Zec 9:11 | KingComments | STEP | The situation described in the previous verses is still future. Jerusalem is not liberated yet. There is no real independence yet. Jerusalem will be a pit in which there is no water. It is reminiscent of the history of the God-fearing Joseph, whose first prison is also a pit without water ( ; cf. ; ). In that prison will be a miserable and poor remnant ( ; ) that will be redeemed by the LORD. The basis for this liberation is “the blood of the covenant”, which is the blood of the new covenant, the blood of Christ. The “prisoners” are the prisoners of Zion. In the time of Zechariah they are those who are still in Babylon. But we may think especially of the end time. When we think of what Babylon spiritually represents as a pit without water, it is a picture of a religion of the flesh, where the Spirit, the living water, is lacking. In Exodus 24 there is also talk of covenant blood, but that blood speaks a threatening language ( ). If they do not keep the covenant, God will do to them as He does to the animals and kill them. It is the blood of judgment. However, God does not accept the people on the basis of the blood of the old covenant, but on the basis of the blood of the new covenant, which is the blood of Christ. The Lord Jesus spoke about this at the institution of the Supper ( ).

‏ Zechariah 9:11

The Blood of the Covenant

The situation described in the previous verses is still future. Jerusalem is not liberated yet. There is no real independence yet. Jerusalem will be a pit in which there is no water. It is reminiscent of the history of the God-fearing Joseph, whose first prison is also a pit without water (Gen 37:24; cf. Jer 38:6; Isa 29:4). In that prison will be a miserable and poor remnant (Zep 3:12; Isa 29:1-8) that will be redeemed by the LORD.

The basis for this liberation is “the blood of the covenant”, which is the blood of the new covenant, the blood of Christ. The “prisoners” are the prisoners of Zion. In the time of Zechariah they are those who are still in Babylon. But we may think especially of the end time. When we think of what Babylon spiritually represents as a pit without water, it is a picture of a religion of the flesh, where the Spirit, the living water, is lacking.

In Exodus 24 there is also talk of covenant blood, but that blood speaks a threatening language (Exo 24:3-8). If they do not keep the covenant, God will do to them as He does to the animals and kill them. It is the blood of judgment. However, God does not accept the people on the basis of the blood of the old covenant, but on the basis of the blood of the new covenant, which is the blood of Christ. The Lord Jesus spoke about this at the institution of the Supper (Mt 26:27-28).