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Please turn with me to Zechariah 
chapter 9. And some time since we've been 
in Zechariah, after I read chapter 9, we'll review a bit for our 
own memory so we can get back to thinking in terms of the 6th 
century BC. And by way of introduction for 
those who've not been with us, as we considered Zechariah chapters 
1 to 8, A larger context is the minor prophets we are studying 
through. They are called minor not because 
they are less significant than the major prophets, but it simply 
applies to how long they wrote, how long the books are. The major 
prophets are Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. They have considerably 
longer books than these twelve minor prophets. Again, still 
the Word of God. prophesying with specific intent 
to bring glory to God and comfort to the people of the Lord. So 
they are not less significant, just smaller books. Though Zechariah 
is the longest, the most major of the minor prophets. But I'll 
just begin reading in Zechariah 9 at verse 1. The burden of the 
word of the Lord against the land of Hadrach and Damascus, 
its resting place. For the eyes of men and all the 
tribes of Israel are on the Lord. also against Hamath, which borders 
on it, and against Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise. For 
Tyre built herself a tower, heaped up silver like the dust, and 
gold like the mire of the streets. Behold, the Lord will cast her 
out. He will destroy her power in the sea, and she will be devoured 
by fire. Ashkelon shall see it in fear. Gaza also shall be very sorrowful. And Ekron, for he dried up her 
expectation. The king shall perish from Gaza 
and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited. A mixed race shall settle in 
Ashdod and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines. I will 
take away the blood from his mouth and the abominations from 
between his teeth. But he who remains, even he shall 
be for our God and shall be like a leader in Judah and Ekron like 
a Jebusite. I will camp around my house because 
of the army. because of him who passes by 
and him who returns. No more shall an oppressor pass 
through them, for now I have seen with my eyes. Rejoice greatly, 
O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to 
you. He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, 
a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from 
Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem. The battle bow shall be cut off. 
He shall speak peace to the nations. His dominion 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 your covenant, I will set 
your prisoners free from the waterless pit. Return to the 
stronghold, you prisoners of hope. Even today I declare that 
I will restore double to you. For I have bent Judah my bow, 
fitted the bow with Ephraim, and raised up your sons, O Zion, 
against your sons, O Greece, and made you like the sword of 
a mighty man. Then the Lord will be seen over 
them, and His arrow will go forth like lightning. The Lord God 
will blow the trumpet and go with whirlwinds from the south. 
The Lord of hosts will defend them. They shall devour and subdue 
with sling stones. They shall drink and roar as 
with wine. They shall be filled with blood 
like basins. like the corners of the altar. 
The Lord, their God, will save them in that day as the flock 
of His people. For they shall be like the jewels 
of a crown, lifted like a banner over His land. For how great 
is its goodness, and how great its beauty! Grain shall make 
the young men thrive, and new wine the young women. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, we 
thank You for the Holy Scriptures and we pray for the ministry 
of Your Spirit now to be at work in our hearts and in our minds. 
God, we pray that You would forgive us for all of our sins and cleanse 
us from all unrighteousness and help us to think Your thoughts 
after You. Help us to receive comfort from this chapter in 
the prophet Zechariah. Help us, God, to receive Your 
Word as it is all profitable. for doctrine, for reproof, for 
correction, and for instruction in righteousness. And we do cry 
out to You, God, to thoroughly furnish us unto every good work. We just praise You and thank 
You for our Lord Jesus. We thank You for the forgiveness 
of sin and the righteousness we have because of Him. We thank 
You, God, that He did what we could never do in living in obedience 
to Your law and in dying as a sacrifice and a substitute on our behalf. 
And rising again and sitting enthroned at Your right hand 
where He must reign till all of His enemies are made His footstool. 
