Division and Salvation
I have always been interested in Zechariah’s prophecy concerning the Lord’s coming. “And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee…” (Zechariah 14:5-6).
After reading about this event and what the Mount of Olives represents from Old Testament times to now, I came across a myriad of ideas, comparisons, speculation, and events in that place. One interesting comparison was the story of the Red Sea dividing to facilitate Israel’s escape from Egypt. Egypt is the equivalent of the most potent force in the world, while Israel is one of the most vulnerable. The idea that God through Moses parted the waters hither and thither, an impossible feat by our standards, shows that God provides a way for salvation, which is also impossible without God providing the course.
The idea of division is everywhere in scripture. It starts in the creation imagery by dividing the waters above and below the heavens, light from darkness, the seas and the dry land, and so on. Our ability to discern good from evil and then choose between them is given to us so we can learn from our experiences. The contrasts provided by dividing one thing from another help us to define a path forward.
But what happens when both sides of the divide or choices are wrong, or both forks in the road lead towards a cliff? It is my view that we face that scenario now. The divisions in societies today are all around us, and either side we choose offers no chance of resolving the challenges we face. Left and right political philosophies are wholly corrupted, as evidenced by the steady decline of civility and the fact that solutions to problems are non-existent.
The prophecies of the Second Coming paint a picture of wickedness consuming everything in its path and eventually surrounding those who stand in holy places. At the very brink of disaster, the Lord comes and divides the mountains we face and creates a valley where we can flee for safety. In short, we will be given an option that is neither political nor worldly.
As I have mentioned in other publications, things we have not considered before will be made manifest. The secrets of the wicked and powerful will become known to all, rendering them impotent, and the knowledge of God will replace ignorance. The results of this revelation will be the devastating destruction of every worldly institution. Everything will change overnight.
In Zechariah, Jerusalem is the symbol for the city of God, which is the place or places where the righteous dwell or seek to dwell. Those who are seeking the kingdom of God have this promise, “And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.” As for those who seek to fight against God and his people, they have this promise, “And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor.”
If you are seeking an escape from the tyranny of false choices and that it is either this way or that way, know that when the Lord puts his foot down, the entire landscape will change, revealing another way to safety and salvation. In the scripture I started with, a place called Azal is mentioned. The literal meaning of Azal is; proximity, he has reserved, or reserved. In other words, the place of safety is close and is reserved for those who seek to follow God.