Christ the KingPriest. How is Jesus ruling in our time?

[Guest kingdombrat]

4 hours ago, Diaste said:

Maybe someone answered this already but there is an interesting passage in the OT related:

"

For unto us a child is born,

unto us a son is given,

and the government will be upon His shoulders.

And He will be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

7Of the increase of His government and peace

there will be no end.

He will reign on the throne of David

and over his kingdom,

to establish and sustain it

with justice and righteousness

from that time and forevermore.

"

AMEN!

 

I wonder though, what I have pointed out, can you see and understand what I am claiming?   I am not trying to claim anything at all but only how we [could] easily interpret this Verse based upon what we know about Who did the Creating with His Own hands and Who was seated at the Right hand.

 

It really is a Verse based solely upon [attributes] alone that can be viewed as singular in meaning.   Much like your Scripture Reference from Isaiah.

[Diaste]

2 minutes ago, kingdombrat said:

AMEN!

 

I wonder though, what I have pointed out, can you see and understand what I am claiming?   I am not trying to claim anything at all but only how we [could] easily interpret this Verse based upon what we know about Who did the Creating with His Own hands and Who was seated at the Right hand.

 

It really is a Verse based solely upon [attributes] alone that can be viewed as singular in meaning.   Much like your Scripture Reference from Isaiah.

It's a bit of a mystery yet, isn't it? We know what we read and can put the pieces on the table but the whole picture of the reality is elusive. We can't really know. Marilyn said it well.

[Guest kingdombrat]

9 minutes ago, Diaste said:

It's a bit of a mystery yet, isn't it? We know what we read and can put the pieces on the table but the whole picture of the reality is elusive. We can't really know. Marilyn said it well.

Amen!

 

But it does enlighten me that maybe I've been way too harsh on those promoting the oneness view.   With Scriptures clear enough to provide such proofs as Genesis 19, Psalms 6, Isaiah 9, and Hebrews 2, it's hard to fault anyone for how they view God.

 

If we really want to get down to brass tax, even the Tanakh claims [Yeshua] in Exodus [Burning Bush/Moses] calls Himself Elohim and I AM.   No wonder the Hebrews/Jews seem to be Monotheistic.

[Marilyn C]

Just a quick note on `God`s Hand.` As the Father is Spirit then He doesn`t have `hands` as such. Jesus is His `hand.` 

We use the term, my right hand man` to mean someone who works with us.

[Marilyn C]

Also a thought on `everlasting father.` We know that Jesus is spoken about in that verse, Isa. 9: 6, as `father.` We know that Jesus is not Father God, however Jesus is bringing `many sons to glory,` (Heb. 2: 10) and in that respect I see that He is a father.

[Marilyn C]

Hi all,

I am appreciating all the comments and how we are discussing. I thought I would try and bring the different views together by writing more of what we can agree on.

So we all agree that Jesus is King, (& High priest). God`s word tells us that He is King of heaven, King of Glory, King of the Ages, (eternal). (Dan. 4: 37, Ps. 24: 10, & 1 Tim. 1: 17)

We know that when Jesus was manifest on earth as a man He revealed His great kingship by wielding authority over unseen powers, over disease and death, and over the physical elements of wind and waves, bread and water into wine, (etc).

Then we know from God`s word that Jesus is King of the ages. This means that He is the framer of the laws of the Universe, the One who fashions the ages, `the upholder of all things by His word.` (Heb. 1: 3)

Thus as King the Lord Jesus Christ truly rules and reigns. However there are two areas in which He is in the process of putting down rebellion - Israel and the nations. Jesus is King over them but He is not fully operating in His kingship in those areas.

The time gap is for the Body of Christ to come to maturity and then be taken to the Lord`s own throne where we will rule and reign with Him.

Note in Rev. 11: 17 it says - `We give you thanks O Lord God Almighty, the one who is and who was and who is to come, because you have taken your great power and reigned. The nations were angry, and your wrath has come.`  

 

So much to agree on and just one aspect to consider - rulership (in judgment) with His `rod of iron` over the nations. (Ps. 2: 9, Rev. 2: 27) And when will that be?

`The LORD (Father) said to my Lord, (Jesus), “Sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. The LORD shall send the rod of your (Jesus) strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of your enemies.` (Ps. 110: 1 & 2)

 

`The Lord is at your right hand: He shall execute kings in the day of His wrath. He shall judge among the nations.` (Ps. 110: 5 & 6)

 

I see that time as when the tribulation shall start.

