I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city. – Zechariah 14:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (June 28, 2014): Zechariah 14

There is a thought that maybe the “Left Behind” series of books got it wrong - that maybe the vision of the last days imagined by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins is nothing more than a product of an overactive imagination, and the LaHaye and Jenkins actually got the dream backwards. The idea is that when the end times arrive, when the rapture actually comes and that moment that Jesus talks about of one being taken and the other left, much to our surprise we want to be part of the ones who are left. That every Christian should understand that it is the people who are left behind that will be with God. And the idea stems from another thought pattern – that when God proclaimed that his creation was good and very good in Genesis 1, he actually meant it. And the day is coming when God will restore the creation that he loves and that a New Earth and a New Jerusalem will descend on top of the old earth and the old Jerusalem – and those who are left behind will be transformed with creation and they will once again have the ability to enjoy a renewed Garden of Eden.

The question that some want to ask is where does this dream come from? And the reality is that there is more and stronger biblical evidence for this view of the end times than there is for the view espoused by LaHaye and Jenkins in the “Left Behind” series. And part of the evidence is found in this passage in the closing chapter of Zechariah.

Zechariah prophecies of a time that would come when the nations would fight against Jerusalem. And in this time there would be atrocities that are common to war that would take place in the Holy City. And at the end of the war, God would allow half of the inhabitants of the city to be taken into a life of slavery, and half would remain in Jerusalem. And there is no doubt in Zechariah’s mind that when that day came he wanted to be part of the half that stayed in Jerusalem

Maybe the most obvious fulfillment of the prophecy is found in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. At that time the temple was destroyed but the city was left and some were left in the city. But some were taken as slaves and given away to the friends of Rome. Some were taken and the others were left, but the lucky ones (if there were any that could have been considered to be lucky at the end of a war that had been lost) were the ones that were left behind.

But, as with many prophecies, there seems to be another fulfillment. Zechariah is speaking about events connected with the first coming of the Messiah (Jesus predicted the destruction of the Temple – an event that happened in the next generation after his death and resurrection), but Zechariah seems to be also speaking of the second coming of the Messiah. And in that day there will be a great war. Atrocities will take place as they always seem to during times of conflict. But God will end the conflict – and at that time he will separate the people - the sheep from the goats – and some (the goats) he will remove from the playing field, but others – the sheep, those who have believed in him - he will leave to enjoy the benefits of the New Jerusalem – and of a restored creation.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 107