Prophets & Kings (Part 4)

So this is the last session for the subject of the Prophets and the Kings. So we still have quite a bit to get to, so let's just jump right into it. We're entering into a new phase. We've looked at the Prophets and the Kings that ministered to Israel, and then the southern kingdom of Judah, and what's the new phase?

It's the Babylonian captivity. So what prophets ministered during the captivity? Well, here's a good way to break it down. You can just look at the screen. So Ezekiel and Daniel ministered while in exile in Babylon.

So they were taken away captive. Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi ministered after the Jews came back. After 70 years, they came back into the land. So these three ministered after the captivity or after the exile.

And basically all the other prophets ministered before the Babylonian exile. So that's a pretty simple way to remember. I've always found this to be helpful. It gives you an idea of the time period. So the first one we're going to look at is Ezekiel.

So open up to the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel would have been called as a prophet or ministering during the reign of the final king of Judah, and that man was, we remember he's last because his name begins with a Z.

So he's last.

Zedekiah, right? Okay, according to 2 Chronicles 36, I think we looked at this last time. It says Zedekiah did evil in the sight of the Lord. And if you cross-reference that with Jeremiah 39, it says that the king of Babylon had Zedekiah's sons murdered, killed right in front of him.

And then after his sons were killed, the king of Babylon gouged out Zedekiah's eyes. So the last thing he ever saw were his. You wanted to know that, right? That just makes you feel good. But this was the punishment for doing evil in the sight of God.

God's protection was lifted from the nation, lifted from the king, and he had warnings from the prophets, but he totally disregarded them. I think maybe there's a big picture element to this. We have words from the prophets.

We have words from the apostles. And when we disregard the word of God, I really believe God's protection is upon us. That's not a guarantee to avoid all pain and suffering in life.

We get that.

But when a person just disregards the word of the Lord, that protection can be lifted. And that certainly happened with King Zedekiah. So Ezekiel was ministering during this time. And since Jeremiah wrote about that event, what does that tell you?

There's some overlap. So Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel all lived during the same time period. Ezekiel preached and wrote from the year 620 B .C. to 570 B .C. And I said last time I think that the book of Jeremiah is probably like the gloomiest book of the Bible, like the most negative.

I would say Ezekiel is the hardest. I don't know about you. Again, I guess this is a matter of opinion. But when I read the book of Ezekiel, I don't know what's going on. You know, you need to take some time to study that.

A lot of it's in visionary form, and you have to interpret it. And even still, after spending time, it's hard to say for sure what is meant by some of the things that he says. So the first chapter in the book of Ezekiel, you're in chapter 1.

Look at verse 12, because he's talking about these living creatures that have four faces, four wings. Chapter 1, verse 12 says,. And each one went straight forward when they went wherever the Spirit wanted them to go, and they did not turn when they went.

So it's like when they move, they go, you know, just straight in this direction, and they don't turn. I don't exactly know what's happening, but there's some speculation of who these creatures are. Best, maybe it's not a guess, educated guess, that they're cherubim, right?

Cherubim angels. Some people theorize in Ezekiel 1 that he's talking about UFOs. Who's heard this theory?

Okay.

You know, some people think that UFOs, because now the government has admitted the existence of UFOs, right? And you've heard some of that. And I don't know that I believe that. I don't know what to believe.

Some people think that UFOs are actually demons.

I don't know.

Maybe.

But these are not extraterrestrials from another planet.

Okay.

But he's talking about a wheel and a wheel within a wheel, and it's just a lot of strange imagery. But these are probably cherubim angels, because he does talk about those angels in chapter 10. Ezekiel 10 speaks of when the glory of the Lord departed from the temple.

He says that the angels' wings could be heard fluttering in the outer court.

I don't know.

Whenever I've read that, it's just, that must have been really interesting to hear. But again, a lot of the stuff in Ezekiel is, it's hard to say exactly what's happening, but I did find some helpful information on the website Bible Hub.

You know, there's a few websites that I would recommend. Gotquestions .org is a good one. Bible Hub. They have a lot of good commentaries if you check them out. So this is what Bible Hub says, just about a summary of the book.

The book of Ezekiel contains both historical narrative and prophetic and apocalyptic writing. So there's different styles of writing, and it kind of shifts back and forth. Ezekiel also contains parables.

