The Topography of Victory Text: Zechariah 14:9-11
Introduction: The Unavoidable Kingdom
We live in an age of managed decline. Our political discourse, our cultural mood, our evangelical expectations are all saturated with a low-grade pessimism. We are told to expect defeat, to hunker down, to simply try and hold the line until the great cosmic cavalry charge comes over the hill at the last possible second. The Church, we are told, is destined to be a beleaguered, shrinking minority, fighting a gallant but losing rear-guard action against the inevitable triumph of secularism. This is the sad-eyed eschatology of the cul-de-sac.
But this is not the vision the prophets give us. It is not the vision the apostles give us. And it is certainly not the vision Zechariah gives us here. The prophets are not in the business of predicting a glorious defeat. They are in the business of announcing an inevitable, global, historical victory. This passage in Zechariah is not about some far-off, disconnected spiritual reality. It is a prophecy about this world, this dirt, this history. It describes the practical, on-the-ground consequences of the first coming of Jesus Christ. It is a description of the kingdom of God progressively taking possession of the entire earth.
Zechariah 14 is what we call apocalyptic literature. That word sounds spooky to modern ears, as though it means nothing but beasts and plagues and chaos. But the word apocalypse simply means an unveiling, a revealing. It pulls back the curtain of ordinary history to show us the spiritual realities that are driving it. And the reality that Zechariah unveils is this: God wins. Not just in heaven, not just in our hearts, but here. On earth. As it is in heaven. This is a postmillennial vision, which is just a fifty-dollar word for biblical optimism. It is the simple belief that Jesus meant what He said when He gave the Great Commission. He has all authority, and therefore we are to disciple all the nations. Not just try to. Not just make a good show of it. We are to succeed, because He is with us always, to the end of the age.
So as we come to these verses, we must read them with our New Covenant glasses on. This is not about a future Jewish state in the Middle East. It is about the Church of Jesus Christ, the true Jerusalem, and her glorious, expanding reign in history. This is the topography of victory.
The Text
And Yahweh will be king over all the earth; in that day Yahweh will be the only one, and His name one.
All the land will be changed into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and inhabit its site from Benjamin’s Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses.
And people will inhabit it, and there will no longer be anything devoted to destruction, for Jerusalem will be inhabited in security.
(Zechariah 14:9-11 LSB)
The Universal Dominion of Christ (v. 9)
The prophecy begins with a declaration of absolute and universal sovereignty.
"And Yahweh will be king over all the earth; in that day Yahweh will be the only one, and His name one." (Zechariah 14:9)
Now, our dispensationalist friends will immediately want to punt this down the field to a future millennium after a secret rapture. But we must ask, when did this "day" begin? The New Testament is clear. "In that day" refers to the entire period inaugurated by the coming of Christ. It is the gospel age. Jesus Christ, after His resurrection, declared, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me" (Matthew 28:18). Not "will be given," but has been given. The coronation has already happened. Yahweh is already king over all the earth because the Son has been seated at the right hand of the Father.
The prophecy, then, is not about the initiation of His reign, but about the historical manifestation and acknowledgement of that reign. The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. It starts small, almost invisible, but it grows into the largest tree in the garden. This verse is a promise that the growth of that tree will be successful. The knowledge of the glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea (Hab. 2:14). This is a process, not an instantaneous event.
And notice the result: "Yahweh will be the only one, and His name one." This is a direct assault on all forms of pluralism and idolatry. The gospel is not coming into the world to ask for a seat at the table of world religions. It comes to flip the table over. The mission of the Church is profoundly monopolistic. We are not seeking a truce with Baal, or Molech, or the modern gods of secular humanism. We are proclaiming that Yahweh, the triune God revealed in Jesus Christ, is the only God, and that His name, the name of Jesus, is the only name by which men must be saved.
This means that the future of the world is not syncretism, but submission. Every knee will bow. This prophecy guarantees that this submission will not just be a final act at the judgment, but a historical reality as nation after nation is discipled. The name of God, His reputation and character, will be "one." There will be a global consensus, a unified confession, that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The Exaltation of the Church (v. 10)
Verse 10 uses the language of geography and topography to describe a profound spiritual reality.
