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1 The word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrak and will come to rest on Damascus—for the eyes of all people and all the tribes of Israel are on the Lord—2 and on Hamath too, which borders on it, and on Tyre and Sidon, though they are very skillful. 3 Tyre has built herself a stronghold; she has heaped up silver like dust, and gold like the dirt of the streets. 4 But the Lord will take away her possessions and destroy her power on the sea, and she will be consumed by fire. 5 Ashkelon will see it and fear; Gaza will writhe in agony, and Ekron too, for her hope will wither. Gaza will lose her king and Ashkelon will be deserted. 6 A mongrel people will occupy Ashdod, and I will put an end to the pride of the Philistines. 7 I will take the blood from their mouths, the forbidden food from between their teeth. Those who are left will belong to our God and become a clan in Judah, and Ekron will be like the Jebusites. 8 But I will encamp at my temple to guard it against marauding forces. Never again will an oppressor overrun my people, for now I am keeping watch. ~ Zechariah 9:1-8
Today, we transition into Zechariah 9. In v.1-8, we discover the one who is described, as a conqueror, turns out to be none other than Alexander the Great. This prophecy was written centuries before Alexander was born. That’s why it doesn’t name him. He didn’t exist at the time of the writing of this prophecy. And yet, every detail of his crusade is clearly described in today's text. The Bible is God's word and it is true. We can thoroughly depend upon it.
In v.1-2 of today's text we read, "1 The word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrak and will come to rest on Damascus—for the eyes of all people and all the tribes of Israel are on the Lord—2 and on Hamath too, which borders on it, and on Tyre and Sidon, though they are very skillful."
In these verses God isolates Hadrak which is grouped with Damascus, Hamath, Tyre and Sidon. Many try to discount the Bible because it appears this city, Hadrak, can not be found in history. Yet, Hadrak appears in the inscriptions of Tiglath-Pileser III who indicated that it was located just to the North of Lebanon. This prophecy predicted the crusade of Alexander the Great, yet it was given some two hundred years before it was fulfilled.
In v.3-4 of today's text we read, "3 Tyre has built herself a stronghold; she has heaped up silver like dust, and gold like the dirt of the streets. 4 But the Lord will take away her possessions and destroy her power on the sea, and she will be consumed by fire."
Tyre was built on a fortified rock, a half-mile off the coast. It was also built with a huge wall around the entire island which was 150 feet high. As a result, there, the Phoenicians felt fairly secure. When this prophecy was written, many scoffed at it, thinking Tyre was impenetrable. But, God knew otherwise.
Israel had good relations with Tyre. In fact, King David and Hiram, the King of Tyre, were friends and they developed a deal where they would trade supplies. Hiram would give wood and some of the supplies of Lebanon for some of the grain and the olive oil that was grown down in Israel. When Solomon built the temple, it was Hiram who furnished the great cedar timbers that furnished the temple there in Jerusalem.
Because both Jerusalem and Tyre were on the major trade routes, they competed in business. And, much later on, when Jerusalem finally fell to the Babylonians in 586 BC, the people of Tyre rejoiced, because now they would get the business that they had wanted for so long.
In v.5 of today's text we read, "Ashkelon will see it and fear; Gaza will writhe in agony, and Ekron too, for her hope will wither. Gaza will lose her king and Ashkelon will be deserted."
History tells us that exactly what Zechariah predicted, happened. Alexander the Great, after taking the city of Tyre, which he had taken after Damascus, now turned south on his way to Egypt and stopped in the area of the Philistines. And these are the cities of the Philistines that are mentioned. And he overtook the Philistine cities, Ashkelon, Gaza, and Ekron.
History tells us that Alexander had the King of Gaza chained to a chariot, and they drug him around the city of Gaza until he died. And, when the people saw this, they were completely deflated and their hopes were completely dashed.
In v.6 of today's text we read, "A mongrel people will occupy Ashdod, and I will put an end to the pride of the Philistines."
It was the policy of Alexander to mingle conquered peoples together. To not let them go back to their land, but to bring in people from different lands and and mix it up so that there wouldn't be an independent group that would develop out of it. It would hinder their independence because there would be a mingling of languages and cultures and customs. And so a mixed race settled in Ashdod.
In v.7-8 of today's text we read, "7 I will take the blood from their mouths, the forbidden food from between their teeth. Those who are left will belong to our God and become a clan in Judah, and Ekron will be like the Jebusites. 8 But I will encamp at my temple to guard it against marauding forces. Never again will an oppressor overrun my people, for now I am keeping watch."
God uses imagery here that depicts the Philistines as a man who has just come back from a pagan sacrifice. He still has the bloody meat of something that has been offered to an idol in his mouth. Notice at the end of v.7 that Ekron will be like the Jebusites. Jebus was the ancient name for Jerusalem. The Jebusites occupied that city. And then, Israel, under the leadership of David, overtook the city, and eventually all of the Jebusites were just assimilated into Israel. God predicted this would happen to Ekron of the Philistines and it did at the hands of Alexander the Great.
History also tells us is that when Alexander came to Jerusalem, he treated those in Judea with great kindness and respect. Having subjugated Egypt and taking over that area, when he returned through Israel again, Alexander had a whole different mindset. The Jewish historian, Josephus, tells us that there was a high priest by the name of Jeduah who met Alexander with a company of priests. And Jeduah brought the scroll of the Book of Daniel and showed Alexander the prophecies of his crusade from Daniel. Alexander read how God had predicted his victories in advance. This so impressed Alexander that not only did he spare Jerusalem, but he also offered a sacrifice in the temple of Jerusalem and worshipped the God of Israel there.
This is the whole point of prophecy. Not that we would be amazed by the prediction, but that we would be amazed by the predictor, God Himself. Worship is unlike every other Christian experience, it is an end in itself. Worship is ascribing worth to God, and any time we do things His way, we are worshipping Him. Worship that glorifies God must be expressed in conscious awareness that this is the ultimate goal for which He created and redeemed us. We do not worship God in order to attain some higher end, or to accomplish some greater goal. We worship Him because it is the point of our existence. Worship is merely a door through which we proceed into something more important, knowing God personally.