How we thank You for this great King of whom the Prophet speaks. And we pray that we would draw 
closer to Him in our daily walk. And we pray through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen. Well, if you turn back 
for a moment to Zechariah chapter 1, just to fit it into its larger 
historical setting, we remember that Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi 
are what are called prophets of the restoration, or prophets 
after the exile. Remember that God sent the people 
of Judah, the southern tribes of Israel, into captivity for 
a period of 70 years. This happened in Babylon under 
Nebuchadnezzar. They spent that time there. And 
under Cyrus, Cyrus was the king of the Persian Empire, they defeated 
Babylon. And then Cyrus issued a decree 
that the people of Israel could return to their land. And about 
50,000 of them left Babylon and returned to Palestine. And Haggai 
and Zechariah were dispatched by God to preach to the people 
so that they would indeed engage in the restoration of Israel, 
so that they would rebuild the temple first and foremost. Remember 
that in Haggai's prophecy, we saw where God indicts the people 
for sitting in their paneled houses and enjoying the blessings 
of the land, while the Lord God had not yet had His temple built. And so Haggai and Zechariah were 
to preach to the people and encourage them to rebuild the temple so 
that God would come and be in the midst of His people. Notice 
in Zechariah chapter 1, beginning in verse 3, it says, Therefore 
say to them, Thus says the Lord of hosts, Return to me, says 
the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord 
of hosts." That was the greatest problem, or the greatest judgment 
that took place during the exile. When Israel was driven from her 
land, and her temple was destroyed, and her city was destroyed, and 
they found themselves in captivity in Babylon, the biggest problem 
was not those temporal things that they lost, but it was the 
fact that God had withdrawn from them, that the glory of the Lord 
had departed. This is vividly displayed in 
the prophet Ezekiel in chapters 8-11. You see, God is in the 
temple, but in successive stages, He withdraws Himself as a sign 
of the people's judgment that they would indeed be fallen as 
a result of Babylon. But more importantly, God would 
withdraw from them in order to bring His judgment upon them. 
So the prophet encourages them to return unto God, and God promises 
that He would return unto them. Because of the way that the prophet 
specifies the dates, we are able with great certainty to date 
the various prophecies. This first one in chapter 1, 
verses 1 to 6, took place in October or November of 520 B.C. And then beginning in chapter 
1 at verse 7, all the way to chapter 6, there is a series 
of night visions. The prophet Zechariah had various 
visions. concerning God and His work or 
plan for the people. This took place in February of 
519. Chapters 7 and 8 were more strictly 
didactic or preachy or teachy, answering very specific questions 
that people in Bethel had. And then chapters 9 to 14 are 
more prophetic in nature. They look forward to the future, 
the near future, and the distant future as the time that the prophet 
rose. So that's where we're at Chapter 
9 deals with three primary elements. There are some things we will 
not have the ability or the competency to explain, but I just want to 
draw out three lessons from this passage. First is the defense 
of God, or the defense, rather, against the enemies of God. That's 
verses 1 to 8 of chapter 9. Verses 9 and 10 is the announcement 
of Zion's king. probably the most familiar passage, 
or one of the most familiar passages in the prophet Zechariah. We 
know that one from the triumphal entry when Jesus enters into 
Jerusalem and the Gospel writers apply Zechariah 9, 9 and 10 to 
that event. And then the latter half of the 
chapter, verses 11 to 17, deal with God's deliverance of His 
people very specifically. But notice first of all His defense, 
or the defense against the enemies. It starts off, verse 1, the burden 
of the Word of the Lord. The first thing we need to observe 
is that God's Word matters, not just to the covenant community, 
but to all mankind. God's Word is not irrelevant. 
God's Word is not something only for you if you're a believer 
on the Lord Jesus Christ. God speaks to all of His preachers. 
God has a Word for everyone. And this is what the prophet 
is relating here. That the nations, the city-states, 
specifically surrounding Palestine, would fall under God's judgment. 
If they would threaten His people, if there would be a curse upon 
His people, then He would undertake on their behalf and deal with 
them. And that is something we need 
to remember as well within the church, that the Word of God 
isn't just a churchly message. It is a message to civil polity. It is a message to kings. It 
is a message to all men everywhere. In fact, Jeremiah was raised 
up as a prophet, not just to Israel, but to the nations. Jesus 
Christ is King of Kings, and as prophet, also speaks not only 
to the church, but to historical events and to the affairs of 
this world. And we need to remember that 
as God's people, because very often, living in a pluralistic 
society, people have this idea, well, that's true for you, but 
it may not necessarily be true for me. Or, your God does this, 
but I don't really subscribe to that, so it doesn't matter. 
If I walk out to my car tonight and somebody puts a gun into 
my face, and I tell them, you know, I really don't believe 
in the existence of guns. It doesn't make the gun go away. 
For a sinner to say, I don't believe in the existence of God, 
doesn't make his word go away. It doesn't strip him of his sovereignty 
and of his ability to speak universally to each and every man throughout 
the earth. And unfortunately, the church 
imbibes something of this. We believe that the Bible is 
only useful on Sunday. We believe that the Bible has 
just a tiny application in our lives. We compartmentalize our 
lives. We have our religious life. We 
have our civil life. We have our family life. God's 
Word speaks to each and every area, and we need to think His 
thoughts after Him in each and every area. And these city-states 
surrounding Palestine in the 6th century B.C. were told very 
specifically, or God announced very specifically to His people 
that He would defend them against these threats. And so that is 
what's going on. Notice in verse 1, it says, The 
eyes of men and all the tribes of Israel are on Jehovah. The 
idea is they're watching, they're waiting, they're going to see 
how God reacts. They're going to see what God 
does at this restoration period. They spent 70 long years in exile. It seemed as if God had withdrawn. 
