Conquered and Converted

III A Series of Revelatory Oracles

A Retribution, Text: 9:1-8

Title: Conquered and Converted

Introduction

There are two ancient people groups whose names should be easy to remember. The first is Phoenicia and I am sure you have heard of the phonetic alphabet which was passed down to us from the ancient Greeks and Romans. It originated with the Phoenicians and that’s where the name came from. The second is Philistia and I am sure you have heard of Palestine and the name of that region is derived from the ancient Philistines who lived there. Phoenicia and Philistia were maritime nations settled by seafaring peoples along the Mediterranean coast. The territory of Phoenicia was on the northern coast and impinged on the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The territory of Philistia was on the southern coast and impinged on the southern kingdom of Judah. These are important because our text is a prophecy against these peoples who were traditional enemies of the Jewish people. They were warrior peoples with sailing ships at sea and horses, chariots and archers on land. The most dramatic phase of Philistine history begins in the period of the Judges when the Philistines were the principal enemy of and the major political threat to Israel. Most of us know the story of Samson, the Judge, who fought the Philistines and was ultimately betrayed into their hands by Delilah. In his death he slew more than in His life because he destroyed the temple of their god Dagon. The conflict reached crisis proportions in the battle of Ebenezer in I Samuel, when the Israelites were soundly defeated and the ark of the covenant, brought over from Shiloh, was captured. During the time of Samuel, the Israelites defeated the Philistines at times, but, the conflict continued and Saul was killed by Philistines, and then David ultimately defeated them. In general the Phoenicians are not identified by that name, but merely as Canaanites. They were primarily a merchant people and their greed is condemned in many Biblical prophecies about Tyre as here in Zechariah 9:3, She has heaped up silver like dust, and gold like the dirt of the streets. Tyre and Sidon were the main port cities of Phoenicia. The biggest conflicts came in the period of the judge Deborah and in the reign of the wicked King Ahab who had married Jezebel. Deborah and Barak won a celebrated battle against Jabin, King of Hazor. Jezebel was successful in getting Ahab to institute Baal worship in Israel and also pursued and killed the prophets of the Lord while the prophets of Baal and of Asherah, eight hundred and fifty in all, ate at Jezebel’s table. Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel and restored the allegiance of some of the people. The main burden of this prophecy is condemnation and destruction of the enemies, but we need to look at the conquered, the converted and the covered because all three are mentioned.

I The Conquered

Most of our text is taken up with retributive judgments against these aforementioned peoples. Verses 1-4 are dealing with cities of Phoenicia, and we read, 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—and upon Hamath too, which borders on it, and upon Tyre and Sidon, though they are very skillful. Tyre has built herself a stronghold; she has heaped up silver like dust, and gold like the dirt of the streets. But the Lord will take away her possessions and destroy her power on the sea, and she will be consumed by fire. Verses 5 and 6 speak of the cities of Philistia, 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. Foreigners will occupy Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines. Gaza was the place where Samson toppled the Temple of Dagon on his enemies, giving his life in the process. There is a parenthetical clause in verse 1 that suggests that the children of Israel needed this judgment on their enemies and were looking for it, “For the eyes of men and all the tribes of Israel are on the Lord.” There is a Moody Sermon from Science film on fulfilled prophecy that shows bare rock with fisherman spreading nets on the site of ancient Tyre. This came about through Alexander the Great. For eighteen years Assyria and Babylon had besieged the city and failed, but Alexander built a land bridge in 332 BC from the mainland to the island protecting the city and conquered it. Zechariah’s prophecy was made about 480 BC so it was over a century and a half before its fulfillment. In the centuries preceding Israel and Tyre had amicable relations. Hiram king of Tyre supplied the cedars for Solomon’s temple and one of His skilled workmen, Hiram of Tyre, A master craftsman from the Phoenician city of Tyre, also named Hiram, performed great work on the Temple, and was singled out for mention. Thus we conclude that the controversy was primarily between God and Tyre because they were idolators and their primary god was the protector of the universe, often called Baal. The son, Baal or Melqart, symbolized the annual cycle of vegetation and was associated with the female deity Astarte in her role as the maternal goddess. The cities of Philistia mentioned were those constantly warring with Israel and thus excited the wrath of both the Hebrews and their God. These were the peoples conquered, but who was converted?

II The Converted

The conversion is described in verse 7, 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. The Philistines would be converted to the Lord. This process of conversion would involve the removal of two things and those are their idolatry and their isolation.

A Idolatry Removed

The first part of verse 7 speaks of the removal of their idolatry. In their pagan religions they drank blood offered in sacrifices but now God “will take the blood from their mouths.” They also ate of sacrifices offered to idols and which probably involved animals forbidden by Mosaic law, so God will take the “forbidden food from between their teeth.” The presence of blood was and still is forbidden in the Israeli diet: that is the meaning of kosher. Ezekiel condemned this practice even among God’s own people in 33:25, Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Since you eat meat with the blood still in it and look to your idols and shed blood, should you then possess the land? David declared his scorn this kind of idol worship in Psalm 16:4, Their drink offerings of blood will I not offer. But now those offensive abominable practices are removed even from the Philistines.

