Lost Tribes Of Israel Series

Intro

Our text last week was Zechariah 10:1-4. For context, we will begin by reading that passage. “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. 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.”i

That passage flows in this way:

In verse 1 God extends a timeless invitation to ask and receive. This invitation applies to Zechariah’s generation; it applies to our generation; and it will apply to the mortals who live during the Millennium. It is the way God supplies our needs. We pray and He answers prayer.

Verse 2 warns about the deception that has led God’s people astray. Seeking sources other than God leads to confusion, deception, affliction, and oppression. It led to exile for Israel. For the Christian today, it leads to bondage and sorrow. The fundamental reason people fall into these deceptions is the lack of godly leadership. Verse 2 concludes with the phrase: “because there is no shepherd (NKJV). We know from the next verse, there were people presenting themselves in leadership. But there was no true shepherd. The narrative proceeds with God’s solution to that core problem.

Verse 3 introduces God’s intervention to solve the leadership issue. God corrects the problem in two ways: (1) He punishes the false leaders. (2) He takes care of His people, represented by Judah. Judah is specifically addressed because out of that tribe will come God’s solution for the lack of godly leadership.

Verse 4 promises the coming of Messiah who will provide the leadership needed. The cornerstone metaphor reveals him as the foundation and stabilizing influence for the kingdom. He will administer wisely and carry the glory of God (like a tent peg) and defeat oppressive enemies (like a battle bow). The result will be the vanquishing of every oppressor. From Him every false ruler will be purged from Judah.

Verse 5 appropriately follows: “Together they [Judah] 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.” This verse expounds on the promise made in verse 3 to make the people of Judah “like a proud horse in battle.” Instead of being subdued and beaten down by their enemies, Judah will be empowered by God to defeat their enemies in battle. As revealed earlier in Zechariah 9:13-15, God will use Judah to tread down the gentile oppressors. This is an event that will occur in preparation for the Millennium.ii Zechariah 9:13 lets us know Ephraim (the northern tribes) will have a part in this victory.iii

The phrase at the end of 10:5 is interesting. The NIV translates it, “and they will put the enemy horsemen to shame.” In Zechariah’s day, the cavalry was the most formidable part of the army. It represented the superior weaponry of the day. The phrase is telling us that at this end-time confrontation between Israel and the gentile armies led by Antichrist, somehow (through supernatural aid from God as declared in this chapter) Antichrist’s most sophisticated weaponry won’t defeat the Jewish nation.iv Just as a cavalry in Zechariah’s day would be confounded and embarrassed because it could not defeat an inferior force, Antichrist’s army will be confounded by their ineffectiveness against the Israelites. We are getting a glimpse of something that will happen in the last days. Keep this in mind as we proceed through the rest of the chapter. It is all eschatological; it reveals end-time events.

Zechariah 10:6 turns the focus to the northern kingdom signified by the phrase “the tribes of Joseph.” In that verse the southern tribes are signified by the term “Judah.” Judah was in focus in verses 3-5. But now God reveals his plans for the northern tribes, sometimes referred to as the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. They are called the “Ephraimites” in 10:7 because Ephraim was the dominant tribe in the northern kingdom. Zechariah 10:6 begins, “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.” Once again, we are reminded that God will not only bring the southern kingdom back to their homeland, but he will also bring back the ten northern tribes. We encountered this in our previous message where God promises to use both Judah and Ephraim to defeat the enemy. In Zechariah 9:13 God said, “For I have bent Judah, My bow, Fitted the bow with Ephraim.”