What understanding would Jesus Christ have gotten from reading this passage of Scripture from Zechariah? How should we understand it?
Zechariah 9:9-16… Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout in triumph, Daughter Jerusalem! Look, your King is coming to you; He is righteous and victorious (and has salvation), humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
It is very clear that Christ understood the meaning of this passage of Scripture because he fulfilled it by coming into Jerusalem riding upon the foal of a donkey.
Remember he sent two of his disciples out giving them very specific instructions of where to find the donkey. Matthew 21:1-10
He also knew that the religious leaders would reject him and kill him. So, how would Christ have viewed or understood the rest of this prophecy?
Back to the reading of Zechariah:
10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem. The bow of war will be removed, and He will proclaim peace to the nations. His dominion will extend from sea to sea, from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.
At the time of this prophecy was given the nation of Israel was divided into two kingdoms. The northern kingdom and the kingdom of Judah. So, this prophecy would have been a unifying message to the Jewish reader.
At the time of fulfillment when Christ came riding into Jerusalem the kingdom was under Romen rulership. The king had been appointed by Rome, and he was an Edomite. The appointment of the high priest was also given by Rome. The people were hoping for change. They were longing for the fulfillment of this part of the prophecy of the king again ruling for Jerusalem. The people wanted the unifying of their nation and the bringing of peace to their world. This was not to happened, this passage of the Scripture is yet to be fulfilled in our time.
Why would some of this passage of Scripture be fulfilled and others would yet still need to be accomplished, what work is God doing?
God’s Word Holds True
The wisdom of God is greater than the understanding of man, that is just a fact.
God needed the nation of Israel to understand that they needed an everlasting Savior. There needed to be an everlasting sacrifice in which to atone for their sins and provide freedom from the captivity that the wicked imposed upon mankind. Hebrews 2:14-15
God had intended for the nation of Israel to be a kingdom of and priests for the world. Revelation 20:6
Remember the passage of Scripture that Christ read in the synagogue at the beginning of his ministry, let us review that now. Matthew 4:16-21
Let us look at the prophecy that Isaiah uttered and let us see what Christ did not read out loud in the synagogue.
Isaiah 61:1-11… The Spirit of the Lord God is on Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners; 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of our God’s vengeance; to comfort all who mourn.
You see Christ was only there to bring the message of God’s good news. He was to heal the broken hearted, to set free the prisoners who were enslaved to the wicked spirits, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor to those who were seeking peace. That is exactly what he did!
Did you understand that? Christ stopped reading in the middle of the sentence. He didn’t tell them or read to them about the day of God’s vengeance or about comforting those who mourn over Zion. So, why did Christ stop reading this portion of this prophecy?
Because Jerusalem was still standing as a city, there was yet to be a destruction of the city and mourners of it for generations. Matthew 24:1-3
This has proved to be the part of the prophecy that was yet to be fulfilled, only a partial fulfillment was occurring at the time of Christ coming. The rest of this prophecy was yet to be fulfilled. When will these things become fulfilled?
Picking back up of our reading in Isaiah:
3 to provide for those who mourn for Zion; to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, festive oil instead of mourning, and splendid clothes instead of despair. And they will be called righteous trees, planted by the Lord to glorify Him. 4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins; they will restore the former devastations; they will renew the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. 5 Strangers will stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners will be your plowmen and vinedressers. 6 But you will be called the Lord’s priests; they will speak of you as ministers of our God; you will eat the wealth of the nations, and you will boast in their riches. 7 Because your shame was double, and they cried out, “Disgrace is their portion,” therefore, they will possess double in their land, and eternal joy will be theirs.
Christ knew that the destruction of Jerusalem was yet to come and that for many generations it would not be inhabited. Those generations of Jewish people would lament and mourn that they were not in Jerusalem, and they would not be celebrating the festivals with God in Jerusalem.
Did you notice in verse six the promise that there would be priests and ministers for the nations that would rise from the people of God.
After reading and looking at prophecies I can see that a lot of these writings go hand-in-hand with other prophecies. Thus, we can match up Scripture with Scripture from different writers and understand that they are still talking about the same thing. Though the promises of God are many they are to all be fulfilled in their due time.
Back to the reading of Isaiah:
8 For I Yahweh love justice; I hate robbery and injustice; I will faithfully reward them and make an everlasting covenant with them. 9 Their descendants will be known among the nations, and their posterity among the peoples. All who see them will recognize that they are a people the Lord has blessed.
Though the nation of Israel was under the law covenant, God speaks of making a new covenant with these people, the descendants, who the Lord will bless.
10 I greatly rejoice in the Lord, I exult in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a groom wears a turban and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 11 For as the earth produces its growth, and as a garden enables what is sown to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.
If we look through history and at the prophecies, we see portions of prophecies being fulfilled in phases. That is so that we understand other parts of the same prophecies are yet to be fulfilled. God is merciful and this helps us build our faith on the word that God brings forth, that all of it will be fulfilled in God’s due time.
Turning back to our reading of Christ riding in on a donkey and looking at how the rest of the prophecy in Zechariah is unfolding.
