Introduction
The spread of
communism in China started in the 1920’s and grew rapidly because people were moved
by the revolutionary zeal and ideal of communism, believing that it was the
answer for China’s restoration. Thus, many joined the communist forces as guerrilla
fighters against the Nationalist forces even at the cost of losing own lives. The
communists eventually won the battle and became the sole ruling party for mainland
China in 1949 until today. From the outset the communist regime launched its
ruthless, oppressive and autocratic rule with ailing state planned economic
policy. As a result, tens of millions of lives suffered and died in famine or purges.
Thirty years later in the early 1980’s, new leaders came to power. The
communist regime has shifted to the market economy policy so as to boost the nation’s
development. This is like telling the people that communism had failed, the
nation is now coming back to the free market system. But how about those pathetic
lives lost in fighting for communism, or lost in the communists purges? It
seems that all the atrocities in war, deaths and ruins are just the consequences
of one naïve misunderstanding; thinking that Communism is the answer. So the
lesson is apparent: “It is disastrous to fight a war, let alone waging war out
of ignorance or misunderstand!”
As Christians, are we
to fight a war? What kind of warfare and who is our enemy? We will seriously
consider these questions as we look at Zechariah chapter 9.
Introducing
Zechariah
According to Zechariah 1:1, Zechariah was the son of
Berechiah, the grandson of Iddo. He was a member of the families of priests who
returned from Babylonian exile as a young man. He began his ministry two months
after Haggai, dated to the second year of the Persian king Darius (520/519BC; Zec
1:1, 7; 7:1). Zechariah lived in the postexilic community of Judah, a
sub-province of Persian Empire, ruled by a governor appointed by king Darius.
Context of
Zechariah
In chapter 1—8, Zechariah prophesied to the postexilic Judah,
challenging them to make a clean break with past sin and turn to Yahweh, and most
importantly to rebuild the Jerusalem Temple. Even though Israel had returned
from exile and the temple building was completed in 516BC, all the promises
about the return from exile have not been fulfilled. In order to uphold the
faith of the people in the face of the gloomy scenario, Zechariah further
prophesied that a time will come in a distant future, Yahweh will surely intervene
to bring about a complete redemption with the arrival of the Messiah—the
anointed one, and Israel will be restored to the grandeur just as the prophets
before him had prophesied. Much of these oracles about the restored Israel are
found in Zechariah 9—14, though some also appears in chapter 1—8. With this set
up in mind, let’s see how Zechariah 9 unfolds the future acts of Yahweh in the
eschatological rebuilding of Israel. Zechariah 9 can be arranged neatly into a
sandwich structure:
A (vv1—8) Restoration of the land of Israel
B (vv9—10) King’s entry into Jerusalem
A’ (vv11—17) Restoration of the people of
Israel
Restoration
of the Land and People of Israel
The chapter opens with Yahweh the warrior’s aggression
over the nations by overthrowing those who opposed to him and restore the land
that was promised to the twelve tribes of Israel. Yahweh’s invasion will start
from Syria/Aram zone, moving down from Hadrach and Damascus, “for his eye on
mankind and on all the tribes of Israel” (v.1), and Hamath in the north, then works
his way south via Phoenicia zone, Tyre and Sidon (vv.2—4), down to the
Philistine cities of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron and Ashdod (v.5—7), until he comes
to the centre (v.8), the Temple in Jerusalem, from which Yahweh will recover
for Israel its historic geographical heritage. Verse 7 is intriguing, “I will
take away its blood from its mouth, and its abominations from between its
teeth; it too shall be a remnant for our God; it shall be like a clan in Judah,
and Ekron shall be like the Jebusites." Although Yahweh is said to conquer
his enemies, the Philistines are said to turn away from their idol worship to
worship the true and living God, assimilating into the people of God. The main concern
of the unit, A (vv1—8) is the restoration of the land of Israel. The Yahweh’s conquest
illustrates a construction of restored Israel based on historical and literary
heritage of Israel. However, the portrayal of restored Israel is consistently
eschatological since the future of the tribal allotments realized will extend
greater than they never had been before, and only divine intervention will
secure that condition.
The corresponding unit, A’ (vv11—17) continues with what
Yahweh the warrior will do to achieve the restoration of the people from their
captivity to Zion. The prophet anticipates a population of dispersed Israelites
in need of restoration, whether they stayed out of the Promised Land on their
own accord or by Persian state policy is a moot point. Yahweh the warrior free
them from exiles, an act of deliverance because of the blood of God’s covenant
made with his people at Sinai, sealed by the sprinkling of blood (vv11—12;
cf.Exod 24:7—8). Yahweh will empower Judah and Ephraim to fight as God’s bow
and sword to “triumph over Greece” (v13). Then he will act directly—theophany, an explicit role of Yahweh
the warrior defeating the enemies with “arrow will go forth like lightning;
sound the trumpet; march forth in the whirlwinds” (v14).
But divine presence involves more than military might,
more than rescue and protection (v15a), it also involves the restoration of
fertility and prosperity that the people will have ample to drink and to eat
(v15b, 17), featuring a new creation. The image of Yahweh the shepherd emerges
in bringing back his flock—the people, from wherever they are in exile, to
Jerusalem, so that the nation will be restored with border and people, to the
glory it once enjoyed with abundant fruitfulness (vv16—17). This restoration is
concerned with a social and political resurrection, which would be beyond the
capability of normal human political activity, and only Yahweh can bring it
about. In vv14—15, the description of theophany,
“lightning, trumpets and whirlwinds” obviously is the language of the Exodus in
speaking of the return from exile. Such recollections of the first great
departure from bondage, exodus from Egypt; remind the people just as God won
the victory then, so he’ll win the victory now.
While Yahweh’s military conquest in restoring the land
and people of Israel with Jerusalem safely guarded, the climactic phase, B
(vv9—10) announces the arrival of a Yahweh appointed royal figure, commonly
known as a Messianic King will be enthroned in Jerusalem. He will rule in peace
over the restored land and people as well as all the nations.
The Messianic
King’s Entry into Jerusalem
The prophet announced in v9, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter
Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant
and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a
donkey." And the king himself will announce in v10, “I will take away the
chariots from Epharim and the war-horses from Jerusalem and battle bow will be
broken.” Then followed by the prophet’s description of the king, “He will
proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from river
to the ends of the earth.” The verse 9 points to an eschatological setting
where Yahweh will be intervening in the future to redeem his people with the
installation of an anointed king, in biblical terms most surely a Davidic
descendant. The portrait of the messianic ruler is no doubt modelled in part on
a mysterious figure pictured in Gen 49:10—11. This is a wonderful picture of
accession of the new ruler, imbedded in Near Eastern royal tradition; entering
into Jerusalem, triumphant, yet humble, to bring peace, an end to war to the
whole world, a point alluded to Ps 72:8. It is noteworthy that the context is
one not of warfare, but of peace and political stability, since “he will remove
the chariots and war horses from the land and proclaim peace to the nations (v.10).”
The character of the future Davidic king is also carefully
spelled out:
·
The king is righteous. He is just in conduct and in
character, sinless in deed and perfect in judgment. He would act in a proper
way, a way that Yahweh would favour and that his subjects would respect.
·
The king is endowed with salvation - showing himself as
Saviour.
·
The king is lowly - humble, poor, afflicted, submissive
in poverty and need. So he will in some basic ways be identified with those who
consent to come under his rule. And as king, he will have the resources and
power to rule nations and establish world peace and stability while still
remaining “humble” or submissive in his relationship to the ultimate sovereign,
Yahweh.
This interweaving of war and peace is common to Divine
Warrior literature. It depicts a future righteous king, often associated with a
Davidic figure who is called “prince of peace,” whose reign will witness the
end of military might and violence (cf. Isa 9:6—7); whose rule will stretch to
the ends of the earth (cf. Mic 5:4).
In sum, Zechariah 9 prophesies the deliverance of Yahweh
upon Israel in the end time. He will act to restore Israel to a glory and
abundant fertility beyond that of David and Solomon. However, violence is
involved in Yahweh’s defeating the enemy nations and conversion of some among
the nations, so that Israel’s territory is restored (vv1—8) and its people in
exile are brought back (vv11—17). And such splendour is ushered in by a
Yahweh-appointed righteous king—the Messiah who will rule from Jerusalem,
though the word Messiah does not appear, the entire world in peace, drawing all
nations to himself. And the whole of the creation is to be renewed. God’s
kingdom will be established over the whole earth.
Just think for a moment how this would have sounded to
the inhabitants of Jerusalem at that time. Jerusalem was a sub-province of
Persian Empire, it didn’t have a king. It only had a governor, appointed by
Darius who was King of the whole empire. But Zechariah prophesied that, in a
distant future, Yahweh will actively, and even violently, defeat the enemy
nations to restore Israel’s land and people. And then another Yahweh appointed king—Messiah
is coming, who will in fact reconfigure national boundaries, challenging those
who wield control, including, presumably, Persia. He will be enthroned in
Jerusalem, from which the Messiah will rule a worldwide Jewish empire. This is
obviously a revolutionary and subversive message. As for the Judah community, Zechariah’s
projection of hope for nationalistic restoration would certainly motivate people
to persevere through the prevailing gloomy outlook of postexilic Israel.
From the above reading of Zechariah 9, the issues at
stake are:
·
Are we today still anticipating a Messianic King?
·
Is Jesus Christ the one and only person who rightfully
fulfilled promise of the Messianic King?
·
Are we to take the establishment of the State of Israel
today as full or partial fulfilment of the “restoration of eschatological Israel”?
·
Are we to support “using war to end war” policy as
reflected in the overtones of “war and peace” particularly in maintaining the
interest of Israel State?
·
What is the pressing message for Christians to act on
today?
The literal, direct
fulfilment in Jesus’ death and resurrection
About five hundred years had passed since Zechariah’s
oracle, the NT opens with this remark when Jesus’ ministry is about to begin:
“The time has come…the kingdom of God is near” (Mark 1:14—15). This is to say,
the waiting was over, God’s king had come to establish God’s kingdom. The
salvation promised by the OT prophets has begun; the old age is passing away,
and the new has come (2 Cor 5:17; 2 Cor 6:2; Gal 4:4). It is a literal and direct
prophetic fulfilment as the NT, Matthew21:2—6 and John 12:14—15 confirm that Zechariah
9:9 is fulfilled in Jesus when he rode triumphantly into Jerusalem on Palm
Sunday. Besides, the coming of Jesus Christ is the beginning decisive
fulfilment of all the restoration prophecies of Zechariah 9, whether about the
Messiah, the eschatological restored Israel, unity between Jews and gentiles, defeat
of enemy nations, or new creation.
Obviously Jesus fits the description of prince of peace,
the humble Messiah. He rode on a donkey, and great numbers of people cheered
his coming (Zechariah 9:9). The crowds rejoiced because they only thought of Jesus
would become King of the Jews, destroying Rome’s power, and restoring Israel.
By riding on a donkey, Jesus expresses his willingness to become the king of
Israel, but in more humble terms. His triumphal procession had no relation to
earthly political priorities. “Chariots, war horses, and battle bows will be
cut off (Zec 9:10)”, all of which marks a decisive rejection of a politics of
violence and of the nations’ practice of warfare in order to enlarge their
territories. Jesus is also righteous. He lives a perfect life and lowly as a
suffering servant dies to take the penalty we deserve so that we may receive
the blessings of the covenant through faith in him (Gal 3:13—14). If we have
trusted in Jesus, we can be sure that he has taken our sin and judgment, in
turn given us his perfect righteousness (2 Cor 5:21). The blood of Jesus’ death
introduces the new covenant (Hebrews 9:15) that cleanses us from all sin (1
John 1:7; John 15:3; Tit 2:14; Heb 1:3; 1 John 1:9). Besides, Jesus is the one
to whom the Passover lambs and all the sacrifices of the OT pointed to. His death
constitutes a substitute atonement so that those who trust in the him need no
longer face the wrath of God (1 Per 3:18; Romans 3:21; 1 John 2:2). In this way
sinners are reconciled to God through Christ’ blood, shed on the cross, and
leads to peace (Col 1:19—20), as fulfilment to Zec 9:11 “…because of the blood
of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless
pit.” This reconciliation leads to the restoration of the primeval blessing of
God originally intended for the whole creation and humankind (Rom 5:1).
In sum, the kingdom of God has come because Yahweh’s
king—Jesus has come. At times he does not look much like a king, not least when
he dies in weakness on the cross. But that is the moment of his greatest victory,
when he brings judgement upon and defeats his enemies and sets his people free
(Colossians 2:13—15). It was by his death that Jesus dealt with the problem of
sin, evil and death, and made it possible for man to come back into
relationship with his Father. It is a victory of holy, righteous and creative
lover over the destructive forces of evil. As a perfect viceroy, Jesus
demonstrates his trust in God the Father, through being a righteous sufferer. The
resurrection proved the success of Jesus’ rescue mission on the cross and
announced that there is hope for our world. Beside death and resurrection, Jesus
in his ministry also exhibits victory over the evil one. Jesus as man,
empowered by the Spirit, exercises authority over the demons, then the proper vice
regency of man under God is restored. Jesus did what Adam should have done
which is casting the serpent—evil, unclean force out of the garden.