B Isolation Removed

In the latter half of verse 7 we are told that the remnant of the Philistines after the judgment will become leaders in Judah, literally chiefs in Judah. They were among the worst if not the worst enemies of God’s people in Canaan, yet, they are to be no longer aliens but members of the covenant community. Moreover, they will not be inferior, but will be leading citizens in the spiritual Israel. Then we are told that Ekron would be as the Jebusites. Ekron was one of the least important cities of Philistia, but they shall be, as those of the Canaanite nations who were not destroyed, nor fled, but in the very capital and center of Israel’s worship. The Jebusites were the ancient inhabitants of Jerusalem conquered by David and incorporated into Israel. We read in Joshua 15:63, Judah could not dislodge the Jebusites , who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the people of Judah. The Jebusites who persisted as inhabitants of Jerusalem comprised an important faction in the Kingdom of Judah, including such notables as Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Bathsheba, the queen and mother of the next monarch, Solomon. Also Melzhizedek King of Salem in Genesis 14 who became the pattern of Christ’s priesthood was a Jebusite. There is an interesting twist to David’s conquering the city of Jebus. The Jewish Rabbi Rashi was an outstanding Biblical commentator in the eleventh century AD. He helped perpetuate the rabbinical account that when Abraham bought the cave of Macpelah in Jebusite territory as a grave for Sarah the Jebusites compelled him into an agreement that they would retain their city and land. When David came to claim the city we read in II Samuel 5:6, Now the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, and they said to David, “You shall not come in here, but the blind and lame will turn you away”; thinking, “David cannot enter here.” According to the rabbis the reason they thought David could not enter was the prior covenant with Abraham which had been engraved in two statues one of which was blind representing Isaac and the other lame representing Jacob. Thus the statues of the covenant stood as a barrier, but David and his men took the city anyway, but the Jebusites continued to live in peace in the city. The Philistines would become like that, brought into the kingdom and supplying important leaders. There was a Christian film entitled “Beloved Enemy” in 1964. It explored the relationship between a skeptical scientist and a Christian woman. She refuses to marry him. In an effort to prove Christianity is wrong, the skeptic becomes convinced of the resurrection of Christ and thus the enemy becomes one of the beloved. This happens all the time in the new covenant as Zechariah pictured it. The enemies become the friends.

III The Covered

The covered are those under God’s protection as we read in verse 8, But I will defend my house against marauding forces. Never again will an oppressor overrun my people, for now I am keeping watch. But who is it that is covered? God’s people and God’s house are covered. This prophecy was fulfilled in a remarkable way, but we must also understand its limitations. This prophecy is intended to cover the period between the return from exile and the coming of Messiah. As they say, the game changes after the arrival of Jesus because the composition and configuration of the house of God changes. In the Old Testament it was the house of Israel, but in the New Testament era it is the church as declared in Hebrews 3:3-6, Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,” bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory. Thus, the protection of the house of God is now in Christ. Now the specific incident referred to in the prophecy had already been spoken of by Daniel and it was the goat of his vision in chapter 8 which represented Alexander the Great, the Macedonian or Greek conqueror. Alexander left a wide swath of nations conquered and placed under tribute from the Persian empire to Egypt. Josephus, the Jewish historian, in Jewish Antiquities, Book 11 reports how the Jews escaped. “But with the marvelous perception which characterized him, he saw and impressed upon his successors the dependableness of the Jewish people. When he came into Judaea, he sent to the high priest for aid against Tyre and for the like tribute as he used to pay to Darius, promising that he would not repent of choosing the friendship of the Macedonians. The high priest refused on the ground of the oath, by which his people were bound in fealty to their earthly king, whom Alexander came to subdue. Alexander threatened to teach all, through their fate, to whom fealty was due. This, after the conquest of Gaza, he prepared to fulfill. He came, he saw, he was conquered…The gates of the city were thrown open. There marched out, not an army such as encountered the Romans, but as he had been taught, a multitude in white garments, and the priests going before in their raiment of fine linen. The high priest, in his apparel of purple and gold, having on his head the mitre, and on it the golden plate, whereon was written the name of God, advanced alone, and the Conqueror, who was expected to give the city to be plundered, and the high priest to be insulted and slain, kissed the name of God.” Josephus goes on to tell us that Alexander promised to allow the Jews in Judea to live according to their own laws, remitted the tribute of every seventh year. Those in Babylonia and Media, and many other Jews joined his army, under condition that they might live under their own laws. As a result many Jews were absorbed into the Macedonian-Greek culture and they became a large portion of the second and third then known cities of the world. They became Alexandrians, Antiochenes, Ephesians, without ceasing to be Jews. Thus were they covered as prophesied by Zechariah. But that protection cannot begin to rival the protection we now have in Christ because of what Paul writes in Romans 8:38 and 39, For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.