Now He is bidding them to return unto Him, and He will return 
to them. What's that going to look like in Israel's future? 
What's that going to look like for this corporate people? And 
how will they function? Well, that's what the Lord addresses. 
And He picks out these various people groups. He says, Hamath, 
which borders on Damascus, Tyre inside it. And then he goes on 
to specifically describe how he will deal with these people. 
Notice Tyre. A reader of the Old Testament, 
Tyre comes up very often. In fact, Tyre was a formidable 
enemy. Very, very wise and very full 
of resources, full of riches and wealth and power. Notice 
in verse 4, it says, the Lord will cast her out. He will destroy 
her power in the sea and she will be devoured by fire. This would be similar right now 
to somebody in this world saying, you know, we're going to destroy 
the United States of America. I'm not suggesting it cannot 
be done, but I'm just suggesting that nations outside of America, 
and I'm just picking one of the superpowers in the world, could 
be another superpower, just going to pick that one. A small group 
of city-states saying, we're going to see that nation rock, 
we're going to see them destroyed, we're going to see them cast 
down. That'd be very difficult to believe. They have quite a 
nuclear arsenal. I was in the US Air Force. They 
said if North and South Dakota ever broke off from the United 
States, it would be the third largest nuclear power in the 
world. That's absolutely incredible. 
There's missile sites, acres and acres of missile sites in 
North and South Dakota. We're talking long-range intercontinental 
ballistic missiles designed to do great amounts of damage. So 
we have this formidable foe and people saying, well, we're going 
to see it fall. It's going to fall right into the sea and it's 
going to be no more. You say, come on, wait a minute. 
You realize what you're saying? Well, that's how it was with 
Tyre in this day. When the Lord God says that the 
Lord will cast her out, He will destroy her power in the sea, 
and she will be devoured by fire. That's like saying the biggest 
bully on the block, God is going to destroy. He is no match for 
Him. He will destroy him with little 
to no problem. Most commentators take this as 
an application or take this section and apply it at the time of Alexander 
the Great. Remember Alexander the Great 
went in as a military conqueror and ravaged many lands. Well, 
Alexander the Great didn't operate independently. God is the God 
of Alexander the Great. God is the God of King Cyrus 
of Persia. God is the God of Babylon. And 
God uses man to affect his providence or to affect his plan in history. Thomas McCombsky said that Zechariah's 
words intersected with reality when Alexander the Great placed 
Tyre under siege, constructing a causeway through the sea to 
Tyre, which at that time was situated on an island off the 
coast of the Mediterranean Sea. T.V. Moore said old Tyre had 
been built on the continent, but owing to its greater exposure 
to invasion, another city was erected on an island about half 
a mile from the shore. They saw that it was vulnerable, 
so they built the city up on an island offshore. It says, 
the prophecies of Isaiah and Ezekiel seem to have been directed 
to old Tyre and were fulfilled to the letter by Nebuchadnezzar, 
who razed the city to its very foundations and left it a heap 
of ruins. After the overthrow of old Tyre, 
the Tyrians concentrated their strength on the island, surrounded 
it with a double wall, 150 feet high, filled with 20 feet of 
earth, which together with the surrounding sea made the city 
apparently impregnable. We saw that with Nineveh as well. 
Remember, Jonah went, preached to Nineveh. They repented, but 
then they forsook that way. And then God, through the prophet 
Nahum, announced judgment upon Nineveh. This city, which appeared 
to be impregnable, God raised it. God desecrated it. God destroyed. And I'm only bringing 
this out, brethren, to highlight that principle that God is sovereign 
over men. Things do not happen haphazardly 
in this world. They don't happen by chance. 