Regards, Marilyn.  

 

[Diaste]

17 hours ago, Josheb said:

Excellent point. How then would someone claim Jesus is not NOW acting in his kingship? Given the New Testament testimony the Isaiah prophecy was fulfilled with the birth of Christ then how is it someone might say, "The Lord is not operating in His kingship at the moment"? 

"Then all the survivors from the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD of Hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. And should any of the families of the earth not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of Hosts, then the rain will not fall on them. And if the people of Egypt will not go up and enter in, then the rain will not fall on them; this will be the plague with which the LORD strikes the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. This will be the punishment of Egypt and of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles." Zech 14

This is supposedly the dynamic after...

"Then the LORD will go out to fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle. 4On 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 the mountain moving to the north and half to the south. 5You will flee by My mountain valley, for it will extend to Azal. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with Him." Zech 14

I don't see any historian recording this. While Christ is seated on the right hand of power there is some reason His kingship has not yet come to this mortal plane. I wish He was ruling the earth. I just don't see it as everything is the same since He ascended.

[Diaste]

18 hours ago, Josheb said:

"remotest connection"? 

You did. Matthew 4:9 was quoted and the words, "All these things I will give thee" were highlighted in bold-face type. Whether or not you or anyone else currently in the op believes satan has power, authority, or possession to offer such things is immaterial; the fact that he does not have any such power, authority, or apossession warrants address. Poor start to another failed exchange. 

No one is claiming Satan is God over God, which is what you said. Not me nor anyone else. In fact the sovereignty of God is such that God can do as He pleases, raising up whom He will and abasing whom He will; and no amount of wishes and hope or belief on the part of mankind is factored in. So then if authority is given to any person or entity then it is by our Father's sovereign will over all things that that authority exists.

Angels are given power and authority over certain things and this does not diminish the rule of the Father in any way. In reality this establishes His absolute rule over all things, in that authority can be conferred on whomsoever by Him.

18 hours ago, Josheb said:

The op states Jesus took away satan's authority and Jesus now holds authority over the authority over satan. I completely agree with one point of clarification: satan never had any authoirty but that which his Creator gave him and it was always for the Creator's purpose and glorigifcation. 

I don't agree that Jesus only now holds the higher authority. Jesus is God and created all things. Jesus always holds, and has always held, the highest of positions. So here you agree that Satan does have a level of authority.

18 hours ago, Josheb said:

I do deny it. You are free to post a satan-glorifying case if you like. I will read it, consider, accept it if it bears any veracity but in all likelihood refute it because it is not true. 

No, he is not; Jesus is. That is how and why the former has no power, authority over the latter, nor possesses anything of his own to give. 

Our Father is glorified in all things, even in the giving of a level of authority to whom He will. 

18 hours ago, Josheb said:

Psalm 50:9-12
"I shall take no young bull out of your house Nor male goats out of your folds.  For every beast of the forest is Mine, the cattle on a thousand hills.  I know every bird of the mountains, and everything that moves in the field is Mine.  If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is Mine, and all it contains."

And the fact satan is not God defines his words, all of them - every word that sinner ever speaks is defined by the fact ha is not a supreme God. 

Why do you even go to places like this? I never said Satan has any supremacy over the Triune godhead. I said he has authority on earth, something that was given, allowed, by the Most High God. 

18 hours ago, Josheb said:

Isaiah 45:5-7
"I am the LORD, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me;  That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun That there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other,  The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these."

Paul knew Isaiah's words. Paul knew them when he wrote 2 Corinthians 4:3. Satan being the "the god of this world" would have a much different meaning amidst the surrounding Semitic, Greek, Egyptian, and/or Roman paganisms but within the context of scripture there is no other God but God and gods are nothing. 

This isn't true. There are many gods and our Father says so in the 1st commandment.  "You shall have no other gods before me." I agree other gods are nothing but they do exist. 

 

18 hours ago, Josheb said:

But if you think otherwise and feel led to post a case glorifying the sin-enslaved carrion-eating glory-losing creature whose destiny has been decided do please free to do so. I don't read anything in this post to persuade me from my position, just more rhetoric that does not do either of us any good or further the conversation one word. 

Not interested in convincing you of anything. 

18 hours ago, Josheb said:

 

Yes, and He has brought our paths together for His purposes. Or is it imagined this is a coincidence occurring outside of God's providence? Some consideration might be given that because the offer is genuine. In the future, Diaste, if it is thought I have misunderstood something then the best response is to clarify what was intended. Yes?

