1Ortel: Slovo Hospodinovo jde proti zemi Chadraku a spočine až v Damašku. (Vždyť k Hospodinu hledí všichni lidé i všechny kmeny Izraele!) 2Přijde i k Chamátu při jeho hranicích i k Týru a Sidonu, ač jsou tak prohnaní: 3Týr už se opevnil jako monastýr, stříbra nakupil jak prachu hromady a zlata jak bláta v ulicích. 4Hle! Panovník ho však vyžene, jeho hradby strhne do moře a město zmizí v plamenech! 5Spatří to Aškelon, zděsí se, Gaza se strachy roztřese a Ekron zklame jeho naděje. Gaza pak přijde o krále, Aškelon bude vylidněn, 6v Ašdodu budou bydlet bastardi a s pýchou Filištínů skoncuji: 7Vyrvu jim krvavé sousto z úst, ohavný pokrm ze zubů! Kdo z nich zůstanou, připadnou našemu Bohu a stanou se jedním z judských rodů; Ekron pak čeká osud Jebusejců. 8Utábořím se při svém domě jako stráž proti těm, kdo by jej chtěli napadat. Po mém lidu už nebude šlapat tyran – teď už z nich nespustím svůj zrak! 9Jásej vesele, Dcero sionská, dej se do zpěvu, Dcero jeruzalémská! Hle, tvůj král k tobě přichází, spravedlivý a vítězný; pokorný, sedící na oslu, na oslíku, osličím hříbátku. 10Odstraní vozy z Efraima i koně z Jeruzaléma, válečné luky odstraní, národům řekne: Mír! Od moře k moři bude panovat, od řeky Eufrat po světa kraj. 11Pro krev mé smlouvy s tebou propustím tvé vězně z jámy bez vody. 12Zpátky do bezpečí! Vězňové, máte naději! Dnes oznamuji: Všechno ti dvakrát nahradím! 13Já napnu Judu jako luk, Efraima vložím na tětivu a tvými syny, Sione, se proti Řekům oženu – budeš mi mečem hrdinů! 14Hospodin se zjeví nad nimi a jako blesk vyrazí jeho šíp. Panovník Hospodin zatroubí na polnici a vyrazí v jižní vichřici. 15Hospodin zástupů jim bude záštitou, takže kamení z praku podupou. Budou jíst a pít a hlučet jak po víně, budou plní jak miska ke skrápění rohů oltáře. 16Hospodin, jejich Bůh, zachrání v onen den svůj lid jak stádo ovcí. Jak drahokamy v čelence pak zazáří v jeho zemi. 17Jaká krása! Jaká nádhera! Mládenci jako klasy plní sil, panny jak víno kypící!
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary 1 After the precious promises we had in the foregoing chapter of favour to God's people, their persecutors, who hated them, come to be reckoned with, those particularly that bordered close upon them.
I. The Syrians had been bad neighbours to Israel, and God had a controversy with them. The word of the Lord shall be a
burden in the land of Hadrach, that is, of
Syria, but it does not appear why it was so called. That that kingdom is meant is plain, because Damascus, the metropolis of that kingdom, is said to be the
rest of this burden; that is, the judgments here threatened shall light and lie upon that city. Those are miserable upon whom the burden of the word of the Lord rests, upon whom
the wrath of God abides (
John 3:36); for it is a weight that they can neither shake off nor bear up under. There are those whom God
causes his fury to rest upon. Those whom the wrath of God makes its mark it will be sure to hit; those whom it makes its rest it will be sure to sink. And the reason of this burden's resting on Damascus is because
the eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel (or rather,
even of all the tribes of Israel ), are
towards the Lord, because the people of God by faith and prayer look up to him for succour and relief and depend upon him to take their part against their enemies. Note, It is a sign that God is about to appear remarkably for his people when he raises their believing expectations from him and dependence upon him, and when by his grace he turns them from idols to himself.
