ZECHARIAH 10
OPENS WITH GOD'S PROMISE TO GATHER ISRAEL.
Verse 1 tell us of the BLESSED NATURE & SUPERIORITY of the Messiah's reign.
"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."
Ask the LORD for rain in the time of the latter rain...
REMEMBER ANCIENT ISRAEL had NO irrigation system, and relied on rain to water their crops. In a time of drought, nothing grew - so Israel relied on both the former rain (falling in autumn) and the latter rain (falling in spring).
He will give them showers of rain...The LORD challenges His people saying, "Be bold enough to ask Me, and I will answer your prayer. I will provide what only I can provide."
Grass in the field for everyone...
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
THIS IS ANOTHER GLIMPSE INTO WHAT IT WILL BE LIKE DURING THE MILLENNIAL REIGN OF JESUS.
SO FAR ALMIGHTY GOD HAS TOLD US THROUGH ZECHARIAH...
1. JESUS CHRIST WILL RULE THE ENTIRE WORLD...NOT ONLY ALL OF MANKIND, BUT THAT INCLUDES THE SKIES, THE SEAS, THE LAND, NATURE, AND THE WEATHER GLOBALLY.
2. THERE WILL BE PEACE...THERE WILL BE NO WARS, NO MURDERS, NO HARMS, NO ABUSES, OR CONFLICTS ALLOWED.
3. In man's ideas of equality, often everyone ends up equally poor. God's idea of equality means abundance for EVERYONE.
THERE WILL BE GREEN PASTURES EVERYWHERE...WATER EVERYWHERE...THERE WILL BE NO DROUGHTS NO FAMINES...NO ONE GOES TO SLEEP AT NIGHT WITHOUT A BED, SHELTER, AND NO ONE GOES TO BED HUNGRY OR THIRSTY.
JUST AS GOD MADE THE WILDERNESS SPROUT WATER FROM ROCK, GRASSES FROM SAND, BREAD FALL FROM HEAVEN, QUAIL FALL FROM THE SKY...EVERYONE ON EARTH WILL HAVE AN ABUNDANCE OF WHAT THEY NEED TO NOT ONLY SURVIVE, BUT TO THRIVE...
Verses 2-5 tells us Only the people of THE ONE TRUE GOD conquer in the end.
"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. "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. From him comes the cornerstone, from him the tent peg, from him the battle bow, from him every ruler together. 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."
AND HERE ONCE AGAIN IS THE DIREST OF WARNINGS FOR THOSE WHO WORSHIP IDOLS, CALL THEMSELVES PROPHETS, HAVING VISIONS, BRINGING ATTENTION TO THEMSELVES. THOSE WHO SAY THEY SPEAK FOR THE LORD, ARE SEERS AND MEDIUMS FOR THE LORD, WHEN THEY ARE EITHER IN FACT DECEIVED BY THE DECEIVER OF ALL OR KNOWINGLY AND WILLING DECEIVE OTHERS.
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 COMFORT IN VAIN....THOSE WHO SPOUT MY GOD, MY CHURCH, MY RABBI, MY PRIEST, MY IMAM, MY WHOMEVER, MUCH LESS, FAR WORSE THOSE THAT SAY THE LORD SAID, BUT THEIR WORDS DO NOT ALIGN WITH JESUS' WORD OR HIS COMMANDS OR HIS PROMISES...THEY BRING DECEPTIVE COMFORT...THEY TELL PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT TO HEAR...OR BRING ATTENTION TO THEMSELVES AND NONEEEEEEE OF IT HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH JESUS CHRIST.
AND HAVING READ THROUGH THE BIBLE WE KNOW THIS TO BE TRUE...NOT ONE OF THE PROPHETS OF GOD EVER CALLED THEMSELVES PROPHET, PROPHETESS, SEER, MAGI, DISCIPLE, NOR APOSTLE..
NOW THEY WERE CALLED ONE OR ALL OF THESE ABOVE BY MANKIND, BUT THEY NEVER CALLED THEMSELVES OR GAVE THEMSELVES THOSE TITLES...THEY SAID OF THEMSELVES AND CALLED THEMSELVES...A HUMBLE SERVANT OF THE MOST HIGH, A BONDSERVANT TO JESUS CHRIST...
