Zechariah 10
KingCommentsZechariah 10:1
Peace on Earth
In the future realm of peace, the animal world will no longer be characterized by the fear of man that has been there since the fall into sin (Genesis 9:2). The peace that Israel will then possess as a people will have its radiance over the entire earth, including the animal realm. Isaiah speaks exuberantly in his prophecy about that time and the then prevailing peace (Isaiah 11:6-9). What Hosea says here will literally be fulfilled.
There is also an application to be made. In the different animals we can see the instruments of God’s judgments, i.e. the different enemies through whom God chastened His people. When the hostile nations have accomplished their task entrusted to them by God, a covenant will be made with them as well. Thus, they too will share in the blessing that will be Israel’s part (Isaiah 19:22-25). The war, through the centuries the scourge of the earth and here represented by “the bow, the sword and war” will no longer be there. The LORD will make these things vanish from the earth and war will no longer be taught (Isaiah 2:4; Micah 4:3). He will “will make them lie down in safety” which means that His people will live in peace.
Zechariah 10:2
Israel Betrothed to God
God speaks here directly to Israel. A new beginning is made, as if Israel has never been unfaithful. It is a new covenant, which replaces the old one, which has been broken by Israel. The new covenant that God then makes with His people is “forever” and will never be broken again. Israel will then no longer wander away from God because God’s law is written in their hearts.
The basis of this relationship is multiple. First and foremost is “in righteousness and in justice”. Herein is expressed the perfect legal basis for this marriage. It is not a relationship in which sin has been condoned. All the unfaithfulness of the people has been judged righteously by God, while a remnant has been spared because of the work of His Son. To this remnant, that confesses Jesus as the Christ, God will fulfill all His promises. Because God’s righteousness has been fully fulfilled through Christ, Christ is also entitled to the fulfillment of His promises. He is in His right when He takes the people back to be His bride.
In addition to righteousness and justice, “lovingkindness and … compassion” underlie the restoration of the relationship between the LORD and His bride. In this way it is expressed that God cares for His bride with His whole heart. This points to God’s mind for His people and His compassion with the wretched condition in which they have been. What characterizes the relationship between the Messiah and His earthly people is also found in the way the Messiah rules in the realm of peace: “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Lovingkindness and truth go before You” (Psalms 89:14).
It is difficult for some to understand that the Lord Jesus has two brides, an earthly bride, Israel, and a heavenly bride, the church, “the bride, the wife of the Lamb” (Revelation 21:9). But we must keep in mind that it is all about metaphors. It is a representation of the relationship between the Lord Jesus and Israel and a representation of the relationship between the Lord Jesus and the church. With both Israel on earth and the church in heaven, the Lord Jesus maintains a close relationship of love and fellowship. That relationship and that bond, which He has both with Israel and with the church, cannot be better represented than by the picture of marriage.
Zechariah 10:3
Faithfulness
The fifth characteristic, after the four of the previous verse on which the new relationship between God and His people is based, is “faithfulness”. This characteristic of faithfulness will certainly also apply to the people in their relationship with God. They will no longer be unfaithful to Him. For God, this is always so: “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself” (2 Timothy 2:13).
That He is faithful is also evidenced by the fact that He is the guarantor of all His promises to Israel. He will fulfill them. They will not wander away from the LORD again, because they will really know Him. That is the result of the new heart they will have received, in which God has written His laws (Hebrews 8:8-12; Jeremiah 31:31-34). It is this knowledge of the LORD that is characteristic of the realm of peace (Isaiah 11:9). This knowledge is not yet present (Hosea 2:8; Hosea 4:1; 6).
Zechariah 10:4
The LORD Responds
The heart of the people have been brought back to God. The broken relationship between God and His people has been restored. After the restoration of the inner bond, nothing stands in the way of God’s blessing anymore. But that stream of blessing only comes after the people have asked for it. God wants to make Himself known as a God Who responds. That comes first. Everything else is just its effect. While Israel first saw the blessings of the land as its own possessions, they now acknowledge through their prayer that they are blessings that must come from God, given by grace.
