Zechariah 14:1
Behold, a day of the LORD is coming when your plunder will be divided in your presence.
Sermons
A Sketch on Bad MenHomilistZechariah 14:1-3
A Sketch on Bad MenD. Thomas Zechariah 14:1-3














And thy spoil shall be divided, etc. There are three facts here suggested concerning bad men.

I. THAT THEY ARE CAPABLE OF PERPETRATING THE GREATEST ENORMITIES ON THEIR FELLOW MEN. "The city of Jerusalem shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished." In the account given by Josephus of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, we have a record of enormities at which we might well stand aghast. Christ said, concerning this event, "There shall be great tribulation, such as was not from the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be." "The particulars," says Dr. Wardlaw, "here noted, are such as usually, it might be said invariably, attend the besieging, the capture, and the sacking of cities; especially when, as in this case, the assailing army has been exasperated by a long, harassing, and wasting defence. The entrance of the unpitying soldiery, the rifling of houses, the violation of women, the indiscriminate massacre, and the division of the spoil, are just what all expect, and what require no comment. And never were such scenes more frightfully realized than at the destruction of Jerusalem, when God in his providence, in judicial retribution, gathered all nations against the devoted city to battle." "All nations," a correct description of the army of Titus, the empire of Rome embracing a large proportion of the then known world, and this army consisting of soldiers of all the different nations which composed it. And, while such was to be the destruction brought upon the "city," the desolation was to extend, and that in different ways, at short intervals, throughout "the land." The fact that men are capable of perpetrating on their fellow men such enormities, shows:

1. Man's apostasy from the laws of his spiritual nature. To love supremely the supremely good, to do unto others what we would have others do unto us, to love and to be loved, seem to us to be truths inscribed upon the very constitution of the soul. They are instinctive truths. But in all such abominations as here recorded, all these are outraged. Men have fallen away from their own nature. Somehow or other they have become denaturalized.

2. The great work which the gospel has to do in our world. The great mission of the gospel (and admirably adapted it is to its mission), is morally to renew human nature, to bring it back to its true self and its God. It has done so in millions of instances, it is doing so and will continue to do so until the present abominations shall be unknown amongst the race.

II. THAT WHATEVER ENORMITIES THEY PERPETRATE, THEY ARE EVERMORE INSTRUMENTS IN THE HANDS OF THE WORLD'S GREAT RULER. The period in which these abominations were enacted is in the text called the "day of the Lord," and he is represented as calling the Gentile armies to the work. "I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished." If we are to particularize the predicted destruction, and are not satisfied with figurative explanation, we may look to the conquest under Titus, as in some sort fulfilling the announcement. Rome at this time was the mistress of the world, and the army of Titus, who besieged and sacked the holy city, was composed of soldiers of all the nations. These all moved freely, unconscious of any Divine restraint; still they were but the "sword" of justice in his hand - mere instruments. God in his retributive procedure punishes the bad by the bad. In this case:

1. No injustice is done. The men of Jerusalem deserved their fate. They "filled up the measure of their iniquity." So it was of old with the Canaanites, who were exterminated by Joshua and his triumphant hosts - the aborigines deserved what they received. Joshua was but the sword of justice. No injustice therefore is done.

2. There is no infringement of free agency. Good men might revolt from inflicting such enormities upon their fellow creatures, but it is according to the wish of bad men. They go to it freely. It is the gratification of their malign nature. This is God's retributive method, to punish the bad by the bad. Thus he makes the very wrath of bad men to praise him.

III. THAT ALTHOUGH THEY ARE BUT INSTRUMENTS IN THE HANDS OF THE WORLD'S RULER, HE WILL PUNISH THEM FOR ALL THEIR DEEDS OF ENORMITY. "Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle." That is, for example, he will fight against Rome, the instrument with which he inflicted just punishment upon the sinners at Jerusalem. By successive irruptions of the barbarous tribes of the north, the glory of Rome was extinguished, and its end hastened. Where is the justice of punishing men whom he employs to execute his own will? Two facts will answer this question.

1. What they did was essentially bad. Murder, plunder, rapine, etc., were all violations of his great moral laws, and repugnant to his holy nature.

2. What they did was in accord with their own wills. He never inspired them nor constrained them. They were free, and because they committed crimes of their own free accord, eternal justice required their punishment. Of the Divine government, the justice cried, "Awake, O sword!"

CONCLUSION. Do not let the abominations of war and the outrages on justice, truth, and humanity, which are rife in this country of ours, shake our faith in God. "The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice;" "The Lord sitteth upon the flood." - D.T.

And thy spoil shall be divided
Homilist.
Three facts concerning such.

