Reading for December 7th

Read Zechariah 14.1-21 God defeats the nations and restores Jerusalem.
Speeches such as this one describing the defense and restoration of Jerusalem in the context of God's intervention against the neighboring nations that have oppressed it are common in the period after the Exile, as chs. 9, 10, and 12 illustrate (Isa 59.15-20; Joel 3 ).
In verse 1 the plunder once taken from Jerusalem will be returned.
In verse 2 this is the only verse in the chapter that describes judgment, rather than restoration, for Jerusalem.
The prophet either anticipates a coming judgment on Jerusalem's corrupt leadership (11.4-17; 13.2-9) or recalls the fall of Jerusalem in 587 BCE.
In verses 4-5 the citizens of Jerusalem will escape God's attack on the nations by fleeing east through a great rift in the Mount of Olives, which in reality towers over the city of Jerusalem.
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