Shabbat Shalom everyone. We are going to turn in our Bibles this meeting today to the prophet Zechariah or Zechariah. We are going to continue in our study. We are today in the 10th chapter of the prophet Zechariah, and we are going to see what the Lord has before us. Let me first of all read the chapter. We begin with verse 1. Ask ye of the Lord, rain in the time of the latter rain. So the Lord shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain to everyone, grass in the field. For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams.

They comfort in vain, therefore they went their way as a flock. They were troubled because there was no shepherd. Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats. For the Lord of hosts have visited his flock, the house of Judah, and has made them as his goodly horse in the battle. Out of him came the corner, out of him the nail, out of him the battle bow, out of him every oppressor together, and they shall be as mighty men which tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle. And they shall fight, because the Lord is with them, and the riders on horses shall be confounded.

And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them, for I have mercy upon them, and they shall be as though I had not cast them off. For I am the Lord their God, and I will hear them. And they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice As through wine, yea, their children shall see it and be glad, their hearts shall rejoice in the Lord. I will hiss for them and gather them, for I have redeemed them, and they shall increase as they have increased.

And I will sow them among the people, and they shall remember me in far countries. And they shall live with their children and turn again and i will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt and gather them out of Assyria and i will bring them into the land of gilad and lebanon and place shall not be found for them and he shall pass through the sea with affliction And shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the dips of the river shall dry up, and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the scepter of Egypt shall depart away. And I will strengthen them in the Lord, and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith the Lord.

Again, as I mentioned before, beloved brothers and sisters, Zechariah prophesied to a remnant who came back from Babylon and had been 70 years in Babylon, returned back to the land of Israel, rebuilt now the temple in the city of Jerusalem, and Zechariah was raised together with Haggai, those two prophets, to encourage the Jewish remnant in the land of Israel. If you remember, God gave eight visions to Zechariah in the first sixth chapter. Then he gave them instruction concerning fasting and feasting in chapter 7 and 8. In chapter 9, where we began in our previous meeting together, he gave Zechariah the first burden that God had on behalf of the nation of Israel and the surrounding nations.

We said that chapter 9, 10, and 11 give us the first burden of Jehovah in connection with the first coming of the Messiah. That's why we read in Zechariah 9, verse 9, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem, Behold, thy king cometh unto thee. He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding upon an ass and upon a colt, the fall of an ass. He was primarily giving the burden of Jehovah concerning the nation of Israel and the surrounding nations in relationship to the first coming of the Messiah. This verse in connection with Matthew chapter 21, this one that is riding upon a donkey, is none else but the King of Israel, the Lord Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah.

He came in his first coming he was rejected by the nation of Israel and was ultimately placed on a Roman cross and he actually bore the sin of this world we read it in John 1 behold the lamb of God who taketh away the sin of this world but chapter 9 10 and 11 deal also with the consequences or the results of the first coming of the Messiah how much blessings will come to the nation of Israel in chapter 12 13 and 14 which we're going to get to it later on there the burden of the Lord is in connection with the second coming of the Messiah and how he will ultimately rule and reign over the nation of Israel and the nations of this world again in chapter 9 and verse 10 of it says i will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Yerushalayim and the battle boar shall be cut off and he shall speak shalom unto the heathen and his dominion shall be from.

Sea to sea and from river to the end of the earth when the Messiah will come in his second coming he will rule and reign over the nations of the world so that same Yeshua who was rejected in his first coming he's going to come in his second coming and he's going to be acknowledged and accepted by Israel and he will rule and reign from shore to shore from sea to sea as the promised king of Israel and so if you remember we stopped in verse 17 of chapter 9 where we read for how great is his goodness and how great is his beauty and we talked about the goodness of God and the beauty that is found in him this is really encouraging to our hearts we look around and we try to find goodness in men and we find that men fail God.

We fail each other. There is no good in men, humanly speaking, because of our sin nature, but the goodness of God. Lead us to. Repentance. Paul said it in the book of Romans. God is so good. God is so gracious. But not only that the Messiah, Yeshua, is good and gracious, but there is a beauty that is found in him. The thing that attracted me to Yeshua as a Jewish man was the beauty that is found in the person of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah there is none as morally beautiful as our Lord Jesus the Messiah the prophet Isaiah in chapter 53 said there is no beauty that we will find in him in other words in his first coming they didn't find beauty in him and therefore Israel did not acknowledge him but in the second coming of the Messiah they will recognize the beauty of the Lord the new and i can today appreciate the beauty of our Lord Jesus the Messiah so we begin in chapter 10 immediately there is a connection between chapter 9 and chapter 10 the people who divided the chapters you could see that sometimes they missed because the first verse of Zechariah 10 verse 1 is really.

