What a joy it is to be able to minister the word of God to you this morning, and as we prepare to look at Zechariah chapter 10, the first six verses, I want to prepare you by reminding you that the book of Zechariah a book that typically no one reads or studies, is many times called "The Revelation of the Old Testament." I've told you that before. The book of Revelation, in the original language, is the Apokalypsis Iesou Christos which means "the revealing of Jesus Christ." And so what we see in Zechariah is, yet again, the revealing of Jesus Christ through the Old Testament prophets as the Spirit of God reveals these great truths to each of us; to the ancient Jewish people  with regard to the prophecies concerning Alexander the Great and the Maccabean revolt, and many of these things that we've talked about, but also many things that are yet future. And that's what we are going to see here as we continue to go through this text, verse by verse in Zechariah 10.

And I realize that some of you are not used to in depth Bible study, and that we have others that follow along in the original languages. And so there's a big gap between, shall we say, theological acumen. And that's fine. That's the way it's always supposed to be in a church, and so I want to try to appease both sides in answering some things that are technical but also making sure that others that aren't familiar with these things really understand what the text is saying. Because fundamentally, what we want to do is know who God is and what he is up to, so that we can worship Him and enjoy the fullness of all that is ours in Christ. With that, let me read the text, and I've entitled my discourse to you this morning, "Israel's Final Deliverance from Deception."  Zechariah 10, beginning in verse one,

"Ask rain from the LORD at the time of the spring rain -- the LORD who makes the storm clouds; and He will give them showers of rain vegetation in the field to each man.

"For the teraphim speak iniquity, and the diviners see lying visions and tell false dreams; they comfort in vain. Therefore the people wander like sheep. They are afflicted, because there is no shepherd.

"My anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish the male goats; for the Lord of hosts has visited His flock, the house of Judah, and will make them like His majestic horse in battle.

"From them will come the corner stone, from them the tent peg, from them the bow of battle, from them every ruler, all of them together.

"They will be as mighty men, treading down the enemy in the mire of the streets in battle; and they will fight, for the LORD will be with them; and the rider his own horses will be put to shame.

"I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them back,

"because I have had compassion on them, and they will be as though I had not rejected them; for I am the LORD their God, and I will answer them."

We all know what it feels like to be deceived. Doesn't it make you mad when you know you've been duped, when you've been lied to? Remember COVID and all of the garbage that we heard from that and how it was all exposed? And of course, politicians, especially through the use of the liberal fake news media, has taken deception to an art form, and we're kind of used to it - although we don't like it -- and many of you, even in this worship center, acknowledge how you've been duped in the past by false religious leaders into believing things that are simply untrue. And today, we can look around the landscape of even evangelicalism, at least ostensibly evangelicalism, and you see people that would say, for example, that God celebrates the LGBTQ perversions, that God somehow is behind the Neo Marxist critical race theory, the social justice gospel, all of the woke nonsense that we see. And as a result, even people that claim to be Christians embrace things that are utterly immoral, utterly idiotic. I guess you're aware of the rabid anti-semitic, anti-American, anti-cop, anti-capitalism, anti-christ, Muslim socialist that won the Democratic primary for the New York mayor election. Unbelievable. And you see people now in parades flying gay pride parades, the Palestinian flag and the Iranian flag. I mean, talk about incongruent. If they only knew what those people would do to the gays in those countries, right? Beloved, the fears of dehumanizing despotism, once considered the exaggerated musings of a dystopian imagination, are now becoming a reality and a world that is just in a free fall into the abyss of evil. We see it in our culture all the time. And all of this is because of Satan and his satanic lies. He is the father of lies. He causes people to believe things that are not just idiotic but are blasphemous. And he uses his demonic forces to promote these deceptions around the world through false teachers, through false wicked leaders that are influenced or even possessed by demons, as we see in Second Corinthians 10 five. And Paul described them as deceitful spirits that propagate, quote, "doctrines of demons" (1 Timothy 4:1).