EVEN TODAY, GREAT MEN AND WOMEN OF GOD, CALL THEMSELVES BY THEIR OWN NAMES, THEY DO NOT PREFACE THEIR NAMES WITH MAN-DERIVED OR SELF-DERIVED TITLES OF EVANGELIST, PROPHET, SEER, APOSTLE, DISCIPLE...CHARLES SPURGEON WAS HUMBLE, BILLY GRAHAM WAS HUMBLE...AND DOWN THROUGH TIME, THE TRULY GOD-FEARING, JESUS LOVING MEN AND WOMEN OF GOD WERE THE MOST HUMBLE AND SELFLESS OF ALL...BECAUSE THEY KNEW HOW INSIGNIFICANT THEY WERE ....HOW FLAWED THEY WERE...AN HOW UNWORTHY THEY WERE TO BE SAVED, TO BE CALLED A CHILD OF GOD...A FRIEND OF JESUS.
THEY KNEW THAT ANY WISDOM THEY HAD, ANY UNDERSTANDING, DISCERNMENT, ANY ANSWERED PRAYER, ANY HEALING CAME NOT FROM THEM OR BY THEM, BUT ONLYYYYYYYYYYY THROUGH AND BY JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF, AMEN?
THE WORLD FORGETS THAT THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT SATAN AND HIS DEMONS AND THOSE WHO ARE LED BY THEM....CAN PROPHESY, CAN SPEAK IN TONGUES, CAN DO MIRACULOUS THINGS...CAN HAVE DISCERNMENT...CAN HAVE WISDOM...OF SOME THINGS, BUT THEY ARE NOTTTT OF OR FROM THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
THE BIBLE TELLS US AND WE SEE IT MORE AND MORE EVERY DAY....
PEOPLE PROCLAIM....GOD SHOWED ME...THE RAPURE WILL BE ON THIS DATE OR THAT DATE...
THE LORD SHOWED ME THAT THIS WILL HAPPEN AND THAT WILL HAPPEN...
AND FAR WORSE WHEN ALL THEIR PROPHESIES AND VISIONS AND DECLARATIONS COME TO NOTHING...NOT ONLY DOES SATAN AND THE WORLD LAUGH THEMSELVES SILLY OVER SUCH BLIND STUPIDITY.
BUTTTT....FAR WORSE THEY TURN PEOPLE AWAY FROM JESUS...
AND IT BRINGS GREAT DESPAIR UPON HIS BABY CHILDREN WHO HAVE BEEN DECEIVED AND TRUSTED IN A MAN OR A WOMAN'S WORDS...INSTEAD OF PRAYING TO, LIFTING IT UP, AND TRUSTING IN OUR JESUS AND SEEKING OUT HIS WORD...HIS WORD.
YOU HAVE THOSE WHO HEAR OF A STATUE OF MARY OR A CRUCIFIED JESUS STATUE, WHERE SUDDENLY ONE OR BOTH CRIES TEARS OR TEARS OF BLOOD, OR SHOWS SIGNS OF BLEEDING ON THEIR WRISTS AND FEET, AND THEY RUSH TO TOUCH AND SEE AND BE BLESSED BY IT.
THE MEDIA TONGUE IN CHEEK BROADCASTS WHERE A WOMAN SAW JESUS FACE SUDDENLY ETCHED IN HER FRONT DOOR & A MAN SAW THE CROSS APPEAR IN HIS CEREAL BOWL. ANOTHER GOT A CHICKEN NUGGET THAT WAS SHAPED LIKE THE ANCIENT SYMBOL OF A FISH THAT DENOTED CHRISTIANS AND THEY SAY IT WAS A SIGN FROM JESUS.
THAT IS ALLLLLLL A LIE/ILLUSION/DECEPTION OF SATAN.
JUST AS A MAN SAYING I AM JESUS, I AM THE MESSIAH, OR I AM JOHN CRYING FROM THE WILDERNESS, OR I AM MOSES RETURN TO EARTH...THAT IS ALLLLLLLL LIES OF SATAN AND DECEPTIONS OF SATAN.
