Zech. 12, What Things Must be Fulfilled? (1)

We are still looking at the Olivet Discourse from a distance, getting the broad picture.  We will eventually take it verse by verse.  As somewhat of a “summary” of the last few posts, let’s consider the second question that the disciples asked Jesus in Mark 13:4: “What will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?”  Again, “these things” cannot be limited to the destruction of the temple in 70AD because Jesus understands the question to go beyond that.  70AD is “not the end.”  There will be a time of great tribulation, after which the end will come.  The end is said to be when He returns, in the clouds, in power and glory.

So specifically, what things must be fulfilled?  We have talked about this word, that it refers to the coming together and completion of various aspects of one event.  For example, it is used in Mt. 7:28 at the end of the Sermon on the Mount.  Jesus taught on various subjects, but when Jesus ended these sayings everyone was astonished at His teaching.  There was one body of teaching, but various strands or aspects of His kingdom were talked about.  So in the Discourse.  The disciples want to know about the “end” when Jesus returns, but they have some thought that there are several things that will come together at that time. 

They did not tell us what these things were.  But we can ask the question and, by searching the Scriptures, we can come up with our own list.  For example, in the last post we saw 6 aspects to the “times of the Gentiles.”  From that list we could say …

1)    The trampling of Jerusalem by the nations will come to an end; Christ will rule the nations from Jerusalem.

2)    The succession of world empires will come to an end with the establishment of the eternal kingdom of Messiah, the kingdom given to Him by His Father, the “Ancient of Days” (Dan. 7:11-14,27).

3)    Burdensome Israel in Zech. 12:2-3 is followed by a nation of Israel that is ascendent over the nations (12:4-7).

4)    Israel will be cleansed and saved by the Lord so that they will no longer be living in constant fear but will live in the strength and provision of their God.

5)    The gospel will have been preached to all the nations.

6)    The nations will no longer be God’s tool to chasten Israel, but rather the nations will be part of the kingdom of Messiah.

We do see in Scripture that these things will all come together when Christ returns.  But there is another way to understand “these things” which we will consider in our next post.