It isn't lucky that a certain man ascends a primary office 
in politics. It is God the Lord who raises 
men up. In Romans 13, we are told to 
be subject to the governing authorities. What's the reason? There is no 
authority except from God. And those which exist are established 
by God. Christ speaking His wisdom in 
Proverbs 8 says, by Me kings reign. We don't live in a world 
independent of a triune God. We live in a world governed by 
a triune God for His own glory, for His own honor, and for His 
own praise. Moore goes on to say, this is 
the stronghold mentioned by the prophet. And her flourishing 
commerce had at this time made silver and gold to be heaped 
up in her coffers like the dust of the streets. For the prophet 
to predict her overthrow would be like a modern seer to predict 
the raising of Gibraltar or the sacking of London. Yet it was 
precisely then that he declared that this proud queen of the 
waters would be overthrown. So God is saying that He would 
deal with the enemies of His people, this exilic people, or 
this post-exilic people, the people of the restoration. God's 
protection would be upon them. He was working out a plan. He 
needed to keep them intact, so that in the fullness of time, 
His Son would come forth, born of a woman and born under the 
law, according to the line of David, so that He might indeed 
free his people from their sins. He mentions several cities that 
are Philistine in nature. Notice in verses 5 and 6, Ashkelon 
and Gaza and Ekron and Ashdod. And then he speaks in verse 7, 
I will take away the blood from his mouth and the abominations 
from between his teeth. Very graphic imagery here. The 
Philistines would offer sacrifice, sacrificial animals, to their 
god Dagon. You can see that in Judges 16, 
verse 23. The Philistines were that perennial 
enemy of God's people. They didn't just go away. And 
here in verse 7, he gives this graphic picture that he would 
take away the blood from his mouth and the abominations from 
between his teeth." What does he mean by that? Again, listen 
to Makonsky. He said, verse 7 pictures the 
Philistines as an individual devouring the meat of a sacrificial 
animal offered to his God. The picture is a disgusting one, 
representing the Philistine with the blood of the animal dripping 
from his mouth. It intensifies the revulsion 
we feel by using the word abominations, which reflects the writer's disgust 
for pagan sacrifices. The text forces our attention 
on the teeth of the Philistine, where we can see the shreds of 
the meat he is devouring. Brothers were graphic. They portrayed 
the real deal. And what he is saying is that 
God would take away the blood from his mouth. He would judge 
them in their sacrifice that was pagan in nature. They would 
offer up these abominations to Dagon and Idol. God would have 
dealings with them. And then notice the protection 
specified in verse 8. I will camp around my house. 
This beautiful language. Some of us don't like camping 
very much. Can't say that of God. God doesn't need a five-star 
hotel. He just needs to be where His 
people are. God doesn't need the best. God 
wants His people. He says, I will camp around My 
house because of the army, because of Him who passes by and Him 
who returns. No more shall an oppressor pass 
through them, for now I have seen with My eyes. Remember in 
verse 1, the eyes of all the nations and the eyes of all the 
tribes of Israel were upon the Lord to see what He would do. 
Well, here the Lord says His eye is on His people. His eye 
is upon Zion. His eye is for them and He will 
protect them and He will surround them. He will hedge them in. 
He will make sure they are strong and fortified against the attacks 
of their enemies. This would be a great boon, a 
great encouragement to these people of the restoration. They've 
come out of exile. They're building the temple. 
They're in their cities. They're seeking to get established 
again. And God says, this is the protection 
that I will afford you. You have returned to Me. I will 
return to you and I will surround you. I will camp around My house 
and I will make sure no harm comes your way. More said, amidst 
all the tumults of nations, the true people of God are safe, 
being guarded by the arm, I love this, of all mightiness. We need 
this encouragement of verse 8. The Christian church needs to 
take heed to the fact that God camps around His house. You know, 
when God speaks here, He doesn't say there will be no menace, 
there will be no threat, there will be no enemy. He doesn't 
suggest that for a moment. He says He will fight and He 
will defend them, but there will still be that onslaught. There 
will still be that assault. God has not promised to stop 
all of our enemies. He has promised to protect us 
from those enemies. And we need to understand that. 
Very often, brethren, we can think that trials and difficulties 
speak of God's absence from our lives. No, trials and difficulties, 
if they do their work in our lives, will underscore the fact 
that He is with us. That He does walk through the 
valley of the shadow of death with His people. That He is our 
guard. That He is our shield. That He 
is our defender. That He is our strength. We live 
in difficult days in terms of civil unrest and political turmoil 
and various ungodly regimes. Who knows what a generation will 
bring? But this fact does not change. 
God camps around His house. He is with His people. He will 
not leave us and He will not forsake us. Zechariah 9.8 speaks 
a word of great comfort to the church of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amidst all the tumults of nations, 
the true people of God are safe, being guarded by the arm of all-mightiness. And then notice the comfort that 
verses 9 and 10 bring. The announcement of Zion's King. First, there is a call to rejoice. Rejoice! I think we need to take 
this to heart as well. Again, Moore, he's a 19th century 
commentator. He says, Christians should be 
happy. Sometimes we walk around as the 
most unhappy, the most defeated, the most long-faced, the biggest 
whiners, the biggest complainers, the biggest grumblers. Why? Look what he says. Rejoice greatly, 
O daughter of Zion. Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your King is coming to 
you. If in the 6th or 5th century BC, Zechariah could call on Judah 
to rejoice greatly because Jesus was coming, how much more greatly 
should we rejoice who have witnessed that coming, who have seen His 
doing and dying, and His resurrection on high, and who are waiting 
for His coming again in glory to judge the living and the dead. 
