The Destroyers of Jerusalem Destroyed

A day of the LORD comes in which Jerusalem's plunder is divided in her sight and the gathered nations take the city, ravage its houses, and drive part of its people into exile. Then the LORD Himself goes out to fight those nations, standing on the Mount of Olives so that it splits and forms a valley of escape. The people flee through that valley as in the days of a remembered earthquake, and the LORD comes with all His holy ones. The paragraph moves from severe crisis to divine intervention and rescued remnant.

B¹ehold, a day of the LORD is coming when your plunder will be divided in your presence. ²For I will gather all the nations for battle against Jerusalem, and the city will be captured, the houses looted, and the women ravished. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be removed from the city. ³Then 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.

The day of the LORD is marked by a unique alteration of the natural order, with an extraordinary light unlike ordinary day or night. Living waters flow from Jerusalem toward east and west in every season, and the LORD alone is openly acknowledged as King over all the earth. The land is reshaped, Jerusalem is raised up and fixed securely in her place, and the threat of utter destruction is removed so that the city dwells in safety. The paragraph broadens the battle scene into a vision of transformed creation and enthroned kingship.

⁶On that day there will be no light, no cold or frost. ⁷It will be a unique day known only to the LORD, without day or night; but when evening comes, there will be light. ⁸And 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. ⁹On that day the LORD will become King over all the earth— the LORD alone, and His name alone. ¹⁰All the land from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem will be turned into a plain, but Jerusalem will be raised up and will remain in her place, from the Benjamin Gate to the site of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses. ¹¹People will live there, and never again will there be an utter destruction. So Jerusalem will dwell securely.

The nations that fought against Jerusalem are struck by a terrifying plague that consumes them while they stand, and a panic from the LORD turns them against one another. Judah also fights at Jerusalem, and the wealth of the surrounding nations is gathered in abundance. Even the animals in the enemy camps come under a corresponding plague. The paragraph makes clear that the destroyers of Jerusalem are themselves overturned by the LORD's judgment.

¹²And this will be the plague with which the LORD strikes all the peoples 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. ¹³On that day a great panic from the LORD will come upon them, so that each will seize the hand of another, and the hand of one will rise against the other. ¹⁴Judah will also fight at Jerusalem, and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected — gold, silver, and apparel in great abundance. ¹⁵And a similar plague will strike the horses and mules, camels and donkeys, and all the animals in those camps.