They no longer count on the favor of the idols for their needs. Israel has attributed the blessing to the Baals. Therefore, God has taken this blessing away from them so that they might learn that He is the Giver (Hosea 2:7-8). Now there is no place for idols anymore. In the restored relationship with their God, they now make their needs known to Him in prayer. He will answer them, and how! There will be an uninterrupted stream of blessing between the LORD and His earthly people.
Heaven and earth have been separated since man’s fall into sin. Since that time satan has the power (a limited power) on earth (Luke 4:5-6) and appears before God in heaven as the accuser of the believers (Revelation 12:10). But in the time of blessing that will then come for Israel, the power of satan will be broken. On earth he can do no more evil during that time (Revelation 20:2-3). And heaven, after he is removed from it, will be cleansed of his presence (Revelation 12:10).
Then there will be a beautiful harmony between heaven and earth. There will also be a beautiful harmony between sowing and harvesting. The chain of blessing finds its origin in God. The first thing that is said is: “I will respond.” That is what God says and then the blessing begins to flow. Heaven will ask God to give rain to the earth, that is blessing, and God will respond. But the question of heaven comes from the earth. The earth is seen as a person asking for rain from heaven. Heaven will respond and give the blessing.
But also the question of the earth does not stand alone. In turn, the earth is asked for fertility by the grain, the new wine and the oil. That is why the earth asks for rain from heaven. But also the demand of the grain, the new wine and the oil does not stand alone. Jezreel has asked for the fruit of the land. So Jezreel asks first. Jezreel is Israel as it will have been sown in the land by God at that time – see also the explanation at Hosea 1:11. Israel is the object of God’s blessing. Thus, heaven and earth and the fruit of the earth – in the realm of peace – will meet the needs of the people of God.
It is wonderful to see how the prayers are attuned to each other here. All prayers have the same goal, every link in this chain of prayer contributes to this. It is about blessing for God’s people. Heaven is answered by God who will give rain. Because of this, Jezreel will be able to enjoy the blessing of the land as coming out of God’s hand and as a response to prayer.
The content of these prayers has something to say to us. God also wants to bless His present people, the church. Do we pray for that? It is about enjoying what God has already given us. God “has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly [places] in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). But Paul prays for the Ephesians that God gives them that they will also enjoy it (Ephesians 1:16b-19; cf. Colossians 1:9-10; Colossians 4:2-3). If we were to focus more in our prayers on the content of what Paul is praying, would not God’s true blessing in Christ be enjoyed by us?
Regarding the restoration of Israel in their relationship to the LORD, there is even more result to report. There will not only be a blessing for Israel, but the whole earth will share in that blessing. The whole creation will then be set free from the curse that was placed upon it by the fall into sin. The setting free of creation will be linked to “the revealing of the sons of God” (Romans 8:19-21).
When the Lord Jesus returns and that glorious time for Israel and the whole earth will come, He will not come alone. All those who have become sons of God through faith in the Son of God will accompany Him (Revelation 19:14). Together with all the believers of the Old Testament and also with all those who are killed in the great tribulation after the church has been raptured, they will “reign with Christ for a thousand years” (Revelation 20:4-6).
Zechariah 10:5
The LORD Responds
The heart of the people have been brought back to God. The broken relationship between God and His people has been restored. After the restoration of the inner bond, nothing stands in the way of God’s blessing anymore. But that stream of blessing only comes after the people have asked for it. God wants to make Himself known as a God Who responds. That comes first. Everything else is just its effect. While Israel first saw the blessings of the land as its own possessions, they now acknowledge through their prayer that they are blessings that must come from God, given by grace.
They no longer count on the favor of the idols for their needs. Israel has attributed the blessing to the Baals. Therefore, God has taken this blessing away from them so that they might learn that He is the Giver (Hosea 2:7-8). Now there is no place for idols anymore. In the restored relationship with their God, they now make their needs known to Him in prayer. He will answer them, and how! There will be an uninterrupted stream of blessing between the LORD and His earthly people.