Connected with Zechariah chapter 9 and specifically with verses 16 and 17 so notice in chapter 10 in the first four verses we have Israel will ultimately be healed on the basis of the first coming of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah who died for us on the cross and so look what he's saying now in verse 1 of chapter 10 ask of Jehovah for rain look it says here ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain so the Lord shall make bright clouds and give them showers of rain to everyone grass in the field now if you know Hebrew and the history and the way in which God dealt with our people Israel Israel is a nation that depend upon the rain if there is no rain in the land of Israel it is a sign of God's judgment upon the nation of Israel in fact in the Bible in biblical history God had promised our people Israel the early rain which we call it in Hebrew, the Yoreh, and the latter rain, which we call it in Hebrew, the Malkosh.

The early rain come around September, October, where the rain is prepared the people of Israel for the fall crop that will come in the fall. But then we have the latter rain, which is just in the earlier march and april which prepared the ground for the harvest that will come in the spring season in may june july and so on so Israel as a nation depend totally upon the rain now it is interesting that in the last years Israel did not have a lot of rain actually just this year they had much rain and I think less winter but before the last couple of years Israel didn't have much rain and the Kinneret this is the Sea of Galilee began to diminish by a few meters and the Sea of Galilee is the main source of water for the Israelis in the land today and the reason that the Sea of Galilee was emptied if you will is because there was no rain to replenish the Sea.

Of Galilee and not only there elsewhere in the whole land of Israel there was a lot of need for rain and so now in chapter 10 and verse 1 God is speaking to the remnant of Israel and ultimately he takes us to the millennial age he says listen the Lord says ask of Jehovah for rain in the time of the latter rain the word for rain in Hebrew it's called matar or geshem here he tell Israel you know you pray and you ask from Jehovah for matar for a strong rain that will come in the season of the latter rain in the march april season why because God promised that there will be showers of blessings for the people of Israel in the future day notice it says the Lord shall make a bright cloud notice verse 1b and he will give them showers of rain to every one grass in the field in other words the giving the provision of the rain is a proof that God is satisfied with.

His people Israel and that he's blessing them with showers of rain this is an important thing to understand in connection with our people Israel and the promised land I want to mention a verse or two in Deuteronomy chapter 11 and verse 10 we read these words for the land where whither thou goest in to possess it is not as the land of Egypt for whence ye came out where you sowed the seed and watered it with thy foot as the garden of herbs but the land verse 11 whither ye go to possess is the land of hills and of valley and the land that drinketh water of the rain of heaven a land which the Lord thy God care for the eyes of the Lord thy God is always upon it from the beginning of the year to the end of the year and it shall come to pass if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandment which i commended you this day to love the Lord.

Thy God and to serve him with all thy heart and with all thy soul listen to this verse 14 of Deuteronomy 11 that I will give you the rain of your land in his due seasons the first rain this is the yore and the latter rain this is the malkosh that thou mayest gather in thy corn and thy wine and thine oil and i will send grass in thy field for thy cattle and thou mayest eat and be full but now listen brothers and sisters what he says if Israel will not obey the word of the Lord it says in verse 16 take heed to yourself that your heart be not deceived and ye turn aside and serve other gods and worship them and then the Lord's wrath be kindled against you and he shut up the heaven that there be no rain and that the land yield not her fruit unless ye perish quickly from of the good land which the Lord giveth unto you you notice brothers and sisters God is able to.

Shut up the windows of heaven that the rain will not come down and if there is no rain there is no crop if there is no rain there is no bread if there is no rain there is no food now we have to realize that even for us today in the present day today can you imagine if we are not going to have rain imagine how the farmers will work the ground where will we enjoy and have plenty of food as much as we have today so when there is no rain in the land of Israel symbolically it speaks to us of the judgment of God upon his people but when there is plenty of rain it speaks of the blessings of God upon the nation of Israel.

It was even King Shlomo HaMelech, King Solomon, when he dedicated the temple in Jerusalem in 1st Kings chapter 8, he prayed and he says to God, if we disobeyed and you shut the heaven, and if we confess and we pray to thee, open the windows of heaven and pour. Upon the nation the promised rain for the nation of Israel and so it is so important to understand here that verse 1 of chapter 10 takes us to a future day when God says to Israel you know what I intend to pour upon you showers of blessings I want to minister to you I want to bless you you ask for matah for rain and you will see what i will give showers of rain to everyone that grass will be in the field remember beloved brothers and sisters that the Jewish people many years ago they were not lawyers and doctors and all what the Jewish community is today in the diaspora years ago the Jewish people have been farmers working the ground working the land there were shepherds and farmers they were serving God in the land of Canaan in the land of Israel and therefore God promised them a blessing that will come if they will only obey him let me make one more comment here do you remember Elijah in first king chapter 17 and in first king.

