Thirteen: Ekron will be like the Jebusites! - Zech 9:1-8

A prophecy:

The word of the LORD is against the land of Hadrak

and will come to rest on Damascus—

for the eyes of all people and all the tribes of Israel

are on the LORD—

[or Damascus.

For the eye of the Lord is on all people,

as well as on the tribes of Israel,]

2 and on Hamath too, which borders on it,

and on Tyre and Sidon, though they are very skilful.

3 Tyre has built herself a stronghold;

she has heaped up silver like dust,

and gold like the dirt of the streets.

4 But the Lord will take away her possessions

and destroy her power on the sea,

and she will be consumed by fire.

5 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.

6 A mongrel people will occupy Ashdod,

and I will put an end to the pride of the Philistines.

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 a clan in Judah,

and Ekron will be like the Jebusites.

8 But I will encamp at my temple

to guard it against marauding forces.

Never again will an oppressor overrun my people,

for now I am keeping watch.

I well remember, in the early months of 2020, watching with interest and then increasing concern, the progress of the Covid-19 virus as it spread from Wuhan in China to other parts of East Asia and then to Europe. It was when I saw TV pictures of people dying in hospital corridors in Italy that I realised it really could be a significant problem in the UK. Next there came news of someone from Surrey who hadn’t been abroad contracting the disease. Then we heard of Chinese tourists in a hotel in York becoming ill. It was coming near.

A similar idea of approaching crisis is found in Zech 9: 1-8.

The map shows the route an invader would take to reach Jerusalem, avoiding deserts and rivers. It takes in all the towns in Zech 9: 1-8, in the same order:

• Damascus

• Tyre and Sidon

• The Philistine towns, Ashdod, Ekron, Ashkelon and Gaza

• Jerusalem itself.

Just to prove the point, in 333BC, Alexander the Great conquered that part of the world and took exactly the same route. (This was a couple of centuries after the dates given for Zechariah’s visions in the first half of the book, although the second half of the book is undated).

Now there had been prophecies in the past of invaders heading for Jerusalem, knocking off town after town, the tension rising, as they neared the capital (Micah 1:8-16). But Zechariah’s prophecy is different. It is not an enemy drawing near. It is the Lord himself, dealing with Israel’s enemies – but what will happen when he gets to Jerusalem itself? Let’s see.

In v1, the word of the Lord is against Damascus and the neighbouring territories of Hadrach and Hamath. (Hamath is still there today; it is now called Hama and is on the main road between Damascus and Aleppo in Syria. It was caught up in the Syrian civil war which began in 2011).

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The chapter begins ‘A Prophecy’, or in earlier editions of the NIV, ‘An Oracle’. Both are translations of the Hebrew word massa, which literally means ‘burden’. Joyce Baldwin (p162-3) discusses the word and concludes, “It lays stress on the prophet’s sense of constraint in giving the message that follows. He would not have chosen to give it but he finds he has no option (cf Jer 20: 9; Luke 12: 49-50).” The word reappears just once in the book, at the head of Zech 12. The word effectively divides the second half of Zechariah into two ‘oracles’, Zech 9-11 and Zech 12-14.

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Verse 1 ends “for the eyes of all people and all the tribes of Israel are on the Lord.” This means that Jew and Gentile alike are watching the Lord’s triumphs as he moves through the entire region. There is a plausible alternative translation which read, “For the eye of the Lord is on all people, as well as on the tribes of Israel.” In this case it is the Lord’s eye that is watching out, not the people’s. That has the advantage of matching v8, at the end of the passage, in which the Lord is keeping watch, which gives a satisfying piece of symmetry. And what it means is that God has his eye on all people, not just Israel – which explains why he is acting against all these other cities too.

Now the Lord’s judgement moves on from Syria to Phoenicia, to Tyre and Sidon. These were wealthy city-states, flourishing trade hubs, wise and skilful, well-defended from attack. Tyre is so wealthy, v3 tells us, “She has heaped up silver like dust, and gold like the dirt of the streets.” She is literally filthy rich! But that doesn’t impress the Lord. In v4, “he will take away her possessions / and destroy her power on the sea, / and she will be consumed by fire.” That could mean either her sea-going power and influence will be destroyed, or her wealth will be tipped into the sea.

Either translation is possible – perhaps there’s a deliberate double meaning here – and either way, it’s devastating.

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Alexander’s conquest of Tyre in 333BCE was impressive. At one time situated on the mainland, Tyre had been rebuilt on an island half a mile out to sea and impressively fortified. It must have felt itself impregnable. Alexander had his men build a massive causeway out to the island, besiege it and conquer it within seven months. The causeway remains to this day. It’s that sort of detail that convinces some scholars that this part of Zechariah must have been written after this date.

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The Lord then turns south and heads for Philistia, the long-time enemies of Israel in former years. Traditionally there were five Philistine cities – Ashdod, Ekron, Gaza, Ashkelon and Gath. Four of them are mentioned here; the fifth, Gath (where Goliath came from) might have disappeared by this point in history, or have simply been eclipsed by one of its more powerful neighbours. Again, the Lord makes short work of them. From v5: “Ashkelon will see it and fear; / Gaza will writhe in agony, [no doubt becoming more and more anxious as they see trouble coming nearer] / and Ekron too, for her hope will wither. / Gaza will lose her king / and Ashkelon will be deserted. / A mongrel people will occupy Ashdod,[who pour in to inhabit the empty city] / and I will put an end to the pride of the Philistines.”

