Zechariah 9: Prisoner of Hope

​Key Verse
12 Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double.
 
Meditation
God’s sovereign grace frees believers to be prisoners of hope. The King promises to return, to be present with His people, and restore His creation.
 
In today’s reading, the prophet reveals what God’s return will look like: Victory over enemies and recovery of the land (vv. 1-8), establishment of God’s universal rule (vv. 9-10), and the restoration of God’s people (vv. 11-17). God’s return transforms ruin to resurrection.
 
The return of the king will be in “humility” (v. 9; the same word translated as “affliction” in Isaiah 53:4, 7). From this humble return, the king’s rule will extend to the entire earth (v. 10). The imagery reaches back (Genesis 49:10-11; Psalm 72:8) and points forward to Jesus. Just as Jesus’ first coming included the physical fulfillment of this prophecy on Palm Sunday, the humility before the affliction of the cross, so too His resurrection from the grave and His promised second coming ensures the King’s rule of all things (Revelation 21-22).
 
The surety of these prophecies makes believers “prisoners of hope” (v. 10). The “double portion” (v. 12) is exemplified in the stories of Joseph and Job (Genesis 48:22; Job 42:10),  prophesied by Isaiah (Isaiah 61:1-7), and promised again for all who belong to Him. The Lord will redeem all He allows!
 
The victory of Christ over the grave guarantees God’s victory for all who believe. The Lord will save His flock (v. 16) and we will proclaim the goodness and beauty of God’s grace (v. 17).  God’s eternal plans offer present power, a foundation of hope for hearts weary from hard times.
 
Today’s Reading
The oracle of the word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrach
    and Damascus is its resting place.
For the Lord has an eye on mankind
    and on all the tribes of Israel,
2 and on Hamath also, which borders on it,
    Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.
3 Tyre has built herself a rampart
    and heaped up silver like dust,
    and fine gold like the mud of the streets.
4 But behold, the Lord will strip her of her possessions
    and strike down her power on the sea,
    and she shall be devoured by fire.
5 Ashkelon shall see it, and be afraid;
    Gaza too, and shall writhe in anguish;
    Ekron also, because its hopes are confounded.

The king shall perish from Gaza;
    Ashkelon shall be uninhabited;
6 a mixed people shall dwell in Ashdod,
    and I will cut off the pride of Philistia.
7 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.
8 Then I will encamp at my house as a guard,
    so that none shall march to and fro;
no oppressor shall again march over them,
    for now I see with my own eyes.

The Coming King of Zion
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
    Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
    righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
    and the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
    and he shall speak peace to the nations;
his rule shall be from sea to sea,
    and from the River to the ends of the earth.
11 As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
    I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
12 Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;
    today I declare that I will restore to you double.
13 For I have bent Judah as my bow;
    I have made Ephraim its arrow.
I will stir up your sons, O Zion,
    against your sons, O Greece,
    and wield you like a warrior's sword.

The Lord Will Save His People
14 Then the Lord will appear over them,
    and his arrow will go forth like lightning;
the Lord God will sound the trumpet
    and will march forth in the whirlwinds of the south.
15 The Lord of hosts will protect them,
    and they shall devour, and tread down the sling stones,
and they shall drink and roar as if drunk with wine,
    and be full like a bowl,
    drenched like the corners of the altar.
16 On that day the Lord their God will save them,
    as the flock of his people;
for like the jewels of a crown
    they shall shine on his land.
17 For how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty!
    Grain shall make the young men flourish,
    and new wine the young women.
 
Richly Dwelling
-What stands out to you from the imagery used to describe the return of the Lord?
 
-Are you a prisoner of hope, living with concrete confidence in the promises of God? OR are you captured by the problems of our world?
 
-Where can you allow the past faithfulness of God seen in the finished work of Jesus feed and fuel your faith, the hope in your heart, as you receive the double blessing of the Lord’s promised restoration? Be specific.
 
Key Verse
12 Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double.