Daily Thoughts from Zechariah: Be an Arrow for the Humble King (Zechariah 9:9-17)

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.  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.  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.  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.  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.  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, ESV)

Zechariah’s message from Yahweh to His people has been that Yahweh will deal with Israel’s enemies and even bring some of them into Israel’s fold as believers.  In this part of the oracle, however, He fosters their expectation of a king from David’s line who will lead this accomplishment.  Expectations are that this king will come humbly, riding on a donkey instead of a war horse.  He will end the standing armies of Israel. Ephraim and Jerusalem represent both the northern and southern halves of Israel after they separated and formed independent nations.  Both went into exile but are now encouraged to return and have returned in part.  They don’t have standing armies so this prophecy looks toward a time yet future.

Yahweh issues an invitation to the prisoners, those in exile, to return to Jerusalem, their stronghold, and to do so in hope of a double restoration of prosperity.  This “salvation” will be accomplished by the blood of Yahweh’s covenant, that is, by the sacrifice required to seal this covenant. The returnees will function as Yahweh’s bow and arrow, Yahweh’s sword against Greece.  Greece did not become Israel’s enemy until some 100 years after this prophecy, when Alexander the Great conquered the known world and the Persians lost Israel as a subjected people, lost all their empire.

Yahweh is the warrior who will “go forth like lightning” and protect his armies and tread down Israel’s enemies.  He will make Israel the jewels in His crown.  His goodness and His beauty will mean the prosperity of His people.

Has this already happened?  Not entirely.  God did enable His people to throw off Greek rule, though Roman rule quickly followed.  Jesus came on that colt of a donkey into Jerusalem as a signal that he was the king Israel was still anticipating, but they did not receive him.  And so the prophecy still awaits fulfillment.  That will happen when Jesus comes again.  Meanwhile, we are Jesus’ army, his bow and arrow, not to destroy but to bring hope and salvation.  What role are you serving in his army?  What kind of arrow are you?  Are you using the gifts God’s Spirit wants to display through you?