Zechariah 10:1-12

God remembers his promises

Zechariah

Gordon Churchyard

Chapter 10

v1 Ask the *LORD for rain in the springtime. It is the *LORD who makes the storm clouds. Also, he gives heavy rain to people and to all the plants in everybody’s field(s).

v2 Now, the images of false gods tell lies. And people that use magic tell lies. They talk about dreams that they do not have! (So) they comfort people in vain. Therefore, (the people) wander like sheep. They are in trouble because they do not have a *shepherd.

Notes

Verse 1 There were two rainy seasons in Israel and Judah. The first (or former) rain was in the autumn. The second (or latter) rain was in the springtime. Springtime was in March and April in Judah and Israel. They planted seeds in the autumn. The former rain made the seeds grow. The second rain came just before the harvest, so the crops were good. Zechariah tells the people that only the *LORD can send rain. The false gods (teraphim, verse 2) cannot send rain. We need rain to produce our food. Even today, only God can send rain. In verses 1 and 2, rain is a sign of what our spirits need. Only God can supply that also.

Verse 2 ‘Images of false gods’ is teraphim in the *Hebrew language. People kept teraphim in their houses and they prayed to them. We do not know how they got the answers. But the answers did not come from God. So the answers were always lies. Perhaps the answers came from people that used magic. Samuel told the people not to use magic, 1 Samuel 15:23. But Hosea 3:4 tells us that they still used teraphim 300 years later. Here, Zechariah also writes about people that use teraphim. Such people are like sheep that have no *shepherd. After the *exile, most *Jews did not use teraphim. But this verse suggests that perhaps a few people did still use them.

v3 ‘My anger was great against the *shepherds and I punished the leaders (of the people). Now the *LORD of Everything will care about his *flock (which is) the house of Judah. And he will make them like his royal horse in a battle.

v4 From him will come out:

• a corner stone;

• a *tent peg;

• a battle bow;

• They will all rule together.

v5 And they will be like heroes. They will *tread down the mud of the streets in the battle.

And they will fight because the *LORD is with them. And they will cause shame to (men) that ride on horses.

v6 And I will make the house of Judah strong and I will save the house of Joseph. And I will give them back (their freedom) because I have pity for them. Then, because I am the *LORD their God, I will answer them. They will be as if I had not sent them away (into *exile).

v7 The (men from) Ephraim will become strong. And their hearts will be glad as if (they had drunk) wine. And their sons will see (it) and they will be very happy. So their hearts will *rejoice because of the *LORD.

v8 I will blow a whistle for them and I will gather them in. (I will do this) because I have bought them. Then there will be as many of them as there were before.

v9 I scattered them among the nations. But, in distant countries, they will remember me. They will live there with their children, then they will return (home).

v10 And I will bring them back from the country of Egypt and I will gather them from Assyria. And I will bring them to the land of Gilead and Lebanon. And they will not find (enough room) for them (all).

v11 And he will pass through a sea of trouble, but he will make the waves of the sea calm. And even the deepest parts of the (River) Nile will become dry. Also, the proud people of Assyria will be humble. And the *sceptre of Egypt will go away.

v12 I, the *LORD, will make them strong and they will walk in (the *LORD’s) name.’ This is what the *LORD says.

Notes

Verse 3 ‘The *shepherds’ means the leaders of the people. ‘Leaders’ in the *Hebrew language is ‘male goats’. God says that he visited the leaders. And God adds that now he will visit the people. The word ‘visit’ is a special Bible word. When God ‘visits’ people, God may do good things for those people. Or, God may punish people when he visits them. So we have translated the first visit as ‘punish’ and the second visit as ‘care about’. The ‘house of Judah’ means the people that live in Judah. They have returned from *exile in Babylon. God sees them as his sheep, so he calls them his *flock. A *flock is a group of animals.

Verse 4 ‘From him’ may mean from Judah or from the *LORD. Verse 3 mentions both of them.

Here are three words for a leader:

• corner stone This is the stone at the top of a building that holds it together. It stops the building from falling down. A number of verses use it to mean ‘leader’. These verses include Isaiah 19:13. In Easy English’s translation, it is: ‘The princes in Zoan have made fools of themselves. The princes of Noph have confused each other. The leaders of the groups (of people) have made Egypt choose wrongly.’ The word ‘leaders’ is ‘corner stones’ in the *Hebrew Bible. Also, the verses include Psalms 118:22. In Easy English’s translation, it is: ‘The builders threw away a stone. It is now in an important place at the corner (of the building).’ Peter uses ‘corner stone’ as a name for Jesus in 1 Peter 2:5-8.

• tent peg This is something that stops the wind blowing the tent away. Isaiah uses the word to mean leader in Isaiah 22:23-24, which in Easy English’s translation is: ‘(v22) And I will put the key of the house of David on his shoulder. What he opens, nobody will close. What he closes, nobody will open. (v23) And I will fix him in place (like a) firm *tent peg. And he will bring honour to his father’s house.’

• battle bow This is the only place in the Bible where it calls a leader a battle bow. But students tell us that many countries in the East use it to describe their kings.