And folks we should never underestimate these demonic forces in our world. You know, from the from the beginning of human history, they have exerted enormous influence in Satan's kingdom of darkness that presently rules the systems of this fallen world, as we read in First John 5:19; and their influence, according to Scripture, can be manifested through numerous actions. We read in the Bible that they can indwell humans and animals, they can physically afflict people, terrorize humans, initiate false worship, promote false doctrines, perform false signs and wonders, influence deceiving prophets, encourage idolatry, idolatry and engineer death. Now, while they cannot spatially cohabit or indwell a Christian, in other words, they can't cohabit with the Holy Spirit in a believer, they can influence believers through the false ideologies they promote in the world systems; what Paul calls, in Second Corinthians 10, five, "speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God." And by the way, he also tells us that we can destroy those speculations, and those lofty things raised up against the knowledge of God by taking every thought obedient...or taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. But satanic deception is as true today as it was back in the days of ancient Israel, and it will continue until the Lord returns. And as we look at Bible prophecy, I want to remind you that through the scriptures we see the utter folly of the socialist idea that we can somehow have utopia on Earth

As promised, history is moving inexorably towards a day of divine judgment. The Bible is very clear about that. God has a kingdom program that cannot be thwarted, and his kingdom under the rule of the Messiah King, the Lord Jesus Christ, will resolve all of the ills of this fallen world when Christ rules and he reigns in righteousness. And we see in Scripture that the progression of the Gentile kingdoms that have oppressed Israel will one day be defeated forever, and Israel will be restored and will worship the one true God, along with those of us who have come to faith in Christ in the church age. God's kingdom will be established, and that involves both spiritual as well as material elements. He has sovereignly chosen his covenant people, Israel, to be the vehicle to accomplish his plans - though they have failed miserably - and both national Israel and her land are microcosms of what God will do with all people groups. And God will judge Israe, he will bless Israel, as he will judge, and he will bless the nations of the world. His kingdom will come, and when it comes, as we see in Scripture, it will affect every aspect of the Earth. It will affect the earth, socially, geographically, agriculturally, even the animal kingdom. The second Adam will eventually accomplish what the first Adam failed to do, namely, to rule and to subdue the earth. And this is all consistent with the Abrahamic, the Davidic and the New Covenants - God's purpose and plan for the ages that can be seen through the biblical covenants.

But we know, according to, for example, Daniel 12 and many other passages, that there are precursors that must occur prior to the establishment of the Kingdom. We see, for example, in Daniel 12, that Israel is going to experience a time of unparalleled tribulation, and then Israel will experience a supernatural deliverance. And that is where we are, here in Zechariah 10. But bear in mind, before we look closely at the text, all of God's blessings are linked to Israel's acceptance of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, as well as all of the nations of the world accepting Him as Savior and Lord. So with this in mind, let's examine this magnificent prophecy that is certainly going to be confusing to us. I mean, we don't understand tent pegs, right? I mean, there's things here, it's like, what in the world is this talking about? Well, you will see, Lord willing.

And I've divided this discourse into two simple headings. We're going to see the source and substance of Israel's deception, and secondly, the source and substance of Israel's deliverance. And I might add that you will also see many parallels that mark our lives and the contemporary issues that we experience in our world today.

Now, let's get the context here for a moment. You will remember in our study of chapter nine, God reminds these beleaguered Jewish people that have come back from exile that are trying to rebuild their country, trying to rebuild Jerusalem, trying to build their homes, trying to get crops in so they can survive. He's reminding them of his covenantal faithfulness, that he is going to do all that he has promised in the biblical covenants. And this is an encouragement to them. And you will recall that in the final two verses of the previous chapter, chapter nine, there is a description of the quote, double portion of blessing that will be theirs ultimately in the eventual kingdom when the Lord returns; when Israel and all the Old and New Testament saints will enjoy the peace and the prosperity of the long awaited kingdom.

Notice in Zechariah nine verse 16,

"And the LORD their God will save them in that day as the flock of His people; for they are as the stones of a crown sparkling in His land.

"For what comeliness and beauty will be theirs! Grain will make their young men flourish, and new wine the virgins."

By the way, that symbolizes, in that original language and culture, just the vigor and the energy that will cause the youth to thrive in the millennial kingdom, and all of the prosperity that will be there. When it speaks of grain and the new wine that symbolizes prosperity throughout Scripture. For example, in Psalm four, verse seven,

"You have put gladness in my heart, more than when their grain and new wine abound.

"In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety."

