A Study of Zechariah 9:1-17
Introduction
A person could spend their whole day reading about events in the Middle East, and especially in Israel. It’s a fascinating study, one that occupied the attention of my own father. I remember how he and my Uncle Walter subscribed to the Jerusalem Post every week and studied what was happening in Israel. They were astounded that the nation of Israel had been reconstituted in their own lifetime, in 1948, and they viewed it as a fulfillment in some way of God’s prophetic plan for history. I share that view.
Much of the prophecy unfolds in the book of Zechariah. Chapters 9 through 11 represent one segment of prophetic material. In the last episode we looked at Zechariah 9:1-8. I want to review that portion and then go on to show you how this chapter predicts three great movements of prophetic history—and two of them have already been fulfilled.
1. God’s Prophecy about Alexander the Great
The first eight verses are a prediction of God’s blessings on Israel through Alexander the Great. Zechariah lived and wrote about the year 500 B.C. We can date Alexander the Great, in round terms, to 300 B.C. He actually died in 323, but for our purposes let’s use round numbers. Jesus Christ came in the first century. So in Zechariah 9:1-8, the prophet will predict with incredible accuracy what will happen 200 years after his death when Alexander comes through the region. And he is going to predict what will happen 500 years after his death, when Jesus Christ comes into Jerusalem. This is prophetic material that has already been fulfilled. This is apologetic material. Here we have predictions made 500 years before Christ was born. Two hundred years later, the first group of them were fulfilled with stunning accuracy. And a half-millennium after Zechariah—500 years—the second set of predictions was fulfilled with total accuracy.
Let’s quickly review verses 1 through 8, which we looked at in some detail previously.
Verse 1 says: A prophecy: The word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrak and will come to rest on Damascus—
In other words the Lord is going to do something that will reach from the city of Hadrak in northern Syria to the city of Damascus in southern Syria.
…for the eyes of all people and all the tribes of Israel are on the Lord—
Everyone will see what the Lord is going to do.
Verse 2: …and on Hamath too, which borders on it…
That too is a city in Syria. In other words, someone is going to come sweeping down through Syria, devastating the cities. The next verse says this military force will come to proceed down to Tyre and Sidon. Tyre at the time was the most impregnable city in the world. It was built on an island off the coast of modern-day Lebanon and had high walls. But verse 3 says:
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.
When Alexander the Great came down through Syria and Lebanon, he conquered and destroyed these cities—Hadrak, Damascus, Hamath, and he besieged Tyre and destroyed it with fire. Then he went down the coast of Israel, defeating the cities of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, Ashdod. Look at verse 5:
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.
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.
After he destroyed the cities in Syria and Tyre and Sidon, Alexander steamrolled over the cities of Gaza and coastal Israel, the very cities that are mentioned here. He and his Macedonian army took the very route predicted by Zechariah. But what about Jerusalem? God protected the city. I told you in the last episode how Alexander refused to destroy the city, how he actually worshiped God there in response to a dream. He spared the city. And that’s what Zechariah predicted. Verse 8 says:
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.
Remember the setting. Zechariah was a prophet of encouragement to the remnant of Jews who had returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the city and its temple. This fledgling group of Jews were beset by opposition. They were trying to finish the rebuilding of the Temple amid political tension. But Zechariah said, “God is going to deal with your enemies in His own time and way. All these cities, all these opposing forces that seem so invincible—He will go from north to south judging them, but He will encamp around Jerusalem and spare it. So don’t worry about these enemies. The Lord will deal with them for you. You keep building the temple.
There’s a message in there for us too. We get very upset about our international enemies and about those who oppose us politically or in terms of our worldview. We are sometimes despised and rejected. But God will judge those who oppose His work and His workers, and He will encamp around us and guard us against marauding forces.
Remember what Zechariah said in chapter 2: “I will be a wall of fire around you and the glory in your midst.”
Now, let’s go on to verse 9. After the days of Alexander another King will come into Jerusalem. This is God’s prophecy about Christ.
2. God’s Prophecy about Christ
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.
You probably recognize this passage from Palm Sunday activities at church. The Gospel of Matthew quotes this verse as being fulfilled in every way when Jesus came into Jerusalem on the Sunday of Passion Week. There are seven aspects of this prediction.
First, the Messiah would be a King. He would be the King of Zion. Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! Your king comes to you. As we’ve seen, Zechariah is full of Messianic predictions, and we’ve already learned that the Messiah would combine the offices of priest and king.
