{"id":29879,"date":"2024-02-09T22:00:24","date_gmt":"2024-02-10T05:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/zechariah-8_14-23-copy\/"},"modified":"2024-01-30T21:21:34","modified_gmt":"2024-01-31T04:21:34","slug":"zechariah-9_1-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/zechariah-9_1-8\/","title":{"rendered":"God’s Amazing Protection for His People"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zechariah 9:1-8 <\/strong>\u00a0(CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today’s passage is\u00a0Zechariah\u00a09:1-8.\u00a0 As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help, then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

In\u00a0Zechariah\u00a09:1-8,\u00a0Zechariah\u00a0receives a prophetic message from the Lord.\u00a0 The message is that a number of famous cities surrounding Judah would be destroyed, while Judah itself would be protected and preserved.\u00a0 About 150 years after\u00a0Zechariah\u00a0wrote down this prophecy, Alexander the Great in 332 B.C. would march through the region, destroying many of the cities mentioned in these verses, but sparing Judah.\u00a0 It goes to show that God’s Word is reliable and God’s protection is real.<\/p>\n

Zechariah<\/em><\/strong>\u00a09<\/em><\/strong>:<\/em><\/strong>1<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0(NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n1<\/sup>\u00a0<\/em>The word of the LORD is against the land of Hadrach and will rest upon Damascus– for the eyes of men and all the tribes of Israel are on the LORD–\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse\u00a01: \u00a0Damascus was the capital of Aram, which is modern day Syria.<\/p>\n

Zechariah<\/em><\/strong>\u00a09<\/em><\/strong>:2 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n2\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>and upon Hamath too, which borders on it, and upon Tyre and Sidon, though they are very skillful.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 2: \u00a0Hamath was a famous city in ancient Syria and a province in the Persian empire.<\/p>\n

Zechariah<\/em><\/strong>\u00a09<\/em><\/strong>:2-4 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n2\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>and upon Hamath too, which borders on it, and upon Tyre and Sidon, though they are very skillful.\u00a0<\/em>
\n3\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>Tyre has built herself a stronghold; she has heaped up silver like dust, and gold like the dirt of the streets.\u00a0<\/em>
\n4\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>But the Lord will take away her possessions and destroy her power on the sea, and she will be consumed by fire.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 2b-4: \u00a0At one time the cities of Tyre and Sidon were two prosperous economic centres situated along the coast.\u00a0 That’s why when\u00a0Zechariah\u00a0talks about Tyre he refers to “her possessions and her…power on the sea” (v4).\u00a0 However, after Alexander the Great sacked these two cities in 332 B.C., Tyre and Sidon never returned to their former prominence.<\/p>\n

Zechariah<\/em><\/strong>\u00a09<\/em><\/strong>:5-7 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n5\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>Ashkelon will see it and fear; Gaza will writhe in agony, and Ekron too, for her hope will wither. Gaza will lose her king and Ashkelon will be deserted.\u00a0<\/em>
\n6\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>Foreigners will occupy Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.\u00a0<\/em>
\n7\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>I will take the blood from their mouths, the forbidden food from between their teeth. Those who are left will belong to our God and become leaders in Judah, and Ekron will be like the Jebusites.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 5-7: \u00a0Now\u00a0Zechariah\u00a0turns his attention to four famous Philistine towns — Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and Ashdod — all of which\u00a0Zechariah\u00a0says God will destroy. \u00a0 This would happen 150 years after\u00a0Zechariah\u00a0writes down this prophecy.\u00a0 In 332 B.C., after conquering Tyre and Sidon, Alexander the Great conquered these Philistine towns.\u00a0 He captured Batis the king of Gaza, tied him to a chariot and dragged him throughout the streets of Gaza until he was dead — thus fulfilling verse 5 where\u00a0Zechariah\u00a0notes that “Gaza will lose her king”.<\/p>\n

Having put thousands of Philistines to death, Alexander took the remaining Philistines and sold them as slaves.\u00a0 The end of verse 7 predicts that some of those surviving Philistines would join the Jews, become believers in the Lord and leaders among God’s people in Judah.\u00a0 In this way they would be “like the Jebusites” (v. 7b), a people whom David conquered and made a part of his kingdom.\u00a0 This continues a running theme in the book of\u00a0Zechariah\u00a0about how people from different nations would become part of God’s people.<\/p>\n

Zechariah<\/em><\/strong>\u00a09<\/em><\/strong>:8 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n8\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>But I will defend my house against marauding forces. Never again will an oppressor overrun my people, for now I am keeping watch.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 8: \u00a0God is passionate for His house.\u00a0 He is committed to defending His house against opposing forces.\u00a0 In this case, the house\u00a0Zechariah\u00a0is referring to is the house of Judah.\u00a0 It is amazing that although Alexander was able to conquer so many established cities mentioned above, he did not conquer the city of Jerusalem.\u00a0 Even though at the time Jerusalem was a weak and vulnerable city, yet Jerusalem has survived till this day and remains a vital and strategic city in our modern day world, while a number of these other more powerful cities mentioned in Zechariah 9 would cease to exist.\u00a0 It goes to show that\u00a0when God is committed to protecting His house, that house will stand despite the greatest opposition<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

This God who protected the house of Judah is the same God who, 500 years later, fashioned a whip out of ropes and drove out the money changers who had turned His house into a marketplace (John\u00a02:12).<\/p>\n

This God who protected the house of Judah is the same God who protects you and me today. \u00a0<\/strong>As believers in Jesus Christ, we are God’s house, His temple.\u00a0 And if God is committed to protecting us His house, there is no opposition that can destroy us.<\/p>\n

As 1 Peter 1:5-6 says, we \u201cthrough faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. \u00a0\u00a0In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0In this world we will experience trouble, but God promises ultimate protection and safety for those who trust in Jesus, such that nothing can really harm us in the end.<\/strong>\u00a0 As\u00a0Romans 8:31 says, \u201cIf God is for us, who can be against us?\u201d<\/p>\n

Lord God, thank You that You are committed to protecting Your house.\u00a0 Thank You that I am covered in Your protection.\u00a0 A thousand may fall at my side, ten thousand at my right hand, but because You are with me, no harm will befall me (Psalm 91:7).\u00a0 Praise You, Lord, for Your Word that is reliable and for Your protection that is real.\u00a0 In Jesus’ name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today’s passage is\u00a0Zechariah\u00a09:1-8.\u00a0 As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help, then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

In\u00a0Zechariah\u00a09:1-8,\u00a0Zechariah\u00a0receives a prophetic message from the Lord.\u00a0 The message is that a number of famous cities surrounding Judah would be destroyed, while Judah itself would be protected and preserved.\u00a0 About 150 years after\u00a0Zechariah\u00a0wrote down this prophecy, Alexander the Great in 332 B.C. would march through the region, destroying many of the cities mentioned in these verses, but sparing Judah.\u00a0 It goes to show that God’s Word is reliable and God’s protection is real.<\/p>\n

Zechariah\u00a09:1\u00a0(NIV)\u00a0
\n1\u00a0The word of the LORD is against the land of Hadrach and will rest upon Damascus– for the eyes of men and all the tribes of Israel are on the LORD–\u00a0<\/p>\n

On verse\u00a01: \u00a0Damascus was the capital of Aram, which is modern day Syria.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29881,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29879"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29882,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29879\/revisions\/29882"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}