Jesus Christ
and the Church as the transformed and restored eschatological Israel
Apart from the direct fulfilment of Zechariah 9 in Jesus’
earthly ministry, the NT reveals that the coming of Christ transforms all the
kingdom terms of the OT into gospel reality. On account of this, we are not to
look for fulfilment of Zechariah 9 in the State of Israel and the building of
temple there, but rather in Jesus Christ and the church as the restored
eschatological Israel.
Jesus is the true Israel since he was tempted as the
Israelites were in the wilderness but he did not fall (Matt 4:1—11). Israel
largely failed in its calling to be a light to the nations to draw them to God,
but Jesus did not fail. He fulfilled God’s purpose for Israel by redeeming and
gathering “the lost sheep of Israel” (Matt 15:24). Given the sufficiency of
Christ’ death as a sacrifice, there is now no need to maintain the complex
sacrificial rituals integral to the operation of the tabernacle and Jerusalem
temple as divine abodes. Then after his resurrection, the exalted Christ rules
from heaven (Matt28:18; Acts 2:29—36; 1 Cor 15:27; Eph 1:20—22; 1 Peter 3:22)
through the gathering of a community of followers, repenting of their sin and
acknowledging Christ’s kingship.
Christ’s death is the very inception of the new creation,
which is completed by Christ’s resurrection. And when as the community of
believers are connected to his death and resurrection, they become a new
creation with eternal life initiated. They are not physically descended from
Abraham, rather consists of his spiritual descendants: both Jews and Gentiles,
who follow his example and place their trust in God’s promise fulfilled in
Jesus. Jew and Gentiles are equally co-heirs of God’s covenant promises to
Abraham and David (Gal 3:26; Eph 2:11—22; 3:6; Romans 4:16). From now on the
community of believers have succeeded Christ to be the true Israel, a royal
priesthood (1 Peter 2:9; cf. Exod 19:3—6)) a temple of God without focussing on
the land of Palestine. The coming of the Spirit amidst the disciples at
Pentecost in Acts 2 is best understood as paralleling those occasions in the OT
when God came to fill with his presence the tabernacle and temple. Thus the
kingdom of God is established, since we find God’s people, all the believers
are under God’s rule through Christ, in God’s place, the church.
Christ further charges the community of followers with
the task to extend the boundary to all nations on earth, with the empowerment
of the Spirit but without reference to any geopolitical kingdom on earth. Through
this expansion of the community, Christ is said to have “…dominion will be from
sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth (Zechariah 9:10; cf.
Ps2:2, 7; 72:8).” This is to say the boundaries of the Messiah’s rule will be
widened to cover the whole earth. But this vision of the kingdom has not yet
arrived for us in its fullness. We remain in a world that has not yet been
fully delivered from the influence of evil, demonic power (2 Cor 4:4). The
kingdom will only be consummated after Christ returns. When Christ returns and
there will be a great division and final judgment. And according to 1 Cor
5:12—6:13, the church will participate with Christ in judging the satanic world
system, including the angels. In this way too, the followers of Jesus has
become the true Israel in place of Daniel 7 which expresses a vision of Israel
rules the nations. Revelation 17—20 describe how God will destroy the evil
power at the end of time, and thus make possible for him to create a new world,
completely free from evil (cf. Psalms 72). Daniel anticipates a time when
earthly kingdoms will be replaced by a divine kingdom (Dan 2:1—49; 7:1—28;),
and Zechariah looks forward to a day when “the Lord will be king over all the
earth” (14:9; cf. Psalm 72). By then people of all nations who have accepted
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ will enter that rest, in the presence of
God where all the blessing flows from, tantamount to Eden extending throughout
the whole earth.
In sum, Jesus’ life and ministry have variously fulfilled
Zechariah 9 as shown below:
|
Zechariah
9
|
Fulfilment
in NT
|
|
“the enemies are crushed and Israel land is
restored, and gentiles are assimilated as people of God” (v1—8)
|
Jesus
judged the wicked and defeated Satan by this death and resurrection. Jesus
and the church are identified as the eschatological restored Israel. But when
Jesus returns he will destroy all evil and establish the perfect new creation,
a consummated restored eschatological Israel.
|
|
“Yahweh’s
king is coming, riding on a donkey; he is humble, righteous and having
salvation; He will declare peace to the nations, his rule will extend to the
ends of the earth”(vv9—10)
|
Jesus
is the Messiah, a humble king that rode on a donkey. He was lowly and righteous
all his life. He died and rose again to redeem sinners. Jesus is at heaven today
ruling through the church as it expands over the earth, empowered by the
Spirit. When he returns, all nations will come under his rule—a kingdom of
justice and peace on earth where the Adamic commission is consummated in
Christ, the last Adam.
|
|
“…because
of the blood of my covenant with you…I will free your prisoners…”(v11)
|
By
the blood of Christ, a new covenant is made through which all the sinners are
brought back to God through faith in Christ.
|
|
“An
abundance of fertility of new creation” (vv16--17)
|
Through
Christ’s death and resurrection, the new creation starts and those who have
faith in Christ are joined into this new creation. And this new creation will
be consummated in physical new Eden after Christ’s second coming.
|
For now, we’ll consider some practical implications for
Christians.