Isa 17:7,
Isa 17:8,
At that day shall a man look to his Maker. It may be read thus,
for the Lord has an eye upon man, and upon all the tribes of Israel; he is King of nations as well as King of saints; he governs the world as well as the church, and therefore will punish the sins of other people as well as those of his own people. God is
Judge of all, and therefore all must give account of themselves to him. When St. Paul was converted at Damascus, and preached there, and disputed with the Jews, then the word of the Lord might be said to rest there, and then
the eyes of men, of other men besides
the tribes of Israel, began to be
towards the Lord; see
Acts 9:22. Hamath, a country which lay north of Damascus, and which we often read of,
shall border thereby (
Zech 9:2); it joins to Syria, and shall share in the
burden of the word of the Lord that rests upon Damascus. The Jews have a proverb,
Woe to the wicked man, and woe to his neighbour, who is in danger of partaking in his sins and in his plagues. Woe to
the land of Hadrach, and woe to
Hamath that borders thereby. II. Tyre and Zidon come next to be called to an account here, as in other prophecies,
Zech 9:2-
Zech 9:4. Observe here,
1. Tyrus flourishing, thinking herself very safe, and ready to set God's judgments, not only at a distance, but at defiance: for, (1.) She is
very wise. It is spoken ironically; she thinks herself very wise, and able to outwit even the wisdom of God. It is granted that her king is a great politician, and that her statesmen are so,
Ezek 28:3. But with all their wit and policy they shall not be able to evade the judgments of God when they come with commission; there is no
wisdom nor
counsel against the Lord; nay, it is his honour to take the wise in their own craftiness. (2.) She is very strong, and well fortified both by nature and art:
Tyrus did build herself a strong-hold, which she thought could never be brought down nor got over. (3.) She is very rich; and
money is a defence; it is the sinews of war,
Qoh 7:12. By her vast trade she has
heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets, that is, she has an abundance of them, heaps of silver as common as heaps of sand,
Job 27:16. Solomon made silver to be in Jerusalem as the
stones of the streets; but Tyre went further, and made
fine gold to be as
the mire of the streets. It were well if we could all learn so to look upon it, in comparison with the merchandise of wisdom and grace and the gains thereof.
2. Tyrus falling, after all. Her wisdom, and wealth, and strength, shall not be able to secure her (
Zech 9:4):
The Lord will cast her out of that strong-hold wherein she has fortified herself, will
make her poor (so some read it); there have been instances of those that have fallen from the height of plenty to the depth of poverty, and great riches have come to nothing. God will
smite her power in the sea; her being surrounded by the water shall not secure her, but
she shall be devoured with fire, and burnt down to the ground. Tyrus, being seated in the midst of the water, was, one would have thought, in danger of being some time or other overflowed or washed away by that; yet God chooses to destroy it by the contrary element. Sometimes he brings ruin upon his enemies by those means which they least suspect. Water enough was nigh at hand to quench the flames of Tyre, and yet by them she shall be devoured; for who can put out the fire which the breath of the Almighty blows up?
III. God next contends with the Philistines, with their great cities and great lords, that bordered southward upon Israel.
1. They shall be alarmed and affrighted by the word of the Lord lighting and resting upon Damascus (
Zech 9:5); the disgraces of Israel had many a time been
published in the streets of Ashkelon, and they had triumphed in them; but now
Ashkelon shall see the ruin of her friends and allies, and shall
fear; Gaza also shall see it, and be very sorrowful, and Ekron, concluding that their own turns come next, now that the cup of trembling goes round. What will become of their house when their neighbour's is on fire? They had looked upon Tyre and Zidon as a barrier to their country; but, when those strong cities were ruined, their
expectations from them
were ashamed, as our expectation from all creatures will be in the issue.
2. They shall themselves be ruined and wasted. (1.) The government shall be dissolved:
The king shall perish from Gaza, not only the present king shall be cut off, but there shall be no succession, no successor, (2.) The cities shall be dispeopled:
Ashkelon shall not be inhabited; the rightful owners shall be expelled, either slain or carried into captivity. (3.) Foreigners shall take possession of their land and become masters of all its wealth (
Zech 9:6):
A bastard shall dwell in Ashdod; a spurious brood of strangers shall enter upon the inheritances of the natives, which they have no more right to than a bastard has to the estates of the legitimate children. And thus God will
cut off the pride of the Philistines, all the strength and wealth which they prided themselves in, and which were the ground of their confidence in themselves and their contempt of the Israel of God. This prophecy of the destruction of the Philistines, and of Damascus, and Tyre, was accomplished, not long after this, by Alexander the Great, who ravaged all these countries with his victorious army, took the cities, and planted colonies in them, which Quintus Curtius gives a particular account of in the history of his conquests. And some think he is meant by the bastard that shall dwell in Ashdod, for his mother Olympia owned him begotten in adultery, but pretended it was by Jupiter. The Jews afterwards got ground of the Philistines, Syrians, and others of their neighbours, took some of their cities from them and possessed their countries, as appears by the histories of Josephus and the Maccabees, and this was foretold before,
Zeph 2:4, etc.;
Obad 1:20.
