Zechariah 9:1

Whereas the first eight chapters featured the concerns relative to the building of the physical temple, without at all leaving out of sight the far more important matter of the ultimate building of the true temple, the church or kingdom of Christ, at this point in Zechariah, the emphasis shifts almost totally to the true temple to be set up at the first Advent of the Messiah. The overwhelming importance of this section of Zechariah is attested by the repeated references to it throughout the New Testament; and we believe that the only true understanding of the prophecy must be related to those New Testament usages of it. We agree with Hailey that, "It seems wise to build one's interpretation of these chapters around the passages that are quoted by Jesus and the New Testament writers."[1]

In passing, we should be conscious of the fact that scholars generally place these chapters (Zechariah 9-14) at a later period in the prophet's life; and the destructive critics have employed every device possible in their efforts to deny the unity and integrity of them. Multiple authorships, late dating, early dating, endless and unnecessary emendations, deletions, omissions, rearrangements, substitutions of their own words for the Word of God, etc. etc., until, at last, there remains nothing but a scissors and paste production authored recently and bearing little if any resemblance to the sacred text which has survived more than twenty-five centuries-these are but a few of the devices employed against these chapters. With reference to all such intellectual doodlings with the Word of God, we categorically reject them as worthless. We are indebted to Robert C. Dentan, himself a liberal scholar, for his frank admission of what all such criticisms actually are:

"It is only fair to the general reader to state that any decision relative either to unity of authorship or date ... is based upon subjective considerations."[2]

And what are "subjective considerations"? They are imaginative dreams, guesses, intuitions and suppositions, unsupported by any hard evidence of any kind. We pray that we may not seem presumptuous when we affirm that our guesses are as good as theirs; and that says nothing of the a priori intention of destroying the credibility of Sacred Scriptures which often lies behind some of the guesses.

<SIZE=2>NEW TESTAMENT LIGHT ON ZECH. 9

Zechariah 9:1-7. Alexander the Great provided the fulfillment of the prophecy here regarding those Palestinian nations which were traditional enemies of God's people. It was this great world ruler who made the Greek language the official vehicle of communication for the whole ancient world. Because of this, the New Testament was written in Greek. The providence of God is surely seen in this. Significantly, Alexander himself claimed that by means of a dream the God of the Jews had commanded him to launch his world conquest. (See Josephus, Ant. XI, 8:3.) The relationship of these verses to the Messianic kingdom is therefore quite pronounced.

Zechariah 9:8. In this, an exemption is promised for "my house," meaning God's people; and it came to pass when Alexander bowed himself down before the High Priest in Jerusalem and bestowed many favors upon Jerusalem.

Zechariah 9:9-10. Without exception, the four Gospels presented this as a prophecy of the Triumphal Entry of Jesus Christ into the city of Jerusalem on Sunday of the Passion week. The cutting off of the chariot, the battle bow, and the horse were prophecies of the rejection by Christ's church of the instruments of warfare as a means of advancing the truth. The mention of both Ephraim and Jerusalem indicated the unity of all Israel "in Christ." There is no indication in this that God would restore the destroyed kingdom of Ephraim.

Zechariah 9:11. The mention of the "blood of the covenant" as the basis of setting free the prisoners is without any doubt a reference to "the blood of the New Covenant" (Matthew 26:28), the setting free of the prisoners being certainly the forgiveness of sinners' sins (Luke 4:18). In this context, it must be remembered that Jesus never got anybody out of jail, not even his cousin, John the Baptist; and forgiveness was not a feature of the old covenant.

Zechariah 9:12. "Prisoners of hope" has reference to those who patiently waited for the kingdom of God. Paul spoke of himself in this terminology, "Hope of Israel, for which I am bound with this chain" (Acts 28:20); and in Galatians 3:23, he wrote:

Before faith came, we were kept in ward under the law (that is, prisoners), shut up unto the faith which should afterward be revealed. This is exactly the metaphor Zechariah used in Zechariah 9:12; and, although Paul did not quote this passage, he was surely familiar with it.

Zechariah 9:13. The bow, the arrow, and the sword appearing here and in Zechariah 9:14 are a metaphor of spiritual power, exactly the same metaphor Paul used in his "whole armour of God" passage in Ephesians 6. It could have been suggested by these words in Zechariah.

