John Calvin Commentary Zechariah 14

Zechariah here amplifies God's favor: that He will go forth openly and publicly wage war against all the enemies of Jerusalem. Indeed, it was no small comfort for their troubles that a part of the Church would be saved. But the Prophet declares here what is still far better: that when God afflicted His Church and allowed it to be violently assailed by enemies, He would at last become the avenger of all the wrongs they might have done.

We know how we are wounded and tried when God gives free rein to the ungodly, and when they grow unrestrained in their wickedness and triumph, insult God, and, as it were, almost spit at the very clouds. Therefore, when the ungodly exult so insolently, and God in the meantime hides Himself and is still, it is difficult to wait patiently for the outcome. Hence, the Prophet promises that God will become the avenger, after having allowed His Church to be chastised for a time by ungodly and wicked enemies.

Go forth, he says, shall Jehovah. We know the meaning of this metaphorical expression. The Prophets sometimes extend the phrase, “Go forth shall God from His holy place,” as though they said: that the Jews would find by experience that God’s name is not invoked in vain in His temple, and that it has not been said in vain that God is seated between the cherubim. But the Prophet seems here to speak of God generally, as going forth armed from His hidden place to resist the enemies of His Church.

Go forth then shall God; for He had for a time concealed His power. Similarly, we know that God hides His face from us when He brings us no help, and when we also think that we are neglected by Him. Since God, as long as He hides His power, seems to be without power, the Prophet therefore says here, Go forth shall Jehovah, and he will fight against these nations.

By these words he intimates that there is no reason for the faithful to envy their enemies, even when all things go on prosperously with them; for they will at last find that they cannot injure the Church without God undertaking its cause, according to what He has promised:

I will be an enemy to thine enemies (Exodus 23:22).

But as this is difficult to believe, he recalls ancient history:

As in the day, he says, in which he fought in the day of battle. Some confine this part to the passage through the Red Sea; but I think that Zechariah includes all the instances where God had shown the Jews that they were the objects of His care.

God then, not only once, not at one time, nor in one manner, had put forth His power, so that the Jews might plainly see that they became conquerors through His aid. This is what Zechariah means. He in effect says, “Both you and your fathers have long ago found that God is accustomed to fight for His Church; for He has honored you with innumerable victories; you have often been overwhelmed with despair, and His favor unexpectedly shone upon you and delivered you beyond all that you hoped for. You often had to contend with the strongest enemies; they were put to flight, even when you were wholly unequal to them in number, and yet God bestowed upon you easy victories. Since then God has so often and in such various ways cast down your enemies, why should you not hope for the same aid still from Him?”

Thus we see why the Prophet now refers to the ancient battles of God: namely, that he might by facts confirm the Jews in their hope, and that they might not doubt that God was endowed with power sufficiently strong to subdue all the ungodly, for He loses none.

And he adds, in the day of battle, meaning when there is need of help from heaven. He indeed calls it the day of engagement or contest, for so the word קרב, koreb, properly means.

Therefore, when it was necessary for God to engage with enemies, then His power appeared: “There is therefore no reason for you hereafter to doubt that He will still prevail against your enemies.” We know that this way of speaking is frequently and commonly used by the Prophets, that is, when they present examples of God’s favor and power, by which He has proved that in Him alone is sufficient help for the deliverance of His Church.

It behooves us now to apply to ourselves what is said here, for Zechariah did not only speak for the people of his age, or for those of the next generation, but he intended to furnish the Church with confidence until the end of the world, so that the faithful might not faint under any trials.

Whenever, then, the ungodly prevail, and no hope shines on us, let us remember how often and by what various means God has wonderfully delivered His Church, as it were, from death; for it was not His purpose only once to help and aid His own people, but also to encourage us, so that we today may not lose heart when we endure evils with which the fathers formerly struggled. He then adds:

He continues the same subject: that God’s power would then be conspicuous in putting enemies to flight. He indeed illustrates his discourse here with figurative expressions, as if he wished to bring the Jews to see the scene itself. For the object of the personification is simply that the faithful might set God before them as if in a visible form.

Thus, he confirms their faith, as indeed it was necessary. For since we are dull and entangled in earthly thoughts, our minds can hardly rise up to heaven, even though the Lord with a clear voice invites us to Himself. The Prophet then, to aid our weakness, adds a vivid representation, as if God stood before their eyes.

