Passage: Zechariah 9
The Big Idea
Zechariah 9 predicts the march of Alexander the Great, the greatest conqueror the world had seen, centuries before it happened. Then God sets beside him a completely different King: lowly, riding on a donkey, bringing justice and salvation. Here’s the best the world has to offer, and here’s Jesus.
The World’s Greatest General
Alexander became king of Macedonia at twenty, inheriting a veteran army. By thirty he had conquered most of the known world and built one of the largest empires in history. Later in his campaign, some cities simply surrendered when he arrived. His military tactics are still studied today. He was truly remarkable.
And the Bible prophesied about him.
Alexander’s March Foretold (Zechariah 9:1-8)
On his way south from Asia Minor to Egypt, Alexander passed through the land of Israel. The cities named in Zechariah 9:1-7 trace his route around 332 B.C.
The eyes of all are on the Lord (Zechariah 9:1)
People think they don’t have to consider God, but they’re wrong. He’s the center of history whether people like it or not. Fulfilled prophecy is one way He shows it. Anyone who honestly investigates biblical prophecy has to admit God is deeply involved in human history.
Tyre (Zechariah 9:2-4)
Tyre was a wealthy commercial city on an island off the coast, thought to be impossible to conquer. She heaped up silver like dust and gold like mud in the streets. The Assyrians besieged it for five years and failed. Nebuchadnezzar tried for thirteen years.
God said He would strip her power on the sea and devour her with fire. Alexander took Tyre in seven months. He used the rubble of the old mainland city to build a causeway out to the island, a spectacular feat of military engineering. And the city was burned.
The Philistine cities (Zechariah 9:5-8)
Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron and Ashdod would see it and tremble. That’s exactly the path Alexander took through Philistine territory. God used him to bring judgment there.
But God promises to camp around His house to protect it (Zechariah 9:8). And He did.
Alexander in Jerusalem
The Jewish historian Josephus records a remarkable story. After taking Gaza, Alexander marched on Jerusalem. The high priest Jaddua was terrified. He called the people to pray, and God told him in a dream to open the gates and go out to meet the king, the people in white and the priests in their robes.
When Alexander saw the high priest in his robes, with the gold plate engraved with God’s name on his turban, he went up alone and bowed. His general was stunned and asked why. Alexander said he wasn’t bowing to the man, but to the God who had honored him with that priesthood. Back in Macedonia, he said, he had dreamed of a man dressed exactly like this, who told him to cross into Asia and promised him victory over Persia.
Alexander then entered the city, offered sacrifice at the temple, and was shown the book of Daniel’s prophecy that a Greek would overthrow Persia. He believed it was about him. He spared Jerusalem and granted the Jews freedom to live by their own laws.
What Daniel foresaw
Daniel saw a ram with two horns, one higher than the other: the Medo-Persian Empire (Daniel 8:3-4, 20). Then a goat came from the west so fast its feet didn’t touch the ground, with one great horn between its eyes. It shattered the ram. But at the height of its power, the great horn was broken, and four horns grew up in its place (Daniel 8:5-8, 21-22).
That’s exactly what happened. Alexander crushed Persia, died suddenly at about thirty-two, and his empire was split among four of his generals, not his own descendants (Daniel 11:3-4).
Daniel and Zechariah wrote these things long before Alexander was born. The accuracy of God’s Word is staggering.
Your King Is Coming (Zechariah 9:9)
Daughter Zion is told to rejoice greatly and shout, because her King is coming to her, righteous and bringing salvation, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey (Zechariah 9:9).
This is God’s comparison. Here’s the best the world has to offer, the conquering Alexander. And then here’s Jesus.
- Rejoice, weak and humble ones. He is your King, and you’ll get to see Him.
- He is coming to you. You don’t have to climb up to Him.
- Just and having salvation. Those are the gifts He brings.
- Lowly, riding on a donkey. Fulfilled when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday (Matthew 21:1-11). A donkey, because He came as a servant King. Next time He comes, it will be on a white horse (Revelation 19:11).
He made Himself of no reputation, took the form of a servant, and humbled Himself to death on a cross. Therefore God highly exalted Him, and every knee will bow (Philippians 2:5-11).
Peace to the Nations (Zechariah 9:10)
God will cut off the chariot, the war horse and the battle bow. The King will speak peace to the nations, and His dominion will reach from sea to sea and to the ends of the earth.
Jesus is coming back, and He will set everything right. He’ll make Alexander look small.
Prisoners of Hope (Zechariah 9:11-12)
Because of the blood of His covenant, God will free the prisoners from the waterless pit. He calls them prisoners of hope, tells them to return to the stronghold, and promises to restore double to them (Zechariah 9:11-12).
The blood of the covenant
They lived under the Old Covenant, but its blood pointed forward to the blood of Jesus, the blood of the New Covenant (Luke 22:20). God always restores by the blood.
If you feel like you’re in a waterless pit, dry and impossible to climb out of, His blood is what sets you free.
Dryness has a way of forcing us to admit our need for God. A drought can make even a hardened skeptic cry out to a God he claims not to believe in.
Prisoners of hope
What a phrase. You may feel trapped, but you’re a prisoner of hope. Return to the stronghold, both a fortress and the Lord Himself (Psalm 18:2).
Double
God promises to restore double. It’s never a bad investment to trust the Lord.
“But I trusted the Lord and I got hurt.” Even if it looks that way, you haven’t seen the end yet. Your inheritance is coming, and it will be amazing. Keep trusting Him, no matter what you see.
The Lord Fights for His People (Zechariah 9:13-17)
God will use His people against the sons of Greece (Zechariah 9:13). This was fulfilled between the Old and New Testaments, when the Maccabees fought against the successors of Alexander and won independence for a time.
The Lord will appear over His people, His arrow flashing like lightning, the Lord God Himself sounding the trumpet (Zechariah 9:14). This is God Himself going to war.
Notice who does the fighting. Many religions call people to fight for their god. Ours is the opposite: our God fights for us. The Lord their God will save them on that day (Zechariah 9:16). It’s His battle.
How great His goodness, and how great His beauty! (Zechariah 9:17). The result is prosperity and joy for His people. That’s what happens when Jesus reigns in your life.
Grace Takeaway
Alexander conquered the world and died young, his empire torn apart. Jesus came lowly, on a donkey, and conquered sin and death by giving Himself. He is just, He brings salvation, and He is coming to you. Return to the stronghold, prisoner of hope.
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