This last chapter of Zechariah describes events that will happen before Jesus’ second coming.

Among the events described, there was one description that puzzled me – when God says:

“For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle…”

(Zech 14:2a)

Why does God want to gather all the nations to fight against Jerusalem, i.e. His church (Heb 12:22-23)? Isn’t God’s will for all of us, believers, to be saved (Jn 3:16)? Why does He seemingly want to make an end of us, during the end times?

As the world ends, God filters for the people whose hearts are ready for heaven.

These are the true believers who, despite persecution and losing their spiritual leaders, still hold on to their faith in God; they continue to seek and surrender to Him, even when their faith is being tested (Zech 13:7-9).

This also includes former unbelieving nations who, after being subdued by God, choose to surrender and submit to God as their King (Zech 14:3, 9).

As for the “diamond-hearted” (Zech 7:12), they will not survive.

Even without physical persecution, as long as the people’s hearts remain diamond-hard to God’s words and they continue their smooth-sailing lives of sin, these people are simply adding to God’s wrath which will eventually be unleashed upon them in His final judgement (Rom 2:5).

Moreover, when it comes to the diamond-hearted, there are other parts of the Bible that describe God’s response to such people, with similar connotations as Zechariah 14:2a – for example, God “gives them over” to their wicked minds (Rom 1:28); God “sends them a strong delusion” when they prefer unrighteous lies over God’s truth (2 Thess 2:10-12). In Zechariah 14:2a, the nations are stirred up against God’s people because of their hard-heartedness, just like how Pharaoh was stirred up against Moses and the Israelites when he refused to let them go. When man is diamond-hearted to God’s rule, God does not resort to tyranny to make His sovereignty known. Instead, He patiently waits for man to heed His calls for repentance (2 Pet 3:9). But if man chooses impenitence, God waits on His judgement seat.

What does this mean for us?

Zechariah 14:16 says (bold = emphasis):

“Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of the Booths.”

Survive God’s great filtering – this means diligently fighting off anything from the world that makes us waver in our faithfulness to the King of kings.

Also, pairing our efforts with this faith: that Jesus will save us to the uttermost, so long as we always draw near to Him and let Him ‘tenderise’ our hearts with His word and Spirit (Heb 7:25). 🫀