Victory in the Name of Jesus - Zechariah 10

“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.” Zechariah 10:1

In Matthew 7:7, Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened to you.” I have received so many wonderful and obvious answers from the Lord to my prayers. One of the greatest answers being that I would never lose my love for Him. “Thank You Lord!” “I love You Heavenly Father!”

The Lord says in His Word to ask Him for the latter rain and He will bring the showers and cause the fields to produce. At the end of chapter 9, the Lord had said there will be plenty of grain and wine, but in recent years, there had been great scarcity of both. They are to demonstrate faith in God by telling Him what they need and believing He will bring it.

How can we say we believe that God will take us to heaven when we die when we don’t believe He will supply our daily earthly needs. Eternity is forever. If I believe God is going to provide for all my needs for eternity in paradise, why not trust Him for rain and a harvest here on earth? The former rain was the autumn rain for the seedtime to fructify the seeds. The latter rain was the spring showers to help the crops to grow. These rains are critical to food and wine production.

There is also a spiritual application to Zechariah 10:1. The former rain is like salvation. At that point, we hear the Gospel, believe it and are converted in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. The latter rain is like the baptism of the Holy Spirit where Jesus baptizes us with Spirit and power to be His witnesses. It is by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit that we bear Christlike fruit.

“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.” Zechariah 10:2-3

The Hebrew word for idols in this text is teraphim. Teraphim were household gods. Diviners supposedly received messages and dreams from these idols. Their goal was to comfort people, but they offered them was not comfortable. No matter how good their ideas seemed, they did not resolve the drought. The Jamieson Brown commentary says, “shepherds described what the leaders ought to have been. The he-goats describes what they were. He-goats are the emblems of headstrong wantonness and offensive lust.” What happens when the Lord visits this flock? This motley crew become kingly horses ready to fight battles for the Lord.

“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.” Zechariah 10:4-5

In the big picture, Jesus Messiah is the cornerstone. A cornerstone represents a reliable leader. The tent peg keeps the house from falling. The battle bow speaks of skillful warfare. Jesus Christ defeated the spiritual powers of wickedness when He died for our sins on the cross and resurrected from the dead. Then, He poured out His Holy Spirit on those of us who receive Him. His Spirit is more powerful than any other spirit. In the Name of Jesus, we have the victory.

In the immediate picture for the people of God, the Maccabees are referred to in this prophecy. In the wake of Alexander the Great’s death, his generals split up the conquered territories. Eventually, Antiochus Epiphanes will come to power and persecute true believers in God. He will order the defilement of the temple. Judas Maccabeus was called the hammer. He defeated the larger Seleucid Greek armies at battles like Emmaus and Beth-Zur. How? God was with him.

“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 whistle for them and gather them, for I will redeem them; and they shall increase as they once increased.” Zechariah 10:6-8

This is an amazing prophecy considering the people are in the midst of rebuilding a ruined capital and a ruined temple. The Jews are trickling back into the Promised Land. They are not a mighty people at this point. They have been minority groups in other nations. They are still in the process of rebuilding their communities. God’s mercy is restoring power to them. They are going to be mighty. Their soldiers shall rejoice and their children shall be glad. The Lord speaks of whistling and gathering them together so they can increase. Strength, joy and unity help to make a nation great. God’s grace upon Judah and Ephraim is why they bounced back after 70 years of captivity in Babylon. Other nations ceased to exist, but God made them to thrive.

“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.” Zechariah 10:9-10

The Lord sowed his people among the nations as a sower of seed throws his seed about a field. In a sense, they became the Lord’s ambassadors to those nations at that time. Then, after a season, the Lord brought them back to the Promised Land to build it back better than before. Whereas the land was temporarily sparsely populated, it was going to be fully populated.

“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.” Zechariah 10:11-12

The imagery here is similar to the time when the Lord opened up the Red Sea before Israel so that they could walk on dry land while walls of water were on either side of them. With such kinds of miracles the Lord humbles mighty nations like Assyria and Egypt. No nation on earth and no coalition of nations on earth can stand against the Lord, and His anointed.

The Lord promised to strengthen them.

The Lord told His people that they would walk up and down in His Name. In Matthew 28:19, Jesus said to the leaders of His Church, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” They went forth in His Name and baptized people in His Name.

In Acts 4:5-20, the apostles Peter and John were standing before the same men who orchestrated the crucifixion of Christ. They asked Peter and John, “By what power or by what Name have you done this?” In Acts 3, the Lord had healed a lame man through them. Now, in Acts 4, rulers, elders, scribes, Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest are looking at Peter and John. They tell Peter and John not to speak at all nor teach in the Name of Jesus. How do Peter and John respond? They say, “We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”

“Heavenly Father, please grant us the grace to walk and win battles in Your Name... in the Name of Jesus Christ Your Son, I pray. Amen.”


Some historic and word etymology knowledge gleaned from Jamieson Fausset Brown and Matthew Henry’s Commentaries