PM Home Bible Study Group; September 14, 2011
Zechariah 10:1-12
Theme: The Future of the World Powers, Israel, and the Kingdom of Messiah
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
IV. The Future of the World Powers, Israel, and the Kingdom of Messiah (9:1-14:21).
A. The First Burden (9:1-11:17).
4. Additional Blessings for Israel (10:1-12).
1 Ask the LORD for rain
In the time of the latter rain.[a]
The LORD will make flashing clouds;
He will give them showers of rain,
Grass in the field for everyone.
2 For the idols[b] speak delusion;
The diviners envision lies,
And tell false dreams;
They comfort in vain.
Therefore the people wend their way like sheep;
They are in trouble because there is no shepherd.
3 “My anger is kindled against the shepherds,
And I will punish the goatherds.
For the LORD of hosts will visit His flock,
The house of Judah,
And will make them as His royal horse in the battle.
4 From him comes the cornerstone,
From him the tent peg,
From him the battle bow,
From him every ruler[c] together.
5 They shall be like mighty men,
Who tread down their enemies
In the mire of the streets in the battle.
They shall fight because the LORD is with them,
And the riders on horses shall be put to shame.
6 “I will strengthen the house of Judah,
And I will save the house of Joseph.
I will bring them back,
Because I have mercy on them.
They shall be as though I had not cast them aside;
For I am the LORD their God,
And I will hear them.
7 Those of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man,
And their heart shall rejoice as if with wine.
Yes, their children shall see it and be glad;
Their heart shall rejoice in the LORD.
8 I will whistle for them and gather them,
For I will redeem them;
And they shall increase as they once increased.
9 “I will sow them among the peoples,
And they shall remember Me in far countries;
They shall live, together with their children,
And they shall return.
10 I will also bring them back from the land of Egypt,
And gather them from Assyria.
I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon,
Until no more room is found for them.
11 He shall pass through the sea with affliction,
And strike the waves of the sea:
All the depths of the River[d] shall dry up.
Then the pride of Assyria shall be brought down,
And the scepter of Egypt shall depart.
12 “So I will strengthen them in the LORD,
And they shall walk up and down in His name,”
Says the LORD.
Footnotes:
a. Zechariah 10:1; That is, spring rain
b. Zechariah 10:2; Hebrew teraphim
c. Zechariah 10:4; Or despot
d. Zechariah 10:11; That is, the Nile
* * * * * * * * * *
Back in Zechariah 4:10, the Lord had asked, “For who has despised the day of small things?” It’s easy to despise things when they seem small and insignificant in our own eyes. It’s hard to draw hope from them—especially when God Himself promises hope from them—when they appear so weak and insignificant. And that’s how poor Judah looked upon itself in the days of Zechariah’s prophecy. They saw themselves as small and weak and insignificant; constantly humbled and harassed by the surrounding Gentile nations; hardly seeming to be anything from which anyone would draw any future expectations.
But that’s what is so remarkable about this portion of Zechariah’s prophecy. In it, God looks ahead to what He was going to do in and through His chosen people in the glorious day of the return of Judah’s promised Messiah.
This later part of Zechariah’s prophecy features two “burdens” or “oracles”. The first one, given in chapters 9-11, describes the ways that God will deal with the enemy nations that surround His people Israel. The second, found in chapters 12-14, describes the ways that God will deal with the disobedient hearts of His own people. We’re currently dealing with the first of these two burdens; and so far, we’ve seen how God promises to deal with these Gentile nations through the agency of the Grecian conqueror Alexander the Great (9:1-8). Alexander’s glories, however, will give way to the glories of the Messiah—Jesus Christ, the promised King of Israel (vv. 9-10). In 9:11-17, God had set a clear vision of hope for His distressed people; and now, in chapter 10, He expands greatly on that hope—telling His poor, scattered “sheep-like” people about how He will, one day, empower them and deploy them against their enemies like mighty battle stallions!
With God, no one should despise the day of small things! Note how He speaks of His plans for the Jewish people in the future; and tells them about . . .
I. THEIR DELIVERANCE FROM FALSE SHEPHERDS (vv. 1-3a).
A. This chapter begins with an invitation from God: “Ask the LORD for rain in the time of the latter rain” (v. 1a). The “rain” being spoken of here is the rain of the spring seasons The latter (spring) and former (fall) rains where both a picture of God’s blessings on His people (see Hosea 6:3; Joel 2:23-24), because both were necessary for the success of the crops. God here invites His people to turn to Him and ask Him for what they needed. He is their provider; as He goes on to say, “The LORD will make flashing clouds; He will give them showers of rain, grass in the field for everyone” (v. 1b).