Brethren, we ought to take Zechariah 9.9 very seriously. Christians 
should be happy. No people have a better right 
or a better reason to rejoice. We have a King. We have a Lord. We have a Savior. We have a victor 
and a champion. And the prophet calls us to rejoice 
greatly, O daughter of Zion. The reason specifically is, behold, 
He's coming. The King is coming. These are 
tumultuous times that Zechariah was prophesying in. Difficult 
times. I mean, you had Philistine. You 
had Tyre and Sidon. You had warring nations all around. 
And they are called and encouraged to look forward to the coming 
of the Messiah, to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The 
New Testament application of this is found in Matthew 21. You may turn there. Matthew chapter 
21. Just to remind you. that Zechariah is a Christocentric 
prophet. That means he's Christ-centered. 
He is pointing forward to the glorious coming of Jesus Christ 
in the Incarnation. Matthew 21 at verse 5, Verse 
1, it says, Now when they drew near Jerusalem and came to Bethphage 
at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying 
to them, Go into the village opposite you, and immediately 
you will find a donkey tied and a colt with her. Loose them and 
bring them to me. And if anyone says anything to 
you, you shall say, The Lord has need of them, and immediately 
He will send them. All this was done that it might 
be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell 
the daughter of Zion, Behold, your king is coming to you, lowly 
and sitting on a donkey, a colt the full of a donkey." Here is 
Zechariah applied. Here is Zechariah 9.9 brought 
to fruition or fulfillment. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of 
Zion. Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. 
Behold, your King is coming to you. He describes the character 
of the King. Stuff we've come to learn and 
love about our Lord Jesus. He is just. Isn't that great 
and glorious? While the nations of the earth 
are governed by unjust men looking to pad their pockets or increase 
their power, we have a just and righteous King sitting enthroned 
at the majesty on high. We have a just King who is good 
and kind and righteous. Who does not clear the guilty. Who does not frustrate the righteous. He is a just and great God. And we can look forward to His 
coming in glory when He will judge the living and the dead. 
And He will right every wrong. He will make straight every crooked 
path. And He will bring everything 
to the glory of God the Father. He not only is just, but He has 
salvation. He is just, according to verse 
9, and having salvation. Isn't that beautiful? He has 
salvation in Himself. He is the living Savior. He is 
the One to whom Simeon said, Behold, my eyes have seen. the 
salvation of our God. He has salvation because He would 
obey the Father in our place. He has salvation because He would 
die as a sacrifice in our place. He has salvation because He would 
rise again for our justification. He is just and He has salvation. If you have not come to Christ, 
you have no salvation. There is salvation in no other. 
There is no other name given under heaven by which we must 
be saved. It is Jesus Christ alone. If 
you are looking to your works, if you are looking to Hinduism 
or Buddhism or Atheism or Islam or any other false religion or 
philosophy, if you are looking to those things for your eternal 
satisfaction and your eternal rest, you will be sorely frustrated. It is Christ and Christ alone 
who has salvation. He describes Himself in John 
14.6 in very exclusive terms. He said, I am the way, the truth 
and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 
Why? Because He has salvation. No 
one else has it. This is a crown right of Christ 
and Him alone. All roads do not lead to heaven. 
It may have been the case in the first century world that 
all roads led to Rome. But such is not the case today. 
Pluralism is wrong. Christ alone for salvation. That's what this King is about. 
And then it tells us that He is humble. He is just and having 
salvation. Lowly and riding on a donkey. Occult, the fold of a donkey. That's how He made His triumphal 
entry in Matthew 21. He didn't come in subjugating 
the peoples under him. Paul tells us in Philippians 
2, who though being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery 
to be equal with God. That means he did not exploit 
his deity. It means that he did not walk 
around with his chest out raised and say, you just need to bow 
down and knuckle under. No. He gets onto a donkey and 
rides into this city to redeem his people from their sins. The 
character of the king, he is just, he has salvation, he is 
humble. And then the prophet in verse 
10 describes the nature and extent of his kingdom. Notice in verse 
10, I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from 
Jerusalem. What does that mean? It speaks 
to peace. Chariot and horses were for war. Chariot and horses are for war. The cutting off of those implements 
means there is a time coming when the nations will learn war 
no more. God will cut those things off 
so that the nations will not rage one against another. He 
says, the battle bow shall be cut off and He shall speak peace 
to the nations. Isn't that a beautiful statement? 
