Zechariah by Chuck Missler Lesson 10

Verse 1 is viewed by many as the last verse of Chapter 9.

Verse 1] Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain; [so] the Lord shall
make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the
field.

Productivity of the land was promised as a direct reward to obedience of
the nation in its covenant relationship (Lev 26:3,4; Deut 11:13-15).
Scarcity of rain is one of the curses in the Tribulation period (Rev
11:6).

Idols
verse 2]
For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have
told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a
flock, they were troubled, because [there was] no shepherd.

Idols: Teraphim, (15X in OT) household gods.
Near Nineveh, at a place called Nuzu, excavations have revealed
tablets which illuminate the customs during the patriarchal period.

Possession of these “household gods” implied leadership of the family
and also were the key to the father’s property. This also explains the
issue when Rachel stole the teraphim from the home of Laban and
concealed them (Gen 31:30-34ff).

Diviners: the occultic counterfeiting of prophecy.
Divination = “to cut or divide.”
Hepatoscopy: divination by examining the liver; the shape of things
to come. Ezek 21:21. Also, entrails of birds and animals (Josh 13:22;
1 Sam 6:2).

Balaam was a diviner (Num 22; Josh 13:22). Of Philistines (1 Sam
6:2). Of Babylon (Isa 44:25; Ezek 21:21) Of false prophets of Israel
(Jer 27:9; 29:8; Mic 3:6; Ezek 13:23; Deut 18:10).
This passage connects with latter day idolatry of Israel, as does Zech
13:1-8. Divination is prohibited by God (Deut 18:10).
False dreams: Jer 23:32; 27:9-10.
The coming deceptions will include those of cosmic proportions:
UFOs? Aliens? Abductions? [Do see our briefing package, The Return
of the Nephilim, for further study.]

Shepherds
Verse 3]
Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats: for
the Lord of hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah, and hath made
them as his goodly horse in the battle.

“Punished” and “visited”: same Hebrew word, dqP; paqadh. Two
meanings: with direct of the person, with favor. With the preposition
‘al and the person, with disfavor.
Shepherds: leaders. (Jer 23; Ezek 34). People, like sheep, require
guidance; apt to wander. (Will always find and exploit, a hole in
any fence.)

False shepherds who had turned to the occult (Cf. Zech 11).

Goats: uncomplimentary term. Isa 14:9, “chief ones of the earth;
Ezek 34:17, distinguished from His sheep (Mt 25:32-33); Jer 50:8,

False comfort from counterfeits. [Having a million dollars hidden
in your safe; only to discover they were counterfeit, and thus worse
than useless.]

How do UFOs appear on radar and leave radioactivity behind? Are
the “alien abductions” hallucinations or are there really alien beings
attempting to foster hybrids? “If it were possible, they will deceive
the very elect” (Mt 24:24). What’s the answer to the occult?

Verse 4]
Out of him came forth the corner, out of him the nail, out of him the battle
bow, out of him every oppressor together.

“Out of him:” out of Judah, v.3.
“Corner(stone)”: Cf. Zech 4:7 headstone of the corner (Ps 118:22; Mt
21:42; Mk 12:10; Lk 20:17; Peter in Act 4:10; Isa 28:16; 1 Pet 2:1-
8; Eph 2:20).

To the Jews, a stumbling stone (Rom 9:32, 33; 1 Cor 1:23). The Rock
(1 Cor 10:4, Ex 17:6).

Mt 21:44 determines your eternity.

Dan 2: stone cut without hands will smite...

“Nail”: stake, or peg (Tabernacle pegged with silver). Also, to hang
things on; establish leadership, as when unworthy Shebna was replaced
by Eliakim (Isa 22:22-23; Cf Rev 3:7).
[Note also, in Acts 15:16, it was the tabernacle of David, not Moses
which is referred to in Amos 9:11; Isa 16:5.]

“Battle bow” as an avenger, conqueror.
YHWH is a man of war (Ex 15:3). The Lord of the Armies will triumph
over Israel’s Gentile oppressors (Zech 12:1-9; 14:1-8).

Verse 5]
And they shall be as mighty [men], which tread down [their enemies] in the
mire of the streets in the battle: and they shall fight, because the Lord [is]
with them, and the riders on horses shall be confounded.

Judah
Verse 6]
And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph,
and I will bring them again to place them; for I have mercy upon them: and
they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I [am] the Lord their God,
and will hear them.

Judah and Joseph: southern and northern kingdoms, having broke
away in 931 b.c.
Given after Dec 7, 518 b.c.(Zech 7:1): almost 20 years after the return
from exile had begun. This may indicate a return from a subsequent
dispersion. (Kaiser; McGee, et al).
Yet, even in Zechariah’s time: remember the delegation from Bethel
(one of the capitals of the northern kingdom).

Ephraim
Verse 7]
And [they of] Ephraim shall be like a mighty [man], and their heart shall
rejoice as through wine: yea, their children shall see [it], and be glad; their
heart shall rejoice in the Lord.

The 10 tribes are not lost. Hos 11:8. Cf. The accounts of the Macab-
beans against the Syrians. Turned into mighty men. [IDF today?]

verse 8]
I will hiss for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them: and they
shall increase as they have increased.

“...hiss” is more like a whistle, or whisper—”pssst” (Isa 7:18-19).

Verse 9]
And I will sow them among the people: and they shall remember me in far
countries; and they shall live with their children, and turn again.

[Will they be “sown” again, for a subsequent regathering? Some
expositors think so.]

Verse 10]
I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out
of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and
[place] shall not be found for them.

“...Egypt”: very few Jews there today. [Could this also suggest another
dispersion?] Or is it idiomatic for bondage? (Isa 11:11; Hos 11:1, 11;
Mic 7:15).

“Assyria” for the enemies of the north?
“Gilead” = Golan Heights of today.
“Lebanon”: this was part of the Promised Land.

Abrahamic Covenant Gen 15:18; Palestinian Covenant: Deut 30:3-5;
Davidic Covenant: 2 Sam 7:16; Ps 89:30-37.

Verse 11]
And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves
in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up: and the pride of Assyria
shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away.

The language reflects the miraculous deliverance of Israel from Egypt
the first time (Ex 14:21-32); as well as the Jordan (Josh 3:14-17). In
the future, it will be by even greater miracles. Jer 23:7-8. [Including
the Euphrates? (Isa 11:15).]
Some regard “Egypt” and “Assyria” as representative of the enemies
of Israel.

Verse 12]
And I will strengthen them in the Lord; and they shall walk up and down in
his name, saith the Lord.

Not by Chutzpah, but by the power of God. Millennial language (Mic
4:5). Recalls (3rd time) the words in Zech 1:10, 11 and 6:7.