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Zechariah, Prophet of God's remembrance, part 25

Zechariah 9:13, 14 says,

¹³ For I will bend Judah as My bow [kesheth, “bow, archer, rainbow”], I will fill the bow with Ephraim. And I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, and I will make you like a warrior’s sword. ¹⁴ Then the Lord will appear over them, and His arrow will go forth like lightning, and the Lord God will blow the trumpet, and will march in the storm winds of the south.

Judah is depicted as an archer in the hands of God. The word kesheth is translated “archer” in 1 Chronicles 10:3,

³ The battle became heavy against Saul, and the archers [kesheth] overtook him; and he was wounded by the archers.

An archer was also a teacher, as we see from another Hebrew word, yaraw, which is the root of moreh, “teacher.” This word moreh is translated “early rain” in Joel 2:23. It has a double meaning, because the teacher’s calling is to teach the word, which is pictured as rain. Hence, a teacher was seen as a skilled archer, one who can hit the target of truth.

In this context, God says that Judah was to be like an archer, taking a leadership role in teaching the truth and bringing in the early rain needed to water the seed in the planting season (October/November).

Ephraim, then, is pictured as the arrow in God’s bow, “and His arrow will go forth like lightning.” Lightning is a Hebrew metaphor for God’s arrows. Arrows, in turn, are a metaphor for sons, as we see in Psalm 127:4, 5,

⁴ Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. ⁵ How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them…

We also read in Psalm 144:6,

⁶ Flash forth lightning and scatter them; send out Your arrows and confuse them.

Again, we read in Psalm 77:17, 18,

¹⁷ The clouds poured out water, the skies gave forth a sound [kole, “voice”]; Your arrows flashed here and there. ¹⁸ The sound of Your thunder was in the whirlwind; the lightnings lit up the world.

Thunder was seen as the voice of God, and lightning was His arrow. God’s arrows were also sons, hence, the sons of God giving voice to the word of God. By this, God was thought to be the great Archer, teaching the word to the people.

With this background, we may understand the underlying meaning of Zechariah’s prophecy. Although the surface meaning, as viewed with Old Covenant eyes, pictures a battle where God uses thunder and lightning to scatter the enemy army, there is also a New Covenant truth just under the surface for those who have eyes to see. When God delivers Israel (Ephraim) and Judah at the end of the age, He will send forth His sons as arrows to teach the word of God and bring the rain of the Holy Spirit to the world. This will result in repentance and salvation, not mere destruction.

The sons of God are called sons of Zion in Zechariah 9:13. They come against the sons of Greece, known for their worldly wisdom and philosophies. Broadly speaking, God pits the wisdom of God against the wisdom of men. In 1 Corinthians 1: 22-24, Paul says,

²² For indeed the Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; ²³ but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, ²⁴ but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Perhaps the Apostle Paul saw his mission as the fulfillment of Zechariah 9:13. He does not tell us specifically what Scriptures were supporting his teaching, but certainly, he knew all of these Hebrew metaphors and had the ability to interpret Zechariah 9:13 through New Covenant eyes.

The Trumpet

Zechariah 9:14 also says, “the Lord God will blow the trumpet.” A trumpet was another Hebrew metaphor for a message from heaven to earth. This supports the overall theme of teaching and the outpouring of the rain of truth and revelation. It may also have a reference to the feast of trumpets, the first day of the seventh month, which is the traditional date of creation. The Jews also understood this to be “the day of the awakening blast,” that is, resurrection day, when the dead are to be raised in a new creation.

Therefore, Zechariah was prophesying that the day would come, far in the future, when all things would change, and the word of God would go forth into all the earth, taking root in the hearts of men everywhere and replacing worldly wisdom with the wisdom of God. While God is pictured as the great Archer holding Judah as His bow and arming His bow with the arrows of Ephraim, it is the sons of God—His arrows—who bring His truth to the world.

God Defends His Sons

Because the sons of God are also His temples, His Spirit resides in them, and they are therefore oracles revealing heavenly truth to the nations on earth. These sons of “Zion” (now Sion, the place of Christ’s transfiguration), are the ones that God uses to bring deliverance. So we read in Zechariah 9:15, 16,

¹⁵ The Lord of hosts will defend them. And they will devour and trample on the sling stones, and they will drink and be boisterous as with wine, and they will be filled like a sacrificial basin, drenched like the corners of the altar. ¹⁶ And the Lord their God will save them in that day as the flock of His people; for they are as the stones of a crown, sparkling in His land.

Whereas the first work of Christ was characterized by death, the second work of Christ is a picture of resurrection life. So the sons of Sion in the latter days will be divinely defended, so that all the stones that have been hurled at them through false accusation will fall harmlessly. They will be able to “trample on the sling stones.”

Having drunk the new wine of the Spirit, “they will be filled” with the Spirit as a basin is filled, and they will be “drenched” like the corners of the altar, where the blood of the sacrifices was applied. Exodus 24:6 refers to this practice:

⁶ Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.

Again, we read in Exodus 29:12,

¹² You shall take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; and you shall pour out all the blood at the base of the altar.

Under the New Covenant, animal sacrifices were replaced by the better Sacrifice of Christ Himself. The sons of God are those whose sins are covered by the blood of Christ (1 John 1:7). It is Christ’s blood that is our ultimate defense against the Accuser of the brethren in the divine court.

Stones of a Crown

The sons of God are also pictured as “the stones of a crown sparkling in His land.” This reminds us of the prophecy in Malachi 3:16, 17,

¹⁶ Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance [zikaron, from zakar, “to remember”] was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who esteem His name. ¹⁷ “They will be Mine,” says the Lord of hosts, “on the day that I prepare My own possession [segulla, “peculiar treasure, jewel”], and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.”

One of the main purposes of a gathering of believers is to remember the things that God has done throughout past history, so that they may be encouraged in times of distress. God writes “a book of remembrance,” not because He is forgetful, but as a legal record for future recompense. This ties well with Zechariah’s calling, too, for his name has to do with God’s remembrance.

Zechariah 9:17 concludes,

¹⁷ For what comeliness and beauty will be theirs! Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine the virgins.

God’s jewels come out of the ground as rough stones, but by the time He finishes cutting them and polishing them, they sparkle with great “beauty.” This metaphor was used to describe the “young men” and the “virgins,” showing once again that God’s segulla (jewels) consist of both men and women equally.