The Festal Structure of Zechariah 12-14

The prophecies in the final chapters of Zechariah, taken in isolation, are extremely confusing. They seem to describe, very darkly, some events which took place in the first century. Yet they also describe some things which clearly did not take place. Or did they?

The key to interpreting the prophecy is its structure. It follows a formula which is second nature to Jewish people: the process of Israel’s annual feasts. If they had their wits about them, the Jews would hear these words and be able to say, “I see what you did there.” Once they are recognised as literary art, these words are not only completely intelligible, they are also brilliant and beautiful. And terrifyingly ironic.

Zechariah 12-14 consists of seven “festal” cycles, following the order laid out in Leviticus 23. But this section is the third of a three-level house. Zechariah 1-6 describes “Garden” or Sanctuary events, the restoration of the Aaronic priesthood; Zechariah 7-11 describes “Land” events, the “brother versus brother” rivalry between priesthood and kingdom; Zechariah 12-14 describes “World” events, that is, the deconsecration of Israel as a blessing for all nations in a new Melchizedekian priesthood. Just as the visions established a new Jerusalem, the prophecies describe its end.

TRANSCENDENCE

SABBATH: Zechariah 12:1-9 (Creation)

A promise of victory and rest. Just as the seven day week set the pattern for Israel’s year, so this initial sevenfold ‘week’ sets the pattern for the entire cycle.

Each of these seven stanzas is also sevenfold, but we will only plot the shape of the final one, in which the festal structure comes to the fore, as it does in the final cycle of 12-14:

Just as the first cycle was the entire process rolled up in a single “Sabbath” week, so the second cycle is the mourning of Passover expressed through a festal architecture. If we look closely, we can see that the entire Old Testament history and its animal sacrifices would be cut off in Christ:

HIERARCHY

PASSOVER: Zechariah 12:10-14 – Zechariah 13:1 (Division)

ETHICS

The next stanza takes us to the threefold Ethics section of the Covenant, and the theme here is Israel’s failure to “go up” and possess the Land (Day 3).

FIRSTFRUITS: Zechariah 13:2-6 (Ascension)

The historical fulfilment is clearly the death of Christ on Israel’s behalf under the Law of Moses, and the division of Israel by the Gospel into Abels and Cains, that the blood of Abel might finally be avenged and the animal sacrifices cut off. This is represented as sacred architecture, working from above (head), to beside (left and right hands), to below (feet), which not only makes it cruciform, but shows that the entire pattern is contained in the original prohibition of idols of things made in heaven (above), things on the Land (beside) and things in the Sea (below) (Exodus 20:4).

PENTECOST: Zechariah 13:7-9 (Testing)

The second “Ethics” stanza describes the work of the Spirit in Pentecostal or “kingdom” terms. Both Moses and David, and possibly Paul, spent years in the wilderness learning that a true king is a shepherd (Abel) rather than a wolf (Cain), and that is the theme in the first half. The second half is also a contrast between Abel and Cain, but here the worker of the ground discovers that the true riches from the earth, as true kingdom, must be refined by the holy fire of Testing. The shift from flesh and blood to metal is the process of ascension in the Tabernacle, and fulfilled in Christ as the metallic “Tabernacle man” in Revelation 1. Also, Solomon began as a true shepherd (Song of Solomon 1:7), but his lust for kingly riches began the corruption of his heart. The two-thirds/one third judgment alludes to the previous judgment of Israel under the king of Babylon (Ezekiel 5:2) and culminated in the final judgments upon Jerusalem (James 5:3; Revelation 16:19).

TRUMPETS: Zechariah 14:1-11 (Maturity)

Before we look at this section we will zoom in on its first stanza, which is remarkable. The tribulation of the saints is coming to an end and the judgment of Jerusalem has begun. The center of the world’s worship has become not only a new Sodom and Egypt but also a new Babel. On behalf of the cosmos, she would be “de-created.” The allusive power of so few words here is breathtaking.

Notice that the spoil is divided at Division/Passover and the people are divided at Conquest/Atonement. Architectural riches are always measured out in human flesh. Cultus always becomes culture.

Now we can zoom out again and take a look at the entire stanza. This brings us to one of the most perplexing statements in Scripture, the prediction that the Mount of Olives would be split into two parts. The solution is, of course, architectural.

Since the entire “ziggurat to heaven” which Israel represented served as a sacrificial substitute for all nations,²See Cosmic Language – Part 1. the prophets often used the language of Tabernacle architecture to explain Covenantal events. After the exile, Jerusalem became known as the “holy city,” and every Jew, not just the priesthood, was concerned with genealogy. The new Jerusalem was an architectural extension of the Temple, so the ministry of the city is described in terms of furniture.

