PRISONERS OF HOPE – Zechariah 9:11-17

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on August 10, 2011 under PM Bible Study |

PM Home Bible Study Group; August 10, 2011

Zechariah 9:11-17
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).

3. The King’s Mission in Relation to Israel (9:11-17).

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[a] goodness

And how great its[b] beauty!

Grain shall make the young men thrive,

And new wine the young women.

Footnotes:

a. Zechariah 9:17; Or His

b. Zechariah 9:17; Or His

* * * * * * * * * *

When we look at the world around us—especially in our day—and see all the troubles and unrest that seems to prevail, it would be easy to become discouraged and defeated. If that was all that we saw, it would be understandable if we lost a sense of hope. But this evening’s passage calls us to keep the frustrations of the present day in perspective. At at time when God’s chosen people of Judah could have been brought to despair by the troubles that surrounded them, God gave His servant Zechariah a message to give to them concerning the glorious prospect of the coming of the Messiah.

This part of Zechariah’s prophecy deals with the first of two “burdens” or “oracles”. The first, given in chapters 9-11, describes the ways that God will deal with the enemy nations that surround His people Israel. The second, found in chapters 12-14, describes the ways that God will deal with the disobedient hearts of His own people. In this first burden, God promised to deal with the surrounding nations in the immediate future through the career of Alexander the Great (9:1-8). Alexander’s glories, however, pale in comparison to what the Lord said of the coming of the Messiah—Jesus Christ, the promised King of Israel (vv. 9-10).

And now, in this evening’s passage, God shows us what He will do for His people when that King comes. Verses 11-17 expand on what was only hinted at in verse 10. These verses certainly have the immediate future in focus, and deal with how the Jewish people would one day rise up against the oppressive successors to Alexander’s Grecian empire. But they also look far ahead into the future and to the time of Jesus’ second coming; and describe how God will defend His people and establish the Messiah’s reign.

The distressed people of Zion may have felt frustrated by their present circumstances—making them feel like ‘prisoners’; but when we see what God has in store for them in this passage, we don’t wonder that He calls them “prisoners of hope” (v. 12). In it, we find the promise of . . .

I. GOD’S RELEASE OF THE PRISONERS (vv. 11-12).

A. God had spoken of Alexander and the surrounding nations, then He spoke of the promised Messiah. And now, He turns His attention to His covenant people. “As for you also . . . ” He says. What a comfort it must have been to be assured that God had not forgotten them. And look at why He would not forget them; “because of the blood of your covenant . . . ” (v. 11). This was probably a reference to the blood that Moses sprinkled upon all the people in Exodus 24:8 after giving the law, when he said, “This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you according to all these words. ” They had been in captivity for 70 years; but as God had told them in Deuteronomy 30:1-3; “Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God drives you, and you return to the LORD your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, that the LORD your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the LORD your God has scattered you. ” Because of the blood of the covenant they entered into with Him, He remembered them.

B. He tells them that, because of the blood of their covenant, “I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit” (v. 11). Even though they had been released from their captivity in Babylon, they still felt like prisoners. The surrounding nations had humbled them so thoroughly that “no one could lift up his head” (see 1:21). And some of God’s people, in deep despair, perhaps even remained in Babylon and behaved like prisoners. It may be that they felt like Joseph of old—cast into an empty pit by their enemies (Genesis 37:24). There was no water in Joseph’s pit either; but that just meant that he wouldn’t drown. And yet, there he stayed—helpless and awaiting his fate. But God promises to set Judah’s prisoners free from their ‘waterless pit’ of despair. He calls them by a name that enlivens their hope; saying to them, “Return to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope. Even today I declare that I will restore double to you” (v. 12). the promise of restoring “double” to them points our attention back to the blessing that was given to the first-born son of a father; who was to be given “a double portion of all that he has” (Deuteronomy 21:17). God told Pharaoh, long ago, that “Israel is My son, My firstborn” (Exodus 4:22); so, no doubt, God was encouraging His people with this positive affirmation of how He valued them. But there was also a punitive aspect to the “double” restoration. To “repay double” for the iniquity of sin was a way of describing a thoroughness of God’s punishment for Israel (Jeremiah 16:18); and for Him to say that “she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins” (Isaiah 40:2) was to say that her punishment was completed and more than sufficient. Therefore, for God to say, “Even today I declare that I will restore double to you”, is to say that He was satisfied with the punishment they had suffered for their sins and was restoring them to their honored place as His firstborn among the nations.

C. How grateful we can be that, as God’s people in Christ, He never forgets us. Even in our darkest “pit” of trial, we can remember that He has said, “Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are continually before Me” (Isaiah 49:15-16).

II. GOD’S WARFARE THROUGH HIS PEOPLE (vv. 13-15).

A. As we move on in this passage, we see that God has far more in mind for His people than simply their passive deliverance from their enemies. He also goes on to promise the glorious victory He will give them over those enemies. A little history is in order: Alexander the Great had conquered the nations around Judah, his kingdom was broken up and distributed between his four generals. The kingdom of the north that had been inherited by one of those generals was in constant battle against the kingdom of the south that had been inherited by another of those generals. As the years rolled on, Judah was caught in the middle between those two warring kingdoms within Alexander’s Grecian empire. Eventually, one of the kings from the northern kingdom— Antiochus Epiphanes—rose to power in the middle of the Second Century B. C and began to brutally oppress the people of Judah. In the book of Daniel, he is used as a prefigurement of the career of the Antichrist. But in his day, a bold Jewish family— often called the Maccabees—rose up in revolt against him and overthrew the reign of this northern power. There are many great stories of the victory of the Maccabees; and they are spoken of in Daniel 11:32 as “the people who know their God” and who shall “be strong, and carry out great exploits. ” This is what God was speaking of when He said, “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 [that is, Judah] like the sword of a mighty man” (v. 13).

