seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Zechariah 10:1
Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime;
it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms.
He gives showers of rain to all people,
and plants of the field to everyone.
2 The idols speak deceitfully,
diviners see visions that lie;
they tell dreams that are false,
they give comfort in vain.
Therefore the people wander like sheep
oppressed for lack of a shepherd.
it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms.
He gives showers of rain to all people,
and plants of the field to everyone.
2 The idols speak deceitfully,
diviners see visions that lie;
they tell dreams that are false,
they give comfort in vain.
Therefore the people wander like sheep
oppressed for lack of a shepherd.
3 “My anger burns against the shepherds,
and I will punish the leaders;
for the Lord Almighty will care
for his flock, the people of Judah,
and make them like a proud horse in battle.
4 From Judah will come the cornerstone,
from him the tent peg,
from him the battle bow,
from him every ruler.
and I will punish the leaders;
for the Lord Almighty will care
for his flock, the people of Judah,
and make them like a proud horse in battle.
4 From Judah will come the cornerstone,
from him the tent peg,
from him the battle bow,
from him every ruler.
5 Together they[a] will be like warriors in battle
trampling their enemy into the mud of the streets.
They will fight because the Lord is with them,
and they will put the enemy horsemen to shame.
6 “I will strengthen Judah
and save the tribes of Joseph.
I will restore them
because I have compassion on them.
They will be as though
I had not rejected them,
for I am the Lord their God
and I will answer them.
7 The Ephraimites will become like warriors,
and their hearts will be glad as with wine.
Their children will see it and be joyful;
their hearts will rejoice in the Lord.
8 I will signal for them
and gather them in.
Surely I will redeem them;
they will be as numerous as before.
9 Though I scatter them among the peoples,
yet in distant lands they will remember me.
They and their children will survive,
and they will return.
10 I will bring them back from Egypt
and gather them from Assyria.
I will bring them to Gilead and Lebanon,
and there will not be room enough for them.
11 They will pass through the sea of trouble;
the surging sea will be subdued
and all the depths of the Nile will dry up.
Assyria’s pride will be brought down
and Egypt’s scepter will pass away.
12 I will strengthen them in the Lord
and in his name they will live securely,”
declares the Lord.
and save the tribes of Joseph.
I will restore them
because I have compassion on them.
They will be as though
I had not rejected them,
for I am the Lord their God
and I will answer them.
7 The Ephraimites will become like warriors,
and their hearts will be glad as with wine.
Their children will see it and be joyful;
their hearts will rejoice in the Lord.
8 I will signal for them
and gather them in.
Surely I will redeem them;
they will be as numerous as before.
9 Though I scatter them among the peoples,
yet in distant lands they will remember me.
They and their children will survive,
and they will return.
10 I will bring them back from Egypt
and gather them from Assyria.
I will bring them to Gilead and Lebanon,
and there will not be room enough for them.
11 They will pass through the sea of trouble;
the surging sea will be subdued
and all the depths of the Nile will dry up.
Assyria’s pride will be brought down
and Egypt’s scepter will pass away.
12 I will strengthen them in the Lord
and in his name they will live securely,”
declares the Lord.
a. Zechariah 10:5 Or ruler, all of them together. / 5 They
This is from blueletterbible.com.
For the idols speak delusion; the diviners envision lies: The ancient Hebrew word for idols here is teraphim, meaning common household idols. Diviners consulted the spirits of idols to predict the future. God warns His people that there is no real help from either idols or their representatives (they comfort in vain).
They are in trouble because there is no shepherd: The people have listened to false and deceptive leaders, and part of the reason is because there is a lack of godly leadership.
Will make them as His royal horse in the battle: In mercy God will take His people and transform them from a flock of sheep to a herd of war horses, ready for battle. All of them shall be like mighty men and defeat their enemies.
From him comes the cornerstone, from him the tent peg, from him the battle bow, from him every ruler together: Though God is displeased with Israel's shepherds, He will raise up the perfect shepherd from and for Judah.
So I will strengthen them in the LORD, and they shall walk up and down in His name: When God gathers Israel and defeats their enemies they shall walk in freedom and liberty again. It will be like a new exodus from Egypt, complete with exodus-like miracles (He shall pass through the sea with affliction, and strike the waves of the sea: All the depths of the River shall dry up).
This is from the easy English site.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.
‘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.
One of the verses from the New Testament that gets a lot of play is "feed my sheep". For those who don't follow links.... it's from John 21:15-19. I am thinking of a packed church.... one like those packed churches of Olsteen or Baker. People are packed in shoulder to shoulder..... all wanting to hear what the "preacher" has to say. All of them are in seeking the truth. The preacher trots out on the stage and the crowd erupts..... most are there to hear how great they are and how entitled they are. The long list of man made items is punctuated with the theory that if a man doesn't act rich.... people won't believe the man has his god's attention.
Scattered through the crowd are the believers.... those who know that God doesn't require a lie to exist. God is the source of everything the trotting preacher spouts as entitlements. The trotting preacher sings the riches of the world.... a few... a handful actually hear the word that is laced in the outrageous spoutings and those few hear the true word of God.
In crowds all over the world.... there are humans who love the Lord. There are humans who believe there is only one Living God.... even though these stupid humans are ridiculed for their single mindedness....yep... and even their meanest for saying not everyone will see Heaven.... they dare to tell people "Jesus is the only way"...... they exist in every crowd.... as the others dance to the tune of entitlements, using the church and the church roster to line their own pockets..... fleecing the sheep rather than caring for them..... the leaders are using the humans who depend on them for the truth..
When God has His prophets talking about calling the people home to Judah..... He's talking about both the descendants of Jacob [Israel] and the smart humans from the other nations who recognize the True Living God.... and Believe that He has sent His only Begotten Son to save us..... for the future when the rain falls twice a year and the crop is plentiful because God is Large and in Charge again.
Sorry... I'm feeling preachy today.... fake TV preachers really get under my skin. God doesn't promise anyone a house here on earth. God doesn't promise anyone a new car every year. Jesus walked everywhere for crying out loud...... He didn't have a house... a hut... or a cave.... He had friends, relatives, people he cared for..... they didn't make Him teach to their test.... He taught them from God's truth. There are still a few of us who will stick out in the crowd when the time is right.... and He's going to call us and we'll hear Him when the others are still listening to the entitlements.
