Zech 14:4 -In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives,
which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives
will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley,
so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other
half toward the south.
This is a very contentions verse for which a huge range of interpretations have been proposed. However, one thing is clear - it has never yet been fulfilled simply because we have never seen, "the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley"
The Cambridge commentary says:
4. the mount of Olives Comp. Acts 1:12. “The mount of Olives is the central eminence of a line of hills, of rather more than a mile in
length, overhanging the city, from which it is separated only by the
narrow bed of the valley of the Brook of Cedron. It rises 187 feet
above mount Zion, 295 above mount Moriah, 443 above Gethsemane, and
lies between the city and the wilderness toward the Dead Sea.” Pusey.
a very great valley The cleft in the mountain which is to form this
valley will run E. and W., and will be caused by the two parts of the
divided mountain moving N. and S.
When this will be fulfilled is another question entirely. Ellicott observes this:
14:1-7 The Lord Jesus often stood upon the Mount of Olives when on
earth. He ascended from thence to heaven, and then desolations and
distresses came upon the Jewish nation. Such is the view taken of this
figuratively; but many consider it as a notice of events yet
unfulfilled, and that it relates to troubles of which we cannot now
form a full idea. Every believer, being related to God as his God, may
triumph in the expectation of Christ's coming in power, and speak of
it with pleasure. During a long season, the state of the church would
be deformed by sin; there would be a mixture of truth and error, of
happiness and misery. Such is the experience of God's people, a
mingled state of grace and corruption. But, when the season is at the
worst, and most unpromising, the Lord will turn darkness into light;
deliverance comes when God's people have done looking for it.
What we can say:
Zech 14:1, 2 appears to be referring to the (then still future) time when Rome would devastate Jerusalem.
However, V3 and onwards appears to be prophesying about another time when God would destroy the nations that gather to fight against Jerusalem. Whatever we make of this passage, it appears to drawn upon by the last chapters of the book of Revelation. For example:
- Rev 20:8, 9 appears to allude to Zech 14:3
- Rev 21:22-24 appears to allude to Zech 14:6
- Rev 22:1, 2 appears to allude to Zech 14:6, 7
Again, there is very little agreement about anything more specific about these final prophecies of Zechariah.