So key personalities in the book are Ezekiel himself, also mentions his wife. Israel's leaders are mentioned, referred to, King Nebuchadnezzar, and also the prince. Let's turn to Ezekiel chapter 28 for a moment.

The book was written to announce judgment upon the nation of Judah, to allow them one last chance to repent. And did they listen?

No.

They never listen, it seems like. But it also foretells the coming deliverance of God's nation from captivity in Babylon. So Jerusalem will be destroyed. You will be taken captive, but you will be brought back.

Ezekiel is also a priest who is called by God to deliver his messages. So he's a priest and a prophet, who is the other guy we looked at, who is a priest and a prophet. Jeremiah. Stay in chapter 28 for one second.

Chapters 1 through 3, God commissions his servant Ezekiel. He receives the visions. His message is to confront God's sinful nation. Chapters 4 through 24, Ezekiel delivered the message of doom to the captives.

He told several parables, one that compared Israel to an adulterous woman. What was the book that did that?

Hosea.

Hosea, right. So he taught them that God was going to cleanse his chosen nation. Then from chapters 25 through 32, Ezekiel condemns judgment upon seven particular nations who mocked the God of Israel because of the captivity, that they too would see their fate.

Okay, now Ezekiel 28, this passage is known for dealing with, most likely, the origin or the fall of Lucifer. But first, Ray, you had a hand up.

How many?

Ezekiel chapter 28 has 26 verses. I was talking about the chapters. So chapters 4 through 24, Ezekiel delivered the message of doom. Yeah, that's okay. But yeah, look at Ezekiel 28 for a moment. He's speaking to the king of Tyre, but many people believe that this message is actually directed at Satan.

Look at verse 12, son of man. And this is one of the names that the Lord refers to Ezekiel as the son of man. Of course, Jesus would refer to himself as the son of man. But Ezekiel 28 verse 12 says, son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre and say to him, thus says the Lord God, you were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

You were in Eden, the garden of God, and every precious stone was your covering. And then he goes through the stones. Now, could the king of Tyre, who is an actual man, was he actually in the garden of Eden?

So it's like God is speaking to the king of Tyre, but he's talking past him to the force. Maybe that's empowering the king who is the devil himself, because Satan was in the garden or Lucifer was in the garden, right?

Verse 14, you were the anointed cherub who covers. So if the cherubim are mentioned in Ezekiel 1 and then again in Ezekiel 10, here in chapter 28, Lucifer is identified as originally being a cherub or a cherubim angel.

Cherubim would be plural. Let's go to Isaiah chapter 14. I didn't cover this when we looked at Isaiah. But while we're on this topic, because one of the common questions people have is, if God is God and God knows all things, why did God create the devil, right?

This is kind of one of the basic questions. And of course, God did not create the devil. God created the holy angels, the cherubim and seraphim and the archangels. So Lucifer was a cherub angel and he fell.

So when God created him, he was not the devil. Look at Isaiah 14. And this is how I remember it. Isaiah comes before Ezekiel. So it's Isaiah 14, 14 plus 14 equals 28. And the other passage is Ezekiel 28.

I don't know if that's helpful, but Isaiah 14, starting in verse 12, how you have fallen from heaven. Oh, Lucifer, son of the morning, and how you are cut down to the ground. You who weaken the nations for you have said in your heart.

And then he gives those, I will statements. I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. And of course, that's what the devil wanted to do, right? He wanted to be God. He wanted to be like God.

And that's his temptation to Eve, that if you eat the fruit, you yourself will be like God. So that's Isaiah 14, Ezekiel 28, most likely in both passages referring to Satan. Although if you have one of the modern, depending on the translation you use, some of you don't have Lucifer in Isaiah 14, do you?

You have what?

What?

Son of the morning or day star, I think is what is translated. But it's my position. Both are referring to Satan whose original name was Lucifer.

Okay.

So let's continue in Ezekiel. Any questions about that? Yes, Aaron.

Okay.

Lucifer, son of the morning, right?

Yeah.

So King James and the new King James both say Lucifer. And then some other translations do not. So there's going to be some, I mean, you know how people are. There's always a group who says, no, it's like this.

And they argue contrary, but.

All right.