3. Some among them shall be converted, and brought home to God, by his gospel and grace; so some understand
Zech 9:7, as a promise, (1.) That God would take away the sins of these nations -
their blood and
their abominations, their cruelties and their idolatries. God will part between them and these sins which they have rolled under their tongue as a sweet morsel, and are as loth to part with as men are to part with the meat out of their mouths, and which they hold fast between their teeth. Nothing is too hard for the grace of God to do. (2.) That he would accept of a remnant of them for his own:
He that remains shall be for our God. God would preserve a remnant even of these nations, that should be the monuments of his mercy and grace and be set apart for him; and the disadvantages of their birth shall be no bar to their acceptance with God, but a Philistine shall be as acceptable to God, upon gospel-terms, as one of Judah, nay, as a governor, or chief one, in Judah, and a man of Ekron shall be as a Jebusite, or a man of Jerusalem, as a proselyted Jebusite, as Araunah the Jebusite,
2Sam 24:16. In Christ Jesus there is no distinction of nations, but all are one in him, all alike welcome to him.
IV. In all this God intends mercy for Israel, and it is in kindness to them that God will deal thus with the neighbouring nations, to avenge their quarrel for what is past and to secure them for the future.
1. Thus some understand the seventh verse, as intimating, (1.) That thus God would deliver his people from their bloody adversaries, who hated them, and to whom they were an abomination, when they were just ready to devour them and make a prey of them: I will
take away his blood (that is, the blood of Israel) out of the mouth of the Philistines and
from between their teeth (
Amos 3:12), when, in their hatred of them and enmity to them, they were greedily devouring them. (2.) That lie would thus give them victory and dominion over them: And
he that remains (that is, the remnant of Israel)
shall be for our God, shall be taken into his favour, shall own him and be owned by him, and
he shall be as a governor in Judah; though the Jews have been long in servitude, they shall recover their ancient dignity, and be victorious, as David and other governors in Judah formerly were; and Ekron (that is, the Philistines) shall be as the Jebusites, and the rest of the devoted nations, who were brought into subjection under them.
2. However, this is plainly the sense of
Zech 9:8, that God will take his people under his special protection, and
therefore will weaken their neighbours, that it may not be in their power to do them a mischief:
I will encamp about my house because of the army. Note, God's house lies in the midst of an enemy's country, and his church is as a lily among thorns; and therefore God's power and goodness are to be observed in the special preservation of it. The
camp of the saints, being a little flock in comparison with the numerous armies of the powers of darkness that are set against it round about, would certainly be swallowed up if the angels of God did not encamp about it, as they did about Elisha, to deliver it,
Revel 20:9;
Pss 34:7. When the times are unusually perilous, when armies are marching and counter-marching, and all bearing ill-will to Zion, then Providence will as it were double its guards upon the church of God,
because of him that passes by and because of him that returns, that whether he return a conqueror or conquered he may do it no harm. And, as none that pass by shall hurt them, so
no oppressor shall pass through them any more; they shall have no enemy within themselves to rule them with rigour, and
to make their lives bitter to them
with sore bondage, as of old in Egypt. This was fulfilled when, for some time after the struggles of the Maccabees, Judea was a free and flourishing state, or perhaps when Alexander the Great, struck with an awe of Jaddus the high priest, favoured the Jews, and took them under his protection, at the same time when he wasted the neighbouring countries. And the reason given for all this is,
For now have I seen with my eyes, now have I carefully distinguished between my people and other people, with whom before they seemed to have their lot in common, and have made it to appear that I know those that are mine, This agrees with
Pss 34:15,
The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous; now his eyes, which
run to and fro through the earth, shall fix upon them, that he may show himself tender of them, and
strong on their behalf, 2Chr 16:9.
9 That here begins a prophecy of the Messiah and his kingdom is plain from the literal accomplishment of the ninth verse in, and its express application to, Christ's riding in triumph into
Jerusalem, Matt 21:5;
John 12:15.
