The Messiah’s Return
Zechariah 14:1-5
September 10, 2023
In February 1942, the American war against the Japanese in the Philippines was not going well. It was going so poorly that by March 12, 1942, President Roosevelt ordered General Douglas MacArthur, who was stationed in the Philippines, to leave and relocate his command in Australia. MacArthur briefly considered resigning his command and staying in the Philippines to fight as a soldier but was talked out of it by his staff. So on the night of March 12, he left the Philippines. About a week later, on March 20, MacArthur gave his well-known speech in Adelaide, in which he said, “I came through and I shall return.” That statement emboldened his staff and soldiers — as well as the Philippines. He promised he would come back to save them, and they believed him.
In the weeks and months that followed though, as MacArthur didn’t return and the Japanese seemed to flourish and the Americans continued to struggle in the battle (having surrendered Bataan and Corregidor weeks after MacArthur left), they all had to wonder, “Will he return? On what basis can we be sure that He will return?”
The Israelites might have asked a similar question after their return to the Promised Land following their captivity in Babylon. “God made a promise to Abraham, but it hasn’t been fulfilled. God promised an eternal kingship to David, but it hasn’t been fulfilled. We are back from Babylon, but there is still opposition. Will God keep His promise to us of a land, a nation (people), and our spiritual blessing to the nations? Will the Messiah come and rule on David’s throne?”
Zechariah 14 is a resounding “Yes” to those questions. The Messiah will come (again) and He will reign, and He will do so in dramatic fashion. In an era before movies and computer-aided graphics, this passage paints a vivid picture not only of the Messiah’s return, but exactly what that return will look like. And it is designed by God to be a hopeful encouragement to the Israelites to persist in faithfulness to Him. As we come to the introduction of Christ’s return, we will find in Zechariah 14:1-5 that,
Christ will come and will fulfill God’s promises to Israel.
God has chosen Israel, and He will redeem her. He will protect her and liberate her from all oppressors. He will lead her and rule her with wisdom. He will give her from the riches of His glory with great grace. He will be everything a people could want and anticipate in a King — and He will lead her eternally.
Both Israel in Zechariah’s day and we today can gain confidence from three components of Christ’s return:
- Live Confidently — A Day of the Lord is Coming (v. 1a)
- The nature of the Lord’s Day
- The timing of the Lord’s Day
- The command for the Lord’s Day
- Live Confidently — A Day of Gathering is Coming (vv. 1b-2)
- Live Confidently — A Day of Return is Coming (vv. 3-5)
- The Lord is coming to judge (v. 3)
- The Lord is coming to liberate (v. 4)
- The Lord is coming to reign (v. 5)
Download the rest of this sermon on Zechariah 14:1-5.
The audio will be posted on the GBC website by tomorrow.
Photographer not credited., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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