CRITICAL NOTES.]
Zechariah 9:10.] The nature and extent of Messiah’s reign. Cut off] Remove instruments of war, and reign by peaceful means. Ends of the earth] Not a mere Jewish, but a universal, kingdom.
Zechariah 9:11. Blood] The covenant scaled with sprinkled blood, the pledge. Prisoners] Jewish exiles in Egypt and Greece. Pit] An allusion to Genesis 37:24. Their distress great, like dungeons without water (Jeremiah 38:6).
HOMILETICS
THE PEACEFUL KING AND HIS GLORIOUS REIGN.—Zechariah 9:9-10
From the Grecian conqueror, and the temporal protection which Jehovah would accord to his people, the prophet abruptly (by the prophetic law of suggestion, Fausset), and in the most sublime and animated strain, calls the attention of the Jews to a Royal Personage of a very different character, the Messiah, meek and righteous, the Prince and pattern of peace, and the author of spiritual salvation to all his subjects. His advent was to be accompanied by such glorious results that it was to be hailed with the most joyful anticipation [Hend.].
I. The character of the King. The features refer to his personal and official character.
1. He is a righteous ruler. “He is just.” Just himself, and the means of justifying others before God. In character, principle, and practice, he is a righteous King, His administrations in providence and grace are conducted by laws of pure and unbending righteousness. Truth and uprightness are fixed on his throne. “Just and true are thy ways, thou King of Saints.”
2. He is a benevolent ruler. “Having salvation.” Take these words actively or passively, he had power over death and the grave. He finished his work, rose to the right hand of God, and bestows gifts upon men. The design of his death was to honour God, and render salvation consistent with the claims of righteousness, that he might be “a just God and a Saviour” (cf. Romans 3:26). He bestows salvation in its beginning here, and in its results hereafter. “The Son of Man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”
3. He is a lowly ruler. “Lowly, and riding upon an ass.” He had no war-horse richly caparisoned, and tossing his arched neck—no imperial chariot, like Alexander. He was not cruel like Nero, nor proud like Herod, in disposition. He was lowly in his intercourse and triumphs. He linked greatness with humility, performed menial service to his disciples, and set himself as an example to all men. “Learn of me; for I am meek, and lowly in heart.”
“Gentleness! more powerful than Hercules” [Catherine II.].
II. The nature of his kingdom. It is not that of a worldly conqueror, nor is it confined to Jewish lands. It is peaceful, universal, and perpetual.
1. It is a peaceful kingdom. The symbol would remind the Jews of the prediction concerning “The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). No wars nor bloodshed were to disturb his reign. “Peace hath its victories no less renowned than war.” Notice—That he was not to teach peace, nor command it; but to accomplish by a word, what earthly kings cannot do by force. “He shall speak peace.” He announces reconciliation to Jew and Gentile, and in his Word proclaims, “Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near.”
2. It is a universal kingdom. It is more extensive than the kingdom of Macedon, greater than that of “the Emperor of All the Russias.” As Solomon ruled the land of promise, and left no unconquered spot; so shall the Son of David reign “from sea to sea—from the Atlantic to the Pacific”—from the river “unto the ends of the earth.” His subjects gathered from “all nations, and kindreds, and people,” no man can number. “Yea, all kings shall fall down before him; all nations shall serve him.”
3. It is a perpetual kingdom. Solomon’s reign came to an end, and Alexander’s empire was divided by his successors; but the throne of Christ shall endure for ever. “Son culte se rajeunira sans cesse,” wrote Renan. Suns may set, and moons may fade, but “His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.”
III. The blessings of his reign. “Rejoice greatly.”
1. Great joy. The prophet, under the impulse of inspiration, invites the people to hail the coming of Messiah, in terms of exulting joy. “Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!” It is not “a reign of terror,” but of happiness and joy. “I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.”
2. Perfect security. Freedom from the power and corruption of sin to the believer, protection and prosperity to all nations, are offered by his Word. He is King both of righteousness and peace. Many usurp the throne, league with craft, and rule in tyranny and oppression. Hence kings are dethroned, kingdoms short-lived, and subjects insecure. Happy and safe are his people. “He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor.”
DELIVERANCE FROM THE PIT.—Zechariah 9:11
These words may be an invitation to Jewish exiles to return from the bondage of Egypt and Greece. But they relate to the spiritual conquests of the Messiah, and are the pledge of Jehovah to him, that his people (thy prisoners) shall be delivered from distress, exult in freedom, and through the blood of the covenant anticipate the blessings of the future.
I. The moral condition. Prisoners were confined in dungeons or pits dug for the purpose. Jeremiah was left to sink in the mire, and perish from thirst in the pit (Jeremiah 38:6). The pit indicates—
1. Deep distress. “Wherein is no water.” Men are restless and dissatisfied—distressed by sin and the world, a broken law, and an accusing conscience. Estrangement from God brings anguish of soul. “What exile from himself can flee?” asks Byron. “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me?”