Stand, he says, shall His feet on the Mount of Olives. He does not here promise a miracle, such as even the ignorant might conceive to be literal. Nor does he do this in what follows, when he says, The mount shall be rent, and half of it shall turn to the east and half to the west. This has never happened; that mount has never been rent. But as the Prophet could not, under those grievous trials which might have overwhelmed the minds of the godly a hundred times, have extolled the power of God as much as the urgency of the case required without employing highly figurative language, he therefore accommodates himself, as I have said, to the capacity of our flesh.

The meaning of all this is that God’s power would be so remarkable in the deliverance of His Church that it would be as if God manifested Himself in a visible form, reviewed the battle from the top of the mountain, and gave orders about how everything was to be done.

First, he says, Stand shall His feet on the Mount of Olives. Why does he not rather say, “In the city itself?” It is because by this way of speaking he meant to show that God would watch, so that He might see what would be necessary for the deliverance of His Church.

All these things, I know, are explained allegorically—for example, that Christ appeared on the Mount of Olives when He ascended into heaven, and also that the mount was divided so that it might be passable, and so that the apostles might proceed into the various parts of the world in order to assail all the nations. But these are refinements that, though they please many, still have nothing solid in them when anyone properly considers them. I then take a simpler view of what the Prophet says: that God’s hand would be sufficiently conspicuous whenever His purpose was to aid His miserable and afflicted Church.

The same view is to be taken of what follows: that a great valley would be in the middle, for the rent would be one half towards the north and the other half towards the south. It is as if he had said that Jerusalem was, so to speak, concealed under that mountain, so that it was hidden, but that afterwards it would be on an elevated place.

This is similar to what is said elsewhere: Elevated shall be the mountain of the Lord, say both Isaiah and Micah, above all mountains (Isaiah 2:2; Micah 4:1). That hill, we know, was small; yet Isaiah and Micah promise such a height as will surpass almost the very clouds.

What does this mean? Simply that the glory of the God of Jerusalem will be so great that His temple will be visible above all other heights. So also in this place, Rent, he says, shall be the Mount of Olives, so that Jerusalem may not be as before in a shaded valley, having only a small hill on one side, but that it may be seen far and wide, so that all nations may behold it. This, I think, is what the Prophet simply means. But those who delight in allegories must seek them from others.

The Prophet says again, that God’s presence would be terrifying, so that it would put all the Jews to flight; for though God promises to be the deliverer of His chosen people, yet as there were still hypocrites mixed with them, His language varies. But we must further observe, that though the Lord may appear for our deliverance, it is still inevitable that His majesty will strike us with fear, for the flesh must be humbled before God.

What the Prophet then says is essentially that the coming of God, which he had just mentioned, would be terrifying to all—not only to open enemies whom He would come to destroy, but also to the faithful, though they knew that He would exert His power to save them.

And thus the Prophet seems to reason from the lesser to the greater: for if the faithful, who look anxiously for God, yet tremble and quake at His presence, what must happen to His enemies, who know that He is against them? As, then, the Prophet here urges the faithful to be prepared to reverently look for God, so also he shows that God will be terrifying to all the ungodly, in order that the elect might not hesitate to flee to His aid and to rely on Him.

Flee, he says, shall ye through the valley of the mountains. Some imagine this to have been a valley so called because it was very long, stretching through chains of mountains; but we read nothing of this in Scripture. It seems to me probable that “valleys of the mountains” was the name given to all those places that were rough, impassable, and intricate.

Since, then, there was much wood and no easy passage through these regions, the Prophet says that there would be a long valley, which had never existed before, but which the rending he had spoken of would produce. And for the same purpose he adds, Reach shall the valley of the mountains to Azal.

I think this is a proper name of a place; yet some translate it as “next,” but I do not see for what reason. The meaning then is that where there were previously many hills that were not passable, or even mountains through which it was difficult to penetrate, there would be one continuous and level valley to a very distant place.

And he says that the flight would be hasty, as in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah; for it appears from sacred history that Judah was then shaken by a terrifying earthquake. The Jews, as they are bold in their conjectures, suppose that this happened when Uzziah approached the altar to burn incense to God; and Jerome has followed them.

But at what time that earthquake happened is not certain. Amos says that he began to prophesy two years after an earthquake (Amos 1:1), but we do not read anywhere for what cause the earth was then shaken. And yet we learn from this as well as from other passages that it was a dreadful sign and presage of God’s vengeance.

