“And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.”
My Notes
What Does Zechariah 14:16 Mean?
Zechariah 14:16 envisions former enemies becoming worshippers: "Every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles."
The survivors of the nations that attacked Jerusalem don't just stop fighting. They start worshipping. They go up — alah, the Hebrew term for pilgrimage to Jerusalem — annually, to worship the King and keep Sukkot (Tabernacles). The feast of tabernacles celebrated Israel's wilderness journey and God's provision — living in temporary shelters to remember dependence on God. Now the nations participate in Israel's memory. The particular feast of a particular people becomes the universal worship of all peoples.
The phrase "every one that is left" — kol hannothar — means these are survivors. They came against Jerusalem. They lost. And instead of being destroyed, they were converted. The enemy of verse 2 becomes the worshipper of verse 16. Zechariah's eschatology doesn't end in annihilation. It ends in transformation. The nations that fought God end up feasting with Him.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Is there someone you've written off as permanently opposed to God? How does this vision of enemies becoming worshippers challenge that?
- 2.The nations keep Tabernacles — the feast of dependence and pilgrimage. What does it mean that former enemies learn to celebrate vulnerability?
- 3.Zechariah's apocalypse ends not in total destruction but in transformation. Does that match your expectations of how God deals with His enemies?
- 4.What 'enemy' in your own life might God be in the process of converting rather than destroying?
Devotional
The nations that attacked Jerusalem end up worshipping there. That's the plot twist at the end of Zechariah's apocalypse. Not total destruction of the enemy. Transformation of the enemy into a worshipper.
This is the most hopeful vision of the future you'll find anywhere in the prophets. The people who came against God's city — who fought against His purposes, who aligned themselves against everything He stood for — don't all perish. Some survive. And the survivors don't just cease hostilities. They take up pilgrimage. They keep the feast. They worship the King.
Tabernacles is the feast they keep. Not Passover (deliverance from judgment) or Pentecost (receiving the law). Tabernacles — the feast of temporary shelters, of remembering that you're a pilgrim, of celebrating God's provision in the wilderness. The nations who once trusted their own power now live in booths, confessing their dependence. The warriors become pilgrims.
If there's someone in your life who is currently an enemy of everything you believe — someone who opposes God, who fights against what you stand for, who you've written off as permanently hostile — Zechariah says: not necessarily. The attacker can become the worshipper. The enemy can become the pilgrim. Don't write the final chapter for anyone. God specializes in turning armies into congregations.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And it shall come to pass,.... After the plague on man and beast is over:
that everyone that is left of all the…
Every one that is left of the nations - God so gives the repentance, even through His visitations, that, in proportion…
Shall even go up from year to year - The Jews had three grand original festivals, which characterized different epochs…
Three things are here foretold: -
I. That a gospel-way of worship being set up in the church there shall be a great…
The Homage of the Residue of the Nations
The deliverance of Israel and judgments on her enemies shall have a converting…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture