Zechariah 10:9-12 - I will bring them home

10:9

There is no easy plan of salvation. They would be scattered to many lands, and note that it is the Lord who scatters them. Other nations would be the instruments, but it would be the Lord’s doing. This happened, the Jews were scattered in many lands at the time of the early church, and continued to be scattered throughout the world until today. But in these distant lands they would remember the Lord and be saved. No matter how lost we are, if we remember the Lord, if we repent and believe, we will be saved.

10:10-12

The Lord would gather them from Egypt and Assyria. Just as it was the Lord who scattered them, so it would be the Lord who brought them back. And He would bring them back in large numbers.

They would pass through the surging sea. God may bring us through times of trouble, but He does so to bring us to a place of salvation. The seas would be subdued by the Lord. Passing through the Nile could be an allusion to passing through the Red Sea. The strength and power of the nations that oppressed them would be taken away.

So her enemies would be weakened, but Israel herself would be strengthened. They would be strong in the Lord, and “in His Name” they would live securely. We find security only in the Lord.

Galatians 4:1,2 - Under guardians

4:1

Paul wants the Galatians to understand the situation. The Judaisers were interpreting the gospel in the light of the old ways, of their way of attaining righteousness via the Law. Jesus spoke about the folly of trying to put new wine into old wineskins (Mark 2:22). We too can try and squeeze the gospel into our old lifestyle. The gospel demands a whole new way of thinking and living. Now this does not mean the Old Testament is now defunct or was a mistake, rather it needs to be seen from God’s perspective. It sets out many things that are right and wrong, and it pointed towards and prepared the way for Christ. Now before Christ came the Israelites did indeed have an inheritance, but they were like an heir who is under age. Such an heir is the legal owner of the estate, but while they are still a child they are subject to rules and guardians, and others make most of the decisions for them. So it was with the Jews.

4:2

This situation continues until such time as the will says they attain full control of the estate. So it is with God’s plan. The coming of Christ, His death and resurrection, mark that change. Just as it would be foolish for the now come of age heir to continue to live as if he had no authority over things, so it is foolish for us to live as if we are slaves to the Law.

Zechariah 10:7,8 - I will whistle for them

10:7
Ignoring the main point for a moment, this verse does make the arguments of some odd folk that the wine in the Bible is non-alcoholic rather vacuous. It does also show that arguments for absolutely no alcohol are rather unbiblical. Getting drunk is absolutely wrong, and there is nothing wrong at all with abstaining from alcohol, and can indeed be a very sensible course of action in some circumstances, but we do need to realise that it is not an absolute. And making absolutes out of non-absolutes is a dangerous road to go down, leading to all the problems associated with legalism. However, back to what the passage is actually on about, which is that joy shall be restored to Ephraim. It is worth remembering that Ephraim were the real bad boys.

10:8
“I shall whistle for them ..” This does invoke images of shepherds with sheepdogs. The point is that God will call and they will respond. Jesus said the sheep would recognise His voice and respond to it (John 10:4,5). God will call us in because He has redeemed us. The calling in of the sheep only really happened after the cross, ie after our redemption. And Israel would be numerous. While the Bible often speaks of remnants, we also need to remember that it often speaks of massive numbers. Not all will be saved, but many, many will be.

Galatians 3:28,29 - Neither Jew nor Greek

3:28

There is a similar verse in Col 3:11, though with some differences. First of all let’s look at what Paul is not saying. He is not saying there are no differences between Jews and Greeks, slaves and free, men and women. What he is saying is that in Christ we are all one. Our cultural, social and ethnic background matters and has had in effect on our lives, some good, some bad, some neither good not bad. But our identity, worth and value is found purely in Christ. Being a Jew did not make you any more in the kingdom of God than a Gentile, it did not make you any more righteous. In this list of three comparisons here we should note that the Jew of the day considered it to be far better to be a Jew than a Gentiles, far better to be free than a slave, and far better to be a man than a woman! Paul is saying that in Christ these distinctions no longer matter. In Christ men and women are equal, Jews and Greeks are equal, slaves and free are equal. This is also why the earlier dispute with Peter over eating together was so important.