·
Since all the prophecies of restoration in Zechariah 9
are fulfilled in Christ, we are not to expect another Messiah to come except
for the second coming of Jesus Christ.
·
We are not to look for the building of the State of Israel
or the Israel Temple. The reason is that Christ and the church have come to be
identified with the beginning fulfilment of the promises relating to end time
Israel’s land and temple.
·
We do not condone “use war to end war” policy
particularly in battling the enemy nations so as to uphold the State of Israel.
·
The pressing message for us today is taking up the Adamic
commission which Christ has already accomplished through his death and resurrection,
which is battling against and defeating the devil with the spreading of the
gospel of Christ’s salvation, so that more sinners are saved and enter into the
kingdom of God.
Fighting a
spiritual warfare to win souls into the kingdom of God
Jesus has often told the disciples how he would leave the
earth and return only after a delay (Matt 24:36—25:46). Now that he has ascended to heaven—the exalted
Christ, commissions the church, empowered by the Spirit, to claim victory which
Christ has already won on the cross, through continuing the battle against the
devil on earth. Our enemies are actually more than social injustice, violence,
ignorance or wicked government that spoils life on earth; it is rather the
power of evil, originating from Satan himself. Yes, now we are to fight a war,
but only through spreading the good news of Jesus ‘salvation to the sinners. This
is a spiritual battle and God has given us armour for protection (Eph 6:12—16)!
In this battle subjugation will not come about by military force but by the
loving power of the gospel. To “subdue his enemies” means to give them the
salvation Jesus has accomplished.
The sinners are the prisoners exiled from God’s presence.
They need to be set free and return to God. How will this come about? It is by the
blood of Jesus Christ as Paul says in Eph 2:13: "But now in Christ Jesus
you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ."
Zechariah says it is by the blood of the covenant that God is bringing his
people of every nation back to him. This is something we all need to hear! We
are all people who have wandered away from God and entangled by sin. We have
wandered from God’s ways, who are scattered, who are distant from God. My need
is to be gathered to God, and your need is for God to gather you and the great
need of those around you, your neighbours and friends, is for God to gather
them to himself, to bring them to have faith in Jesus Christ. We cannot help
but confess as Paul does: “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Cor
9:16)
Our Lord Jesus has deliberately delayed the return so
that more people have a chance to hear the gospel and repent before it is too
late. We must make known the good news of the kingdom everywhere, among all
peoples, and then the end will come (Mtt 24:14). After Christ returns, Satan
and all his allies will be separated from God’s presence in hell. And then
Christ will say to this people, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take
your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world”
(Matt 25:34). This is the ultimate fulfilment of the promise to Abraham, whom
Paul in Romans 4:13 calls “heir of the world” (cf. Heb 11:16). In the past the
nations were divided, but now, through Christ, God is calling together a
multinational family of people, united in the Lord Jesus Christ, entering into
rest with God in the new creation, a New Jerusalem and the new temple, or a new
Eden, as God had originally intended when he first created the world.
Conclusion
Jesus Christ is the one and only Messiah who had come as fulfilment
of Zechariah 9. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus has conquered over
sin and defeated the devil so that we can be saved through him. Besides, Jesus
and the church are the beginning fulfilment of the eschatological restored Israel.
Today we do not look to the building of Israel State or its temple. Consequently,
we do not condone war and violence so as to maintain the interest of Israel
State. As a matter of fact we do not fight against the flesh and blood with
firearms, but against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual
forces of evil in the heavenly realms (2 Cor 10:4; Eph 6:12). We fight this spiritual
warfare by spreading of the gospel of Christ’s salvation with a goal to crush
Satan’s works and release the sinners back to God. Our Lord Jesus deliberately
delays in his return so that we, empowered by the Spirit may win as many lost
souls possible, and God’s rule may prevail over largest coverage possible. Until
after Christ returns, all the promises are consummated with a complete new
creation descended on earth. God has long embarked on a mission to restore the
fallen world back to him but in the mean while, he invites those who have been
redeemed to share in his mission. Let’s take up the mission now!
Beale, G.K. A New Testament Biblical Theology: Unfolding
of the Old Testament in the New. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2011.
