The Coming of Zion’s King
Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!
Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and having salvation,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
I will take away the chariots from Ephraim
and the war-horses from Jerusalem,
and the battle bow will be broken.
He will proclaim peace to the nations.
His rule will extend from sea to sea
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit.
Return to your fortress, O prisoners of hope;
even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.
I will bend Judah as I bend my bow
and fill it with Ephraim.
I will rouse your sons, O Zion,
against your sons, O Greece,
and make you like a warrior’s sword.
The LORD Will Appear
Then the LORD will appear over them;
his arrow will flash like lightning.
The Sovereign LORD will sound the trumpet;
he will march in the storms of the south,
and the LORD Almighty will shield them.
They will destroy
and overcome with slingstones.
They will drink and roar as with wine;
they will be full like a bowl
used for sprinkling the corners of the altar.
The LORD their God will save them on that day
as the flock of his people.
They will sparkle in his land
like jewels in a crown.
How attractive and beautiful they will be!
Grain will make the young men thrive,
and new wine the young women.
My Understanding: The Daughter of Zion is now the church, the saints of God. Zion is the kingdom of God, personified in Jesus Christ. Believers in Jesus Christ, as his body, are also Zion. Yet, at the time of this writing, this was speaking to the people of God, the Jews, i.e. to the nation of Israel. It was a prophecy concerning their promised Messiah, Jesus Christ.
Our King
They were to rejoice, because their King, Jesus Christ, was coming in righteousness and having salvation, though when he came they did not recognize him as such, they did not receive him as their Messiah (not as a nation), and, in fact, they were the ones who hung him on a cross to die, because they hated him, were jealous of him, and thus rejected him.
When Jesus rode into Jerusalem for his triumphal entry a week prior to his crucifixion on a cross for our sins, part of this prophecy was fulfilled. And, when he was crucified on the cross for our sins, more of it was fulfilled. Yet, much of it is yet to take place, for this prophecy encompasses, not only his coming to the earth the first time, and his death on a cross for our sins, but it also encompasses his return one day for his bride and his millennial kingdom reign on the earth, at which time his saints will reign and rule with him.
Jesus Christ, God the Son, the second person of our triune God, came to earth, was born as a baby (took on human flesh), and he dwelled among us. He went through the same kinds of things as we go through on a daily basis. He took on human flesh, not only so he could be our sin sacrifice, but so he could be our compassionate and merciful high priest. He suffered as we suffer, he rejoiced as we rejoice, he was persecuted, abandoned, rejected, thought to be crazy, a liar, and was even accused of being of Satan. It was not the enemies of God’s people who were against him, either. It was his own people who rejected him. Even his own family turned against him and wanted to take him home because they thought he was crazy. He was probably an embarrassment to them. And, much of his temple leadership was jealous of him, and they harassed him at every turn. And, eventually they killed him.
“He will proclaim peace to the nations.”
Many people take this out of context and misinterpret the kind of peace that Jesus preached. If we compare scripture with scripture we may find apparent contradictions to this by his own words when he said:
“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn
“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’
“Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it…” ~ Matt. 10:34-39
Yet, John 14 helps explain this seeming contradiction when it says (Jesus’ words):
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” ~ John 14:27
The kind of peace that Jesus proclaimed was not world peace, i.e. he didn’t proclaim absence of conflict, war, struggles, trials and tribulations in this life, but the peace he proclaimed was peace with God through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. In other words, he preached a peace that freed us of bondage to sin and that freed us of the wrath of God in sending us to hell, basically, and he preached inward peace in relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ, which provided absence of fear. This kind of peace promises a hope of eternal life with God, yet it also promises his abiding presence with us always; his love, compassion, tenderness, comfort, and his power and strength of His Spirit to see us through all the difficulties we will face in this life, and for some of us, they are many. It is a peace that comes from trusting in his absolute sovereignty over all things, and in understanding that he is in control, even when circumstances in our lives may be completely chaotic.
