END-TIMES
PROPHECIES IN ZECHARIAH
PART 2
by Steve
Ashburn
In Part 1 of this
series we saw how Zechariah provided a prophetic
overview of the history of Israel, including the
betrayal of Jesus for thirty pieces of silver, the rise
of Hitler, Mussolini and FDR, the Psalm 83 Arab invasion
of Israel and finally the battle of Armageddon. It was
in this last battle that everyone with the mark of the
beast was cut into pieces by fiery, cutting tornadoes
and fed to the birds. We now continue our studies of
Zechariah, which provides an amazing description of the
earth restored to its garden of Eden conditions—and of
its people living in a virtual paradise.
The Bible
indicates that when the Lord returns, there will be
major changes in the geography of the earth. The books
of Isaiah and Revelation describe some of these
changes:
Every valley shall
be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made
low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the
rough places plain. (Isaiah 40:4)
And the heaven
departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and
every mountain and island were moved out of their
places. (Revelation 6:14)
And there were
voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a
great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon
the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And
the great city was divided into three parts, and the
cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in
remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the
wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island
fled away, and the mountains were not found. (Revelation
16:18–20)
These amazing
passages of Scripture indicate that the world’s mountain
ranges will be leveled and its valleys raised, so that
the earth will be a level plain as it was before the
flood. Revelation also indicates the earth will become a
broad plain during the millennium: “And they went up on
the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the
saints about” (Revelation 20:9). In this verse,
“breadth” can be translated “broad plain.” These
descriptions indicate that the earth’s tectonic plates
will be moved back together, and ocean basins raised
somewhat.
Before the flood,
the whole earth apparently was one plain with perhaps
gently rolling hills. The Bible says that there were
“waters which were above the firmament” (Genesis 1:7),
meaning a great mass of water above the atmosphere.
Josephus says this was ice. During the flood, Genesis
says that “the windows of heaven were opened,” and that
it rained for forty days and forty nights (Genesis
7:11). This record indicates a breakup of the ice canopy
which was above the earth and transfer of its water
content as rain to the world’s oceans.
How did this
canopy stay in place? We don’t really know, but
atmospheric pressure would be a major contributing
force. We know that animals and plants were much larger
before the flood; therefore, that atmospheric pressure
was greater than it is today. If we assume an
antediluvian pressure of two atmospheres, that would
support an ice canopy some eighty feet thick. If the
canopy were rotating, then centripetal force also would
tend to hold it aloft. Finally, the shape of the
spherical shell itself would have tended to resolve
gravitational forces acting on it into lateral
compressive stresses in much the same way as a parabolic
arch.
This ice canopy
did several things. First, it increased atmospheric
pressure to perhaps twice the earth’s present pressure,
thereby allowing very large plants and animals to exist
because of the increased partial pressure of carbon
dioxide and oxygen—for example, the pterodactyl had a
wingspan of fifty feet. The canopy also filtered
ultraviolet light from the sun and perhaps was
fiber-optic in transmitting light from the day side of
the earth to the night side, so that it was never
totally dark. Also, it prevented atmospheric convection
and thereby the formation of clouds and of rain; the
Bible said it did not rain before the flood, but that a
mist used to rise out of the ground instead (Genesis
2:5–6).
Before the flood,
water used to rise from underground reservoirs and
conduits (“the fountains of the great deep”; Genesis
7:11) by thermodynamic action, and then flow back into
the sea via rivers, and then back again into the
reservoirs, thereby to repeat the cycle. Energy was
provided by nuclear reactions in the earth’s core, and
probably transmitted through concentric layers of magma,
molten salt, oil, and rock to the earth’s crust. This
would explain the large amount of salt in the ocean and
underground deposits of oil in various places.