So that's kind of the background there that's leading us now into chapter 10, where we're at today. In Zechariah 10 you're going to see now a continuance of this theme of divine restoration, of divine blessing that will come upon Israel, but with the addition of some very somber warnings concerning Israel's propensity to embrace false teachers, to embrace deception, to buy into lies as we see people do in our culture, and as sometimes we do. As well as, to expose their proclivity to compromise with the pagan culture all around them. This is what Paul warned about, for example in Romans 12, two don't be "conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." They tend to be transformed by the world, and many times, we can fall into that same trap.

So with that in mind, I want you to look, first of all, under the heading: the source and substance of Israel's deception. He says in verse one, "Ask rain from the LORD at the time of the spring rain." Other Bible translators, like the King James, will call it the "latter rain." This was the rain that would come in March and April. This was the rain that was crucial for crops - frankly, it was a matter of life and death. But essentially, this is a prayer for divine blessing that the Lord would sustain them physically as well as nourish them spiritually. "Ask from the Lord at the time of the spring rain - the LORD who makes the storm clouds; and he will give them showers of rain, vegetation in the field to each man."

But it's also important for you to understand - and we're going to see this as the as we look through the text - that he also wanted to remind the people that he alone was the God of weather, the God that could provide rain in contrast to the pagans all around them that believed in impotent idols; that idols somehow represented these gods that they had manufactured, and that these gods could make it rain. You remember First Kings 17 and 18, with Elijah and the prophets of Baal. You remember that great story. 300 years earlier from this text, God brought about a drought to prove to the pagans that Baal had no power to control the weather. Only Yahweh could do that, and so God, remember he sent fire to consume the water logged sacrifice, and just lapped it all up and and then sent a heavy shower later to break the drought.

Jeremiah speaks of the same concept in Jeremiah, 14, verse, 22 he says,

"Are there any among the idols of the nations who give rain?

Or can the heavens grant showers?

Is it not You, O LORD our God?

Therefore we hope in You,

for You are the one who has done all these things."

I also want you to bear in mind that rain and good crops were considered to be a direct reward from God for faith and obedience consistent with God's covenant relationship with them. For example, in Leviticus 26 verse three, we read what God says,

"'If you walk in My statute and keep My commandments so as to carry them out,

then I shall give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the field will bear their fruit.'"

We see the same thing in Deuteronomy chapter 11, beginning in verse 14, "'He will give the rain for your land in its season, the early and late rain, that you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your oil.'" But then he says this, beginning in verse 16,

"'Beware that your hearts are not deceived, and that you do not turn away and serve other gods and worship them.

"'Or the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and He will shut up the heavens so that there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its fruit; and you will perish quickly from the good land which the LORD is giving you.'"

So again, back to verse one. He's saying, "Ask rain from the LORD..." and then he says something interesting, in verse two, he says, "For the teraphim speak iniquity." Now, what's teraphim? Well, they were household gods for the most part; small, portable sacred objects, especially idols or items used for divination. A number of examples; I'll give you a couple. Remember in Genesis 31 Rachel stole Laban's teraphim when Jacob decided that he would leave Haran. And it was believed in those days that possession - and this is pagan now, pagan mythology, but they believed it to be true - that possession of the teraphim implied leadership of the family. And in the case of a married daughter, if you possess the teraphim, it wouldassure that her husband would inherit the father's property. And that's kind of the story behind that whole issue of of Rachel and Laban. And it's also interesting that you may recall when Laban finally caught up with them, the main thing that he was upset about in Genesis 31 was losing his teraphim, all right? So this is some of the background.

In Judges 17 and 18, Micah's personal household shrine included teraphim. And elsewhere we see teraphim appear in connection with sorcery and idolatry and divination. And so he goes on here, he says, "The teraphim speak iniquity, and the diviners see lying visions and tell false dreams; they comfort in vain." Now, a diviner was someone who sought to discover hidden kind of secret knowledge through supernatural powers. They were they were pagan spiritualists. They were mediums that would contact the dead, necromancers, soothsayers; they were called sorcerers. And it's interesting, divination in Hebrew is actually a term that means "to cut" or "to divide." And what they would do is they would cut up the liver of an animal, which they considered to be the very seat of the victim's life. By the way, it was called hepatoscopy, or at least that's what we would call it, as we look at it. And then they would scrutinize that organ. Can you imagine that? Thoroughly demonic. So this is speaking now of the ritual action of diviners to determine the will of god, or of their gods, to determine knowledge, to understand the plans of the gods. And so what they would do is they would consult with these people, and they would have an oracle or a spirit of the dead. We have the same thing today. It's thoroughly demonic, as I say; we have mediums that contact the dead, you know, psychics. Which, by the way, all of this stuff is just so wicked. It is so demonic. Christians need to run from this stuff. I could tell you so many stories. We have astrologers, fortune tellers, and I might add, this is Satan's version of Bible prophecy, okay? But it's lies.

