Zechariah 9:9-17 "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: BEHOLD, thy KING cometh unto thee: HE is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: 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. As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoner's out of the pit wherein is no water.
Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee; when I have bent Judah for ME, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man. And the LORD shall be seen over them, and HIS arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the LORD GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south. The LORD of hosts shall defend them; and they shall devour, and subdue with sling stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine and they shall be filled like bowls, and as the corners of the altar. And the LORD their GOD shall save them in that Day as the flock of HIS people: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon HIS land. For how great is HIS goodness, and how great is HIS beauty ! corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids."
One of GOD's oft-repeated promises to HIS people Israel in the Old Testament is HIS pledge of a future, perfect, all-powerful KING. Zechariah describes in verse nine of our text the lowliness of this mighty KING's first coming, and Matthew 21:4-5 (pictured at top of post) confirms this specific prophecy concerning the first coming of JESUS CHRIST. The description GOD gave of this coming KING in Isaiah 7:14 (pictured above) and Isaiah 9:6-7 leaves no question about the fact that the prophesied KING was the LORD JESUS CHRIST, GOD manifest in the flesh (John 1:14). When CHRIST was born of the virgin in Bethlehem and the wise men came from the East to worship HIM, the Jewish religious leaders knew exactly where to direct them (Matthew 2:1-6 cf. Micah 5:2). JESUS CHRIST proved through word and deed that HE was the promised LAMB of GOD, KING of kings, and LORD of lords.
But human history, as well as GOD's WORD, records the fact that the majority of the religious leaders and people of Israel not only rejected JESUS as KING but actually demanded HIS crucifixion and declared, "We have no King but Caesar" (John 19:15). John 1:11 (pictured above) records the sad truth concerning the sinless SON of GOD: "HE came unto HIS OWN, and HIS OWN received HIM not." But does this fact negate GOD's many promises concerning CHRIST's coming eternal kingdom ? Of course not ! The GOD of Heaven will indeed set up an eternal kingdom "which shall never be destroyed" (Daniel 2:44; 7:13-14). In tomorrow's study we will see the importance of "rightly dividing the WORD of truth" (2nd.Timothy 2:15) with regard to the coming of CHRIST and to unfulfilled prophecies relating to Israel as well as those specifically for the church in this age of grace. MHR
Your servant in CHRIST,
Julie
Copyright, FEATURE: A Daily Bible Study Guide.
Used with permission. www.featoday.org
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