Zechariah 9:10 Commentary and Bible Study

‘And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim’, which means the opponents of Israel. Ephraim was the largest tribe of the former northern kingdom, and the chariot refers to her enemies, who brought her down. ‘And the horse from Jerusalem’ – it is enemy horses that are in mind here – ‘and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen.’ This will take place at the coming of Christ – it is connected with verse nine. There will be a period of non-aggression towards Jerusalem and Judah and Jews in particular for the spreading of the gospel. It will resume afterwards, but there will be a peaceful period, with the coming of Christ, and peace or reconciliation will be preached to the Gentiles, the heathen. ‘And his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.’ Zechariah is quoting David in Psalm 72:8. Zechariah links his prophecy to that of David. The one he is speaking of, the one who comes on the colt of an ass is the same one that King David spoke of who will have dominion from sea even to sea. When that was spoken of David it referred to the kingdom at the time of David, but now these words are used symbolically to indicate that Christ's kingdom will be worldwide. It is not just over a small territory in the Middle East, but will stretch around the whole earth. The Christian church is the only world empire. The New Testament church will be described in Old Testament language. That is the way of the Old Testament prophets: they describe the church in terms of Jerusalem, Ephraim, Judah. Some foolishly interpret such prophecies in a literal way, and then feel compelled to say that the prophecy belongs to a time in the past when Ephraim was still in existence as a tribe. Others say this is about restoration of the Jews in the future. Of course not. Ephraim, the biggest tribe, stands for the whole nation, which in turn stands for the New Testament church. When Christ comes it will not be about battles fought with carnal weapons, but about spiritual victories.