YOU HAVE THOSE WHO HOLD TENT REVIVALS OR MEGA STADIUM REVIVALS AND THE PERSON STANDS ON STAGE AND THROWS UP HIS ARMS AND HOWLS, THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON YOU...AND PEOPLE FALL OVER ALL DOMINOES..SAY THEY ARE SLAIN IN THE SPIRIT. PEOPLE WHO SUDDENLY BARK LIKE DOGS, HIT THE FLOOR AND GYRATE AND VIBRATE, OTHERS RUNNING UP AND DOWN THE AISLE FLAPPING THEIR ARMS SAYING THE ANGELS ARE BEARING THEM UP, THEY ARE BRINGING THE ANGELS...AND THAT IS THE GENTLY RIDICULOUS THINGS. THEN THERE ARE THOSE WHO PUNCH PEOPLE IN THE FACE TO KILL A DEMON, DROP KICK THEM IN THE GUT TO KILL DEMONS, OR FREE THEM FROM ANY NUMBER OF THINGS.
AND I AM SO SADDENED BY THIS, BECAUSE I KNOW THEY HAVE NOT READ THE BIBLE.
OUR JESUS IS A WONDERFUL GENTLE GENTLEMAN. HE NEVER DROP KICKED ANYONE. NO WHERE IN THE BIBLE DOES IT SPEAK OF BEING SLAIN IN THE SPIRIT. JESUS NOR HIS DISCIPLES NOR PAUL, NOR DID ANY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT MEN AND WOMEN CALLED OF GOD ACTED IN SUCH A MANNER. DISPLAY THIS OUT OF CONTROL BEHAVIOR.
YOU HAVE THOSE WHO TELL YOU, YOU WANT TO PROPHESY, YOU WANT TO SPEAK IN TONGUES, YOU WANT DREAM INTERPRETATION COME TO OUR SCHOOL OF DIVINITY OR ATTEND OUR TEACHING SYMPOSIUM. WE WILL TEACH YOU HOW TO TAP INTO GOD. WE WILL TEACH YOU HOW TO PROPHESY, SPEAK IN TONGUES, SUMMON ALL YOUR GIFTS?!
MY HEART BREAKS...BECAUSE THEY WANT TO TAP INTO JESUS...PRAY AND READ HIS WORD...ASK HIM FOR HIS WISDOM, HIS DISCERNMENT. AND I THINK ALSO, WHAT BIBLE OR WHOSE "BIBLE" AND I USE THE TERM LOOSELY, ARE THEY READING...BECAUSE NO WHERE IN MY KJV HOLY BIBLE DID ANY OF THE PROPHETS, APOSTLES GO TO SCHOOL. THEY DID NOT TAKE COURSES. THEY DID NOT SIT UNDER ANYONE AND LEARN...THEY HAD ALMIGHTY GOD...THEY HAD OUR JESUS CHRIST SHOWING THEM, TEACHING THEM, TO LISTEN FOR AND TO HIM. THE BIBLE CLEARLY TELLS US THAT WHEN WE COME TO THE SAVING REDEEMING KNOWLEDGE OF JESUS CHRIST, THE COMFORTER, THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS ALL THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT WITH HIM AND HE GRANTS THEM AS HE WILLS IT. WE ARE TO ASK, BUT WE ARE TO KNOW THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES AS HE WILLS IT, AMEN?
THAT IS WHY PAUL SAYS OVER AND OVER AGAIN...TEST THE SPIRITS. TEST THE SPIRITS, AMEN?
I HAVE HAD PEOPLE TELL ME, I AWOKE WITH THE SONG, IT IS WELL PLAYING THROUGH MY HEART AND MIND AND IT HAS BEEN THERE ALL DAY..AND I TOLD THEM, YOU SING TO JESUS, DO YOU NOT THINK HE WILL NOT SING TO YOU? DO YOU NOT THINK HE CAN NOT SEND A PRECIOUS WORD OF PEACE AND COMFORT TO YOUR HEART AND MIND TOO? HAVE YOU BEEN WORRIED ABOUT YOUR WALK WITH JESUS? IF SO, JESUS SENT YOU HIS COMFORT...THROUGH SONG...HIS LOVE...HIS WORD...THROUGH SONG.