I. Here is notice given of the approach of the Messiah promised, as matter of great joy to the Old Testament church:
Behold, thy king cometh unto thee. Christ is a king, invested with regal powers and prerogatives, a sovereign prince, an absolute monarch, having all power both in heaven and on earth. He is Zion's king. God has
set him upon his holy hill of Zion, Pss 2:6. In Zion his glory as a king shines; thence
his law went forth, even the
word of the Lord. In the gospel-church his spiritual kingdom is administered; it is by him that the ordinances of the church are instituted, and its officers commissioned; and it is taken under his protection; he fights the church's battles and secures its interests, as its king. This King has been long in coming, but now,
behold, he cometh; he is at the door. There are but a few ages more to run out, and he that shall come will come. He
cometh unto thee; the Word will shortly be made flesh, and dwell within thy borders; he will
come to his own. And therefore
rejoice, rejoice
greatly, and
shout for joy; look upon it as
good news, and be assured it is true; please thyself to think that he is coming, that he is on his way towards thee; and be ready to go forth to meet him with acclamations of joy, as one not able to conceal it, it is so great, nor ashamed to own it, it is so just; cry
Hosanna to him. Christ's approaches ought to be the church's applauses.
II. Here is such a description of him as renders him very amiable in the eyes of all his loving subjects, and his coming to them very acceptable. 1. He is a righteous ruler; all his acts of government will be exactly according to the rules of equity, for
he is just. 2. He is a powerful protector to all those that bear faith and true allegiance to him, for he
has salvation; he has it in his power; he has it to bestow upon all his subjects. He is the
God of salvation; treasures of salvation are in him. He is
servatus -
saving himself (so some read it), rising out of the grave by his own power and so qualifying himself to be our Saviour. (3.) He is a
meek, humble, tender Father to all his subjects as his children; he is
lowly; he is
poor and
afflicted (so the word signifies), so it denotes the meanness of his condition; having
emptied himself, he was
despised and rejected of men. But the evangelist translates it so as to express the temper of his spirit: he is
meek, not taking state upon him, nor resenting injuries, but
humbling himself from first to last, condescending to the mean, compassionate to the miserable; this was a bright and excellent character of him as a prophet (
Matt 11:29,
Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart ), and no less so
as a king. It was a proof of this that, when he made his public entry into his own city (and it was the only passage of his life that had any thing in it magnificent in the eye of the world), he chose to ride, not upon a stately horse, or in a chariot, as great men used to ride, but
upon an ass, a beast of service indeed, but a poor silly and contemptible one, low and slow, and in those days ridden only by the meaner sort of people; nor was it an ass fitted for use, but an
ass's colt, a little foolish unmanageable thing, that would be more likely to disgrace his rider than be any credit to him; and that not his own neither, nor helped off, as sometimes a sorry horse is, by good furniture, for he had no saddle, no housings, no trappings, no equipage, but his disciples' clothes thrown upon the colt;' for he
made himself of no reputation when he visited us in great humility.
III. His kingdom is here set forth in the glory of it. This king has, and will have, a kingdom, not of this world, but a spiritual kingdom, a
kingdom of heaven. 1. It shall not be set up and advanced by external force, by an arm of flesh or carnal weapons of warfare. No; he
will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horses from Jerusalem (
Zech 9:10), for he shall have no occasion for them while he himself rides upon an ass. He will, in kindness to his people, cut off their horses and chariots, that they may not cut themselves off from God by putting that confidence in them which they should put in the power of God only. He will himself undertake their protection, will himself be
a wall of fire about Jerusalem and give his angels charge concerning it (those
chariots of fire and horses of fire ), and then the chariots and horses they had in their service shall be discarded and cut off as altogether needless. 2. It shall be propagated and established by the preaching of the gospel, the
speaking of peace to the heathen; for Christ
came and preached peace to those that were afar off and to those that were nigh; and so established his kingdom by proclaiming
on earth peace, and
good-will towards men. 3. His kingdom, as far as it prevails in the minds of men and has the ascendant over them, will make them peaceable, and slay all enmities; it will cut off the battle-bow, and
beat swords into plough-shares. It will not only command the peace, but will
create the fruit of the lips, peace. 4. It shall extend itself to all parts of the world, in defiance of the opposition given to it. The chariot and horse that come against Ephraim and Jerusalem, to oppose the progress of Zion's King, shall be cut off; his gospel shall be preached to the world, and be received among the heathen, so that
his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth, as was foretold by David,
Pss 72:8. The preachers of the gospel shall carry it from one country, one island, to another, till some of the remotest corners of the world are enlightened and reduced by it.
