Zechariah 14 and Acts 1 according to those who reject the deity of Christ

Question

Zechariah 14:1-5 (DRB) Behold the days of the Lord shall come, and thy spoils shall be divided in the midst of thee. 2 And I will gather all nations to Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken, and the houses shall be rifled, and the women shall be defiled: and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the rest of the people shall not be taken away out of the city. 3 Then the Lord shall go forth, and shall fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. 4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is over against Jerusalem toward the east: and the mount of Olives shall be divided in the midst thereof to the east, and to the west with a very great opening, and half of the mountain shall be separated to the north, and half thereof to the south. 5 And you shall flee to the valley of those mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall be joined even to the next, and you shall flee as you fled from the face of the earthquake in the days of Ozias king of Juda: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with him.

Acts 1:1-12 (DRB) The former treatise I made, O Theophilus, of all things which Jesus began to do and to teach, 2 Until the day on which, giving commandments by the Holy Ghost to the apostles whom he had chosen, he was taken up. 3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion, by many proofs, for forty days appearing to them, and speaking of the kingdom of God.

4 And eating together with them, he commanded them, that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but should wait for the promise of the Father, which you have heard (saith he) by my mouth. 5 For John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence. 6 They therefore who were come together, asked him, saying: Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 7 But he said to them: It is not for you to know the times or moments, which the Father hath put in his own power: 8 But you shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the earth.

9 And when he had said these things, while they looked on, he was raised up: and a cloud received him out of their sight. 10 And while they were beholding him going up to heaven, behold two men stood by them in white garments. 11 Who also said: Ye men of Galilee, why stand you looking up to heaven? This Jesus who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come, as you have seen him going into heaven.

12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount that is called Olivet, which is nigh Jerusalem, within a sabbath day's journey.

Question

According to those who reject the deity of Christ (that He is "the LORD"), are these two passages speaking of two separate Lords?

(EDIT: Since it doesn't seem to be clear: both mention a Lord returning to, or landing upon at least, the mount of Olives, probably an apocalyptic or end times event; that's the perceived connection. If Jesus is Yahweh, both refer to the same Lord. If not—well, that's the whole question.)

Answer 1

Yes, from the perspective of Jehovah's Witnesses, these scriptures are talking about two different lords. The one in Zechariah is Jehovah God. The one in Acts is Jesus Christ, God's Son.

The prophecy in Zechariah 14 doesn't actually use the word "Lord" anywhere. The translators of the DRB have substituted the word "Lord" in place of God's name, which is usually pronounced "Jehovah" or "Yahweh" in English. The New World Translation uses the name Jehovah throughout all of Zechariah 14.

Also, the prophecy at Zechariah 14 wasn't fulfilled by Jesus' ascension from the Mount of Olives or by Jesus' coming as King, but rather the prophecy was figurative of God establishing His Kingdom. - Stay in Jehovah's Valley of Protection, w13 2/15

Answer 2

First, a brief explanation as to the different titles used for God in the Bible:

When God's Hebrew name "YHWH" is used in the Old Testament, English translations usually use "LORD" in all caps or small caps. Most English versions translate YHWH as “LORD” (in all caps). In general, if the English word is LORD (all capital letters), then the Hebrew word translated is YHWH; and, if the English is Lord (using lower case letters), whether referring to God or someone else, it is translating Adonai. Source: https://www.gotquestions.org/meaning-of-Adonai.html

When reading Scripture aloud, the Jews substituted the tetragrammaton YHWH with the word Adonai (“Lord”). Even in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament), the translators substituted Kurios (“Lord”) for the Divine Name. Source: https://www.gotquestions.org/YHWH-tetragrammaton.html

The usage of "Lord" and "God" in the New Testament is much less complicated. Almost universally, "God" is a translation of "theos," the general Greek word for deity. Also almost universally, "Lord" is a translation of "kurios," the general Greek word for a master. This is significant to your question.

In the Old Testament the Tetragrammaton (YHWH) is translated as LORD except in the New World Translation (NWT) which translates it as Jehovah. Zechariah 14:1-4 declares that it is the LORD God (YHWH) who will stand on the Mount of Olives and do battle against the nations.

In Acts 1:1-12 there is no doubt that Jesus is called Lord, and it is Jesus who is going to return from heaven. At the time of that prophecy, the disciples were standing on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, which is between Jerusalem and Bethany. Therefore it is the Lord Jesus who is going to fulfil the prophecy of Zechariah 14:1-4 when he returns.

The NWT acknowledges that it is the Lord Jesus in Acts 1:21, but significantly, in Acts 1:24, when the disciples are praying, they insert the name Jehovah in verse 24. This is done to deny the deity of Jesus. Just as they have a Big God (Jehovah) and a little god (Jesus), as is shown in the NWT translation of John 1:1, so they have a Big Lord (Jehovah) and a little lord (Jesus). This is because they believe Jehovah created Jesus as a mighty spirit before he came to earth to be born.

For Christians, there is only ONE Lord and Saviour - Jesus Christ

...yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live (1 Corinthians 8:6)

... and no-one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3)

Other supporting Bible verses are 2 Corinthians 4:5, Ephesians 4:5, Philippians 2:11 and 2 Peter 3:18.

Latter Day Saints also believe that the pre-mortal Jesus was created. They do not subscribe to the Christian Trinitarian view of the Godhead either.

According to Mormonism, Jesus is a created being, the first spirit to be born of the Father (Mormon Doctrine, p.129) and a celestial mother (Mormon Doctrine, p.516). Therefore, Jesus could not be the eternal God or part of an eternal Trinity. Source: https://www.gotquestions.org/Mormons-believe-Trinity.html

The Book of Mormon utilises the same English of the King James Version of the Bible and it is my understanding that they have never attempted to produce their own translation of the Bible. They ascribe deity to Jesus, but do not view him as part of the One Being of God in the same way as Trinitarian Christians. Jesus is only one of many gods in Mormon theology.