He does not promise peace in the sense of absence of conflict, because he told his disciples the cost of following him. They would be hated, persecuted, abandoned, rejected, mistreated, imprisoned and even killed for their testimony for Jesus Christ. That is what he meant when he said he did not come to bring peace but a sword, and to turn family members against other family members. He meant that following Jesus Christ would mean that we would even have members of our own families as our enemies. Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny himself and daily take up his cross and follow Christ. He said that if we hold on to our own fleshly lives, we will lose them for eternity, but if we lose our lives of the flesh for the sake of Christ and his gospel, then we will gain eternal life and abundant life in Christ in this life on the earth.
“His rule will extend…”
Jesus Christ is head of the church, his body, and thus he is our King, Lord and ruler. He is also the creator of the universe (see John 1) and he holds all things in his powerful hands. “All things were created by him and for him.” “He is before all things and in him all things hold together.” “God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things… by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross” (see Colossians 1:15-20). And, one day he will come again to reign and rule on the earth as King and Priest, ruler and judge. And, we will reign with him.
“I will free your prisoners…”
God was speaking to his covenant people, the Jews. He is still speaking to his covenant people, the church, because we are now under the New Covenant because of what Jesus did in dying on the cross for our sins. He made believing Jews and Gentiles one in Christ, so his people are now those who have faith in Christ as Lord and Savior. He told his people that because of his blood covenant with them (for us, through Christ), that he would free their prisoners from the waterless pit.
This could have been speaking of those exiles still in captivity, yet I see it now as our salvation through Christ’s shed blood on the cross for our sins. Yet, there is another picture here. These people were already in covenant relationship with God. And, next he said, “Return to your fortress, O prisoners of hope,” and then he promised to restore them. I believe that today, this is speaking to Christians who have strayed away from their pure devotion to Jesus Christ and who have forsaken their first love. God is calling them to return via humbling themselves and calling on God in repentance by turning from their wicked ways. Then will he heal and will restore them to a right relationship (standing) with him.
Then, the Lord will empower them from on high to defeat their enemy, which is Satan. God/Jesus Christ will be our shield of protection spiritually from our enemy, Satan. And, we will be able to defeat our foe in spiritual warfare because of the power of the working of the Holy Spirit within us.
When our lives are steeped in sin and rebellion against God, and/or when we are giving into the temptations of the flesh and/or we are allowing things to come into our minds, eyes and hearts that are displeasing to God and that affect our thinking and behavior, and/or when we become complacent about our relationship with Jesus Christ, and not only is he not in first place in our lives, but we barely even pay attention to him at all, then we have lost most of our spiritual armor with which to fight off our enemy’s attacks against us. So, if we want to be rescued from the pitfalls of sin, and we want to live victorious lives in Christ Jesus, our Lord, then we need to put off those sins that weigh us down, and we need to surrender our lives to Jesus Christ in full obedience to him.
The Lord God will save us on that day as the flock of his people. He will not save us in the sense of an unbeliever coming to faith in Christ, but he will rescue us from the pit of defeat, the pit of bondage to sin, and the pit of separation from pure fellowship with our Lord. He will then fill us once again with his peace, love, joy, strength and power to live victoriously for our Lord God. And, we will be in intimate relationship with him once again.
I know this from personal experience. I have experienced in my life what it is like to wander away from my pure devotion to the Lord, and I have also known his love and mercy in bringing me back into a right relationship with him, and the joy, peace and victory that accompanied that decision to return. God restored me, revived me, renewed me and then reinstated me to his service. There is nothing greater than being in a right relationship with God, in the center of his will, and doing what he has called us to do for his purposes and for his glory. Oh, what joy!
Full Release / An Original Work / April 15, 2012
Walking daily with my Savior brings me joy.
Loving Father; precious Jesus;
He’s my Savior and my Lord.
Gently leads me; follow Him.
I’ve invited Him within.
Now abiding in His presence, oh, what peace.
From my self-life He has brought me,
By His mercy, full release.
Hope and comfort, peace and safety Jesus brings
When I daily bow before Him;
Obey freely; do His will.
Follow Him where’er He leads.
Listen to Him; His words heed.
Now obeying his words fully, oh, what love
That He gives me through salvation,
By His Spirit, from above.
Loving Father; precious Jesus, He’s my friend.
With my Savior, by His Spirit,
I will endure to the end.
Share the gospel, tell what’s true.
Witness daily; His will do.
Tell the world of how their Savior bled and died.
On a cruel cross He suffered
So that we might be alive.
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