IV. Here is an account of the great benefit procured for mankind by the Messiah, which is redemption from extreme misery, typified by the deliverance of the Jews out of their captivity in Babylon (
Zech 9:11):
As for thee also (thee, O daughter of Jerusalem! or thee, O Messiah the Prince!)
by the blood of thy covenant, by force and virtue of the covenant made with Abraham, sealed with the blood of circumcision, and the covenant made with Israel at Mount Sinai, sealed with the blood of sacrifices, in pursuance and performance of that covenant,
I have now of late
sent forth thy prisoners, thy captives out of Babylon, which was to them a most uncomfortable place, as
a pit in which was
no water. It was part of the covenant that, if in the land of their captivity, they sought the Lord, he would be found of them,
Lev 26:42,
Lev 26:44,
Lev 26:45;
Deut 30:4. It was
by the blood of that covenant, typifying the blood of Christ, in whom all God's covenants with man are yea and amen, that they were released out of captivity; and this was but a shadow of the great salvation wrought out by
thy King, O daughter of Zion! Note, A sinful state is a state of bondage; it is a spiritual prison; it is a pit, or a dungeon, in which
there is no water, no comfort at all to be had. We are all by nature prisoners in this pit; the
scripture has concluded us all
under sin, and bound us over to the justice of God. God is pleased to deal upon new terms with these prisoners, to enter into another covenant with them; the blood of Christ is the blood of that covenant, purchased it for us and all the benefits of it; by that blood of the covenant effectual provision is made for the sending forth of these prisoners upon easy and honourable terms, and proclamation made of
liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those that were bound, like Cyrus's proclamation to the Jews in Babylon, which all those whose spirits God stirs up will come and take the benefit of.
12 The prophet, having taught those that had returned out of captivity to attribute their deliverance to the
blood of the covenant and to the promise of the Messiah (for they were so wonderfully helped because that blessing was in them, was yet in the womb of their nation), now comes to encourage them with the prospect of a joyful and happy settlement, and of glorious times before them; and such a happiness they did enjoy, in a great measure, for some time; but these promises have their full accomplishment in the spiritual blessings of the gospel which we enjoy by Jesus Christ.
I. They are invited to look unto Christ, and flee unto him as their city of refuge (
Zech 9:12):
Turn you to the strong-hold, you prisoners of hope. The Jews that had returned out of captivity into their own land were yet, in effect, but
prisoners (
We are servants this day, Neh 9:36), yet
prisoners of hope, or
expectation, for God had given them a
little reviving in their bondage, Ezra 9:8,
Ezra 9:9. Those that yet continued in Babylon, detained by their affairs there, yet lived in hope some time or other to see their own land again. Now both these are directed to turn their eyes upon the Messiah, set before them in the promise as their strong-hold, to shelter themselves in him, and stay themselves upon him, for the perfecting of the mercy which by his grace, and for his sake, was so gloriously begun.
Look unto him, and be you saved, Isa 45:22. The promise of the Messiah was the strong-hold of the faithful long before his coming; they saw his day at a distance and were glad, and the believing expectation of the
redemption in Jerusalem was long the support and
consolation of Israel, Luke 2:25,
Luke 2:38. They, in their dangers and distresses, were ready to turn towards this and the other creature for relief; but the prophets directed them still to turn to Christ, and to comfort themselves with the joy of their king coming to them with salvation. But, as their deliverance was typical of our redemption by Christ (
Zech 9:11), so this invitation to the strong-hold speaks the language of the gospel-call. Sinners are prisoners, but they are prisoners of hope; their case is sad, but it is not desperate; yet now there is hope in Israel concerning them. Christ is a strong-hold for them, a strong tower, in whom they may be safe and quiet from the fear of the wrath of God, the curse of the law, and the assaults of their spiritual enemies. To him they must turn by a lively faith; to him they must flee, and trust in his name.
II. They are assured of God's favour to them:
Even to day do I declare, when things are at the worst, and you think your case deplorable to the last degree, yet I solemnly promise that
I will render double unto thee, to thee, O Jerusalem! to every one of you prisoners of hope. I will give you comforts double to the sorrows you have experienced, or blessings double to what I ever bestowed upon your fathers, when their condition was at the best; the glory of your latter state, as well as of your latter house, shall be greater, shall be twice as great as that of your former. And so it was no otherwise than by the coming of the Messiah, the preaching of his gospel, and the setting up of his kingdom; these spiritual blessings in heavenly things were double to what they had ever enjoyed in their most prosperous state. As a pledge of this, in the fulness of time God here promises to the Jews victory, plenty, and joy, in their own land, which yet should be but a type and shadow of more glorious victories, riches, and joys, in the kingdom of Christ.
