Lesson 18 - Zechariah Chapter 9 Continued
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THE BOOK OF ZECHARIAH
Lesson 18, Chapter 9 Continued

As we continue in the ultra-cryptic Zechariah chapter 9, let’s briefly review our
previous lesson. I’ll begin by reminding you that in modern times, the Book of
Zechariah is seen by most Bible scholars as consisting of 2 books by 2 authors
(or 2 groups of authors) that at some point became unified into a single work
called Zechariah. I don’t know that I agree with that, but it has resulted in
calling the first 8 chapters of Zechairah, First Zechariah. And, chapters 9 – 14
Second Zechariah. That is the terminology I will use merely as a means to
define what part of Zechariah we’re studying, and it is not that necessarily I
agree with what modern scholarship thinks about it. That said, there is good
reason to think these modern scholars have a strong position so to stand
against it would be nearly as rigid as standing firmly for it. Such a
determination cannot be conclusively made in favor of either way, because
however it happened, it happened going on 2500 years ago and there is no
actual historical record or evidence to prove it. So, we’re not get hung-up on
it.

Chapter 9 has changed the book’s focus from the Judeans to the 10-tribe
coalition that is alternately called The Kingdom of Israel or the Kingdom of
Ephraim. Or, at other times, the House of Israel or the House of Ephraim. It all
means the same thing. It means that after Solomon’s rule, unified Israel
became divided into two separate kingdoms: one of them in the south of the
Holy Land (Judah) and the other in the north (Israel, or more accurately,
Ephraim). Chapter 9 is about the one in the north.

Of course, by Zechariah’s time, the kingdom in the north had long ago become
dissolved and scattered all over Asia and North Africa at the hand of Assyria.
Around 200 years had passed since then. Zechariah (as do other Prophets)
verifies that although Judah has officially returned to the land from their exile
to Babylon, the 10 member tribes of the northern kingdom have not. And yet,
only about 5% of the Judeans returned, the remainder electing not to come
back. A scattered handful of the 10 Lost Tribes no doubt straggled back to the
land, too, but so few that is not worth considering.

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Then as a general statement, what we see starting in chapter 9 is a focus on
the eschatological future of Israel. That is, the End Times era. Naturally, for
those of 500 B.C., the End Times could be near, or it could be far off. But I am
quite certain that they never imagined that 2500 years into the future, only
then would Israel and the world stand upon the End Times threshold, as we do
today.

Immediately in verse 1, a prophecy of the End Times about what is going to
happen to nations that surround the Holy Land is given. It begins with a nation
that we know as modern-day Syria, then moves to Lebanon, and finally to
what we know in our time as Gaza. Lebanon used to be called Phoenicia, and
Gaza used to be called Philistia. What we must take notice of is that while this
prophecy is certainly eschatological in nature, it doesn’t preclude that some
measure of its fulfillment happened in, or not long after, Zechariah’s time.
Much of it can be applied to the conquests of Alexander the Great in the mid to
late 4the century B.C. However, its universally-wide scope and impact won’t
happen until the End Times.

With that as our background, let’s pick back up at verse 6 of Zechariah chapter
9.

RE-READ ZECHARIAH 9:6 to end

Last time we dealt with the future fate (future to Zechariah) of the Philistine
pentapolis of Gaza, Gath, Ekron, Ashdod and Ashkelon. Each of those major
cities was prescribed a certain fate, none of it very good at least for 4 of them.
While Ashdod was not foretold to be destroyed, it was destined to become a
mixed city that overturned its Philistine heritage. I want to take a moment to
focus on the word used to describe this mixed people: mamzer. Using the
English word “mixed” to translate it waters down what it means. It is a
negative term that more means bastard or mongrel. It is an unnatural or ill-
favored mixture. Thus, through all these various means (as the final words of
verse 6 say) the pride of the Philistines will be ended. They will no longer have
a nation. Of course, what we see happening in our time… the waning days of
2024… is that the modern representatives of the Philistines… the Palestinians…
are trying to reconstitute Philistia as its own separate nation, on effectively the

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same land it occupied long before Christ was born. And, from the biblical
perspective, the inhabitants are mamzerim… mongrels, an ill-favored mix.
The Palestinians who live there today indeed are a mix of different Arab
ethnicities. They are essentially the children of refugees from various Arab
nations who moved into the area a few decades ago, and who knowingly or
unwittingly have taken up the mantle of the Philistines. What is so ironic, is
that even the name of their people group (the Palestinians) is but Greek for
Philistines. This cannot be coincidence, especially as we read this prophecy of
Zechariah 9. We have been witnessing their folly and the horror it has led to
for Israel and for those Palestinians. Indeed, the pride they have been hoping
to restore has not only be punctured, it has been run over by a truck and
crushed. However, I promise you this story is far from being over.