I guess time will tell if it's rooted in a profound plan.

18 hours ago, Josheb said:

What is the topic of the op?

Which words in this post to which I now reply have anything to do with that topic? 

Conversations here tend to range. It's glorious as it's all about Jesus and every word of Truth. 

18 hours ago, Josheb said:

 

I said nowhere does the Bible say satan has any authority. In response to that two verses were quoted and words reporting satan offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and labeling him as god of this world were highlighted. Neither verse says he has any authority. Some folks read authority into those kind of verses but the fact remains nowhere does the Bible ever say satan has any authority.

So it is the above?

18 hours ago, Josheb said:

 

The only authority that guy ever has is that which his Creator gives him and on all such occasions whatever power and/or authority are given him serve the Creator's purpose and His alone. This is especially true in the lives regenerate believers. 

Or is it this? What? If it's not inherent authority it's not real? God confers authority of His sovereign will and on that we agree.

18 hours ago, Josheb said:

Romans 8:28
"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

If God sees fit to allow satan involvement in your life or mine then it will be for our good and His purpose. That is God's promise. 

No, no.... Satan has no involvement in my life and I would hope none in the life of any child of God. But he does rule the world as is evident in the practices of the ruling elite of the world. I cannot wait for the day when this system is destroyed and we are no longer in the valley walking in the shadow of death.

18 hours ago, Josheb said:

Romans 8:31-39
"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?  Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies;  who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.  Who will separate us from the love of Christ?  ........in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,  nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

I too am convinced. Nothing can or will ever separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus because Jesus is now enthroned and ruling all. Everything, including the sin-enslaved creature, was created by him, through him, and for him and there are no other Gods but him. All gods are nothing and they have no authority. Nowhere does the Bible ever say satan has any authority. 

 

But, you are free to make the case for the opposing view. If it is op-relevant I'll consider it. 

 

 

[Justin Adams]

On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives,which faces Jerusalem on the east. The Mount of Olives will be split in half from east to west, forming a huge valley, so that half the mountain will move to the north and half to the south. 

-Zechariah 14:4

I saw this idea that Jesus' feet would 'touch down' on the Mount of Olives, some day, in the future, at his second coming.  I grew up in a local church that strongly taught dispensationalism, which I do not believe in today.  Here is what I do believe.

Zechariah 14 is not about the second coming.  The day of the Lord, spoken of in verse 1, is not the end of the world, but a judgement day.  And when that judgement day came and the Lord's feet touched the Mount of Olives, that was not the second coming, as we conceive of it today, but it happened around 70 A.D., when Jerusalem was destroyed.

Zechariah 13 does talk about Jesus:

Sword, awake against My shepherd,
against the man who is My associate—
this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.
Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered;
I will also turn My hand against the little ones. (13:7)

There will be a judgement, and 1/3 will survive it, as a remnant.  Messiah will be crucified, then judgement will come upon Israel.

In the whole land—this is the Lord’s declaration—
two-thirds will be cut off and die,
but a third will be left in it.
I will put this third through the fire;
I will refine them as silver is refined
and test them as gold is tested.
They will call on My name,
and I will answer them.
I will say: They are My people,
and they will say: Yahweh is our God. (13:8-9)

Jesus taught that this would happen, in his parables in Matthew 21 and 22:

The Parable of the Vineyard Owner

“Listen to another parable: There was a man, a landowner, who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower. He leased it to tenant farmers and went away. When the grape harvest drew near, he sent his slaves to the farmers to collect his fruit. But the farmers took his slaves, beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Again, he sent other slaves, more than the first group, and they did the same to them. Finally, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
“But when the tenant farmers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance!’ So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?”

“He will completely destroy those terrible men,” they told Him, “and lease his vineyard to other farmers who will give him his produce at the harvest.”
Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
This came from the Lord
and is wonderful in our eyes?

Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing its fruit. [Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whoever it falls, it will grind him to powder!]” (Matt. 21:33-44)

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet

Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables: “The kingdom of heavenmay be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent out his slaves to summon those invited to the banquet, but they didn’t want to come. Again, he sent out other slaves, and said, ‘Tell those who are invited: Look, I’ve prepared my dinner; my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

“But they paid no attention and went away, one to his own farm, another to his business. And the others seized his slaves, treated them outrageously and killed them. The king was enraged, so he sent out his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned down their city.

