8/12/2019 1993 Issue 1 - Sermons on Zechariah, History, Providence and Redemption - Counsel of Chalcedon

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Zechariah 9:1-7; Colossians 1:9-23

Isrnel

is

a small nation that may

seem

at

first

glance to

have

had

little

impact on the development of human

history.

Israel never

grew

t be a great

power

projecting

empire like

Egypt,

Assyria,Babylon,Medo-Persia, Greece,

or

Rome. Its

political influence during

the era of these

great political powers

was,

at

best,

minor. Yet,

looks

are

deceiving.

Despite the minor political impact

of Isrnel on the development ofworld

history, shehasdramatically

altered the

flowofhistory. The modemman tends

to thinkofnationalsignificancein

erms

ofpolitics. But

Israel's importance was

not primarily

political. Rather

her

significance lay

in the

fact

that

she was

used of God as the protecting sheath

through which theseedofthe

covenant

flowed. In

other

words, she was the

agency through which God

providentially brought Christ into the

world. And the impact of Christ on

history has

been

enormous.

n this message

we

will consider

some importantprinciples that

may

be

drawn

from

the

prophecy

contained

in

Zechariah 9:1-7.

Wewill

deal with the

historical

particulars,

butwillalso

draw

forth several important implications of

those

events for

world

history.

1.

The Futility ofHuman Strength.

n order to properly

assess

the

text

before

us,

we must bear in mind its

historical context. We should

remember that

Israel

had

weathered

the Babylonian Captivity, when she

was exiled

from

her land

for

seventy

years. But now she

is presently

under

the dominion of the

Medo-

Persian

empire.

Though back in the land and

relatively

free,

Israelisnotexperiencing

the degree of freedom enjoyed

before

the Babylonian Captivity.

Hence,

the

significance

of the

earlier

statement in

Zechariah

1:11:

Israel

was

perplexed

that the whole

world

(i.e., the empire

aroundthem) was atpeace, while God's

people

were

in poverty and under

restrictions

of

another

empire.

So

now comes thefamiliarrefrainof

the prophets: God yet will protect

His

people

and

ultimately

will

seat

His

Messianic King as ruler over the affairs

ofmen. Thisisthethrustoftheentirety

of

Zechariah

9. The centralfocus of

the

chapterisonverses9-10,whichwewill

consider in our next

message. n hese

opening

verses,

however,

we find the

initial stages of

God's

protection and

blessing.

In Zechariah 9:1 we should

understand that the first several words

serve as

a heading

for

the prophecy:

The

burden o

heword

o he

Lord

in

the

land ofHadrach

The word translated

burden indicates the liftingup of the

voice in a threatening manner. It

introduces judgment prophecies

throughout the prophetic Old

Testament.

The

basic burden is set against a

place called Hadrach. The

conjunction and in verse 1 actually

sets off the headingfrom the

city

names

that follow, according to Hebrew

scholars. The burden, then

is

directed

ultimately against Hadrach.

But

what

is

Hadrach'? This term

historically has been difficult to

determine.

Yet

there are good

indications that it

is

a

symbolic

name

created by Zechariah for the

Medo-Persian empire: (1) n the

prophets

elsewhere

symbolic names

aregivenforimportantplaces.Sheshach

for

Babylon(jer. 25) ;ArielforJerusalem

(Isa 29); Dumah

for

Edom

(Isa

. 21).

Such would not be unusual, then.

(2)

Daniel

,whoprophesiednotlongbefore

Zechariah,

had

prophesied the

overthrow of

Persia,

whichseems to be

whatis treatedhere

(Dan.

7:5-7;20:21).

(3) Closerto the

matter,

since enemies

of Israel tried to convince Persians of

Israel's

desire to rebell

(Ezr.

4:12,13),

there is good

reason

for

Zechariah

to

avoid use ofMedo-Persia's literal name

in this

burden

prophecy.