Zechariah 9:7 is so startling, especially in light of our times, that I must read it
to you again. This is continuing to speak about the fate of the Philistines (the
Palestinians).

CJB
Zechariah 9:7 I will end their eating meat with its blood still in it,
snatching the disgusting things from between their teeth." But the
surviving remnant will belong to our God; it will be like a clan in
Y'hudah; and 'Ekron will be like a Y'vusi.

To put it in a nutshell, the prophecy is that the End Times residents of Philistia
will turn to the Lord God of Israel. When we factor in that today these people
are radical Muslims bent on destroying Israel and ending the Jewish race, it is
hard to fathom such a turn of events. We can see this a little better when we
take a look at the original Hebrew. Whereas the CJB says that God says He will
“end their eating meat with its blood still in it”, the word translated as “end” is
cuwr (pronounced suwr), and it more means to remove than to end. We find
the same word used in the same thought pattern back in earlier chapters of
Zechariah as regards the High Priest, where the instructions from God are to
take the filthy garments off of him, which God then says, “Look, I have
removed (cuwr) your iniquity from you…” God was purifying Joshua, and God
will purify the Philistines (the Palestinians). In other words, those Philistines let
go of their idolatry and become part of Israel.

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When this verse talks about taking blood from the mouths of the Philistines
(and, by the way, nowhere does the word “meat” appear, the CJB simply
added it for what they deemed as clarity), this isn’t talking about their own
blood or human blood. It is speaking of blood in the ritual sense. That is,
whereas in their religious sacrifices to their gods, the ancient Philistines
consumed the blood of the animals (while the Hebrews were forbidden to do
that), God will purify them from that sin and uncleanness and they will cease
to sacrifice in such a manner.

For us, it is hard to gauge the impact these words would have had upon
Zechariah’s ancient readers. I assure you it is as powerful an image as can be
imagined to explain God’s ability to purify and to forgive; and also, the
incredible… seemingly impossible… level of identity shift that the Philistines
(the Palestinians) will undergo. As Believers, all we ought to do is to shout
hallelujah at such a coming event!

By continuing to explain that the Philistines will also have detestable things
removed their teeth, this refers to food. That is, eating food that isn’t kosher…
and nearly always this will be about meat. One of the things that makes meat
unfit for a Hebrew to eat is to not properly drain the blood from it. So, the
term “blood” does double-duty as speaking about consuming blood as well as
not removing enough of it from the meat they cook and eat.

Let’s be clear: just as at the End only a remnant of Israel will be left that
finally worships the God of Israel as they should, so it is that but a remnant of
Philistia will be left that finally abandons their false religion and worships the
God of Israel. Please notice that the reference to the Philistines as “he” is
merely a literary technique of personifying the Philistines. That is, an
imaginary person becomes the representation for all the people, and the long
and short of it is that this “person” throws off his idolatry for truth.

And, once again, we find in this verse a direct reference to “God”. However,
the word God (yah in Hebrew) is not there; rather it is Elohim. Elohim is a
description or a title of one of the several functions or characteristics of God,
as being the Chief Administrator over Heaven and Earth. Then the verse ends
by saying that the association of the Philistines with Israel will become so close

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that they will be like a clan of Judah. I think there are multiple levels of
understanding this phrase. First, from a purely historical and geographical
standpoint, Philistia bordered on Judah, so when they existed, it was Judah
that had to deal with them as enemies. But second, Judah will absorb the
former Philistia. The current nation of Israel is primarily the former Judah. To
speak of the Philistines becoming like a clan of Israel means a much closer
relationship than merely not being enemies is going to happen; it will be more
like they become a family. So, the ultimate fate of Philistia will be very
different from the fates of Syria and Lebanon.

