Project 119: Zechariah 9
| Project 119 | Amy Hirsch
If you have been in worship on Palm Sunday, it’s likely that a few of these verses in Zechariah 9 are quite familiar to you! On Palm Sunday, we remember Jesus’ triumphant entry into the city of Jerusalem, entering the city on a donkey as people waved palm branches and shouted “Hosanna!” But, did you know that Christ was fulfilling prophecy as He entered the city that day? In the gospels, we see the words of Zechariah 9:9 come to life.
This prophecy must have been such a comfort to post-exilic Israel. In the beginning of Zechariah 9, we see the promise that God would judge Israel’s enemies—that a day is coming when God Himself would encamp the nation and no oppressor would ever march over them again. These must have been words of great hope for a people who had survived war and foreign exile. What’s more, they learn that a king is coming to them. The kings of David had long passed. The only king the people knew was the governor, Zerubabbel, or the great kings of their enemies. But God promises that a day is coming when a righteous and humble king would come to rule over them, whose reign would be sovereign and never-ending. There’s no more need for chariots, war horses, or battle bows, for this king will speak peace to the nations—a peace that is everlasting, eternal, and never-ending.
Zechariah tells the people, “This is your king.” I can imagine the hope in these words, followed by the years of waiting for this king to enter into the story and to bring victory for God’s people. They waited, and they waited, and they waited. We find saints like Anna and Simeon faithfully waiting in the New Testament, and when they meet Christ, they declare that they have seen salvation from the Lord and the redemption of Jerusalem.
But the crowd worshipped Christ as He entered on a donkey, and scorned Him several days later, shouting “Crucify Him!” They had waited and hoped so long for a king who would bring political victory, who would overcome Roman oppression through revolt, who would crush their physical enemies. They rejected Him, as if to say to Zechariah, “This isn’t our king.”
The king described in Zechariah 9 is a king who certainly is coming to crush His enemies. He’s a king who loves His people fiercely and who leads them like a shepherd, a king who will usher in a period of eternal peace. He’s a king who reigns sovereignly over all dominions, from sea to sea. And He’s a king who comes in humility, who had the riches of God’s kingdom and yet became poor for our sakes, putting on flesh so that, by His poverty, we might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). In other words, He is a king who is a paradox, a king whose ways can be mysterious, and a king who is certainly ruling over all—even those who reject Him, who say “This isn’t our king.” Do you recognize Him as Your king?
Zechariah 9 (ESV):
Judgment on Israel’s Enemies
1 The oracle of the word of the LORD is against the land of Hadrach
and Damascus is its resting place.
For the LORD has an eye on mankind
and on all the tribes of Israel,
2 and on Hamath also, which borders on it,
Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.
3 Tyre has built herself a rampart
and heaped up silver like dust,
and fine gold like the mud of the streets.
4 But behold, the Lord will strip her of her possessions
and strike down her power on the sea,
and she shall be devoured by fire.
5 Ashkelon shall see it, and be afraid;
Gaza too, and shall writhe in anguish;
Ekron also, because its hopes are confounded.
The king shall perish from Gaza;
Ashkelon shall be uninhabited;
6 a mixed people shall dwell in Ashdod,
and I will cut off the pride of Philistia.
7 I will take away its blood from its mouth,
and its abominations from between its teeth;
it too shall be a remnant for our God;
it shall be like a clan in Judah,
and Ekron shall be like the Jebusites.
8 Then I will encamp at my house as a guard,
so that none shall march to and fro;
no oppressor shall again march over them,
for now I see with my own eyes.
The Coming King of Zion
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
and he shall speak peace to the nations;
his rule shall be from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
11 As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
12 Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;
today I declare that I will restore to you double.
13 For I have bent Judah as my bow;
I have made Ephraim its arrow.
I will stir up your sons, O Zion,
against your sons, O Greece,
and wield you like a warrior’s sword.
The LORD Will Save His People
14 Then the LORD will appear over them,
and his arrow will go forth like lightning;
the Lord GOD will sound the trumpet
and will march forth in the whirlwinds of the south.
15 The LORD of hosts will protect them,
and they shall devour, and tread down the sling stones,
and they shall drink and roar as if drunk with wine,
and be full like a bowl,
drenched like the corners of the altar.
16 On that day the LORD their God will save them,
as the flock of his people;
for like the jewels of a crown
they shall shine on his land.
17 For how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty!
Grain shall make the young men flourish,
and new wine the young women.