Chapter 18 in first king chapter 17 because of Israel sin and disobedience Elijah prayed and for three and a half years there was no rain in the land and there was famine in the land of Israel after that God said to Elijah Elijah chapter 18 verse 1 you go and you pray I'm going to send the rain and sure enough after three and a half years Elijah prayed and God gave our people of Israel, plenty of rain, that the famine will no longer be in existence. James said in chapter 5, Elijah was a man subject like passion as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it rained not upon the earth by the space of three years and six months.

And he prayed again, And the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. So the rain, beloved brothers and sisters, speaks to us of the showers of God's blessing upon the nation of Israel. And here he asks Israel, the remnant, ask for rain, and he will provide for you. He will give them showers of rain to every one grass in the field. And now he's moving on, verse 2, Jehovah is pointing out to all their idols and the gods that Israel used to follow when they were in a bad spiritual state. And he's saying to them, look, he says, the idols, verse 2, have spoken vanity and the diviners have seen a lie and have told false dreams.

They comforted in vain. Therefore, they went their way as a flock, and they were troubled because there was no shepherd. You know, God always presents before Israel, and he will do it for you and I. He will always show to us the difference between what we have been brought in because of what the Lord is, and how, when we were not right with the Lord, how we used to be away from him and we have been following that which was wrong and so he's telling them here you see the difference between me Jehovah the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob and the idols that man makes for himself look at the difference you ask for me for showers and i will bless you just trust me and go with me and i am going to bless you but look in contrast those idols that you used to have and he used to follow after the nations the Gentile world he said look they have spoken emptiness and then he says that the diviners have seen a lie and they have told false dreams.

He says look at the comparison the true and living God minister to the need of the people of God the false idols and diviners all what they do they speak vanity really empty and they see a lie and they have told false dreams and he's reminding the people of Israel when they deviated from him what they end up doing they end up following after the idols of the Gentile world and the word for idol is the Hebrew word teraphim it's a small little household idols that they would bring them in a home and they would make a little sanctuary in a certain room and they would end up bowing themselves and praying to these little household teraphim idols.

You remember Jacob, Jacob, took his two wives, Rachel and Leah, and fled from the house of Laban. And you know what Rachel did? Rachel took the little idols, the little teraphim, And she ran with it and they went together and they fled from Laban. Laban was so angry, Laban, his Hebrew name, he was pursuing after Jacob. And when he finally got there, Jacob didn't know that his wife had stolen these little idols. And Laban said, you have stolen that which belonged to me. So Jacob said, look around, check to see. If you find anything, that person will die. So Laban began to search. Rachel took those little idols and she sat upon them.

Can you imagine you sit on your God? And when Laban was looking and searching in her tent, she said, forgive me for not standing because I'm the men after the women. In other words, I'm in a time that I cannot stand. And so she remained sitting on this teraphim and Laban did not find those gods of his. That's why God is saying here to Israel, you know Israel, those teraphim, those idols, they spoke in vanity they cannot help us they cannot help you Israel and those diviners whatever they claim to see they see a lie it's from the enemy it's from the devil it's not real and then they told false dreams that word for diviners is the Hebrew word for kosmim it's the word like magicians and you know apparently Israel have been influenced by those who claim that they can tell them and lead them in the ways of the Lord and God's saying look at the difference those idols those teraphim those diviners those kosmim they cannot help when you have followed them look at the result that they brought for you in your life they only led them astray they didn't minister to the heart of the people of Israel and I want to make an application here for us today you know we as believers in Yeshua the Messiah have to realize that we are.

Not exempt we are always in danger in adapting to things that are not Bible that are not found in the written word of God and that's why John oftentimes is in his epistle warning the believers to be careful not to follow after every one that claimed that he or she or they are ones that have something from God but to search the Scripture to make sure that we follow that which is given to us indeed in the Scripture we read in first John chapter 5 the last verse John said little children keep yourselves from idols we as followers of Yeshua the Messiah are just as much in danger as the people of Israel have been previously in Israel history the idols they've spoken vanity the diviners they have seen a lie and they have given us a false dreams he's saying to Israel and then notice what he says now in verse 2b because he's telling them now the results of following those idols look what he says to them in verse 2 they comfort in vain therefore they went.

Their way as a flock and they were troubled because there was no shepherd it comforts you in vain you're trying to find comfort and peace in your heart and you can't find it because these one comforting us in vain in other words it's only temporarily it didn't satisfy the heart of Israel you know so sad because God's people whether it is Israel or whether it is the church we are like sheep like flock and we are able if we are not careful to follow after all sort of things and even after men who teach false teaching like a flock the Bible tells us Isaiah 53 6 all we like sheep have gone astray.