B. But because Antiochus Epiphanes—that offshoot of the Grecian empire—is also a picture of the rise of the Antichrist in the end times, this promise applies not only to the immediate situation of the Jewish people in Zechariah’s day, but also to God’s mighty victory through them over the Antichrist’s reign at the coming of Jesus. In verse 14, we’re told, “Then the LORD will be seen over them”—that is, over His people as their mighty Protector and Defender. “And His arrow will go forth like lightning. The Lord GOD will blow the trumpet, and go with whirlwinds from the south. ” The whirlwinds from the south were generally understood to be the most violent; and this pictures the way God will mightily stir up His people to victory in those times. Their victory over their enemies will not be because of anything in them; but because “The LORD of hosts will defend them; they shall devour and subdue with slingstones” (v. 15a). This may mean that the people of Judah will be so mighty in God’s hand that they will be able to overcome their enemies with mere slingstones. Or, as some scholars have it, they will pass over their enemy’s threats as if they were passing over slingstones that had already been cast—stones that fell short of their target and were now harmless. God’s description of His people becomes quite terrifying! Like mighty lions, “They shall drink and roar as if with wine; they shall be filled with blood like basins, like the corners of the alter” (v. 15b). It’s almost as if the warfare becomes a holy one; and their enemies become a sacrifice of offering to God!

C. Not only does God promise to deliver His people from their captivity; but He further promises to make His people into a mighty weapon in His hand! Only God can do this! It may have seemed almost unbelievable to these poor, downcast Jews that they would one day be made into such a powerful force in the hand of God. But then, take a look in the mirror, dear brother or sister in Christ; and remember the victory God promises through us one day! As Paul says in Romans 16:20, “And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. ”

III. GOD’S GLORY IN THEIR REST (vv. 16-17).

A. So; looking ahead to the promise of the coming of their King, God promises to deliver His people from their status as “prisoners”—declaring them to be “prisoners of hope”. And He promises to make them victorious over their enemies—describing them as “the sword of a mighty man”. And now, when it will be all over, He describes to them their resultant rest in Him. “The LORD their God will save them in that day, as the flock of His people” (v. 16a). God will care for them like a shepherd cares for his flock; just as He promised in Isaiah 40:11, “He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young. ” But more than that, He will display the greatness of their value to Him; “For they shall be like the jewels of a crown, lifted like a banner over His land—” (v. 16b). It’s important to remember that, in the New Jerusalem that is described in Revelation 21, we’re told that “The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass” (Revelation 21:19-21); and that, on the twelve gates to the city were written “the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel” (v. 12).

B. But not only would the people of Israel be glorified in their rest, but the Lord would be glorified in them. Some translations have verse 17 as saying, “For how great is its goodness and how great its beauty!” But many scholars say that it is better translated as speaking as it is in the English Standard Version: “For how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty!”—and that it is speaking of the Lord Himself! This would be very much like what it says of the Messiah in Psalm 45:

My heart is overflowing with a good theme;

I recite my composition concerning the King;

My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

You are fairer than the sons of men;

Grace is poured upon Your lips;

Therefore God has blessed You forever.

Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O Mighty One,

With Your glory and Your majesty.

And in Your majesty ride prosperously because of truth, humility, and righteousness;

And Your right hand shall teach You awesome things.

Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the King’s enemies;

The peoples fall under You.

Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;

A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.

You love righteousness and hate wickedness;

Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You

With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.

All Your garments are scented with myrrh and aloes and cassia,

Out of the ivory palaces, by which they have made You glad.

Kings’ daughters are among Your honorable women;

At Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir.

Listen, O daughter,

Consider and incline your ear;

Forget your own people also, and your father’s house;

So the King will greatly desire your beauty;

Because He is your Lord, worship Him.

And the daughter of Tyre will come with a gift;

The rich among the people will seek your favor.

The royal daughter is all glorious within the palace;

Her clothing is woven with gold.

She shall be brought to the King in robes of many colors;

The virgins, her companions who follow her, shall be brought to You.

With gladness and rejoicing they shall be brought;

They shall enter the King’s palace.

Instead of Your fathers shall be Your sons,

Whom You shall make princes in all the earth.

I will make Your name to be remembered in all generations;

Therefore the people shall praise You forever and ever (Psalm 45).

No wonder He says of His people, “Grain shall make the young men thrive, and new wine the young women” (v. 17b). What glories there will be for His people then! And what glory He Himself will bear because of them!

* * * * * * * * * *

This all seemed very far away at the time. But what hope it must have enlivened in them to see the future God had in store for them! No wonder He called them “prisoners of hope”!

And what hope this is for us! As the apostle Paul wrote in Romans 8:18-25;

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance (Romans 8:18-25).

May God help us to look beyond the present times of suffering, and far ahead to the promise of our future glory in Him!