A Study of Zechariah 9:1–9
Introduction:
What’s going to happen in the Middle East? As I am writing this, Israeli forces have killed the head of Hamas and the head of Hezbollah within hours of each other. The American administration in Washington fears an all-out war and is trying to rein Israel in. But how can a nation tolerate enemies to its North, East, and West who are committed to her destruction?
Well, I know what’s going to happen. At least, I know how it will unfold at the ending of the process, because we have a detailed roadmap of Israeli future in the final six chapters of the prophet Zechariah, the last highly predictive prophet in the Old Testament. Stay tuned today as we look at Zechariah, chapter 9.
If you’re interested in this, I want to recommend my video series and book, The 50 Final Events in World History. This is a study of the End Times as revealed in the book of Revelation, but I cross-reference Revelation with Zechariah. The prophet Zechariah fills in some of the prophet gaps in Revelation. You can purchase The Fifty Final Events in World History in audio books, hardcover, softcover, and e-book. You can also find my video series along with other courses at robertjmorgan.com.
Now, let’s begin by simply reading the opening verses of Zechariah 9.
Scripture
A prophecy:
The word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrak
and will come to rest on Damascus—
for the eyes of all people and all the tribes of Israel
are on the Lord—
2 and on Hamath too, which borders on it,
and on Tyre and Sidon, though they are very skillful.
3 Tyre has built herself a stronghold;
she has heaped up silver like dust,
and gold like the dirt of the streets.
4 But the Lord will take away her possessions
and destroy her power on the sea,
and she will be consumed by fire.
5 Ashkelon will see it and fear;
Gaza will writhe in agony,
and Ekron too, for her hope will wither.
Gaza will lose her king
and Ashkelon will be deserted.
6 A mongrel people will occupy Ashdod,
and I will put an end to the pride of the Philistines.
7 I will take the blood from their mouths,
the forbidden food from between their teeth.
Those who are left will belong to our God
and become a clan in Judah,
and Ekron will be like the Jebusites.
8 But I will encamp at my temple
to guard it against marauding forces.
Never again will an oppressor overrun my people,
for now I am keeping watch.
With these words we’re entering the final section of Zechariah, which runs from chapters 9 to 14. These chapters are chock full of prophecy. In fact, as we work through these six chapters, we’ll come across increasingly specific and remarkable predictions about the antichrist, the Last Days, and the condition of Israel at the Second Coming of Christ. These six chapters divide into two parts. Chapters 9, 10, and 11 comprises one section. And the most dramatic and climatic portion of the book is the final chapters, 12, 13, and 14.
Both of these sections begin with the same word: Massa (pronounced mas-SA). That’s the first word of chapter 9, and then it occurs again at the beginning of chapter 12.
The NIV uses the phrase: A prophecy….
The Hebrew word Massa has the basic meaning of a load, something you lift and carry, or a burden. The idea is that the prophets had a message laid upon their hearts. Many translations use the word “burden” or “oracle”—The burden of Zechariah, or The oracle of Zechariah. One translation uses the word message—The message of Zechariah. Another uses the word pronouncement.
There’s another way of looking at this word too. It may mean a load or burden, but it might also mean lifting up a burden and load. If that’s the idea, it would have to do with the prophet lifting up his voice to share the message.
In either case, the NIV word Prophecy conveys the idea.
God has laid a message on Zechariah’s heart, and he cannot rest until he has done his duty and lifted up his voice and shared it. In the first paragraph of Zechariah 9, that burden has to do with God’s judgment on the surrounding nations.
It seems Israel has always been surrounded by nations that want to destroy her. One Israeli told me that Israel is a very nice house in a very bad community. It’s no accident. The devil hates Israel, because she is so instrumental in both the first coming and the second coming of Christ. It’s never been more serious as now, because the nation of Iran—ancient Persia—has developed nuclear weapons, or is on the verge of doing so.
In the days of Zechariah as the remnant of Jews tried to rebuild the Temple, repopulate the city of Jerusalem, and reestablish the Jewish presence in the Promised Land, they too were bedeviled by their neighbors who hated them. It’s interesting how little things have changed.
To the remnant who had returned to rebuild the Temple, the message of Zechariah was very encouraging. Remember, Zechariah is a prophet of encouragement. His preaching enabled the Jews to finish the Second Temple. They had become demoralized and stopped work, but Zechariah came with all kinds of encouragement from God—in the form of visions, symbols, and now prophecies.
