Charles Spurgeon Commentary Zechariah 9

The burden of the word of the LORD in the land of Hadrach, and Damascus shall be the rest thereof: when the eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel, shall be toward the LORD. And Hamath also shall border thereby, Tyrus, and Zidon, though it be very wise. And Tyrus did build herself a stronghold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets. Behold, the Lord will cast her out, and he will smite her power in the sea; and she shall be devoured with fire.

Alexander the Great besieged Tyre, and utterly overthrew it. The citizens thought that their "strong hold" was impregnable, but they had at last to surrender to the mighty monarch whose attacks they had so long resisted. All the mercenaries whom they could procure with their heaped-up silver and gold could not avert the doom which the Lord had foretold, and which, through the instrumentality of Alexander, he accomplished: The Lord will cast her out, and he will smite her power in the sea.

Ashkelon shall see it, and fear; Gaza also shall see it, and be very sorrowful, and Ekron; for her expectation shall be ashamed; and the king shall perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited. And a bastard shall dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines. And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth: but he that remaineth, even he, shall be for our God, and he shall be as a governor in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite. And I will encamp about mine house because of the army, because of him that passeth by and because of him that returneth: and no oppressor shall pass through them any more: for now have I seen with mine eyes.

When Phoenicia had fallen into the hands of the conqueror, there was no power able to avert the overthrow of Philistia; and Jerusalem would also have come beneath his sway had not the Lord miraculously interposed for its preservation. Alexander was restrained by a power which he perhaps did not understand, but which he could not resist, so he passed by the holy city of which the temple of the Lord was the glory in the midst. Those who are divinely protected are in absolute safety even in the most perilous times. The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.

The burden of the word of the LORD in the land of Hadrach,—

Or, Syria,—

And Damascus shall be the rest thereof: when the eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel, shall be toward the LORD. And Hamath also shall border thereby; Tyrus,

That is Tyre.

And Zidon, though it be very wise. And Tyrus did build herself a strong hold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets. Behold, the Lord will cast her out, and he will smite her power in the sea; and she shall be devoured with fire.

This prophecy was literally fulfilled. Tyre was attacked by Alexander the Great, and after withstanding a long siege, was destroyed by him.

The strength of the city lay in the fact that it was built right out into the sea and that it was protected by a vast, massive hole. Also, as a great trading center, it possessed enormous wealth and so was able to hire mercenary soldiers.

But all its power and its wealth could not preserve it from destruction; and although we read of Tyre in the New Testament, it is now only a place for the drying of the nets of a few poor fishermen, just as Ezekiel foretold it would be (Ezekiel 36:14).

When God foretells destruction, it always comes; but, blessed be his holy name, when he promises blessing, that comes just as surely.