And finally, we read: “…and Ekron as a Jebusite”. That is, the city of Ekron’s
fate is going to be similar to how it was for the Jebusites. The Jebusites were
the original and most ancient builders of Jerusalem… pretty much that earliest
part of it that is called today the City of David. They seem to have been
absorbed into the Judean residents of Jerusalem when the Israelites in their
thousands moved into the area, probably starting as early as when Joshua led
them from the exodus wilderness across the Jordan into the land God was
giving to them. It is interesting that here in Zechariah, some 7 or 8 centuries
since that happened, that such a vivid memory of the role of the Jebusites in
Israel’s history and society was brought up. Since later on in the Bible we
don’t hear any more about the Jebusites as a separate entity, then it must be
that those who remained after Joshua’s conquest had given up their ancient
identity as Jebusites and joined with one or another of the Israelite tribes
(likely mostly with Judah), and then assimilated to the point that their former
identity was no longer considered relevant. They were Israelites, now.

Verse 8 begins NOT as the CJB has it, but rather, “I will encamp”. That is, God
will encamp around His house. His house means His Temple. Encamping
around the Temple is sort of like when the Bible says that God will dwell at the
Temple. God is not literally camping out nor is He residing in the Temple. It is
a way to express His presence, His authority, and His ownership. Some Bible
scholars say that we must understand the term “His house” as meaning all of
Jerusalem at the least, and probably includes Judah as well. While that is a
nice thought, but that is well outside the use of “His house” or “My house”
throughout both Haggai and Zechariah. One the keys to correctly
understanding God’s Word at any point is to see the context for the use of the

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same or very similar phrases in an epic storyline. Rebuilding God’s Temple was
an imperative, and is constantly highlighted, throughout Haggai and First
Zechariah. So, that is how we are to understand the matter of the Temple
here in Second Zechariah.

For many, many centuries Constantinian Christianity has downplayed the
concept of a Temple for God needing to be built. The primary reason for that is
that is just too Jewish for this gentile faith. Even more, when a Church
doctrine is created that God’s followers are the collective new temple, then
(says their reasoning) it makes no sense for God to want another one built.
The problem is, that doctrine defies the plain reading of many comments on
the subject by the biblical Prophets. And it is why Christianity all but dismisses
the final 8 chapters of Ezekiel, because it is all about the construction details
of the so-called Millennial Temple from where Yeshua shall reign. A Temple
that God supposedly doesn’t want and even sees as rebellious to build it.
Haggai and Zechariah, and Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekial all emphasize God’s
insistence upon a Temple being built for Him. The Prophet Malachi places his
emphasis on the rituals and proceedings that are to happen in this new
Temple.

God’s presence at the Temple is promised to be the force by which enemy
armies will be warded off. He will be a shield of protection for the Temple and
for Jerusalem. This is all in the context of the turmoil and destruction that
engulfs the former Phoenicia, Lebanon, Philistia and Syria. Israel will be
protected by God’s power. Those that pass through and return are referring to
enemy forces, and God promises that at a designated time in the future, He
will blunt the ability of any enemy from capturing or sacking Jerusalem. Saying
that He will watch with His own eyes is no doubt in contrast to the 4 horses
that were sent out to roam the earth and to bring back scouting reports to God
of what they see. Rather than receiving reports, God will focus His own
personal gaze upon Israel in order to protect them and to smite down any
aggressor against them.

In verse 9, the order to rejoice is given to the “daughter of Zion’, and for the
“daughter of Jerusalem” to shout out (this is a joyful shouting). Daughter of
Zion is often used when the literary context is Hebrew poetry. “ A daughter of

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such and such” is meant to indicate the inhabitants of a certain place, with the
emphasis on the place. Why daughter and not son? Probably because place
names are given in the grammatically feminine gender. Zion and Jerusalem
together indicate the Holy City. Zion is usually referring to Jerusalem in its
redeemed state, and in its earliest use probably also produced more the
mental picture of the City of David section of the overall city. So, another
sense of this is that the order to rejoice and shout is given to the older and
newer parts of Jerusalem… all of it; the original and whatever is included in it
in the now and in the future. But, the truly important essence of Jerusalem is
as the place that God has set apart for Himself, and has made His name to
reside there, and that is represented by the Temple.

