ZECHARIAH ~ CHAPTER NINE

The 'good and pleasant' things for Israel now become the predicted doom of those who have persecuted her. This prophecy seems to be against all the cities of Israel's enemies, which shall be effected directly by the Battle of Armageddon. They define the area. Though the armies of the anti-christ will be gathered in a rather small area south of Tyre, all those in this territory should be able to see the descending Christ as He destroys His enemies and some of the named cities.

V-1. Zech 9:1 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.
A. The burden of the Word of the Lord is a term which always precedes an utterance of impending disaster. It denotes the displeasure of God with those spoken against,
B. Hadrach and Damascus are cities in Syria. These were ancient enemies of Israel. They had been Instruments of cruelty against the people and the land.
1 Ki 20:1 And Benhadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together: and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and warred against it.
1 Ki 20:2 And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said unto him, Thus saith Benhadad,
1 Ki 20:3 Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine.
C. Damascus was Syria's resting place; a pleasant, prosperous city.
D. The judgment will come at the time when all eyes are turned toward the Lord..
Rev 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
E. All the tribes of Israel will be present then in the 144,000 who had been sealed.
Rev 7:4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

Vv 2-4. Zec 9:2 And Hamath also shall border thereby; Tyrus, and Zidon, though it be very wise.
Zec 9:3 And Tyrus did build herself a strong hold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets.
Zec 9:4 Behold, the Lord will cast her out, and he will smite her power in the sea; and she shall be devoured with fire.
A. Hamath is the northernmost city mentioned. It lies about 200 miles north of the plains of Megiddo.
B. Tyre is near the north edge of the battlefield. She will be totally destroyed at the coming of Christ.
She was a city of great wealth and during the conquests of Alexander the Great, they moved the city to an Island offshore, but he had built a causeway with all the rubble and even the dirt of the former city, and thus conquered it.
C. Zidon (Sidon) is often spoken of as a sister city to Tyre. It lies a short distance to the North.

V-5. Zech 9:5 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.
These are cities of what we know as the Gaza Strip. This area has always been a source of irritation for Israel, as it is to this day. It was from here that the Philistines made their continual raids against God's people. These are the cities involved in the incident of the taking of the Ark of the Covenant. They had high expectation, but were brought down by the power of God then, and the situation is the same today. It is from here that many of the present day terrorist attacks are made against Israel.
Their location is to the South of the Plain of Megiddo less that 100 miles.

Vv-6,7. Zech 9:6 And a bastard shall dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.
Zech 9:7 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.
A. Ashdod had been the place of the Philistine palace.
(Amos 3:9 Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great tumults in the midst thereof, and the oppressed in the midst thereof.)
Their pride became the home of a mongrel people.
B. Along with Ekron, Ashdod will be destroyed as was the Jebusite when they opposed Joshua.
Josh 9:1 And it came to pass, when all the kings which were on this side Jordan, in the hills, and in the valleys, and in all the coasts of the great sea over against Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard thereof;
Josh 9:2 That they gathered themselves together, to fight with Joshua and with Israel, with one accord.
C. When these people were defeated, many of them became loyal servants to the kings of Israel.
D. After baptizing the Ethiopian, Philip preached in these cities.
Acts 8:40 But Philip was found at Azotus [Ashdod]: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.

V-8. Zech 9:8 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.
A. This is a description of the Battle of Armageddon in a nutshell.

V-9. The prophecy of Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
John 12:14 And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written,
John 12:15 Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass's colt.

V-10. Zech 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.
A. A nutshell picture of the Millennial Reign.
1. Instruments of war no longer needed. Isa 2:4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
2. His dominion shall be worldwide.
Psa 72:8 He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.

Vv 11,12. Zech 9:11 As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.
Zech 9:12 Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee
A. A reference to those Old Testament Saints which came out of their graves after the resurrection of Christ.
Mat 27:52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
Mat 27:53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
B. This is the sermon Christ preached to them when he descended to bring them out and deliver Paradise.
1 Pet 3:19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
1 Pet 3:20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

Vv 13-17 Zech 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.
Zech 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.
Zech 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.
Zech 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.
Zech 9:17 For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids.
A. A brief overview of the final victory of Israel by her coming King and of the thousand year reign.