Zechariah 9:11

By the blood of thy covenant i have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water

The delivered prisoners

Enlarge on the Gospel promise in immediate connection with the text.

It calls on the daughter of Zion to rejoice in the coming of the Saviour. It describes His character; the nature of His kingdom; the means by which it shall be spread; and the extent of it. The deliverance of the Jews from captivity was a step towards the coming of Messiah, and the earnest of it. Just as, through the remembrance of His covenant with Israel by blood, God delivered the Jewish Church, so through the “blood of the everlasting covenant” does He deliver His people under the Gospel.

I. The prisoners and their prison house. “Thy prisoners.” This most aptly describes the state of those who are convinced by the Spirit of God of their lost and undone condition, and who are looking only for wrath. The prison house of such is described as “the pit wherein there is no water”; i.e. no comfort, no peace. No way of escape is apparent, and if the prisoner remain in it, he dies. But, though the pit is deep and horrible, yet the prisoner’s voice can be heard, when he calls for deliverance; and his voice is never unheeded. Therefore let all prisoners cry mightily unto Him that is able to save.

II. The way of deliverance. Justice must be satisfied ere the mouth of the pit can be opened. This is implied in the expression--“the blood of the covenant.” Jesus covenanting to shed His blood for their ransom--the Father covenanting to accept this ransom, and to set the prisoners free on account of it. Enlarge on this covenant as a covenant of promise, the greatness, the freeness, the sureness. How is this belief, this trust in the promise, brought about? Faith by hearing, hearing by the Word--the Spirit of God applying. (John D. Lawe, M. A.)

The blood of the covenant

1. The deeper any of the people of God be in trouble, they lie nearer His heart and help: and He would have them look on the comforts of the kingdom of Christ and the covenant, as especially intended for them, therefore doth He apply the general comforts of Christ’s kingdom to the distressed Jews.

2. As the afflictions of the Lord’s people may be very bitter, and so ordered aa they may be trials indeed; so there will be special notice taken of them when their rods become so insupportable that there is no subsisting under them; for He eyes them, when they are prisoners “in a pit, wherein is no water,” as some time they may be.

3. God entering in a covenant with His people, condescends to take in all their outward necessities, and engages to have a care of them in these as well as in things spiritual; and so all their mercies come by covenant; for it is by “the covenant that the prisoners are sent forth.”

4. The mercies of the Church are not only rich and refreshful in themselves, and in their original, that they come through a covenant of love, but in their purchase, that they are bought, and the covenant concerning them made sure by the blood of the Son of God. “By the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners.”

5. The Lord minds His covenant, and through and for Christ makes the promises of it forthcoming for His people’s good, when they have broken it on their part; for, though for their perfidiousness they were scattered, yet the covenant stands to bring them back. (George Hutcheson.)

What Christ has done for, and what He is to His people

Though this passage may refer to many temporal blessings bestowed upon God’s ancient Church; yet its spiritual significance is immediately connected with the kingdom of Messiah.

I. The ruined state of the Church. “Prisoners in a pit wherein is no water.”

1. The degradation of this state.

2. The pollution of this state.

3. The misery of this state.

4. The hopelessness of our state.

II. The means of accomplishing our salvation.

1. God is the Author of redemption.

2. Redemption was effected by the blood of the covenant.

3. By the covenant blood the circumstances of the Church are altered.

III. The present state of God’s redeemed people according to their names. “Prisoners of hope.”

1. Until delivered they are actually prisoners--to sin, Satan, the law; and they are delivered also from the bondage of a corrupt and stubborn will. Under the Gospel dispensation every vessel of mercy is delivered by the Lord Jesus Christ, and is brought into a lively hope of eternal glory by faith of the operation of the Spirit.

2. Then this hope is in Christ.

3. This hope is according to the Word.

4. It is a sure hope of eternal life.

5. It is a present security to the soul.

IV. Christ is a stronghold to all His people.

1. From error and unbelief.

2. From sin and Satan.

3. To God they turn generally.

4. To God in Christ especially. “I will render unto thee double.”

(1) Pardon and righteousness.

(2) Great peace of mind.

(3) Full assurance of understanding.

(4) Joy here, and certainty of glory hereafter.

(5) Salvation of soul and body, from sin, death, and hell. (T. B. Baker.)