Bible Commentaries
Zechariah 10

Bell's Commentary on the BibleBell's Commentary

Verses 1-12

  1. Intro:
    1. These 2 chapters portray Israel as God’s flock & their leaders as shepherds.
    2. Outline: The Good Shepherd; The Bad Shepherd; The Anti-Shepherd
  2. THE GOOD SHEPHERD! (CH.10)
    1. ​​​​​​​(1,2) Showers of blessing!
      1. No rain, no crops, no eat, no live!
      2. God was the Rain-giver!
      3. See contrast between vs.1 & 2.
        1. The source of natural blessings is The Lord! Not, idolatrous & deceptive false shepherds.
      4. God is the source of all good gifts! – But Judah turned to “idols, diviners, dreams, false shepherds, & to their leaders.”
        1. Q: What have you been turning to?
        2. Q: Anything other then the Lord for His good gifts?
    2. (2) No shepherd – The flock was in trouble because it had no shepherd to care for it.
      1. If the leaders follow lies then the sheep will usually wander right behind them.
      2. But the Lord will return & be the Shepherd.
      3. He will rescue them; bring them back, & strengthen them.
    3. He will Rescue them! (3-5)
    4. (4) Messiah is described in a 4-fold way…
      1. Cornerstone – Strong. (joins 2 walls together)
      2. Tent Peg – Stable. (burdens may be placed on Him w/confidence)
      3. Battle Bow – Victorious. (He is the Victorious Warrior that loses no battles!)
        1. Unlike Israel as described in Ps.78:57 “They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.”(w/a flaw it would always miss the mark)
      4. Ruler – Trustworthy.
    5. (5b) Sheep are the last animal you’d probably want to take to war!
      1. But here they become God’s attack sheep.
      2. He will also turn helpless sheep into powerful War-horses!(3b)
    6. God’s Infantry will overthrow the enemy’s Cavalry.
      1. Ps.18:29 “For by You I can run against a troop, By my God I can leap over(scale) a wall.”
    7. He will Bring them back! (6-11)
    8. (8) I will whistle for them –“hiss, whistle, & pipe”(piping w/a shepherds pipe)
      1. Judges 5:16 “Why did you sit among the sheepfolds, To hear the pipings for the flocks?”
      2. Context best supports the shepherd’s reed pipe to gather his flock.
    9. He will Strengthen them! (12)
      1. He will establish them “back in the land”.
    10. (12) I will strengthen them in the Lord
      1. Q: When does the Lord bring you His much needed strength?
      2. Remember when David allied with the Philistines for a time(1 Sam.27).
      3. He would go out & do raids but say they were against southern Judah. (lack of trust[1]; lies[10]; slaughter of innocent lives[11])
        1. Once while out Amalekites came into their town of Ziklag & took their women & children(ch.30).
      4. 1 Sam.30:6 “Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.”
      5. Here David comes back to sanity, from compromise, from foolishness. (Alan Redpath; pg.125-127)
        1. He asks, “shall I pursue this troop?” (that would seem obvious…it’s your family! - But for even this he would pray!)
        2. Gods answer? – “David I can’t trust you now!”(nope!); “David, I’m going to keep you on probation for at least 6 months.”(nope!);“David, you have to go back in training for a long time before I can trust you in My army!”(nope!)
        3. God said, “Pursue!”
      6. David touched rock bottom, but turned back to God!
        1. God can bring you back into victory & blessing today!
        2. Lift your tear-stained face to your wonderful Lord!
        3. Rom.4:21 “being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.”
Bibliographical Information
Bell, Brian. "Commentary on Zechariah 10". "Bell's Commentary". https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/cbb/zechariah-10.html. 2017.