In the passage we’re coming to, Zechariah tells the Jewish remnant that God is going to deal with their enemies, with the enemy nations surrounding them and tormenting them.
One other thing before we go verse-to-verse in our study. The chapters we’re coming to are made up of poetry. The literary genre is poetical. You can see that in the newer translations because it is formatted differently than prose. You notice it is written in stanzas rather than simply narrative sentences. This was done to make it easier for people to memorize and share with others. In those days, it was much harder to publish materials. Learning was done more by hearing and speaking than by reading. It was an oral society, and that’s why so much of the material in the books of the prophets was poetical in nature.
Hebrew poetry is defined by parallelism. The same thought will be repeated or will expand in phases and in phrases, and there may be a lot of figurative or visual language involved.
1. The Coming Conquest
So with that preparation, let’s look at Zechariah 9, which tells of the coming conquest of the enemies of the Jews.
The word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrak
Where is Hadrak? This is the only reference to this location in the Bible. But Hadrak is mentioned in certain Assyrian texts, and it was a place somewhere north of Israel. We’re told in Ezekiel 38 and 39 that the great threat to Israel during the last days will come down from the North. What is north of Israel? If you look at a map and draw a line due north of Israel, you go through Lebanon, portions of Syria, Turkey, the Black Sea, Crimea, Ukraine, and Russia.
We believe Hadrak was a city not far from the current site of Aleppo, Syria.
The verse continues: …and will come to rest on Damascus—
…which is the capital of Syria. Aleppo is over 200 miles north of Damascus. Aleppo is in the north of Syria and Damascus is in the south of Syria. So this is a prediction against the land of Syria, from north to south.
The verse continues: …for the eyes of all people and all the tribes of Israel are on the Lord—
In other words, everyone on earth and especially the nation of Israel is going to see what God will do. Let’s continue to verse 2.
and on Hamath too, which borders on it,
Hamath was another city in Syria. It was on the route between Aleppo and Damascus.
Verse 2 continues: …and on Tyre and Sidon, though they are very skillful.
These two cities were just to the north of Israel, in modern-day Lebanon.
3 Tyre has built herself a stronghold; she has heaped up silver like dust, and gold like the dirt of the streets. 4 But the Lord will take away her possessions and destroy her power on the sea, and she will be consumed by fire.
In Zechariah’s day, this seemed like an impossible prediction, because Tyre was a massive place. It was an island city just off the coast, and it was thought to be almost unconquerable. But a few years after this prediction, Alexander the Great practically wiped Tyre off the map. I’ll come back to Alexander in a moment.
But now look at verse 5:
5 Ashkelon will see it and fear;
Ashkelon was a city on the coast of Israel, near the Gaza strip. And look at this next line in verse 5: Gaza will writhe in agony
In some ways we see this happening in our own day.
…and Ekron too, for her hope will wither.
Ekron was one of the five cities of the Philistines northeast of the Gaza strip.
The text says: Gaza will lose her king and Ashkelon will be deserted. 6 A mongrel people will occupy Ashdod, and I will put an end to the pride of the Philistines.
7 I will take the blood from their mouths, the forbidden food from between their teeth.
Here the Lord likens the people of Gaza to a man who has blood dripping from his mouth and unclean food stuck to his teeth. They will be judged.
So Zechariah said that God would judge Israel’s neighbors starting in the region to the far north of Israel, advancing through Syria, and on to the coastal areas of Gaza. And these predictions came to pass less than 200 years later when Alexander the Great swept through the area, following almost this exact route as he conquered the region, one city after another.
What Alexander the Great did to Tyre is exactly what Zechariah predicted, down to the details. And the same is true for the cities of Gaza. They tried to resist Alexander and it didn’t end well for them. Alexander captured the king of Gaza, tied him to a chariot, and dragged him through the streets until he was dead.
This is a remarkable fulfillment of historical prophecy. Zechariah told the Jews who were trying to rebuild the temple to persevere through the opposition of the surrounding people because God would judge the nations. And less than 200 years later, Alexander the Great followed the exact route laid out here by Zechariah, doing exactly as Zechariah has said.
There are also detailed prophecies about Alexander in the books of Daniel and Ezekiel. These three prophets—Daniel, Ezekiel, and Zechariah—offered detailed prophecies hundreds of years in advance about the conquest of Alexander the Great.
Now on to verse 8. The Lord said, “But I will encamp at my temple to guard it against marauding forces. Never again will an oppressor overrun my people, for now I am keeping watch.”
