The Redemption of Israel
Zechariah 10:1-12
The tenth chapter of Zechariah is concerned with the redemption of Israel. This is a theme that is very common for the book of Zechariah, one which we've touched on in the past and we'll touch on again as we finish out the book in the remaining weeks.
One of the debates between Bible scholars is whether or not God has cast off Israel. In fact, the entire eleventh chapter of Romans deals with that question.
It is a very vital question because it deals with the nature of God and His promises and covenants. And frankly, I don’t know why it causes so much discussion because the answer is provided in Romans 1:26 and following where we are told that God will save His People.
God is going to redeem the nation of Israel. And as we as Christians look to the future anticipating the return of Christ, to be Scripturally accurate in our understanding, we must add that when He returns it will be with the redemption of Israel in mind.
Now, when He comes, Israel will already have undergone a severe spiritual upheaval. They will have experienced political, economic and social devastation under Antichrist. They will have gone through wars. that they will have been involved in. They will have been under a tremendous spiritual turmoil as the forces of hell and Satan will have grappled against the hundred and forty‑four thousand who will have proclaimed the gospel.
There will be a final period of national holocaust as the war of Armageddon rages.
And I am certain one of the designs of Armageddon is to return the Jews to their faith, and dependence upon God’s Messiah.
And through all the events of the Tribulation, the two witnesses, the 144,000 evangelists, the attacks and devastation, the scattering to the wilderness, there will come a revival of faith because everything else that they've known will be shattered and God will, by His Holy Spirit, begin to prepare their hearts for the arrival of their Messiah.
And when Christ comes back, somewhere in that time...and I don't know exactly all the chronological intervals...but somewhere when Jesus returns, there is going to be not only a great physical deliverance for Israel as we know when He comes riding on a white horse with all the armies of heaven following Him, He slaughters all the armies of the world, He judges all the ungodly and He delivers Israel and gives Israel the Kingdom, there will be a great physical deliverance.
But in addition to that, there will be a salvation as well. There will be a spiritual deliverance. Zechariah chapter 12 verse 10 says that.
So in that day when Christ returns, God will pour out His Spirit on Israel. And the Spirit, as always, poured out will do initially the work of conviction and they'll look on Christ and they'll mourn for what they did to Him.
And in that same day, verse 1 of 13 says, there will be a fountain opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for cleansing. And at the end of verse 9 of 13, it says, "I will say it is My people and they shall say, The Lord is my God."
When Jesus returns there will be a great revival in Israel. They will meet the Lord Jesus Christ. They will be redeemed. In fact, in 13:6 it says, "And one shall say unto Him, What are these wounds in Your hands? And He shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of My friends." They'll recognize Him. And they'll be saved. Their souls, I believe, will literally be jolted into salvation by the vision of the returning Christ who once they crucified. What a day that will be.
Now when Israel is saved, what happens? What all is involved in their redemption? That is the theme of chapter 10. Just exactly what occurs? There are eight characteristics that will come to Israel in the day of their salvation.
1. Israel will receive a divine redeemer
Verse 4 (then we will backtrack)
Zechariah reminds the people that the Messiah is coming and he identifies Him in this verse.
Really this is one of the richest Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament and it's not one that's studied very often and yet it's just loaded.
Notice He will come from the house of Judah, because it says “from Him”, and we know that fits. The Lord Jesus Christ is called the lion of the tribe of Judah. So He will come from the nation Israel. In fact, we know from Micah 5:2 He will come from the town of Bethlehem.
So when He comes from Judah, how can He be identified?
Zechariah is a latter prophet (writing after the Babylonian exile), and he picks up from the writings of those who gone before (the former prophets), three identifiers regarding the Messiah that give us tremendous insight into the Messiah.
The first one is that He is called the cornerstone or the corner.
That's a Messianic title. Isaiah prophesied that He would be a stone, a tested stone, a precious stone, a cornerstone, a foundation stone. That has to be none other than Jesus Christ. And as you look at the New Testament, you find that Jesus Christ repeatedly is stated to be the cornerstone.
In Romans 9 verse 32, it says they stumbled at the stumbling stone as it is written, Behold I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and a rock of offense, and whosoever believe on Him shall not be ashamed. Paul is referring to Jesus Christ who is the stumbling stone over which is real stumble. In 1 Corinthians chapter 1:23, we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling stone. In Ephesians 2:20 it says, "And you are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone." So sometimes He is a stone of stumbling and sometimes He is a cornerstone. And sometimes He is a precious stone. But that is a common Old Testament designation.
So Jesus is a stone. The Messiah will be a stone.
