Let’s turn one last time to the book of Zechariah. We’ll

finish the 14th chapter of this book today.

Last time we studied the first 11 verses of chapter 14. We see there that God was foretelling the destruction of all the nations who will attack Jerusalem at the end of the Great Tribulation, the foretelling of a unique day at that time in terms of the day being like night and vice cersa, we were told of living waters coming from Jerusalem in the ensuing Millennial reign of Christ, at that time the land will literally be flattened even as Jerusalem is physically elevated, and so Jerusalem will be safely inhabited.

And that leads us to what we’ll be studying today – verses

12-21 of chapter 14. So, let’s read those verses and then study the details.

{Read Zec 14:12-21…}

Zechariah 14 Commentary Plague of the Nations

So, the Lord describes the plague with which he’s going to

strike the nations who at the end of the Great Tribulation come up against

Jerusalem to attack it – and who by this point have actually already conquered

it.

KJV Zechariah 14:12 ¶ {And this/Now this/But this/This} {shall be/will be} the {plague/nature of the plague} {wherewith/with which} the LORD will {smite/strike} all the {people/peoples/nations} {that/who} have {fought/gone to war} against Jerusalem; Their flesh {shall/will} {consume away/rot/decay} while they {stand/are still standing} {upon/on} their feet, {and their/their} eyes {shall consume away/will rot/will rot away} in their {holes/sockets}, and their tongue {shall consume away/will rot/will dissolve} in their mouth.

So, there is this initial rotting of tissue that will occur.

And usually you might expect flesh to rot on people after they die. But in this

case, the people are still standing as this will happen, which is very unusual.

And you would think that this kind of plague would be

absolutely fatal and kill everyone instantly. And yet, verse 13 goes on to

describe some who will survive that plague. And for those that do survive, God

will send confusion to them so that they end up attacking each other.

13 {And it shall come to pass in/It will come about in/On} that day, {that a great tumult/that a great panic/there will be great confusion/men will be stricken with great panic} {from/by} the LORD {shall be among/will fall on/among} them; {and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour,/ and they will seize one another’s hand,/they will seize each other/Each man will seize the hand of another,}{and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour./and the hand of one will be lifted against the hand of another./and attack one another violently./and they will attack each other.}

So, maybe not everyone who attacks Jerusalem at the end of

the Great Tribulation will get the flesh-rotting effects of the plague that the

Lord mentioned in verse 12 and so, these people in verse 13 are those who did

not receive that plague and are thus stronger and still able to fight against

each other.

In fact, I think that that has to be the case somehow – that

not everyone is subject to the plague of verse 12. Because there will be some

of these Gentile nations who enter into the Millennial Kingdom of Christ and I

assume that their flesh is intact – at least intact enough to survive and to

continue living. So, it seems to me that the plague of verse 12 is perhaps not

going to affect each individual but is rather going to effect a great many of

the enemy combatants of the nations – though not all of them.

Well, in the end when Jesus returns to deliver the Jews,

we’ve seen so far that he is going to send a very strange flesh-eating plague,

and a great deal of those who haven’t been finished-off by that will be thrown

into confusion and will end up fighting each other instead of the Jews.

And so, with all of that going on, the Jews at the end of

the Tribulation will have no problem defending themselves and even advancing on

their Gentiles attackers