(4)

n

verse

13

thenarne

Greece

appears

as

the next

empire. Alexander

the

Great

ofGreece

conquered Medo-Persia. So

Medo-Persia

would

bevery relevant in

verses 1-8.

(5)

The following cities

mentioned were parts of the

Medo-Persian empire existing in

Zechariah's

day.

Thename Hadrach

seems

tostand

for

the Medo-Persian empire. The

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word means

brave/soli.

It

involves

twoconflictingideas.Assuchitindicates

that thoughMedo-Persia waspresendy

strong, it would be humbled. This fits

very well with the context and the

historical events that occurred about

2

years after Zechariah, when

Alexander humbled

Medo-Persia. The

idea of the burden is that powerful

Medo-Persia, with all of its parts,

including those close to Israel

(Damascus, Hamath, Tyre,

Sidon,

and

Philistia)

will

be conquered.

. Regarding our interestin the futility

of human strengthwe learn that one of

the world s great empires

is

going

to

fall.

The

word rest (v. 1

indicates the

threatened judgment

will

rest on it

until it

is

utterly destroyed. In other

words, though it

will

take awhile,

the

city of Damascus and all

the

others

cities ofMedo-Persia

will

be destroyed

until the empire is gone. Her powerful

armies, her great wealth, her

furflung

influence would vanishinsmoke.

Once

again in historywill be illustrated the

bestlaid plans ofmiceand menolien go

astray.

But Zechariah focuses his keenest

concentration on those

cities

of the

Medo-Persian

Empire closest to

Israel:

Tyre and the Philistinecities inverses 5

and 6. We

will

focus on Tyre for our

purposes in considering the futility of

humim strength. In verses 2 through 3

we have a prophecy of Alexander

the

Great's conquest of Tyre. The history

and the prophecy are fasCinating.

Tyre was on an island in the

Mediterranean

Sea,

about a half mile

from the mainland. Notonlywasitout

in the sea; but it was surrounded with

great defensive

walls.

In fact, records

indicate it had a double sea wall 150

feet high that gave her virtually

impenetrable protection

from

enemies

(Zech.

9:3).

Ezekiel alludes to

these

impressive fortifications in Ezekiel

26:17; 27:4; 28:2.

Tyreshoweditswisdominbuilding

a

fomess

and heaping up

gold

and

silver, Zechariah

9:2-b-3.

1he

mighty

Assyrian

king Shalmaneser besieged

Tyre for five years

and the

Babylonian

kingNebuchadnezzarfor13 years.

Both

unsuccessfully.

T

yre s fortifications

proved

invinCible.

History records the great labor

Alexander used

to

get

to

the island and

destroy T

yre.

After a naval blockade,

Alexandertookseveralmonths

to

build

acausewayfromthemainlandbywhich

he

besieged and

entered

the city,

alier

only seven months (Zech. 9:4).

Alexander's

efforts were so successful

that from that time Tyre ceased

to be

a

major

influence

in

the

area. In

fact,

his

construction work

was

so

fine

thatTyre

evenceasedtobeanisland. Ezekielput

it well in Ezekiel 28:2-9 .

In verse 5 we learn of the

shock

of

the fall of mighty Tyre. Ashkelon,

Gaza, Ekron, Ashdod are Philistine

cities. These cities willieam

of

the

fall

of T

yre

to

their amazement. The

land

of these Philistine cities

was

not

far

from

Tyre. Vv'hen they heard of proud

Tyre's fall they

would have cause for

alarm: their cities were less well

protected.

Ekron sexpectationthatTyrewould

notfall would beashamed. Thatis,she

expected Alexander to be stopped in

hismarchat

that

point.

All

hePhilistine

citieswere destined to fallaswell,verses

5-6.

ThefallofthekingofGazaindicates

the

collapseof

the

government, verse 5.

