Zechariah 10: 1- 12
Whistle while He works
1 Ask the LORD for rain in the time of the latter rain. The LORD will make flashing clouds; He will give them showers of rain, grass in the field for everyone. 2 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. 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 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 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.
Have you ever dreamed of finding a genie in a lamp where you could get three wishes? Our Pastor, who is in charge of the prison ministry, always tells the same joke because the prisoner population has a new turnover each time he visits. He always sets them up by asking if they had heard of the attempted prison escape? He tells them that three inmates dug under the wall and came upon this metal canister. When one rubbed the jar to see if it had any writing on it, a genie appeared. He told them that since there was three of them; they would be granted one wish each. The first guy wished to be on a tropical island with 50 beautiful women and all the food and beer they could consume for a lifetime. All of a sudden this guy disappeared. The second guy wanted the same as his partner except he wanted twice as much. Wham, he disappeared. The third guy started crying. The genie asked him what was wrong. He said he missed his friends and wished they were back with him.
I hope you got the punch line.
Our Holy God Is Awesome. He provides us with great gifts that we do not deserve. He says this to us in the gospel of Matthew chapter 6 verse 8, ‘Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.’ I also like these passages;
Matthew 7: 7 - 11, ‘Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!’
John 14: 13 – 14, ‘And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.’ If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.’
So, how come we do not ask our Holy Creator God for things? Is He too busy? Has He denied you some past requests, so you don’t speak to Him anymore? Has He only answered little prayer requests, not the miracle size prayer requests? Do you think you do not have to ask Him for anything? I am sure you may have a few more possible excuses. Our God wants to bless you far more than you can ever think or dream. My favorite verse is Ephesians 3 verse 20, ‘Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,’ Anyone else want to claim this verse as their favorite also?
In chapter 10 of the book of Zechariah our Holy Adoni Jehovah Jireh – The Lord Who Provides has promised the Israelites His blessings. All they have to do is ask. Look at what He says,
1 Ask the LORD for rain in the time of the latter rain. The LORD will make flashing clouds; He will give them showers of rain, grass in the field for everyone.
Rain? What about the things our friends had asked for in our opening statement? Yes, rain is what we all need. We need showers of blessings from our God for both our spiritual and physical needs. If He gives the ‘rain’ it will cause the crops to grow and our hearts will blossom with good fruit. The prophet Isaiah teaches us in chapter 44, 1 “Yet hear me now, O Jacob My servant, and Israel whom I have chosen. 2 Thus says the LORD who made you and formed you from the womb, who will help you: ‘ Fear not, O Jacob My servant; and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. 3 For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring; 4 They will spring up among the grass like willows by the watercourses.’ 5 One will say, ‘I am the LORD’s’; another will call himself by the name of Jacob; another will write with his hand, ‘The LORD’s,’ and name Himself by the name of Israel.
Here we see that ‘rain’ and the pouring out of our Precious Holy Spirit go together. The blessing of God is poured out in ample supply that fills our lives with joy and life. Thank you Holy Creator.
The importance of rain for farmers cannot be stressed enough. We need rain at just the right time and in the right proportions. If you receive the rain too early or late your crops will suffer. If you do not receive rain or too much rain your crops will die. Do you see now how important this is? We read in the bible the terms ‘former’ and ‘later’ rain. In Israel the rain season began around October and lasted to about April. The rest of the time the rainfall was very limited. Sometimes the farmer would long for a nice refreshing shower for his fields near the harvest just to see the crops grow larger from the needed nourishment. Our Lord promises His people that He will keep the right balances of rain to sunshine for bountiful crops.
The Great and only Living God Yahweh Is the only One Who can give the rain and accompanying lightning, ‘The LORD will make flashing clouds; He will give them showers of rain, grass in the field for everyone.’ We read this is the book of Jeremiah chapter 14, ‘22 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.’
A question the people were asking and maybe we also have considered is this, ‘If God Is so powerful then how come the people are having such difficult times. The answer lies in whom they are seeking and listening to. We read throughout the last few chapters how our Holy Father is promising His people a great future but presently they are unresponsive, disobedient, ill taught, and badly led by false teachers and shepherds.
2 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.
Our Lord showed exactly what the problem was. Instead of putting all their dependency on the only One True and Living God, they were being deceived by false shepherds. The people have been hearing about the future from false sources.
The beginning of verse 2 in some bibles reads, ‘For the teraphim have spoken vanity’. Now I use to think that teraphim were angels. You know - seraphim, cherubim, and teraphim. But that was then and this is now. We find about seraphim in the book of Isaiah and cherubim in the book of Ezekiel and they are angels. However, teraphim are household idols. There is something existing in these little stone, wood, and metal images and these are demons who lie.