Second, His entrance into Jerusalem would be a matter of great joy. Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! Your king comes to you. As we learn in the Gospels, the bystanders that day were seized with exuberance. They took their clothes and branches from the palm trees to lay down a sort of red carpet for Him, and they shouted “Hosanna,” which was a cry of praise toward the one coming to save them.
Third, this King would be righteous. See, your king comes to you, righteous…. And in the entire history of the world, only one person has been pure, sinless, innocent, and without any trace of wickedness—the Lord Jesus Christ. He perfectly reflected the moral standards of God Himself. The Hebrew word has to do with conforming to a standard, and in this case the standard is the character of almighty God.
Fourth, He would win the victory. See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious.
Fifth, He will enter Jerusalem riding on a young donkey. 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.
Sixth, He will be humble. Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly….
This wasn’t expected. You would think the King of all the earth would come into His capital city to begin His reign riding high, proud, inspiring people with his greatness, in a great show of power and force. But not this king. Not this time. He will be lowly.
Seventh, He will enter Jerusalem riding on a young donkey.
This isn’t the first time in the Bible the Messiah’s coming has been related to a donkey. In Genesis 49, as Jacob blessed his sons before he died, he predicted that the Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah. He said, “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be hiss. He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch; he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes” (verses 10-11).
What is the significance of the young donkey?
Dr. George Klein wrote, “The most important conclusion about the significance of the donkey in Zechariah 9 is the very different connotation the donkey had compared to the horse. Horses represented one of the most advanced military weapons of the day. The constant threat of military action continually tempted Israel to trust in her weaponry, or that of her allies, rather than placing her faith in the Lord. Several passages [in the Old Testament] pointedly remind Israel that trusting in horses for salvation will always prove useless…. Symbolically, the new Messiah riding a beast of burden, not an animal known for its military value, powerfully underscores the peaceable kingdom over which the Messiah will rule. Thus, the symbolism of riding a donkey emphasizes the peaceable mission of the Messiah.”
He came the first time in peace, riding on a donkey. But in Revelation 19, we’re told that when He comes again to judge the world and establish His kingdom, He will come on a white horse, at least symbolically. Revelation 19: “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns.”
This is a picture of His second coming. And what will He do when He comes again? He will instantly end the Battle of Armageddon, save the Jewish nation, and establish His kingdom. And that’s the third set of predictions in Zechariah 9, starting with verse 10.
3. God’s Prophecy about the Coming Kingdom
10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim
and the warhorses from Jerusalem,
and the battle bow will be broken.
He will proclaim peace to the nations.
His rule will extend from sea to sea
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
Now, let me pause to explain something about the Old and New Testaments. God revealed the future of Israel and of the world to these Old Testament prophets, but He withheld one critical piece of information. He did not tell them about the age of the church. He did not tell them there was not one but two comings of the Messiah, and that between the first and second coming there would be a new entity called the church. That was His secret.
Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1:10-12: “Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.”
In other words, the prophets of the Old Testament wrote about the sufferings of the Messiah and about the glories of the Messiah, but they longed to understand better how it all fit together. Even the angels did too. They did not know there were two comings of Christ with a gap in between for the church.
And the apostle Paul said in Ephesians 1:5-6: “The mystery of Christ… was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.”
So that is why you’ll be reading a verse in the Old Testament about Christ and in one sentence it will talk about His sufferings and in the next it will talk about His glory. Well, that’s what we have here. Verse 9 describes our Lord’s first coming when He came in humility to sacrifice Himself to provide salvation for the world. But verse 10 leaps to the end of the age when Jesus will come again and establish His Kingdom, which, according to Revelation 20, will last a thousand years on earth and then usher in the endless ages of eternity in the New Earth.
So look at verse 10 again: I will take the chariots from Ephraim [that is, the northern tribes of Israel] and the warhorses from Jerusalem [which represents the southern tribes], and the battle bow will be broken.
In other words, when Jesus comes again He will instantly defend and save Israel. The nation of Israel will no longer need its chariots and warhorses and bows. It will no longer need a military force, because the Lord will establish peace. The verse goes on to say: He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.
According to the book of Joshua, the true God-given boundary for the nation of Israel should extend all the way eastward to the Euphrates River. The Lord will rule the nations from the true borders of Israel and on to the ends of the earth.
Verse 11 says: As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit. The Lord established the blood covenant with Israel at the Passover and with the Mosaic Covenant, the Law, which was based on the shedding of the blood of animals. But it was all pointing toward Christ, and the Lord Jesus used this very term in the Upper Room when He passed the cup and said, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many” (Mark 14:24).
That blood—the blood of Christ—would free the prisoners from the waterless pit. That’s the kind of pit Joseph’s brothers threw him into in the book of Genesis. And Jeremiah, too, was thrown into a waterless pit. They represented the oppressed and hopeless. They are the ones Christ will deliver and exalt.
