Zechariah 9
Notes
Transcript
Judgment comes
Judgment comes
What are some of the ways we’ve seen Judgment happen in the Bible?
Hadrach?
Hadrach?
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,
Hadrach? I haven’t heard that place before… well that’s not a surprise this is the only place in the Bible it’s mentioned. It was lost to history until it was found mentioned in ancient Assyrian texts. This place is far north of Israel. Further north than David or Solomon, though their kingdom was large, knew of. In a sense this is God going the furthest he’s ever gone out to the ends of the earth, at least in a perception sense even if some places were geographically further. The Lord looks on everyone and Israel. That’s one way to emphasize something. Listen I’ve got my eye on everyone in this room and on Konnor. Gets you a little more on notice doesn’t it? It’s like i’ve pointed you out twice. This is a big picture section and it feels like we need to take it big picture and talk about it having read it.
and on Hamath also, which borders on it,
Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.
Tyre has built herself a rampart
and heaped up silver like dust,
and fine gold like the mud of the streets.
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.
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;
a mixed people shall dwell in Ashdod,
and I will cut off the pride of Philistia.
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.
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.
4 Lord is Adonai
These 4 cities ashdod askelon ekron and gaza are all major philistia capital cities Gath is the only one ignored but by this time it wasn’t a major capital city anymore.
This prophecy of destruction is another one of those way too on the nose for some scholars and they really want to date this book much later because of it. That’s because Alexander the Great 150ish years later comes through and approximately in the order you see on the map conquers this region. The massive stronghold that was Tyre which had up against multi year seiges from Assyria and then Babylon was so destroyed that it never again was an important place.
the coming of the king of Zion
the coming of the king of Zion
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.
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.
As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;
today I declare that I will restore to you double.
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.
Here is the massively clear and important prophecy of Christ. But just like it would be very difficult for Zechariah to understand how he was prophecying about Alexander the Great I think him understanding what entirely the meaning is for the Christ that comes and how that will work. This isn’t a proud and haughty king that comes but a humble one who rides a donkey, a colt even. Not a great war horse with chariots. In contrast to some who may chant from the river to the sea the Lord proclaims from sea to sea and from the river (euphrates) to the ends of the earth.
What’s a waterless pit? Cistern? Who else was in a cistern? Genesis 37:24 “And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.” Him being Joseph. Joseph ends up in Egypt and then all the people end up there but have to be delivered. In the same way people end up in captivity of Babylon and are freed.
The Lord Saves
The Lord Saves
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.
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.
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.
For how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty!
Grain shall make the young men flourish,
and new wine the young women.
Back to the idea of being prisoners in a waterless pit. If their view was still as not entirely free it would make sense. I answered Brenda wrong last week when she asked about how this timeline matched with Nehemiah. I got something confused that I think many other people have to but it hit me earlier this week that Nehemiah would have been another 70 years or so after this time. His time was about restoring the city and the walls where these people are just getting the temple rebuilt.