Heaven and earth have been separated since man’s fall into sin. Since that time satan has the power (a limited power) on earth (Luke 4:5-6) and appears before God in heaven as the accuser of the believers (Revelation 12:10). But in the time of blessing that will then come for Israel, the power of satan will be broken. On earth he can do no more evil during that time (Revelation 20:2-3). And heaven, after he is removed from it, will be cleansed of his presence (Revelation 12:10).
Then there will be a beautiful harmony between heaven and earth. There will also be a beautiful harmony between sowing and harvesting. The chain of blessing finds its origin in God. The first thing that is said is: “I will respond.” That is what God says and then the blessing begins to flow. Heaven will ask God to give rain to the earth, that is blessing, and God will respond. But the question of heaven comes from the earth. The earth is seen as a person asking for rain from heaven. Heaven will respond and give the blessing.
But also the question of the earth does not stand alone. In turn, the earth is asked for fertility by the grain, the new wine and the oil. That is why the earth asks for rain from heaven. But also the demand of the grain, the new wine and the oil does not stand alone. Jezreel has asked for the fruit of the land. So Jezreel asks first. Jezreel is Israel as it will have been sown in the land by God at that time – see also the explanation at Hosea 1:11. Israel is the object of God’s blessing. Thus, heaven and earth and the fruit of the earth – in the realm of peace – will meet the needs of the people of God.
It is wonderful to see how the prayers are attuned to each other here. All prayers have the same goal, every link in this chain of prayer contributes to this. It is about blessing for God’s people. Heaven is answered by God who will give rain. Because of this, Jezreel will be able to enjoy the blessing of the land as coming out of God’s hand and as a response to prayer.
The content of these prayers has something to say to us. God also wants to bless His present people, the church. Do we pray for that? It is about enjoying what God has already given us. God “has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly [places] in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). But Paul prays for the Ephesians that God gives them that they will also enjoy it (Ephesians 1:16b-19; cf. Colossians 1:9-10; Colossians 4:2-3). If we were to focus more in our prayers on the content of what Paul is praying, would not God’s true blessing in Christ be enjoyed by us?
Regarding the restoration of Israel in their relationship to the LORD, there is even more result to report. There will not only be a blessing for Israel, but the whole earth will share in that blessing. The whole creation will then be set free from the curse that was placed upon it by the fall into sin. The setting free of creation will be linked to “the revealing of the sons of God” (Romans 8:19-21).
When the Lord Jesus returns and that glorious time for Israel and the whole earth will come, He will not come alone. All those who have become sons of God through faith in the Son of God will accompany Him (Revelation 19:14). Together with all the believers of the Old Testament and also with all those who are killed in the great tribulation after the church has been raptured, they will “reign with Christ for a thousand years” (Revelation 20:4-6).
Zechariah 10:6
You Are My People
God has come to His purpose. He has returned His people to His heart and to His land. The people sown by and for Him will enjoy full blessing in fellowship with Him. In that time, the time of the kingdom of peace, the situation which Hosea had to express in his days in the names of his children (Hosea 1:4; 6; 9), will be totally reversed. The phrase ‘God scatters’, the one meaning of ‘Jezreel’, in which His judgment is expressed, is changed into ‘God sows’, the other meaning of ‘Jezreel’. This is how God’s blessing is expressed. The fact that God speaks here of sowing, in addition to the blessing for the seed, also makes us think of multiplying, increasing in number. The people will enjoy the blessing, but will also become very numerous and be spread abroad (Isaiah 54:3).
Paul quotes this verse in his letter to the Romans (Romans 9:25). In Romans 9 he also quotes Hosea 1:10, as we have seen (Hosea 1:10; Romans 9:26). That quote serves to show that God’s grace cannot be limited to the Jew. Quoting Hosea 2:23 of Hosea 2 serves another purpose. This verse makes it clear that although grace is shown to Jew and Gentile without distinction, a separate blessing remains for the Jew. That blessing is: restoration in the land.
Peter also refers to this verse in his first letter. He highlights yet another aspect. From his letter it appears that he writes to converted Jews who are “scattered” (1 Peter 1:1). He writes to them: “For you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1 Peter 2:10). With this Peter refers to Hosea 2:23 here. With this he wants to make it clear that the believing Jews to whom he writes are already in the relationship with God that the whole people will only have in the future.