We have turned every man to his own way. We are like sheep that are following after someone. Look what happened to Israel before they have turned to the Lord, when they have been away from him. They went their way as a flock. You know, like going to the slaughter, just carrying on, going straight, following that which someone have said. In this. Case, it's the idols, the diviners. And then look what it says at the end of verse 2. They were troubled you know a sheep can never drink water from a stream that runs you can never satisfy yourself quench your thirst when the water is moving that's why David said the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want he leadeth me by still water why because when you have a place to feed to drink from the water the water that are moving we are unable to drink he leads us we buy still water Psalm 23 and so precious and they could not be satisfied they were troubled and here beloved brothers and sisters a challenge to us I hope and I trust as we begin this new year that we will find satisfaction in the person of Yeshua don't go to and fro try to find the satisfaction from this teacher and this leader and this great man and this great news you will see that you will never be satisfied the one who can give satisfaction to the soul.

Is the person of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah he is the one that gives joy to the heart and he is the one that is the Jehovah of Israel ask for the rain and I will give you showers of rain not only physical rain but spiritual blessing upon the people of God and so they were troubled and then it says in verse 2 because they had no shepherd when Israel were going astray following after those teraphim idols following after those diviners the kosmim they were not satisfied because they didn't have a shepherd and the Lord Jesus the Messiah said in John chapter 10 verse 11 i am the good shepherd the good shepherd give his life for the sheep but he that is a hireling and not the shepherd whose own sheep are not sees the wolf coming and he leaves the sheep and he flees and the wolf catches them and scatters the sheep the hireling fleers because he is an hireling and he care not.

For the sheep i am the good shepherd Yeshua said and i know my sheep and i'm known of mine notice what he says verse 15 as the father knoweth me even so i know the father i lay down my line for the sheep and other sheep i have which are not of default them also i must bring and they shall hear my voice and there shall be one flock and one shepherd and look what he said at the end in verse 17 therefore does my father love me because i lay down my life that i might take it again no man taketh it from me but i lay it down of myself that i have power to lay it down and i have power to take it again.

This commandment have I received of my Father. He is the true shepherd of Israel. He is our shepherd who gave his life for us, who was willing to lay down his life on the cross to deal with the question of sin, to deliver us from the judgment that we deserve. To receive because of sin and ultimately to give us hope and to lead us on and you see Israel did not have a shepherd and Israel when they did not have a shepherd they were troubled because they turn away from Jehovah Jesus the Messiah who was the true shepherd of Israel again they didn't understand church truth because it was not all it was hidden God so their only thinking was the Messiah going to come in the coming days he's going to restore our people Israel he's going to establish the messianic kingdom and God said on the basis of the coming of the Messiah i'm going to pour upon you the rain of blessing in the coming day and look at the contrast just look back and see what those idols have done to you i want you to follow after me because I have a blessing that intended for you in the coming days and so in verse 3 Jehovah's anger against the false shepherd it says here in verse 3 mine anger was kindled against the.

Shepherds these are the false shepherds who led the nation astray and I punish the goats for the Lord of hosts has visited his flock, the house of Judah, and as he made them as his goodly horse in the battle. We have to realize that even though we see today, just the same like in Israel's history, a lot of false teachings that are going on. This old sort of religious system that was introduced by men it's actually an influence of Satan and people are following after those kind of things God is going to deal with the false shepherds as it says in verse 3 my anger was kindled against the shepherds and i punish the goats now it's interesting to take a note why does he use the word the goats here now goats are to be distinguished from sheep you remember in Matthew chapter 25 Yeshua was speaking about the judgment of the nations in the future day and he will separate between the sheep and the goats the goats always speaks of those that are.

Not real those that are not genuine those who they claim that they belong to God but really they are not and the Lord will have to deal with the goats in the context here those goats really speaks to us of the false shepherds that led Israel astray and we read here God says in verse 3 i will punish those goats and even today those who lead church saints astray and away from the truth of the word of God God will end up to deal with them in the coming days in his time and then it says here in verse 3b that he will visit his flock the house of Judah those Jewish remnant and the whole tribe of Judah he made them as his goodly horse in a battle in other words he will strengthen the house of Judah so Judah will be able to go to a battle against the enemies of Israel the enemies of Jehovah i'm going to read a verse in Ezekiel chapter 34 in connection with.

The false shepherds of Israel when they led Israel astray listen to Ezekiel 34 verse 1 and the word of the Lord came unto me saying son of man prophesy against the shepherds of Israel prophesy and say unto them thus says the Lord God unto the shepherds woe to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves should not the shepherds feed the flock he eat the fat he close you with the wool he kill them that are fed but ye feed not the flock the diseased have ye not strengthened neither have ye healed that which was sick neither have ye bound up that which was broken neither have ye brought again that which was driven away neither have ye sought that which was lost but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them you know the shepherd's responsibility is to heal the diseased is to administer to the sick is to bound up those that are broken and to bring back those that have been driven away and those that are lost to seek them.