The Institute of
Creation Research recently found in their RATE project
that there was an accelerated burst of nuclear decay
some four to fourteen thousand years ago, resulting from
a sudden and presumably miraculous decrease of
radioisotope half-life. This would explain a trigger for
the flood: a sudden burst of nuclear activity in the
earth’s core causing huge volcanic eruptions, which
would break open the ice canopy and also disrupt the
underground system of chambers and conduits, causing the
continents to collapse and water to cover the earth. If
the ice canopy were rotating, it would have angular
momentum, and this would be transferred to the earth
because angular momentum must be conserved.
Before the flood,
years were 360 days long, with twelve months of thirty
days each. After the flood, the earth’s rotation sped up
slightly so that each year had 365¼ days. In Bible
prophecy, however, a year is still counted as the
original 360 days. Zechariah 14 indicates that the ice
canopy will be restored during the millennium:
And it shall come
to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear,
nor dark: But it shall be one day which shall be known
to the Lord,
not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at
evening time it shall be light. (Zechariah 14:6–7)
There won’t be
direct sunshine (“the light shall not be clear”) or
total darkness (“nor dark”), and at night it will be
twilight (“at evening time it shall be light”). During
the millennium, the earth’s atmosphere and climate will
be the same as before the flood; the earth will be
uniformly warm from pole to pole without atmospheric
convection or rain, and the earth will be habitable
everywhere, without any deserts, ice caps, or high
mountain ranges.
At this time
everyone on earth will be required to come to Jerusalem
annually to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, and
whoever refuses will be plagued and “upon them shall be
no rain” (Zechariah 14:17–18). At first glance this
seems contradictory to the earth not having rain, but
actually the word “rain” does not appear in the Hebrew
text but rather phrases meaning “shower of blessings” or
“there shall not be needed blessings.”
Zechariah 14 also
indicates that the geography of Israel and Jerusalem
will be changed:
All the land shall
be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of
Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in
her 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. And men shall
dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter
destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.
(Zechariah 14:10–11)
Israel will be a
plain from Geba (the north border of Judah) to Rimmon
(the south border of Judah), or generally speaking, from
the sea of Galilee to the Gulf of Aqaba on the Red Sea;
whereas the city of Jerusalem itself will be lifted up,
its highest point being the temple. This will be “the
mountain of the
Lord” (Micah 4:2). Ezekiel 40–48 describes the
millennial temple in detail.
The temple
compound itself will be about one square mile-–much
larger than the present Temple Mount: “He measured it by
the four sides: it had a wall round about, five hundred
reeds long, and five hundred broad” (Ezekiel 42:20).
Around the temple will be an area reserved for priests,
and it will have an area of about fifty square miles:
“the Levites shall have five and twenty thousand in
length, and ten thousand in breadth” (Ezekiel 48:13).
The total area of Jerusalem will be 2,500 square miles:
“All the oblation shall be five and twenty thousand by
five and twenty thousand” (Ezekiel 48:20). The unit of
measure here is a reed, or ten-and-one-half feet.
That would make
Jerusalem about the same size as metropolitan Houston,
Texas—about fifty miles on a side. This is enough to fit
several million people inside during the Feast of
Tabernacles, during which all nations on earth will come
to Jerusalem to worship the Lord and to sacrifice to
him.
According to
Zechariah 14, there will be two rivers flowing out of
the millennial temple: one toward the east, and one
toward the west. Ezekiel 47 says the eastern river will
support an abundance of fish as well as many kinds of
productive fruit trees along its bank, whose leaves also
will be for health (“medicine”). The Dead Sea will be
healed and will empty into the sea, and it will support
a very large number of fish, and fishermen will catch
them.
And it shall be in
that day, that living waters shall go out from
Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half
of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter
shall it be. (Zechariah 14:8)
Then said he unto
me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and
go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which
being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be
healed. And it shall come to pass, that every thing that
liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall
come, shall live: and there shall be a very great
multitude of fish, because these waters shall come
thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall
live whither the river cometh.