And I might also add that the primary gods for omen revelation in this day were Hadad, which was considered the storm god that would bring in the rains, and Chumash, which was the sun deity. So this is the context here of this passage.

So back to verse two, "For the teraphim speak iniquity, and the diviners see lying visions and tell false dreams; they comfort in vain." In other words, they make promises that are ultimately demonic. They're not from God, and they do not fulfill what they promise. This happens today on a routine basis. In fact, I was thinking of an example of this. There was a lady that I spoke to, not too long ago, who for years had sacrificed a great deal of her money to her church to give what was called her quote "seed faith." She was expecting a financial return. She was part of a church that was into the whole prosperity gospel, the word of faith movement. And of course, these are charlatans that do this type of thing. And sadly, some of these people are consultants for President Trump, which is really frightening. But she said that, you know, "I kept doing all of this. I'm giving all this money, but I'm not getting anything." And she told her story of how she was getting further in debt, and she was deeply troubled in her spirit. And she said, "I knew that I just didn't understand God, but I was believing everything that I was being told." And worse yet, she began to see character issues in the leadership. She began to see hypocrisy; saw lots of control, lots of micromanaging, lots of manipulation, lots of cover ups and no shepherding. And as I talked with her, it was obvious that Christ was not exalted. The Holy Spirit and all these gifts and all this incredible stuff was what was exalted. And she was just getting fed up with it. She began to see that it didn't square with scripture, and she had questions. And every time she brought the questions up the people would basically not answer her questions and tell her, “You just need to believe, you just need to trust your Shepherd." You know, "touch not the anointed," and all of this type of silly stuff. And so it reminds me of this verse, "The teraphims speak iniquity, and the diviners see lying visions and tell false dreams. They comfort in vain."

By the way, good news with her, she talked about how God later saved her, and I remember writing down what she said. This is an exact quote, by the way, she's not a part of this church, even though I've heard a similar story from some of you, here's what she said, "The Lord snatched me out of the fire, and I ran out of that church like the devil himself was after me." SoI thought that was a pretty good testimony. So yes, "the teraphim speak iniquities." What is the warning here? The diviners see lying visions, tell false dreams, they comfort in vain.

Now, I got to get technical here for a moment, but it's important. In the Hebrew grammar, what we see is that the first portion of this verse uses what we call the perfect tense of the verb, which generally represents a completed action - and it would be past tense in English - andthus stating the habitual operation of the diviners. But what's interesting, the second half of the verse uses verbs in the imperfect tense, which indicates an ongoing, incomplete, habitual action. We would see it kind of as English future tense; and that's what he's saying here. This is future now, incomplete, ongoing action, "Therefore the people wander like sheep, they are afflicted, because there is no shepherd." And this is one of the interpretive keys of the passage, not only the Hebrew grammar, but also the eschatological nature of the subsequent verses and other supporting passages, which all indicate an additional future reference. So said simply, the nation's proclivity to deception and to get sucked in by all of these false teachers will continue into the future, and ultimately, as we see from this passage and many others, it will continue to lead them to apostasy and eventually divine judgment, all the way to Christ's second coming.

Now, as a result of all this, notice what else he says, "Therefore the people wander." It means they go their own way. And in fact, the Masoretic text, which is the authoritative Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible - one that was meticulously preserved by Jewish scholars known as the Masoretes - it suggests here, a deliberate departure quote "from the Lord." In other words, without a shepherd, sheep are going to wander off aimlessly, and they're going to wander away from the one true God, ultimately to their ruin. In fact, the authorized version rendering, which is faithful to the Masoretic text, says, "Therefore the people went their way as a flock." And this is what Israel has done and continues to do, even to this day. So therefore the people wander and they do this, once again now, because of their complicity with satanic deceptions and the satanic religions around them, all of the idolatry, all of the stuff in their culture that they're bringing in to their religious understandings, the pagan occultism, and because they are rejecting the one true shepherd who has revealed himself through the prophets and through the Word. And so it says, "therefore the people wander like sheep."