You know, this is an amazing responsibility that God placed upon the shepherds. Old Testament time in history of Israel as well in New Testament, present day dispensation. We, those that have the responsibility in leading and teaching and so on, have to have the desire to minister to the flock to God's sheep to minister to them and we know it's not an easy Job to take it's a great responsibility but nevertheless God seeks to see the desire in the shepherd's heart to minister to the people of God and so he will deal with the shepherds and he will ultimately punish those that are the leaders that have led the people of Israel astray.

I'm challenging you today as well that if the Lord lay in your heart to serve him, realize that the people of God need encouragement. The people of God do not need to be forced, but they need to be drawn, to be ministered to. The people of God are not easy. The people of God are sinners that are saved, there is a sin nature but we are responsible to minister to each other and to be encouragers rather than discouragers that's the responsibility that we have and so in the next verse all these. Healings that are going to come in the future day is always on the basis of the coming of Yeshua of Jesus the Messiah who died on the cross and so he says in verse 4 Israel will be cured through the person of the Messiah who will come from their perspective notice interesting verse is verse 4 out of him came the corner out of him the nail out of him the battle bow out of him every oppressor together very interesting verse this is a messianic verse really that speaks about the Messiah in Hebrew mimenu pina mimenu yated mimenu keshet milchama mimenu yetze kol nogesh yachdav if there will be a blessing to Israel in the future day it must be comes out of God out of the coming Messiah that we read about him in chapter 9 in verse 9 oh daughter of Zion the daughter of Jerusalem behold your king cometh unto thee he is just and having salvation Yeshua lowly and riding upon an ass and upon a cold the fall of an ass.

When the Messiah came he is the one that gave his life he came in lowliness in meekness and he's the one that is called here those three things he's called the corner he's called a nail and he's called a battle bow the word for corner in Hebrew is pina he's called the corner stone you know when the temple was built they needed to bring the corner stone in order to put together the whole temple the corner stone was an important stone and it speaks to us about the Messiah who would come to be the corner stone in Isaiah we read in chapter 28 and verse 16 therefore thus Says the Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation.

He that believeth on him shall not make haste. They speak about the Messiah. He is the one who came to this world to become that corner stone, the pinah, the evan pinah. He is the one that was promised by God to come to be the one that will establish salvation. He is the cornerstone. I'm going to read a verse in 1 Peter chapter 2 verses 6, 7, and 8. Peter spoke about it much when he was speaking to his Hebrew brethren when he was preaching the message. He says in 1 Peter chapter 2, wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion the chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.

Unto you therefore which believe he is precious, but unto them which are disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner and as a stone of stumbling in a rock of offense even unto them which stumble at the word being disobedient where unto also they appointed themselves he's speaking about the corner stone beloved brothers and sisters and Yeshua the Messiah he is that corner stone that everything. Is being built upon the person and the work of Yeshua the Messiah. Now I want us to see this also in relation to the church. Jesus the Messiah is the stone that was laid in Zion in Sion.

He is the one that one day everything will be hinged around him. Everything is going to be connected with him Paul when he spoke about the church he also made sure to help us to understand that the Lord Jesus is that corner stone and i'm just going to read just a couple of verses in Ephesians chapter 2 in verse 20 he says ye are built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets Yeshua the Messiah himself being the chief corner stone in whom all the building fitly framed together growing up into a holy temple in the Lord this is Ephesians 2 verse 20 and 21 so you and i actually brothers and sisters who are part of the body of Messiah we are built upon the chief cornerstone and the whole assembly the whole church is built upon the person.

And the work of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah he is the one that Zechariah is pointing out here in verse 4 of Zechariah chapter 10 but not only that he is the chief cornerstone he is also it says here of him and out of him the nail this nail here in Hebrew it's yated it's actually nail really the yated it is really a tent peg when you build a tent you have to have those pegs that hold the whole tent together and really it speaks about the Messiah himself who is the tent peg the yated and upon this peg you would hang things and you would hold the whole tent together he is the one that gives support he is the one that give us encouragement and support you see where can we get support where can Israel get support assurance a cornerstone but also a yated a peg that is shoe deep into the ground well that's the Messiah he is the one that holds things together he is the yated he is the nail that is the one.

That we are standing upon this is very precious to understand but also it says here in verse 4 that he is the battle bow out of him the battle bow the battle bow the bow in Hebrew is keshet and a battle, the Hebrew word is milchama, he is keshet, he is a bow that you shoot an arrow in order to go out to fight against enemies, and you know we cannot find a spiritual war on our own, he is the battle bow on behalf of Israel, the nation on behalf of the believers, he is the battle bow, he is the one that goes before us to lead his people into victory, out of him the battle bow out of him the ability to win victory against the enemies of God's people and so in verse 4 he's pointing out for the person of the Messiah who is the cornerstone the peg the nail and he is the battle bow and notice finally and really it's a summary in verse for out of him every oppressor together what does that mean every oppressor will depart.