What does that mean to the Jew looking for the Messiah? The same thing it means to the Gentile looking for hope. What Zechariah is saying here is Christ is the one who will come and provide stability.
The one thing most lacking in our lives is stability. Think about the history of Israel. That's the thing they've needed for so many centuries. Think about the life of the lost. The reason life is such a mess is because it is not established on the rock. When God sets Jesus as the cornerstone, the foundation stands sure.
Now there's something else about this cornerstone concept that struck me as I was studying it and that is that a cornerstone holds up two walls in the corner. And without pushing the point too far, I think it's kind of interesting to realize that the cornerstone Christ holds up the two walls that make up the redeemed and that is the church and Israel. And where there used to be a wall between us, we now have a common cornerstone.
And some day when Israel enters its kingdom, we'll enter it with Israel. And when we go into eternity, we'll go in together. And I daresay, by the time we hit eternity, there won't be any way to tell us apart.
In fact, for all those who know and love the Lord Jesus Christ today who are a part of Israel, they'll have to find a spot in both walls. He is the cornerstone for two people and He will give stability and solidarity and foundation to Israel.
That's the promise of God for them. The day is coming when you're going to get solidarity.
The second thing he calls this divine redeemer is
The Nail or the Tent Peg.
It’s an interesting term in Hebrew because it refers to two kinds of nails. One is a tent stake. When they would put a tent up, they would drive a stake into the ground to hold the tent. I used to use my dad’s screwdrivers for that job.
But the word is also used to refer to the nail or peg that they drove into the middle post of the tent. When they put up a big tent, in the middle they would have a pole, and into it was driven a big nail in which the valuable ornaments of the house were hung.
Whatever the family wanted to display would be hung on the nail driven into the post. Often, according to one writer that I was reading, the wealth of that entire family would be hung on that peg for the admiration of all who came in.
Now I really believe that's precisely what God is going to do with Jesus Christ. It is possible that he's referring here to the idea that He's the nail to hold the tent of Israel together. But I think if we connect up with what else we find in the Scripture about this nail concept, what God is really going to do is that God is going to make Christ the peg in the midst of His Kingdom on which all the glory of the Kingdom hangs. That's the essence of the picture.
If you go back to Zechariah 6:13 it says, "He shall build the temple of the Lord and bear the glory."
In other words, Christ will build the temple and within that temple, the glory will be hung on Him. Full millennial splendor will be His.
Let me give you another reason why I believe this is probably the meaning here. Look in your Bible at Isaiah 22:23
Now remember, in prophecy we often have a human fulfillment and then a future fulfillment in Christ. The human fulfillment of this prophecy is Eliakim. Eliakim was a very wonderful man, a very godly man. And Eliakim is the historical fulfillment but Messiah is the ultimate.
verse 23-24
You can see by that verse that they hung everything there. They hung any paintings or portraits or representations of the people in the family. They hung all their fancy pots and pans, they hung it all on there. And so it is that they shall hang upon Him the glory of His Father's house. He will be the cornerstone and He will be the nail on which the splendor of the Kingdom will be hung. All the glory of the Davidic house will hang on the nail fastened in a sure place.
Then notice verse 25
Eliakim nail will be cut off, but Jesus won’t. Christ is the nail that will never fall. Eliakim will, not Christ.
Chapter 10 again in Zechariah, we come to the third term to describe the redeemer.
He is called the battle bow
Now the Lord has already given us indication of what this is in chapter 9 verse 13.
There you could see God already pictured as if He is an archer pulling a bow. And here God is seen as the battle bow itself. He is a conqueror without equal. He is a warrior who will come and destroy the enemy. Read Revelation 19:11, He comes in power to conquer and destroy.
So, the first part of their salvation is that they will receive the divine redeemer who is a cornerstone, nail and battle bow. And the result of this is that every ruler shall be scattered. What the verse is saying actually in the Hebrew is that all oppressors will be put out together. No more will Israel be oppressed. The divine redeemer will conquer the enemy.
So, promise number one in Israel's redemption...a divine redeemer.
2. Divine Rain (not reign)
verse 1
Now first of all, to understand what’s happening here, it helps to back up to 9:17 where he's talking about the Kingdom and what it will be like
In other words, God is going to bring great harvests, grain will flourish, grapes will flourish.
And all you have to do is ask the Lord for it, verse 1 of chapter 10. "In the time of the latter rain, God is going to bring rain."
Now people have discussed whether this is literal rain. I think it is, yes, first of all, literal rain. I think in the time of the Kingdom, God is going to make it rain in order that crops will flourish. Stuff is going to grow like it has never grown before.
