YOUR KINGDOM COME!

Opening Prayer

Merciful God, you are faithful to your promises and consistent in your purposes, I thank you for that great truth and blessing.

Scripture Reference

ZECHARIAH 9

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Judgment on Israel’s Enemies

9 A prophecy:

The word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrak
    and will come to rest on Damascus—
for the eyes of all people and all the tribes of Israel
    are on the Lord—^[a]
2 and on Hamath too, which borders on it,
    and on Tyre and Sidon, though they are very skillful.
³ Tyre has built herself a stronghold;
    she has heaped up silver like dust,
    and gold like the dirt of the streets.
⁴ But the Lord will take away her possessions
    and destroy her power on the sea,
    and she will be consumed by fire.
⁵ Ashkelon will see it and fear;
    Gaza will writhe in agony,
    and Ekron too, for her hope will wither.
Gaza will lose her king
    and Ashkelon will be deserted.
⁶ A mongrel people will occupy Ashdod,
    and I will put an end to the pride of the Philistines.
⁷ I will take the blood from their mouths,
    the forbidden food from between their teeth.
Those who are left will belong to our God
    and become a clan in Judah,
    and Ekron will be like the Jebusites.
⁸ But I will encamp at my temple
    to guard it against marauding forces.
Never again will an oppressor overrun my people,
    for now I am keeping watch.

The Coming of Zion’s King

⁹ Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
    Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
    righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
¹⁰ I will take away the chariots from Ephraim
    and the warhorses from Jerusalem,
    and the battle bow will be broken.
He will proclaim peace to the nations.
    His rule will extend from sea to sea
    and from the River^[b] to the ends of the earth.
¹¹ As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
    I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit.
¹² Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope;
    even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.
¹³ I will bend Judah as I bend my bow
    and fill it with Ephraim.
I will rouse your sons, Zion,
    against your sons, Greece,
    and make you like a warrior’s sword.

The Lord Will Appear

¹⁴ Then the Lord will appear over them;
    his arrow will flash like lightning.
The Sovereign Lord will sound the trumpet;
    he will march in the storms of the south,
¹⁵     and the Lord Almighty will shield them.
They will destroy
    and overcome with slingstones.
They will drink and roar as with wine;
    they will be full like a bowl
    used for sprinkling^[c] the corners of the altar.
¹⁶ The Lord their God will save his people on that day
    as a shepherd saves his flock.
They will sparkle in his land
    like jewels in a crown.
¹⁷ How attractive and beautiful they will be!
    Grain will make the young men thrive,
    and new wine the young women.

Footnotes

1. Zechariah 9:1 Or Damascus. / For the eye of the Lord is on all people, / as well as on the tribes of Israel,
2. Zechariah 9:10 That is, the Euphrates
3. Zechariah 9:15 Or bowl, / like

New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Meditate

Consider

‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’1

Think Further

Zechariah ends with two ‘messages’ or ‘oracles’, in chapters 9–11 and 12–14. The first begins with a prophesy of God’s judgment on his people’s enemies. This was at least partially fulfilled by Alexander the Great in 332–331 bc during his campaign against the Persians. Unfortunately, much later, Alexander’s successors, the Seleucids, oppressed the Jews, until the Maccabean Revolt brought them a measure of independence in 160 bc (cf v 13). However, Zechariah 9 speaks of a different kind of ruler…

The king who comes riding on a donkey (v 9) is identified in the Gospels as Jesus Christ.2 The people rejoicing at Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem that first Palm Sunday, greeting him with the words of Psalm 118:25 and 26, clearly viewed Jesus as the promised Messiah. Their expectations, however, differed greatly from Zechariah’s righteous, victorious and lowly ruler (v 9)! Jesus came, not to overthrow the Jews’ Roman oppressors, but to dethrone sin in men’s hearts. His death on the cross a week later set in motion the fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy. But Zechariah has more to say…

Verse 10 speaks of the universal peace and global extent of the coming kingdom. These have yet to be realized! Certainly, Christ’s kingly rule has already begun in the lives of those who love him. However, only at Christ’s second coming will his people fully enjoy the blessings mentioned in verses 10 and 14–17. Once again Zechariah points us to the future. The kingdom of God and its benefits are here among us, but the best is yet to come! It is no vain repetition that keeps us praying to our heavenly Father, ‘your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven’!3

Apply

What sins keep pushing Jesus off his rightful place on the throne of your heart? Seek God’s help for determination to deal radically with them!

Closing Prayer

Lord, I need to see afresh that because of my faith I am dead to sin and alive to Christ. May that help me to live victoriously.

1 Ps 118:26 2 Matt 21:5; John 12:15 3 Matt 6:10

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Last Updated on August 20, 2022 by kingstar