PM Home Bible Study Group; July 27, 2011

Zechariah 9:19-10
Theme: The Future of the World Powers, Israel, and the Kingdom of Messiah

(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)

IV. The Future of the World Powers, Israel, and the Kingdom of Messiah (9:1-14:21).

A. The First Burden (9:1-11:17).

2. Israel’s King of Peace (9:9-10).

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.

I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim

And the horse from Jerusalem;

10 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.’^[a]

Footnotes:

Zechariah 9:10; Psalm 72:8

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In the previous passage (9:1-8), Zechariah was given a look ahead—some 150 years into the future—at the campaign of Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.). In it, he was shown the ways that Alexander would be a threat to the nations that threatened Judah—how this proud pagan king would conquer the northern regions of Syria (vv. 1-2a), the coastlands of Tyre and Sidon (vv. 2b-4), and even the cities of Philisita (vv. 5-7). But just as God had promised, he passed through Jerusalem and Judah and left them untouched (v. 8). God promised His people that He would punish the surrounding nations, but preserve His chosen people—and clearly, He did exactly as He had promised.

But now, we come to an even greater promise. God promised that in sharp contrast to the proud, hostile, destructive coming of Alexander to the land, Judah’s promised King—the Messiah would soon be coming in humility, and with salvation, and in such a way as to bring about peace. This evening’s passage gives us one of the clearest and most exciting pictures of the Lord Jesus Christ that can found in Old Testament prophecy.

Note how, after such dreadful words concerning the coming of the Grecian king Alexander, God spoke to the people of Zion of their soon-coming King. In these two verses, we find . . .

I. THE PROMISE OF HIS COMING (v. 9a).

A. His coming is a cause of great rejoicing. The coming of Alexander for the surrounding nations was a cause of great fear and dread. In Daniel’s prophecy, he was said to come “in furious power” and “moved with rage”; and in such a way as to cast his enemies to the ground and trample them (Daniel 8:6-7). What terror it must have caused to the nations to see him approach! And as Zechariah said earlier, Alexander’s terrifying wave of conquest was because God was “exceedingly angry with the nations at ease” (Zechariah 1:15). But what a difference it will be at the news of this coming King! “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!” God says; “Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!” The nations that Alexander came upon shouted with terror. But the nature of this shouting is explained by the word “rejoice”; because the coming of the Messiah is good news for the people of Zion. His coming is why Isaiah could pray, “You have multiplied the nation and increased its joy; they rejoice before You according to the joy of harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil” (Isaiah 9:3). And of course, when He finally came, the people did rejoice; because they—rightly—saw His coming as the fulfillment of this very prophecy (Matthew 21:4-11; Luke 19:36-40).

B. He comes to Jerusalem. This word from God specifies Jerusalem; and says, “Behold, your King is coming to you . . .” It was in verse 8 that God made it clear that the threatening king Alexander would only pass through Jerusalem and would not take it; “because I will camp around My house . . .” But here, Jerusalem is told that it would see her promised King come directly to her. It may be true that, as He drew near, He drew near with weeping; because He knew that it would at that time reject Him and crucify Him (Luke 19:41-44). But nevertheless—just as God promised—her King did indeed come to her. And as we see in Zechariah 14:3-5, He will come to her yet again! And then, Jerusalem will be the one to weep as they finally receive the King they had rejected. As Zechariah 12:10 says, Jerusalem “will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.”

C. He comes as the promised King. The reason that the coming of King Jesus to Jerusalem that first time was so important is because it was the keeping of a promise. God told King David, “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2 Samuel 7:12-13). This promise was further given to Isaiah, who wrote, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this” (Isaiah 9:6-7). And so, as the angel told Mary concerning His birth, “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:32-33). What a contrast He will be to the temporal reign of even such a king as Alexander!

