The name Zechariah means Jehovah is renowned or remembered.¹ Zechariah was a Levite priest and prophet born in Babylon.² He returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel (Zer-RO-bab-bel) to rebuild the second temple in Jerusalem.³ Zechariah's prophecies began among the Jews in 520 BC,⁴ about 16 years after the first Jews returned from the Babylonian captivity.⁵ He was eleventh among the twelve minor prophets of the Old Testament,⁶ and a contemporary of Ezra and Haggai.⁷ The Book of Zechariah has more Messianic prophecies by volume than any other book in the Old Testament.⁸ Jewish hopes for the coming Messiah ran high as they returned from captivity in Babylon to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem and these hopes were fueled by the prophecies of Zechariah.⁹

Chapters 12 to 14 in the Book of Zechariah describe the Second Coming at Jerusalem¹⁰ with detailed symbols.¹¹ Zechariah repeatedly uses the words in that day to describe the timing of his Messianic visions of the Second Coming.¹² These words refer to that future day when gentile nations will assemble their massive armies against the Jews¹³ in the battle of Armageddon.¹⁴ Zechariah 12:2 states that Jerusalem will become "a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem."¹⁵ This cup of trembling symbolizes severe affliction, suffering, and judgment.¹⁶ For centuries, the Jews have been a cup of trembling¹⁷ as they suffered the wrath of God's judgment.¹⁸ In Zechariah's vision, however, the gentile armies will stumble and reel on the bowl, or in Hebrew the threshold,¹⁹ of God's wrath²⁰ that will destroy them after their siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem during the Great Tribulation.²¹

The Lord's wrath will begin to turn away from the Jews and his mercy will be extended to them after the future gathering at Adam-ondi-Ahman.²² At that gathering, the Two Witnesses will be called to minister in Jerusalem during the last 42 months (3½ years) of Armageddon.²³ They will miraculously exercise the sealing power to protect the Jews and Jerusalem during this 3½ year period of the Great Tribulation.²⁴ Isaiah foresaw the ministry of the Two Witnesses²⁵ and Zechariah symbolically described their power to strengthen the feeble inhabitants of Jerusalem.²⁶ After the Two Witnesses protect Jerusalem and preach repentance to the Jews for 3½ years,²⁷ they will be killed and their dead bodies will lie in the streets of Jerusalem for 3½ days.²⁸

During these 3½ days, the Jews and Jerusalem will again be subjected to a final Abomination of Desolation²⁹ similar to the Roman abomination that destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD.³⁰ Zechariah 14 describes this final Abomination of Desolation before the Second Coming in vivid detail.³¹ He saw the gentile armies seize control of Jerusalem³² after the Two Witnesses were no longer alive to protect the city and her people,³³ saying in verse 2 that: "The city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished."³⁴ In just 3½ days of desolation, the more wicked part of the Jews will be destroyed, particularly those who refuse to hearken to the voice of warning from the Two Witnesses.³⁵ The hardhearted Jews who are settled on their lees will be discovered and destroyed.³⁶ Jewish property will be stolen and divided among their captors as the spoils of war.³⁷ Half of the city shall go forth into captivity, which means that half the Jewish population in Jerusalem will perish.³⁸

Zechariah 14:2 also prophesies that when Jerusalem is on the verge of complete destruction,³⁹ "the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city."⁴⁰ This means that a remnant⁴¹ of the more righteous Jews in the city will survive the slaughter.⁴² They will not be cut off⁴³ in both a physical sense⁴⁴ and in a spiritual sense.⁴⁵ That is, they will not be physically destroyed,⁴⁶ nor will they be spiritually cut off when Christ literally sets foot on the mount of Olives⁴⁷ and welcomes the more righteous Jewish survivors into his presence.⁴⁸ This residue of the people shall be converted⁴⁹ and Christ shall be like a fiery wall of protection to them.⁵⁰