I. THEY ARE CAPABLE OF PERPETRATING THE GREATEST ENORMITIES ON THEIR FELLOW MEN. In the account given by Josephus of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans we have a record of enormities at which we might stand aghast. The particulars, says Dr. Wardlaw, here noted are such as usually, it might be said, invariably attend the besieging, the capture, and the sacking of cities; especially when, as in this case, the assailing army has been exasperated by a long, harassing, and wasting defence. The entrance of the unpitying soldiery, the rifling of houses, the violation of women, the indiscriminate massacre, and the division of the spoil, are just what all expect, and what require no comment. And never were such scenes more frightfully realised than at the destruction of Jerusalem when God in His providence in judicial retribution gathered all nations against the devoted, city to battle. "All nations," a correct description of the army of Titus, the empire of Rome embracing a large proportion of the then known world, and this army consisting of soldiers of all the different nations which composed it. And, while such was to be the destruction brought upon "the city," the desolation was to extend, and that in different ways, at short intervals, throughout "the land." The fact that men are capable of perpetrating on their fellow men such enormities show —

1. Man's apostasy from the laws of his spiritual nature.

2. The great work which the Gospel has to do in our world.

II. THAT WHATEVER ENORMITIES THEY PERPETRATE, THEY ARE EVERMORE INSTRUMENTS IN THE HANDS OF THE WORLD'S GREAT RULER. The period in which these abominations were enacted is in the text called the "day of the Lord," and He is represented as calling the Roman armies to the work. "I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished." God in His retributive procedure punishes the bad by the bad. In this case —

1. No injustice is done. The men of Jerusalem deserved their fate. They "filled up the measure of their iniquity."

2. There is no infringement of free agency. Good men might revolt from inflicting such enormities upon their fellow creatures, but it is according to the wish of bad men. This is God's retributive method, to punish the bad by the bad.

III. THOUGH INSTRUMENTS IN HIS HANDS, GOD WILL PUNISH THEM FOR ALL THEIR DEEDS OF ENORMITY. But where is the justice of punishing men whom He employs to execute His own will? Two facts will answer this question.

1. What they did was essentially bad.

2. What they did was in accord with their own wills.He never inspired them or constrained them. He did but use them.

(Homilist.)

People
Azel, Benjamin, Uzziah, Zechariah
Places
Azal, Corner Gate, Egypt, Gate of Benjamin, Geba, Jerusalem, Mount of Olives, Rimmon, Tower of Hananel
Topics
Behold, Divided, Division, Force, Goods, Midst, Spoil
Outline
1. The destroyers of Jerusalem destroyed.
3. The coming of Christ, and the graces of his kingdom.
12. The plague of Jerusalem's enemies.
16. The remnant shall turn to the Lord;
20. and their spoils shall be holy.

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Zechariah 13:9

     4303   metals
     4324   dross
     4333   gold
     4363   silver
     4826   fire
     8027   faith, testing of
     8349   spiritual growth, means of
     8640   calling upon God
     8832   testing

Zechariah 13:8-9

     4019   life, believers' experience

Library
Light at Evening Time
This, then, shall be the subject of my present discourse. There are different evening times that happen to the church and to God's people, and as a rule we may rest quite certain that at evening time there shall be light. God very frequently acts in grace in such a manner that we can find a parallel in nature. For instance, God says, "As the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, even so shall my word be, it shall not return unto me void, it shall accomplish that which
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 3: 1857

Light at Evening Time
AS WE read the Scriptures, we are continually startled by fresh discoveries of the magnificence of God. Our attention is fixed upon a passage, and presently sparklets of fire and glory dart forth. It strikes us; we are struck by it. Hence these bright coruscations. Our admiration is excited. We could not have thought that so much light could possibly lie concealed within a few words. Our text thus reveals to us in a remarkable manner the penetration, the discernment, the clear-sightedness of God.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 62: 1916

A Peal of Bells
The text, as you perceive, deals with horses which were unclean under the Jewish law yet, in the day spoken of in the text, the horses themselves shall be purged from commonness or uncleanness, and their harness shall be dedicated to God as certainly as the vestments of the High Priest himself. It will be a happy day indeed when the men who deal with horses, too often a race anything but honest and upbeat shall exhibit in their common transactions a consecration to God, so that on the horses' furniture
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 7: 1861

24TH DAY. Eventide Light.
"He is Faithful that Promised." "At evening-time it shall be light."--ZECH. xiv. 7. Eventide Light. How inspiring the thought of coming glory! How would we rise above our sins, and sorrows, and sufferings, if we could live under the power of "a world to come!" Were faith to take at all times its giant leap beyond a soul-trammelling earth, and remember its brighter destiny. If it could stand on its Pisgah Mount, and look above and beyond the mists and vapours of this land of shadows, and rest on
John Ross Macduff—The Faithful Promiser

That all Troubles are to be Endured for the Sake of Eternal Life
"My Son, let not the labours which thou hast undertaken for Me break thee down, nor let tribulations cast thee down in any wise, but let my promise strengthen and comfort thee in every event. I am sufficient to reward thee above all measure and extent. Not long shalt thou labour here, nor always be weighed down with sorrows. Wait yet a little while, and thou shalt see a speedy end of thine evils. An hour shall come when all labour and confusion shall cease. Little and short is all that passeth
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

Sanctified Commonplaces
In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, Holiness unto the Lord; and the pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts.' (Zechariah xiv. 20, 21.) What I have to say may not strike some of you as setting forth any very high or exalted truth, but I am satisfied as to its being a very important matter. I want to talk to you about the sanctification of the commonplace things in life.
T. H. Howard—Standards of Life and Service

