What's your score? A Rosh Hashanah message for 2023 (5784)

 What’s your score?

Sydney, Australia

 

Introduction

L’shana tovah to you as we begin 5784 and ponder the subject of scorekeeping and Rosh Hashanah.

Backstory

When I was a kid back in the United States, along with some other children in the neighbourhood, I put on some stage plays, sometimes even written for Jewish holidays like Passover or Hanukkah. And our parents came along to watch our early evening performances and gave us kind, and probably forced, applause. We children felt good about our writing, our editing, and of course, the shows themselves. 

At school, we often had to make speeches about the weather or about a subject we had studied in science class. Sometimes it was practice for a debate that was scheduled. But nothing in school or in the neighbourhood prepared me for my Bar Mitzvah. That day, almost 60 years ago is forever engraved on my mind and let me tell you it was scary.

My Bar Mitzvah

I don’t think I had ever been so nervous.  My mouth was terribly dry, yet the palms of my hands were puddled with sweat.  I had studied intensely for a whole year to prepare me for these next few hours.  Would I stumble over the Hebrew I had studied so carefully? Would I remember my speech, the only part of my bar mitzvah I was to present in English?  I was about to become a “son of the commandment” through the ceremony that initiates a 13-year-old boy into the religious life of the Jewish community!  I would be responsible to obey the Torah and all its accompanying codes of oral tradition.  Quite a heavy responsibility for one who, in many ways, was still a child. The rabbi called me forward to lead the shacharit, the morning service.  I faced a frightening sea of faces.  

I imagined each person with a clipboard, waiting to evaluate my performance and turn in a score to some panel of judges. Not that there were any such clipboards or judges, but I was greatly concerned with doing well to please and impress everyone who had come to hear me.

 Latecomers trickled in and the large sanctuary was filling up quickly. Reassuring smiles of friends and relatives helped.  Even my Spanish teacher from school was there, along with the third-baseman for the Kansas City Athletics.  It was time to start.  After a few minutes of canting the familiar melodies, my nervousness dissolved.  

  After the almost-three-hour service, I chanted the final prayers, the musaf for the Sabbath. Then it was over, and I sat down.

Afterwards, there was plenty of food and drink and merry-making.  People congratulated me and wished me great success in the future.  I felt good.  It was over and I had done well; I could relax and enjoy being the guest of honour.

Do you ever feel that way, as well? That part about being judged? Do you think people are judging you and giving you a low score for whatever reason? Every day on the television news we hear of people going to court for some crime committed against others, for driving badly or for starting a fire. These people go to court and must give testimony and hope the judge pardons them or at least gives them a lighter sentence. They stand before the judge who decided their fate and these people have no control over their circumstance. 

God as King on Rosh Hashanah

You know on Rosh Hashanah that we Jews acknowledge God as the king of our lives. We eat challah which is round, signifying the crown of a king. We recite prayers that ask for forgiveness because we believe that as king he has power like a judge to forgive us. Here’s the problem; most of us think of God like a sports judge, like an Olympic judge giving our athlete a lower score in the swimming pool, or a diver, on the floor exercises or skating on ice to a musical score by Tchaikovsky. No matter what we do, and no matter how excellent our performance, if the judges say we score only 7.3 instead of 9.5, then we will lose in the competition. 

There is no further evaluation; there is no appeal to a higher authority. When the Olympic judge decides a number, that’s the number. Yes, there are others involved, as no single judge determines the ranking of an athlete, but together the judges decide. 

On Rosh Hashanah we begin the 10 days. These 10 days according to our tradition, give us another year of life, or not. We are written in the Book of Life, or we are not written in the book. And that’s similar to getting a one-year extension of living, breathing, existing on planet earth. That’s all the rabbis teach us. The Book of Life, in their view, is about living until next Rosh Hashanah. Nothing longer lasting than that. It all seems so random. 

Especially since we are talking about being judged rightly. 

Another king on forgiveness

Elvis Presley, the American known as the King of Rock and Roll, wrote a song called “Evening Prayer” in which he asked God for forgiveness.

“If I have wounded any souls today;

If I have caused one's foot to go astray;

If I have walked in an unwilful way;

Dear Lord, forgive.

Forgive the sins I have confessed to Thee.

