Zechariah 10

For the Lord of hosts has visited his flock the house of Judah, and has made them as his goodly horse in the battle.

(Zechariah 10:3)

In Short

After many centuries of being led astray by deceivers and false shepherds, the Lord visits his people and leads them to total victory. In the Endtime, He would use them in battle against the powers of the last empire. Those of his people living in far countries would be brought back by Him, however troubling the times would become.

Verse 1 - Chapter 9 ended with corn and wine for God's people, who would again be installed in his land like precious stones in a crown. In order to have corn and wine, one needs rain. So here the Lord shows Himself as the only One that gives rain on the field. 'The latter rain' is the heavy rain in spring, while 'the early rain is the soft rain in autumn. First the ground has to be made soft in order for it to be able to absorb the big showers of water that will come later. It is the Lord Who arranges all of this. This is in analogy with the first and the second coming of the Lord. His first coming was as the soft rain, as the king on a donkey - Zechariah 9:9 - preparing the hearts of the people for the outburst of revelation of Him at his second coming - when He will come on a white horse in order to achieve total victory over all enemies of his people and of humanity.

Verse 2 - Since the last prophets of the Lord in the Old Testament have spoken and the prophets of the New Testament have been ignored, the people of the Lord has been wandering, led into wrong directions and paths leading them to nowhere but harm and suffering and destruction, until this very day. The so called shepherds that have appointed themselves have led the people of the Lord astray: 'they went their way as a flock, they were troubled because there was no shepherd'. Oftentimes, the false prophets and teachers deceive themselves also: they 'have seen a lie' and 'they told false dreams'. They are deceived by their own lies and dreams - as Paul writes to Timothy: 'But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.' The next verse shows that the lack of a good shepherd is meant. The good Shepherd has come in the person of Jesus. But because of the falsehood among man, enormous multitudes are not following Him to their own demise. The present state of Israel is the perfect example of a people that is led astray. This state is given over the the worst of wickedness one can think of and will be completely destroyed at the return of Jesus.

Verse 3 - The Lord if furious with the false shepherds that have lead his flock astray. The goats are the ones that take advantage from the wrong direction into which the herd is led by the false shepherds. False shepherds often have their community of followers that profit from their position, while the herd as a whole is being led to destruction. They will be punished together with the evil ones they have been following. How does the anger of the Lord visit the false shepherds and their goats? It is through visiting 'the house of Judah', which as a whole has been led astray. And in visiting them, He totally changes their position and their capabilities. They are transformed from a suffering and hopeless people without strength into 'his goodly horse in battle'. They will be used by the Lord to punish the evil people, that have led the complete world to chaos and desperation.

Verse 4 - The importance of the holy people is shown in what they brought forth. The first two items, corner and nail, are meant for building. The last two items are for military and political dominance. Looking at the important people in the world, and their achievements, many are said to be of Jewish origin. The word 'oppressor' however has a negative connotation. Because of rejecting Christ, the Jewish people used their influence to oppress - even those that are of the same origins, the Palestinian people.

Verse 5 - Once the Lord starts to use his people, the humble and oppressed will turn everything upside down.  'They shall be as mighty men' (no longer the troubled flock as in verse 2). They will defeat their enemies with total victory, treading them down in the mire of the streets in battle. Their power won't be in themselves, nor in any superpower on earth (as is the case with the present zionist state) but in the Lord. The riders on horses are their enemies, who are well equipped, but who will be defeated anyway. The riders on horses could very well be the IDF-forces that for almost 80 years have oppressed the Palestinian people, who are the closest descendants of former Israel.  If so, these IDF-forces will be destroyed by the Palestinians.

Verse 6 - The Lord refers to the two parts of old Israel, (1) the two tribes, Judah-Benjamin vis-a-vis (2) the ten tribes, often referred to as 'Ephraim' or 'Joseph'. The first will be strengthened, the second will be saved. They will will again be placed in their land of origin, the holy land, not because they will have deserved it but out of mercy, out of the love of God's heart: 'for I am the Lord, their God'. Nothing will be seen anymore of the long history of separation between God and his people because of their sins. In his grace He will totally restore them into the relationship they once had and which lasted much too short. In the future that relationship will stand strong and last forever - as foretold in many a prophecy (Dan.9:24, 7:18)

Verse 7 - Ephraim is one of the two sons of Joseph, the youngest, which was blessed first (Gen.48:14). This verse shows the joy that will be experienced by God's true people once they see that the Lord has come to their rescue and is totally changing their perspective. It is comparable to the joy that wine gives, letting one forget all sorrows of life. 'Their children shall see it' - the joy will be infectious and the children, seeing the happiness of their parents, will also be filled with joy. But their joy is not in the first place in the change of circumstances but 'in the Lord'. Finally, the truth about the Most High dawns on their minds and it makes the very happy.