As Jews by nature, the judgment that God revealed in Hosea rests upon them. As converted Jews, they have already been accepted as God’s people and have already received His mercy. It is also true that through their faith in the Lord Jesus they have joined the church, but that fact is not mentioned here by Peter. It is for him to show his Jewish brethren what they have received from God through faith in the Messiah.
As we have already seen with the name ‘Jezreel’, here also the other names mentioned in Hosea 1, “Lo-ruhamah” and “Lo-ammi”, are changed for the better by God’s grace. In Hosea 1 they mean judgment. Here they get a positive meaning, reminiscent of mercy and blessing. God takes care of Lo-ruhamah, which means ‘no compassion’. To Lo-ammi, which means ‘not My people’, He says: “You are My people.”
With so much goodness, the people can only cry out: “My God.” In doing so, they express all the feelings of gratitude, admiration and praise that fill their hearts. This is reminiscent of what we read of Thomas. Thomas is a picture of the remnant, which only comes to faith when it sees the risen Lord. But when Thomas sees Him, he says, filled with reverence and awe: “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28).
Zechariah 10:8
Introduction
Also in this chapter Israel’s history is portrayed. Hosea once again has to accept his adulterous wife as his wife, but without having a real marriage relationship with her. He will make her a lonely woman. God will do the same with Israel. He will make the people lonely for a time, without a king and so on. That is the situation of Israel at the moment. But in the future they will repent and come to the LORD and His salvation.
This short chapter shows Israel’s past, present and future: 1. In Hosea 3:1-3 the past, 2. in Hosea 3:4 the present and 3. in Hosea 3:5 the future.
Hosea Must Take His Wife Back
We can imagine that things have gone from bad to worse with Gomer. If there is a continual falling back into certain forms of evil, the situation can never improve, but only get worse. Improvement only occurs when there is a radical break with the past.
Gomer has probably returned to Hosea again and again after her various ‘outings’. In spite of all the pain and sorrow he felt because of her adulterous behavior, he has taken care of her again and again. Each time he must have hoped that she would really break with sin. Every time he was disappointed in his love, faithfulness and care for her, because every time she was unfaithful to him. Until she leaves and stays away. It is possible that Hosea, after the birth of the third child, had to send her away, just as God sent His people away in the scattering. It is also possible that she herself has run away.
It must have been the talk of the town. He must have heard well-intentioned pity. He will also have experienced insensitivity with his situation. People may have said: ‘That’s quite something, that she let you down with the children. You didn’t deserve that from her.’ But on the other hand: ‘Man, be happy about it. This wasn’t a life after all. Now you get peace in your house again.’ Numerous variations on this are conceivable. But situations like Hosea’s are unique. In the discussion of Hosea 1 a number of things have already been said about this. The heart that cries from the pain that one feels in such circumstances cannot be comforted with well-intentioned words and it does not diminish the pain.
Just as Hosea acted with Gomer, so did God with Israel. Again and again He has shown her His love. If the word of the LORD comes to Hosea that he should take Gomer back to be his wife, it is because God will do the same with Israel. He has also not sent away His people forever. God will not command to love another woman than His own lawful wife. There would be no message for Israel in that.
This is about Gomer. Her name is not mentioned because it goes without saying that it is about her. It is also more about the circumstances in which she ended up than about her person. The fact that she is not called ‘your’ wife here, but ‘a’ woman, may indicate the alienation that has arisen between Hosea and her through her behavior. That must have made it even more difficult to carry out God’s command.
In the discussion of Hosea 1:3 we have already discussed this command to love. The command Hosea receives here, gives reason to point this out again because of the false motives to get away from this command. Hosea has to take her back, despite the fact that he may no longer ‘feel’ anything for her. ‘Feeling’ has the upper hand today and even becomes the norm. Hosea is given the assignment: “Go … love”. ‘Love’ is a command.
It is an outright excuse, even worse, it is self-deception, when a couple breaks up with the excuse: ‘We don’t feel anything for each other anymore, so we just break up.’ But the fact that you are ‘no longer in love’ is not a valid reason to break up. It is self-deception to give validity to such an excuse. It is also disobedience to God and therefore sin. The question is not whether I feel something for my wife, but whether I want to obey God’s command. The command in the New Testament reads: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25).