Forgive my secret sins I do not see.

Oh, guide, watch over me and my keeper be.

Dear Lord, amen!”

Maybe you have asked God to forgive you for a particular sin or maybe a group of sins. If so, in this season of repentance and making right with others, do you think God heard you? On what basis do you have the confidence that God is listening? What if he is as cavalier as the Olympic judges? What if he doesn’t forgive you?

Another king on forgiveness

Let’s consider the greatest king of the Jewish people, King David from 3,000 years ago. According to the Scriptures, he was a man ‘after God’s heart.’ That phrase means that David and God were in good relationship with each other, that David knew the Lord personally. And that is a good reference point for this question. 

Listen to these words from Psalm 130.

Psa. 130:1       “Out of the depths I have cried to You, O LORD.

²        Lord, hear my voice! 

         Let Your ears be attentive 

         To the voice of my supplications.

³        If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, 

         O Lord, who could stand?

⁴        But there is forgiveness with You, 

         That You may be feared.

Psa. 130:5       I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait, 

         And in His word do I hope.

⁶        My soul waits for the Lord 

         More than the watchmen for the morning; 

         Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning.

⁷        O Israel, hope in the LORD; 

         For with the LORD there is lovingkindness, 

         And with Him is abundant redemption.

⁸        And He will redeem Israel 

         From all his iniquities.”

 

King David knew that God was well able to ‘mark iniquities’ and if he did, then none of us would stand. Certainly King David would not survive. David’s prayer, like Elvis’ prayer is based on God, not on us. David was a good man, but he failed many times in family situations, committing murder and adultery. He knew his own sins. We know his sins because they are recorded in the Bible. On what basis is David praying for forgiveness? On the basis of God’s character, not because David deserves anything. 

For us in 2023

I share this information with you today to encourage you. Some of you, especially those from Russia/ Ukraine, were raised without religious hope. You were taught 

“O Party of Lenin, the strength of the people,
To Communism's triumph lead us on!”

Партия Ленина - сила народная
Нас к торжеству коммунизма ведёт!

Here in Australia, in Sydney, in 2023, what is the strength of the people? What is the great hope of our lives, of our family, for us today?  It’s wrapped up in King David’s words from 3,000 years ago. If we come boasting in our national strength, or our political party’s strength; if we think we deserve to have an easy life or 20 more years of living, if our life in Sydney is dependent on us and our behaviours, we will not make it well. 

There is one hope we as Jews have had, from the earliest days of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, even to these days. Our hope is in God, as David said, “O Israel, hope in the LORD; for with the LORD there is lovingkindness, and with Him is abundant redemption and He will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.”

Hope that is an anchor

When you hear the word ‘hope’ you might be less confident. You might use the same word when you buy a lottery ticket. “I hope I win!” But you don’t win. Or you might hope that your sports team wins in the Grand Final. You might hope the train or the bus comes very quickly. You might hope that you get a job that pays you very well. In each of those hopes, you have lived long enough to know that that hope will not pay off. In that case, you are using the word more like a ‘wish’. But that’s not how King David used the word. And it’s clarified in the Brit Hadasha by the writer of Hebrews.

Heb. 6:19 “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast.”

What is hope there? It’s the assurance that God is listening. He hears us. He delivers us. He saves us. 

Now don’t get me wrong. Every year people who have hope die. The rabbis get this one wrong. The Book of Life is not about surviving another 365 days. The Book of Life (Revelation 3.5) is one in which our names can be written for a forever future. How are we written there? Only if we trust in Yeshua, Jesus, to forgive us our sins, known and unknown, and receive him as Lord and Saviour of our lives. This hope is not whimsical or capricious. It is not an annually renewable contract. This hope is an anchor. An anchor that stabilizes even the largest of ships, that prevents it being lost, a guarantee of a better future. Our hope is fixed if we believe and trust in Yeshua to forgive us and fill us with his life and his Spirit. 

Invitation

Do you want that experience? Have you the hope that is an anchor of your soul? Do you want the forgiveness of all your sins, past, present, and future? There is only one way to be sure of that. There is only one way to have your name written in the Book of Life. By believing in Yeshua. Faith is the victory; faith is the hope of all mankind. Faith in the One who died for our sins and who alone can save us. 