Christ shall speak peace to the nations. Turn to Ephesians 2 
for just a moment to see a New Testament application of this. Ephesians chapter 2. He wants 
us to keep in mind that all of Zechariah, all the Old Testament, 
Jesus said, these things, you search the Scriptures, for in 
them you think you have eternal life. These are they which testify 
of Me, He says. And in Ephesians 2, we read in 
verse 11, Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the 
flesh, something that Zechariah prophesies as well, that Gentiles 
will be included among the people, among the corporate people of 
God, the covenant community, He says, therefore, remember 
that you, once Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision 
by what is called the circumcision made in the flesh by hands, that 
at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the 
commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, 
having no hope and without God in the world. That's the only 
time in the Bible the word atheism applies or is used. Without God. Atheoi. That means godless. And 
it's spoken of as a curse. It's spoken of as a bad thing. 
Today, men try to parade all their learning and all their 
PhDs with their philosophical argument for atheism. God says 
to be an atheist is to be without hope in this world. It is not 
a better life. It is not a freer form of existence. It is bondage to wickedness and 
sin. He says, but now, verse 13, in 
Christ, you who once were far off have been brought near by 
the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, 
who has made both one and has broken down the middle wall of 
separation, having abolished in the flesh the enmity that 
is the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create 
in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that 
He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the 
cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached 
peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For 
through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father." 
Notice that Jesus Christ is our peace, Jesus Christ makes peace, 
and Jesus Christ preaches peace. A New Testament application of 
Zechariah 9.10. He shall speak peace to the nations. And then he speaks of the extent 
of his kingdom. It says, his dominion shall be 
from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. 
What a glorious statement of the all-encompassing power of 
the Christian gospel. It says that his dominion shall 
be from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. 
Solomon prophesied this in Psalm 72. The prophet Habakkuk spoke 
of this also. This is the backdrop for Jesus' 
words in Matthew 28, when He says, All authority in heaven 
and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples 
of what? He said, Make disciples of all 
the nations. Not just Palestine. Not just 
Israel. Not just Jacob or Judah. He says, 
go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in 
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, 
teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded 
you. And then He promises, and lo, I am with you even to the 
end of the age. These prophetic passages are 
the background to the Great Commission. We go because His dominion shall 
be from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. 
We pray for Haiti relief because His dominion shall be from sea 
to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. We pray 
for the Middle East because of Zechariah 9-10. We pray for China 
because of Zechariah 9-10. We pray for Chilliwack because 
of Zechariah 9-10. We pray for the entirety of Canada 
because of Zechariah 9-10. His dominion shall be from sea 
to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. We need 
to believe this and pray accordingly and act accordingly and do what 
the Father has called us to do and shine His lights in a crooked 
and perverse generation, holding forth the Word of Truth. That's 
what we're supposed to do. That's how we're supposed to 
be missional. We are to shine as Christ has 
called us to do and we are to hold forth that living Word. 
and we are to remember passages like Zechariah 9-10. We ought 
not to fear the spread of Islam. We ought not to fear the spread 
of Romanism. We ought not to be afraid to 
confront atheism in the marketplace. We ought to go in the power of 
the Holy Spirit with the glorious Gospel of free and sovereign 
grace, charging hell itself, because as Jesus said, the gates 
of Hades shall not prevail against His Kingdom. That imagery that 
Christ uses is so misunderstood. He said, I will build My church 
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Brethren, 
gates are defensive in nature. We take that passage and we turn 
it around. We make hell on the offensive, 
taking the kingdom of righteousness. No, it's on the defensive. The 
gates shall not withstand. As the Gospel is preached, Jesus 
is plundering the strongman. Jesus is defeating the devil. 
Jesus is taking His fruit and His spoil and bringing them into 
His marvelous kingdom, which is exemplified or amplified in 
the church of Christ the Lord. Brethren, this is a wondrous 
passage bespeaking the glory of God in the building of Christ's 
church. And then thirdly and finally, 
the deliverance of God's people. Moore locates the application 
of verses 11 to 17 in the Maccabean deliverance in the second century. 
The Seleucid Empire was the formidable enemy at the time in the 2nd 
century B.C. and there was a revolt by Jews 
under the Maccabeans that was led that countered that threat 
and that held them back and they had a period of peace. And Moore 
and McCombsky seem to indicate that this is what the prophet 
is speaking of very specifically here. Just a few noteworthy items 
and then we close. Notice in verse 11, he says, 
As for you also, because of the blood of your covenant, I will 
set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. The blood 
of the covenant. God operates in terms of blood 
and covenant. God operates in terms of blood 
and covenant. We saw that this morning. We 
saw that with reference to the high priestly office of Jesus. 
We saw that at the Last Supper. Jesus institutes the Lord's Supper. He inaugurates the new covenant. 