God then intended to announce to the Jews a dreadful calamity when He thus shook the earth. And for the same purpose, Zechariah now also says that the flight would be precipitous, as when the Jews took to flight, as it were in extreme despair, in the time of Uzziah.

As, then, ye fled from the earthquake, so shall ye flee now. A long time had indeed passed between the death of Uzziah and the return of the people; hence the Prophet intimates that it would be an unusual calamity, for nothing like it had happened that had caused so much terror to the Jews for many ages.

But we must remember what I have said—that this coming of God is not described as terrifying for the purpose of threatening the Jews, but rather to show that the ungodly would not be able to stand in the presence of God, as He would terrify even those for whose aid He would come forth. And we must also observe what has been stated: that God varies His address through His Prophets. For now He speaks to the whole Church, in which hypocrites are mixed with the sincere, and so threats must be blended with promises; and then, He directs His words especially to the elect alone, to whom He manifests His favor.

Finally, he says, And come shall Jehovah, my God. The Prophet repeats what he had said shortly before—that God’s power would be made evident to the Jews, as if they saw it with their own eyes. There is indeed no need to suppose that God would actually descend from heaven; but he teaches us, as I have said, that though God’s power would be hidden for a time, it would at length appear in the deliverance of His elect, as if God descended from heaven for that purpose.

He calls Him his God in order to gain more credit for his prophecy. He no doubt thus courageously assailed all the ungodly, to whom promises as well as threats were a mockery; and he also intended to support the minds of the godly, that they might not doubt that this was promised to them from above, though they heard only the voice of a mortal man.

The Prophet then with great confidence claims God here as his God, as if he were saying that there was no reason for them to judge what he said by any worldly circumstance or by his person. In short, he declares here that he was sent from above, that he did not rashly intrude himself to promise anything he himself had invented, but that he had received a divine mission, so that he represented God Himself.

And this also is the purpose of the conclusion, which has been overlooked by some: All the saints with thee. There seems to be here a kind of indignation, as though the Prophet turned away from his hearers, whom he observed to be somewhat prepared to obstinately reject his heavenly doctrine; for he turns his discourse to God.

The sentence indeed seems to lose a portion of its gracefulness when the Prophet speaks so abruptly, Come shall Jehovah my God, all the saints with thee. He might have said, “all the saints with Him,” but as I have said, he addresses God, as though he could not, on account of disgust, speak to malignant and perverse men. This greatly serves to confirm the authority of his prophecy, for he not only boldly declares to men what was to come, but also appeals to God as his witness.

Indeed, he seems as though he had derived by a secret and familiar conversation what he certainly knew was entrusted to him by God. By “saints,” I think, he means the angels, for to include the holy patriarchs and kings would seem unnatural and far-fetched. And angels, we know, are called saints or holy in other places, as we have seen in the third chapter of Habakkuk (Habakkuk 3:1); and they are sometimes called elect angels. In short, the Prophet shows that the coming of God would be magnificent; He would descend, as it were, in a visible manner together with His angels, so that people’s minds might be roused to admiration and wonder. This is the meaning.

Here is added a more cheering prophecy—that the grace of God would still prevail. Whatever evils, troubles, dangers, fears, and diseases awaited the faithful, he still says that in such miseries they would still be made happy. And this should be carefully observed, for nothing can be more suitably found to alleviate our sorrows than to weigh God’s benefits on one side against the punishments and chastisements He brings on us on the other; for since God’s mercy and kindness always greatly outweigh them, we will surely be able to say with holy Job,

“If good things have we received from the Lord’s hand,
why should we refuse evil things?” (Job 2:10).

This, then, is what Zechariah sets before us—that though the Church may be harassed by many cares, subject to many fears, terrified by many dangers, and be, as it were, in trepidation, yet the grace of God, if rightly viewed, is sufficient to provide invaluable comfort, for go forth shall living waters from Jerusalem.

This prophecy undoubtedly refers to the kingdom of Christ, and this can be sufficiently proven by other passages. The Prophet, then, has until now spoken of the many afflictions which were near at hand, so that the Jews might not faint or entirely fail. But he now directs their minds to the kingdom of Christ, from where they were to look for not only deliverance from all evils but also the full restitution of the Church and, as it were, the renovation of the world.

