The LORD is coming not just as Conquering King, but as Savior for His people.  We have seen this somewhat already in the first time He came to save His people from their sins.  Yes, He will come to judge the living and the dead, but in the broader view of things, He is coming to save His people from the power and presence of sin and to permanently fix the brokenness caused by sin.

When all the armies of the earth come against them, the LORD will be their Shield and Defender--none of the attack of their enemies will harm them.  He will then make His attack and it will be swift like lightning and will hit its mark--all the enemies of the LORD and the LORD's people will be destroyed.  The people of God will have courage that is found not in wine like many soldiers of that day, but by being filled with the Spirit of the LORD.

On that day, He will be like a Shepherd who saves and defends His sheep.  For His flock are like the jewels of a crown to Him.  He will clothe them in righteousness and make them holy so that they will reflect His glory.  Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised!  He is beautiful beyond description--too marvelous for words! He will bring forth an abundance of grain and new wine so that everyone will have their fill and be satisfied and will rejoice that man is again at peace and in perfect union with the LORD.

You may recognize this prophecy as being fulfilled on Palm Sunday.  The king (The Messiah) is coming.  The king riding in on a donkey is a symbol of peace, not war.  So, when Jesus comes the first time He came for peace--to make peace between God and men, but when He comes the second time, He will come riding on a white horse to make war with all of His enemies.

The next part talks about the perfect peace that He will establish during His Millennial Kingdom (so we have one prophecy that is discussing aspects of both the First and Second Comings).  He will destroy all of His enemies and the enemies of His people so that they will be in perfect peace and no longer need instruments of war.  All the remaining people of all the remaining nations will be at peace with Israel and His Kingdom here on Earth.

He will set the captives/prisoners free (we know He already did this spiritually by setting us free from our bondage to sin, but is there a physical fulfillment to come of this?  We will see.).  This is a great word to the people who have returned from Exile that the LORD will serve them a double-portion of grace so that the blessings will overflow on them after they have been far away and cut off for such a long time.  Yet, we end with the idea that today is not the day when there will be peace because Greece is raising its head as the next world superpower and they too will mistreat the people of God and God will judge them.  So, these promises are ultimately for another generation, but they give this generation the hope that they need that in the end God and His people win and everything God promised to them will happen--they may just have to wait for it in the coming Kingdom.

The LORD goes from north to south naming Israel's remaining enemies that He is going to deal with--the people of the lands of Hadrach, Damascus, Tyre and Sido, and the Philistine city-states of Ashkelon, Gaza, and Ekron.  Why would the LORD do this?  Because He is going to defend them as He just promised and bring them peace on every side, but also because He wants justice to be done for how these nations have sinned against Him and against His people.  He will make available for His people all the Land He has promised to them (though they will not take it)--everything from Damascus in the North the region of Goshen (the Nile River Dellta) in the South was to belong to them. 

The LOR will cause the abominations these people commit to be removed from His sight because they will die and enter eternal judgment for them.  No more would the LORD hear the cries of their innocent victims go unanswered (especially the cries of His people in Israel).  The LORD will guard and defend His people so that no oppressor will ever again march over them.  Did that happen completely?  No.  We know they were controlled by Greece and Rome and Rome invaded and destroyed the Temple and dispersed the people.  Also, Israel does not stretch from Damascus to Gaza and down into Goshen today, so there is still some of this to be fulfilled.  I believe that this is partially fulfilled now as the LORD has defeated all the enemies that tried to make war with His people, but a better day is coming when there will be no enemies to take up arms against them.

We don't normally think of jealousy as a positive trait, but it is when God is the one who is jealous for His people.  He will not share them with any false gods or anything that steals glory or worship that only He deserves--everything else is just a cheap imitation that is unable to save or deliver His people in their time of need.  The LORD promises that He will return and again dwell with His people and the reputation of Jerusalem will be restored as it will be called the Faithful City and Mount Zion will be called the Holy Mountain.

The streets of the city will be filled with the elderly and young children.  People will live a long, peaceful life, and they will be blessed with lots of children and grandchildren.  This seems impossible in the moment, but the LORD promises that He will do it.  He will save them from all their enemies and He will be their God and they will be His people.