II. THE NATURE OF HIS COMING (v. 9b).

A. He comes as “just”. Alexander’s reign was anything but just. He was capricious and violent; and like so many kings, he was given to lusts and passions. But what a contrast King Jesus will be! His coming is promised to be as something that the world has never otherwise seen—a king who is perfectly “just”. Isaiah says of Him that “His delight is in the fear of the LORD, and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears; but with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, and faithfulness the belt of His waist” (Isaiah 11:3-5). Jeremiah says that he will be a king who will “execute judgment and righteousness in the earth” (Jeremiah 23:5). Psalm 45:6-7 says that His will be “a scepter of righteousness”; and that He will reign as a king who will “love righteousness and hate wickedness”. When He came the first time, no one was able to accuse Jesus of sin (John 8:46; 10:32) for “He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth” (Isaiah 53:9).

B. He comes “bringing salvation”. Alexander certainly didn’t come bringing salvation! News of his coming was news of impending destruction and death. He slaughtered many nations, and sent many of their citizens away in bonds of hopeless slavery. And he really could not even save himself by his own power. As Psalm 33:16 says, “No king is saved by the multitude of an army; a mighty man is not delivered by great strength.” The mighty, fearsome, unconquerable king Alexander the Great died unexpectedly at the age of 33—apparently from food poisoning. But when the infant King Jesus was brought by Joseph and Mary into the temple to be circumcised, another prophet—named Zacharias—was able to say of Him that God had raised up “a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David” (Luke 1:69); and said to Jesus Himself, “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (vv. 76-79).

C. He comes in “lowliness”. Again, what a contrast to proud Alexander—who didn’t come in lowliness at all, but in great arrogance and boasting. He came riding in on a chariot pulled by mighty stallions, surrounded by his armies. But King Jesus came just as Zechariah was told—”riding on a donkey”; in fact, upon a borrowed donkey; and even more humbly, upon “a colt, the foal of a donkey” (see Matthew 21:4-7). No one would have dared to drawn near to the austere Alexander the Great for comfort; but as King Jesus Himself said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). This great King is humble; and wonderfully approachable!

III. THE CONSEQUENCE OF HIS COMING (v. 10).

A. He will destroy the instruments of war. We certainly don’t see this at His first coming. But what Zechariah was not shown was that there was a space of time between His first coming in humility and His second coming in power and glory (see Matthew 24:30). We’re living in that time between His first and second coming; and the next great event will be His coming to establish peace. Note how it is that He will bring about that peace: “I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem; the battle bow shall be cut off.” There will be peace because the enemies of His people will be disarmed. “For You have broken the yoke of his burden and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. For every warrior’s sandal from the noisy battle, and garments rolled in blood, will be used for burning and fuel of fire” (Isaiah 9:4-5).

B. He will speak peace to the nations. His work of peace won’t be simply that of destroying the weapons of the enemy. It will also be that of changing the hearts of the people. It’s interesting to note that Ephraim (the symbolic name of the northern kingdom of Israel) will be rescued with Jerusalem (the symbolic name of the southern kingdom); suggesting that there will at last be peace and a reunion between the nation that had been divided during the reign of King Rehoboam (see 1 Kings 12). But this “peace” will be brought about among the gentile nations as well; and on the deepest level. Already this has begun between Jew and Gentile. As Paul wrote of Jesus, “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father” (Ephesians 2:14-18). At Jesus’ return, this “peace” will be fully realized upon the earth.

C. His dominion will be world-wide. Alexander’s empire was vast. But even it didn’t reach as far as this King’s kingdom will reach. As Zechariah was told, “His dominion shall be ‘from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.” The meaning of this is made plain in Psalm 72:8-11; “He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. Those who dwell in the wilderness will bow before Him, and His enemies will lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of the isles will bring presents; the kings of Sheba and Seba will offer gifts. Yes, all kings shall fall down before Him; all nations shall serve Him.” As Danial was told, His kingdom will be a “great mountain” that will fill “the whole earth” (Daniel 2:35).

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What a great king our King is! How greater He is than even the greatest of earthly kings! May God hasten the day that we read of in Revelation 19:11-16 concerning Jesus’ second coming—a day that would make even the mighty Alexander the Great bow the knee:

Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:

KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.