Zechariah 10 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Zechariah 10

The Restoration for Judah and Israel

10:1   Ask rain from the LORD
    in the season of the spring rain,
  from the LORD who makes the storm clouds,
    and he will give them showers of rain,
    to everyone the vegetation in the field.
2   For the household gods utter nonsense,
    and the diviners see lies;
  they tell false dreams
    and give empty consolation.
  Therefore the people wander like sheep;
    they are afflicted for lack of a shepherd.
3   “My anger is hot against the shepherds,
    and I will punish the leaders;¹
  for the LORD of hosts cares for his flock, the house of Judah,
    and will make them like his majestic steed in battle.
4   From him shall come the cornerstone,
    from him the tent peg,
  from him the battle bow,
    from him every ruler—all of them together.
5   They shall be like mighty men in battle,
    trampling the foe in the mud of the streets;
  they shall fight because the LORD is with them,
    and they shall put to shame the riders on horses.
6   “I will strengthen the house of Judah,
    and I will save the house of Joseph.
  I will bring them back because I have compassion on them,
    and they shall be as though I had not rejected them,
    for I am the LORD their God and I will answer them.
7   Then Ephraim shall become like a mighty warrior,
    and their hearts shall be glad as with wine.
  Their children shall see it and be glad;
    their hearts shall rejoice in the LORD.
8   “I will whistle for them and gather them in,
    for I have redeemed them,
    and they shall be as many as they were before.
9   Though I scattered them among the nations,
    yet in far countries they shall remember me,
    and with their children they shall live and return.
10   I will bring them home from the land of Egypt,
    and gather them from Assyria,
  and I will bring them to the land of Gilead and to Lebanon,
    till there is no room for them.
11   He shall pass through the sea of troubles
    and strike down the waves of the sea,
    and all the depths of the Nile shall be dried up.
  The pride of Assyria shall be laid low,
    and the scepter of Egypt shall depart.
12   I will make them strong in the LORD,
    and they shall walk in his name,”
      declares the LORD.

Footnotes

[1] 10:3 Hebrew the male goats

Commentary

v1-5: Irresponsible leaders speaking delusions, envisioning lies, telling false dreams, comforting in vain; as a direct result, the people suffer. But the Lord will punish the false shepherds, leaving the people "oppressed for lack of a shepherd." Yet Judah will also be made strong, fearless as a horse.

v6-7: "Because I have compassion on them;" which is why God chose Abraham, and why God delivered His people from Egypt, and why the nation was preserved through the times of the judges and kings, and why Judah was returned from Babylon; and even why Jews remain a distinct people today spread throughout the world.

God will never totally cast them aside, and will one day restore them, "as though I had not rejected them." No wonder their hearts will be full of joy.

v8-10: God will gather His people from throughout the earth; He promises, time and again, "I will;"

I will signal for them;
I will redeem them;
They will remember me;
They will survive;
They will return;
I will bring them back;>
There will not be room enough for them.

God's faithfulness and His mercy will be manifest through the restoration of His people.

v11: The pride and strength of Assyria and Egypt will be destroyed as they trust in the Lord Is 19.18-25.

v12: Renewed relationship with God.