B. The reason He needed to urge them to do this was because they had not been turning to Him as they should; and as a result, the rains had not been given. In the Old Testament, the withholding of rain was a sign of God’s displeasure (see Leviticus
26:3-5, 18-20; Deuteronomy 11:13-17; Deuteronomy 28:1-12); and in times past, they had not looked to Him. They had turned instead to the false gods and idols; concerning which Jeremiah prayed to God and said, “Are there any among the idols of the nations that can cause rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Are You not He, O LORD our God? Therefore we will wait for You, since You have made all these” (Jeremiah 14:22). Therefore, God urges His people to turn to Him again and ask Him; “For the idols speak delusion; the diviners envision lies, and tell false dreams; they comfort in vain. Therefore the people wend their way like sheep; They are in trouble because there is no shepherd.” (v. 2). Perhaps our Savior was thinking of this very prophecy when we’re told He saw the multitudes of His people and “was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd” (Matthew 9:36).
C. The Lord says further, “My anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish the goatherds” (that is, the person who leads the sheep, or the sheep that is used to lead the others). Who were these “shepherds”? Some have suggested that they were the princes and leaders of the people within Judah. And to some degree, this may have been the case. But others have suggested that, because the people had been in captivity and their natural leaders had no authority, it refers to the leaders of the surrounding Gentile nations who had been oppressing them and were misleading them into the worship of idols. In any case, God lets His people know that He does not tolerate anyone who turns His people away from Himself. He steps in, delivers His people, and punishes the shepherds who lead them into error. In this prophecy, God promises that He will do this in an ultimate sense at the time of Jesus’ return (see Matthew 24:23-25;Revelation 19:20).
II. THEIR EMPOWERMENT AS THE MESSIAH’S BATTLE STALLIONS (vv. 3b-8).
A. Not only will God rescue His flock from those who turn them away from Him, but He will also empower them and use them in the punishment of their oppressors. God says,”For the LORD of hosts will visit His flock, the house of Judah, and will make them as His royal horse in the battle” (v. 3b). What a transformation!—from a timid flock of sheep to a cavalry of mighty stallions fit for battle! Surely the poor, harassed people of Judah couldn’t have thought such a thing was possible! But they should not despise the day of small things; because it is God Himself who will do the transforming!
B. Look further, in verse 4, at the greatness He promises to His people! They will be the people from whom the Messiah Himself would come.
1. God says, “From him [that is, from Judah] comes the cornerstone . . .” This is a picture of the Messiah—a tried and precious foundation Stone for His people (Isaiah 28:16). At His first coming to His people, they rejected Him as the cornerstone (Romans 9:32-33) and ended up stumbling upon Him (1 Corinthians 1:23). But God nevertheless promised that Jesus would be their “capstone” (Zechariah 4:7); and upon Him, all else would be built (Ephesians 2:20).
2. God also says that from Judah would also come “the tent peg . . .” This not a “tent peg” that is used to hold down a tent, but rather the peg that is pounded into a post into which valuables were hung. It is a picture of the Messiah as that One on whom all the greatness of Judah would hang. As Charles Feinberg has written, “Think of how much wealth today hands on nails; masterpieces of art, costly clothing, and valuable objects of every description. An incalculable commitment has been placed on Christ by the Father: He is entrusted with all authority in heaven and upon earth (Matthew 28:18).” (Charles L. Feinberg, God Remembers: A Study of Zechariah [Portland, OR: Multnomah Press, 1979], p. 146). In Isaiah 22:20-25, it’s shown that fallible human leaders make poor “pegs” on which to hang our hopes. They die; and all that’s hung on them falls to the ground. But the Messiah will be a reliable peg upon which all will rest securely!
3. God says further that from Judah will come “the battle bow . . .” This is a picture of the Messiah as mighty conqueror. The world has seen many such conquerors. Judah was about to see one arise in the person of Alexander the Great. One day, the world would see one rise in the person of the Antichrist. But the greatest one—the final One—will be Jesus; who, in Revelation 19:11 is shown to be riding on “a white horse”; and is called “Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.”
C. We’re told further in verse 4 that, “From him” [that is, from Judah] would come “every ruler together”. But this is not to be seen as a reference to the Messiah. The word in the Hebrew for “ruler” is one that means “despot”; and we see that “every” such despot or ruler is here described as coming from Judah. Some interpret this as a promise from God that every oppressor of His people will depart from and be driven away from His people. No earthly Gentile king will rule them; for they will be ruled over by their own King from God. But the next verse seems to suggest that it would be better to see this as saying that every legitimate ruler over the world under the reign of the Messiah would come from among the Jews. As verse five says of the men of Judah themselves,”They shall be like mighty men, who tread down their enemies in the mire of the street sin the battle. They shall fight because the LORD is with them, and the riders on horses shall be put to shame” (v. 5). Of this weak and frail people, God promised, “The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising” (Isaiah 60:3); and “the nation and kingdom which will not serve you shall perish, and those nations shall be utterly ruined” (v. 12). How could such a thing as this be? God tells them, “I will strengthen the house of Judah . . .” (v. 6a).