"All the land will be changed into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and inhabit its site..." (Zechariah 14:10)
This is apocalyptic language. It is not predicting a literal earthquake that will flatten the Judean hills. It is revealing a truth about the new world that Christ is building. The "land" represents the nations of the world, the kingdoms of men. Geba and Rimmon marked the northern and southern borders of Judah, so this is a way of saying "the whole thing." All the land, all the nations, will be made a plain. This means that all human pretensions, all rival claims to sovereignty, all the proud mountains of human achievement and rebellion, will be brought low before the Lord. "Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low" (Isaiah 40:4).
But in the midst of this great leveling, one thing is exalted: "Jerusalem will rise and inhabit its site." What is this Jerusalem? It is not the brick-and-mortar city in Palestine. The author of Hebrews tells us plainly what Jerusalem is in the new covenant. It is "the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem... the general assembly and church of the firstborn" (Hebrews 12:22-23). The Church is the true Jerusalem. The Church is the city set on a hill that cannot be hidden.
The prophecy means this: as the gospel advances through history, the pride of man will be flattened and the Church of Jesus Christ will be exalted. It will become the central, defining institution of human civilization. The world will be reoriented around her. The specific boundaries mentioned, from Benjamin's Gate to the Corner Gate, from the Tower of Hananel to the king's wine presses, signify completeness and security. The Church will occupy her full, God-given inheritance. She will not be a ghetto or a subculture; she will be the capital city of the world.
The Security of God's People (v. 11)
Finally, verse 11 describes the peace and security of this exalted city.
"And people will inhabit it, and there will no longer be anything devoted to destruction, for Jerusalem will be inhabited in security." (Zechariah 14:11)
The city will be inhabited. This is a promise of life, fruitfulness, and growth. The Church will be full of people. This is the success of the Great Commission in poetic form. But more than that, it will be secure.
The key phrase here is that there will "no longer be anything devoted to destruction." The Hebrew word is cherem. This refers to the ban, the things devoted to God for utter destruction, usually because of their profound corruption, like the city of Jericho. In the Old Covenant, Achan brought disaster on Israel by taking the cherem for himself. Sin within the camp made the people vulnerable.
This prophecy is a promise that in the New Jerusalem, the Church, the curse of sin that brings destruction will be decisively dealt with. In Christ, the great cherem, the one devoted to destruction for our sakes, has already been offered up. He became a curse for us. Because He took the ban upon Himself, the city He is building will be free from it. This does not mean the church will be sinlessly perfect in this age, but it does mean that the covenant curse has been lifted. The gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. The Church will not be overthrown by internal corruption or external assault.
Therefore, "Jerusalem will be inhabited in security." This is the great promise of peace. This is not the absence of conflict, but a deep, abiding security in the midst of conflict, knowing that the outcome is not in doubt. We do not fight for victory; we fight from victory. The Church is the one institution on earth that has a glorious and certain future. All other kingdoms will become like chaff on the summer threshing floor, but the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ will stand forever.
Conclusion: Building the Capital City
So what does this mean for us, here and now? It means we must repent of our pessimism. We must stop believing the enemy's press releases about his own strength and our weakness. The world is not getting darker and darker; it is being made into a plain, and the light of the gospel is rising upon the city of God.
This prophecy is not a tranquilizer, encouraging us to sit back and watch it happen. It is a battle cry. It is a blueprint. We are the builders and soldiers of this city. When we share the gospel, we are laying stones in the walls of the New Jerusalem. When we establish Christian households, start Christian schools, and build Christian culture, we are taking possession of the land God has given us. When we fight against injustice and wickedness in the public square, we are leveling the mountains of human pride.
The Lord is king over all the earth. That is a present reality. Our task is to live like it. Our task is to act like it. Our task is to announce it, until His name is indeed one, and all the flattened plains of this world look up to the glorious, secure, and exalted city of God.