Judgment will fall on the Gentiles gathered against Jerusalem when Christ appears on the mount of Olives.⁵¹ At that day, Jerusalem shall be a burdensome stone⁵² that cuts in pieces the nations that attempt to move that stone from its place.⁵³ Christ will destroy the oppressive and wicked nations that gather against Jerusalem⁵⁴ as he makes a full end of all nations in the triumph of God's kingdom.⁵⁵

The mount of Olives is a commanding hill east of Jerusalem.⁵⁶ Here, Christ will make his second public appearance of the Second Coming.⁵⁷ His first appearance will occur at New Jerusalem (Zion) in what is now Independence, Missouri.⁵⁸ Zechariah 14:4 states that the greatest earthquake in history will occur at the moment Christ sets foot on the mount of Olives.⁵⁹ The mount shall cleave in twain⁶⁰ and "half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south."⁶¹ A great chasm or valley will suddenly form in the midst of the mount⁶² starting at a place called Azal (A-zall).⁶³ The location of Azal is not given,⁶⁴ but it's probably located near east Jerusalem where the new east-to-west running valley will intersect with the north-to-south running Kidron Valley that now exists.⁶⁵ Zechariah's vision of this new valley is consistent with John's vision in Revelation 16:19, where John saw Jerusalem divided into three parts.⁶⁶

The new east-to-west running valley that bisects the mount of Olives will provide an escape route for the beleaguered sons of Judah,⁶⁷ who will be under Gentile attack in the city of Jerusalem at the time of the great earthquake.⁶⁸ The miracle of this Jewish exodus⁶⁹ will be like the exodus of the ancient Israelites⁷⁰ when Moses parted the Red Sea as they fled from the Egyptians.⁷¹ When the ancient Israelites completed their exodus through the Red Sea, Jehovah returned the waters and drowned the entire Egyptian army.⁷² Similarly, when the Jews complete their future exodus through the new valley in the mount of Olives,⁷³ Jesus Christ will destroy the entire army of Gentiles gathered to Armageddon in the company of his saints, also known as the kings of the east in Revelation 16:12.⁷⁴ Even though the hosts of heaven will be present with Christ at his coming to the mount of Olives, Christ alone will fight this physical battle against the Gentiles assembled against the Jews.⁷⁵

In Zechariah 14:12, the physical battle of Armageddon ends with a plague⁷⁶ upon "all the people that have fought against Jerusalem."⁷⁷ This plague will literally cause the flesh of the wicked to "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."⁷⁸ Apparently, this plague will incinerate the soft tissues of its living victims before their bodies can hit the ground.⁷⁹ Some have suggested that Zechariah 14:12 describes the effects of atomic weapons used during Physical Armageddon of the Second Woe.⁸⁰ However, the plague described in Zechariah 14:12 comes during the Third Woe, which suggests that the melting effects may come from the intense heat generated during the Fourth Vial Plague in Revelation 16:8-9.⁸¹ The brightness of Christ's Second Coming to the mount of Olives is also the likely cause of such effects.⁸² In either case, the intense heat will not be a localized condition that afflicts only the gentile armies at Jerusalem. The same conditions will extend to the entire wicked world when Christ makes his third appearance of the Second Coming in all the world.⁸³

After the residue of Christ's chosen people are out of danger in Jerusalem, they will ask Jesus about the wounds in his hands and feet.⁸⁴ In their rush to escape death at the hands of the Gentiles, the residue of Jews in Jerusalem will make their exodus through the new valley following a God who is largely unfamiliar to them.⁸⁵ The same was true of the ancient Israelites when they embarked on their exodus from Egypt without really knowing Jehovah.⁸⁶ At his Second Coming, Jesus will tell the unbelieving Jews that the wounds in his hands and feet were inflicted in the house of my friends.⁸⁷ The Jews will openly weep⁸⁸ when they recognize Christ as their long-awaited Savior and Redeemer.⁸⁹ The Jewish residue will be converted⁹⁰ as a people and a nation in a single day.⁹¹ They will then accept baptism into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which Zechariah 13:1 symbolically describes as a "fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness."⁹²