17 And it hath come to pass, That he who doth not go up of the families of the land unto Jerusalem, To bow himself to the King, Jehovah of Hosts, Even on them there is no shower.
Because the ground hath been broken, For there hath been no rain in the land, Ashamed have been husbandmen, They have covered their head.
For the nation and the kingdom that do not serve thee perish, Yea, the nations are utterly wasted.
Pour out Thy fury on the nations that have not known Thee, And on the families that have not called in Thy name, For they have eaten up Jacob, Yea, they have eaten him up, yea, they consume him, And his habitation they have made desolate!
These have authority to shut the heaven, that it may not rain rain in the days of their prophecy, and authority they have over the waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the land with every plague, as often as they may will.
And thou, why dost thou judge thy brother? or again, thou, why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand at the tribunal of the Christ; for it hath been written, `I live! saith the Lord -- to Me bow shall every knee, and every tongue shall confess to God;'
He made also of one blood every nation of men, to dwell upon all the face of the earth -- having ordained times before appointed, and the bounds of their dwellings -- to seek the Lord, if perhaps they did feel after Him and find, -- though, indeed, He is not far from each one of us,
And I also -- I have withheld from you the rain. While yet three months to harvest, And I have sent rain on one city, And on another city I do not send rain, One portion is rained on, And the portion on which it raineth not withereth. And wandered have two or three cities, Unto the same city to drink water, And they are not satisfied, And ye have not turned back unto Me, An affirmation of Jehovah.
Only you I have known of all families of the land, Therefore I charge on you all your iniquities.
These `are' families of the sons of Noah, by their births, in their nations, and by these have the nations been parted in the earth after the deluge.
By Myself I have sworn, Gone out from my mouth in righteousness hath a word, And it turneth not back, That to Me, bow doth every knee, every tongue swear.
The Lord on thy right hand smote kings In the day of His anger. He doth judge among the nations, He hath completed the carcases, Hath smitten the head over the mighty earth.
Ask of Me and I give nations -- thy inheritance, And thy possession -- the ends of earth. Thou dost rule them with a sceptre of iron, As a vessel of a potter Thou dost crush them.' And now, O kings, act wisely, Be instructed, O judges of earth, Serve ye Jehovah with fear, And rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Chosen One, lest He be angry, And ye lose the way, When His anger burneth but a little, O the happiness of all trusting in Him!
`In the heavens being restrained, and there is no rain, because they sin against Thee, and they have prayed towards this place, and confessed Thy name -- from their sin they turn back because Thou dost afflict them --
`In the heavens being restrained, and there is no rain, because they sin against Thee, and they have prayed towards this place, and confessed Thy name, and from their sin turn back, for Thou dost afflict them,
and the anger of Jehovah hath burned against you, and He hath restrained the heavens, and there is no rain, and the ground doth not give her increase, and ye have perished hastily from off the good land which Jehovah is giving to you.
and thy seed hath been as the dust of the land, and thou hast broken forth westward, and eastward, and northward, and southward, and all families of the ground have been blessed in thee and in thy seed.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Zechariah 14
Commentary on Zechariah 14 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 14
Divers things were foretold, in the two foregoing chapters, which should come to pass "in that day;' this chapter speaks of a "day of the Lord that cometh,' a day of his judgment, and ten times in the foregoing chapters, and seven times in this, it is repeated, "in that day;' but what that day is that is here meant is uncertain, and perhaps will be so (as the Jews speak) till Elias comes; whether it refer to the whole period of time from the prophet's days to the days of the Messiah, or to some particular events in that time, or to Christ's coming, and the setting up of his kingdom upon the ruins of the Jewish polity, we cannot determine, but divers passages here seem to look as far forward as gospel-times. Now the "day of the Lord' brings with it both judgment and mercy, mercy to his church, judgment to her enemies and persecutors.
Zec 14:1-7
God's providences concerning his church are here represented as strangely changing and strangely mixed.
Zec 14:8-15
Here are,
Zec 14:16-21
Three things are here foretold:-