Zechariah 9:11, “…because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.”
See also Luke 22:21 and Hebrews 13:20
Long Thoughts: I was reading in Zechariah 9 this morning and noticed again the similarity between verse 11 and Hebrews 13:20, “…the God of peace…brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant…” In both verses we get this idea of God raising someone from the dead (the “waterless pit” represents exile in Zechariah 9, but the exile itself—as well as “pit” imagery—was envisioned as sort of death), of God raising someone from the dead because of or by the blood of a covenant. What does that mean?
Well, the “blood of the covenant” as seen in Exodus 24:8 was the sacrificial blood spilled to seal God’s covenant with His people in the wilderness. Much could be said about what precisely that covenant entailed, but sufficient to say, it was YHWH’s promise to be their faithful God and the people’s promise to be His obedient people. When Zechariah echoes this covenant-sealing ceremony in verse 11, he seems to be saying that it will be on the basis of that blood-sealed promise that YHWH will be faithful to His people and raise them up out of the pit of death that was their exile, bringing them back into the life of fellowship with Him.
However, we can—and this is the point of today’s picture—say more than this. Because we know that—in His faithfulness—YHWH would ultimately make a New Covenant, one that would sovereignly secure the faithfulness of every member (Jer.31:31-34, etc.). It would be through this New Covenant that He would show Himself to be both Just and the one who justifies the wayward; faithful to pour out both covenant curses and covenant blessings; and—ultimately—the one who overcomes every opposition within and without and brings His people to Himself for their lasting gladness and His lasting renown. And this New Covenant would not be sealed with the blood of sacrificial animals, but with blood of the Beloved Son, of God Himself……a thought we’d never even dare to think unless the Lord taught us to do so in His word.
Entailed in this New Covenant is the promise of the true return from exile, the true freedom for prisoners, namely—resurrection from the dead. And Hebrews 13:20 tells us that the first covenant member to receive the benefit of this blood-bought resurrection promise is the Covenant Lord Himself, Jesus Christ. He is raised from the dead (thus vindicating the work of His cross) on the basis of the covenant sealed with His own shed blood. And by His resurrection, by His return from the exile of covenant curse, by His freedom from the waterless pit, WE TOO are assured the same thing. The “waterless pit” of sin, suffering, sorrow, and death will not be the end for those who hope in the crucified and risen Shepherd….and we know this with perfect assurance because it is a promise sealed with God’s own blood.