When they will face the nation of Israel when we seek to destroy Israel he is the one that will disperse those who will come against his own people out of him every oppressor together will depart and will not be able to defeat God's people that was he saying now to the remnant of Judah so these verses seems to be kind of difficult to know how to fit them here in Israel's history but definitely you can see that it speaks about the coming Messiah and the future day when Israel will enjoy blessing but all is dependent upon the finished work of the Messiah the king that was rejected and so verses 1 to 4 Israel will be healed on the basis of the finished work of the Messiah and now verses 5 to 7 here's another thing that God had promised to this Jewish remnant he promised Israel to have victory over her enemies and so he began with verse 5 And he promised to his people that in the future day, in the time of the tribulation, Israel ultimately will be victorious over their enemies.

Verse 5 says that they shall be as a mighty man which tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle. And they shall fight because the Lord was with them. And the riders of the horse shall be confounded. In other words, Israel, I can assure you in the coming day that you're going to be as a mighty man who will tread down your enemies in the mire of the streets. But how you will be able to do so? Because Jehovah was with them. Every time when there is victory for God's people, it's because the Lord was with us. For us too brothers and sisters be strong in the Lord Paul said in Ephesians 6 and in the power of his might not in your own power not in our own power but it is in the power of the Lord we cannot defeat spiritually speaking today we cannot live a victorious christian life unless the Lord is the one that is with us if you remember we just prayed a request was for somebody to live a victorious life as a believer well how do we live a victorious life we cannot do it on our own even though we are saved and forgiven we cannot do it on our own because we still have the old nature which incline to constantly go have its own way but you remember what Paul said walk in the spirit and he shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh Galatians tells us that we cannot do it on our Israel in a future day will be able as mighty men to tread down their enemies why because Jehovah.

Was with them and he led them to victory he led them to be able to live ultimately at the end of the tribulation to live a life that is for him and to be a restored nation also for this remnant he gives them a promise when the Lord is with you and you have enemies around you who seek to destroy you when the Lord is with you you are going to be able to defeat as mighty men to defeat those enemies. In verse 6 and 7, he promised to strengthen both Judah and Joseph and Ephraim. And here it is interesting, because as I mentioned before, there are many of those who don't believe that Israel will be reunited.

And they don't believe that the so-called 10 lost tribes are actually not lost, because Israel ultimately is going to be restored, all the 12 tribes of the people of Israel so here in verses 6 and 7 he pointing up to Joseph and Ephraim in additional to Judah so he says in verse 6 and 7 I will strengthen the house of Judah I will save the house of Joseph and I will bring them again to place them for I have mercy upon them and they shall be as though I had not cast them off for I am Jehovah their God and I will hear them verse 7 and they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man and their heart shall rejoice as through wine yeah their children shall see it and be glad their heart shall rejoice in the Lord.

You notice, brothers and sisters, that he mentioned Judah, the tribe of Judah, Yehudah, Judah, and Yosef, Joseph, in. Hebrew is Yosef, he had two sons, Ephraim and Menashe, and he mentioned Ephraim in verse 7. Ephraim, they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man. Now, Ephraim was the leader of the northern tribes of Israel. Judah was the leader of the southern tribes of Israel and when Israel as a nation were divided in the time of the Kings when rehov am the son of Solomon Shlomo did not listen to his elders and because of his pride he lost the 10 tribes in other words there was a division between those two kingdoms now we see here that the Lord promised to restore all a find which is representing Israel and Judah to himself and together to unite them as a nation and so he says those four things in verse six i will strengthen the house of Judah again i will save the house of Yosef thirdly I will bring them again to place them back in the land and fourthly I have mercy upon them God will show mercy to his own nation in a future day and will bring them and restore them back to their promised land and so he says here at the end of verse 6 and they shall be as though I love that.

Word they shall be as though i had not cast them off for i am the Lord their God and i will hear them notice this expression they shall be as though i had not cast them out or cast them off in other words when God had chastened our own nation Israel in the dispersion in the diaspora he cast them away in judgment and he disciplined our nation Israel because Israel violated his word and if you remember in 70 AD the Romans came and destroyed the temple in Jerusalem and killed over 1 million Jewish people 1,100,000 Jewish people took slaves some of them took some of the articles from the temple and brought it to Rome the Jewish people were scattered and dispersed and that was a judgment of God and so God now is saying of course it is much much earlier than 70 AD we are talking about now over 500 years about 500 years before what happened in 70 AD this temple that was built he's saying to them listen brothers and.

Listen, men of Judah, men of Joseph, men of Ephraim. I am going to restore you. I'm going to strengthen you. I'm going to save you. I'm going to bring you back into your promised land. I will have mercy upon you. And all what have happened over the generation that I had to scatter you will be as though I had not cast you at all away. Now, I'm going to emphasize something here. Since I became a believer, I heard that in the professing church there are those who believe that God had finished with the Jewish people, with the people of Israel. And that Israel, because they disobeyed God, that God had scattered them, and God has no more future for Israel as a nation.