And He does this in His blood. God is about bloody, covenantal 
transaction. And this blood of the covenant 
could refer to the old covenant, which was ratified in blood according 
to Exodus 24. It could refer to the Abrahamic 
promise that in that beautiful spectacle in Genesis 15, the 
pieces are separate and God alone marches through them. God works 
through bloody covenant and He does so in the new covenant, 
specifically through our Lord Jesus Christ. And then He speaks 
of setting free these prisoners from the waterless pit. What's 
the waterless pit? They're dungeons. They're captives. People that had been heretofore 
imprisoned, God speaks of loosing them and freeing them and bringing 
victory and deliverance to them. Verse 12, "...return to the stronghold, 
you prisoners of hope. Even today I declare that I will 
restore double to you. For I have bent Judah My bow, 
fitted the bow with Ephraim, and raised up your sons, O Zion, 
against your sons, O Greece, and made you like the sword of 
a mighty man." And I believe that in verses 14 specifically, 
14 to 16, it is God the Lord displaying His power and peoples 
understand it. It says in verse 14, the Lord 
will be seen over them. That does not mean that there 
would be a picture of Jesus up in the sky. It does not mean 
that God, who is Spirit, would put in a bodily form. The idea 
is that through historical occurrences, through the tumult of the nations, 
through the putting down and the rising up of others, we are 
to be directed to the fact that God is sovereign. God is on His 
throne. In 2 Kings 24, when Jehoiachin 
rebels against Nebuchadnezzar, it says, the Lord sent Nebuchadnezzar 
and Babylon against Judah. The Lord raised up Cyrus. Do you know that the Lord called 
Cyrus, king of Persia, Messiah? We thought that was a term only 
for the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One. The 
Greek version is Christ. Well, Cyrus was a Messiah. Cyrus 
was an Anointed One. Cyrus was the One who would ultimately 
put down Babylon and it would be through Him the Jews would 
be able to return to their land. God is sovereign, brethren. He's 
sovereign over Harper. He's sovereign over Obama. He's 
sovereign over Russia. He's sovereign over the nations. 
The Christian church does not always understand that. We may 
confess it, but we live at times like practical atheists. Understanding 
this ought to steady our nerves. Understanding this ought to engender 
faith, not fear. Understanding this ought to engender 
faithfulness and perseverance and the glory of plotting, as 
Kevin DeYoung calls it. Brethren, God Most High will 
be seen over them, and His arrow will go forth like lightning. 
The Lord God will blow the trumpet and go with whirlwinds from the 
south. Jesus uses a similar convention 
in Matthew 24, speaking in the Olivet Discourse about the coming 
judgment of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. He says, you will see the 
sign of the Son of Man in heaven. That doesn't mean that you would 
see the picture. It doesn't mean you'd look up and there's Jesus. 
Hey, Jesus. No, it's through those historical 
eventualities. Christ moving Roman armies to 
destroy those covenant-breaking apostates. Then you would see 
the sign that the Son of Man is in heaven, reigning and ruling. God calls us to not think as 
atheists. God calls us to be theistic in 
our interpretation of providence. When we see events unfold, we 
are to realize the One who is unfolding them. That's what Zechariah 
is saying. The Lord of hosts will defend 
them. They shall devour and subdue with sling stones. They shall 
drink and roar as with wine. They shall be filled with blood 
like basins, like the corners of the altar. The Lord their 
God will save them in that day as the flock of His people. For 
they shall be like the jewels of a crown lifted like a banner 
over His land. Isn't that beautiful? It says 
that they shall be like the jewels of a crown. God does not save, 
deliver, or vindicate Judah because they are like jewels of a crown. He saves them so that they will 
be jewels of a crown. He takes this lowly, weak, pathetic 
people and He delivers them and He decks His own crown with them 
as jewels. It is a display of the glory 
of God Most High. That's how Jesus operates in 
the church. We are to function as trophies 
praising our sovereign God. We are supposed to be giving 
all glory and honor and praise to our God. He didn't save us 
because we were holy and blameless. He saved us so that we would 
become holy and blameless. That's the thrust of the prophet. 