There is undoubtedly an implied contrast here between living waters and those that soon dry up; hence he says that they would flow continually, summer and winter. Judea, we know, was prone to water shortages, and there were no significant water sources around Jerusalem except the spring of Siloam, which had abundant water and supplied the needs of the citizens. But the Prophet promises living waters, which would not be like occasional streams, but flow continually.

At the same time, he seems to regard something higher. Since by “living waters” he understands those that are spiritual, he compares these waters with all earthly streams, as though he had said, “The fountain from which the two streams arise is inexhaustible, so that its abundance will never fail but will send forth streams from one sea to the opposite sea and will water the farthest regions of the earth.”

Many understand the eastern sea to be the Lake Asphaltites (the Dead Sea), but it seems to me more probable that the Prophet speaks of the Persian Gulf. For if he had said that the waters would go forth to that lake, the distance would be very short; but he meant, on the contrary, to show that the volume of the waters would be so large and abundant that though they would pass through the whole earth, their flow would never cease. By the hinder sea he undoubtedly meant the Mediterranean.

The meaning of the whole is this: though the earth were previously dry, yet the abundance of waters would be so great as to be sufficient for all—not only, as in former times, for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, but also for all the Jews, in whatever part of the country they might dwell.

Now, since the language is metaphorical, we must remember what I have recently said—that the spiritual grace of God is set forth here. Nor is it a new thing to apply the term “waters” to the Spirit of God:

“I will pour forth waters on the dry land
and rivers on the thirsty land” (Isaiah 44:3).

and again,

“I will give clean waters” (Ezekiel 36:25).

There is a twofold reason why Scripture gives the name “waters” to the Holy Spirit—because He performs the two functions of cleansing and watering. For we are like barren and dry land, unless the Lord by His Spirit from heaven gives us new vigor and conveys moisture to us.

Just as the earth derives moisture from heaven so that it may produce fruit, so also whatever vigor we may possess must be conferred on us by the hidden power of the Spirit. Since, then, Zechariah promises a fountain of living waters, he understands that God’s grace would be offered to all the Jews, so that they might drink and be satisfied, and no longer be exposed, as formerly, to water shortages.

If anyone objects and says that this interpretation seems forced, the answer is readily available, which is this: since it is certain that the prophet here speaks of the kingdom of Christ, this rule is to be remembered: whatever is foretold of Christ’s kingdom must correspond with its nature and character.

Since, then, the kingdom of Christ is spiritual, there is no doubt that when Scripture, as we have seen, promises a large harvest of grain and wine, an abundance of all good things, tranquility and peace, and bright days, it intends by all these things to set forth the character of Christ’s kingdom.

We therefore see what the prophet means by living waters; then, why he says that they would go forth to the east and to the west; and lastly, why he adds that they would flow in winter as well as in summer.

Here the prophet shows more clearly, and without using figurative language, what might otherwise be more obscure: he says that Jehovah would be king. Here Zechariah compares the kingdom of Christ with those periods of misery and calamities which had preceded and which had continued until the coming of Christ.

We indeed know that there had been the most dreadful scattering throughout the whole land since the time the ten tribes separated from the family of David; for since the body of the people ceased to be one, they willfully contrived ruin for themselves. When, therefore, the Israelites fought against Judah, the wrath of God appeared, the fruit of their defection.

We indeed know that David was not made king by the consent of men but was chosen by the decree of God. Therefore, when the kingdom of Israel departed from the son of David, it was as if they had refused to bear the authority of God Himself, according to what He said to Samuel,

Thee have they not despised, but me,
that I should not reign over them (1 Samuel 8:7).

And yet Samuel was only a governor for a time over the people. But when the people, through foolish zeal, then wished for a king to be given to them, God complains that He was despised in not being allowed to reign over them alone.

This was more fully completed when the ten tribes separated themselves from the lawful kingdom which God Himself had established and had commanded to be inviolable. Therefore, from that time God was not their king. This is one thing.

Afterwards, we know that the kings of Israel joined with the kings of Syria to overthrow the kingdom of Judah, and that the Jews also sent for aid to the Assyrians and afterward resorted to the Egyptians. Eventually, the kingdom of Israel was cut off; then the kingdom of Judah, and the city was destroyed and the temple was burned, so that the worship of God ceased for a time.

They returned afterward, but we know they were always oppressed by harsh and cruel tyranny, as they perceived they were unprotected because they had refused to take shelter under the wings of God. Though He had so often told them that they would be safe and secure under His protection, they still refused that favor. Therefore, the Jews then learned to their great loss that God was not their king.