1. They shall triumph over their enemies. The Jews, after their return, were surrounded with enemies on all sides. They were
as a speckled bird; all the birds of the field were against them. Their land lay between the two potent kingdoms of Syria and Egypt, branches of the Grecian monarchy, and what frequent dangers they should be in between them was foretold, Dan. 11. But it is here promised that out of them all the Lord would deliver them; and this promise had its primary accomplishment in the times of the Maccabees, when the Jews made head against their enemies, kept their head above water, and, after many struggles and difficulties, came to be head over them. It is promised, (1.) That they shall be instruments in God's hand for the defeating and baffling of their persecutors:
I have bent Judah for me, as my bow of steel; that
bow I have filled with Ephraim as my arrows, have drawn it up to its full bent, till the arrow be at the head; for some think that this is signified by the phrase of
filling the bow. The expressions here are very fine, and the figures lively. Judah had been
taught the use of the bow (
2Sam 1:18), and Ephraim had been famous for it,
Pss 78:9. But let them not think that they gain their successes by their own bow, for they themselves are no more than God's bow and his arrows, tools in his hands, which he makes use of and manages as he pleases, which he holds as his bow and directs to the mark as his arrows. The best and bravest of men are but what God makes them, and do no more service than he enables them to do. The preachers of the gospel were the bow in Christ's hand, with which he went forth, he went on,
conquering and to conquer, Revel 6:2. The following words explain this:
I have raised up and animated
thy sons, O Zion! against thy sons, O Greece! This was fulfilled when
against Antiochus, one of the kings of the Grecian monarchy, the people that knew their God were
strong and
did exploits, Dan 11:32. And they in the hand of an almighty God were made
as the sword of a mighty man, which none can stand before. Wicked men are said to be God's sword (
Pss 17:13), and sometimes good men are made so; for he employs both as he pleases. (2.) That God will be captain, and commander-in-chief, over them, in every expedition and engagement (
Zech 9:14):
The Lord shall be seen over them; he shall make it appear that he presides in their affairs, and that in all their motions they are under his direction, as apparently, though not as sensibly, as he was
seen over Israel in the pillar of cloud and fire when he led them through the wilderness. [1.] Is their army to be raised, or mustered, and brought into the field?
The Lord shall blow the trumpet, to gather the forces together, to proclaim the war, to sound the alarm, and to give directions which way to march, which way to move; for, if God blow the trumpet, it shall not give an uncertain sound, nor a feeble ineffectual one. [2.] Is the army taking the field, and entering upon action? Whatever enterprise the campaign is opened with, God shall go forth at the head of their forces,
with whirlwinds of the south, which were of incredible swiftness and fierceness; and before these whirlwinds thy sons, O Greece! shall be as chaff. [3.] Is the army actually engaged? God's
arrows shall go forth as lightning, so strongly, so suddenly, so irresistibly; his
lightnings shall go forth
as arrows and
scattered them, that is, he
shot out his lightnings and discomfited them. This alludes to that which God had done for Israel of old when he brought them out of Egypt, and into Canaan, and had its accomplishment partly in the wonderful successes which the Jews had against their neighbours that attacked them in the time of the Maccabees, by the special appearances of the divine Providence for them, and perfectly in the glorious victories gained by the cross of Christ and the preaching of the cross over Satan and all the powers of darkness, whereby we are made more than conquerors. [4.] Are they in danger of being overpowered by the enemy?
The Lord of hosts shall defend them (
Zech 9:15);
The Lord their God shall save them (
Zech 9:16); so that their enemies shall not prevail over them, nor prey upon them. God shall be unto them for defence as well as offence,
the shield of their help as well as
the sword of their excellency, and this as
the Lord of hosts, who has power to defend them, and as
their God, who is engaged by promise to defend them, and by the property he has in them. He shall save them in
that day, that critical dangerous day,
as the flock of his people, with the same care and tenderness that the shepherd protects his sheep with. Those are safe whom God saves. [5.] Did their enemies hope to swallow them up? It shall be turned upon them, and they shall
devour their enemies, and shall
subdue with sling-stones, for want of better weapons, those that come forth against them. The
stones of the brook, when God pleases, shall do as great execution as the best train of artillery; for the
stars in their courses shall fight on the same side. Goliath was subdued with a sling-stone. Having subdued, they shall
devour, shall drink the blood of their enemies, as it were, and, as conquerors are wont to do, they shall
make a noise as through wine. It is usual for conquerors with loud huzzas and acclamations to glory in their victories and proclaim them. We read of those that
shout for mastery, and of the
shout of a king among God's people. They shall be filled with blood and spoil, as the bowls and basins of the temple, or the
corners of the altar, were wont to be filled with the blood of the sacrifices; for their enemies shall fall as victims to divine justice.