Ezekiel 28, referring to the fall of Lucifer. In chapters 33 through 48, a message of deliverance and restoration is written. So with Ezekiel, you know, you have the message of God's judgment, but you also have that message of hope alongside.

And that's almost always true with the prophets. Chapter three. What do you think is the most well-known story in Ezekiel?

Yeah.

The Valley of the Dry Bones, right? And there's the song that goes along with it. That's chapter 37. So he writes this famous vision of the Valley of Dry Bones. And what's he speaking of? That the nation of Israel would be, you know, like the bones, they would be resurrected.

So there is a future for Israel. So that's chapter 37. Chapters 38 and 39 cover the prophecy of Gog and Magog. Does that sound familiar to you? That also shows up in the book of Revelation. So the end of the book of Revelation, it's talking about the battle of Gog and Magog.

I remember when the war with Russia and Ukraine started, there was a lot of prophecy guys. This is it. This is the battle of Gog and Magog. Well, it hasn't turned into that yet. If it is, we'll see. But as of now, no, it's not.

So speaking of the book of Revelation, because Gog and Magog is covered there, let's now move to the prophet Daniel. Because what's the connection between Daniel and Revelation? Well, these are kind of the two major books of prophecy.

So the book of prophecy for the New Testament is Revelation, without a doubt. But really, the book that people focus on the most, end times Bible prophecy, as far as an Old Testament book goes, it's the book of Daniel.

So any questions or final comments about Ezekiel.

Before we move on?

I have.

Okay.

I'm wondering why the Lord called himself the son of man. And I know the general answer is that to accentuate his humanity, that he was fully man. But in actuality, he was the son of a woman, but not the son of a man, not biologically.

Just any thoughts you have on that?

Yeah, well, that's often what you hear, that son of God means he is the son of God. And son of man, that's emphasizing Christ's humanity. And that would make sense. But really, the son of man, if you study it, it's a messianic title.

Because Daniel actually talks about, you know, one like the son of man, you know, coming in the clouds of heaven and go to the ancient of days. So actually, son of man speaks of Christ's deity as well.

But then we just saw, was it a prophet or a king that was called?

Yeah, Ezekiel was called the son of man. And, you know, how much we want to make of that, I don't know.

Just another, I guess it's just a human being.

Yeah, was Ezekiel the son of man?

Sure.

Sure. Was Jesus the son of man? Yeah, but he was also the...

Son of man.

Yeah, he was also the son of God. So, all right, we're in the book of... Does anyone have any insight on this? Does anyone want to address this subject?

I suppose we were all in Adam somehow.

But I want, let's turn to Daniel chapter 7, just since you brought it up. The son of man is a messianic title. So Daniel chapter 7, verse 12,.

Says,.

And for the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. And I, Daniel, was watching in the night visions, and behold, one like the son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven, he came to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.

To him, the son of man, was given dominion and glory in a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion was an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom, the one which shall not be destroyed.

So who's that a reference to? Obviously, it's a reference to Christ. So because Ezekiel is called the son of man, and Jesus is called, you know, it's just the way that... I'm sure you could study that and find some more information.

But son of man is a reference also to Christ. Okay, so we're in the book of Daniel. So Daniel, when he was taken into captivity, right? Daniel ministers while in exile. Daniel was taken there as probably a teenager, because Daniel ministered from 620 BC to 540 BC.

Quick, how long is that? 80 years, right? So Daniel was... That's a long time. That may be the longest of any prophet. So Daniel was from a noble family. He was smart, talented. And when he got to Babylon, he was taught all of the wisdom of Chaldean culture.

So remember, it's the prophets and the king. So what king is Daniel encountering now? He's not in Judah. Where is he?

Babylon.

So who's the king?

Nebuchadnezzar.

Yeah, so Daniel, he actually crossed paths with many kings and the most famous of all those kings was Nebuchadnezzar. Why did Nebuchadnezzar like the prophet Daniel so much?

He could interpret dreams.

Yeah, he was able to interpret his dreams. The phony magicians of the Babylonian court, they were all just telling the king what he wanted to hear. Daniel actually had divine insight. So what figure is Daniel similar to?

What other Old Testament figure should he remind us of?

Joseph.

