As we read these ancient prophecies, we will not only notice how exactly they have been fulfilled, but we will also try to learn the lesson that they are intended to teach us.
Zechariah 9:1-4. The burden of the word of the LORD in the land of Hadrach, and Damascus shall be the rest thereof: when the eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel, shall be toward the LORD. And Hamath also shall border thereby, Tyrus, and Zidon, though it be very wise. And Tyrus did build herself a stronghold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets. Behold, the Lord will cast her out, and he will smite her power in the sea; and she shall be devoured with fire.
Alexander the Great besieged Tyre, and utterly overthrew it. The citizens thought that their «strong hold» was impregnable, but they had at last to surrender to the mighty monarch whose attacks they had so long resisted. All the mercenaries whom they could procure with their heaped-up silver and gold could not avert the doom which the Lord had foretold, and which, through the instrumentality of Alexander, he accomplished: «The Lord will cast her out, and he will smite her power in the sea.»
Zechariah 9:5-8. Ashkelon shall see it, and fear; Gaza also shall see it, and be very sorrowful, and Ekron; for her expectation shall be ashamed; and the king shall perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited. And a bastard shall dwell in Ashdad, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines. And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth: but he that remaineth, even he, shall be for our God, and he shall be as a governor in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite. And I will encamp about mine house because of the army, because of him that passeth by and because of him that returneth: and no oppressor shall pass through them any more: for now have I seen with mine eyes.
When Phoenicia had fallen into the hands of the conqueror, there was no power able to avert the overthrow of Philistia; and Jerusalem would also have come beneath his away had not the Lord miraculously interposed for its preservation. Alexander was restrained by a power which perhaps he did not understand, but which he could not resist, so he passed by the holy city of which the temple of the Lord was the glory in the midst. They who are divinely protected are in absolute safety even in the most perilous times. « The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.»
Zechariah 9:9. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
You know how exactly this prophecy was fulfilled in our Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when the multitudes welcomed him with hosannas,-probably the same crowds that soon hoarsely shouted, «Crucify him!
Crucify him!»
Zechariah 9:10. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off; and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.
He shall yet be acclaimed as the universal Monarch, «King of kings, and Lord of lords,» for «of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.»
Zechariah 9:11-12. As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water. Turn you to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee;
This «stronghold» is very different from that of Tyre, which failed her in her hour of need; it is indeed that of which the prophet Nahum wrote «The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.»
Zechariah 9:13. When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man.
Note well that it is the Lord who is doing all these notable deeds, bending Judah like a bow, fitting Ephraim to the bow as the archer presses his arrow to the string, and raising up the despised sons of Zion so that they may be able to overcome the proud sons of Greece. «The sword of a mighty man» owes its strength to the hand that wields it, and the sons of Zion are only mighty when the Lord holds them in his almighty hand, and uses them as seems good in his sight.
Zechariah 9:14. And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord God shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south.
Then, how safe must the Lord's people be, and what terror must spread among their enemies!
Zechariah 9:15. The LORD of hosts shall defend them; and they shall devour, and subdue with sling stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine; and they shall be filled like bowls, and as the corners of the altar.
There seems to be a hint here of the strange scene that was witnessed in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, when the unbelieving mockers said of the Spirit-filled disciples, «These men are full of new wine;» but Peter repudiated the slander, and declared that the wonder which the people could not comprehend was really the fulfillment of the ancient prophecy, «It shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh.»
Zechariah 9:16. And the LORD their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people; for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his land.
See how many metaphors the prophet was inspired to use in a single verse in describing the Lord's chosen ones: « as the flock of his people; as, the stones of a crown,.... as an ensign upon his land.» No human language can fully set forth all that their Lord thinks of them, and all that they are in his esteem.
Zechariah 9:17. For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! corn shall make young men cheerful, and new wine the maids.
This exposition consisted of readings from Zechariah 9,, Zechariah 9:10.