Day 996: From sea to sea - Zechariah 9 vs 9 - 17

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.

11-12 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. 13-14 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. 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. 15-16 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. 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. Zechariah 9:9-17 English Standard Version

Many things spoken by the Old Testament prophets stretched over hundreds of years, so it's not always easy to pinpoint the exact event. In the first part of this chapter Zechariah had told the Jews who'd returned from exile that God was watching over them. The years that lay ahead of them, however, would see the kingdom of Alexander the Great spreading throughout the region. Today's section appears to speak of events that would happen leading up to the coming of their own King. And during those years God would give the “sons of Zion” a great victory over the “sons of Greece.” vs 13-14.

This probably refers to the second century before Christ when a man named Judas ben Mattathias would successfully resist the Syrian tyrant Antiochus Epiphanes. Judas and his brothers led a Jewish resistance movement that kept Israel from being swallowed up by the heirs of Alexander's kingdom. Zechariah said: “On that day the Lord their God will save them, as the flock of his people.” The outcome of God's goodness to His people is described as “grain making the young men flourish, and new wine the young women.”

In the meantime, God gave Zechariah a promise to encourage Jews still living in exile to return to their own land, and said: “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.” (vs 11-12) In a way, that promise foreshadows an even greater promise of freedom. What is the promise God makes in vs 10 concerning Jerusalem's coming King?

He is a king that will speak peace, not only to Jerusalem, but from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. At the time of writing this post, the chant in many countries around the world is “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” It’s a chant by those who want to see God's ancient people exterminated. God's message of freedom and peace, however, is for all nations - from ocean to ocean, and to the ends of the earth. But who is this King. (vs 9)

Those who are familiar with the New Testament will know that the words Zechariah spoke in that verse were fulfilled to the letter when Jesus Christ entered Jerusalem, and the people sang His praise. All four gospel writers describe that event. And what a contrast the coming of King Jesus is to kings like Alexander the Great. Jesus is a righteous King, yet He came in such a humble way. And while the kings of the world seek power, Jesus came to serve, and to lay down His life so that the prisoners of sin can have hope. His kingdom is a kingdom of peace with God, a peace which leads His people to be peacemakers in the world as well. So if Jesus is our king, we have good reason to rejoice greatly! As the apostle Paul said: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.” (Philippians 4:4)