Yeah, Joseph. Joseph was taken captive, so to speak, to Egypt, and he interpreted Pharaoh's dreams. And no matter what happened to Joseph, he just kept climbing the ladder. No one could keep him down.

Same type of thing with Daniel. Another thing about Daniel, he may be the only Old Testament figure, maybe other than Jesus, obviously, but he may be the only figure in all of the Bible, but certainly the Old Testament where he's just impeccable.

I don't think there's anything negative you can say about Daniel at all. Joseph lied to his brothers, right? So there is something you could say. And then Job was kind of questioning God, and God told him to be.

Daniel, though, really does seem to be above reproach in every way. So Daniel, what's the most well-known story from the book of Daniel?

Lion's Den.

Chapter 6, Daniel and the Lion's Den. And it's more than just a great Sunday school story. So there's this plot against him. Long story short, he was thrown into the lion's den, but an angel came to shut the lion's mouth.

So the people, they wanted Daniel dead, and guess who ended up getting eaten by the lions? It wasn't Daniel. It was the people that plotted against him. So at that time, it wasn't King Nebuchadnezzar that he was dealing with.

He was dealing with what other king?

Darius.

Yeah, Darius or Darius, depending on how you pronounce it.

Wasn't there two of those, Darius or Darius?

There may have been.

Yep.

And Darius, after Daniel survived the lion's den, he issued a decree that the God of Daniel be feared throughout the kingdom because as he put it, for he is the living God and steadfast forever. His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed and his dominion shall endure to the end.

So Daniel saw... Remember, he starts in Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar. What happens to Babylon while Daniel's in captivity?

Medians of Persia.

Yeah, there's a regime change, so to speak, right? Babylon is conquered by...

The Medes.

Yeah, the Medes and the Persians. You remember the story about the handwriting on the wall, the finger that wrote...

Yeah.

So Daniel served under several different rulers. The key personality of the book of Daniel would be Nebuchadnezzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, another great story, Belshazzar, and Darius. The purpose of the book of Daniel is to provide a historical account of how the Lord God protected and provided for his faithful followers while in captivity.

It also includes a vision of future redemption and hope. And there's so much in the book of Daniel, I'd like to cover a lot of other things, but we just never get through all this, so...

Oh, we can't talk about the ten toes?

I mean, we can. We can talk about it, but I'm going to move on unless somebody raises their hand. Okay, so the next prophet is Haggai. Some people pronounce it differently, but I'm saying Haggai. So he wrote in the year 520.

This is actually... Because sometimes we say, oh, so-and-so lived from 872, and we don't really know the exact dates oftentimes, but this date is pretty certain, 520 BC. But before we get to Haggai, remember the title is the prophets and the kings.

So there were the kings of Israel. Israel's gone. There were the kings of Judah. Judah has been conquered by Babylon. We know that Jeremiah and Daniel crossed paths with Nebuchadnezzar. So we're learning a little bit about their interactions, the prophets with the kings.

But now that the Jews are out of captivity, they've been released from Babylon. They come back into the land of Canaan. Now who's their king? Trick question alert. Most of the time I tell you this is not a trick question.

This sort of is. Who's the king now?

Okay.

Cyrus?

So Cyrus was the king of Persia, right? And he let them go, right? So in one sense, yeah, he's the king, but the Jews didn't really recognize these heathen men as their king, you know how they were.

They don't have a king, do they?

Yeah, so now that they're in the land, this is the period of Ezra, Nehemiah, that general time period.

Who's the king?

In Israel, in Judah, who's the king? Well, there really isn't a king, but who would be the closest thing to it? The governor who was Zerubbabel. Okay, so now in the book of Haggai, you have the prophet Haggai and the governor Zerubbabel.

And this book is about getting on with the building of the temple because what happened with the temple? The Babylonians just totally destroyed it. So they're allowed to come back in the land. And the Lord, the first thing they should do when they're back is rebuild the house of God.

Now, did the people want to rebuild the house of God? They should have, but they were kind of dragging their heels. And there were some people, you know, trying to discourage the building. Oh no, this isn't the time for it.

And there's all sorts of things like that going on. So Haggai's the prophet, Zerubbabel the political leader. And if I can summarize the prophet's message, speaking for God, he rebukes the people who are saying, no, it's not time to build the temple or rebuild it.