‘They will all rule together’ means that the ruler will have all the qualities that these words represent. Notice what he will do:

• He will bind his people together so that nothing scatters them, (corner stone).

• He will make his people safe so that they do not fear danger, (*tent peg).

• He will lead his people against all enemies, (battle bow).

These pictures describe future leaders of Judah. But they also describe Jesus, the perfect leader.

Verse 5 The leaders will be like heroes; but the greatest hero of all will be Jesus, the *Messiah! This is the language of war. The enemy is ‘(men) that ride on horses’. But it may not mean a military war. It may be a war against all kinds of evil things.

Verses 6-10 This section is mainly about Israel. When Zechariah wrote it, many people in Judah had returned from *exile in Babylon. God promised that he would make them strong, verse 6a. (‘a’ means the first part of a verse.) But the rest of verse 6, and all of verses 7-10, are probably about Israel. Israel was the northern part of the country, and Judah was the southern part. Other names for Israel in the Bible include Ephraim and Joseph. Assyria had taken them into *exile over 200 years earlier. But now God says that he will bring them home. Assyria scattered Israel in 722 *B.C. more than Babylon scattered Judah in 587-586 *B.C. (See 2 Kings 17:6.) But God will blow a whistle to call them wherever they are, verse 8!

Verse 6 Notice that God says, ‘I will answer them.’ He did not say this in Zechariah 7:13. But now he will hear their prayers. Their punishment is over.

Verse 7 This would make them *rejoice. *Rejoice means ‘show people that you are very, very happy’. It may still be in the future, because Zechariah says, ‘their sons will be happy’.

Verse 8 ‘Blow a whistle for them’ reminds us of Isaiah 5:26 and Isaiah 7:18:

Isaiah 5:26 (The *LORD) will send a signal to distant nations. And he will (blow on his) whistle to one nation from the ends of the earth.

Isaiah 7:18 On that day, the *LORD will (blow his) whistle for the flies in Egypt. They are at the upper end of the river in Egypt. And he will call for the bees in the country called Assyria. (Bees are insects.)

‘Blow a whistle for’ means that God is ‘calling for’ people, as a *shepherd calls for his animals. They will hear him wherever they are. God calls for the people that he has ‘bought’. We do not know how he bought them here. But this word has another meaning in the *New Testament. Christians believe that Jesus bought us back from the devil. This happened when Jesus died, 1 Peter 1:18-19. Here, perhaps, God looks forward to the time when that will happen. Jesus’ death was 500 years after Zechariah wrote these words. There is a note on *Satan (the devil) after Zechariah 3:1-2.

Verse 10 They will come home from Assyria, which here probably includes Babylon and Persia also. They will also come home from other countries. Zechariah mentions Egypt. He says that God will take them home to Lebanon and Gilead. These places are near Israel. So many people will come back that they will need extra land!

Verses 11-12 Here, Zechariah uses history as an *eschatological sign. God brought his people from Egypt. The story is in the Book of Exodus. He will bring them again in the near future. And many Bible students think that it will happen again before the end of the world! In verse 11, the first ‘he’ is probably Ephraim (in other words, the people of Israel). And the second ‘he’ is probably the *LORD.

Something to do

1. Read Jeremiah 27:9 and Ezekiel 22:28. They tell us about false gods and people that use magic.

2. Add to your *table after chapter 9 (Something to do number 2) Matthew 9:36.

3. If you have a map, find the places that Zechariah mentions in chapter 10.

4. Study some verses in the *Old Testament that describe God or his servant as a *shepherd: Genesis 49:24; Psalms 23; Isaiah 40:11; and Ezekiel 34:23-24.

5. Study more verses about corner stones: Judges 20:2; 1 Samuel 14:38; Job 38:6; Isaiah 28:16.

lord ~ someone in authority; ‘my lord’ means ‘sir’. With a capital L, a name for God.
LORD ~ the covenant name for God that his servants use.
covenant ~ an agreement. God’s covenant with his people was a special agreement.
shepherd ~ a sheep farmer.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke.
Jew ~ a person who is born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
exile ~ away from home; or, a person that lives away from home. ‘In exile’ means away from home.
Jew ~ a person who is born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
flock ~ a group of animals or birds; God’s people are like a flock, because he calls them his sheep.'tent peg ~ something that stops the wind blowing the tent away.
tread ~ to walk firmly on something.
rejoice ~ be very happy (and often, sing about it).
sceptre ~ a special stick that is a sign of authority.
messiah ~ leader; with capital M a name for Christ. Christ is the Greek word for messiah.
Greek ~ the language that people speak in Greece.
rejoice ~ be very happy (and often, sing about it).'New Testament ~ the second part of the Bible, which the writers wrote after Jesus came.
satan ~ someone who accuses; later it became Satan, the name of God’s enemy.
eschatological ~ about what will happen when Jesus returns to earth at the end of time. Eschatology is the study of this.
table ~ a number of boxes to show information clearly.'Old Testament ~ the first part of the Bible, which the writers wrote before Jesus came.