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The newest edition of the NIV, quoted here, has ‘A mongrel people’ at the start of v6. Older editions have ‘Foreigners’. The commentator Anthony Petterson (p219) uses the word ‘Outcasts’. King James’ Authorised Version has ‘A bastard’. The Hebrew word is mamzer, an abusive term to describe the offspring of a forbidden union, perhaps one involving prostitution or incest, or a marriage between Jew and non-Jew. The only other place in the OT that mamzer occurs is Deut 23:2, which prohibits the mamzer from entering the Lord’s assembly, even to the tenth generation. Clearly the intention is to punish the Philistines for their overweening pride (v6). I am struck afresh by Jesus’ willingness to eat with Samaritans and other ‘outcasts’, many of whom might well have been cat-called mamzer.

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Now the Philistines were renowned for their worship of idols and their bloody sacrifices to them. Such sacrifices are described in quite gruesome terms in v7: “I will take the blood from their mouths, / the forbidden food from between their teeth.” The word picture offered here is of statue-worshippers scoffing half-cooked idol-offerings, with the blood dripping down their chins. Yuk!

So is God going to wipe out the hated Philistines? And is he going to start on Israel after that, as they’ve behaved pretty badly since coming back from exile?

This is where there’s a surprise in store, in the second half of v7. Because God is going to do the exact opposite of that.

“Those who are left will belong to our God / and become a clan in Judah, / and Ekron will be like the Jebusites.” Those who are left – the remnant after God has dealt with them – are to be just like the Israelite remnant after God dealt with them. They are going to belong to God and even form their own clan within Judah! God is incorporating heathen nations into his people, just like that comic image at the end of Zech 8, in which ten people from all languages and nations grab the hem of a Jewish cloak and say, “We want to come and worship your God; take us with you!”

The end of v7 says just the same thing, but it’s so obscure I absolutely love it. “And Ekron will be like the Jebusites.” (Why not try to use that line in conversation at home today? You’ll sound very wise, I promise.)

What does it mean, Ekron will be like the Jebusites? The Jebusites were one of the old Canaanite nations. They were based around Jerusalem before it was called Jerusalem; in fact it was called Jebus. King David conquered the city in a daring raid involving climbing through a subterranean water shaft (which is still there today). The remaining Jebusites were incorporated into the nation of Judah. Admittedly they became forced labourers, so their absorption into Judah came at a very heavy price, but the point is they became part of God’s people.

Now, says God through Zechariah, I’m going to treat the Philistine cities, like Ekron, in just the same way. They’re going to be part of my people. “Ekron will be like the Jebusites!”

The passage ends with v8 when God reaches Jerusalem itself. Is it bad news? Not at all. “I will encamp at my temple / to guard it against marauding forces. / Never again will an oppressor overrun my people, / for now I am keeping watch.” His eyes are on the tribes of Israel, keeping watch over them for good and not harm, just like in v1.

Centuries later, when God came to Jerusalem in the person of Jesus, you could be forgiven for thinking that he came in wrath and judgement, rather than keeping watch for good and not harm. He flung over the tables, scattering coins, made a whip and drove out all the animals for offerings. When we have dealings with God – or rather, when He has dealings with us – we shouldn’t expect it to be an easy or comfortable affair. He doesn’t turn a blind eye to our sin. He doesn’t shrug his shoulders and say ‘there, there’ when our actions hurt others, particularly when those others are the poor and vulnerable. He deals with such actions sharply and firmly.

But what we do know is that he takes those sins to the cross with him. And dies with them, taking the punishment that we so justly deserve. And on Resurrection morning he began the process of rebuilding and renewing Israel, gathered around that same Jesus. Welcoming in the Jews, the Samaritans, the Romans, yes even the Philistines.

Perhaps you know the story in Acts 8 about Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. Philip was one of the seven deacons who were supposed to be in charge of the soup, making sure that all the widows got a fair crack at the food distribution. But Philip hadn’t read his job description properly, and, when persecution scatters everyone to the four winds, he whizzes off to Samaria, preaching the word of God, driving out demons, healing the paralysed. And there’s no mention of soup. Then an angel of the Lord tells him to head for the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza (one of the Philistine cities Zechariah mentioned). He meets an Ethiopian eunuch, tells him about Jesus and baptises him. The eunuch trundles off happily back to Ethiopia to found the Coptic church, if tradition is to be believed, and the Spirit takes Philip away.

Acts 8 ends like this: “Philip appeared at Azotus [which is Ashdod, one of those Philistine cities] and travelled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.”

Isn’t that great? Zechariah’s prophecy comes true before our very eyes, as men, women and children in the Philistine cities are added to God’s people.

In the seaside town of Bridlington where I live, we’re lucky enough to have residents who are refugees from Syria, from Hadrach, Damascus and Hamath, or thereabouts. While they were still getting settled, they used to come to our church for an advice surgery, and we sometimes had the wonderful opportunity to share with them the love of Jesus, by our actions and even our words.

Many reading this blog have the opportunity to get to know people who have moved here from other countries where the gospel isn’t so well known. And that means that we all have the chance to help fulfil Zechariah’s prophecies, to share our faith, so that people from every nation can be welcomed into the kingdom. It is both a privilege and a responsibility. So that Ekron can be like the Jebusites. And so we can hasten the day when the multitude that no one can count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, stands before the throne of the Lamb of God.