And it shall come
to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from En-gedi
even unto En-eglaim; they shall be a place to spread
forth nets; their fish shall be according to their
kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. But
the miry places thereof and the marishes thereof shall
not be healed; they shall be given to salt. And by the
river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that
side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall
not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed:
it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months,
because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary:
and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf
thereof for medicine. (Ezekiel 47:8–12)
Isaiah 4:5 says
that the Lord will be a “cloud and smoke by day, and the
shining of a flaming fire by night” upon every dwelling
place in Jerusalem, just as he was with Israel during
the exodus from Egypt, when they wandered for forty
years in the wilderness. Isaiah also indicates that some
people on earth will be carried to the Feast of
Tabernacles by redeemed saints in their resurrection
bodies: “Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the
doves to their windows?” (Isaiah 60:8). In context, this
refers to nations coming to Jerusalem to worship the
Lord during the millennium. Since some parts of the
earth are more than ten thousand miles from Jerusalem,
how will people get there? Apparently some will be
picked up at “their windows” and flown!
This illustrates a
salient point about the redeemed saints—both Old and New
Testament. They will have important responsibilities as
priests and kings under the lordship of Jesus Christ. As
Revelation 1:6 says, “And hath made us kings and priests
unto God and his Father”; this includes shepherding
people whom God will have given to them to rule over—and
this might mean flying them back and forth to
Jerusalem.
Zephaniah 3 also
records that everyone in the millennium will speak the
same language. This miraculous restoration of the
original language reverses the equally miraculous
confusion of tongues at Babel. The purpose of this
conversion is so that all may call upon the name of the
Lord and serve him together: “For then will I turn to
the people a pure language, that they may all call upon
the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent” (Zephaniah 3:9).
Because of perfect
environmental conditions and lack of war during the
millennium, the population of earth will increase
rapidly, probably reaching several billion after one
thousand years. Even so, unredeemed men will still have
a sin nature, and must make a conscious and willful
decision to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as their
Savior. Isaiah 65 indicates people born during the
millennium will have one hundred years to receive Jesus
as their Savior, and if they refuse, they will die. This
also will involve keeping the Feast of Tabernacles at
Jerusalem as a symbol of one’s faith in Jesus. Otherwise
no one will die in the millennium, and some will live to
be more than one thousand years old, as both Isaiah 65
and Zechariah 8 indicate:
There shall be no
more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath
not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred
years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old
shall be accursed. (Isaiah 65:20)
Thus saith the
Lord of
hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in
the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff
in his hand for very age. And the streets of the city
shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets
thereof. (Zechariah 8:4–5)
Although man will
have been provided with a perfect world in which to live
under the lordship of Jesus—with no death or disease and
all material needs provided for—he still will have a sin
nature and will need to be redeemed by faith. Therefore,
the devil will be allowed one last chance to tempt
mankind into rebelling against its Creator. The final
act of the kingdom age, therefore, is seen not in
Zechariah but in Revelation 20. After one thousand years
of perfect peace and righteousness under the lordship of
Jesus, Satan will be let out of his prison in order to
“deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of
the earth.”
Since all men will
have received Jesus as their savior by one hundred years
of age (“for the child shall die an hundred years
old”)—or else be killed—this rebellion is a youthful
one. They surround Jerusalem—which no doubt is able to
hold several billion people in its 2,500 square miles
and surrounding environs—but then “fire came down from
God out of heaven, and devoured them.”
And when the
thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of
his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations
which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and
Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of
whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the
breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the
saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down
from God out of heaven, and devoured them. (Revelation
20:7–9)
This final act of
rebellion probably is allowed by God to demonstrate once
and for all that men have an incurable sin nature, and
even under perfect environmental and social conditions
they still will rebel against him. By implication, the
only solution to this problem is a spiritual rebirth,
not material blessings. Jesus said: “Except a man be
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John
3:3).
I hope you have
enjoyed reading this series about end-times prophecies
in Zechariah. I provide more details of this and many
other end-times prophecies in my recently published
book, END TIMES DAWNING: Get Ready! (available
from
www.endtimesrecord.com). Please read it! Also if you
would, please leave a book review on Amazon!
Yours in Christ,
Steve Ashburn