On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. – Zechariah 14:4

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 28, 2017): Zechariah 14

Humorist Robert Benchley once commented that “There are two kinds of people in the world: those who divide the world into two kinds of people, and those who do not.” (If you didn’t smile at least a little when you read the quote, you might need to read it again.) Our reality is that while we want to be unified, there are so many things that threaten to divide us. Even Jesus admitted the presence of division as he commented “do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division” (Luke 12:51). Some divisions are unnecessary; others are a present reality. But no matter how strongly you might believe in unity, the truth is that we live in a world divided and have to work hard together to maintain any semblance of unity.

Zechariah begins to close his prophecy with his vision of the great day of the Lord. For some, this is an image of the second coming of Christ, when the returning King comes and divides the world. But that is not the only interpretation. (Yes, we can even divide ourselves over how we interpret this verse.) Others argue that Jesus has already been here. He spent a lot of time on the Mount of Olives during his ministry, and he ascended into heaven from the Mount of Olives. So there is no need to move the fulfillment of this passage to a debate on the End Times. Jesus has already touched the Mount of Olives, and he has already divided his people there.

And division has already come to the Mountain. Today, the mountain is inhabited mostly by Muslims (At-Tur occupies the highest points on the Mount of Olives and is a majority Muslim neighborhood), although it is an important pilgrimage spot for Christians of all stripes and for Jews. It may not be a physical valley that has been torn into the Mountain, but it is a significant ideological divide that separates the people who frequent the Mountain. As well, the church that Jesus started has fractured into many pieces, but one of the more significant rifts in the church is an East-West divide that the prophecy seems to suggest. It is interesting that all directions are included in the division. Zechariah speaks of the East-West Divide, but also argues that the mountain will move North and South – that all of the world will be touched by what happens on the Mountain. And this is also true today.

James Burton Coffman makes this comment with regard to the prophecy. He argues that the ascension of Jesus “with all of its implications, is a sufficient fulfillment of the wonder foretold here. Of course, there was no physical earthquake; but the spiritual earthquake which occurred in that event was surpassingly great enough to qualify as the fulfillment.” Coffman’s “spiritual earthquake” continues to be a dividing force among us, the ascension forces us to choose Jesus or some other path, all in fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 55