THE EYES OF GOD
Zechariah 9:1 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. 2 And Hamath also shall border thereby; Tyrus, and Zidon, though it be very wise. 3 And Tyrus did build herself a strong hold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets. 4 Behold, the Lord will cast her out, and he will smite her power in the sea; and she shall be devoured with fire. 5 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. 6 And a bastard shall dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines. 7 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. 8 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. 9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. 10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.
This passage, even this whole chapter, reveals to us the vastness of both God’s wisdom and power! It shows his wisdom in dealing with the sinfulness of his people by bringing a foreign nation to chastise them. But, at the same time, his power is revealed in restraining that scourge from going farther than God intends! This is wonderfully summed up for us in 2 Peter 2:9! The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: For he is here in our passage, both delivering the godly, and at the same time, reserving the unjust until his appointed day of their judgment! Amazing!
We have entitled our article “The Eyes of the Lord.” But it could as well have been entitled, “Delivering and Reserving!” Let me briefly give you an overview of this situation. The city of Tyrus, listed in verses two through four above, is going to be “Reserved,” for the destruction that Alexander the Great (see verse 13 – O Greece) shall bring upon them some 186 years later!
But in verse eight, we read of God stating, And I will encamp about mine house because of the army! God is going to turn loose on that part of the world his third Gentile nation, listed as a leopard in Daniel 7:6. And these Greeks, under Alexander’s command shall bring down the Mede and Persian empire! But the Israelites are freshly back from captivity and are rebuilding their temple under God’s instruction! So there cannot be a free reign given to the Greeks to just do anything and destroy everything they come in contact with! God will be Israel’s army to encamp about it while the army is in the land!
Psalm 76:10 Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain. 103:19 The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all. 115:3 But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Ephesians 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Dear soul, be assured that there were wicked hands that crucified the Son of God, but that was not without God’s fore ordination! Acts 2:23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
The Eyes of Man
In the very first verse we are specifically told that this presently appointed judgment shall come to rest on this part of the world in order to accomplish God’s one purpose: All eyes of man shall be directed to focus on God! Every child of Adam’s race shall one appointed day come to know this very thing! God will not be ignored! Nebuchadnezzar learned this the hard way! Dan. 5:21 And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will.
Dear soul, lost or saved, every single person ever born shall give complete attention to the Lord Jesus Christ! Phil. 2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
And in verse eight, where we obtained our title, we have the very Eyes of God to assure that this happens! And this has already been brought forth! Zech. 4:10 For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth. The words, those seven refer to the seven eyes as listed in Zechariah 3:9!
Seven is a number of perfection, or completion! Therefore we understand that God sees perfectly. He sees everything, everywhere! This is the personal trait of the Holy Lamb of God, raised from the dead to rule over the entire universe! Rev. 5:6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. Seven horns reveals perfect power – his omnipotence! And seven eyes reveals all knowledge, or perception – his omniscience! Listen at this precious verse concerning our Lord’s watchfulness of his elect people! 2 Chron. 16:9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.
The Two Conquerors
Even though it will be 186 years before Alexander the Great comes to destroy the never before conquered island city of Tyrus, the Lord God tells of it here so that all will come to know that he is God! Alexander is also set forth in Daniel 8:19-21 as bringing down the Medes and Persians.
It took Nebuchadzezzar 13 years to conquer old Tyrus, situated on the mainland. But new Tyrus, built 1/2 mile out into the Mediterranean Sea felt it was invincible! But Alexander built a 1/2 mile causeway, still to be seen today, out to the city! He fulfilled God’s prophesies to the letter by using old Tyrus’ debris to form his causeway. He literally cast Tyre into the sea as the Lord had forewarned in order to gain access to it in just seven months!
But there was another conqueror mentioned in this chapter, who was not just more mighty, but who is the Almighty! For in verse nine we read of the King of Israel who is without personal ambition. He is meek and lowly (Matt. 11:29-30). And he is prophesied as coming in riding upon an asses’ colt! – Which he literally did in Matthew 21:1-9!
Proverbs 16:19 Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud. 32 He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.
And now listen to his use of the city of Tyre! First he used it for his own personal retreat during his earthly ministry. Mark 7:24 And from thence he arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an house, and would have no man know it: but he could not be hid. Then after he had conquered death, hell and the grave, one of his gospel ambassadors had fellowship with disciples he had not known before. Acts 21:3 Now when we had discovered Cyprus, we left it on the left hand, and sailed into Syria, and landed at Tyre: for there the ship was to unlade her burden. 4 And finding disciples, we tarried there seven days: who said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem. 5 And when we had accomplished those days, we departed and went our way; and they all brought us on our way, with wives and children, till we were out of the city: and we kneeled down on the shore, and prayed. Paul may have knelt on the very causeway Alexander built to give glory to the Almighty Christ!
Pastor Gene Breed
February 15, 2011