And it says they are "afflicted." The term means "oppressed." It means they're anxious, they're grieved, they're deeply troubled, because there is no shepherd here. I'm reminded of Jesus when he was moved to compassion, when he witnessed this in the multitudes of Israe. In Matthew 9:36, we read, "Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them..." Why? "Because they were distressed." In other words, they were afflicted. They're grieved and "dispirited." "Dispirited" in the original means it's the feeling of being cast off, to feel like you've been thrown away, that you've been discarded, that you've been rejected, that you've been forgotten. "He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd." My heart grieves for people like this that are distressed and dispirited in our culture; you see them all the time. You see these people, and these protests and they're sheep without a shepherd. And actually, they believe false shepherds. But they're people that are miserable in their life. As we see in other passages in the New Testament, you know, apart from Christ, people's minds are darkened in their understanding. They're spiritually dead. Satan even blinds them, and the world deceives them, brainwashes them into believing things that are just absolutely idiotic. The whole transgender thing is a great example of that. So people are angry, they're violent, they're immoral, they're depressed. And these people need the Lord, folks. And we must pray for them and love them for the sake of the gospel and my prayer for them, and for some of you; be consistent with the prayer of the psalmist in Psalm 82 beginning in verse three, where he's saying, Lord, "Vindicate the weak and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and destitute. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them out of the hand of the wicked." And here's why, "They do not know nor do they understand. They walk about in darkness." Aren't you glad that we have the word? It is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.  Jesus said in John 12:35, "'He who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes." He says, "while you have the light..." referring to him, "believe in the light, so that you may become sons of light."

So people, when those that you know and love do not know Christ, and do not have the right shepherd, they're going to wander, they're going to be afflicted. They're going to be distressed and dispirited. And this has been the case for Israel and will continue until the Second Coming of Christ. You see, once again, their consistent complicity with false teachers and the pagan idolatry, submission to false shepherds even amongst them, has historically been the source of their deception and the reason why God brings them to judgment. And this will be true right up to Messiah's return to judge the nation of Israel, as well as all of the nations of the world.

He goes on to say, in verse three, "My anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish the male goats." Male goats, it could be translated, "he goats." This is a reference, as we see in other passages, of Israel's faithless princes and priests and prophets. And even today, in Israel, there are factions among the religious and the political leaders, and true Biblical Christianity is met with with great skepticism by many, by indifference by many, and by some, especially the Orthodox Jewish people. It's met with outright hostility. I've heard them say that "the Nazis took our bodies, but the Christians take our souls." They hate us worse than the Nazis. And so we read, "My anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish the male goats." And it's sad when you see these self-styled, self-appointed ignorant leaders today - especially in evangelicalism - these false shepherds. You have to remember, they're speaking iniquity so often, they’re speaking lying visions, they tell false dreams, they comfort in vain. And I've personally, personally met, into the hundreds of people, that have fallen victim to their schemes. And by the way, as we see this, bear in mind, what is being described here is a contrast to the faithful provision and protection of the true shepherd.

So again, "My anger," verse three, "is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish the male goats." And he goes on to say, "For the LORD of hosts has visited His flock, the house of Judah, and will make them like His majestic horse in battle." It says, "has visited." Again, now, this is the prophetic perfect tense in Hebrew. So it's saying that what God has resolved to do, he will do. He will accomplish this. So, "For the LORD of hosts has visited His flock, the house of Judah..." which is referring to the royal tribe of Judah, "and will make them like His majestic horse in battle." So the grammar here underscores the inevitability of God accomplishing all that He has promised to do. And again, this is all consistent with the unilateral covenants that he made with Abraham and his descendants.

