Zechariah 9:7

"And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth; and he also shall be a remnant for our God; and he shall be as a chieftain in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite."

The strange contrast between God's taking the blood out of the mouths of the Philistines here, and his promise that his own children should "drink blood like wine" (verse 15) points toward the vast gulf between paganism and Christianity. The reason the ancient pagans drank blood (of their enemies) was that they might inherit the bold, warlike qualities and strength of their enemies. Christians, in the most startling metaphor of the New Testament, drink the blood of Christ that they might have eternal life (John 6:53). It is impossible to deny the connection in these references.

"I will take away ... blood ... abominations ..." means that God will destroy their paganism

"He shall be a remnant ..." means that descendants of the Philistines shall become Christians. Did it occur? Indeed, yes. Philip the evangelist preached in all of these cities, Ashdod (Azotus) being specifically mentioned (Acts 8:40).

"As a chieftain in Judah ... as a Jebusite ..." "The Jebusites were the early inhabitants of Jerusalem, who were not destroyed, but gradually absorbed by their Hebrew conquerors."[20] This is the last mention of the Philistines in the Old Testament; the modern name Palestine is derived from their name."[21]

From this verse, it is clear that Zechariah prophesied, not the extermination of these people, but their amalgamation into "Israel."

The whole paragraph (Zechariah 9:1-7) is a brilliant prophecy of the campaign of Alexander the Great that led to the subjugation of this entire area. That the prophecy was in fact uttered centuries before its final fulfillment would appear to be absolutely certain, that being the principal reason, no doubt, that the Jews preserved and honored the prophecy as "the Word of God." The popular notion among critics to the effect that some joker perpetrated a fraud upon history by passing off an account of some previous event as a "prophecy" is impossible of acceptance on any intelligent basis. Where is there an example of such a thing in the total history of the human race? It simply could not be done, either then, or now, or at any other time.

And now, we turn to the text for a prophecy of the sparing of Jerusalem by Alexander.