Isaiah 35:1, "And the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them," this is when the Kingdom comes, now listen to the next one, "and the desert shall rejoice and blossom like...what?...the rose..." "It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice even with joy and singing, the glory of Lebanon shall be given to it."
Well, in order for that to happen in the desert, you're going to have to have some real rain. God is going to make it rain real rain.
But it's more than that because while the Bible always promises a literal Kingdom with literal rain and literal water and literal fields growing with literal crops, it also speaks of spiritual blessing outpoured on the people of God.
In fact, in Hosea 6:1, "Come let us return to the Lord for He's torn and He will heal, He has smitten, He will bind us up. And after two days He will revive us and the third day He will raise us up and we shall live in His sight...now watch this...then shall we know if we follow to know the Lord, His going forth is prepared as the morning and He shall come to us as the rain, as the latter and former rain to the earth."
In other words, God's outpoured blessing is likened to the rain. And so the latter rain here, the latter rain is the spring rain that comes in March and April that's so indispensable to the crops. And he says you're not only going to get literal latter rain, you're going to get the latter rain of God's blessing. I think all of that is compressed into this thought in Zechariah 10:1.
And the word here is most interesting. It says He will give them showers of rain. And the word there is a very special word in the Hebrew. It doesn't mean a violent destructive rain, but the Hebrew means a productive ample rain. It isn't going to be flooding them out. So the rain clouds will pour their water and the clouds of God's blessing will pour their blessing.
So what is Israel going to get in the Kingdom? A divine redeemer and divine rain.
3. Divine Recompense
verse 2
Now here the picture is painted of Israel's dilemma. They've been obeying idols in their past. They worshiped idols and they followed the diviners lies. As a result, they are like sheep without a shepherd.
That picture is very common in Scripture, both in the Old Testament and New. And while there was responsibility on the part of the flock to follow the True Shepherd, there is also judgment upon the false who mislead and oppress the flock. Jesus addressed the same thing in the Sermon on the Mount.
He says you have used the flock to feed yourself. You've used them to make your money and to provide your food by all the offerings they bring an you've never fed them at all and I'm against you because you've left them to wander without a shepherd.
There was a time when they didn't have a shepherd. This is what he's saying in verse 2. There was no shepherd. And then notice verse 3.
What's going on?" Now watch. Implied here is that what occurred in Israel's past will happen in the future. The judgment that God brought upon Israel’s shepherds for the idolatry and the occult, will occur again.
What is being prophesied here is another idolatry in Israel future; another involvement in the occult in Israel because of the false leaders and the false teachers that will rise up. And God will come again and He will punish them. In visiting His flock, He will literally turn His flock into a battle horse to act in judgment against these false teachers.
Now say, "You mean that's actually going to happen in the future?" I believe it is. "You mean you believe that Israel's going to turn to worshiping idols and Satan and the occult?" Yes. In fact, let me give you one illustration that will remind you that you probably believe that too. With whom does Israel make a pact in the Tribulation? Antichrist. What does Antichrist immediately do? He sets up in the midst of Jerusalem what? An image to himself and requires all of the humanity to bow to that image. The people, no question, will be trapped in this.
The image, it says, will even speak. And so there will be occultism and there will be demonism. Believe me, when the Tribulation says that the doors of hell are open and the demons are all let loose, there will be demons in the world like never before. And the occult will reign supreme.
And no question about it, in my mind, Israel will get engulfed in this kind of idolatry, they will make a pact with the Antichrist, according to Daniel 9:27. They will get engulfed in that system before they're pulled out of it and that is what Zechariah is saying.
Then what happens? God will look with mercy on His people and He will take that very nation which has been victimized by these phony leaders and He will turn that flock of helpless sheep into a battle horse that will do war against those very shepherds and destroy them. And Jesus Christ Himself will ride, as it were, on the back of the battle horse which is itself Israel. And that’s what we find in verse 3b and verse 4.
So the divine redeemer is part of Israel's redemption. The divine rain, wonderful blessing both physical and spiritual. And divine recompense as God judges the ungodly and the false teachers.
4. Divine Restoration
Verse 5-6
Now I want to just pull one thought out: a tremendous restoration is going to come. They will be literally transformed into the power of God.
If you study Israel's history, the only time they ever won a battle was when the Lord was in it, right? Israel never did win unless the Lord was with them. And that will be the case at the end. They will literally trample their enemies in the mire of the streets because, verse 5, the Lord is with them.