And at the end of verse three, "...and will make them like His majestic horse in battle." This is beautiful language. Bear in mind, the horse in those days would be - I don't know this might be an exaggeration - but it'd be like our stealth bomber, right? Or it would be, certainly like a tank. I mean, if you had horses, it was a powerful weapon. And so he's saying here that the horse is really a symbol of valor and strength, and therefore he's saying that God is going to empower Israel one day; and we've already seen some of this, nothing compared what will eventually happen. And he's going to transform them into a mighty nation with strong, fearless, righteous leaders, in contrast to the weak purveyors of deception that bring no comfort. And we know through Scripture that when Christ returns as their true shepherd, he is going to sustain his flock and he's going to remove all of the wolves that deceived and oppressed them.

Now, this leads us to the second point in our little outline, and that is the source and substance of Israel's deliverance. We've seen what it is with the deception. What about the deliverance? Well, he tells us here, beginning in verse four, "From them," referring to Judah. Which, by the way, is a phrase that is used four times in this verse. "From them will come the cornerstone, from them the tent peg, from them the bow of battle, from them every ruler, all of them together." Now let's break this down. First of all, from Judah is going to come "the cornerstone." Well, we know from studying scripture, this is a reference to the Messiah. But might I also remind you that a corner stone served not only as a foundation, but to quote a dictionary definition, it is quote, "that stone which unites the two walls at the corner." End quote. So like the corner stone of a building that both supports and unites, Christ is going to be the one that is the foundation that unites them all together when he returns to establish his kingdom. Bear in mind, in Isaiah 28 verse 16, we read, "'Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a costly corner stone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed." Likewise, in Psalm 118, beginning in verse 22, "The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone." Again, referring to the Lord Jesus. "This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes." In other words, this didn't catch God by surprise. This is part of his plan. And in Ephesians, two beginning in verse 19, we read about the saints that are

"of God's household,

"having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,

"in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord,

"in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit."

I want to give you a fascinating footnote. The archeological discovery of Solomon's temple in 1869 unearthed the original foundation stone. I want to tell you about that just for a moment. You can see some parallels here by the way. They had to dig down in a shaft 80 feet below the surface to discover the bottom of the massive retaining wall of the temple. And there they found lots of stones that even found red Phoenician writing on them. And here's a short account of one of the agents who was a part of that back in that day. And I want you to see the parallels with the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ as the corner stone. The writer said this quote,

"Among the ancient Jews, the foundation corner stone of their sanctuary on Moriah," (that's Mount Moriah where they built the temple) was regarded as the emblem of moral and spiritual truths. It had two functions to perform. First, like the other foundation stone, it was a support for the masonry above. But it had also to face both ways and was thus a bond of union between two walls."

He goes on to say,

"The engineers in order to ascertain the dimensions of this foundation stone, worked around it and report that it is three feet eight inches high and 14 feet in length. (Now, it gets a little bit technical here for archeologists, but I want to go ahead and read it). At the angle it is let down into the rock to a depth of 14 inches. But as the rock rises towards the north, the depth of four feet north of the angle is increased by 32 inches, while the northern end seems entirely embedded in the rock."

Then he says,

"The block is further described as squared and polished with a finely dressed face. It does not appear to have any marginal draft at the bottom. And indeed, this was not necessary, as the lower part being sunk in the rock would always be hidden from view. But the absence of the lower draft indicates that the block was dressed in the quarry in a somewhat peculiar style, with a view to its being the foundations corner stone. The draft on the upper margin of the stone is four inches wide."

Then, he say this,

"Fixed in its abiding position 3000 years ago, it still stands sure and steadfast, a fitting emblem of the Rock of Ages that cannot be removed but abideth fast forever."

Fascinating, is it not? So the figure of the corner stone points to the Messiah; the shepherd king who will one day be the foundation and the unifier of a restored Israel at his second advent. He will be the ruler of his people, who will reign in righteousness and glory. He will be the foundation of the truth, the foundation of righteousness, the support of a restored theocracy. By the way, there are other analogies in Scripture concerning the Messiah as rock. For example, as Unger states, "Daniel's supernatural, quote, 'stone cut without hands,' (which is Daniel 2:34) speaks of how he will destroy Gentile world powers as a smiting rock at His glorious appearing. Under the decimation of the Gentile world power He will be the stone that will grow and fill the whole earth in the millennial kingdom. To all unbelievers, he is the crushing stone of judgment, as Jesus said in Matthew 21:44."

