Judgment and Salvation on Surrounding Nations Zechariah 9:1-8

Chapters 9-14 are a new section in Zechariah, the Prophetic Plan for Israel’s Final Blessing (chaps 9-14). Charles Feinberg called the final six chapters “an incomparable treasury of prophetic truth.” These last chapters comprise two messages: 9:1-11:17, coming judgment against the enemies of Israel, and 12:1-14:21, the Lord’s ultimate deliverance of his people; each beginning with, “the oracle of the word of Yahweh.”
9:1-8 is God’s judgment upon surrounding nations through the sweeping conquests of Alexander the Great who was still future to Zechariah’s time. About 190 years after Zechariah’s time Alexander conquered the regions noted here (356-323 B.C.). The relationship between Alexander and millennial blessings is that Alexander’s conquests serve as a historic illustration foreshadowing/forewarning of Christ’s future conquest when he returns (cf. Rev 19; MacArthur).
vv. 1-2a Hadrach, Damascus, Hamath (the traditional lands of the Arameans)
9:2b-4 Tyre and Sidon (coastal territory of the Phoenicians; modern day Lebanon)
9:5-7 cities of Philistia (the traditional coastal region of the Philistines)
9:8 My house - the land of promise - “I will camp” - military encampment; Yahweh is depicted as a guard.
Applications:
The accuracy of Alexander’s movements given is nothing short of a remarkable pre-writing of history. God demonstrated his sovereignty in the moment, in the future, and his commitment to his promises. The prophecy was given to encourage the people of Israel with the thought of God’s special and sufficient protection of them in spite of harassing from unruly and hostile neighbors.
Tyre’s destruction is a message to all the world that no city or nation or army can protect anyone from judgment. Verse 4, “Lord” (adonai, v. 14) speaks to the authority and rule God has over creation.