JUST AS WE CAN WAKE WITH A VERSE FROM THE BIBLE WHISPERING THROUGH OUR HEART AND MIND...DO YOU NOT THINK THAT IS COINCIDENCE? DO YOU NOT THINK JESUS DOES NOT SEND HIS ANSWER, HIS PEACE, HIS COMFORT, AND HIS ENCOURAGEMENT TO YOU THAT WAY, ALSO?
YOU HAVE JESUS CHRIST LIVING WITHIN YOUR HEART AND MIND....HIS COMFORTER IS WITHIN THE HEART, MIND, SOUL AND BODY OF ALL THOSE WHO ARE REDEEMED OF JESUS. ALL THOSE WHO CALL JESUS CHRIST LORD, SAVIOR, MASTER, AND FRIEND. SO YOU WILL KNOW HIS VOICE.
THAT IS OF AND FROM JESUS.
SO STUDY JESUS WORD...LEARN HIS PROMISES...HIS TEACHINGS SO YOU CAN DISCERN HIM FROM THE WORLD AND FROM SATAN.
AND REMEMBER TOO SATAN & LOST MANKIND SEEK TO HAVE A WONDERFUL TIME WATCHING DECEIVED MEN AND WOMEN WHO HEAR HIS VOICE, ARE DECEIVED BY HIS VOICE, INSTEAD OF TESTING THE SPIRITS, AND THEN CALL THEMSELVES PROPHET, PREACHER, PASTOR, PROPHETESS, VISIONARY...& UNDER THE DECEPTION OF SATAN, ACT IN A WAY THAT MAKES A JOKE OUT OF OUR JESUS, HIS WORD, HIS GENTLENESS, KINDNESS, HIS POWER AND HIS SOVEREIGNTY!
JESUS WARNS US IN MATTHEW 24 TO IGNORE THESE THINGS, THAT THEY ARE NOTTTTT OF HIM...DO NOT GO! IT IS NOTTTTTTT ME OR OF ME, AMEN?
They are in trouble because there is no shepherd...AND HERE GOD OPENLY REBUKES THOSE WHO SHEPHERD CHURCHES IN HIS NAME.
JUST AS JESUS PERSONALLY DOES IN REVELATION 2-3...ALMIGHTY GOD HIMSELF IS WARNING OF THE VERY SAME THING IN THE OLD TESTAMENT TO ZECHARIAH.
WOEEEEEEEEE TO ANY WHO DECEIVE IN MY NAME.
The people have listened to false and deceptive RELIGIOUS leaders, and part of the reason is because there is a lack of godly leadership. IN OTHER WORDS, THEY MAY BEAR THE MAN-GIVEN TITLE OF RABBI, PRIEST, FATHER, PASTOR, PREACHER, IMAM...AND SEE THEMSELVES AS HOLY AND CALLED OF WHOMEVER THEIR GOD(S) IS....BUT THEY DO NOTTTTTT COME FROM ALMIGHTY GOD. THEY DO NOT COME FROM JESUS CHRIST.
HOW CAN WE KNOW THE DIFFERENCE & THE TRUTH? IF THEY ARE CALLED OF JESUS CHRIST AND LED BY HIM, THEY WILL STAY CLOSE TO JESUS CHRIST AND HIS WORD. THEY KNOW THAT THEIR ONLY TRUE WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF HIS WORD COMES FROM SEEKING JESUS CHRIST IN HIS WORD, AMEN?
Will make them as His royal horse in the battle...
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
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....THE PERFECT SHEPHERD IS JESUS CHRIST, WHO WILL COME FROM THE LINE OF JUDAH, AMEN?
AND HOW DO WE KNOW THAT JESUS CHRIST IS THE CORNERSTONE?
CORNERSTONE WHICH MEANS the foundation, measure, and standard. WE ARE TOLD THIS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE NEW TESTAMENT, IN Isaiah 28:16, Psalm 118:22-23, Matthew 21:42, Acts 4:11, 1 Peter 2:4-5.
THE WORLD MAY CHANGE BUT THE WORD AND TRUTH OF GOD AND HIS WORD NEVERRRRRRRR CHANGES ONE JOT OR TITTLE, AMEN?
Jesus is the tent peg...
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
JESUS IS holding ALL things securely, as also told us in Isaiah 22:23-24.
