ZECHARIAH 9:1-8

-{Zechariah 9}

I want you to picture a courtroom where a serial killer is on trial. The prosecution presents a solid case—DNA evidence, eyewitnesses, other forensic evidence. The jury rightfully brings back a guilty verdict and now the judge is ready to bring down his judgment. But at the sentencing, the defendant begins to argue that the court has no right to judge him. The defendant denies that the system has any rights over him, he does not recognize the power, authority, or jurisdiction of the court, and so he’s just going to ignore whatever the judge decides.

The only problem is that the defendant can’t do anything about it. He may not recognize the law of the land or the authority of the courts, but it’s the reality he lives in. That society has set up it legal system, and the system did its thing, and the defendant can deny it all he wants, but he is still under the jurisdiction of that society. And because of that, the judge has every right to preside over the case and hand down a just sentence.

There are a lot of people who treat God like that. Even though God created everything and set the standards for everybody, and has every right to judge as He pleases, they try to deny His power and authority to do so. The problem is that they’re just not living in reality, because that is just the way things are. God created us, we rebelled, He is holy, He has every right to hand out His justice, and nobody can do anything about it.

But it’s not just individuals, because entire groups or even nations think that they are beyond God’s judging reach. I hate to say it, but I think too often Americans think they’re untouchable. But as we find in our passage, nobody is—especially when they are the enemies of God’s people. What we see in this passage is that God is the sovereign ruler over all nations, exercising His righteous judgment upon those who oppose Him, while simultaneously providing steadfast protection and ultimate security for His covenant people.

Zechariah 9:1–8 LSB

1 The oracle of the word of Yahweh is against the land of Hadrach, with Damascus as its resting place (for the eyes of men, especially of all the tribes of Israel, are toward Yahweh), 2 And Hamath also, which borders on it; And Tyre and Sidon, because they are very wise. 3 So Tyre built herself a tight fortification And tied up silver like dust And fine gold like the mire of the streets. 4 Behold, the Lord will dispossess her And strike her wealth down into the sea; And she will be consumed with fire. 5 Ashkelon will see it and be afraid. Gaza too will writhe in great pain; Also Ekron, for her hope has been put to shame. Moreover, the king will perish from Gaza, And Ashkelon will not be inhabited. 6 And those of illegitimate birth will inhabit Ashdod, And I will cut off the pride of the Philistines. 7 And I will remove their blood from their mouth And their detestable things from between their teeth. Then they also will be a remnant for our God, And be like a clan in Judah, And Ekron like a Jebusite. 8 But I will camp around My house because of an army, Because of him who passes by and returns; And no taskmaster will pass over them anymore, For now I have seen with My eyes.

We are moving into a new section of Zechariah, and here God gives a message through the prophet that reminds everybody of His sovereign control and His judicial authority. In those days every nation had their own god or pantheon of gods, and so they thought that they could treat Israel however they wanted and the God of Israel could do nothing about it. They didn’t know that the God of Israel is the true God of everybody, and they could try to deny it like the serial killer in our illustration, but that was just the reality of things.

So, we first see in this passage that:

1) God is righteous in His judgments

God gives an oracle—an oracle is a divine message communicated through a human mediator to human recipients that gives divine pronouncements through a prophet that directs human action in the present or foretells future events. God has a divine pronouncement against neighboring nations to Israel that harassed Israel in some form or fashion.

The way that the oracle is given is rather interesting, because it starts in the north and begins to work its way south. Some commentators believe that this is a prophecy that looks forward to the conquest of Alexander the Great, because it is somewhat the path that he took, defeating these places, while mostly ignoring Judah. But God is saying that those who have set themselves against the people of God will feel the judgment of God for their actions, and He has every right to deal with them and their sin.

Hadrach, Damascus, and Hamath were all part of what is sometimes called Aram, but we know it better as Syria. Syria has always been an adversary, often engaging in military threats and conflicts throughout much of its history—and even today not much has changed.

Damascus, the capital, specifically represented Syria’s power, wealth, and influence. They thought that they wouldn’t face justice for their part of the ills that had befallen Israel in the past, but God says that it will be time to pay the price. And, as God often does, He would use a pagan nation to do the job (if it holds true that this is a prophecy of Alexander the Great).

But then moving southwest a bit, God then moves to the area known as Phoenicia where the city states of Tyre and Sidon resided. These were along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and were very well-known, wealthy ports. As the passage states, these cities were full of pride because of their great wealth. They thought their wealth was so abundant it was like dust in your house or dirt in the road. They didn’t want God and they were known for exploiting Israel, particularly in the slave trade as they sold Israelites to other nations.

