For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Zech 10:1-7

1 Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime;
    it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms.
He gives showers of rain to all people,
    and plants of the field to everyone.
2 The idols speak deceitfully,
    diviners see visions that lie;
they tell dreams that are false,
    they give comfort in vain.
Therefore the people wander like sheep
    oppressed for lack of a shepherd.

3 “My anger burns against the shepherds,
    and I will punish the leaders;
for the Lord Almighty will care
    for his flock, the people of Judah,
    and make them like a proud horse in battle.
4 From Judah will come the cornerstone,
    from him the tent peg,
from him the battle bow,
    from him every ruler.
5 Together they will be like warriors in battle
    trampling their enemy into the mud of the streets.
They will fight because the Lord is with them,
    and they will put the enemy horsemen to shame. 6 “I will strengthen Judah
    and save the tribes of Joseph.
I will restore them
    because I have compassion on them.
They will be as though
    I had not rejected them,
for I am the Lord their God
    and I will answer them.
7 The Ephraimites will become like warriors,
    and their hearts will be glad as with wine.
Their children will see it and be joyful;
    their hearts will rejoice in the Lord.

A. Find Out

1. What are they told to do? v.1
2. What (past?) false way is highlighted? v.2
3. Who had failed Israel so what will the Lord (now) do? v.3
4. Who will the Lord provide for them? v.4
5. What will happen, with what outcome, why? v.5
6. What will the Lord do, and why? v.6
7. With what outcome? v.7

B. Think:

1. How does the Lord look backwards here?
2. What will He thus now do?
3. What will be the overall outcome to this?

C. Comment:

The chapter continues the theme of the Lord’s provision for His returned people. Now they are back in the Land He simply tells them to ask for the blessing of rain on the land to bring a great harvest (implied v.1).

But as He calls for them to do this, He also reminds them of how things had been in the past, with idolatry and false prophets and lack of spiritual leadership (v.2), and the Lord is angry with such people and such times (v.3a) and so will now come to them as their Shepherd and turn them into a confident warrior people (v.3b).

He then pours out three familiar pictures – a cornerstone for the temple structure (blessing on their building and future relationship with Him), a tent peg for the tabernacle (or maybe their own domestic tents – indicating blessing their society), and a battle bow (indicating provision and ability to fight). All of these are His provision within the people (v.4).

Together they will be again a warrior people (? As they had been in the past) triumphing over their enemies because God is with them (v.5).

Then comes a wonderfully compact verse of reassurances: He will strengthen them, restore them, be reconciled to them, so that the past was gone, for He is with them to answer them when they call (v.6).

Their triumphs will bring them great joy and their children, the younger generation who had never lived here, will see and understand and also be able to rejoice in their God in the restored kingdom.  

D. Application:

1. When God blesses, it is always in abundance. He is not stingy!
2. When God blesses, it always brings joy to us.  

Zech 10:8-12

8 I will signal for them
    and gather them in.
Surely I will redeem them;
    they will be as numerous as before.
9 Though I scatter them among the peoples,
    yet in distant lands they will remember me.
They and their children will survive,
    and they will return.
10 I will bring them back from Egypt
    and gather them from Assyria.
I will bring them to Gilead and Lebanon,
    and there will not be room enough for them.
11 They will pass through the sea of trouble;
    the surging sea will be subdued
    and all the depths of the Nile will dry up.
Assyria’s pride will be brought down
    and Egypt’s scepter will pass away.
12 I will strengthen them in the Lord
    and in his name they will live securely,”
declares the Lord.

A. Find Out

1. Who (implied) does He now address? v.8
2. How does He reassure that scattered people? v.9
3. How widespread will this be? v.10
4. What will have to happen to achieve that? v.11
5. How does He finally reassure them? v.12

B. Think:

1. How do you think this prophecy seems to go far wider that anything that has been said so far?
2. What effect do you think this will have on the present people?
3. How perhaps have we seen the fulfilment of this in the past century?

C. Comment:

The prophecy suddenly appears to take on a different dimension, a different time-scale because so far we have been focusing on the returning remnant rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem, a people who have returned from Babylon, but now He seems to be speaking of a greater collecting back of His people.

Yes, He speaks of gathering them back, of redeeming them in large numbers as they had been before (v.8), a scattered people who remembered Him in their exile, who will survive and return (v.9) BUT suddenly there is reference to other places where they have been scattered (v.10). These may be simply people who had fled Nebuchadnezzar’s advances, and gone to live in neighboring land, or it may hint at a coming Diaspora observed from AD70 onwards until the last century.

Whatever hindrances there might be in those lands (v.11)  will clearly be dealt with by the Lord so they can return and once they return they will be secure again in the Promised Land (v.12).

The effect on the present people listening to the words Zechariah is bringing? Well, perhaps the occasional references to the past and the displeasure their past behavior caused the Lord and brought about their exile, must surely act as a warning to be careful never to let that be repeated. However the overall strength of the passage must surely be seen as one of reassurance: the Lord is bringing them all back, and He is going to bless them and transform them even further. Wow!

D. Application:

1. Whether short-term or long, the Lord intends blessing for His people.
2. There is also a reminder, we are accountable to Him.