Well, they need to read this chapter. They need to read Zechariah chapter 10 and verse 6 and 7. But also, listen, Paul was so burdened with this truth concerning the restoration of Israel, that in the book of Romans, Paul, Shaul, gave three chapters to the believers at Rome to emphasize or to impress upon their hearts that God's sovereign choice of the nation of Israel is his own sovereign choice and he have elected this nation and he has a purpose for them even though they are in a period of time that they are scattered among the nations of the world and as the same it used the word here and they shall be as though he had not cast them off Paul says in Roman chapter 11 verse 1 and notice how he said it has God cast away his people he said he asked the question did God really cast them away and the answer he gave right away says God forbid for i'm also an israeli of the seed of Abraham of the tribe of benjamin God hath not cast his people which he foreknew he didn't cast them away he may have cast them in.

Judgment but he is intent to restore the nation of Israel back to himself he says in Romans 11 verse 13 he says this for i speak unto you Gentiles inasmuch that i am an apostle of the gentles i magnify my office if by any means i may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh that i might save some of them and if the casting away of them be a reconciling of the world what shall be the receiving of them Israel but life from the dead and if the first would be holy and so on is it also the lump is holy and if the root is holy also the branches are holy.

He continued in verse 25 of Romans 11, for I would not brethren that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own conceit, that blindness in part happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles become in, and he closed in verse 26, and so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written, there shall come out of Zion the deliverer, speaking about the Messiah, Yeshua. And shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. Beloved brothers and sisters, what Paul wrote about, he must have read Zechariah chapter 10. And he says, they will be as though God had not cast them off. You see, the Apostle Paul did not have any New Testament to read because he was writing it.

He only had the Hebrew the Tanakh to read and he was reading all the prophets of Israel and all the promises that God had given to our nation Israel and he was reading and he said wow God says about my people Israel that he will deal with them in the future as though they were not cast away at all because he is intending to restore them back to himself and now he's talking about Ephraim in verse 7 he said day of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man and the heart shall rejoice here is Israel in a future day rejoicing as though through wine you know when somebody's drinking wine he's he's kind of a happy type of thing you know and so he's saying when you will see Israel rejoicing in a future day it will appear to be as if they were drinking wine they were not drinking wine they.

Were drinking into the power of the Spirit of God that was placed upon them it says and their children shall see it and they will be glad their heart shall rejoice in the Lord notice how many times the word rejoice and glad is mentioned in verse 7 why because in a future day Israel will be restored on the basis of the finished work of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah and so Israel will be victorious over their enemies on the basis of the coming of the Messiah their king and finally in verses 8 to 12 Israel will be fully restored to the in a full sense that they can now minister to the nations of this world and listen to these brothers and sisters it says in verse 8 that Jehovah as a shepherd will hiss for them and gather them for i have redeemed them and they shall increase as they have increased now what's the word for hiss the Hebrew word for hiss is it's like to whistle if you ever have an opportunity to see shepherds in the field.

When the shepherd decides to move ahead and to go to another location he will hiss the Hebrew word here he will whistle to them and they will listen to him and they will be gathered they will follow after him and God here is giving us a representation of the true shepherd of Israel who will hiss he will whistle he will eshreka eshrok he will whistle for his nation and he will gather them he says why because I've redeemed them and they shall increase even as they have increased now you remember what Yeshua said in John 10 he said my sheep hear my voice and I know them and I'll give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish but he used this expression my sheep hear my voice you know Israel will finally know the voice of the shepherd because God will hiss for them and then he will gather them together he says because i have redeemed them i saved them and how did he save them on a basis of the death burial and resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah and they.

Shall increase today in the world in which we live in there is about 15 million of our own Jewish people we are about 15 million Jewish people in the world and why because already six million just died 60 70 years ago in the holocaust and other millions of Jewish people have been killed over the generation by Israel's enemies but apparently in the messianic age towards the messianic age Israel they shall increase as they are increased there will be population growth among the Jewish community among the people of Israel so God will whistle he will gather because he redeemed them and he will cause them to grow to multiply as a population and then notice it says in verse 9 i will saw them among the people and they shall remember me in far countries and they shall live with their children and they will turn again now this verse is also very interesting verse because here he doesn't say i will scatter them but the opposite he says i will sow them the Hebrew word is come from the word to sow a seed.

Now what is God going to do in a kingdom age in the messianic age he will sow the Jewish people the people of Israel among the peoples of the universe it's not now the scattering in judgment but it is sowing them to be among the nations of the world for the purpose of ministering to the nations of the world you remember after all Israel is called to be a priestly nation Israel is called to serve the nations of the world. Israel is not called to serve themselves. They are called to serve Jehovah, the God of Israel, but to minister among the nations of the world.