Make no mistake, while this language is figurative and is more expression than
it is intended to be taken as literal reality, it reflects ancient, traditional
historical understandings of the need of gods for personal residences. For the
pagan religions, usually a certain god literally is thought to reside fulltime in
the Temple dedicated to him or her. In fact, they are practically imprisoned
there. The Bible seems to demonstrate that the Israelites weren’t entirely clear
on the matter, because they could simultaneously speak of God’s presence in
His House, and yet sitting on His throne in Heaven. How can that be? Believers
shouldn’t balk at this. After all, did we ever think that as Yeshua walked on
earth, that The Father also didn’t watch from the vantage point of Heaven? But
if Jesus is God, how can we speak of Him being in both of these locations at
the same time? It is because we believe (with biblical backing) that God has
more than one essence or manifestation of Himself, and each while
representing a unity, also mysteriously can operate as separate entities. This
is perhaps why when God is spoken of as existing in the Temple, it is regularly
said that it is The Glory that resides in the Temple… with The Glory being a
certain named manifestation of God that is different and distinct from the Holy
Spirit, or Yeshua (The Son), or even the Angel of Yehoveh.

I just told you this so that the second part of verse 9 can be better understood
in its fullness. The second part being: “Your king is coming to you! How is He
coming? The next several words are prophecy said to be directly fulfilled by
Christ… He is coming riding on a donkey. That is, this is a direct prophecy of

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the coming of the divine Messiah… who Himself is a manifestation of God. And,
Yeshua quotes this passage about Himself in Matthew 21.

CJB
Matthew 21:1-7 As they were approaching Yerushalayim, they
came to Beit-Pagei on the Mount of Olives. Yeshua sent two talmidim
2

with these instructions: "Go into the village ahead of you, and you will
immediately find a donkey tethered there with its colt. Untie them and
bring them to me.
3
If anyone says anything to you, tell him, 'The Lord
needs them'; and he will let them go at once."
4
This happened in
order to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet,
5
"Say to
the daughter of Tziyon, 'Look! Your King is coming to you, riding
humbly on a donkey, and on a colt, the offspring of a beast of burden!'
6
So the talmidim went and did as Yeshua had directed them.
7
They
brought the donkey and the colt and put their robes on them, and
Yeshua sat on them.

So, when Yeshua says that this is the quote of “the Prophet”, the Prophet is
Zechariah. This gives me an opening to revisit some of the modern claims
about there being a First and Second Zechariah, with the second having a
separate, or even multiple authors none of which are the original Zechariah. If
that was actually the case, it sure doesn’t sound like Yeshua thought so. He
added complete legitimacy to the thought that all the writings of Zechariah
come from a single Prophet, which sort of blows holes in any theory that
discounts that while Zechariah 9 – 14 may be very different literarily than 1-
8, nonetheless all the chapters were written by the same person. And,
whatever editing might have been done to this book (and all the books had
some level of editing over the centuries), it had certainly been completed long
before Messiah was born. Zechariah in the form we have it today was in
existence in Yeshua’s era since He quoted from it, seemingly word for word.
For me, there can be no better authority to confirm the authenticity of what
we have undertaken to study… Zechariah… as the work of one man.

So, as regards this passage: from the view of Zechariah’s day, the prophetic
fulfillment, of course, was future; but for us, much of it is in hindsight. Even
so, there is another fulfillment of the coming of Messiah ahead that is similar
to this, but it won’t include His entry on a beast of burden. Rather it will be on

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a horse. And a horse all throughout the biblical period… Old and New
Testaments… was an instrument of war, not something used domestically. It
was anything but lowly. Think about this: He enters Jerusalem the first time
coming lowly, peacefully, and sacrificially, riding on a donkey. The next time,
He comes in fury and vengeance with the taking of blood on His mind, also
riding on an animal… but this time it is upon a war horse charging into battle
against the forces of darkness. What an amazing picture of the two opposing
natures of Yeshua as The Messiah is presented in these two scenarios, using a
donkey and a horse to help especially the ancients understand what was going
to happen.