“Then he told his slaves, ‘The banquet is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore go to where the roads exit the city and invite everyone you find to the banquet.’ So those slaves went out on the roads and gathered everyone they found, both evil and good. The wedding banquet was filled with guests. But when the king came in to view the guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed for a wedding. So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless.

“Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

“For many are invited, but few are chosen.” (Matt. 22:1-14)

The end of Zechariah 13 gives us the backdrop or context for chapter 14.  The time period is the time of the coming of Messiah and his death, and what happens after that, which is the judgement of Israel.

A day of the Lord is coming when your plunder will be divided in your presence. (Zech. 14:1)

This is a judgement day, not the end of the world.  This is what "day of the Lord" means in the Bible.

I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem for battle. The city will be captured, the houses looted, and the women raped. Half the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be removed from the city. (Zech 14:2)

"All the nations", is hyperbole, for Rome, Roman soldiers attacking Jerusalem, earthy Jerusalem.  Roman soldiers came from many nations that Rome had conquered, and not just Italy.  The word "half" is figurative, as the "two-thirds" and "one-third" in chapter 13 were also figurative.

Please notice that the writer of Hebrews calls the church Jerusalem or the heavenly Jerusalem:

Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God (the heavenly Jerusalem), to myriads of angels in festive gathering, to the assembly of the firstborn whose names have been written in heaven, to God who is the Judge of all, to the spirits of righteous people made perfect,  to Jesus (mediator of a new covenant), and to the sprinkled blood, which says better things than the blood of Abel. (Heb. 12:22-24)

In the new covenant, Jerusalem is the people of God, ethnic Jew and Gentile.

Continuing with Zechariah 14:

Then the Lord will go out to fight against those nations as He fights on a day of battle. (Zech. 14:3)

This is the gospel waring against nations to gain back people who are lost.

On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. The Mount of Olives will be split in half from east to west, forming a huge valley, so that half the mountain will move to the north and half to the south. (Zech 14:4)

The reference here, of the Lord's feet on the Mount of Olives, is from Ezekiel 11:23:

The glory of the Lord rose up from within the city and stood on the mountain east of the city.

The Lord, God, or Yahweh left Jerusalem, and stopped protecting it, and went east, to the Mount of Olives.

The Mount of Olives splitting in two (Zech. 14:4) is apocalyptic language about God making a way of escape, for the remnant, that escaped the Romans in 70 A.D.  This is symbolic speech, just like John the Baptist saying, "Every valley shall be filled in and every mountain and hill shall be made low", quoting Isaiah 40.

You will flee by My mountain valley, for the valley of the mountains will extend to Azal. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come and all the holy ones with Him. (Zech. 14:5)

This is the way of escape, made in A.D. 70, for the believers in Jerusalem, who are the new remnant of the people of God.

From verse 6 and following, Jerusalem is now the church, in apocalyptic terms:

On that day there will be no light; the sunlight and moonlight will diminish.  It will be a day known only to Yahweh, without day or night, but there will be light at evening.

On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea, in summer and winter alike.  On that day Yahweh will become King over all the earth—Yahweh alone, and His name alone.  All the land from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem will be changed into a plain. But Jerusalem will be raised up and will remain on its site from the Benjamin Gate to the place of the First Gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses.  People will live there, and never again will there be a curse of complete destruction. So Jerusalem will dwell in security. (Zech. 14:6-11)

We then have a description of how the enemies of God are judged and defeated, in figurative, apocalyptic language:

This will be the plague the Lord strikes all the peoples with, who have warred against Jerusalem: their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.  On that day a great panic from the Lord will be among them, so that each will seize the hand of another, and the hand of one will rise against the other.  Judah will also fight at Jerusalem, and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected: gold, silver, and clothing in great abundance.  The same plague as the previous one will strike the horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all the animals that are in those camps. (Zech. 14:12-15)

The end of the chapter now views the church, the people of God, from another angle: a spiritual feast of tabernacles.  And everything in the church, is now holy:

Then all the survivors from the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to celebrate the Festival of Booths.  Should any of the families of the earth not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, rain will not fall on them.  And if the people of Egypt will not go up and enter, then rain will not fall on them; this will be the plague the Lord inflicts on the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Booths.  This will be the punishment of Egypt and all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Booths.

On that day, the words

HOLY TO THE LORD

will be on the bells of the horses. The pots in the house of the Lord will be like the sprinkling basins before the altar.  Every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord of Hosts. Everyone who sacrifices will come and take some of the pots to cook in. And on that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of Hosts. (Zech. 14:16-21)

Zechariah 14 is about the judgement on Jerusalem in the first century that Jesus said was coming.  It is also about the people of God and the nations, during the time after Messiah's coming, which includes the first century, up through today.

