Zechariah 9:9 - Meaning and Application

This verse clearly begins a prophecy about the Messiah and his kingdom. That is plain from its literal fulfillment in Jesus Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, as Matthew and John both apply it to him (Matthew 21:5; John 12:15).

Here is the joyful news first given to the Old Testament church: “Your king is coming to you.” Christ is a king, with royal power and authority. He is a sovereign ruler, with all power in heaven and on earth. He is Zion’s king. God has set him on his holy hill of Zion (Psalm 2:6). In Zion his kingly glory shines, and from there his law goes out, the word of the Lord. In the gospel church, his spiritual kingdom is carried out. He appoints the church’s ordinances, commissions its officers, protects his people, fights their battles, and guards their interests as their king.

“This King has been long in coming, but now, behold, he is coming. He is at the door. A few more ages will pass, and he who is to come will come. He is coming to you. The Word will soon become flesh and live among you. He will come to his own. So rejoice, rejoice greatly, and shout for joy. Treat this as good news, and be sure that it is true. Delight yourself in the thought that he is coming, that he is on his way to you. Be ready to go out and meet him with joyful cries, as one who cannot hide such great joy and is not ashamed to show it. Cry Hosanna to him.” Christ’s coming should always call forth the church’s praise.

The prophet also gives a description of him that makes him lovely to all who truly belong to him, and makes his coming welcome. He is a righteous ruler. All his government is perfectly fair, because he is just. He is also a strong protector for all who trust him and give him loyal service, because he has salvation. He has saving power and can give it to all his people. He is the God of salvation, with full stores of salvation in him. Some take the word to mean “saving himself,” since he rose from the grave by his own power and so fitted himself to be our Savior.

He is also meek, humble, and tender toward all his people as a father is toward his children. The word also suggests that he is lowly and poor, which shows the humbleness of his condition. He emptied himself, and people despised and rejected him. The evangelist uses the word to show the spirit of his heart: he is meek. He does not act proud or take offense easily, but humbles himself from first to last. He comes down to the lowly and shows compassion to the miserable. This was a shining mark of him as a prophet, as he said, “Learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart” (Matthew 11:29). It was no less true of him as a king.

This was shown when he made his public entrance into his own city, the only part of his life that looked grand in the eyes of the world. He chose to ride, not on a stately horse or in a chariot like great men usually did, but on a donkey, a common working animal. And it was not even a trained donkey, but a donkey’s colt, a small, unsteady animal more likely to shame its rider than honor him. It was not his own animal either, and it was not dressed up with saddle, coverings, or ornaments. He rode on his disciples’ clothes laid on the colt, for he made himself of no reputation when he came to us in great humility.

His kingdom is here shown in its glory. This King has, and will have, a kingdom that is not of this world, but a spiritual kingdom, a kingdom of heaven. It will not be built and advanced by outward force, by human power, or by weapons of war. He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem (Zechariah 9:10), because he will have no need of them while he himself rides on a donkey. In kindness to his people, he will also remove their horses and chariots, so they do not put their trust in them and cut themselves off from God. He himself will protect them, be a wall of fire around Jerusalem, and have his angels watch over it, like chariots of fire and horses of fire. Then the horses and chariots in their service will be set aside as no longer needed.

His kingdom will spread and stand through the preaching of the gospel, through the speaking of peace to the nations. Christ came and preached peace to those far away and to those near, and so he established his kingdom by proclaiming peace on earth and good will toward men. As his kingdom takes hold in people’s minds and gains rule over them, it makes them peaceable and puts an end to hostility. It cuts off the battle bow and turns swords into plowshares. It not only commands peace, it produces the fruit of peace.

His kingdom will also reach every part of the world, despite all opposition. The chariots and horses that rise against Ephraim and Jerusalem, trying to stop Zion’s King, will be cut off. His gospel will be preached to the world and received among the nations, so that his rule will stretch from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth, as David foretold (Psalm 72:8). Gospel preachers will carry it from one country to another, from one island to another, until even the farthest corners of the world are enlightened and brought under its power.

The Messiah also brings great benefit to mankind, deliverance from the deepest misery. This was pictured in the release of the Jews from Babylonian captivity (Zechariah 9:11). “As for you,” whether that means the daughter of Jerusalem or the Messiah the Prince, “by the blood of your covenant,” that is, by the force and blessing of the covenant made with Abraham and sealed with circumcision, and the covenant made with Israel at Mount Sinai and sealed with sacrifices, God had sent out the prisoners from Babylon. Babylon was for them a very hard place, like a pit with no water.

It was part of that covenant that if they sought the Lord in the land of their captivity, he would be found by them (Leviticus 26:42, 44, 45; Deuteronomy 30:4). By the blood of that covenant, which pointed to the blood of Christ, in whom all God’s promises are yes and amen, they were released from captivity. That release was only a shadow of the great salvation worked out by your King, O daughter of Zion. A sinful state is a state of slavery. It is a spiritual prison, a pit, a dungeon with no water, no comfort at all.

By nature, we are all prisoners in this pit. Scripture has shut us all up under sin and placed us under God’s justice. But God is pleased to deal with these prisoners on new terms and make another covenant, that is, a binding promise of mercy, with them.

The blood of Christ is the blood of that covenant. It won the covenant for us, along with every blessing that comes with it. Through that blood, God makes full provision to send these prisoners out on easy and honorable terms, and he announces liberty to captives and the opening of the prison for those who were bound. It is like Cyrus’s proclamation to the Jews in Babylon, which all whose spirits God stirs will hear and gladly receive.