Five Points Blog
The Divine Warrior, Savior and King
- Brent Nelson
- Mar 23, 2012
The prophecy of Zechariah near the end of the Old Testament highlights the goodness of God. How is God good? Zechariah’s answer: God protects his people from their enemies.
Hear his battle cry, “The Lord has an eye on all mankind and on all the tribes of Israel…Then I will encamp at my house as a guard…no oppressor shall march over them.” (Zechariah 9:1,8). God loves to protect his people from their enemies, like a divine warrior. It is his goodness to do so.
That’s why he promises to send a King: “Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he.” His promise is fulfilled in the coming of Jesus Christ. Matthew, Mark and Luke all see Jesus entrance into the holy city of Jerusalem as the fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy of God’s coming King. It was God’s eternal goodness that sent Jesus to the bloody cross of Calvary.
As a Divine Warrior, God not only saves us from enemies without, but the enemy within. He writes to his beloved, “Because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set prisoners free…” (v.11). The only reason for a blood covenant is to wash away the sins of God’s people. They weren’t just victims, they were victimizers as well. They didn’t only need protection, but pardon as well.
It is God’s great goodness to save us both from our enemies and from ourselves.
Yet His goodness abounds still more: we are not merely saved, but saved to shine. “On that day the LORD their God will save them,…like jewels of a crown they shall shine on His land” (v. 16). Why does God do this: “For how great is His goodness, and how great His beauty!” (verse 17).
Holy week and the events of Christ’s passion signal again: we are protected, pardoned and prized all because God is the supremely good Warrior, Savior and King.
Does not worship well up within you? Glory in His divine goodness.