Verse 12: Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.
When Jesus comes to establish Jerusalem as His capital, He will invite all the Jewish people of that day to come to Jerusalem, to come to Israel, and He will give them double blessings. It will be a time when all God’s promises to Israel will be fulfilled and even doubled. It reminds us of Job at the end of all his troubles, when the Lord gave him double for all he had lost and gone through.
Verse 13 tells us that Israel will be the dominant force on earth in those days: I will bend Judah as I bend my bow and fill it with Ephraim. I will rouse your sons, Zion, against your sons, Greece, and make you like a warrior’s sword.
Verses 14 through 16 describes this great moment of our Lord’s return to earth. We have the Second Coming of Jesus described in very much the same terms in a number of passages—
14 Then the Lord will appear over them;
his arrow will flash like lightning.
The Sovereign Lord will sound the trumpet;
he will march in the storms of the south,
15 and the Lord Almighty will shield them.
They will destroy
and overcome with slingstones.
They will drink and roar as with wine;
they will be full like a bowl
used for sprinkling the corners of the altar.
16 The Lord their God will save his people on that day
as a shepherd saves his flock.
They will sparkle in his land
like jewels in a crown.
17 How attractive and beautiful they will be!
Grain will make the young men thrive,
and new wine the young women.
All of this is going to be expanded and described in greater detail in the remaining chapters of Zechariah. But let’s review this chapter. First, we have a prophecy about the coming of Alexander the Great. Then, a prophecy about the first coming of Christ. Both those predictions were fulfilled to the letter. Then we have a prediction about the coming Kingdom when the Jewish people will finally be safe and dominant, when the Messiah will reign from Jerusalem over all the earth, and we have the climactic picture of what it will be like during the glorious moment of His return.
It might help if I were to give you an expanded and annotated paraphrase of this passage. Here’s here’s what I think Zechariah is telling us in chapter 9 of his book.
Zechariah said: I have a burden, a prophecy for the Jewish remnant who is currently beset by enemies. Coming destruction is decreed against these enemies, starting with Hadrak, Damascus, and Hamath in Syria. This destruction will then descend upon Tyre—which is so incredibly strong and rich that she seems impregnable—and Sidon. The Lord destroys her with fire. The judgment will continue down the coast of Israel and envelop Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron, Ashdod, these ancient Philistine lands. But I will guard my city of Jerusalem and my temple and protect it from this coming invasion by Alexander the Great.
Then another king will come, and the people of Zion will rejoice and shout in triumph. He is coming, righteous and victorious, yet humble and riding on a young donkey.
And then one day Israel will have total freedom from her enemies. She will no longer need weapons of war. The coming King will bring peace to the nations and His empire will stretch from sea to sea, from the boundaries of Israel and to the ends of the earth. His covenant of blood will free the prisoners, and my dispersed people will return to My land full of hope, safe and sound, and their blessings will be doubled—multiplied.
All this will happen when the Lord appears above His people like lightning, with the sound of a trumpet. His heavenly armies will defeat all the enemies that have surrounded Israel. They will be drenched in blood, and the Lord will rescue his people and care for them like a shepherd. They will be His jewels, and a spirit of youthfulness and prosperity will fill the land.
Now again, that’s an interpretive paraphrase, but I believe it reflects an accurate interpretation of Zechariah 9.
Conclusion
Now let’s finish with this question. Why should we trust biblical prophecy? How can we know things will unfold as the Bible says? This is a great place to answer this question, because this chapter describes a set of events that post-date the author yet have already come true in history. As I said, Zechariah lived about 500 years before Christ, yet with exceeding accuracy he predicted what would take place 200 years later. The destruction of cities in Syria, the remarkable destruction of the most fortified city in the world—Tyre—and the destruction of Gaza. And then, surprisingly, the sparing of Jerusalem.
And then Zechariah predicted the events of Palm Sunday, which unfolded 500 years after his death but every detail came to pass exactly as he said.
The one-hundred-percent accuracy in the fulfillment of historical prophecy—even events that seemed improbable at the time—gives us evidence that God is able to tell us in advance what He is going to do, and then He will do exactly as He has said.
That’s why we can be confident in the return of Jesus Christ, the reality of the resurrection of our bodies, our Lord’s millennial reign, and our eternal home in the New Heavens, New Earth, and New City of Jerusalem. That’s why we are especially concerned about the unfolding events related to Israel, and why we are the world’s only people with legitimate hope for the future—a sure and certain hope that is rooted in our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of Lords.