Remember ... #9

 Read Zechariah 9

Background: God had given Zechariah several visions to share to reassure His people that He was going to use them to rebuild Jerusalem, the Temple, and its walls, and that their punishment of the exile for rebelling was completed.  They needed to know God still had a plan for them. Throughout his sharing of those visions, Zechariah also challenged them to not fall back into the same rut of repeated sin their forefathers had lest they ruin the wonderful opportunity God was affording them.  God now reveals that He will be punishing all those surrounding nations and peoples which had arrogantly abused Israel during that time and were now harassing them.  These nations had presumed that they were better than Israel and therefore justified in their cruelty.  

Key Verses: 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.

Thoughts: God now revealed that He was going to do something in the futures that would bring to completion His plan for His people. We recognize the first verse above as being fulfilled by Christ at His triumphal entry, and the promise of Peace that He would bring when both Israel and Judah, the Northern and Southern Kingdoms, would be united.  After these verses He goes on to picture for them the full restoration He would someday bring with all its glory.