D. And what a remarkable thing it is that God adds to this promise! He says, “. . . and I will save the house of Joseph. I will bring them back, because I have mercy on them.They shall be as though I had not cast them aside; for I am the LORD their God, and Twill hear them” (v. 6b). Note carefully that it will not only be the southern kingdom of judah that will be strengthened, but also the northern tribes of Israel (here called “Joseph”) that had been severed and separated from God’s people and sent away into seemingly-permanent exile. One of the tribes that is named after Joseph’s son is given as a picture for the whole of the northern tribes; and God says, “Those of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as if with wine. Yes, their children shall see it and be glad; their heart shall rejoice in the LORD” (v. 7). What a plan God has for the restoration—and for the strengthening—of even His most disenfranchised and scattered people (see also 9:13)! He says, “I will whistle for them and gather them,for I will redeem them; and they shall increase as they once increased” (v. 8). What a hope this must have given to Judah as well as to the scattered tribes of Israel!
III. THEIR MULTIPLICATION AS HIS RESTORED PEOPLE (vv. 9-12).
A. God’s chosen people may have seemed small in number at the time. But God goes onto promise that their numbers would be increased to greatness! Even though they had been scattered among the Gentiles—and even though the time was coming that they would be scattered again—it would not result in their loss, but rather in their gain. He says, “I will sow them among the peoples, and they shall remember Me in far countries; they shall live, together with their children, and they shall return” (v. 9). God doesn’t “scatter” them for destruction. He “sows” them with the expectation of growth. Even in the end-times, God will prove that He had record of every Jewish man of every tribe kept in the secret counsel of His own purpose! (see Revelation 7:4-8).
B. They will have been sown—symbolically—into the two nations that had been their oppressors: Judah’s captivity as represented by Egypt, and Israel’s captivity as represented by Assyria (see Isaiah 52:4; Hosea 11:11). But they would be taken away from their captors and restored to the full dimensions of the land God had given them:”I will also bring them back from the land of Egypt, and gather them from Assyria. I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon, until no more room is found for them” (v. 10). They will be a staggering number of people; because God will bless them with great numbers! What a happy ‘problem’ it will be for them when the words of Isaiah 49:19-21 are fulfilled: “For your waste and desolate places, and the land of your destruction, will even now be too small for the inhabitants; and those who swallowed you up will be far away. The children you will have, after you have lost the others, will say again in your ears, ‘The place is too small for me; give me a place where I may dwell.’ Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who has begotten these for me,since I have lost my children and am desolate, a captive, and wandering to and fro? And who has brought these up? There I was, left alone; but these, where were they?’”
C. When the people looked upon themselves—few in number, scattered here and there, troubled and distressed and harassed—they must have wondered how this could possibly happen. But God tells them that He Himself will bring this about for them. Zechariah goes on to write in words that they must have sounded familiar with because of what God had done for them through Moses long ago in their first great captivity; “He shall pass through the sea with affliction, and strike the waves of the sea: all the depths of the River shall dry up. Then the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the scepter of Egypt shall depart. ‘So I will strengthen them in the LORD, and they shall walk up and down in His name,’ says the LORD.” (vv. 11-12). The Messiah, who will come to them, will lead them!
* * * * * * * * * *
Now; this is a prophecy that is clearly intended for God’s chosen nation Israel. As Dr. Merrill Unger has written, “The tragedy is that so many Christian scholars have appropriated these and other great promises to Israel made by Zechariah to the nation Israel and applied them to the Christian Church, thus ‘mysticalizing’ their plain meaning . . . Moreover, in doing so, these scholars fail to see, or refuse to accept, the fact, that despite the difficulties which stand in the way of the literal fulfillment of these promises in their simple meaning, God pledges His own sure word and infinite power that they will yet be realized in the plain and obvious sense in which they have been recorded.” (Merrill F. Unger, Zechariah: Prophet of Messiah’s Glory [Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1963], pp. 185-6). These are wise words; and they cause us to be cautious about ripping these promises out of their proper context.
But there is a sense also in which these promises to Israel do also illustrate something to us in the church. We, as believers, do not yet seem like much in the eyes of this world—or even in our own eyes. And yet, God has promised that “it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He [that is, Jesus] is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2). What’s more, as Paul wrote, “And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly” (Romans 16:20).
Our God is a great God! And He is able to make His faithful people mighty for His sovereign purposes and for His eternal glory! May God help us not to despise the day of small things—not even with respect to ourselves as God’s redeemed people!