When Alexander the Great came through the area on a rampage on conquest, the Lord spared Jerusalem and the temple. This happened during the days between the Old and New Testaments, but we have extra-biblical sources that tell us about it.
Now let me read to you what the first century Jewish historian, Josephus, said. This is from the translation by Dr. Paul Maier.
Alexander marched into Syria, taking Damascus and Sidon, and then besieged Tyre…. Alexander conquered Tyre, following a seven-month siege. After two more months he had taken the city of Gaza also. Then he hurried to go up to Jerusalem.
When Jaddua, the high priest, heard that Alexander was coming, he was terrified, and ordered his people to join him in sacrifice and prayer to God. Appearing to him in a dream, God told him to take courage and decorate the city in wreaths. The people were to clothe themselves in white and the priests with their robes…. Then they were to march out of the gates to meet the Macedonians (Alexander and his army).
Jaddua awoke rejoicing, and announced the revelation to all. When he learned that Alexander was not far from the city, he went out in procession with the priests and the people. Alexander saw the procession coming toward him, and the priests clothed in linen and the high priest in a robe of blue and gold…. Approaching alone, Alexander prostrated himself before the Name and greeted the high priest…. His officers wondered if he had suddenly become insane. (Alexander) replied, “When I was…in Macedonia, considering how I could become master of Asia, I saw this very person in my sleep, dressed as he is now….”
Alexander was escorted into Jerusalem by the high priest and his attendants. He went up into the temple where he sacrificed to God according to the high priest’s directions. And when the book of Daniel was shown to him, which predicted that one of the Greeks would destroy the Persian Empire, he thought himself to be the one so designated.
And so while the other cities on Zechariah’s list were destroyed, Jerusalem and the Temple were spared and given special privileges by Alexander, so great was his respect and gratitude.
To recap, the Jewish remnant that had returned from Babylon to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple faced great opposition from their neighbors. But Zechariah offered them a prophecy. He told them to persevere, because God would destroy their enemies, starting north and going south. Within 200 years, Alexander the Great followed the route mapped out by Zechariah, destroyed those cities, but spared Jerusalem and even went up to that Second Temple and offered a sacrifice to the God of Israel.
And at this point, we leap into the future. All of the prophets did this. They would predict the future, but they would sometimes jump forward. So now, having explained the coming conquest of the enemies of the Jews, Zechariah tells us that will lead to a coming King.
2. The Coming King
Look at verse 9: Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
The King would enter Jerusalem as King of the Jews, amid the shouts of the people, and He would be riding a lowly donkey, a colt. This is the Palm Sunday prediction. Jesus Christ came right on schedule exactly as predicted, but the Jewish leaders rejected Him. Zechariah not only predicted one King who would bring about conquest but another King would bring about peace.
Alexander the Great came racing across the world only to die in Babylon at the age of thirty-three. Jesus Christ came riding into Jerusalem only to die on the cross at the age of thirty-three. Today Alexander’s tomb is lost to history. Nobody knows where his body ended up. Jesus Christ rose from the dead and now occupies His throne in Heaven. Zechariah predicts both of these men in this passage! And these two men represent one of the greatest contrasts in history.
Many years ago a man named Charles Ross Weede wrote a poem about this, and I want to end this episode by reading it to you:
Jesus and Alexander died at thirty-three
One lived and died for self; one died for you and me.
The Greek died on a throne; the Jew died on a cross.
One’s life a triumph seemed; the other but a loss.
One led vast armies forth; the other walked alone.
One shed a whole world’s blood; the other gave His own.
One won the world in life and lost it all in death;
The other lost His life to win the whole world’s faith.
Jesus and Alexander died at thirty-three.
One died in Babylon, and one on Calvary.
One gained all for himself; and one Himself He gave,
One conquered every throne; the other every grace.
The one made himself God, the God made Himself less,
The one lived but to blast, the other but to bless.
When died the Greek, forever feel his throne of swords;
But Jesus died to live forever Lord of lords.
Jesus and Alexander died at thirty-three.
The Greek made all men slaves; the Jew made all men free.
One built a throne on blood; the other built on love.
The one was born of earth; the other from above.
One won all this earth to lose all earth and heaven.
The other gave up all, that all to Him be given.
The Greek forever died; the Jew forever lives.
He loses all who gets, and wins all things who gives.
Well, next week we’ll finish Zechariah chapter 9. Remember to check out my book The 50 Final Events in World History—and also my video series by the same name.