3:29

And if we are Christ’s then we are Abraham’s seed. We belong to Christ. It is not just a matter of our choosing one belief system over another, we actually belong to Christ, we are His. Earlier Paul referred to Abraham’s seed, using a very Jewish argument in putting emphasis on it saying seed rather than seeds. Paul now rounds this argument off by referring to us as Abraham’s seed, so seed here is being used in both the singular and the plural sense. It is singular in that everything come through Christ, and it is plural in that it applies to all who believe in Christ. If we believe in Christ then we are full members of the family!

Zechariah 10:5,6 - They shall be like mighty men

10:5

Instead of being a downtrodden people, the nation would become a nation of warriors, mighty men in battle. They would fight because the Lord was with them. Our well being and effectiveness is dependent upon the Lord being with us, we need to know His presence. The use of cavalry in war was an innovation of the Persian armies.

10:6

The Lord would strengthen Israel. God strengthens the weak. “I will bring them back”. At this time some had returned from Babylon, but many still remained there. So there could be a fulfilment in those terms, but a greater fulfilment is still to come, one where the hearts of the Israelites come back to God. And it is God who will do this, and He will do it because He has compassion upon them. And it would be a complete restoration, it would be as if He had never rejected them. We should note that God had rejected them, just as we were under judgement. The Bible speaks of judgement and restoration, we like to speak only of restoration, but in doing so miss out on the whole truth. A feature of their being back with the Lord was that they would ask and He would answer them. Note that when Jesus was on earth a feature of His life was answered prayer.

Galatians 3:24-27 - You are all sons of God

3:24,25

So the Law was sent to be Israel’s guardian until Christ came. She showed Israel what was right and what was wrong, and kept her in check, up to a point. “that we might be justified by faith”. The Law did not and could not provide justification, only Christ can do that, and that justification is gained by faith. Now that faith has come, we no longer need the Law in the sense of a guardian. This does not mean that the Law has nothing to teach us, but it is not a means to justification.

3:26

“For in Christ you are all sons of God, through faith”. Being sons of God is the highest level of belonging that we can have, and all who have faith in Christ are sons of God. There is no higher place to go, there is no difference on gender, race, or social status. Why were the Galatians even contemplating circumcision? It would be out of fear and confusion, sown in them by the Judaisers. The truth is that there were no grounds for fear, for they were already sons of God, and that through faith. In our own lives when we feel insecure we should remind ourselves that we are sons of God.

3:27

In those days if someone converted to Judaism then they were baptised into God’s people. So the use of baptism and the imagery of baptism was well known. And, of course, John the Baptist had come baptising people. Paul now reassures them that all of them who were baptised in Christ have put on Christ. They fully belong! Note also the implication that all believers are baptised. And further note that they were baptised into Christ. They were not becoming part of the nation of Israel, but part of Christ’s people.

Zechariah 10:3,4 - My anger is hot

10:3

James talks about teachers being judged more strictly (James 3:1), and here we see an example of that. God’s anger burns against the shepherds and the leaders. Teachers and leaders are meant to guide the people in the ways of God, not in the ways of the world. If we are teachers or leaders in the church we should periodically question ourselves. Especially when contentious issues arise we should ask ourselves if we are seeking to please God or the world. Israel’s leaders were a disaster, so the Lord Himself would care for the flock. And He did this when He came to earth as Jesus. With Godly leadership people can be transformed and become “like a proud horse in battle”. With right teaching and leading the people can become truly effective for God.

10:4

Look at this! Despite the virtually unmitigated disaster that Israel had been, despite the disaster that was Judah up to this point, that was not the end of the story. The tent-peg, battle-bow and ruler would come from Judah! The Lord can transform any and every situation, and any and every person. We should also note God’s commitment to Judah, and this is expressed in other of the prophets as well. This is what makes me greatly worried about people who argue that Israel no longer has any special place in God’s plan, and has been supplanted by the church, the “true Israel”. Some of them argue that this was always God’s plan, so Israel was always those who trusted God, rather than an ethnic definition. I can see some point in this, but it also seems clear from Scripture that God loves Israel, and so one way or another (and it will be by them finally putting faith in Christ as their saviour) Israel will be saved.