Before the Exile the people were judged because the LORD was trying to get through to them that they needed to repent and listen to His Word spoken through His prophets.  Everyone suffered on account of the unrighteous majority, but the LORD promises that now everyone will be blessed.  The Land will again produce good harvests.  Their curse and shame will be removed.  Where the LORD resolved to be against them in the past, He is now resolved to be for them and to bless them.  However, this should not be a reason for them to become evil once again.  They should obey the LORD because He loves them and they love Him in return.

Now we get to the answer to the question brought up in our previous passage about keeping the days of fasting that were prescribed in the fourth, fifth,  seventh, and tenth months (even more than they originally asked about).  The LORD tells His people that these days of fasting will become joyous occasions for them.  They will be days for the people to remember that every good and perfect gift comes from the hand of the LORD and they will go together to plead for Him to provide for their every need (not their every want).  This will be a sign for the nations that the LORD is not just Defender but also Provider for His people and that they completely trust Him to take care of their every need.  Do the other gods that the Gentiles worship have that kind of reputation?  Certainly not!  There is none like the LORD our God! Therefore the other nations will also come to Jerusalem to plead with the LORD when they are in need.  They will see that He alone can be an ever-present help in times of trouble.  They will hear that the LORD is with His people and He lives among them and they will want to come and see what that looks like--both their fasting and their feasting will be a testimony to the world of how great the LORD is.

Men come from Bethel to inquire of the LORD whether they should still observe the days of fasting that they have been observing while in Exile now that they have returned to the Land and the Temple is rebuilt.  One of the days of fasting (Yom Kipur, The Day of Atonement).  The LORD asks them why they were fasting?  Was it for Him or for themselves?  Certainly they believed the days of feasting were for themselves, and they weren't asking if they should give up on the feast days.  Why are they so quick to give up the solemn days that are meant to show us our need for the LORD and His daily provision?  While there is no definite "Yes" or "No" given, I believe an answer of "No" is implied and the Jewish people still celebrate both the days of fasting and the days of feasting.

The LORD will ultimately answer their question in the next passage we study (he will tell them their times of fasting will even be a time of joy and celebration), but He now reminds them that their Exile and the desolation they see around them is a result of their hard hearts and they need to solemnly focus on the spiritual restoration that is needed--not just the physical restoration.  The LORD will take care of both the people and the Land as we'll see next time.

We are now done with the series of visions that came back full circle, and Zechariah is now going to be given instructions to speak to a group of exiles that are returning from Babylon.  They will be bringing silver and gold with them which Zechariah is supposed to take from them to give to Josiah the son of Zephaniah to make a crown.  Then they are to put the crown on the head of Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest.

Then a message was given to Zechariah to give to Joshua the high priest.  Joshua is referred to as "The Branch" (though he is but a prophetic type of the true Branch that was to come, who is Jesus).  Joshua was the one selected by the LORD to rebuild the Temple and be the spiritual leader of His restored people.  This prophecy will ultimately be fulfilled by Jesus who will be both High Priest and King over His people whom He has built into a Temple of praise.   The crown would remain in the Temple of the LORD as a reminder of this promise.

Then the LORD promised that He would even cause the other nations to come from far away to help rebuild the Temple.  In this way, the people would know this was a miracle of the LORD.  All they need to do is obey His Word and He will work out all the details.  They have not to worry about.  It's too big for them to do, but not too big for Him to do.

Zechariah sees another vison--this one with little to no explanation, but we assume this has to do with the big theme of the Day of the LORD.  These horses and chariots would go north and south to make war against the enemies of the LORD and the enemies of Israel until the Spirit was at peace (remember how the spirit is grieved and provoked by sin, especially unrepentant sin that remains unpunished).  These are the horses that we saw returning from their mission in chapter 1:7-17.  As the "Got Questions" article on all the visions of Zechariah says, this makes the visions come full circle--we end where we began.  The LORD will judge the earth so that His Spirit will be at rest and to bring peace and rest to His people who have suffered judgment and persecution for a long time.

These four horses may or may not be related to the four horsemen of the apocalypse (three of the four horses match in description.  If so, the fourth that is called dappled here is called pale there in Revelation 6).  They certainly go out to bring judgment on the whole world but I don't see the judgment of War, Antichrist, Famine and Death being focused on either the North or the South, thought maybe they start in one of those places and progress throughout the entire world.  You can read more about the four horsemen in Revelation 6 and I have a journal article about them from when I studied that passage.