To love is not just a feeling, it is above all an act. The man must love his wife. That is possible if the love of God dwells in him, because God is love. Only love to the Lord makes us fit to fulfill His command. The Lord does not ask Peter whether he loves the lambs and sheep, but whether he loves Him. If that is the starting point for each service, then love for the lambs and the sheep will come.
Hosea must go to Gomer and love her as God loves His people. It is not enough to know that God is love, we have to act accordingly. Hosea loves Gomer before she becomes unfaithful to him. He also has to love her after her unfaithfulness by rescuing her from that situation.
As in Hosea 1, God gives His reason for this heavy task. That reason is that in taking back Gomer, Hosea illustrates God’s love for His people. Israel, just like Gomer, has forfeited all right to restoration. But grace is searching for her. Not in the first place to restore her, but more to free her from the situation in which she ended up through her own fault. Then she will be restored (Isaiah 54:6-8).
Israel, like Gomer, has made life a feast, a feast without God. By making illicit connections, the people think they can get more out of life. They forget that by their actions they do not get more out of life, but that life is taken out of them. Real life is only possible in connection with the living God. The idols are dead, dead material.
The “raisin cakes”, made from the fruit of the vine, symbolize joy, for God is with His people and He strengthens them (cf. 2 Samuel 6:19; 1 Chronicles 16:3; Song of Solomon 2:5). But these cakes are used as offerings in the idolatrous cult. They are eaten in connection with the idols, showing in which the people seek their joy and strength. It is yet another proof of how God has disappeared from their minds, how they have forgotten Him (Hosea 2:13).
Zechariah 10:9
Repurchased
Hosea has to ransom his wife. That’s how it works if someone is going to serve sin. That person has to be ransomed. Gomer has become someone else’s slave. What has smiled on her as freedom has led her into slavery. She thought she was free, but has become a slave. That is always the case when serving sin. “Everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin” (John 8:34). The devil tries to tell us that we are free outside of God, but just like Gomer, you notice that you become a slave. But just like Hosea, God also goes after people and wants to give them His salvation.
How humiliating it must have been for Hosea to have to go to the man where his wife is now. She probably sunk so low that she became a slave. It seems that he finds her at a slave market, where she is offered for sale because her lover may have had enough of her. He has to negotiate with the man to get his own wife back. They agree on the price. Hosea has to pay for her even less than the price of a slave and some in kind. Fifteen pieces of silver is half the price for a slave (Exodus 21:32). The low price indicates her owner’s low appreciation for her.
The one and a half homer barley is a reminder of poverty. Barley is the food of the poor. It seems that Hosea gives all his money and complements it with something in kind. He simply has to ransom her. God has done the same with His people (Isaiah 43:3-4). Only true love sees something in an object that – due to so much unfaithfulness – is only worth being rejected.
Zechariah 10:10
Back, But Kept at a Distance
Hosea takes Gomer home and places her under house arrest. Again that is a picture of what God will do to Israel. Israel has been deported and has lived isolated among the peoples for centuries. But there will come a time when they will return and seek the LORD. Gomer, too, is isolated; she sits like a slave in her own house. But Hosea has no contact with her either.
This disciplinary measure, a withdrawn life in solitude and excluded from all intercourse with a man, serves to make her come to her senses. She will no longer have the opportunity to commit adultery and commit fornication with other men. Nor will she have a normal relationship with her husband.
We can also apply this situation to personal life. It could be that someone is in solitary confinement with his life. He is tired of sin. He doesn’t do evil anymore, but there is also no doing good. There is no real life. If someone starts to realize that, then God can give real life.
This situation can also be applied to a Christian community. They have removed evil. Then, out of fear of evil, they have isolated themselves in such a way that there is nothing at all seen from them. When they start to realize this, the time will come for God to give real life. However, if one continues to stay in that ‘isolation cell’, there is a good chance that the misery will become greater than it once was (Matthew 12:43-45).
