“When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man.”
Now that we’ve covered the purpose of the Messiah in the previous verses – His blood covenant and its effect, the prophet goes on to start to speak of those who follow the Messiah. This verse is packed full, and as such, some topics will only be covered briefly. Here goes!
“When I have bent Judah for me“
The action is being performed by Jehovah. This action is the ‘bending of Judah’. We understand from the following sentence that this bending is a reference to a bow. As such, it should be then apparent that the bow is Judah, and God is the one ‘firing the bow for Himself’. The big question is, however, why mention Judah?
For brevity I will go immediately to what I think the correct explanation is: Judah represents the Messiah. The proof text is found in Genesis 49:8-10. Here we find the patriarch Jacob prophesying of the future for his son, Judah. What is important to note, is that much of what is said is not applicable to the actual man at that time, but rather to his descendants, and in particular, Shiloh (which means tranquil). To Him, said Jacob, would the people be gathered.
When we read through scripture, Judah can refer to the individual of that name, his tribe, the kingdom which consisted of multiple tribes, and I would argue, it can also refer to the Messiah. It’s interesting to note in Judges 1:1-4, we find Judah and Simeon have a conversation – except both of them were long dead. Who then is talking? It would have been the chief men/elders/leaders of those tribes. They/he is called by the name of the tribe, irrespective of his own actual name.
Now when we read of Judah in Zechariah 9, you can try using the other references in place, but they make little sense. Judah the patriarch is dead. The tribe of Judah doesn’t feature in the apostles/ministry of Christ other than Christ being in the line of Judah (which is a MAJOR thing). Finally, the nation of Judah no longer existed. That leaves us with this: Judah is a reference to the Messiah, for is He not called the Lion of the tribe of Judah? (Rev 5:5)
So here we see the Messiah being bent. That bending is symbolic of active power. The bow is not simply at rest – it is ‘charging’ up if you please, in fact the literal text for ‘bent’ means ‘to tread’. It was a reference to how one would use their feet help string up a bow. (Check out this video and note how he uses his legs/feet to anchor the bow while stringing it up) Who is doing the charging? The Almighty God. The power that would come through the Messiah is the full-force of deity. Did not Jesus Christ say in Matthew 28, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth!”?
“filled the bow with Ephraim“
In my notes on Zechariah 9:10, I delve a little into the representative meaning of Ephraim. It would do violence to the passage if Ephraim was to mean something else here as we have not changed passage. If Ephraim is meant to be understood one way in the chosen text, it should maintain that meaning in the chosen text.
So, if in verse 10 we understand Ephraim to be a reference to those God has chosen, we should understand Ephraim here to be those who God has chosen. Incidentally, read my article on Zechariah 9:10 for background on Ephraim’s meaning.
It’s of note as well that Ephraim is being placed in the bow, that is, Ephraim is the arrow. They will be launched at a target using the power that is found in the bow.
How does that play out in this text? It should read something like this: When I have filled the Messiah with power, He will empower the chosen ones to strike the target.
So far we have seen the text of Zechariah play out with absolute accuracy in history, and it continues to hit the mark.
Consider Jesus telling His disciples: “You have not chosen me: I have chosen you!” (Joh15:16) That makes the disciples of Jesus ‘chosen ones’ just as Ephraim was the chosen one against the natural order.
Consider now Jesus giving the Great Commission in Matthew 28, where He tells the disciples, “All power is given unto me.” That is, I as Messiah, having fulfilled the will of the Father now have all power. That is, He is the bow now fully drawn and ready to launch. Then He tells them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel!” That there is the target.
Right here in Matthew you find the bow fully drawn (the resurrected Christ) with the arrow loaded (the disciples) and the target (the whole world).
This second mention of Ephraim reinforces the previous explanation of its meaning. There’s a very tight and precise message the prophet was proclaiming and it all came to pass in a very brief amount of time.
“and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece,”
I will write more on this section another time, as I believe it is an incredible indictment against much of ‘Christianity’. For now I will give a quick overview. This phrase here is the prophecy of coming strife. The words ‘raised up’ can also be translated, ‘stirred up’. Add in the ‘against’ and it’s clear that there is enmity between the two parties mentioned. Let’s examine them:
Zion we have already covered, and per the rules of sound Biblical exegesis, we continue in the same vein and thus understand Zion to refer to Jerusalem – the city of God, thus God’s people. What about Greece? Well, if Zion is referring to that very city in that locality, should not Greece mean the same thing? I think that reasoning is solid, especially once we pursue that line of reasoning. Greece is referring to the Greek city states from which many major philosophies would arise. We see in this passage that Zion and Greece are at odds. Hang on, not quite. That is inferred, because it’s not Zion and Greece, but rather ‘the sons of’ and that is significant.
Zion and Greece were already at odds. Zion was the seat of the Jewish faith, while Greece was the seat of philosophy. Both would become dominant forces, and as time passed, both would pass the torch as it were to their sons. The church that would rapidly grow across the world would be the ‘sons of Zion’ whilst the Greeks would pass on their religion to many different cultures including the Roman culture. There would be a conflict between these two. Note that Paul would warn the Colossians in 2:8, beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy.
I read a book by Ben Shapiro, The Right Side of History, where he speaks of Jerusalem and Athens (one of the most prominent Greek cities) as being the foundation of Western civilization. I would agree to that, but I disagree that a Christian should be supporting both. I will write more on this as I believe it to be something many have greatly erred on. In short, many a Christian has taken on Greek philosophy and blended it with Christianity. It is not meant to go together. The prophecy of Zechariah was that there would be conflict between the two.
If Christianity is to hold true to Jesus Christ, it MUST throw Athens out. The sons of Greece can have no part with the sons of Zion, they are antithesis!
Incidentally, in Daniel 10:20, we find there is a ‘prince’ of Greece that would be at war with Heaven. That prince being a reference to an upper echelon of devils. Greece in this passage is not a friend to the people of God, but an enemy. Is it possible to see that echo in Zechariah 9? I believe it to be so. Much damage has been done to the gospel as a result of people bringing the influence of Greece into the Church.
” and made thee as the sword of a mighty man.”
We have now gone from speaking of the Messiah to speaking of those He has sent – the sons of Zion. It is these descendants of which it is said, they are as the sword of a mighty man.
Just as with the arrow, the sword has no power of itself, but is wielded. So too the Christian is not strong in themself, but rather, He that is within the Christian is mighty to save.
And finally, just as the arrow, the sword is a weapon of war. Christianity is a militant religion. As Jehu cried out to Jehoram, Peace? What peace so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?
So too must we as Christians understand and then cry out ourselves, Peace? What peace so long as sin and iniquity fills the land?
In this text we are now finding its address speaks directly to and of the Church.
There is no peace between Greece and Zion. There ought to be no peace between their sons either.
If you are a confessed Christian, then where is your target? where is your battleground? And in whose strength are you going?
Talking Bible 
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