When Rome came to destroy Jerusalem, around 70 A.D., the remnant, the people of God, or the church in Jerusalem escaped to the east, before it was too late.  Zechariah saw the escape plan in advance.  And the church or the people of God are now figuratively, Jerusalem and Israel.

There is one people of God, one in Christ, and we are also hopeful that all ethnic Jews will be saved before the end; but there is only one way to be saved, through Christ, Messiah.  There is only one mediator, only one living way.  We all who are in Christ are living our stories in God's story of loving and saving the world.  Our task is to find meaning in the story of God that we find ourselves in, and to celebrate that together, while inviting the world around us to join.

https://www.stevesevy.com/2016/08/zechariah-14-is-not-about-second-coming.html

[Diaste]

3 hours ago, Justin Adams said:

On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives,which faces Jerusalem on the east. The Mount of Olives will be split in half from east to west, forming a huge valley, so that half the mountain will move to the north and half to the south. 

-Zechariah 14:4

I saw this idea that Jesus' feet would 'touch down' on the Mount of Olives, some day, in the future, at his second coming.  I grew up in a local church that strongly taught dispensationalism, which I do not believe in today.  Here is what I do believe.

Zechariah 14 is not about the second coming.  The day of the Lord, spoken of in verse 1, is not the end of the world, but a judgement day.  And when that judgement day came and the Lord's feet touched the Mount of Olives, that was not the second coming, as we conceive of it today, but it happened around 70 A.D., when Jerusalem was destroyed.

Zechariah 13 does talk about Jesus:

Sword, awake against My shepherd,
against the man who is My associate—
this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.
Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered;
I will also turn My hand against the little ones. (13:7)

There will be a judgement, and 1/3 will survive it, as a remnant.  Messiah will be crucified, then judgement will come upon Israel.

In the whole land—this is the Lord’s declaration—
two-thirds will be cut off and die,
but a third will be left in it.
I will put this third through the fire;
I will refine them as silver is refined
and test them as gold is tested.
They will call on My name,
and I will answer them.
I will say: They are My people,
and they will say: Yahweh is our God. (13:8-9)

Jesus taught that this would happen, in his parables in Matthew 21 and 22:

The Parable of the Vineyard Owner

“Listen to another parable: There was a man, a landowner, who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower. He leased it to tenant farmers and went away. When the grape harvest drew near, he sent his slaves to the farmers to collect his fruit. But the farmers took his slaves, beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Again, he sent other slaves, more than the first group, and they did the same to them. Finally, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
“But when the tenant farmers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance!’ So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?”

“He will completely destroy those terrible men,” they told Him, “and lease his vineyard to other farmers who will give him his produce at the harvest.”
Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
This came from the Lord
and is wonderful in our eyes?

Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing its fruit. [Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whoever it falls, it will grind him to powder!]” (Matt. 21:33-44)

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet

Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables: “The kingdom of heavenmay be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent out his slaves to summon those invited to the banquet, but they didn’t want to come. Again, he sent out other slaves, and said, ‘Tell those who are invited: Look, I’ve prepared my dinner; my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

“But they paid no attention and went away, one to his own farm, another to his business. And the others seized his slaves, treated them outrageously and killed them. The king was enraged, so he sent out his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned down their city.

“Then he told his slaves, ‘The banquet is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore go to where the roads exit the city and invite everyone you find to the banquet.’ So those slaves went out on the roads and gathered everyone they found, both evil and good. The wedding banquet was filled with guests. But when the king came in to view the guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed for a wedding. So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless.

“Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

“For many are invited, but few are chosen.” (Matt. 22:1-14)

The end of Zechariah 13 gives us the backdrop or context for chapter 14.  The time period is the time of the coming of Messiah and his death, and what happens after that, which is the judgement of Israel.

A day of the Lord is coming when your plunder will be divided in your presence. (Zech. 14:1)

This is a judgement day, not the end of the world.  This is what "day of the Lord" means in the Bible.

I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem for battle. The city will be captured, the houses looted, and the women raped. Half the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be removed from the city. (Zech 14:2)

"All the nations", is hyperbole, for Rome, Roman soldiers attacking Jerusalem, earthy Jerusalem.  Roman soldiers came from many nations that Rome had conquered, and not just Italy.  The word "half" is figurative, as the "two-thirds" and "one-third" in chapter 13 were also figurative.

