Devotional Commentary on Zechariah 10

 

Kliefoth (1862: 138ff) understood 10:1 as the Latter Rain that will allegorically come before the Second Coming of the Messiah sent only to Israel. Kliefoth is onto something here.

Köhler did not agree and it seems as if Hengstenberg, Delitzsch also were quiet about this (Köhler 1860: 61 footnote 1). SookYoung Kim in her devotional and Phillip Samaan in his commentary understood it correctly as the Latter Rain experience at the End of Time. The minority view of these Lutheran friends is that it is the Latter Rain and the majority view among them is that it is not.

Kliefoth suggested that we need to find more in these words than what the exegetes are suggesting. The close connection with 9:17 in which blessings come from the Lord is continued in 10:1 according to him. It does not make sense that they now have to pray for rain. It rather refers to a ripening process of His people as harvest at the End of Time, says Kliefoth.

Ellen White and Kliefoth sees eye to eye here except that he wrote in German and she could not understand German and secondly, she was directed by the Holy Spirit on her ideas: “The latter rain, ripening earth's harvest, represents the spiritual grace that prepares the church for the coming of the Son of man. But unless the former rain has fallen, there will be no life; the green blade will not spring up. Unless the early showers have done their work, the latter rain can bring no seed to perfection.” Ellen White in Testimonies to Ministers, p. 506.

Ellen White also said something about individual responsibility to receive the Latter Rain: “Unless we are daily advancing in the exemplification of the active Christian virtues, we shall not recognize the manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the latter rain. It may be falling on hearts all around us, but we shall not discern or receive it.” Ellen White in Testimonies to Ministers, p. 507.

It is in the Hebrew and these scholars missed it. Delitzsch said nothing and Köhler slipped over it. “and He shall give them rain”. Them? = lhm? It is not the countries (plural) here but persons. How do you know it? The next word: “to each person”= l’yš. The preposition /l/ = “to” is used before hm = “them” (plural pronoun masculine). The same preposition /l/ = “to” is used before ‘yš = “man”. This is very interesting that each should receive it portion of rain individually. Ellen White did not know Hebrew but the Holy Spirit did.

“For” in the next verse, (verse 2) starting the verse, links/connect it with the first verse because it is providing the reason why the Latter Rain of the Spirit will come. It will be in difficult times to preach the gospel when the Latter Rain comes. The digital generation cannot preach any longer or properly win over people for evangelism.

“For the teraphim spoke futility, and the soothsayers envisioned lies, and dreamers speak lies, they console with vanity” (verse 2).

“Therefore, they travelled like sheep; they were humbled, for there is no shepherd”.

This is the condition of the world when the Latter Rain is needed: ministry collapsed and a vacuum is left. People do not listen to anyone any longer for their brains are programmed by flash-flash-read one minute- flash-flash-read one minute-next-flash-flash …. This is a never-ending use of the finger on their smartphones in short telegrammic knowledge-building strategies. Books are no longer read. The Bible is no longer read. Visual rather than textual overheat the brains. A world-wide cognitive collapse is imminent. Thus the Latter Rain is needed as miracle and last call.

“My wrath is kindled upon the shepherds…” (verse 3). This is at that time in our near future.

“For the Lord of Hosts has remembered His flock”. He remember His remnant. They are called the “house of Judah and He has made it as His majestic horse in battle”. The remnant are not battling as the Warrior at the Hell event. They are the instrument accompanying Him as Warrior Messiah to the gate of Zion (Psalm 24) and when He returns from the Battle (also Psalm 46).

“Out of them shall come the cornerstone, out of them the stake, out of them the bow of war. Out of them shall come every oppressor together”.

The Son of David, of Joseph and Mary, Christ was the cornerstone that came out of the remnant. He is the one out of them that will supply the stake and bow of war for the Hell event. Zechariah 14 will still explain this.

