Zechariah 14:16

ZECHARIAH 14:16

16 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.

Nations had already come against Jerusalem. That is how the Jews came to be taken captive!

One day God eventually gave the Jews victory over all their enemies though - in all 127 provinces spanning from Ethiopia to India. The Bible even lists the numbers who were killed.

Many Gentiles in those nations became proselytes to Judaism during those years (the books of Daniel and Esther give us the history);

Then after the Jews' return from captivity, those proselytes began making annual pilgrimages to Jerusalem to keep the Feast. (Examples are described as late in history as Acts chapters 2 & 8. Many of the nations are even named.)

When you think about it, not one of those Kingdoms which had oppressed Jerusalem still exist any more!

And needless to say, no-one has made pilgrimages to any Temple at Jerusalem to keep the Feast for the past 2,000 years almost.

The fulfilment of that detail of Zechariah's prophecy is in the past.

So also is the fulfilment of the detail of his prophecy which described Messiah's first coming.

Zechariah's prophecies set the stage of history on which Messiah was to come - and He did come, Jesus Christ.

All we wait for now is His second coming, which is also something all the Prophets foresaw.

This is called "rightly dividing the word" - using New Testament teaching as our guide.

Without the New Testament, we can't accurately apply the various details in Old Testament prophecy.