If you want to be written in the Book of Eternal Life, pray with me just now. Pray this prayer and ask Messiah Yeshua to give you eternal life.

Father, in Yeshua’s name, I admit that my sins are great. I’m sorry for all the wrong I have done. I have not loved you with my whole heart. I have not loved my neighbour as myself. I’m truly sorry and I humbly repent. Please forgive me and make me born again. Today. Just now. I receive Yeshua as my Saviour; he alone can save me. He alone can make me to start over, to begin again, even on this day. The first day of the Jewish year, I receive Yeshua. Amen. 

Let us know

If you have just prayed that prayer, for the first time in your life, if you have just now received Messiah Yeshua as Saviour and as your Lord, please let me know, and tell me, won’t you? We confess him publicly and we gain the comfort of being with others who believe this as well. We have a family with whom to walk. A forgiven family. A loving family. 

 

Final Day: Bayom Hahu (Zechariah 14)

OUT OF THE CHAOS: A study in the book of Zechariah 

To see this on YouTube: click here:

 This is the ultimate lesson for us in the Bible book of Zechariah and I hope you learn this one very well. Many people know the opening rhythms of Ravel’s Bolero, the opening notes of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto or Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, but what’s more powerful than the final notes of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture which is played almost every time there is a fireworks explosion. The final notes are dramatic; they are powerful. Perhaps Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” and the closing of the gates of Kiev, or my personal favourite Handel’s Hallelujah, the chorus in “Messiah,” also rank. I’ll give you a full list of great endings, in the ending section, of course. Endings matter, and good endings make for satisfaction.

With that classical tutorial in mind, we turn to Zechariah chapter 14 and listen to the volume increasing, the metronome speeding ahead to the terminus and rejoice with the prophet that the world’s ending is fast approaching. Chapter 14 is the end of the end, and that for which not only we in 2023, but our people were hoping in 500 BCE. 

Our overarching theme in this study is “out of the chaos.” When the Jewish people experienced chaos in Judah or in Babylon, under Persian rule or anywhere and anytime, the book teaches us that “in repentance and rest we will be secured.” (Isa. 30.15)

6 times, the phrase Bayom Hahu   בַּיּוֹם־הַ֠הוּא   is stated. Any practicing Jew will know that phrase from the Aleinu prayer, and for which each of us who have been studying this book for 3 months have been longing. The day of the Lord. That day. The day of the consummation. When it all comes to an end, and yet a beginning. 

And that phrase marks 6 divisions, short stanzas of commentary about what is happening in the world as this consummation takes place. I’ll use Bp. Stead’s divisions as good markers in this regard.

1.     A day of the Lord of distress and battle (.1-.5)

Jerusalem is destroyed as the chapter begins. That may be representing what happened decades earlier under the Babylonians when the Temple was destroyed and all Judah (well, almost all the inhabitants) had to depart. There is differing opinions about the agent and the spoil. Webb thinks the spoil is your plunder, that is, taken BY you, such that it’s your spoil. This is what conquerors gain. Stead thinks otherwise. He and I agree that this spoil is from ‘your’ (second person, FEMALE, individual) which sounds like it’s the spoil of Jerusalem. And that makes sense in light of 586 BCE. “The language is weighted heavily with terms related to holy war. ‏שׁלל‎ “spoil,” ‏חלק‎ “divided,” ‏מלחמה‎ “war,” ‏לכד‎ “capture,” ‏שׁסס‎ “plunder,” ‏גוֹלָה‎ “exile,” ‏כּרת “cut off” are holy war terms.” (Smith)

And in light of verse 2, where the sounds of suffering are heard in Jerusalem. The nations are bringing ruin on Jerusalem as the chapter opens and the distress is felt even by us 2500 years later. Half the city trashed; women and houses brought to emptiness and ruin. It’s a disaster scene like we see on the nightly news after a flood or a fire ruins a neighbourhood, after a tornado slices through a village. It’s a scene of devastation. 

But since ‘yom hahu’ is coming, since victory is in the sight of the prophet, that can only happen by God’s grace and God himself being the battler. 