Please notice that the writer of Hebrews calls the church Jerusalem or the heavenly Jerusalem:

Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God (the heavenly Jerusalem), to myriads of angels in festive gathering, to the assembly of the firstborn whose names have been written in heaven, to God who is the Judge of all, to the spirits of righteous people made perfect,  to Jesus (mediator of a new covenant), and to the sprinkled blood, which says better things than the blood of Abel. (Heb. 12:22-24)

In the new covenant, Jerusalem is the people of God, ethnic Jew and Gentile.

Continuing with Zechariah 14:

Then the Lord will go out to fight against those nations as He fights on a day of battle. (Zech. 14:3)

This is the gospel waring against nations to gain back people who are lost.

On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. The Mount of Olives will be split in half from east to west, forming a huge valley, so that half the mountain will move to the north and half to the south. (Zech 14:4)

The reference here, of the Lord's feet on the Mount of Olives, is from Ezekiel 11:23:

The glory of the Lord rose up from within the city and stood on the mountain east of the city.

The Lord, God, or Yahweh left Jerusalem, and stopped protecting it, and went east, to the Mount of Olives.

The Mount of Olives splitting in two (Zech. 14:4) is apocalyptic language about God making a way of escape, for the remnant, that escaped the Romans in 70 A.D.  This is symbolic speech, just like John the Baptist saying, "Every valley shall be filled in and every mountain and hill shall be made low", quoting Isaiah 40.

You will flee by My mountain valley, for the valley of the mountains will extend to Azal. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come and all the holy ones with Him. (Zech. 14:5)

This is the way of escape, made in A.D. 70, for the believers in Jerusalem, who are the new remnant of the people of God.

From verse 6 and following, Jerusalem is now the church, in apocalyptic terms:

On that day there will be no light; the sunlight and moonlight will diminish.  It will be a day known only to Yahweh, without day or night, but there will be light at evening.

On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea, in summer and winter alike.  On that day Yahweh will become King over all the earth—Yahweh alone, and His name alone.  All the land from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem will be changed into a plain. But Jerusalem will be raised up and will remain on its site from the Benjamin Gate to the place of the First Gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses.  People will live there, and never again will there be a curse of complete destruction. So Jerusalem will dwell in security. (Zech. 14:6-11)

We then have a description of how the enemies of God are judged and defeated, in figurative, apocalyptic language:

This will be the plague the Lord strikes all the peoples with, who have warred against Jerusalem: their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.  On that day a great panic from the Lord will be among them, so that each will seize the hand of another, and the hand of one will rise against the other.  Judah will also fight at Jerusalem, and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected: gold, silver, and clothing in great abundance.  The same plague as the previous one will strike the horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all the animals that are in those camps. (Zech. 14:12-15)

The end of the chapter now views the church, the people of God, from another angle: a spiritual feast of tabernacles.  And everything in the church, is now holy:

Then all the survivors from the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to celebrate the Festival of Booths.  Should any of the families of the earth not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, rain will not fall on them.  And if the people of Egypt will not go up and enter, then rain will not fall on them; this will be the plague the Lord inflicts on the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Booths.  This will be the punishment of Egypt and all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Booths.

On that day, the words

HOLY TO THE LORD

will be on the bells of the horses. The pots in the house of the Lord will be like the sprinkling basins before the altar.  Every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord of Hosts. Everyone who sacrifices will come and take some of the pots to cook in. And on that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of Hosts. (Zech. 14:16-21)

Zechariah 14 is about the judgement on Jerusalem in the first century that Jesus said was coming.  It is also about the people of God and the nations, during the time after Messiah's coming, which includes the first century, up through today.

When Rome came to destroy Jerusalem, around 70 A.D., the remnant, the people of God, or the church in Jerusalem escaped to the east, before it was too late.  Zechariah saw the escape plan in advance.  And the church or the people of God are now figuratively, Jerusalem and Israel.

There is one people of God, one in Christ, and we are also hopeful that all ethnic Jews will be saved before the end; but there is only one way to be saved, through Christ, Messiah.  There is only one mediator, only one living way.  We all who are in Christ are living our stories in God's story of loving and saving the world.  Our task is to find meaning in the story of God that we find ourselves in, and to celebrate that together, while inviting the world around us to join.

https://www.stevesevy.com/2016/08/zechariah-14-is-not-about-second-coming.html

Bah! Another book seller.