The Girdle of the City. Nehemiah 3
The beginning of the circumference was from 'the sheep-gate.' That, we suppose, was seated on the south part, yet but little removed from that corner, which looks south-east. Within was the pool of Bethesda, famous for healings. Going forward, on the south part, was the tower Meah: and beyond that, "the tower of Hananeel": in the Chaldee paraphrast it is, 'The tower Piccus,' Zechariah 14:10; Piccus, Jeremiah 31:38.--I should suspect that to be, the Hippic tower, were not that placed on the north
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

The Evening Light
This chapter is an article written by the author many years after she had received light on the unity of the church. It will acquaint the reader with what is meant by the expression "evening light." "At evening time it shall be light." "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). The expression
Mary Cole—Trials and Triumphs of Faith

Three Inscriptions with one Meaning
'Thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it ... HOLINESS TO THE LORD.'--EXODUS xxviii. 36. 'In that day there shall be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD.'--ZECH. xiv. 20. 'His name shall be in their foreheads.'--REV. xxii. 4. You will have perceived my purpose in putting these three widely separated texts together. They all speak of inscriptions, and they are all obviously connected with each other. The first of them comes from the ancient times of the institution
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The River of Egypt, Rhinocorura. The Lake of Sirbon.
Pliny writes, "From Pelusium are the intrenchments of Chabrias: mount Casius: the temple of Jupiter Casius: the tomb of Pompey the Great: Ostracine: Arabia is bounded sixty-five miles from Pelusium: soon after begins Idumea and Palestine from the rising up of the Sirbon lake." Either my eyes deceive me, while I read these things,--or mount Casius lies nearer Pelusium, than the lake of Sirbon. The maps have ill placed the Sirbon between mount Casius and Pelusium. Sirbon implies burning; the name of
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

The Prophet Amos.
GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS. It will not be necessary to extend our preliminary remarks on the prophet Amos, since on the main point--viz., the circumstances under which he appeared as a prophet--the introduction to the prophecies of Hosea may be regarded as having been written for those of Amos also. For, according to the inscription, they belong to the same period at which Hosea's prophetic ministry began, viz., the latter part of the reign of Jeroboam II., and after Uzziah had ascended the
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

In the Temple at the Feast of Tabernacles.
(October, a.d. 29.) ^D John VII. 11-52. ^d 11 The Jews therefore sought him at the feast, and said, Where is he? [It was now eighteen months since Jesus had visited Jerusalem, at which time he had healed the impotent man at Bethesda. His fame and prolonged obscurity made his enemies anxious for him to again expose himself in their midst. John here used the word "Jews" as a designation for the Jerusalemites, who, as enemies of Christ, were to be distinguished from the multitudes who were in doubt
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Evening of the Third Day in Passion-Week - on the Mount of Olives: Discoures to the Disciples Concerning the Last Things.
THE last and most solemn denunciation of Jerusalem had been uttered, the last and most terrible prediction of judgment upon the Temple spoken, and Jesus was suiting the action to the word. It was as if He had cast the dust of His Shoes against the House' that was to be left desolate.' And so He quitted for ever the Temple and them that held office in it. They had left the Sanctuary and the City, had crossed black Kidron, and were slowly climbing the Mount of Olives. A sudden turn in the road, and
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

A vision of the King.
ONE of the most blessed occupations for the believer is the prayerful searching of God's holy Word to discover there new glories and fresh beauties of Him, who is altogether lovely. Shall we ever find out all which the written Word reveals of Himself and His worthiness? This wonderful theme can never be exhausted. The heart which is devoted to Him and longs through the presence and indwelling of the Holy Spirit to be closer to the Lord, to hear and know more of Himself, will always find something
Arno Gaebelein—The Lord of Glory

The Promise to the Patriarchs.
A great epoch is, in Genesis, ushered in with the history of the time of the Patriarchs. Luther says: "This is the third period in which Holy Scripture begins the history of the Church with a new family." In a befitting manner, the representation is opened in Gen. xii. 1-3 by an account of the first revelation of God, given to Abraham at Haran, in which the way is opened up for all that follows, and in which the dispensations of God are brought before us in a rapid survey. Abraham is to forsake
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

The Prophet Joel.
PRELIMINARY REMARKS. The position which has been assigned to Joel in the collection of the Minor Prophets, furnishes an external argument for the determination of the time at which Joel wrote. There cannot be any doubt that the Collectors were guided by a consideration of the chronology. The circumstance, that they placed the prophecies of Joel just between the two prophets who, according to the inscriptions and contents of their prophecies, belonged to the time of Jeroboam and Uzziah, is
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Zechariah
CHAPTERS I-VIII Two months after Haggai had delivered his first address to the people in 520 B.C., and a little over a month after the building of the temple had begun (Hag. i. 15), Zechariah appeared with another message of encouragement. How much it was needed we see from the popular despondency reflected in Hag. ii. 3, Jerusalem is still disconsolate (Zech. i. 17), there has been fasting and mourning, vii. 5, the city is without walls, ii. 5, the population scanty, ii. 4, and most of the people
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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