Let’s take these two natures of Messiah a step further. Zechariah 9:9 says that
Israel’s king will be righteous and victorious. Note the order: righteous,
followed by victorious. In His first coming, Messiah came in righteousness in
order to save His people by imbuing those who trust in Him with a divine
righteousness… a saving righteousness. In His second coming, Messiah is
coming in victory… a military victory… to defeat the enemy, Satan, and all of
His human followers who have caused such misery over the ages. The victory
will be both physical and spiritual. I am more than certain that at first, none of
Zechariah’s readers would have deduced all this from what he said. But later,
not long before Christ came, brilliant Sages had already begun to explore the
possibility of a Messiah with a dual nature. It was expressed, quite early, as
Messiah son of Joseph … the peace- loving, non-military savior, and Messiah
son of David… the most definitely military warrior savior. Both within the same
person, or in some opinions, one followed by the other.

Not surprisingly, while verse 9 can be more identified with Messiah’s first
coming, verse 10 is more descriptive of His second. How would the people of
Zechariah’s time think about verses 9 and 10 of this prophecy? Because
Zerubbabel (a member of David’s dynasty) was ruling them as a Persian
governor (something they were deeply conflicted over), their first thought had
to be a joyous one of a prophecy of a restored Jewish monarchy with
Zerubbabel shaking off Persian authority and advancing to be their legitimate
and sovereign king. Of course, they would be disappointed as this never
happened. Therefore, in time the Jewish people grew to accept Zechariah’s
prophecy as belonging to a much later era. How much later? Who knew?

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Verse 10 says this:

CJB
Zechariah 9:10 I will banish chariots from Efrayim and war -horses
from Yerushalayim." The warrior's bow will be banished, and he will
proclaim peace to the nations. He will rule from sea to sea, and from
the [Euphrates] River to the ends of the earth.

The CJB’s opening words of “I will banish”, again waters down the meaning of
the Hebrew word that is hikratti, which more literally means “I will cut off”.
To “cut off” is a forceful term that is more of a military nature than simply
meaning to disallow or to send away something. We find this same word used
a few times in Malachi, and it is about Yehoveh violently destroying armies.
So, here this is about God destroying the primary equipment of war in
Zechariah’s era: chariots and horses. Chariots and horses were what provided
for military dominance, and thus the army with the most of these was nearly
always the victor.

By using the terms Ephraim and Jerusalem, this is speaking of the northern
kingdom and the southern kingdom… together meaning all of Israel. Just as
horses and chariots were the preferred military equipment, so was a bow the
basic piece of military equipment that is somewhat equivalent to modern times
with each soldier carrying a rifle. Essentially, this is speaking about the end of
an enemy’s ability to prosecute war.

To put all this in more plain terms, we have here a picture of the King who
came most lowly the first time. But, upon His return, He begins His rule by
attacking and defeating all of God’s (and by extrapolation, Israel’s) enemies. It
seems from the wording that while He will remove all these instruments of war
from the enemies by means of force, Israel, too, will be disarmed… but for a
different reason. Israel will no longer need a military for their defense,
because God will be their security. And, the nations will have no means to
make war, because God has destroyed it all. This brings us once again to a
rather startling realization; it is that the human nature is to solve our
differences through war. Even when Christ returns, there is no alternative but

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to first go to war against these nations who are determined to continue this
cycle of war as the ultimate means to get their way.

The good news is that once the King (the Messiah) has put down the militaries
of the all the nations, He will announce peace on Earth. A 1000-year era of
peace will begin. Some scholars insist that this peace must only be in Israel
because of the phrase “from sea to sea”. But in fact, that is but an expression
that means the same as “to the ends of the earth”. It is inclusive of the entire
planet. And, when it speaks of the River (meaning the Euphrates) to the ends
of the earth, we need to keep in mind that all anyone could speak of, or think
in terms of, was the known world of that era. This is classic Hebrew poetry
using a couplet… that is, two slightly different expressions as 2 ways of the
saying the same thing. These ancients knew nothing of our great oceans, or
Europe, or Africa (other than the most northern parts)… or of North and South
America, Australia, the Japan’s, etc. Their understanding of what the world
was, generally began at the Euphrates River to the north, and ended at Egypt
to the south. And from the south eastern part of what we call Europe, to
perhaps the outskirts of China… and little else. They didn’t deny that there was
probably more, but it’s all Middle Easterners knew anything about in those
ancient times.