Although this stanza describes the destruction of the Temple and city of Jerusalem, one image employed is that of Ebal and Gerazim, the two mountains between which Israel passed before the conquest of the Land. The blessings of the Law were sung from Gerizim and the curses from Ebal (Deuteronomy 11:29). In Matthew’s Gospel, there are seven mountains. Jesus stands upon Olivet twice, once for cursing (Matthew 24), and once for blessing (Matthew 26). After this, it seems He was crucified on this same mountain.³See Seven mountains in Matthew. James Jordan writes:

The Olive Tree is taken as a symbol of Israel, but it is quite a bit more specific than that. The Olive Tree is a symbol of the Temple of God, created by the Holy Spirit, and it is especially a symbol of the Holy of Holies…

…while Jesus was being crucified, the veil of the Temple was ripped in half from the top to the bottom. For this event to have been seen, or its effects perceived, those perceiving it would have to be due east of Jerusalem, on a line with the Temple’s doorways. Luke 23:44-47 indicates that the centurion did perceive this event. It cannot have been the darkening of the sun that shocked the centurion, for that had been going on for three hours. And it could not have been Jesus’ death, because that was an expected event, hardly unusual in the case of crucifixion. Thus, the centurion must have been standing up the slope of Olivet and been able to see westward into the Temple area. This puts the crucifixion on the Mount of Olives.⁴James B. Jordan, Christ in the Holy of Holies, The Meaning of the Mount of Olives.

Moreover, these “World” mountains are the final form of the two bronze “Garden” mountains in Zechariah 6:1. The cultus of the Restoration era had become culture, and its fruit would now be judged.

But what are those two bronze mountains? They are the Bronze Altar of the Temple of Solomon, which had become like the altar of Jeroboam, and would be broken down by a new Josiah (2 Kings 23:15-16). This altar was deconsecrated and split in two, or torn down, and its ashes spilled out. Just as the rocks were split and the veil torn at the crucifixion of Jesus, so now the entire mountain would be split and the “flesh” of Israel divided like the two goats on the Day of Atonement. The fragrant smoke would ascend, and the cursed ashes would be swallowed by the earth. The theme of Maturity is the ascension of fragrant clouds of smoke.

The mountain is split north to south, and the saints move from the east to the west, that is, into the sanctuary of a better Temple, a better Garden, a heavenly country. The mention of Azal possibly links this event with the “Azal” goat on the Day of Atonement. The imagery of the Temple as a humaniform house is also important, since one of the meanings of the original Temple’s bronze pillars was the legs of a glorified Adam. From the air, the Temple and Olivet together formed a giant, cruciform man standing on a holy mountain.

Notice also that the splitting of Olivet and the “de-Ascension” of Zion mirror each other in the chiasm. We must remember that the city described here is becoming a “new Jerusalem,” the one which is above, so the language is shifting from the type to the antitype, from the Jerusalem which was below, in bondage with her children, to the Jerusalem which is above (Galatians 4:25-26).The ascension of the new Jerusalem required the sacrificial offering of the old one. The new Jerusalem, situated in heaven, is thus unassailable.

Notice also that the earthquake and the outflow of living water match each other. The other overlay is that of the rock split in the wilderness, perhaps signifying that this was the final end of the ministry of Moses, the sacrificial offering of all Israel as a blessing to all nations.

OATH/SANCTIONS

ATONEMENT: Zechariah 14:12-15 (Conquest)

The martyrs of the Jew-Gentile “new Jerusalem” having ascended as the “first goat,” judgment is poured out upon the Jew-Gentile harlot-beast, the Herodian/Neronic power structure.

SUCCESSION

BOOTHS: Zechariah 14:16-21 (Glorification)

The Feast of Booths is finally fulfilled in the worship of the nations. But the purified “Israel” under whom they shelter is the body of Christ in heaven. With the Temple and Aaronic priesthood deconsecrated, everything is now sacred. Anyone who “turns back” to the old way is cursed.

Zechariah 12-14 was fulfilled “literally” in a historical sense, but the prophecy itself is “literary,” that is, it requires a deep familiarity with the images and patterns of earlier Scriptures to be understood. The beautiful words of the prophets are not mysterious but revelatory. Under inspiration, they revealed the purpose of the dark sayings, types and symbols of the Torah, and how those architectural blueprints informed the history of Israel, right up to its tragic end.

Art: Vincent Van Gogh, Olive Grove.

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