Therefore, when Zechariah now speaks of the restoration of the Church, he rightly says that Jehovah would be king. This means that although the Jews had been torn apart and pillaged by tyrants, and though they had suffered many reproaches and wrongs, yet God would again become their king, so that He might defend them against all unjust violence and keep them under His protection. Nothing indeed can be more blessed than to live under the reign of God, and this highest happiness is always promised to the faithful.

We now understand the Prophet’s meaning regarding this part. But he shows immediately afterward that this cannot be hoped for unless the Jews really attended to true religion, worshipped God rightly, and cast away their superstitions. Therefore, he joins together these two things: first, that the condition of the people would be a happy one, because God would undertake their care and perform the office of a king; and second, that God would be their king so that He might be rightly and sincerely worshipped by them. There shall be, he says, one Jehovah.

Here the Prophet briefly shows that the legitimate worship of God cannot be established unless superstition is abolished. We indeed know that God is jealous, as He calls Himself, so that He cannot bear rivals; for when we devise for ourselves any sort of deity, we instantly take from God what is His own.

The Prophet then teaches us that God cannot be truly worshipped unless He shines alone as the supreme, so that our religion may be pure and sound. In short, he here indirectly condemns those superstitions by which the earth had been corrupted and polluted, and also the superstitions by which true religion had been adulterated and the worship under the law had been violated. For this reason he says that Jehovah would be one.

He expresses this still more clearly by saying that His name would be one. This second clause may indeed appear useless, for whatever can be said of God is comprehended in His oneness.

But as we are accustomed to cover superstitions by various artifices and always devise new excuses and new disguises by which our impiety may seem specious and plausible, the Prophet expressly adds here that God’s name is one;

It is as if he had said, “It is not enough for men to declare that they acknowledge one true God or one supreme deity, unless they also agree in some true and simple faith, so that the name of this one true God may be celebrated on the earth.” But the Prophet’s idea will become clearer if we notice the difference between the one true God and the name of the only true God, or the one name of God.

All the philosophers unanimously teach that there are not many gods, but some supreme deity who is the source of divinity; and this is what has been believed by all heathen nations. But over time they began to imagine that from this source many gods have emanated. From this has come a multitude of false gods, so that some worshipped Jupiter, others Mercury, others Apollo; not because they thought that there are many gods partaking of original divinity, but because they imagined that gods have proceeded from the supreme fountain.

Since, then, the Jews might have sought subterfuges and excused themselves by saying that in their hearts they did not worship many gods, the Prophet adds the second clause—that the name of God is one. This phrase means that there is a certain way in which God is to be worshipped and a certain fixed rule, so that no one is to follow what he himself may imagine to be right; and that the majesty of God ought not to be profaned by various errors, nor should men be lost, each in his own notion, but rather all ought to attend to the voice of God and to hear what He testifies of Himself.

We now, therefore, understand what the Prophet means: he says, first, that things would be in a happy state in Judea when God would be regarded as one—that is, when the whole land had been cleansed from its defilements and when true religion again prevailed.

But as this purity would not easily gain a foothold in the world, and as men easily turn away from it, he adds that the name of God would be one, so that the Jews might understand that God cannot be rightly worshipped unless He is worshipped alone.

And His name cannot be one unless there is one faith—prescribed and certain, and not wavering between diverse opinions like that of the heathens, whose religion is nothing other than following what they themselves imagine or what they have derived from their ancestors.

Now this is a remarkable passage: God distinguishes Himself from all idols and His worship from all superstitions. Therefore, we ought to consider more attentively what the Prophet teaches us, because our inclination to vanity, as I have said, is so great (as experience itself sufficiently shows), and we also see how easily superstition, like a whirlwind, carries us away—and not only one superstition, but innumerable kinds of superstition.

It is therefore all the more important for us to notice this truth, so that the one name of God may prevail among us, and that no one may allow himself the liberty of imagining anything he pleases, but that we may know the God whom we ought to worship. And Christ also, for this reason, condemns all the forms of worship which prevailed in the world, by saying to the woman of Samaria,

Ye know not what ye worship; we Jews alone, He says,
know this (John 4:22).

Therefore, we see that this one thing is sufficient to condemn all superstitions: that is, when men follow their own fancies and do not observe a fixed and unchangeable rule, which cannot deceive.