IN THE LAST installment of this series we examined the precious promise of the Old Testament which gathers up numerous prophecies into the compass of a single verse. In other words, Zechariah 10:4 is a resume of prophecy regarding the Messiah. In the remaining verses of Zechariah 10 we find some very wonderful predictions regarding Messiah's work in behalf of His beloved people Israel. (I sincerely trust that the reader will carefully peruse chapter 10 before continuing with this study, if he has not already done so.)

According to verse 5 the people of the house of Judah the Southern Kingdom will be strengthened by divine power so that they will, in the final conflict at the conclusion of the Tribulation, tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle. They will perform exploits because Jehovah their God will be with them. Their enemies, facing such divinely strengthened forces as Judah will be at that time, will go down into utter defeat according to this prediction.

In verse 6 the same promise is renewed or reaffirmed regarding Judah. In connection with it, there is given the promise that the house of Joseph the people of the ten northern tribes will likewise be saved; and at that time God will bring all of them back to the land of their fathers. The words rendered "bring them back" are given in the marginal note of the Revised Version as "cause them to dwell." The verb in this instance justifies both renderings. It is difficult to determine, however, which was the thought uppermost in the prophet's mind when he employed these words. Regardless of the choice of renderings, one arrives at the same conclusion, namely, that God will strengthen and empower both the tribes of Judah and Ephraim and cause them to return to the land of their fathers and dwell there.

The reason for God's making this promise is given in these words: "I have mercy upon them." God wishes to have mercy upon all. It is the will of God that none should perish but that all should come unto repentance. While the Lord is a merciful and gracious God, we are not to conclude that He can be gracious and merciful under all conditions. Men hinder Him, figuratively speaking, in His bestowal of many of His blessings upon His people. To the Corinthian church, God said that they were straitened in themselves and not in the Lord. Their difficulties were with their lives and their lack of surrender. Thus it is with Israel today. In keeping with this thought, Isaiah the prophet declared to Israel: "And therefore will Jehovah wait, that he may be gracious unto you; and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you ..." (Isa. 30:18). It is to be noted that God must wait before He can be gracious to Israel. He must be exalted by that people before He can extend mercy to them. In other words, Israel must get right with God and turn to Him and to her Messiah before God can be merciful and gracious unto her. When, however, they do that, He will be more than anxious to extend grace in its unstinted form.

When the Lord thus brings Israel back, the people will be as though they had not been cast off. They will be forgiven. They will be regenerated. They will be restored to the favor of the Lord and will thus be as if there had not been these centuries of rejection, during which Israel has been wandering among her enemies and has suffered untold persecutions even as at the present time.

In the last clause of verse 6, the Lord declared, "... for I am Jehovah their God, and I will hear them." The Lord has been pleased to call Himself the God of Israel. This designation is due to the fact that He created the people of Israel and entrusted them with His oracles. Thus He has revealed Himself in the fullest manner to that nation of people. He therefore is pleased to call Himself the God of Israel. There will come a time, however, according to prophecy, when the Lord shall be known as the God of all the families of earth. May that day hasten in coming! We may be sure that that time will arrive when Israel calls upon Him for deliverance, confessing her national sin. This is asserted by the statement, "I will hear them." They must call before God will hear.

When Judah and Ephraim are thus restored to fellowship and favor with God, the men of Israel will be "like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as through wine." The sufferings of both Judah and Israel have been unparalleled in the annals of the nations throughout the centuries. Sadness and tears have marked their pathway through the years. Much suffering is out before them in the immediate future. When, however, the time here foreseen arrives, all her sadness and suffering will have passed. Then Israel, restored to the vigor of youth by her Messiah and God whom she has rejected through the centuries, will rejoice as a mighty man in the prime of life. The remnant of Israel, together with their children, will see that glorious day, rejoice, and be glad in their God.

A wonderful statement is made in verse 8: "I will hiss for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them; and they shall increase as they have increased." The word in the original rendered "hiss" also means to play on a flute, just as the shepherds did in calling their flocks to follow them. By this beautiful figure, drawn from pastoral life in Palestine, the prophet foretold God's calling His people Israel and their leaving everything to follow Him. How will the Lord call them? How does he call anyone today? There is but one answer, namely, through the preaching of the truth of the gospel. This passage, when taken in the light of related predictions, is to be understood as a foreshadowing of the evangelization of all Israel in such a manner that she will understand the message, will forsake all, and follow her Lord. The prophet sees that the redemption of the nation will have already been paid prior to the time when the call goes forth to follow Him. The question of redemption was settled for Israel on the cross nineteen hundred years ago. God is going to use His church in these last days to issue the call and tell of the redemption already purchased. May you and I, dear Christian friends, do our part in cooperating with the Lord in order that His people might come back to Him.

"And I will sow them among the peoples..." (vs. 9). This is a correct rendering of the Hebrew, but it does not fit in with the context. The marginal reading, however, is just as accurate a translation and it fits perfectly the facts of this prediction. This rendering is, "And though I sow them ... they shall remember, etc. ..." In other words, the prophet said that though God did sow them, they would remember Him and return to Him from far countries. Moses, in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, foretold the world-wide dispersion of the Jewish people. All the other prophets likewise foretold Israel's being scattered among the nations. The Lord said, "Although I do scatter them, they shall remember me in far distant lands." Zechariah thus presupposed the fulfillment of the threat contained in the prophecies just referred to.

"And they shall remember me in far countries." This passage assumes that they forget God but finally, as they reside in these far countries, they will remember God and turn to Him. They will remember Him when the truth of the gospel and God's mercy and love are presented to the nation. This can only be done by the proclamation of the truth.

The regathering of Israel and her return to the land of the fathers is foretold in verse 11. The prophet speaks of their return to God through the Tribulation Period in terms of their passing through the Red Sea when they came out of Egypt under the leadership of Moses. In connection with this promise the Lord assured His people that they will not be hindered by the two opposing powers which have wrought such devastation in Israel, namely, Egypt and Assyria.

The prediction concludes with the reaffirmation by the Lord that He will strengthen Israel and that they shall walk up and down in His Name, that is, in their land, and, as we learn from other passages in the prophecies, throughout the world. In other words, they will, in the strength of God, go forth throughout all nations, performing the work of God. According to Isaiah 61, when Israel is restored, her people will be the ministers and the priests of our God, whereas the nations will serve them. In this prediction, therefore, Zechariah was simply gathering up the threads of prophecy left dangling, figuratively speaking, by the former prophets.