Do you remember in the book of Genesis chapter 31 why Laban was so upset that his little family idols were missing, 22 And Laban was told on the third day that Jacob had fled. 23 Then he took his brethren with him and pursued him for seven days’ journey, and he overtook him in the mountains of Gilead. 24 But God had come to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said to him, “Be careful that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.” 25 So Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountains, and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mountains of Gilead. 26 And Laban said to Jacob: “What have you done, that you have stolen away unknown to me, and carried away my daughters like captives taken with the sword? 27 Why did you flee away secretly, and steal away from me, and not tell me; for I might have sent you away with joy and songs, with timbrel and harp? 28 And you did not allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters. Now you have done foolishly in so doing. 29 It is in my power to do you harm, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.’ 30 And now you have surely gone because you greatly long for your father’s house, but why did you steal my gods?” 31 Then Jacob answered and said to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I said, ‘Perhaps you would take your daughters from me by force.’ 32 With whomever you find your gods, do not let him live. In the presence of our brethren, identify what I have of yours and take it with you.” For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them. 33 And Laban went into Jacob’s tent, into Leah’s tent, and into the two maids’ tents, but he did not find them. Then he went out of Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent. 34 Now Rachel had taken the household idols, put them in the camel’s saddle, and sat on them. And Laban searched all about the tent but did not find them. 35 And she said to her father, “Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise before you, for the manner of women is with me.” And he searched but did not find the household idols.’
These idols were of value in that who possessed them held the key to the family leadership. In addition, these were thought to give protection to a family. The false shepherds like these idols failed to protect the people.
‘the diviners envision lies, and tell false dreams; they comfort in vain’ shows to the great extent how far the people went to attempt to find out information about the future. Diviners interpreted omens by studying the insides of animals as a means of foretelling the future. We read about such a person in the book of Numbers chapter 22, 1 Then the children of Israel moved, and camped in the plains of Moab on the side of the Jordan across from Jericho.2 Now Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. 3 And Moab was exceedingly afraid of the people because they were many, and Moab was sick with dread because of the children of Israel. 4 So Moab said to the elders of Midian, “Now this company will lick up everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.” And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time. 5 Then he sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near the River in the land of the sons of his people, to call him, saying: “Look, a people has come from Egypt. See, they cover the face of the earth, and are settling next to me! 6 Therefore please come at once, curse this people for me, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.” 7 So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the diviner’s fee in their hand, and they came to Balaam and spoke to him the words of Balak. 8 And he said to them, “Lodge here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, as the LORD speaks to me.” So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam. 9 Then God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?” 10 So Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me, saying, 11 ‘Look, a people has come out of Egypt, and they cover the face of the earth. Come now, curse them for me; perhaps I shall be able to overpower them and drive them out.’” 12 And God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.” 13 So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, “Go back to your land, for the LORD has refused to give me permission to go with you.” 14 And the princes of Moab rose and went to Balak, and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.” 15 Then Balak again sent princes, more numerous and more honorable than they. 16 And they came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor: ‘Please let nothing hinder you from coming to me; 17 for I will certainly honor you greatly, and I will do whatever you say to me. Therefore please come, curse this people for me.’” 18 Then Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more. 19 Now therefore, please, you also stay here tonight, that I may know what more the LORD will say to me.” 20 And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men come to call you, rise and go with them; but only the word which I speak to you—that you shall do.” 21 So Balaam rose in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab.’
We later read later in the book of Revelation chapter 2 about ‘the doctrine of Balaam’ where he desired the riches so much from this king that he suggested how the Lord would have to turn away from his people, ‘But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.’
When you look around at today’s economy our Lord is taking away our idols also. Today our idols can be money, power, fame, or success. These things as we have learned cannot bring us happiness or security. These things cannot supply our deepest needs any more than a worthless stone idol can make it rain. Our entire being depends solely on the Lord. We need to remind ourselves of this fact every day.
We also read in this verse to that ‘they comfort in vain. Therefore the people wend their way like sheep; they are in trouble because there is no shepherd.’ The use of the term ‘shepherd’ denotes a leader. The emphasis of this ruler zero’s in on his lack of spiritual dependence. As a leader goes, so goes the nation. If you have an evil godless leader shepherding the country, he will garnish to himself followers of like mind. These false shepherds are out for themselves and will lead their country to ruin. The trouble is that the sheep go blindly to their destruction. Our Lord Jesus points out this danger to the flocks in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 9, ‘36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.’ Our Lord saw us fainting and being scattered with no one to shepherd us. We wander all around and do not know where to go. As the Great Caring Shepherd He calls out to us as He says in the book of Matthew chapter 11 verse 28, ‘Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’
Our Precious Holy Father has seen enough. He has decided to do something about this mess.
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.
Wherever you go or do whether it is at work, social settings, or at a church you have plenty of ‘goats’ wanting to butt in and put their two cents in. Our Holy King Is not happy with these individuals. In fact it says that He Is very angry with them. For misleading the people our Great God is going to punish these phony leaders. He 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.’ He will visit His flock and both protect them and lead them in the right path. When a man went into battle he needed a ‘royal or goodly horse’. That is one that is strong, powerful, well balanced, and unafraid. Our God points out that this is exactly how He will make His people be.
