As often as people argue about whether or not a gap exists between the 62/69th "week" and the final or 70th "week" of Daniel 9:24-27, one would think no other gap exists anywhere else in Scripture. Not so. Let's take a look at Zechariah 9:9-10.
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
He is just and endowed with salvation,
Humble, and mounted on a donkey,
Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
And the horse from Jerusalem;
And the bow of war will be cut off.
And He will speak peace to the nations;
And His dominion will be from sea to sea,
And from the River to the ends of the earth.
If we consider these two verses alone, it should become extremely obvious that a gap of time of indeterminate length exists between verse 9 and verse 10. The first verse speaks of one thing - an event that occurred during the First Advent of Jesus to this earth.
The verse tells the people of Israel (daughter of Zion) to rejoice! Why should they rejoice? Because their King is coming to them. We learn this King is just and carries with Him salvation because He is that salvation! We also learn that this coming King is humble, one who does not need to be carried aloft on shoulders of slaves in any form of carriage. He rides into Jerusalem not with a royal fanfare of trumpets, guards, and slaves, but on the colt of a donkey.
I don't know anyone who professes to be a Christian who would deny the clarity of Scripture here in pointing to Jesus, who rode into Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey on the event we call the "Triumphal Entry." Just days later though, the praises of the people went from "Hosanna!" to "Crucify Him!" To be fair, there were likely two different crowds at work, one by the people in spontaneity and the other one conjured up by the unscrupulous religious leaders because of their intense jealousy and hatred for God the Son, Jesus.
We are aware of the fact that this is how things worked out in reality, though it certainly started out as described in Zechariah 9:9, with Jesus riding into Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey. However, it did not end as described in Zechariah 9:10. This is yet future.
There will come a time when God in Christ will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, when war itself will be brought to an end. There will come a time when Jesus will speak peace to the nations and will rule over the entire earth. This will not occur until Jesus actually returns for the second time when He will put an abrupt end to Antichrist and his rule, along with the Tribulation itself. Jesus will then judge the nations and prepare the world for His Millennial Reign (physically) over this world. It will be then that war will end and peace will prevail. It will be then that the unfinished prophecies related to the Land and Israel will be fulfilled. It will be then when the prophecies concerning Jesus reigning from His father "David's" throne in Jerusalem will find fulfillment.
We know that now. We see it clearly - that a gap or length of time passes between the fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9 and Zechariah 9:10. It is clear. It is obvious. It is without question.
But think of Zechariah and everyone who came after the prophet and read his scroll. To them, they saw NO GAP OF TIME. They never saw that the Messiah would come the first time and then come back again, the second time. To those people, Messiah would come and immediately set things right. He would set up His rule and rein in power, dominion, peace, and humility, carrying salvation on His shoulders.
Is it any wonder that the disciples often asked Jesus questions like "are you now going to set things right?" (my paraphrase of Acts 1:6)? They didn't get it because God had kept it hidden from them. Except for a few places like Isaiah 52-53 (the Suffering Servant), which many Jews attributed allegorically to Messiah or saw that portion of Scripture referencing the nation of Israel, most Jews believed that when Messiah came, He would destroy the works of human government and set up His rule of peace. To them, there was no gap that existed between verses 9 and 10 of Zechariah 9.
Hindsight is 20/20 and because of it - and having the rest of the Canon of Scripture now - we can see that in fact, a gap of time does exist and we are still in it. I know that some groups, like Preterists for instance, believe that Jesus "returned" to this earth in judgment in AD 70 when God prompted/allowed Rome to destroy Jerusalem as His arm of judgment for their rejection of Messiah, Jesus. However, this flies in the face of Acts 1 in which we are clearly told by the angelic messengers that Jesus would return physicallyto this earth when He did return.
In AD 70, Jesus did not return, certainly not physically. He did send judgment though as He said He would (cf. Matthew 24). By the way, the Olivet Discourse found in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 has several near/far prophecies and fulfillment.
No, we are still waiting for Jesus to return and when He does return at the end of the Tribulation, He will do so in a way where every eye will see Him. That means every eye and it refers to our physical eyes, not our spiritual "eyes."
But again, I'm quite certain the prophet Zechariah never saw what we now see and live. To him, Messiah would come to the earth once and set up His rule. This is what people living during Jesus' day expected as they were blind to the portions of Scripture that pointed to the possibility of Messiah being rejected and having to come back a second time.
Zechariah 9:9-10 represents a gap of time in which we still live. It's been ticking off the hours and days since Jesus ascended. One day, He will physically return to this planet and will step on the Mt. of Olives (unlike the Rapture where He simply steps out of the 3rd heaven and calls His Bride to Him; very reminiscent of the process of an orthodox Jewish wedding, but we'll get into that in another article).
A gap exists between two verses in Zechariah 9. Who knew? Who would have thought? At times, God plays things close to His chest because what He tells humanity He also winds up telling Satan. The more Satan knows, the better equipped he is to attempt to thwart God's plans. Of course, this will never happen because God is always several million steps ahead of old Slew Foot.
Praise God for the "gaps" of time in His Word. They are there for a purpose. Those with God-given discernment will understand. Those without it will simply continue to sink in the mud.
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