“And they shall be like mighty men, treading the mire of the streets in battle and they shall shame the riders of horses”. At this point one needs to know Hebrew for the sentence, if voweled with another vowel, can mean “and He…” The Hebrew consonants whyw especially the last /w/ is a pronominal affix that is currently voweled by the Masoretes of the ninth century CE with a dot in the middle of the /w/ thus reading “they” but if that dot is placed [my suggestion] above the /w/ it is “He”. This makes more sense since Christ is the cornerstone of the previous verse and it is His battle that is outlined here. The remnant is never in a battle.

Translate thus: “And [He] shall be like mighty men, treading the mire of the streets in battle and [He] shall shame the riders of horses.” (verse 5).

The Lord then said: “And I [Lord] will strengthen the house of Judah [by the Latter Rain Holy Spirit experience] and the house of Joseph [synonymous parallelism] I will save. And I will cause them to settle [at the Second Coming because Jesus promised in John 14:1-3 that He is going to prepare a place for them] for I have bestowed mercy upon them” (verse 6).

It is all about Christ here not about the remnant’s actions. It is about mercy not deeds. The deeds are divine ones. No human efforts.

The Lord promise to answer them because He did not forsake them.

Again in verse 7 beginning one can vowel it differently like above.

“And He shall be like a Mighty Man, Ephraim, and their heart shall rejoice as if wine” (verse 7). Is there going to be alcohol boozing? No. Is boozing legitimized here? No. Noisy happiness is what it is going to be.

“Their heart shall be joyful with the Lord” (verse 7). There you have your joy in the Lord.

“I will whistle to them and I will gather them for I have redeemed them. And [on the newly created earth] they shall multiply as they multiplied” (verse 8).

They shall multiply as they multiplied? Yes. With the Latter Rain miracle a church with 10 people will increase with 110 (Zechariah 7:23 for the formula of influx due to the Latter Rain).

From the Hell and New earth event, the prophet Zechariah rewind time-wise a couple of decades to earlier events close to these but before to what he just said.

Verse 9 “And I will sow them among the peoples” referring to the migrationism worldwide to take place before the Latter Rain. Ripening and reaping happens after sowing and sowing is before the harvest of the Latter Rain. Thus it precedes it.

In verse 10, the Lord took Zechariah further back in time. Also in the end-time and as a signal of His grace, He will let something happen in Egypt and Assyria in the form of spiritual awakening. Not the Arab spring which is a political awakening. That is a false awakening and will sidetrack us if we apply it to that awakening.

“And I will return them [faithful remnant] from the land of Egypt and from Assyria I will gather them” (verse 10). It may sound that all the faithful will only be in Egypt and Assyria. They would be brought to Gilead and the Lebanon. It is not to Canaan. “And it shall not suffice for them”. The Ammon area is not suitable for them.

This verse is either within the confines of our own time or preteristically in the time of Zechariah when in his future Jews from Elephantine [408 BCE] and Assyria from centers there where they still remained, be brought to come and dwell in the northern parts of Israel but southern parts of current Syria.

“And trouble shall pass through the sea and He shall strike the waves of the sea and dry all the depths of the river” (verse 11). Tsunami disasters will take place.

“And the pride of Assyria shall be brought down and the rod of Egypt shall turn away” (verse 11). This cannot refer to the past since Assyria was humiliated in 612 BCE and Zechariah received his messages after 520 BCE. There is no sense to speak of “will” when it is already passed. Is that pride the CNN disgrace of Saddam Hussein after being caught in the pit where he was hiding with uneasy hair? As King of the North Daniel 11:40 said that “he shall be in his hair” [the root hair is used here].

“The rod of Egypt shall turn away”. Again the Egyptian empire was not enough to regain any power after Zechariah. Is this the current Arabic dominoes or jasmine revolution that we saw there mentioned here as a signal of the closeness of the time of the end?

“And I will strengthen them in the Lord and in His name they shall walk, says the Lord”.

The ownership name of the Lord is Seventh-day Adventist because keeping the Sabbath shows that one is a peculiar person who worships on His day not human created and self-sanctified days. It commemorates the salvation out of Egypt and from sin and also the Creatorship and ownership of Christ over everything. Thus, a fitting name.

 

Dear Lord

Captivate us with Your Name and bring us in the fold to be Shepherd by You and ready for the Latter Rain. In Jesus Name. Amen.