| And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which [is] before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, [and there shall be] a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. |
of the Gospels. The great "Sermon on the
Mount" took place here, which included
the cryptic clues to Christ's Second Coming.
The Garden of Gethsemane was seated at
the base of the mount.
As it's title, the hill has lots of olive trees.
The Two Witnesses are described as the
two "olive trees" in Zechariah, giving it
even more symbolic layers and dimensions.
Olives and olive trees have duel meanings
in the spiritual symbolism of the Bible.
Olive oil was and is a rich nutritious oil,
used for both light and essential diet.
By association with being fed and
used for illumination, the spiritual
symbolism became established for the
Holy Spirit.
There is much more I can write about
these symbols, and of Mount Olivet,
but, I'm going to limit it to strict prophecy.
Here, at the culmination of world history,
Zechariah paints a picture which confronts
our own world this day. Jerusalem, which
had risen from the ashes of the old world,
is again established. The whole world is
against her existence and the nations of
the world oppose her. This doesn't necessarily
mean every last country, although that's
what we're seeing happening. While
America is ostensibly a supporter of
Israel, that alliance is waning with the
increasing power of the beastly and
satanic United Nations, as well as a
potential Islamic-named President
whose close pastor is a raging racist
and colleague of Louis Farrakhan and
black Muslim movement. If the Muslim
shill becomes President, it's pretty clear
that Israel will be on her own.
Israel is not right with God, though.
She has no high priest to mediate for
her people, because the only High Priest
is Jesus Christ. Without the High Priest
there is no Judaism or Holy Land, just
a secular nation.
Because of their lack of protection,
the nations that seethe against Israel
will prevail, up to a point, but, then
an event happens which will disrupt
conventional wisdom. The entire nation
has an epiphany and recognizes the
Messiah, the one whom they pierced.
Taking all prophecy into account, this
lines up nicely to the Second Coming,
and more specifically (in my opinion)
the Sacred Cubic City of New Jerusalem
coming and being seen over old Jerusalem.
From that point, the LORD himself
defends Jerusalem and punishes the
world for their unrelenting persecution
of the people of YHWH, from the time of
Moses to the present. This is done out of
God's promises to the patriarchs, and
for HIS own GLORY. We know that both
the Jews and Christians have fallen
from faith in too many ways to count,
and only the tradition of calling themselves
by ancient names applies to their current
religion.
Jews rejected the Messiah, have no High
Priest to mediate in the Holy of Holies,
and the Christians have incorporated
the pagan mystery religion into the
fabric of their rituals. Most egregious
are Christmas, an abomination, and
Ishtar/Easter the fertility rites of
the mystery religion, an abomination.
They changed the days, the sanctified
Sabbath, and have grieved God continuously.
But, grace abounds. Our eyes will be
opened to see, and God will not forsake
us, despite our sins and faithless rebellion.
The Mount of Olives is mentioned in this
verse to grab hold of three future events:
The ministry of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem,
the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven,
and the return of Jesus Christ from heaven.
The last time the Apostles were with Jesus
Christ, on Earth, was when he was risen
and convened with them on the Mount
of Olives:
| When they therefore were come 'together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? |
| And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. |
| But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. |
| ¶ | And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. |
| And while they looked stedfastly ' toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; |
| Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. |
| ¶ | Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey. |
This chapter coordinates with the prophecies
in Zechariah. The two olive branches are
witnesses and tell the Apostles how one day
Christ will return to that spot, and Christ
informs them that it will be according to
God's time.
While we have to adhere to the admonition
that none of us know the day and hour of
his return, ironically, in the Sermon on
the Mount, he gives us ample information,
which corresponds perfectly to Zechariah's
prophecy and our times:
| And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. |
| And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. |
| ¶ | Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer [is] nigh: |
Israel.
It's worthwhile to learn all the coded symbols
of the Bible, otherwise it's hard to get the most
out of eschatological prophecies. In fact, it's
hard to understand, otherwise, but, if all the
symbols are known and understood, the
layers of meaning are more clear than
ordinary instruction.
================
EARTHQUAKE:
and the mount of Olives
shall cleave in the midst thereof
toward the east and toward the
west, [and there shall be] a very
great valley; and half of the
mountain shall remove toward
the north, and half of it toward
the south.
The prophecy about Jerusalem
having a monumental earthquake
is found in other scripture,
both before and after he wrote
these verses:
The first admonition about Jerusalem
is in Isaiah, about 200 years before
Zechariah.
| Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel. |
| And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee. |
| Thou shalt be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire. |
These verses about Ariel (nickname for Jerusalem)
are identicle in context with Zechariah's. They
speak of Jerusalem's being judged and defeated,
but, also about the world being judged because
of the way they hated and destroyed her.
There are different aspects of judgment and
mercy portrayed, and key is the fact that
Jerusalem will have a catastrophic
earthquake and tumultuous event in
the latter days, which corresponds with
the culmination of history, and the
nations of the world making a stand
against Jerusalem in these days.
Earthquake is a visible manifestation
of the power that is independent of
man's control. This is called "Act of God"
even by our laws.
When Jesus was crucified and died,
there was a simultaneous event in
the physical world, with the sky
getting black and a fierce earthquake.
| And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; |
There was an aftershock 2 days later:
| ¶ | In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first [day] of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. |
| And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. |
In terms of last days and prophetic use of
earthquakes, there are many:
| ¶ | And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; |
Rev 8:5 And the angel took the censer, and filled
it with fire of the altar, and cast [it] into the earth:
and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings,
and an earthquake.
Rev 11:13 And the same hour was there a great
earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell,
and in the earthquake were slain of men seven
thousand: and the remnant were affrighted,
and gave glory to the God of heaven.
Rev 11:19 And the temple of God was opened in
heaven, and there was seen in his temple the
ark of his testament: and there were lightnings,
and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake,
and great hail.
Rev 16:18 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.
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