The second division of Zechariah falls into two sub-divisions: (1) chapters 9-11; (2) 12-14. In the first is seen the Lord's judgments upon the world and the coming and reign of the Prince of Peace. In the second, Israel's deliverance in the end-time, the repentance of the nation, and the glorious reign of Messiah over the earth.

The conquest of the western Asiatic territory, which is described in 9:1-7, had its partial fulfillment in the conquests of Alexander the Great. Concerning this proposition there can be no doubt in the mind of one familiar with history. Under the titanic strokes of the Greek phalanx the Persian hordes were utterly broken. After the decisive battle of Issus, Hadrach and Damascus capitulated; likewise, Hamath. Sidon submitted without resistance. Tyre, which had resisted Shalmaneser for five years and Nebuchadnezzar for thirteen, on account of her strong insular position offered stubborn resistance but finally fell after a seven months' siege. The Philistine cities likewise yielded to the conqueror who became master of the eastern Mediterranean coast.

After these conquests Alexander marched against Judaea, the news of which caused consternation at Jerusalem. The high priest, Jaddua, at the head of a procession of priests marched out in holy array to meet him. As Alexander approached this procession, he, according to Josephus, recognized these men as the ones whom he had seen in a vision before his departure from Macedonia. This fact caused him to spare the nation, to bestow rich gifts upon the temple of God, and to grant unusual liberties to the Hebrew people. This immunity from war and bloodshed, together with the great concessions to, and honors bestowed upon the Jews by Alexander was a fulfillment of the promise of verse 8: "And I will encamp about my house against the army, that none pass through or return: and no oppressor shall pass through them any more: for now have I seen with mine eyes."

That Alexander's conquests were only a fulfillment of the passage and typify a yet future and complete fulfillment is seen from two facts herein presented: (1) "For the eye of man and of all the tribes of Israel is toward the Lord"; (2) "And no oppressor shall pass through them any more." When this passage is completely fulfilled, the eyes of all men surviving that final conquest, including all of the tribes of Israel, shall turn to God. This same prediction is included in Isaiah's oracle against Damascus (Isa. 17:7): "In that day shall men look unto their Maker, and their eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel." The time of Jacob's trouble will wake men up intellectually and spiritually and cause them to see that God is Lord of creation. At that time all the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. "Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for thee; to thy name, even to thy memorial name, is the desire of our soul. With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee earnestly: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness" (Isa. 26:8,9). Again, since oppressors have passed through Palestine many times since the conquest of Alexander, this passage cannot have been completely fulfilled. Therefore it awaits its complete fulfillment at the conclusion of the time of Jacob's trouble.

Very easy is the transition from the promise that "no oppressor (or exactor) shall pass through the land" to the prediction of the coming of Zion's King to her (verses 9, 10), since the former promise suggests or implies the presence and reign of a mighty King of Zion Who has the situation in hand and to Whom no king would dare to throw down the gauntlet of war.

גִּילִי מְאֹד בַּת־צִיּוֹן הָרִיעִי בַּת־יְרוּשָׁלִַם הִנֵּה מַלְכֵּךְ יָבוֹא לָךְ צַדִּיק וְנוֹשָׁע הוּא עָנִי וְרֹכֵב עַל־חֲמוֹר וְעַל־עַיִר בֶּן־אֲתֹנוֹת׃ וְהִכְרַתִּי רֶכֶב מֵאֶפְרַיִם וְסוּס מִירוּשָׁלִַם וְנִכְרְתָה קֶשֶׁת מִלְחָמָה וְדִבֶּר שָׁלוֹם לַגּוֹיִם וּמָשְׁלוֹ מִיָּם עַד־יָם וּמִנָּהָר עַד־אַפְסֵי־אָרֶץ׃

"Rejoice' greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy king cometh unto thee; he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, even upon a colt the foal of an ass. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off; and he shall speak peace unto the nations: and his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth" (Zech. 9:9,10).

In these verses the prophet sees Zion's King coming to her; hence He calls upon the people to rejoice greatly. This promise is the same which had been made through the former prophets even when Zion had kings of the royal house of David. The twenty kings of the Davidic dynasty who sat upon his throne simply were occupying the time until Zion's real King should come--"until He come Whose right it is." Therefore the expression "thy King" points definitely to the great King for Whom Israel has longed, namely King Messiah. That this passage is a Messianic prediction is seen in the Talmud, Bab., fol. 98, where Rabbi Joshua ben Levi says, "It is written in one place, 'Behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven,' but in another place it is written, 'lowly, and riding upon an ass.' How is this to be understood? The answer is, If they be righteous (or deserving) He shall come with the clouds of heaven; if they be not righteous, then He shall come lowly, and riding upon an ass." Rashi comments as follows, "This cannot be explained except of King Messiah, for it is said of Him, 'and His dominion shall be from sea to sea': but we do not find that such a One ruled over Israel in the time of the second temple." Saadiah Gaon, in his remarks on Dan. 7, said, "Behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven"; then he remarks, "This is the Messiah our righteousness. But is it not written of the Messiah, 'lowly and riding upon an ass'? Yes, but this shows that He will come in humility and not in pride upon horses."