Jesus is the battle bow...
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
JESUS IS a strong fighter for good, also confirmed to us in Isaiah 63:1-4, Revelation 19:11-16.
JESUS IS the leader over every ruler of His people, as confirmed for us in Revelation 19:16.
Verses 6-8 tells us Israel strengthened.
"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. 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."
I WILL strengthen the house of Judah...The promise from the preceding passage is repeated more intensely. God will save and bless Israel, and have mercy on them.
BUT THEN GOD HAS STRENGTH FOR US WHO LOVE HIM AND CALL HIS SON JESUS CHRIST LORD, SAVIOR, AND FRIEND.
Ephesians 6:10 tells us that we can draw on His resources for strength: "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might."
CHARLES SPURGEON SAYS IT WELL OF The availability of God's strength means there will be opportunities for us to use it. "The Lord does not say, 'I will take you away from your labors,' but 'I will strengthen you, so that you will be able to perform, them."
Their children SHALL SEE IT and be glad; their heart shall rejoice in the LORD...The LORD will not only return strength to Israel, but also joy. Their sense of defeat and weakness will be replaced with gladness.
AND WE KNOW WHEN WE PRAY FOR ISRAEL...WHEN WE PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF ISRAEL....WE ARE PRAYING FOR JESUS TO COME....BECAUSE HE IS THE ONLYYYYY REAL AND ETERNAL PEACE FOR ISRAEL, MUCH LESS THIS LOST WORLD, AMEN?
Verses 9-12 tells us Israel gathered into the land from across the earth.
"I will whistle for them and gather them, for I will redeem them; and they shall increase as they once increased. 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 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. 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. So I will strengthen them in the LORD, and they shall walk up and down in His name," says the LORD."
I WILL WHISTLE for them and gather them...
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
The promise to gather Israel is repeated often in the prophecies of New Covenant found in Deuteronomy 30:1-6, Jeremiah 23:1-8, Jeremiah 32:37-41, Ezekiel 11:16-20, Ezekiel 36:16-28). Though Israel was scattered to the nations, they shall remember Me in far countries and come back to the land.
AND WE KNOW...In the 20th Century many Jewish people were gathered back to the land of Israel, and in 1948 Israel became a nation again - after more than 2,000 years of not being a nation.
SOME HAVE ASKED...Does the 20th Century gathering of Israel fulfill this prophecy?
AND WE KNOW THE TRUTH FROM GOD'S WORD...It fulfills it in part, but only in part - because Israel will be gathered again IN BELIEF, not in rejection of the LORD and His Savior. The gathering began in unbelief, but will end up in belief and trust in Jesus.
TODAY, THE MAJORITY OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE DO NOT READ THE BIBLE, BUT EVEN MORE DO NOT BELIEVE IN NOR READ THE NEW TESTAMENT AT ALL...THEY DO NOT BELIEVE THAT JESUS CHRIST IS THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF ALMIGHTY GOD. THEY DO NOT BELIEVE THAT HE IS THEIR PEOPLE'S LONG AWAITED MESSIAH....BUT ONE DAY THEY WILL AND ONCE THEY DO...THEY WILL NEVER DENY OR REJECT JESUS AGAIN, AMEN?
So I will strengthen them in the LORD, and they shall walk up and down in His name...
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
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 TELLS US TO KNOW OUR JESUS AND HIS WORD AND HIS PROMISES AND HE PROMISES THAT ONE SWEET DAY, THE DECEPTION AND LIES AND AFFLICTIONS AND BLINDNESS OF THE WORLD AND ISRAEL WILL END.
ALL THE WORLD WILL KNOW, THAT JESUS CHRIST IS THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF ALMIGHTY GOD. HE IS MESSIAH. HE IS YESHUA. HE IS THE LION OF JUDAH. AND IN THAT DAY, THE ENTIRE EARTH AND MANKIND'S AND SATAN'S REIGN WILL BE AT AN END...AFTER THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON, JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF SHALL BE THE ONLY RULER, KING, OVER THE ENTIRE EARTH AND THEIR WILL BE INSURED PEACE FOR 1000 YEARS.
MARANATHA...EVEN SO, COME NOW LORD JESUS!