He's saying, no, it is. So you better get busy. That's God's message to them through the prophet. Any idea of why they didn't want to rebuild? I mean, they're probably a little nervous if they rebuild and it looks like they're building up their nation.

They're probably worried about getting leveled again. I mean, that might be one thing, but the key personalities in this book are Haggai, Zerubbabel, and who's the high priest who remembers at this point, a man named Joshua.

Not the Joshua we know. That was long, long before. So the purpose of Haggai, he's called by God to encourage the people to finish the construction of the temple in Jerusalem. In chapter one, God called on Haggai to deliver his message.

The Jews, this is what made God upset, I guess you could say, that the people were all living in finished homes. They made sure that their houses were finished, but they weren't really all that concerned with God's house.

Can you imagine if some sort of tragedy came to our country and yeah, people's houses and all the churches were either destroyed or damaged, and all the Christians were very careful to rebuild their own homes, but all the churches just leave them in ruins.

That would say something about the spiritual condition, and that's what was happening here. So once he delivers this message, the Jews begin working on the house of God 24 days after he delivered it. So it got the word across.

In chapter two, Haggai motivated the Jews to continue building the temple, telling them that if they would do it, God will bless them. And the building of the temple in Jerusalem was completed in 515 BC.

Now, do you remember the response of the people when they saw the rebuilt temple? Yeah, they weren't too, you know, the older folks who remember Solomon's temple were like, what is this? It just didn't really compare.

So they were, yeah, they were weeping. They were very disappointed. But it would get built up. So in the days of Christ, you know, Herod had this building project that just expanded it all. And of course, what happened to that temple?

In 70 AD, that was destroyed. You know, you're sort of getting the idea that God doesn't want a temple built. What's one reason, and I'm getting a little off topic, but hey, Jesus is the king, so it's relevant.

Why wouldn't God want a temple there?

Because we're the temple.

Yeah.

Christians are supposed to be the temple of God. There's another reason maybe. You know, the sacrifice, temple is where sacrifices are to be offered. The sacrifice has already been offered. So in our view of eschatology, we believe that there will be a rebuilt temple.

And who's the next guy to rebuild the temple? His name begins with an A, or his title does. I don't know what his name's going to be. Yeah, we believe the Antichrist will rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, and he'll walk in it and declare himself to be God.

And guess what? That temple is going to be destroyed as well. All right, let's move on to the next prophet.

Who's next on the list?

Tell me.

Zechariah.

Okay, good. We're on the same page.

Zechariah.

Zechariah ministered from 522 to 509 BC. His prophecy starts out with these words, chapter one, verse one, in the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, the son of Burkiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying, the Lord has been very angry with your fathers.

And it's like, okay, here we go again. Same type of message. Therefore say to them, thus says the Lord of hosts, return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts.

Do not be like your fathers to whom the former prophets preached, saying, thus says the Lord of hosts, turn now from your evil ways and your evil deeds. But they did not hear nor heed me, says the Lord.

So does this sound familiar to you?

Yeah.

And it's always kind of the same thing. Don't be like the generation before you. Don't be like the generation before you. You know, sometimes we have it in our mind that the generation before us was so much better and it's just getting worse and worse.

I mean, maybe, I don't know.

Maybe that's true. But in Israel, it's always, no, the generation before you was bad. Don't be like them. So why is God being so patient? If it's sort of the same message again and again and again with the prophets, why is God so patient?

It's just the same thing over and over again. Why is he patient?

He loves his family.

He does.

Yeah.

God loves his people.

He doesn't want anyone to perish.

Yeah.

Long suffering, not willing that any should perish. Because, you know, there are righteous individuals in every generation. So even though they did the wrong thing, worshiped false gods, persecuted the prophets, why doesn't God completely destroy them like he did with the other nations?

He made them a promise. And, remember, the Jewish people are going to be the vehicle that brings Christ into the world. So he's not going to just eliminate them because he has a purpose.

Probably not God's motivation, but if I had been God, I wouldn't have wanted to have to send my son. I would have kept sending more and more and more prophets and not send my son. But he did. And, of course, I'm glad he did.

And, of course, he's omniscient. So for us to try and think or try to even imagine what God was thinking.

Right.

And I know you know this, but when we say, you know, if I were God, I would have done it like this.

