Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.
11 As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.
12 Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee;
13 When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man.
In verse 9 Zechariah is directed to write of the first coming of Christ. Zion is of course a reference to Jerusalem. In Matthew 21:5 this prophecy was fulfilled. Jesus Christ entered Jerusalem at that time riding on the foal of an ass. That ass had never been ridden before but it had no problem submitting to its’ Creator.
We know that when Jesus entered Jerusalem at that time, there was great excitement among the common people. They expected Him to overthrow the Roman government. The religious leaders did not approve of all the attention Jesus got at that time. They wanted the attention. They did not believe He was the Messiah. They expected someone different.
However, Jesus Christ was just, and He was the King of the Jews then and He still is now. He is the Owner of salvation. No one can be saved apart from trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour.
In verse 10 God directed Zechariah to look beyond the first coming of the Lord. Jesus Christ offered peace in His first coming but it was rejected by the nation of Israel. They were not ready for the King at that time. They still are not ready today. The day will come when Israel will finally realize they missed out on a great blessing at Jesus’ first coming. They will acknowledge Him as their Messiah and King at His second coming.
Jesus Christ shall speak peace to the heathen at that time. His dominion will be from sea to sea. He will be the ruler of all the earth. You may recall that when Jesus was born, the angels appeared to the shepherds and announced peace on earth at the coming of the Messiah. He was the Prince of peace then and He still is that today. He will always be the Prince of peace.
It is frustrating to watch how the U.S. is currently tied up in knots in trying to figure out how to deal with the unrest and the fraud in Minnesota. There is an element of the U.S. society that are gullible and willing to be bought to protest against law and order. Those who are truly saved know there is only one remedy for the trouble there. There needs to be some genuine repentance and salvation among the leaders. Then they will be able to give right leadership to that situation. There also needs to be true repentance and salvation among the citizens. That is not going to happen, due to the hard-heartedness of the people. They may find some way to cool things down, but you can be guaranteed that the winners there will be the Muslims. They have been given far too much of a foothold in the U.S. and they are not going to leave. They know there are many suckers in the U.S. who are willing to play games with them. The problem is that lost people are blinded to the truth.
I read that the Muslims are holding another blood donation drive to try to deceive the gullible that they care about human life and want to help those in need. It takes a genuine fool to believe that lie. The Muslims have one goal and that is world dominance.
When the Lord Jesus Christ comes back He will fix the world problems.
In verses 11-12 God addressed the nation of Israel further. God made a covenant with the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai. He used the blood of bulls and goats to confirm that covenant. He made a new covenant with them through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the blood of Jesus Christ alone that can wash away sin.
The reference to the pit without water is referring to holding places for prisoners. We know that Joseph’s brothers put him into a dry pit until they figured out what they were going to do with him. It was common in Bible times to use a dry well as a type of a prison. The prisoners could not escape and the well was there and it was convenient. However, when the Lord returns those who repent toward God and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, will be drawn out of that pit of sin.
In verse 12 Israel is encouraged to turn to the stronghold. That stronghold was the true God. He is the Saviour. They have tried many other saviours, but none have been able to deliver what they promised. God, through Jesus Christ, is what the Jews need and it is what the Gentiles need.
We notice in this passage as well that Zechariah is directed to speak of a time when Israel will be united as a nation. There will be no north and south. There will be no Israel and Judah. It will be one nation that will submit to the LORD. In verse 13 God addressed both Zion and Greece. Zion is the capital city of Israel. Greece was the representative of the Gentile world. Even though Rome was the last of the four world empires, the language of the Gentiles was Greek. The New Testament was written in Greek. That was the dominant language of the time.
God is telling the Jews then and now and the Gentiles then and now that He is the God over all the earth. He will do as He declares and the wise person acknowledges that fact. It is extremely foolish to fight against the true God. No one can win against Him. He is the true God. There is none other. It was important for the Jews to listen to God in the days of Zechariah. They chose not to. It is important for Jew and Gentile to listen to God now. The majority of the world has no interest in Him. The blessing is for those who will listen to Him.
Pastor Bartel