Palming Off Old Work for Palm Sunday

Sunday, 13 April 2025

The following is an excerpt from my brief commentary on Zechariah, written deep in the trenches of 2024, when, for many months, finding and defending the truth of this difficult book occupied a sizeable portion of my mental bandwidth.

Dropping Like Flies (v1-8)

The word of Yahweh is against the land of Syria and Damascus (v1), Hamath, Tyre and Zidon (v2, NASB). Tyre may have accumulated boatfuls of doubloons (v3), but it will only weigh her down as she sinks into the sea (v4). The cities of Philistia will also be judged (v5), and ‘a mongrel race’ will dwell in their land (v6). God will cleanse them from their abominable practices, and they will become a remnant for God, as though they were a clan in Judah (v7, NASB). God’s own people, on the other hand, will be protected from the invading army (v8).

Taking a step back, we see a picture of God’s people centred amidst a backdrop of falling nations — to the east (Aram and Syria), to the north (Tyre and Zidon), and to the west (Philistia).

As with many prophecies, there seems to be both a near-term, literalistic fulfilment, and a more spiritually-discerned fulfilment in Christ. For, in the 330s BC, Alexander the Great conquered Damascus, Hamath, Tyre, Zidon, and Philistia, whilst sparing the Jews, just as this chapter predicted.

Yet, as we begin reading the next verse, the description of the coming King reaches well beyond the pride of the one popularly labelled ‘the Great.’

Jesus Christ, the Lowly Conqueror (v9-10)

The king heralded by shouts from God’s people is ‘lowly, and riding upon an ass’ (v9). This was fulfilled in the gospels:

And all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. (Matthew 21:4-5)

We must thank God for these interpretive cornerstones that are provided in the New Testament. They ground us, and prevent us from straying too far from what God intended. In obedience to the above verses, therefore, we ought to drive an immovable stake through Zechariah 9:9, labelled “Fulfilled in Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem in Matthew 21.” Everything we say about the verses before and after must fit around that stake.

The King, we are told, ‘has salvation’ as a possession (v9) — a thing which he will, presumably, distribute to whoever he wills. This is the cause for rejoicing. 

When he comes, God’s people will no longer use war chariots, or war horses, for they will employ a new method of conquering: ‘speak peace unto the heathen’ (v10)! As Isaiah 42 points out, Christ will continue to speak peace unto the heathen until all the world comes under his dominion (Isa 42:4), a thing which Zechariah also predicts:

…and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth. (Zechariah 9:10)

This is why, less than a week after Palm Sunday, Christ would reprove Peter for taking up the sword (Jn 18:10-11), yet he would knock soldiers to the ground with a peaceful word — something like a librarian with a megaphone in a room full of toddlers (Jn 18:4-6). His speech truly is powerful, and it really will conquer the world.

The Victorious Prisoners (v11-17)

As Zechariah’s prophecy continues, he illustrates exactly how the victory of v10 will be achieved. He has already excluded physical, military prowess; and he has indicated that ‘speech’ will be the medium of success. But from whose lips will that speech come?

The blood of the covenant will raise up an army of prisoners (v11, cp Heb 2:15), who have The Hope (v12, NASB). God will use them as his bow and arrow to deliver the gospel to the nations (v13). They will march forth obediently at the sound of the trumpet (v14, cp Matt 24:31). Like David, their strength will be derived from God, who will guide their ‘sling stones’ to the respective heads of many Goliaths (v15). In the day they go faithfully forth to this spiritual warfare — whether that be 30 AD, 300 AD, 3000 AD, or all of the above — God will save them, and give them the victory (v16). 

The prophecy concludes with a kind of awestruck sigh, in an expression of praise for God’s goodness, beauty, and blessings (v17). It is as if the prophet throws up his hands and says, ”Can you believe this? Isn't this amazing?”. And from our own standpoint, two thousand years down the track, we can answer: it certainly is.