The Lord, their God, will save them in that day as the flock 
of His people. For they shall be like the jewels 
of a crown, lifted like a banner over His land. Zion's warrior 
God signals the start of the battle by sounding a trumpet 
blast and shooting an arrow that pierces the sky with the speed 
of lightning. The text adds to this vivid display 
of divine might, the depiction of Yahweh marching triumphantly 
in the middle of the roaring winds of a southern storm. And 
He does this in order to display His glory, His majesty, and His 
power. And then in this, He blesses 
His people with benefits. Verse 17, For how great is its 
goodness, and how great is its beauty! Grain shall make the 
young men thrive, and new wine the young women. A sign of God's 
blessing upon the land. They didn't have Costco. They 
didn't have Superstore. They didn't have Walmart. They 
lived in constant dependence upon God to provide for them 
new wine, to provide for them grain. And when God says that 
these things will be in abundance, that meant that He was with His 
people, that He was blessing them, that He was sustaining 
them, that He was encouraging them. So, brethren, we learn 
from this passage three things. We learn that God will destroy 
His enemies. Make no bones about it. The enemies 
today may not be seen in the Philistines or the Philistines. 
There may not be a few scattered city-states throughout. Everyone 
who does not bow the knee to Jesus Christ, Everyone who does 
not confess Him as Lord and Savior, everyone in this room right now 
who has not made peace with God through Jesus Christ the Lord, 
will suffer divine judgment. You will know the wrath of God. 
You will taste of His vengeance. 2 Thessalonians depicts Jesus 
Christ coming in that day to judge. It says that He will come 
rendering vengeance on those, or dealing out retribution that 
NAS says. Dealing out retribution to those 
who know not God and those who do not obey the Gospel. If that's 
you this night, I bid you and I implore you and I beg you to 
come to Christ and be saved. To believe the Gospel. Do not 
reject Him. The way that God took this pagan 
Philistine nation and shut them down is the way that God is going 
to take any pagan in here and shut you down. In Revelation 
6, there's a picture of the judgment to come. Well, I actually don't 
think it was the picture of the judgment to come. For us, it 
was the judgment to come upon Jerusalem in A.D. 70. But it's 
interesting, in Revelation 6, it says that the mighty men, 
the strong men, every man fell or called upon the rocks and 
the hills to fall upon them and to cover them from the wrath 
of the Lamb. We think of the lamb and we think 
of this mild, meek-mannered little animal that will never do anything 
harsh to us. That's the way we think of Jesus. 
Gentle Jesus, meek and mild. Yes, gentle Jesus, meek and mild. 
Believe in Him and He'll save you. But if you reject Him, gentle 
Jesus, meek and mild is coming with a rod of vengeance. Gentle 
Jesus, meek and mild is going to pour out the wrath of the 
lamb. Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, 
will be glorified in the eternal punishment of rebellious sinners. Do not make the mistake that 
it won't happen to you. Learn from Zechariah chapter 
9. Learn from Zechariah chapter 9 that Jesus will build His church. 
You can rest assured His kingdom or His dominion shall be from 
sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. Sometimes 
we as the church, we fret. Oh, it all depends on us. Now, 
we should work, we should labor, we should pray, but you know 
what it depends on? It depends on Jesus. Remember 
in that first dominion mandate, God told Adam to subdue the garden 
and Eve would be his helpmate. The second Adam is subduing the 
earth. We as the church are his helpmate. 
We are to pray, we are to labor, we are to function, we are to 
work, we are to do all those things. But we are to understand 
that it's Jesus who exercises dominion over the nations. It's 
Jesus who brings the nations into submission. It is Jesus 
who builds His church according to Matthew 16. And He uses means, 
we need to pray, preach, pray, we need to do those things. But 
we need to realize that the building of the church and all of its 
intricate beauty and detail is in the capable hands of King 
Jesus Christ. He's not depending on us. We 
are depending on Him. And that is a much better place 
to be, brethren. Us depending on Him the way it 
ought to be than Him depending on us the way it could never 
be. His dominion shall be from sea 
to sea. And then finally, do not think 
like atheists. Nothing happens by chance in 
this world. Nothing happens accidentally. 
God is seen by the faithful in the acts of providence. When 
you see men rise up and men put down, when you see nations rise 
up and nations put down, you are to think theologically. You 
are to think in terms of God. You are to realize that the Lord 
God Most High is the God of Nebuchadnezzar. is the God of Cyrus, is the God 
over the Maccabean revolt. God Most High is in charge. Well, let us pray. Father, we 
thank you for the Word of God, and we thank you for these prophecies 
several years ago, Lord, and the fact that they've been applied. 
in Jesus Christ. And we just pray that You would 
help us to take comfort from passages like these, help us 
to see that You do camp around Your house, that You do protect 
Your people, and that You will ultimately bless us and bring 
us into that new Jerusalem. And God, for any and all here 
that do not know You, I just pray that they would believe. 
that they would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and they would 
be saved, and they would be spared that judgment to come, that wrath 
of the Lamb. Father God, we ask that Your 
Gospel would go forth, and that Jesus would continue building 
that church, and we know and trust that the gates of hell 
shall not prevail against it. Go with us now, we pray, in Christ's 
name, Amen.