Because of the Blood
Before we start reading back here in Zechariah, I would like to remind you that God spoke and said that the blood was to be used to make atonement for sins. Exodus 30:10
Also, when initiating the new covenant Christ said that forgiveness would be because his blood was to be poured out. Matthew 26:27-28
Christ was to become the blood covenant for those who would exercise faith in him as the Christ. He was the messenger, and He taught about the new covenant as found in Malachi 3:1. For more information about the new covenant follow the hyperlink entitled: Leader of the Covenant
Zechariah 9:11-17…As for you, because of the blood of your covenant, I will release your prisoners from the waterless cistern. 12 Return to a stronghold (Zion), you prisoners who have hope; today I declare that I will restore double to you.
So, what is God guaranteeing here with this passage of Scripture? Could this be some kind of physical fulfillment or is there a deeper spiritual meaning to it?
Who are the prisoners of the waterless cistern who are returning to the stronghold of Zion?
The cistern would be a holding place and because it says this is waterless this would indicate that this cistern never was intended to hold water. Now because they are referred to as prisoners that means it is a holding place. Also, because God promises a releasing by means of the blood, means that these ones were captive against their will. This clearly means the grave and because they are to return to Zion the stronghold of God would indicate that God intended to raise them from the dead.
Was this part of the prophecy of Zechariah 9:11-12 fulfilled at the time of Christ death? We ask this simply because of what we read here at Matthew 27:45-53 at the death of Christ.
Matthew 27:45-53… From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over the whole land. About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Elí, Elí, lemá sabachtháni?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling for Elijah!” Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, fixed it on a reed, and offered Him a drink. But the rest said, “Let’s see if Elijah comes to save Him!” Jesus shouted again with a loud voice and gave up His spirit. Suddenly, the curtain of the sanctuary was split in two from top to bottom; the earth quaked and the rocks were split. The tombs were also opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. They came out of the tombs after His resurrection, entered the holy city, and appeared to many.
This indeed would be exciting that the fulfillment of Zechariah 9:11-12 were being fulfilled in this same time span. You have many resurrected ones making their way to Zion, that in itself would be a witness that the resurrection was real and was occurring. It would also imply that God was making these miracles happen because Christ had just died. The belief that the Sadducees held to would have been proven wrong.
God Sounds His Trumpet
So, if God has fulfilled some of this prophecy here in Zechariah then what is left to be fulfilled? What does it mean that God will blow his trumpet?
Back to the reading:
13 For I will bend Judah as My bow; I will fill that bow with Ephraim. I will rouse your sons, Zion, against your sons, Greece. I will make you like a warrior’s sword. 14 Then the Lord will appear over them, and His arrow will fly like lightning. The Lord God will sound the trumpet and advance with the southern storms. 15 The Lord of Hosts will defend them. They will consume and conquer with slingstones; they will drink and be rowdy as if with wine. They will be as full as the sprinkling basin, like those at the corners of the altar. 16 The Lord their God will save them on that day as the flock of His people; for they are like jewels in a crown, sparkling over His land. 17 How lovely and beautiful they will be! Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine, the young women.
After reading this passage of Scripture it looks like God intends for his nation to war against the Greeks. It says that God will appear over them, it speaks of blowing of a trumpet and God defending his people and saving them on that day.
Zechariah chapter 14 also speaks of God going forth to war against the nations. Let us take a look at those passages of Scriptures.
Verses one through two are not favorable for the nation of Israel because he speaks of the city being destroyed and the people going into exile. We know that in 70 CE such destruction took place, and the people were sent to exile. It wasn’t until 1948 that the restoration of the land of Israel occurred. But I would like us to focus our attention to the latter part of his prophecy.
Zechariah 14:3-12… Then the Lord will go out to fight against those nations as He fights on a day of battle. 4 On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. The Mount of Olives will be split in half from east to west, forming a huge valley, so that half the mountain will move to the north and half to the south. 5 You will flee by My mountain valley, for the valley of the mountains will extend to Azal. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come and all the holy ones with Him. 6 On that day there will be no light; the sunlight and moonlight will diminish. 7 It will be a day known only to Yahweh, without day or night, but there will be light at evening.
What will the manifestation of God prove to be to the nations in that day? Will the nations of the earth kneel and accept the coming of God? Who are they that will accept the peace that comes from God?
8 On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea, in summer and winter alike. 9 On that day Yahweh will become King over all the earth—Yahweh alone, and His name alone. 10 All the land from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem will be changed into a plain. But Jerusalem will be raised up and will remain on its site from the Benjamin Gate to the place of the First Gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses. 11 People will live there, and never again will there be a curse of complete destruction. So Jerusalem will dwell in security. 12 This will be the plague the Lord strikes all the peoples with, who have warred against Jerusalem: their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.
God gives a warning to those who dare fight against him and His city!
We have touched on a couple of points from the prophecy of Zechariah, but there is so much more here that needs to be considered. We looked at how the Messiah came riding upon a donkey into Jerusalem and that fulfillment of a resurrection of that time.
We reviewed the future event when God comes and wars against the nations and establishes the King of kings and Lord of lords who will rule the earth. He will manifest himself in a way that is to be undeniable to all.
Because God’s word always comes true the blood of the covenant will be used upon those who will accept it and the incoming kingdom as we look forward to God sounding his trumpet, we can’t help but to think back to what the apostle Paul says at 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 and Corinthians 15:51-58.
God’s trumpet will sound and those dead in union with Christ shall rise up. Death will be swallowed up forever, for our victory be through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Yes Come Lord Yeshua you are the blessed one coming in the name of God!
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