Zechariah 9:9
Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (NIV)
Today’s Reading: Zechariah 9:9-13
Zechariah’s prophecy begins with two imperatives:
“Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!”
“Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!”
At the time Zechariah was given this prophecy, there was very little reason for the people of Israel to rejoice and shout. A remnant has returned from exile in Babylon to a city that lies in ruins. Most of their friends and families are still exiled in Babylon. Nehemiah, Joshua the high priest and Zerubbabel the appointed governor are leading the people to rebuild their former lives.
However, they are struggling to rebuild the city of Jerusalem as well as the temple that was destroyed. They are experiencing a lot of resistance from surrounding nations and the work is extremely difficult. Money is tight and they are having to spend half of their time just protecting themselves.
Their spirits are down and morale is not good. So God is sending them a word of encouragement through Zechariah that their work is the Lord’s work. Rebuilding the temple is a worthy endeavor because a new king is coming that will bring great rejoicing to Israel.
In verse 8 of this prophecy, God says:
“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 is saying that He will guard his temple and keep watch so that oppressors will never again overrun His people. Then he says to rejoice and shout because His king is coming. This would suggest that there is some connection between God encamping at the temple and this new king. This new king would be from God or even God himself.
As a side note, God fulfilled the portion of the prophecy found in Zechariah 9:1-8. In short, God promised to destroy Syria, Tyre, Sidon and the Philistines and wipe out their populations leaving only a remnant. This in fact occurred about 200 years later in 332 BC during Alexander the Great’s campaign against the Persians. He laid siege to all of these nations but did not attack Jerusalem. God in fact protected His house at this time.
But God’s protection and his watch over His people would find ultimate fulfillment in Jesus. We know that in 70AD, the temple would be destroyed again and never rebuilt. So this “temple” that is found in Zechariah’s prophecy is us – God’s people. The new temple is the body of Christ who are indwelled by the Holy Spirit.
God calls his people “Daughter of Zion” and “Daughter Jerusalem” and He tells them to rejoice and shout. Israel would read this personification of Zion and Jerusalem as a term of endearment that God regards them as his daughters. And He does. Jesus even referred to the women who mourned for him as “daughters” as he carried his cross to his death:
“A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said to them, ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children’” (Luke 23:27-28).
But the ultimate fulfillment of these two imperatives is for us as followers of Jesus. We have become children of God and for that reason alone, we should rejoice and shout!
“In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters” (Heb 2:10-11).
“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:8-10).
“However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20).
Christ in the Old Testament 
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