So, in verse 3 we read, “the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations.”  Victory is ours because it is HIS. Have you heard people describe their understanding of the Bible like this? I’ve read the book, or at least the end of the book. We win. You don’t have to wait until the Book of Revelation for that victory. It’s right here! God will yatsah, he will go out, and fight those nations. Which ones? The ones that came against Jerusalem. The enemy of the Jewish people is the enemy of God. Plain and simple. 

But now, wait a minute. There are some seriously bad things that have been done by Jewish people in and out of the Land. Right? Just because there is a Jewish star on a flag doesn’t make that nation holy and kosher. Not at all. Even today in Israel there are things being done against some non-Jews by some who would think themselves the representatives of holiness. I saw a video of some haredi Jews walking by and one or two spitting at some Catholic nuns. I saw another video of some Israeli usher or policewoman preventing a Catholic abbot from entering a place because his robe and cross were a stumbling block to others. Not everything being done in the name of Judaism is honourable. Not every governmental action under Netanyahu or here under Albanese or in the US under Biden… no government is 100% kosher. We all fall short. 

With that as a caveat, my statement remains. The enemy of the Jewish people is the enemy of God. Plain and simple. And he will fight against those nations. 

When? On that day. The day of K’rav, the day of battle. Like, k’rav maga. God himself will impose himself in that battle, and…FYI… he doesn’t ever lose. 

God will go out, from heaven, to the earth, and to the scenes in Israel.

Where will this battle take place? God’s feet will stand and split the Mt of Olives in Jerusalem. I love this scene. Most seismic events in the planet occur on fault lines that run north and south. But here, the earthquake which will come splits the mountain into north and south, not east and west. Oh, by the way, seismologists have discovered a fault line under the mount of olives… running east and west. What? As if Zechariah knew of it. 

I like the notion of separation. It is consistent with the divide in Genesis 1 of the waters, and with the divide of nations at Babel in Genesis 11, and the divide of Jewish and non-Jewish peoples through kosher laws and such. The Red Sea was split in two. When God comes, he will separate, but in this case, what is he dividing? Those who follow him from those who do not!

And this half and half of the Mt of Olives stance, almost like the Colossus of Rhodes, allows God to tear apart the places of idolatry. (1 King 11.7, 2 King 23.13; Also 2 Sam 15.30, Ezek. 11.23)

Verse 5, the escape route in that day is similar to the one in the days of Uzziah, the leprous king (Amos 1.1, 2 Chr. 25) most famously due to the escape route.

2.     A day of new creation (.4-7)

No more light or luminaries, usually sun and moon. They say it’s always darkest before the dawn, and this is a big one. No light and cold and frosty darkness.  Isaiah said something similar (13.10) “The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light.” 

But as you might imagine, the darkness will give way to light, as Isaiah also said, “Arise, shine for your light has come… the sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you for the Lord will be your eternal light and your God will be your glory.” (60.1, 19)

This sounds just like Creation, doesn’t it? God separated the light and the dark in Genesis 1, and again we see in the consummation, a repeat of that opening chorus.  Then in verse 7, as quickly as it was dark, then it turns to light. A new creation is bursting on the scene.

3.     A restored land (.8-.12)

The redeemed in Israel and Judah are forgiven and returning, and their land is also being restored. Again, as in the pattern of re-Creation, land is created after light.  The land in this case is healed. Do you remember that Jerusalem is the only great city from the ancient past which was not built on a waterway? In this chapter we see the rivers, living waters, flowing OUT of the ancient city, eastward to the Dead Sea and westward to the Mediterranean. 

The great anthem of the Aleinu is sung in verse 9, God as King, now we don’t need a Davidic king at all; God himself will be there. And his name one. 

This helps me so much with the notion of the Trinity. Remember the angels told the believers in Acts 1 after Yeshua ascended right before their eyes, “This same Jesus who was taken up…will return in the same way.” (Acts 1.11) How did he go? In a cloud. From the Mt of Olives in front of witnesses. How will he return? In a cloud (of witnesses) on the Mt of Olives. When verse 4 says Yahweh will stand on the Mt of Olives, that’s how we understand Trinity. When we hear the Aleinu sung about Yahweh being King over all the land, and we know Yeshua will be king, that’s how we grow in our understanding of the Triune God. 

