God’s Word for You

Zechariah 10:1-5 Cornerstone, tent peg, battle bow

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Tuesday, August 16, 2022

10 Ask the LORD for rain
  in the season of the spring rains,
  ask the LORD who makes the stormclouds,
  and he will give them rain showers,
  and crops in the field for everyone.

This seems like it’s about the blessings of rain, but it’s really about the gospel. In Matthew 9:37, Jesus compares the entrance of souls into God’s kingdom with a harvest, and here Zechariah understands the working of the kingdom in the same way. Our focus must be on God who makes all of these things possible. The other benefit of using rain and growing fields into a picture of the growing kingdom of God is that we will think of it when it rains, just as we are meant to think about the covenant God made with Noah when we see a rainbow.

2 As for the household gods—they speak wickedness,
  and those who read omens see only lies.
  They tell worthless dreams and give empty comfort.
  Therefore the people wander like sheep;
  oppressed for lack of a shepherd.

“Household gods” is teraphim in Hebrew, a word we also find in Genesis in the story of Rachel stealing these little Barbie doll-sized statues from her father Laban (Genesis 31:19,34-35). There is another account in the book of Judges in which the grandson of Moses becomes a pagan priest for the Danites using these household gods, as well (Judges 18:14-31). There are hideous reports about ancient opinions about these idols, and if someone wants to read about them, Luther resigns himself to reporting some of the history in his commentary on Genesis (Volume 6, pages 31-33), and perhaps it would be worth a trip to your pastor’s private library if you have a strong stomach and stand warned by me that it may give you nightmares. However, those are just opinions, and I agree with Luther and others that these statues were just images left over from pagan times, and Laban and others believed in them. There are times when the devil and Christ are allowed to reside in the same home, and this is hard on a family, such as when someone is obsessed with their horoscope and becomes frightened by the stars, which God did not give to predict the future, but only to be a calendar, according to the Holy Spirit, and to give a little light (Genesis 1:14).

When Zechariah says that they speak nonsense, he doesn’t mean that the teraphim could ever actually say anything, since they don’t exist and are not alive. But anyone who claims to have a message from an idol has either wickedness in mind, or complete nonsense; and confusion and false doctrine are two of the aims of the demons, the devil’s goblins who never appear with him, either because they fear him, or act on their own, or both. There is a structure to the devil’s “dominion of darkness” (Colossians 1:13; otherwise it would not be a dominion), but since the devil loves chaos and despises order, justice, logic, and anything that makes sense to reason, we cannot understand what the structure of his dominion might be, apart from fear.

Those who turn to false gods, the stars, or other things for comfort, have only empty comfort, as uncertain as the almanac’s predictions for rain and snow. They are sheep without a shepherd. This was a saying Isaiah also used (Isaiah 13:14), but both prophets got it from Moses, who prayed that God’s people would never be left like sheep without a shepherd (Numbers 27:16-17), a prayer which led to the appointment of Joshua as the successor to Moses, and both of them are still seen as types or images of the coming Christ.

3 “My anger burns against those shepherds,
  and I will punish those goats,
  for the LORD of hosts cares for his flock, the house of Judah,
  and he makes them like a proud horse in battle.
4 From him shall come the cornerstone,
  from him the tent peg,
  from him the battle bow,
  from him every ruler—united.
5 They will be like heroes in battle,
  trampling the foe in the muddy streets.
  They will fight because the LORD is with them,
  and they will put the horsemen to shame.

Here is a whole flurry of statements about the Savior, coming form the tribe of Judah. He will punish the false teachers who led people away from the comfort of their salvation and toward some other path, and all other paths lead to destruction. In our times, this includes those bishops and other leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America who have been so brash as to force their poor churches to accept that other religions have a valid path to eternal life without Christ, without the Father’s word, without faith from the Holy Spirit and therefore sinning and blaspheming against the Holy Spirit. They have followed after the popes in this, and it is a hideous, satanic message that can only—I use that word precisely—only lead people to hell. God calls them “goats” in the second line of the verse. An ‘athud is a he-goat (Genesis 31:10; Numbers 7:29-88) that figuratively stands here for a useless leader who does not care about his flock but about his own ideas and desires. He fleeces his flock, but he doesn’t feed it. Christ will also promote and honor those who have been honest undershepherds and have done their work humbly in his name.

The Lord is called the cornerstone, as he is in Isaiah 28:16, the perfect stone upon which the church is built, according to his own perfection. He is the tent peg (Isaiah 22:23-24) upon which the whole church hangs like a hat, so that as long as he stands, the church stands, but without him the church would fall (and he will never fall). He is the battle bow, drawn and aimed. And every leader in his kingdom gets their authority from him. In him, we are all united.

From here the image changes to trampling the opponents underfoot, and defeating terrifying horsemen in battle, putting them to shame. But every victory is the Lord’s win. Every battle won is the Lord’s private campaign. Every soul won for heaven belongs to Christ forever.

Here are law and gospel in clear terms. These verses illustrate the simple statement of Mark 16:16: “Whoever believes… will be saved. Whoever does not believe will be damned.” The punishment of unbelievers is clear, and it will be eternal, without end. The forgiveness offered to all mankind is also clear. It is without cost, without strings attached. Faith in Christ who won and grants our forgiveness means everlasting life in the resurrection of the dead. We will live with him forever because he has had mercy on us. Put your trust in him, and in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to anyone through whom we can be saved.

We owe him glory, fear and awe
We thank him for his royal law!
So love your neighbor in his need,
And run from partiality!
On Christ the solid rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand.
    (Based on My Hope is Built on Nothing Less)

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

 

Browse Devotion Archive