Zec 14:16-19 | KingComments | STEP | After all enemies have been judged, i.e. the enemy armies of the heathen peoples, the realm of peace can begin. “any who are left of all the nations” will go up annually to Jerusalem for the feasts ( ). Of all the feasts of the LORD mentioned in Leviticus 23, the Feast of Booths is mentioned by name. It is the last feast of the cycles of feasts. It is celebrated when the whole harvest has been brought in. It is the last and the culmination of all feasts. The Feast of Booths is mentioned here because this feast itself finds its fulfilment in the millennial realm of peace. During the feast, the wilderness journey of the people is remembered and also the more than two thousand years that the people have wandered through the wilderness of the peoples. All the nations, the rest of them, the nations which the Lord Jesus calls ‘sheep’ ( ), celebrate it with them, most probably through a delegation which they send to Jerusalem. They will worship the Messiah. In the realm of peace, it is still necessary to rule in order to restrain sin. It is not yet the perfect state. On families that do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the LORD, no rain will fall. As a result, there will be no harvest for them ( ). Of the heathen peoples, Egypt is specially mentioned ( ). We should not infer from these verses that at the time of the completion of the kingdom of God there will still be heathens who will refrain from worshiping the true God. The idea is simply that there will then be no more room for heathenism within the sphere of the kingdom of God. We see this emphatically in the two following verses that form the end of this chapter and this book, where all unholy things will be removed from the kingdom. The application of the Feast of Booths for us is that the Lord Jesus appreciates it when we think back to what He did on the cross. We do this on earth especially when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper and proclaim the Lord’s death. We will remember for all eternity what He did because we will always see the Lamb standing, as if slain ( ).

‏ Zechariah 14:16-19

The Feast of Booths

After all enemies have been judged, i.e. the enemy armies of the heathen peoples, the realm of peace can begin. “any who are left of all the nations” will go up annually to Jerusalem for the feasts (Zec 14:16). Of all the feasts of the LORD mentioned in Leviticus 23, the Feast of Booths is mentioned by name. It is the last feast of the cycles of feasts. It is celebrated when the whole harvest has been brought in. It is the last and the culmination of all feasts.

The Feast of Booths is mentioned here because this feast itself finds its fulfilment in the millennial realm of peace. During the feast, the wilderness journey of the people is remembered and also the more than two thousand years that the people have wandered through the wilderness of the peoples. All the nations, the rest of them, the nations which the Lord Jesus calls ‘sheep’ (Mt 25:31-40), celebrate it with them, most probably through a delegation which they send to Jerusalem. They will worship the Messiah.

In the realm of peace, it is still necessary to rule in order to restrain sin. It is not yet the perfect state. On families that do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the LORD, no rain will fall. As a result, there will be no harvest for them (Zec 14:17). Of the heathen peoples, Egypt is specially mentioned (Zec 14:18-19).

We should not infer from these verses that at the time of the completion of the kingdom of God there will still be heathens who will refrain from worshiping the true God. The idea is simply that there will then be no more room for heathenism within the sphere of the kingdom of God. We see this emphatically in the two following verses that form the end of this chapter and this book, where all unholy things will be removed from the kingdom.

The application of the Feast of Booths for us is that the Lord Jesus appreciates it when we think back to what He did on the cross. We do this on earth especially when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper and proclaim the Lord’s death. We will remember for all eternity what He did because we will always see the Lamb standing, as if slain (Rev 5:6).