Example 4 – Siege of Jerusalem.
Predicted 480 BC approx
Zechariah lived well after any Old Testament siege of Jerusalem, so the last section of his book foresees something beyond our usual Bible dates. It is a difficult book to understand, but the first two verses of chapter fourteen are quite clear.
Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, and your spoil will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem. The city shall be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. (Zechariah 14:1-2)
1st Fulfillment 70 AD
Jesus picked up on this prophecy and provided additional detail. (Luke 19:41-44) He was, as was Zechariah before him, predicting the Roman siege that would befall Jerusalem between 66 and 70 AD. An interesting tradition tells us how the Christians, following the Lord’s advice, fled to the hills on the other side of the Jordan river before the destruction of the city.
When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people. They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. (Luke 21:20-24)
However, Zechariah chapter fourteen, and Jesus’ expansion of same, contain seriously apocalyptic description that cannot be explained in the 70 AD fulfilment. It is true that he mixes literal and metaphorical imagery, but it does not alter the fact that
“the Lord will go out and find fight against those nations,” (Zech. 14:3) whereas, in the case of 70 AD he used the Romans as his instruments of judgement against Jerusalem. This is why I say some prophecy, as clear as it is to a ‘near’ fulfilment, contains language that is metaphorical with the first event, but is
literal in a second fulfilment.
2nd Fulfillment (yet future)
So, Zechariah 12 to 14 is an apocalyptic prophecy for a
siege yet to happen, and 70 AD was precursor to it. The following is what will happen during an
end-time siege of Jerusalem.
And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. (Luke 21:25-28)