Journey to Bethlehem Day 1

^{Zechariah 14:1-5}

¹ Behold, a day is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. ² For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. ³ Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. ⁴ On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. ⁵ And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.

We love happy endings, don’t we?
Well, as Christians, we know how the story of our world ends. Everything dead will be made alive.  Weeping and sorrow will be no more. People will get along. The world will be a safe place. Life will be as it was intended to be. All these things, and more, will come about thanks to God’s mighty intervention into this world.
That is a happy ending, indeed. Yay God!!
Getting from here to there, though, is another story. Our passage from Zechariah is part of a larger body of prophecy that says things will get significantly worse before they get better. Much of this prophecy is written in a style called “apocalyptic.”  
Apocalyptic writing is wild and scary. Images are grossly exaggerated and are not intended to be understood literally. For example, Zechariah speaks of an earthquake that will split the Mount of Olives in two. Other writers speak of supernatural beasts, fire, darkness, war between good and evil. While apocalyptic writing can be confusing, it is designed to inspire awe in us (and even dread) of some future event. In Zechariah, that event is “the Day of the LORD.”
This Day will be when Christ re-enters this world decisively to bring justice and righteousness. His entry will be terrifying, cataclysmic. The creation will respond violently as described in Zechariah (and other places). In fact, Jesus described tribulation so severe, no one could survive, unless God cuts the time short.
We say, “Christ will come again.” But know this. While the return of Christ will result in a renewed creation, the renewal process will not be fun. It will be supernatural beyond our imagining. The mighty power of God will be unleashed on evil. There will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth. 
After that comes the happy ending.

Come quickly, Lord Jesus.  Amen.