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.