In the messianic age, in the kingdom age, which we call the millennium, the thousand years reign of the Messiah, God will sow the Jewish people among the people of the nations of the world. Why? So, Israel will minister to the nations of the world and will cause the nations of the world to be occupied with the Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now, others take this verse and are speaking about, again, another scattering of God, which will happen, by the way. During the tribulation, Israel will be scattered again. Many of them will die because of the Antichrist and the remnant of Israel will flee into Petra.

And again, they will be scattered again, but also at the end will be gathered. But I will take this verse because of the word, I will sow them among the nations to suggest to us, but they will serve as ministers among the nations of the world and God will place them and position them and sow them among the nations. So Israel will truly be a priestly nation who minister among the nations of the world. They shall remember me in far countries, and they shall live with their children and ultimately turn again. There will be a constant communication between coming back to the land and ministering among the nations of the world.

When we're going to get to the end of the book of Zechariah, we're going to talk about this again, as the nations of the world will come to Israel to worship Jehovah. But they're going to be led and be used by the Jewish people, whom God will use as servants in a future day. And then finally, brothers and sisters, listen, the last verses, verse 10, 11, and 12, in verse 10, Jehovah will gather Israel to the land, and you notice that Egypt and Assyria are mentioned here. It says in verse 10, I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and I will gather them out of Assyria, and I will bring them into the land of Gilad and Lebanon, and place shall not be found for them.

Now, it is interesting here that God said that he will gather them again from Egypt, Assyria, and he will bring them into the land of Gilad and the land of Lebanon. You know, today Lebanon, if you notice, if you read the book of Joshua, the portion of Lebanon is part of the inheritance that God gave to the people of Israel. They were supposed to take the allotted portions that God had given to every tribe. Of course, they didn't succeed in that in the past, but in the future, as it says here, I will gather them out of Assyria and out of Egypt. I will bring them into the land of Gilad.

Gilad, of course, is what we call the West Bank on the other side of the Jordan River. In fact, what the problem that existing today what belonged to the Jewish people what the palestinians should have really in light of the biblical accounting God had promised the land to the people of Israel and he will also bring blessings to the nations around but nevertheless the promised land had been given to the people of Israel in fact i want to say that Assyria Egypt and Israel will enjoy a beautiful relationship in the coming days in the millennial age it says in Isaiah 19 verse 23 in that day shall be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria an assyrian shall come into Egypt.

An egyptian into Assyria an egyptian shall serve with the assyrian can you imagine what's going to happen in a future day today it's conflict between Israel and Assyria or Syria Israel and Egypt there's constant conflict Assyria i should this is the area of iraq and iran and all this area in the future day they will serve it says here Isaiah 19 24 in that day Israel shall be third with Egypt and with Assyria even a blessing in the midst of the land whom the Lord of hosts shall blessed and he will say blessed be Egypt my people and Assyria the work of my hand and Israel mine inheritance so he's taking us to the millennial age the kingdom age when on the basis of the finished work of the Messiah Israel will be restored back to the land and it says that a place shall not be found for them there will be so many of the Hebrews of the Jewish people of the people of Israel in that land that there will not be place for them as it were it was filled.

With population of the nation of Israel in the land according to verse 10 in verse 11 Jehovah will deal with the assyrian and egyptian this is before the kingdom age it says and he shall pass through the sea of affliction and shall smite the waves of the sea and all the dips of the river shall dry up and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down and the scepter of Egypt shall depart away again you notice that Assyria and Egypt are mentioned here it says here that Israel will pass through the sea of affliction the sea of affliction if you remember when Israel came out of Egypt many many years ago God opened the red sea yamsuf the red sea and the children of Israel crossed over on dry ground.

And once they have gone to the other end, God closed the Red Sea upon the military of the Egyptians who pursue after the Hebrews. Well, in the future day, God is going to deal with the pride of Assyria, and the scepter of Egypt shall depart away. The scepter speaks of. The Kings and in a future day Egypt will no longer depend upon their king their scepter the Kings will depart away and they ultimately will serve the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob in which he mentioned here in the previous verse and so in the end of this chapter we're going to conclude with verse 12 we read that Jehovah will produce missionaries from among the people of Israel to serve him among the nations of the world and we read and i will strengthen them in the Lord and they shall walk up and down in his name saith the Lord you know this expression they shall walk up and down in his name Israel will walk in the name of the Lord and they will be like the servants among the nations of the world going to and fro walking up and down in the name of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah in the name of Jehovah ministering to the nations of the world and sharing with them the blessing that.

God intend for them Isaiah said in chapter 43 and verse 21 these people if i form for myself that they shall show forth my praise my glory the people of Israel though failed the Lord much disobeyed did not receive the Messiah in his first coming but God intend for them Israel will be fully saved and ultimately will serve him in the coming days. And may this promise be hastened and that Israel will ultimately become that which God intend for them to be.