They also, in their pride, thought that they were invincible—nobody could touch them, not even God. They survived a five-year seige from the Assyrians and a thirteen-year seige from the Babylonians. I guess the Medo-Persians just let them be. But Alexander the Great was finally able to reach and take them over. He didn’t completely destroy them because they are mentioned several times in the New Testament. However, they never returned to their former glory. God humbled them in His judgment.

Then moving further south, to the area southwest of Israel and Judah, were the cities of the Philistines—Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron and Ashdod. If you have ever read the Old Testament, you know that the Philistines were constant antagonists to the Israelites all through the time of the Judges and the monarchy. They often oppressed the people of God.

But it says something that might be a bit confusing in v. 7—God will remove their blood from their mouth and the detestable things from between their teeth. It refers to their pagan practices—the consumption of blood in their food (which was unclean to a Jew) and the eating of food that was sacrificed to idols. Their idolatry often seeped into the Jewish culture, becoming stumbling blocks for the people around them, on top of the many atrocities and wars they committed and fought against Israel.

God warns them that those of illegitimate birth will inhabit their cities—meaning that their cities will be taken over by foreign powers. They prided themselves in their ethnic and national identities, but they would be degraded and desecrated in judgment.

All these nations that surround Israel, thinking they were out of the reach of the God of Israel, learn their fate at the hand of the God who actually created them. And God is right to do it because they rebelled against Him and they messed with God’s covenant people. God will not hold them guiltless for that. And as much as that is true for this context being Israel, that is also true of the church. God will judge those who do anything to His church. Christ will judge those who mess with His bride.

Syria warred against Israel. Phoenicia in their pride thought their wealth made them untouchable so they could do whatever they wanted. The Philistines did what they could to either drive Israel out or to corrupt and contaminate them from within. God was right to judge them, just as He is right to judge the enemies of the church. And yet, something interesting happens, where we then see that:

2) God is gracious in His redemption

At the end of v. 7, God says something that is quite unexpected. Here God is justifying His judgment against these wicked pagans who have done His people harm; and yet, God says of the Philistines: THEY WILL ALSO BE A REMNANT FOR OUR GOD AND BE LIKE A CLAN IN JUDAH, AND AKRON LIKE A JEBUSITE. God is saying that He will actually bring Philistines (and other Gentiles) into the sheepfold of His people. He will make them one of His own.

I think to make sense of what He is saying, we look back to the days of David. David wanted to conquer the city of Jerusalem where the Jebusites lived. The Jebusites mocked David, but obviously David defeated them and took over the city, making it His capital—hence, it is called the city of David. But David didn’t completely destroy the Jebusites. Instead, what seemed to happen is that the Jebusites were merged and intermixed with the Israelites so that they just sort of disappeared but became part of the people.

Well, God is saying that some of the Philistines will become a part of the people and they’ll just be merged and intermixed with the Israelites. The Philistine culture itself sort of disappeared, but there were Philistines that were joined with the people of God. God was gracious that even to the wicked Philistines He offered a chance toward redemption.

And this is the amazing work of God—He in His holiness can and will judge. And yet, to those same people whom He will judge He offers a hand of mercy if they would but repent and believe. The people who rightfully deserve God’s wrath and condemnation, He still offers redemption and forgiveness. Even the Philistines. Frankly, if you had asked Israel in those days about God redeeming Philistines, they’d say something to the effect that if God can save Philistines, He can save anybody. And that’s exactly right. He can. And He will.

Only God can turn His enemies into His children. And how He does it will be touched upon in the next section where we read about the Jewish King who will come to His people riding on a donkey. But not every enemy will be turned into a brother or sister—in fact most won’t. So God gives a final promise that:

3) God will protect His people

God says in v. 8 that He will camp around His house. God’s house is the temple but we probably could extend this to mean being with God’s covenant people—God being present with His covenant people. God says that He will encamp Himself, encircle Himself, like an army encircles the city it is defending. God will defend His people. And we know that this is more in the ultimate sense.

God admits that there will be armies passing by and returning. Israel saw a lot of different Gentile powers come and go, and yet God was with His people. And we think of the church, that there are a lot of enemies in our day and age coming and going: be it radical leftists, Muslim terrorists, and many more. There will be no shortage of enemies against God’s people. But there will come a time when the enemies, the taskmasters, will no longer be a problem. Again, God through Zechariah looks to the end.

But God ends the message telling the people that He has seen with His eyes. Even when things seem hard and impossible to us, God sees what is going on and He will act accordingly. He will judge unrepentant enemies, which is His right, He in His mercy will save some, but God’s people will always be protected. We want to pray that we see God so move in our day and age...