Zechariah 9

Zechariah 9:1

V. THE FIRST ORACLE OR BURDEN, EMPHASIZING MESSIAH’S FIRST ADVENT (Chaps. 911) The remaining chapters contain two oracles or burdens. The first, in chapters 9-11, emphasizes the First Advent of the Messiah, while the second one, chapters 12-14, looks forward to Christ’s glorious appearing. A. Gentile Nations Will Be Judged (9:1-8)9:1-7 Here in chapter 9, God’s judgment is first pronounced against Syria (Hadrach, Damascus, Hamathvv. 1, 2a), Tyre and Sidon (vv. 2b-4), and Philistia (Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, Ashdodvv. 5-7). Tyre was proud of its riches and its fortress city, but the LORD would cast her into the sea. The Philistine cities would be dismayed to see the fall of Tyre; they thought it was impregnable. The Philistines themselves would be cleansed from idolatry, and they would dwell as a clan in Israel. Ekron would be like the Jebusites in the sense that they would live among the people of Israel as loyal, peaceful citizens. 9:8 Foreign invaders would no longer threaten the temple or the people. Actually, verses 1-8 had a partial fulfillment when these Gentile powers were conquered by Alexander the Great (see reference to Greece in v. 13).

Zechariah 9:9

B. First Coming of Messiah to Zion (9:9)God’s people are next encouraged by the promise of the coming of the Messiah (King). Verse 9 describes His First Coming, in lowly grace, on a donkey. Both Matthew, the most Jewish of the four Gospels, and John, the most universal, quote this verse as referring to the so-called “Triumphal Entry” of our Lord into Jerusalem.

Zechariah 9:10

C. Disarmament and Universal Peace at the Second Coming of Christ (9:10)Verse 10, however, looks forward to His Second Advent, when He will come in power and great glory. Weapons of war will be abolished, and Christ will reign “from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth” (Zechariah is quoting Psa_72:8). The present Age of Grace is hidden between verses 9 and 10.

Zechariah 9:11

D. Return of Captives to Jerusalem from Exile (9:11, 12)“The blood of your covenant” refers to the blood by which a covenant was sealed. This expression could refer to the covenant of the law (Exo_24:8), the covenant guaranteeing the land to Israel (Deu_30:1-10), the Davidic Covenant (2Sa_7:4-17), or the general covenantal relationship of Israel with Jehovah. Israel’s captives will be set free from the waterless pit of foreign countries and returned to the stronghold, which may mean Jerusalem, Palestine, or God Himself.

Zechariah 9:13

E. Triumph of All Israel over Greece (9:13)Judah and Israel (Ephraim) will be conquering nations in that day, subduing Greece. This prophecy was partially fulfilled in the War of the Maccabees, 175-163 B.C. It also anticipates the final restoration of Israel from worldwide dispersion.

Zechariah 9:14

F. Intervention of Jehovah to Protect His People (9:14-17)An unknown commentator vividly describes what amounts to a “holy war”: Not only will God’s victors drink full of the blood of their vanquished enemies and be like the sacrificial bowls filled with blood to be sprinkled upon the sides of the altar and its horns, but they shall come through gory triumph bespattered with blood like the corners of the altar. Merrill Unger depicts the contrast between Israel and her enemies: In apparent antithesis to Israel’s enemies as sling-stones trodden in the mire, in the preceding verse, Zechariah compares Zion’s victorious sons (the saved remnant) to precious stones of a crown which sparkle over the Lord’s land. The figure is evidently of the reward of the faithful martyrs and valiant saints of Israel who enter the kingdom of Messiah.