2. Great darkness. Prisoners sit in darkness as well as in distress. The spiritual light of this world is darkness. The wisest only grope in uncertainty. Sinners walk in darkness, and live under the powers of darkness. Heaven above is shrouded in gloom, round about and within them dwells no light, and before them hangs the shadow of death (cf. Psalms 107:10). The Sun of Righteousness never penetrates their hearts. Their condition is like an Eastern sepulchre—“a land of darkness, as darkness itself, without any order” (Job 10:22).
3. Utter helplessness. Neither Joseph nor Jeremiah could get out of the pit. Captives in a dungeon cannot escape. Cursed by the law, and condemned before God, immured in darkness and degradation, men are ready to perish. “God hath concluded (shut up as in a prison) them all (all mankind) in unbelief, the consequence of disobedience, that he might have mercy upon all” (Romans 11:32).
II. The price of deliverance from the pit. “By the blood of the covenant.”
1. A covenant of blood. The Jews were delivered through the covenant made at Sinai, and sealed with blood. In redemption there is no remission of sins without shedding of blood. But “the blood of bulls and of goats” could not take away sin. Ancient sacrifices were mere shadows, had to be repeated, and were inefficient. The blood of man is not required, and will not avail. “None of them by any means can redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him.” Christ alone can deliver us. “In whom we have redemption through his blood.”
2. A covenant without change. The price paid will not be required again. It avails for this and every age. Father and Son have taken solemn oaths, and sealed it by sacrifice. Nature’s covenant abides firm as heaven and earth. The Jewish covenant was not disannulled by the sins of the people. God’s purpose in Christ shall be realized. “For thee also” thy prisoners shall be delivered. The gifts and calling of God are without repentance. They are incapable of being regretted, revoked, or changed (cf. Vaughan, Acts 11:29). “Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you, concerning all these words.”
III. The method of deliverance from the pit. “I have sent forth.” A beautiful expression, indicating—
1. Mighty power. Nothing but God’s power can lift us up out of the horrible pit and miry clay, set our feet upon a rock, and establish our goings.
2. Wonderful grace. “I have sent forth.” God might have left us in the pit; but he is gracious, and “saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom.”
3. Perfect liberty. Not only lifted out, but “sent forth” without fear or foe, like Peter from prison. “That we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Zechariah 9:9. Here we have—
1. The Divine in the form of the human.
2. The majestic in the form of the mean. The dignity is royal. “Thy king cometh.” Royalty surpassing all others.
3. The victorious by means of the moral. A king, but not the kind the Jews expected. His sceptre from heaven, and his glory gained through suffering. He had to borrow the colt, and who were his guards and attendants in his entrance in Jerusalem? (cf. Matthew 21:5; John 12:15). In the whole history of Jesus we have a wonderful combination of humiliation and grandeur.
Zechariah 9:9-10. Messiah is King of Zion. Happy the subjects who dwell under his shadow. He rules them, not with a rod of iron by which he bruises and breaks the power of his enemies, but with his golden sceptre of love. He reigns by his own right, and by their full and free consent in their hearts. He reigns upon a throne of grace, to which they at all times have access, and from whence they receive the pardon of all their sins, grace to help in time of need, and a renewed supply answerable to all their wants, cares, services, and conflicts [John Newton].
Notice—
1. The Great King.
2. The wonderful kingdom.
3. The strange way in which he comes to possess it. “Riding upon an ass,” &c. Majesty veiled in meekness, justice blended with mercy, drawing the attention, and receiving the homage, of multitudes.
4. The method by which he spreads it. “I will cut off the chariot,” &c.
Zechariah 9:11. The sinner’s condition by nature, and his rescue by grace. The pit dark, dismal, and deep. “The pit of corruption,” or putrefaction and filth (Isaiah 38:17). The release, condescending, reaching to the depth; and free, “sent forth.” “They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me. I called upon thy name, O Lord; out of the low dungeon thou hast heard my voice.” Covenant. The covenant love of God, and his faithful promise, sealed with blood, are the hope of the Church in time of trouble [Lange]. The word suggests thoughts of grace, privilege, and security, not attained in any other way. Our trust for this world and the next, not upon the voices of nature or conclusions of reason, but upon the promise of God—a promise which he hath chosen to present in the form of a compact, with stipulations (and sometimes when the stipulations were all on one side, Genesis 9:9), and not only so, but to confirm it by sacrifice [Lange].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 9
Zechariah 9:9-10. Thy king. Christ as a mere man was great—great in intellect, heart, purpose, action; as a Mediator, supremely great. But how does this great Being, Prince of the powers of the earth, enter Jerusalem? In a triumphal chariot?—on a stately, prancing steed, accompanied by a magnificent cavalcade? No! On an ass. The more truly kingly a man is, the less he cares for conventional pageantry. Your great men have never cared for jewellery. The more ornaments are coveted, and dress is studied, the more mean and impoverished the soul. Heart of oak requires neither veneer nor varnish. A great age has never been an age of millinery and gold rings. The kingly soul does not care for the rose or the crown [Dr. Thomas].