He will be all that the people need as verse 4 points out.
4 From him comes the cornerstone, from him the tent peg, from him the battle bow, from him every ruler together.
The corner stone perfectly strengthened and established the structure. The leaders were supposed to be the ‘corners of the people’ Their responsibility was to strengthen and guide the way for a well established spiritual nation. They failed this duty and the nation collapsed. Our Great Jehovah Jireh – The Lord Who Provides, gave us One Who is a sure foundation a precious corner stone as we read in the book of Isaiah chapter 28 verse 16, ‘Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “ Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; Whoever believes will not act hastily’.In the Gospel of Matthew chapter 21 we read, ‘42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘ The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’
Our Master and King Is the One who the Father sent into the world to save us from our sins and be the foundation of the building He Is constructing, that is His church. As the ‘tent peg’ He Is the nail in a sure place as the prophet Isaiah informs us in chapter 22, ‘23 I will fasten him as a peg in a secure place, and He will become a glorious throne to His Father’s house.’ Out Messiah will bear the weight of what is expected of Him.
In addition, our Master and King will be the ‘bow’ that wins the battle and a ruler who Is a Man of action and victory. These facts are brought to us from our Precious Holy Spirit from the following verses;
2 Samuel 22, ‘He teaches my hands to make war, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.’
Micah 5, 2 “ But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.”
The Messiah, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be strong, victorious, and rule perfectly. Only in Him will all the Promises of God towards the Israelites be fulfilled. Everyone and everything will be resting on Him.
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.
As you study the books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel you read about how the enemies of the Israelites have prevailed against God’s people. Now our Lord Is raising up ‘special forces’ units within the Jewish nation. They shall prevail in battle. Today, if you look and compare the armies of the world countries, the nation of Israel has one of the finest military defense units.
In addition, we must also realize that we are in a battle daily, that is, a spiritual battle. The path is muddy and the enemy is battling in desperation for their time is almost up. With the every living God on our side we will be victorious.
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.
I do not know about you but what I want is what is said here in verse 6, ‘for I am the LORD their God, and I will hear them.’ Everything is dependent on this fact, that He hears us.’ Our Holy Father extends to us His Mercy. We must maintain righteous living and obedience to His Word. If we do so, then He will hear when we call out to Him. We will not be cast aside.
The statement ‘as if with wine in verse 7 is symbolic of abundant joy. The marriage feast of Cana listed in the Gospel of John chapter 2 gives us an example of this point, 1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. 3 And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”4 Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” 6 Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. 7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it. 9 When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. 10 And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!” 11 This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.
When Mary approached our Lord Jesus in effect she was saying that the marriage reception was out of joy. The bride and groom were oblivious of the missing wine. Now here is where it gets interesting. The water jars were these large stone jars that were used to clean all the guests feet. These are the one our Lord instructs the servants to fill up with water. They were obedient and then were tested. Our Lord instructed them to draw some out and give it to their boss. How would you respond if given the same request? Why, if my boss finds out what I just gave him, water that was used to wash feet, I will surely be fired. They obeyed and you know the end result. So, a good question to ask ourselves is this, ‘who received the greater joy?’ Was it the bride and groom? The parents of the young couple? The guests? The disciples? I believe that the ones who received the greatest joy were the servants who obeyed the Lord Jesus and responded to His commands. As we read here in Zechariah, if you remain steadfast in your love and obedience to our Precious Holy God, your joy will exceed anything that you have ever experienced.
I love the phrase.’ I shall hiss’. Another was to say this is, ‘I shall whistle!’ That’s all it takes for our Lord to accomplish a great work. The children of Israel were sown among the people of other nations. Here our Lord says, ‘You know what, I AM just going to whistle and My people are going to hear and come back to their land. In case you haven’t been watching and listening, our Holy Magnificent God Is presently doing this among His people in all the earth. The Jews are leaving their countries and moving to Israel. This includes the Jewish families living in the United States.
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 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.
Just as our Jehovah Ropheka – The Lord Who Leads, led His people out of Egypt with Moses, He will re-gather those who had fled to Egypt for shelter from the Babylonians and redeem those who were taken in captivity to Assyria. The land of Gilead and Lebanon were land originally given to the Israelites by God which they never fully took control of. The mention of this reveals that there will be so many Jews coming back to Israel that there is not enough room to hold all of them.
There is two points that I see in the statement,. ‘11 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 for one thing refers to the Red Sea through which the Israelites were miraculously delivered from the Egyptian army. In addition, I see our Lord declare that He will overcome any impediment [sea of affliction] that might appear to hinder His people from returning to the Promised Land. He will give the strength, will power, and means to come back home.
We are a blessed people in that what we read here today is being fulfilled before our eyes.