Verse 11 is fascinating.

CJB
Zechariah 9:11 "Also you, by the blood of your covenant, I release
your prisoners from [the dungeon,] the cistern that has no water in it.

For the most part, this verse has been completely skewed and taken out of
context by Christianity. The usual Christian take is that this is looking forward
to the New Covenant with Christ. But, the reality is that in Zechariah’s era only
2 covenants existed: the Covenant of Abraham and the Covenant of Moses.
However, it is the Covenant of Moses that is called the Covenant of Blood, so
this has to be what this verse has in mind. I cannot dismiss that this might
indeed also have a future connection as Christ, too, is said to have set
captivity captive. Luke 4:18 – 21 also speaks of Jesus releasing the captives.
However… the context for this is “the acceptable year of the Lord”, which is an

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alternate title for the Year of Jubilee, something that comes in 50-year cycles.
So, I cannot necessarily associate Zechariah 9:11 directly with Luke 4.

“The blood of the covenant” best fits with the Covenant of Moses, and
therefore with the rules and consequences that the covenant spells out. Which
is, of course, what Israel has been suffering under for so blatantly violating
those covenant terms. So, the release of your prisoners from the cistern with
no water in it, seems to be referring to Israel’s… Ephraim’s… exiles. This is
primarily the exiles of the northern kingdom, which is whom this chapter
addresses. What these prisoners from the cistern is meaning is not literal, but
is a metaphor. It expresses the condition or state of the exiles, and not their
actual circumstance. Ezekiel used the metaphor of these exiles as being dried-
up bones. Both metaphors are expressions of hopelessness, if not misery. To
be clear: this cannot be speaking about the Babylonian exiles, because by
Zechariah’s time they had already been freed, and those who wanted to return
to their natural homeland, did. But, not so for the 10 Lost Tribes. Rather, this
part of Zechariah’s prophecy is happening right now… right under the world’s
nose… and few have even noticed it.

Therefore, says verse 12:

CJB
Zechariah 9:12 Return to the stronghold, you prisoners with hope!
This day I declare to you that I will grant you double reparation.

While it would be tempting to think that this is referring to the 95% of Jews
that had elected to not return to Judah (in essence acting as an
encouragement to do so), I’m troubled because this is addressed to “you
prisoners with hope”. Jews at this time were free, and in no way hopeless.
Again, I draw a comparison to Ezekiel 37 that essentially calls for the same
thing. But, this is an End Times calling. And, must be something that happens
long after Ezekiel’s, Zechariah’s, or even Yeshua’s eras. Rather, I think “you
prisoners with hope” plays off of the previous verse’s prisoners in a dry cistern
(who have no hope). That is, those who once had no hope, suddenly do have
hope, because God has given them this hope and a door to escape.

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Therefore, while talking about the 10 Lost Tribes, it also includes the Jews of
Judah… who are exiles from yet another exile long-future from Zechariah’s
day. These Jews are the exiles of the Roman exile of the 1
st
and 2
nd
centuries
A.D. The 10 Lost Tribes were merely continuing with their already 7 century-
old exile.

The stronghold these Israelites are to return to is Jerusalem. Stronghold is
another term with a military context. It is a fortress guarded by an army. So,
the idea is that the exiles would return to a strongly defended Jerusalem.
When we look again at Ezekiel 37 and 38, we see that a 2-stage return is
called for. First, the Jews return and the new State of Israel is established.
Israel begins to thrive and become strong. Next, later, the 10 Lost Tribes
return. Surprise! That is exactly what has happened. It was European Jews
that returned to the Holy Land after WWII, and then established the renewed
State of Israel, recognized by the UN as a legitimate sovereign nation, in
1948.

Now, a few decades later, members of The 10 Lost Tribes… those exiles of the
northern kingdom… are making their way back in ever increasing numbers to
fulfill Zechariah’s prophecy as well as the prophecies of others of Israel’s
Prophets. What awaits all of Israel is a double reparation. This means a God-
caused abundance. Indeed; anyone who has been to Israel sees with you own
eyes what an abundant land it has returned to. Mosquito infested swamps
have become fertile fields. Dry deserts are full of greenhouses growing
vegetables of every kind. God keeps His promises.

We’ll pause here and continue with verse 13 next time.