TheWlinhabitedconditionofAshkelon

indicates the total route of the

people,

verse 5. The presence of a mongrel

people in the place of the native

inhabitants indicates a total overrun by

invaders,

verse 6. In short,

the

entire

Philistine

nation would be cut off:

verse 6.

We must leam that

we

cannot oust

in human wisdom, wealth, or

power.

22 l lIE COUNSELof Chalcedon January, 1993

America's great

wealth and military

strength are not what

will

save her.

Some ttust in horses, that is, military

strength.

But

we must trust in God

(Psa.

20:7).

Our own wisdom and

abilities

are

not what

will

bless us as

indiViduals. Onr trust mustbe in God.

Ihaveheard Christianssay thatGod

wbuld not judge America

because

of

her hristian heritage. But God is

able

to

raise up other nations for His own

glory,

n fact,

Orristianity is booming

inAfrica and Asia right now. A recent

article in the May, 1990, hristianity

Today

magazine noted: Orristianity is

experiencing staggering growth

...

in

previously non-Christian parts of the

world.

InallofAsiaandmostofAfrica,

unprecedented numbers

are

coming

to

Christ.

Will

God tUm

from

our nation

t

blessAsiaandAfrica? Ifwe continue

to

tUm from Him and trust in our own

strengthand

wealth,

He just

may do so.

let us pray for

ourselves

and our land

that this not happen.

2. 1he Agency of Cultural Upheaval

It is clear

from history that Greece

conquered

Medo-Persia.

But to

say

that it wll 5 ultimately Greece that

conquered would be a grave error

leading

us

back onceagain to a trusting

in human strength. In fact, the context

gives the proper perspective on the

events,

which

were to occur

some

two

hundred

years

later. That perspective

is that Alexander the Great was but

an

instrument in the hand of God.

We

should notice

first

that

the

judgment

is

set forth as the burden of

the

word

of the

Lord in [oragainstl the

land of

Hadrach.

The threatened

judgmentwasnotultimatelybyGreece.

It

was by the word of the Lord.

This

is

the very word that created

the

entire universe in

the

beginning

(Gen.

1). Rather

than the universe

8/12/2019 1993 Issue 1 - Sermons on Zechariah, History, Providence and Redemption - Counsel of Chalcedon

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appearing by irrational

chance,

it

has

been wisely

created

by the infinitely

rational word of the living God. The

rationalityand order of the universe are

the result of

God s

mere

utterance..

his

word

s

the word that

w ll

not

return unto God void, without

accomplishing

His

work

Osa.

55:11).

It

is

the living and

active

word of

Almighty God

that enters

history to

perform His will Oer.

23:29).

It is the

word of

God,

not the

armies

of

men,

that

are

determinative in

history. God

is

the

One who determines

the

end

fromthebeginning(Isa.46:1O).ItisHe

who determines the destinies of

rulers

Osa. 40:23-25).* n

Editor s

note--Computers

are one

the greatest tools

ever

invented.

They

can

be a

tremendous asset

in so

many

ways. lhey can also be a

source

of

extreme

frustration. Dr. Gentry learned

that at this juncture in

his

series on

Zechariah.

His

messages

on the book

of Zechariah did not

survive disaster

to

his computer

hard

disk and hence

we

must abruptly end this

series.

Dr

. Gentry has agreed however

to

allow

us

to

reprint a shonsection ofhis

new

book, e Shall ave Dominion

which contains a study in the

interpretation of

the

14th chapter of

Zechariah.

Itisa

fiiting

and

interesting

conclusion

to

this

series. We

hope also

to

do a book

review

of He Shall Have

ominion

in the near

furure

. It is the

best exegetical defense of post

millenialism that I

have seen.

You may

order

it

directly

from

the author

below

oritwillbe sent

to

you in rerum fora gift

toTheCounselof 50.

Please

mention

that you

desire the

book when you

send the gift

January,

1993

TIlE COUNSEL

of

Chalcedon

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