“Many days” indicates an indefinite period of time. Gomer does belong to Hosea that whole period – he bought her, after all –, but there is no question of a normal relationship. She has to sit like a widow until he comes to her. As said, this is the situation of Israel after God has brought the people back from exile. When much later the Lord Jesus came to His people, they did not want Him. “He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him” (John 1:11). Not only did they not receive Him, but they also even rejected Him! What the result of this is, is said in the following verse.
Zechariah 10:11
Israel Is Without …
In this verse some particulars are brought to the fore that have not been discussed in the two previous chapters. Hosea 1 gives the general position in which the people find themselves and in which they are placed by God’s judgment. In Hosea 2 several details are filled in in more detail. Hosea 3 gives clarity about the humiliation and the isolated position of Israel. And not for a moment, but for an indefinite period of time, with at the end of that period her introduction in the abundant blessing.
In this one verse the whole situation in which Israel has found itself for many centuries comes to the fore. No Jew can deny that this verse aptly represents the actual situation. The period of “many days” is the time after the cross. All that time the people have been “without king or prince”, i.e. without a recognized government with an official head of state. This applies especially to the ten tribes, which are scattered.
They are also “without sacrifice”. They have no worship in which they approach God on the basis of sacrifice. But they are also without “[sacred] pillar”. These pillars are the pillars consecrated to the idols that Israel has had to destroy (Exodus 23:24), but that have gained a foothold in Israel (2 Kings 3:2; 2 Kings 10:26-28; 2 Kings 17:10). The sacred pillar represents the idolatrous worship that Israel has taken over from the surrounding peoples. Thus, the people will be without true, but also without false means of worship.
Finally, they will be “without ephod”, which is the high priestly garment. There is no priestly mediation to consult the LORD. But the “household idols” are also lacking. These are the teraphim, the idols for the worship of ancestors. Instead of priestly consultation, there is also no consultation of the idols through the images designed for that purpose.
It may be called a wonder that, despite the lack of what seems necessary to exist as a people, Israel has continued to exist for centuries. It is yet another proof of the truth and reliability of the Bible, which attributes unconditional promises of God to Israel. That God is using this time of Israel’s ‘isolation’ to gather the church is a truth that is unfolded not in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament.
Zechariah 10:12
Israel Returns to the LORD
The word “afterward“ with which this verse begins is still in the future and refers to the time of Christ’s return to earth and His blessed reign. “David their king” is the Lord Jesus, the true David. David means “the beloved”. “Their king” is an indication for the Messiah. At His first coming there was hardly any search for Him. Yes, a few magi from the east, who have seen His star, come to worship Him. And also Herod is looking for Him, but only to kill Him. Furthermore, there are still a few people who recognize Him. But the people as such? They have rejected Him. In the future it will be different (Ezekiel 37:23-24).
God has not finished with His people forever. Israel is also not incorporated into the church as a people. The individual Jew who repents is incorporated into the church, but then ceases to be a Jew (Colossians 3:11). “In the last days”, the Israelites will be attracted by “His goodness”, even overwhelmed by it. The expression “trembling” indicates reverence, which is accompanied by shame at the fact that they have left Him.
The final restoration of Israel under the blessed government of the Messiah, in which the people will enjoy all the promised blessings, begins when the people repent. Repentance is the first necessary step to get in touch with God. This happens when a man, or a people, realizes that he has lived with his back to God. When a person repents from that path, he turns around and can, thus, look to God.
Whoever looks God in ‘the face’, cannot help but acknowledge that He is holy. Man himself can only acknowledge that he is unholy and sinful and that God must judge him for that. But now he has turned towards God, because he is attracted to God’s goodness. God must punish man who persists in his sins. But man who confesses his sins finds compassion with Him.
With Israel, the moment of repentance has come when through the action of God’s Spirit the people confess their sin – their rejection of the Lord Jesus, their Messiah – and repent (Zechariah 12:10). The sadness that comes from the acknowledgment of their sin is a sadness in agreement with God. Such sadness over committed sins “produces a repentance without regret [leading] to salvation” (2 Corinthians 7:10). Whether it concerns a people or a few, all true restoration begins with this.