Zechariah 10:1-5

 

Zechariah 10:1-5

Beware of False Shepherds

Zec 10:1  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 every one grass in the field. 

Zec 10:2  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. 

Zec 10:3  Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats: for the LORD of hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle. 

Zec 10:4  Out of him came forth the corner, out of him the nail, out of him the battle bow, out of him every oppressor together. 

Zec 10:5  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. 

 

          1.     It is God Alone Who is the Provider for His People – vs. 1

a.      Joel 2:23-27 

          2.     Beware of the Counterfeit Providers – vs 2

a.      Beware of idolatry in all its forms

                                               i.     Isaiah 44:15-20 

b.     False prophets teach people to disobey God’s laws

                                               i.     Deuteronomy 13:1-5 

c.      A false prophet is exposed by a single inaccurate prediction

                                               i.     Deuteronomy 18:20-22 

d.     False prophets come clothed in sheep’s clothing

                                               i.     Matthew 7:15 

e.      False Prophets are creeps

                                               i.     Jude 1:4 

f.      False prophets are self-serving

                                               i.     Jude 1:10 

g.     False prophets are like clouds without water

                                               i.     Jude 1:12  

         3.     God is Angry with Counterfeit Spiritual Leaders – vs. 3a

a.      Jeremiah 23:1-2 

         4.     God Will Punish Ungodly Political Leaders – vs. 3b

a.      Psalm 2:10-12 

         5.     God Will Restore the People of Israel – vs. 3c

a.      Romans 11:26      

         6.     God Will Restore Israel Through the Followers of the Logos or Jesus Christ – vs. 4-5

a.      The People of the Logos will make Him the Cornerstone of their faith – vs. 4a

                                               i.     Romans 9:30-33 

b.     The People of the Logos will make Him the center of all of Society – vs. 4b

                                               i.     Isaiah 22:23-25 

                                             ii.     Isaiah 9:6-7 

c.      The People of the Logos will make powerful weapons of war – vs. 4c

                                               i.     Weapons that can bring down mighty wicked strongholds

1.     2 Corinthians 10:4-5 

d.     The People of the Logos will produce powerful political leaders – vs. 4d

                                               i.     People like William Wilberforce, Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Martin Luther, Abraham Kuyper, Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Victoria and so many more who changed the world for the better. People who believed this truth from Colossians.

1.     Colossians 1:15-17 

e.      The People of the Logos will be unstoppable in battle – vs. 5a

                                               i.     Isaiah 31:1-3 

                                             ii.     Romans 16:20 

f.      The People of the Logos will fight against Israel’s enemies and overcome in the power of God – vs. 5b

                                               i.     When approaching Jerusalem during his campaign through Palestine, General Allenby asked his superiors in London how he was to take the city. Knowing the seriousness of the moment they instructed him to take it without a shot. To which he asked how that could be possible. They instructed him to pray. Shortly afterwards Allenby was made aware of a prophesy in Isaiah that might have an answer for him. He followed the biblical instruction to the letter and mustered every available aircraft to drop leaflets on the city telling them to surrender. With more and more Ottomans leaving by the day, the Mayor of Jerusalem surrendered to the British Army without a shot fired.

1.     Isaiah 31:4-5 

g.     Yet the true People of the Logos will enter the city of Jerusalem with humility – vs. 5c

                                               i.     When General Allenby humbly walked into Jerusalem on December 11, 1917, he opened the door for the regathering of the Jewish people back to their homeland in Israel. The same day that Haggai tells the Jews will always be a special day, the commemoration of the temple, Hanukkah and the day of Jerusalem’s liberation from nearly 1000 years of Muslim rule.

                                             ii.     "I wouldn’t ride my horse into the city into which my Lord rode a donkey" – General Allenby

                                            iii.     Haggai 2:18 

                                            iv.     Psalm 45:3-6