After this prophecy was spoken, no kings of the house of David sat upon the throne of Judah. It is true that Jonathan Maccabaeus was recognized as king of the Jews and that John Hyrcanus did wear the title and crown, but they were not of the house of David but were of the priestly family; hence in no sense could they be considered as the fulfillment of this wonderful prediction.

"He is just, and having salvation." The word צַדִּיק means righteous in the absolute sense of the term. This statement evidently is an echo of Jeremiah's statement (23:5), "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as King and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is his name whereby he shall be called יְהוָה צִדְקֵנו, the Lord our righteousness." He also comes "having salvation." נוֹשָׁע is the niphal participle of יָשַׁע. It is well known to all Hebrew scholars that the niphal is not only passive, but is also reflexive, which latter meaning probably was the original, inherent one; therefore it may be translated "being saved" or "saving himself." Both ideas are correct, for He saves Himself and is saved in the sense that God is with Him and assists Him. Since he is God in the flesh and is able to save Himself, He is also able to save others; hence when He comes to Zion He comes "having salvation."²

He is "lowly, and riding upon an ass, even upon a colt the foal of an ass." He is lowly and very meek and humble. His coming to Zion is not as a warrior, but as "the Prince of Peace," which fact is set forth in His riding upon an ass.

His coming in this manner--in humiliation to suffer and to die for the chosen people--is in fulfillment of such passages as Isa. 53.

In verse 10 the prophet, speaking for God, declares that "I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off." If this passage were the only one dealing with this subject, one would conclude that the Lord brings war to a close as far as the Hebrew people are concerned when Zion's King comes in this humble way to her; but it has already been seen from the passages examined in the preceding chapters of this book that when He comes in this manner He is rejected by the nation; that He in turn rejects her, returning to the right hand of the throne of God; and that eventually He returns in glory and power with the Lord God at His right hand, Who assists Him in subduing His enemies. Thus the period of Messiah's rejection is omitted in this passage and is to be supplied from the information gathered from parallel statements.

After He, Zion's Divine King, has conquered His foes, "He shall speak peace unto the nations; and His dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth." He, being the Prince of Peace and being all-powerful, will speak peace to the nations of earth in the sense of His stopping wars and of His establishing a reign of peace and righteousness throughout the world.

Continuing to speak to Zion, the prophet explains to her the foundation upon which her hope for future deliverance and the reign of righteousness are based, namely, "As for thee also, because of the blood of thy covenant I have set free thy prisoners from the pit wherein is no water" (verse 11). The blood of what covenant? one may ask. There really was but one covenant into which God entered with Israel, namely, the Abrahamic one (Gen. 12:1-3; 15:1-21). In the latter passage God cut a covenant with Abraham. After Abraham had divided the heifer, the she-goat, and the ram and after a deep sleep had come over him, the appearance of a smoking furnace and a flaming torch passed between the parts. Thus God cut a covenant with Abraham that day (verses 17,18). This same covenant was ratified to Isaac and Jacob. Also when Israel was at Sinai the nation entered into covenant relationship with God, which covenant was sealed with the blood of "burnt offerings" and "peace offerings" (Ex. 24:5-8), but the blood of animals was only typical of the blood of Messiah, which washes away the sins of men completely. Evidently, then, the reference to the blood of the covenant, while pointing back to the typical blood of animals, points mainly to the Blood of the Messiah as the Blood of the covenant.

On account, therefore, of Messiah's Blood of the covenant God declares, "I have set free thy (Zion's) prisoners from the pit wherein is no water." Zion's prisoners are the Hebrew people who have been held in bondage, more or less, by the nations among whom they have been and are living. They are considered as prisoners because of the unfair disadvantages under which they have been placed by the Gentiles who, in many instances, have curtailed their liberties so that the people of Israel are quite appropriately called prisoners.

In the plan of God for the ages He has decreed that they shall be liberated from this bondage among the nations and shall be restored to their own land. At the proper time, which time will be when the nation accepts her Messiah, she shall be released from her bondage.

The expression, "The pit wherein is no water," is the same in the original as occurs in the narration of Joseph's being in a pit. The echo of these words introduces an analogy between the experiences of Joseph and that of the nation. Had there been water in the pit he would have been drowned but by the providence of God there was none; hence his life was preserved. Israel, figuratively speaking, has been cast into a pit in that she has been scattered among the nations. No water being there, she has been preserved, being the nation of destiny.

Having set forth the assurance of deliverance, the Lord pleads with her, "Turn you to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope: even today do I declare that I will render double upon thee." The marginal reading of "turn" is "return" which invitation implies that the nation has turned from God Who is her stronghold. Now she is to return to Him for they have a sure hope. When they accept that invitation, "even today," He will render unto them double. The first-born always received the double portion of the inheritance. Israel is God's first-born; therefore she is to inherit a double portion. Such is the promise of Isa. 61:6,7. Such great advantages and blessings bring increased responsibility; hence Israel is to be punished doubly for her sins (Isa. 40:2).

III. ISRAEL'S REJECTION OF HER SHEPHERD, AND HER PUNISHMENT

A. Israel's Rejection of Her Shepherd