At whose name will every knee bow? And what name will they confess as Lord? That’s Yeshua! (Phil. 2.10-11)

The land is restored because God is king AND because the nations will experience the plague, by which their flesh will be eaten away, and their eyes and mouths will not operate correctly. Again, a flashback to the scenes of Egypt at the time of the Exodus. It’s as if Zechariah is pulling out all the stops on the organ and helping us hear all the previous themes from the entire range of Torah and Nevi’im. Ezekiel 11 and who can forget chapter 38 with the battle with Gog and Magog? Zechariah is playing every instrument in the orchestra, bringing tympany and flutes, French horns and violins. every image from the history of the Jewish people is playing so that the culmination will be glorious. Webb says, “it’s as though the entire Old Testament Scriptures are being ransacked for images and language to express the wonder of what is happening at this climactic moment.” (Page 180)

The land (Ha’aretz) not the world (Olam) is in view, even as it was from the beginning. And this time it’s a renewed land.

4.              A day of transformation (.13-.21)

This day is a day seen in two dimensions. First the nations are in view and then the Jewish people come more into view as well. It’s almost antiphonal. 

5.              The nations: from war to worship (.13-19)

All the wealth of the nations, which probably included the plunder of verse 1, will eventually be brought into the city. Verse 14, all the gold and silver and clothing. So, all the folks who made it through the devastation at the beginning of the chapter will now be those who inherit all the wealth of the nations round about. 

But verse 16 makes it abundantly clear. In case we’ve missed it, and in our class time, we have emphasized it with regularity, the people in view are not only the Jewish people. In fact, it’s only a remnant of the Jewish people along with the folks “from all the nations.” (mikol hagoyim). What will they do?

They will attend the Sukkot gathering, to worship. And who are they? Families of all the earth. The word from Genesis about those who made the Tower of Babel. 

Gen. 10:32   These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, by their nations; and out of these, the nations were separated on the earth after the flood.

In the new creation, in the new order, all the wrong, all the mistakes, all the sins of our people, all the sins of all people, washed away in the Blood of Messiah, the Donkey-Rider from chapter 9, the Crucified One of chapter 12, this Saviour of our lives, re-establishes himself as Lord in our lives and in the life of our community and world. 

Where? Jerusalem.

When? Sukkot! The harvest festival and the final appointment God established for his people to honour him and to celebrate his provision and him as Lord in their wilderness wandering. Now the wandering is coming to an end. Bayom hahu!

Tabernacles. Why then? The Messiah tabernacled with us (John 1.14) and in Revelation chapter 21 we read these extended quotes.

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away. And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” (21.1-5)

 

“I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.”  (21.22-24)

 

God tabernacles with us and those who respond in faith will meet him in person one day. And on that day, bayom hahu, his name will be One. 

Those kings of the earth SHOULD bring their glory into it, but many won’t. Look at verses 18 and 19. Any nation that doesn’t change and worship Yeshua will be punished like Egypt, which endured devastation in the Exodus. Webb says something really important here. 

“Zechariah’s vision of the coming kingdom is wonderfully inclusive; it embraces people of all nations. But it is not universalist in a sentimental, truth-evading way. Belonging to the people of God is not merely a matter of survival, as though all that is required is to be alive; it is also a matter of personal decision.” (Webb, page 182)

Hence the ‘no Canaanite’ in verse 21, there is still selectivity due to those folks who won’t give their lives over to the living God of life. Some translate Canaanite to be ‘merchant’ and you can see a bit of that in Yeshua cleansing the Temple (Matt. 21.12-13) of those who would prevent the Gentiles from hearing God’s word. 

6.     Jerusalem: Overflowing holiness (.20-.21)

Finally, the final section. And the most mundane of items like horses’ bells and cooking pots are now holy with sacred writing. The whole town and dare I say, the whole of Judah, is reclaiming the glory of God and manifesting his nature and his name. 

The option is there; follow God, follow the remnant of the Jewish people who are going up to celebrate the Feast of Sukkot and you will have bounty. Don’t do that, and you will have no rain and devastation. The choice seems clear. 

