Defeated Enemies and The Coming King!

Zechariah 9:1-17 

1 The burden of the word of the LORD
Against the land of Hadrach,
And Damascus its resting place
(For the eyes of men
And all the tribes of Israel
Are on the LORD);
2 Also against Hamath, which borders on it,
And against Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.

3 For Tyre built herself a tower,
Heaped up silver like the dust,
And gold like the mire of the streets.
4 Behold, the Lord will cast her out;
He will destroy her power in the sea,
And she will be devoured by fire.

5 Ashkelon shall see it and fear;
Gaza also shall be very sorrowful;
And Ekron, for He dried up her expectation.
The king shall perish from Gaza,
And Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.

6 "A mixed race shall settle in Ashdod,
And I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.
7 I will take away the blood from his mouth,
And the abominations from between his teeth.
But he who remains, even he shall be for our God,
And shall be like a leader in Judah,
And Ekron like a Jebusite.

8 I will camp around My house
Because of the army,
Because of him who passes by and him who returns.
No more shall an oppressor pass through them,
For now I have seen with My eyes.

(The Coming King - Matt. 21:5; John 12:14, 15)

9 "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your King is coming to you;
He is just and having salvation,
Lowly and riding on a donkey,
A colt, the foal of a donkey.

10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
And the horse from Jerusalem;
The battle bow shall be cut off.

He shall speak peace to the nations;
His dominion shall be from sea to sea,
And from the River to the ends of the earth.'

(God Will Save His People)

11 "As for you also,
Because of the blood of your covenant,
I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.

12 Return to the stronghold,
You prisoners of hope.
Even today I declare
That I will restore double to you.

13 For I have bent Judah, My bow,
Fitted the bow with Ephraim,
And raised up your sons, O Zion,
Against your sons, O Greece,
And made you like the sword of a mighty man."

14 Then the LORD will be seen over them,
And His arrow will go forth like lightning.
The Lord GOD will blow the trumpet,
And go with whirlwinds from the south.

15 The LORD of hosts will defend them;
They shall devour and subdue with slingstones.
They shall drink and roar as if with wine;
They shall be filled with blood like basins,
Like the corners of the altar.

16 The LORD their God will save them in that day,
As the flock of His people.

For they shall be like the jewels of a crown,
Lifted like a banner over His land—
17 For how great is its goodness
And how great its beauty!
Grain shall make the young men thrive,
And new wine the young women.

Here is the hope is Israel with God bringing defeat of their enemies, casting them and their mighty armies down in utter destruction.  Their warfare and idolatries would be devoured by the fire of God’s wrath on their sin and deliverance for Israel from them.  He would take away the oppressors from around Jerusalem and being them something so much more.  He would save His people not only from their enemies but also from their sin by the atoning blood of the covenant which He made with them as promised.  With these words of promise and hope to restore them, God called them back to the stronghold of Himself to protect His own.  The greatest promise of all was the prophetic message of the King coming humbly on a donkey’s foal instead of a triumphant war horse.  This is the promise of the Messiah, Jesus Christ as seen fulfilled in Matthew 21:5 (John 12:15-16) with the victory of Psalm 110:1-2 as reassurance of His sovereign reign.  He would reign over the entire world and bring peace that lasts (Romans 5:1) to the ones He chose and called for and to Himself.  This is the gospel in veiled form for His people which we now can look back on with understanding and awe for His working of sovereign grace.  He defended Israel and will defend all His combined people in Christ alone, promised and hidden as a mystery then but revealed now more fully now in the completed scriptures of His purchase, proclamation, and explanation of redemption.  We also look forward with great expectation and longing for the consummation of redemption in eternity as we are invited into the heavenly New Jerusalem to come.  He had saved Israel then from earthly enemies and will fully deliver us from the very presence of the heavenly ones and their dominion (Ephesians 6:12) over us because we stand firm in His Anointed One who delivers from sin and the enemy without and within.  We, like they, are the flock of His people who are called and hear His voice then follow (John 10:3, 16, 27) as one flock under the Great Shepherd and Overseer of our souls (1 Peter 2:25).  We together are the precious stones with which He builds His church (1 Peter 2:4-5, 9-10) as a banner of praise to His name in the beauty of holiness in Christ’s righteousness.  His church is the crowning jewel of His banner of love over us.  Praise and worship Him for who He is me all that He has done!  As Revelation 1:6 says, He makes us “Kings and Priests unto God even his Father, to him, I say, be glory, and dominion for evermore.”  Amen.