I don't know how I would have done it. Well, I mean, even when he created Lucifer or all the angels, he created them with free will. But I know that free will is a contentious topic at times, but that seems without free will, then love isn't really love.

You have to be able to choose.

Yeah.

To love or not love. And that's the choice we have. Are we going to love ourself? Or are we going to love God? Because sometimes what God wants of us is not what we want at all. We want ease and comfort and pleasure.

And my standard response to the why question, because you could ask why all sorts of different things. But why does God do it this way? Why does God do things the way he does them? Because I believe it's all, there's a lot of other reasons, but all it's all for his glory.

So why God does it this way? You know, why did he send Christ to die? Well, because Christ died, he has been lifted up and he has been glorified. So that's my standard response to any why question. It's for God's glory.

But Zechariah, let's, let's get this done. It contains both historical narrative as well as. Yeah, I was talking with someone and I, I said something like that. He's like, what is God an ego maniac or something?

He needs to be glorified. I'm like, well, he is God, you know, excuse me, but he is God. If he doesn't deserve all glory, honor, and praise, who does, and who do you think you are? I didn't say this to him, but I felt like.

Okay, Zechariah. So all sorts of different literature, apocalyptic visions, historical narrative, chapters one through eight, approximately 520 to 518 BC, before the temple was completed. Then chapters nine through 14, approximately 480 BC.

That's after the temple is completed. So Zechariah is among the most precisely dated books.

In the Bible.

Key personalities are Zechariah, Zerubbabel, and Joshua. So from the prophets here on out, back, you know, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, there is, again, there's no king. It's Zerubbabel, he's the governor.

He is from the priest, the kingly line of David. But, you know, I think Israel, to crown a king, because at this point, they're really a nation within a nation. It's still the Persian Empire. So, you know, I'm sure Persia doesn't want them getting too powerful and anointing a king.

So it just didn't happen. And even by the time you get to the pages of the New Testament, Jesus, John the Baptist, did the Jews have a king? Not really. I mean, you have King Herod, but he wasn't Jewish.

And he was sort of a puppet for Rome anyways. So the only king from this point out is, you know, in the future, or Jesus, the king of kings, who they rejected when he came. So Zechariah recorded his visions.

He encouraged the people to reinstate the priesthood and other religious laws that were forgotten during the 70-year exile. Zechariah gives great hope and encouragement about the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ, who will set up his throne and rule as the term he uses, the branch.

Okay, that's the name of Christ in the book of Zechariah,.

The branch.

He writes in chapter six, verse 13, then say to him, thus says the Lord of hosts, behold, a man whose name is the branch, for he will branch out from where he is and he will build the temple of the Lord.

Yes, it is he who will build the temple of the Lord. Okay, I suppose you could look at that, that he's building his church and we're the temple of God, but also when Christ returns, you know, many people believe there's another temple in the millennium.

So exactly what that means. I'm sure there's disagreement about that too. Chapters nine through 14 are difficult passages to understand. Many are prophetic. Zechariah writes judgment against the neighboring enemies.

Most importantly, he declared the first coming of Messiah. And in chapter nine, verse nine, that should sound familiar to a couple of you. Zechariah 9, nine, what's this prophecy? That the Messiah would ride into Jerusalem sitting on a donkey.

Okay, so Palm Sunday or the triumphal entry is a fulfillment of Zechariah's prophecy. Zechariah also records Christ's betrayal in chapter 11, verse 12, for 30 pieces of silver and his crucifixion in chapter 12, verse 10.

And then finally, Zechariah writes about the second coming of Christ. So he writes about his first coming and his second coming. And Christ is going to come, same way he went up, right, in the clouds.

Chapter 14, verse four. In that day, his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley so that half of the mountain will move towards the north and the other half toward the south.

So he's writing about the return or the coming of Christ. He's writing about the first advent and the second advent, but does he understand the difference? Did any of the Old Testament prophets understand the first and second advent?

Not really. There's no indication that they did. So you look at it this way, like a telescope, or you look at a mountain range. You know, there's one mountain here and there's another mountain here. And he's looking at it, it looks like one mountain, right?

But if you take another view, it's two mountains. So that's the best illustration I can come up with about how they viewed the two advents of Christ. They just saw it as one, but there was actually two.