7.     Conclusion of Zechariah…the summary

The day of the Lord is the “final day of reckoning for those who have refused to acknowledge God.” (Webb, page 177) All the prophets warned Israel and Judah of such a time. The call to repentance was sounded by Amos and Jeremiah, by Isaiah and Joel. Within the call was the hope that a restored Israel would be flowing with holiness and worship.

Earlier I said, “Endings matter, and good endings make for satisfaction.” I hope that as we have studied this great prophet and this great prophecy that you will feel satisfied, when these events take place. King David said in the Psalms, “I will be satisfied when I awake in Thy likeness.” (17.15) The word for likeness is the same as a painting. Temunah. When I awake and look like Yeshua, when I awake, and the world is as it should have been. When I awake and Yeshua is Lord of all the earth, and Lord of hosts, and God’s justice is overall, and his name is One, then I will be satisfied. 

Until that day, I work. Until that day, I preach so that others can hear and respond in faith. Until that day, let us be about our Father’s business, until the great gates of Kyiv crash at the last in Mussorgsky’s Exhibition and until the final firework is blasted in the 1812, until kings and kingdoms are all giving glory to the God of heaven and earth. 

That’s my commitment today. 

Do you have anything that prevents your letting “Holiness to the Lord” be written on your t-shirt? Repent and get right with God today. Do you have any reason not to shout “Hallelujah” to him just now, right where you are? Then hear his gentle whisper of love and mercy and turn, for in repentance and rest you can be saved.

Thank you, Lord, for Zechariah. 

Thank you, Lord, for Yeshua, the Branch, the Donkey-Rider, the Lord of hosts and Lord of heaven and earth, the Crucified One who ushers us into God’s presence. 

Thank you, Messiah, for your giving your life that we could have eternal life with you.

Amen.

And amen.

 

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Resource on video 

To see a fun video overview of the book of Zechariah see this from Bible Project:

https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/zechariah/ 

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Greatest endings in music not previously mentioned in the Bible talk.

Stravinsky’s Firebird. Elgar’s 1^st symphony. Tchaikovsky’s 3^rd symphony (Polish). Schumann’s 3^rd. Saint-Saens 3^rd. Mahler’s 3^rd symphony. Beethoven’s 3^rd (Eroica). Dvorak’s 8^th Symphony (English). Brahms’ 1^st. Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. Shostakovich’s 5^th. Mahler’s 1^st (Titan). Beethoven’s 9^th. Mahler’s 2^nd (Resurrection, of course).

 

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Bibliography:

Brown, Michael L, Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus, Volume Three, Baker Books, Grand Rapids, 2003.

Ryken, Leland (and others), Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, 1998.

Smith, Ralph, Micah to Malachi: Word Biblical Commentary (Volume 32), Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, 1984.

Stead, Michael, Zechariah: The Lord Returns, Aquila Press, Sydney, 2015.

Webb, Barry, The Message of Zechariah: Your Kingdom Come, Intervarsity Press, Nottingham, 2003.

Wiersbe, Warren, Be Heroic: Demonstrating Bravery by your Walk, David C. Cook Press, Colorado Springs, 1997.

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ACTUAL TEXT

Zech. 14:1   Behold, a day is coming for the LORD when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. ² For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished, and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. ³ Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. ⁴ In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. ⁵ You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with ¹Him!

 

6. In that day there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle. ⁷ For it will be a unique day which is known to the LORD, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at evening time there will be light.

 

8   And in that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter.

9   And the LORD will be king over all the earth; in that day the LORD will be the only one, and His name the only one.  10   All the land will be changed into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site from Benjamin’s Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses. ¹¹ People will live in it, and there will no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security.

 

12   Now this will be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth. ¹³ It will come about in that day that a great panic from the LORD will fall on them; and they will seize one another’s hand, and the hand of one will be lifted against the hand of another. ¹⁴ Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered, gold and silver and garments in great abundance. ¹⁵ So also like this plague will be the plague on the horse, the mule, the camel, the donkey and all the cattle that will be in those camps.  16   Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. ¹⁷ And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, there will be no rain on them. ¹⁸ If the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the LORD smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. ¹⁹ This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.  20   In that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “HOLY TO THE LORD.” And the cooking pots in the LORD’S house will be like the bowls before the altar. ²¹ Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the LORD of hosts; and all who sacrifice will come and take of them and boil in them. And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts in that day. (.1-.21)