And it shall come to pass, that all that are left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, Jehovah of hosts, and to celebrate the feast of tabernacles.
Zechariah's last chapter moves from armies closing in on Jerusalem to the Lord Himself reigning as King over all the earth. This verse asks who is left alive when that is over, who this King is, and why the nations must keep one Israelite feast.
Left over from what? One writer says the number will be small, because the fighting earlier in the chapter reaches every nation:
The king of the north may have a special part in this attack on Jerusalem. But all the nations will be involved, as verse 2 says. So these huge judgments of war will be felt far and wide, in every direction. That is why verse 16 uses the words "every one that is left." We believe this means that only a very small part of mankind will be left.
These survivors come from the nations that attacked the city. Another writer names what they are spared for:
The remnant spared among the nations will come up to Jerusalem, to the feast that celebrates God's people entering into their rest.
The verse gives two titles to one person. He holds the throne promised to David's line, and He bears the name of God Himself:
The King is no one other than Jesus of Nazareth. When the angel announced His birth, he said that the Lord God would give Him the throne of His father David (Luke 1). And yet, as the Spirit of God loves to show, He is also Jehovah Sabaoth, the Lord of hosts. He was once here as a root out of dry ground, with no beauty that the natural eye could see, the lowly man of Nazareth. In the coming age, exalted and glorified as King over all the earth, He will be the One all nations adore and worship.
The ESV calls it the Feast of Booths; older translations, and the writers here, call it the Feast of Tabernacles. It closed the farming year, and it pointed forward:
They lived in booths for seven days and kept the feast after they had gathered in their grain, wine, and oil. They rested and rejoiced when the year's work was over. It was a picture of the rest that is still to come, and of the joy that will come when all their troubles on earth are over and Messiah is reigning over them... Passover concerns the redeemed of the Lord, and Pentecost concerns in a special way those who are called out for heaven. But Tabernacles will concern everyone on earth who has had dealings with Jerusalem in the past.
This feast is not the first thing to happen. One writer points to what must come before it:
The true feast of tabernacles, the final feast, will not be kept until a time still future, as Zechariah 14:16 shows. And when it comes, the great day of atonement will come first (Zech. 12:10-14). We do not find that day in Ezra, or in Nehemiah, or in the gospels.
Worship here is not left to choice, and only one of Israel's feasts is named:
The Lord does not force anyone to worship Him. Many people in this world have great material wealth and still refuse to worship the Lord. Right now He sends rain on the just and on the unjust (Matt. 5:45). In the time that is coming, if the nations do not obey and go up to worship the King and keep the Feast of Tabernacles, they will get no rain. How remarkable that they are not told to keep the Feast of the Passover or Pentecost, but only the Feast of Tabernacles.
Commentators differ on what that silence proves. One holds that Passover will still be kept then:
The Passover is missing here, but we have no right to conclude that it will not be kept then. The end of Ezekiel plainly speaks of the same time and the same circumstances, and it shows that the Passover will be kept as well as the feast of Tabernacles — but not Pentecost.
Some read all of this as picture language only. One writer objects:
What a scene! Who would want to rob it of its own beauty by a vague way of interpreting that is wrongly called spiritualizing? Surely Jerusalem means Jerusalem, nations mean nations, and the feast of tabernacles means the feast of tabernacles.
- Left — the worshippers are survivors of the nations that attacked Jerusalem; only a small part of mankind will remain.
- Spared — those spared come up to Jerusalem, to the feast that celebrates God's people entering their rest.
- King — the One they worship is Jesus of Nazareth, who receives David's throne and is also the Lord of hosts.
- Feast — Booths marked rest after the harvest was gathered in. It concerns everyone on earth, and it follows the great day of atonement.
- Year by year — worship becomes a yearly duty for the nations, and those who refuse get no rain. Commentators differ on whether the other feasts are kept too.
And it shall be, that whoso goeth not up of the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, Jehovah of hosts, upon them shall be no rain.
Zechariah's last chapter looks past every battle to a coming day. Then the nations will go up to Jerusalem year after year to worship the King. This verse names the cost of staying home: rain now depends on whether a people will bow.
The verse turns on the worship of one Person, named both as King and as the LORD of hosts. One commentator links both titles to one Person, and recalls how plain He once looked.
The King, as we know, is none other than Jesus of Nazareth. When the angel announced His birth, he said that the Lord God would give Him the throne of His father David (Luke 1). And yet, as the Spirit of God loves to show, He is also Jehovah Sabaoth, the Lord of hosts. He was once here below as the Root out of dry ground, with no form or beauty to the natural eye — the lowly Nazarene. In the coming age He will be the exalted and glorified One, King over all the earth, and the object of the worship and adoration of all nations.
The command names a place. What it sets up is not church life but a kingdom on earth, with one capital city.
This is plainly God ruling on earth, and too unlike the nature of Christianity to need any argument. Jerusalem, as the city of the great King, is the religious capital of the earth, and all must be at least represented there year by year. We have no ground for concluding that the absence of the Passover here means it will not be kept then. The end of Ezekiel speaks of the same time and circumstances, and from it we know the Passover will be observed as well as the feast of Tabernacles. Pentecost will not, for it is the characteristic feast whose full meaning is already met in the church.
Commentators differ here. Kelly holds that the Passover will still be kept, though Zechariah does not name it. Others point out that Zechariah calls the nations to the Feast of Tabernacles alone.
The Lord asks for worship. He does not force it. So refusal is possible, and it has a cost.
The nations must come up to worship. Now, the Lord does not compel anyone to worship Him. Many people in this world have great wealth and still refuse to worship the Lord. Now, He "sends rain on the just and on the unjust" (Matt. 5:45). In the time that is coming, the nations must obey. If they do not go up to worship the King and keep the Feast of Tabernacles, they will get no rain. How remarkable that they are not asked to keep the Feast of the Passover or Pentecost, but only the Feast of Tabernacles. Passover and Pentecost have to do especially with the Church. The Feast of Tabernacles has to do with the Kingdom.
No rain sounds mild until you picture it. One writer describes what a shut heaven looks like.
What barrenness and desolation there must be when heaven is shut up! No refreshing showers coming down, no dewdrops falling, no contact between heaven and earth.
The punishment fits the refusal. One writer adds that these nations are not saved as nations, and that refusal costs them more than rain.
The nations will share in the feast of booths. A large crowd from among them will be saved (Rev. 7:9-12), but they will not be saved as whole nations. They will have to submit to the iron sceptre of the Messiah, or be dashed in pieces like a potter's vessel (Ps. 2:9). Here we see that those who will not go up to Jerusalem to the feast of booths to bow before the King will be struck with a plague. The blessing that should have made their land fertile will be kept from them.
The verse assumes some will refuse. That corrects a common picture of the coming age of Christ's reign, the millennial age.
What makes this so hard to understand is that many have a false idea of the millennial age. They picture "righteousness dwelling" on the earth instead of "righteousness reigning" over it. … Isaiah, speaking of the great length of life then, says, "the young man shall die a hundred years old," but adds, "and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed" (Isa. 65:20). So Zechariah declares the punishment of those who do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the glorious King.
- King. All nations must come to worship one Person: Jesus of Nazareth. He is King over all the earth, and He is the LORD of hosts.
- Feast. Zechariah names only the Feast of Tabernacles. That feast belongs to the Kingdom; Passover and Pentecost have to do with the Church.
- Choice. The Lord calls every nation to worship, but He forces no one to bow.
- Rain. Refusal shuts heaven over that land: no showers, no dew, and no fruitful ground.
- Reign. The threat shows what that age is like. Righteousness reigns over the earth; it does not yet dwell in every heart.