Zechariah 9:15. This is counted a very difficult passage by most students of the place. The first part, about God's defending his people, is clear. The protection of God is guaranteed to his faithful followers. Matthew 18:20 carries exactly the same promise to Christians. However that about "drinking and making a noise as through wine" (ASV), is very difficult. Although most versions and translations soften the passage by changing the words, as in our version, the actual meaning of the place is, "They will drink blood like wine and be filled with it like the corners of the altar."[3] This simply cannot mean that the returnees would celebrate victories over their enemies by such godless behavior. The law of God specifically forbade the drinking of blood, as does the New Testament. So what is meant? Here is where Jesus found a testimony of himself; and this is exactly the metaphor he used in John 6:53ff. The passage is inapplicable to the Old Testament dispensation and is applicable only as a metaphor in the New Testament dispensation. Jesus said, "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, ye have not life in yourselves."

These specific citations make it absolutely certain that the times of the Messiah, that is, presently, in the church and kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, are the times and conditions spoken of by the prophet in this 9th chapter.

Zechariah 9:1

"The burden of the word of Jehovah upon the land of Hadrach, and Damascus shall be its resting place (for the eye of man and of all the tribes of Israel is toward Jehovah)."

"The burden of the word of Jehovah ..." We receive this and the rest of Zechariah as the Word of God properly associated with Zechariah. All of the questions and speculations have not challenged the essential truth, stated by Galley, that, "It is not impossible that Zechariah wrote the materials in Zechariah 9-14."[4]

The change in style with this verse, which has been noted by so many, is a natural result of a change in subject matter. A pronouncement against the nations is the theme here. Nobody expects the second movement of a symphony to be in the same style as the first.

"Burden ..." The Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, and other translations substitute "oracle" for this word; but, "The word `oracle' does not capture the full sense of the original."[5] Thus, the use of "oracle" here is misleading and incorrect. "Burden" occurs again in Zechariah 12:1 and at the beginning of Malachi, but nowhere else in the Bible. The word is definitely part of the word of Jehovah, "and is not a further title."[6]

"Upon the land of Hadrach ..." As the text plainly indicates, Hadrach is a comprehensive name including a number of places mentioned afterward. "The word literally means `enclosed,' and is a symbolic name for Syria."[7] This is not contradicted by the fact that there actually was such a place.

"The important stele of Zakir, king of Hamath, discovered in 1903 at Aris southwest of Aleppo in northern Syria, and published by the discoverer H. Pognon in 1907, identifies Hazrek (the Biblical Hadrach) as the capital city of Lu'ash, a north Syrian principality southwest of Aleppo, and north of Hamath on the Orontes river."[8]

Interestingly enough, the Jewish Rabbis considered the name Hadrach to be Messianic in its implications.[9]

"And Damascus shall be its resting place ..." means that the greater part of the load, or burden of God's wrath, would fall upon Damascus, the capital of Syria, and one of the principal enemies of the Jews throughout their history. This use of the term "burden" also suggests that the load was heavy for the prophet also and that he took little delight in announcing the judgments about to fall upon the greater part of the civilized world as he knew it. Also, it is quite clear that the "burden" carried many predictions that were far from being understood by the prophet himself. It appears that Zechariah 9:15, especially, is an example of that.

"For the eye of man and of all the tribes of Israel is toward Jehovah ..." We believe that the alternative reading of this passage as given in the margin of ASV should be adopted here. To interpret the meaning as it stands, we would have the thought that,

"When all civilized man at that time, as well as all the tribes of Israel, were fastening their gaze intently upon Alexander the Great and his phenomenal conquests, they were actually fastening their eyes upon the Lord, for Alexander was simply God's servant of judgment and chastisement."[10]

It appears to us, however, that "the eye" of either the tribes of Israel, or the whole civilized world, was not on God at all, except in the sense proposed by Unger; and, that what is meant is that, "Jehovah has an eye upon men, and upon the tribes of Israel," as rendered in the margin. If this latter reading is correct, it shows the universality of God's concern with humanity, not Israel alone, but all men being subject to his judgment. The balance of the passage harmonizes with this understanding of it.