Verse 8 - The redemption of the Lord is based on his work on the cross. He paid with his blood for all who will believe in Him. Therefore we may conclude, based on the Lord's redemption for them, that they will believe in Him and will have acknowledged Him in all that He has revealed about Himself. The Lord shall 'hiss them and gather them' based on the redemption He wrought - so long ago. The true people of Israel will again multiply - as was the case in the old days. They will 'increase as they have increased'.

Verse 9 - 'I will sow them' could refer to the flight of Palestinians to other countries since the zionist experiment took off in the Nakba of 1948 and which was accelerated since October 7, 2023. It could of course also relate to the years after the Romans destroyed Jerusalem (135AD) and the second Jewish revolt However, the ban to return to the region of Jerusalem only lasted for 3 or 4 years (135AD - 138AD). The diaspora of the Jews started with the expulsion of the people by the Assyrian empire and the Babylonian empire. This was accelerated by the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD and the ban of the Jews by emperor Hadrian in 135AD. But even before, there were already more Jews outside of Judea than within. And a Jewish community remained in Galilee. Jews never totally left. The diaspora resulted in two large groups of Jews, those affiliating with the Roman empire and later with Europe (Ashkenazi) and those affiliating with the Arab world (Sephardic). The last group also resided in the holy land. The 'and they shall remember Me' was not the motive to establish the state of Israel. This state was founded by non-believing Jews, steered by freemasonry, like the USA. Religion was only used as a smokescreen for the true purposes of the zionist state: representing the interests of the empire. Two world wars were necessary to force the European Jews into the holy land. Orthodox Jews wanted to await the coming of Messiah. Non religious Jews preferred other countries than Palestine as their new homeland. As stated in the conclusion of this article: 'It ­was not the ideological argument but the conditions of absorption that determined the direction of migration for the great majority of those forced to flee their countries of residence'. Both 'Jews' and 'Palestinians' are scattered over the world, the Jews since the catastrophe of 135AD and the Palestinians since the catastrophe of 1948AD. So, the 'turning again' from countries afar could be applied to both groups. 

Verse 10 - Egypt and Assyria are two countries from which the Lord shall gather them and indeed, these are countries where both the former Jews fled, long ago, and where more recently the Palestinians fled because of the Nakba, that has been at work since 1948. Strange are the locations where they will be brought by the Lord: Lebanon and Gilead. The old Gilead lies in modern day Jordan, East of the Jordan river. Lebanon and Jordan count many Palestinian refugee camps. This verse seems to indicate that God's people will once possess the regions where they once fled as refugees. That 'place shall not be found for them' points to the great number of people that will return once the Lord is in charge. As stated in verse 8: 'They will 'increase as they have increased'

Verse 11 - The return of God's people would not happen during times of peace and security. It would happen under 'affliction' or 'tribulation', 'adversity', 'anguish'. It will happen during 'the great tribulation'. As was the case long ago, when Israel left their Egyptian slave-masters in the Exodus, the waves of a sea will again be slain and a river will again dry up (Ex.14:21,22, Joshua 3:13). God will again perform wonders in order to save his people. 'Gods way is in the sea' (Psalm 77:19.20). The two countries, mentioned in the previous verse, Egypt and Assyria, will be humbled by the Lord - perhaps because of the way they have treated his people. This could refer to the start of the great tribulation, which is described in Daniel 11:40-45. Both 'the king of the North' (present day Iran - Assyria) and 'the king of the south' (Egypt) will be brought down. While all of this happens, God's people will be rescued by Him. We believe the Lord will perform multiple rescue operations on behalf of his people, the first one described in Revelation 12:14-16 and - so we think - in the parallel verses of Zechariah 14:4,5.

Verse 12 - After having described how they will be brought into their homeland from countries afar, the Lord again points to their being strengthened by Him, as He did in verse 5, where their battle against their enemies was painted.  The two seen to go together: being brought back into the holy land and fighting the good fight against the evil that reigns there. It is impossible to relate this to present day 'Israel', which is not strengthened by the Lord but by the US-empire through enormous amounts of money and weaponry and which is nothing but the prototype of evil - looking at what is done to the original inhabitants of the land. Instead, present day 'Israel' is the evil that has to be extinguished through battle by the oppressed peoples that will be brought close to God's heart and that will be filled with his strength. The going 'up and down in his name' reminds one of the last words of the Lord to the Pharisees of his day; 'For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord.' (Mathew 23:39). It cannot mean anything else than that his people has seen Him again - that He has revealed Himself to his people. How? That is the subject of a later chapter.