One other note on verse 6: The "house of Judah" refers to the southern kingdom. And the "house of Joseph" to the northern. And the beautiful thought is here that God is going to restore the whole nation, north and south, one nation with one destiny. That's God's plan. And He says, I will bring them back.
Boy, what a great message it is to the Jew who has been wandering for so many years all over the world. And I love this, "They shall be as though I had never cast them aside." It will be just like it was meant to be.
I don't see how people can say God will never restore Israel. I don't see how people can say they'll never have a place in His final plan. God says here, "It will be as if I never cast them aside ...for I am the Lord their God and I will hear them. They'll be restored to the place of blessing. They'll be given the power that I intended for them from the beginning. I will place them. God is merciful.
You say, "Why is God going to do this?" I'll tell you why. He says in verse 6, "Because I am the Lord their God," that's why. In other words, I am Jehovah and Jehovah is My covenant‑ keeping name. And I made a promise and if I make a promise, I keep it. I'm going to do it because I promised to do it. And I make a covenant only to keep it. This is a promised restoration with great power and a great place of blessing.
So, the redemption of Israel...divine redeemer, divine rain, divine recompense, divine restoration.
Then this great restoration brings
5. Divine Rejoicing
verse 7
What a wonderful truth. Their heart shall rejoice in the Lord. Naturally when God does all these things, when the redeemer comes and everything begins to rain blessing, and justice is measured out against the enemy, and restoration is brought to the nation, the natural response is joy. The joy here is intense; it's as if they had just had a little too much to drink.
And the children are going to see it and they're going to chime in. And everybody's going to be happy and rejoicing in the Lord. And when you think about it for Israel, this will be pretty great. They've been through a lot of sorrow. But there is coming a day of great rejoicing when Messiah comes.
So, what does God promise Israel in the redemption? Divine redeemer, divine rain, divine recompense, divine restoration, divine rejoicing and how about another one...
6. Divine Re-gathering.
Verse 8
God is going to step on the edge of His Kingdom some day in heaven and He's going to go "Schweet" or however you do that, and they're all going to come. It's a great thought.
"And I'm going to gather them because I've redeemed them," He says. "I'll whistle for them." Check out Isaiah 5:26 and you'll find another reference to that whistling of God. Why? "Because I redeemed them."
God is just reinforcing His plan to bring them back. I'm going to gather them. And then He says, "And they're going to increase as they have increased." What does that mean?
Well, they've been growing. You remember in Exodus chapter 1:7, when they went into Egypt, they rapidly increased and multiplied and filled the land.
And He says, "As they have increased in the past, they will increase and flourish in the Kingdom.
Now watch this, when Jesus comes at the end of the Tribulation, those Jews that are redeemed will not die. They'll go into the Kingdom in physical bodies and they will occupy the earthly Kingdom in their physical form. And they will have children and they will live a long time. In fact, if someone dies at 100 years, they die a baby. And the earth will literally proliferate with children. In fact, in Zechariah 2:4 it says, "Jerusalem will be inhabited like a town without a wall because of the multitude of men in it."
Now before that happens, verses 9-10 say God has another plan.
Verse 9-10
That’s happened. From 70 A.D. they were scattered and dispersed all over the world.
He says, "I'll sow them among the peoples and they'll remember Me in far countries and they'll return again, not alone, but with their children. And I'll bring them again out of the land of Egypt and gather them from Assyria...and those are just symbols of all the countries where they're scattered...and I'll bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and place shall not be found for them."
God says I'm going to bring them back. They've been scattered, I sowed them all over the world, but I'm going to whistle for them some day. And when I whistle, they're going to come. And they're going to come from everywhere. And their hearts are going to be turned toward Me and they're going to remember Me in far countries. And one of these days I’m going to summons them because I've redeemed them. And there’ll be so many place won't even be found. The Kingdom is going to be so full and populated, they're going to be spilling all over the world.
Now in order to gather all these people when God whistles, and in order to make sure they all come a running, God's going to have to do
7. A Divine Removal
In verse 11 He tells about that.
As God moves to bring them, if He has to He'll dry up a sea, if He has to He'll dry up a river, He'll smash the pride of a belligerent nation like He did of Assyria, He'll remove any kind of dominance that Egypt might want to hold, or any other nation.
And He comes in 11 to say, "I'll wipe out any obstacle to get My people back." That's what He'll do.
And so what does God promise? All these wonderful things. And then finally and lastly,
8. A Divine Revival
Verse 12
Well, beloved, that's what's going to happen for Israel. That's the future. That's where history's going. It's great to know it, isn't it? And how infinitely greater it is to be a part of it. And we who know Christ will be there to experience it all.