2. They shall triumph in their God. They shall take the comfort and give God the glory of their successes. So some read
Zech 9:15.
They shall eat (that is, they shall quietly enjoy) what they have got; God will give them power to eat it
after they have subdued the sling-stones (that is, their enemies that slung stones at them), and
they shall drink and make a noise, a joyful noise, before the Lord their maker and protector,
as through wine, as men are merry at a banquet of wine.
Being not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but
filled with the Spirit, they shall
speak to themselves and one another
in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, as those that are drunk do with vain and foolish songs,
Ephes 5:18,
Ephes 5:19. And, in the fulness of their joy, they shall offer abundance of sacrifices to the honour of God, so that
they shall fill both the bowls and the corners of the altar with the fat and blood of their sacrifices. And, when they thus triumph in their successes, their joy shall terminate in God as their God, the God of their salvation. They shall triumph, (1.) In the love he has for them, and the relation wherein they stand to him, that they are
the flock of his people and he is their Shepherd, and that they are to him
as the stones of a crown, which are very precious and of great value, and which are kept under a strong guard. Never was any king so pleased with the jewels of his crown as God is, and will be, with his people, who are near and dear unto him, and in whom he glories. They are a
crown of glory and a
royal diadem in his hand,
Isa 62:2,
Isa 62:3. And
they shall be mine, saith the Lord, in that day when I make up my jewels, Mal 3:17. And
they shall be lifted up as an ensign upon his land, as the royal standard is displayed in token of triumph and joy. God's people are his glory; so he is pleased to make them, so he is pleased to reckon them. He sets them up as a banner upon his own land, waging war against those who hate him, to whom it is a flag of defiance, while it is a centre of unity to all that love him, to all the children of God, that are scattered abroad, who are invited to come and enlist themselves under this banner,
Isa 11:10,
Isa 11:12. (2.) In the provision he makes for them,
Zech 9:15. This is the matter of their triumph (
Zech 9:17):
For how great is his goodness and how great is his beauty! This is the substance, this the burden, of the songs wherewith they shall
make a noise before the Lord. We are here taught, [1.] To admire and praise the amiableness of God's being:
How great is his beauty! All the perfections of God's nature conspire to make him infinitely lovely in the eyes of all that know him. They are to him as the
stones of a crown; but what is he to them? Our business in the temple is to
behold the beauty of the Lord (
Pss 27:4), and
how great is that beauty! How far does it transcend all other beauties, particularly the
beauty of his holiness. This may refer to the Messiah, to Zion's
King that
cometh. See
that king in his beauty (
Isa 33:17), who is
fairer than the children of men, the
fairest of ten thousand, and
altogether lovely. Though, in the eye of the world, he had no form or comeliness, in the eye of faith how great is his beauty! [2.] To admire and give thanks for the gifts of God's favour and grace, his bounty as well as his beauty; for
how great is his goodness! How rich in mercy is he! How deep, how full, are its springs! How various, how plenteous, how precious, are its streams! What a great deal of good does God do! How rich in mercy is he! Here is an instance of his goodness to his people:
Corn shall make the young men cheerful and new wine the maids; that is, God will bless his people with an abundance of the fruits of the earth. Whereas they had been afflicted with scarcity to such a degree that the
young men and the
maidens were ready to swoon and faint away for hunger and thirst (
Lam 2:12,
Lam 2:21;
Lam 4:7,
Lam 4:8;
Lam 5:10), now they shall have bread enough and to spare, not water only, but
wine, new wine, which shall make the young people grow and be cheerful, and (which some have observed to be the effect of plenty and the cheapness of corn) the poor will be encouraged to marry, and re-people the land, when they shall have wherewithal to maintain their families. Note, What good gifts God bestows upon us we must serve him cheerfully with, and must race the streams up to the fountain, and, when we are refreshed with corn and wine, must say,
How great is his goodness!