So back to our text, verse four of Zechariah 10, "From them will come the cornerstone." All right, and then he adds this, "From them the tent peg." Now, this is a fascinating figure, once again, speaking of the Messiah. The term can mean a stake or a nail, like we would use a tent stake, to help get our tents to stand. But it can also be used as the strong peg inside the Oriental tent that would support, you know, the wall so that you could get in and walk in; and you've seen that in our tents. It could even be used to describe as part of an interior wall of a building on which is hung - they would put pegs in there to hang their valuables for display. You can read about this in Ezekiel 15. But the primary illusion here - this is important when you interpret the Scriptures - the primary illusion is to look at where else it's used in this context, and that is Isaiah 22. And there we read how, how the prophet declared Eliakim to be a tent peg for the house of David, upon which would hang the weight of royal majesty and nobility. But only for a short while, and then it would eventually break off and fail and fall and collapse. And the Messiah, the Messianic peg, would be one that would remain forever. We read about this, for example, in Isaiah 22 beginning in verse 23,

"'I will drive him, (referring to Eliakim), I will drive him like a peg in a firm place, and he will become a throne of glory to his father's house." (he was a descendant of David.) "So they will hang on him all the glory of his father's house, offspring and issue, all the least of the vessels, from bowls to all the jars. "'In that day," declares the LORD of hosts. 'the peg driven in a firm place will give way; it will even break off and fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut off, for the LORD has spoken.'" And so what we see that even the most faithful ruler of the house of David - like Eliakim - will not reign indefinitely. He's going to get old. He's going to die. But here, and in other passages, we see Zechariah speaking of not only the Messiah as the cornerstone, but the tent peg, the one upon which will hang all of the glory of the tribe of Judah, of the house of David, all of the glory of his father's house. And I might even add, and this isn't necessarily in the text, but I think it's worth mentioning, we're going to be able to hang upon him whatever gifts and talents and possessions that he has given to us to the praise of his glory. And we even see in Zechariah six, verse 13, "'Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the LORD, and He will bear the honor and sit and rule on His throne.'" And in Isaiah nine, beginning in verse six, "the government will rest on his shoulders," right? Goes on to say, "There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this."

And then next, notice it says, "From them," again from Judah, not only will come the cornerstone and from them the tent peg, but, "from them the bow of battle." And this speaks of the invincible warrior king that will have no rivals, and he alone will rule over the earth. May I just remind you very briefly of Revelation chapter 19, when the Lord returns, it says that,

"From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.

And on His robe and on His thigh, he has a name written,

"'KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.'"

Goes on to say, "And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth," - the beast here referring to the Antichrist and those that that are aligned with him - "I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army." And it goes on to say, "And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence." You always see in Scripture, you'll have a political leader and a religious phony that will work together. So the beast was seized, "...and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire, which burns with brimstone. And the rest were killed with a sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh."

So indeed, from Judah will come the one that will be the bow of battle. And notice what else in verse four. It says that from Judah will come "every ruler." It could be translated, "good task master," all of them together. Let me back up here. You will recall in Zechariah nine and verse eight, the text that says that where the Messiah says that, "'I will camp..." in other words, I'll put my military encampment, "...around My house," referring to the temple and by extension, the city and the people, "because of an army, because of him who passes by and returns..." It's speaking of the continuous military campaigns, the presence of foreign armies that have continued to go through the land of Israel and eventually he says, "...no oppressor will pass over them anymore, for now I have seen with My eyes." And so that's a prophecy depicting a permanent divine protection that awaits a future fulfillment when the Lord Jesus Christ reigns over his earthly kingdom in Jerusalem.

And it says, "And they will fight, for the LORD will be with them; and the riders on horses will be put to shame." And all of this, once again, is pointing to just the absolute supremacy of the coming Messiah and the triumphant victory he will win. And we see examples of this in Scripture. You see it in the battle of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38 and 39. You see it as well in the battle of Armageddon, described in the book of Revelation, which I believe are not one in the same.

You see more of this, for example, in Zechariah 12 and Zechariah 14. But back to our text here, the Lord elaborates here on these leaders he's going to raise up. He says, "They will be as mighty men." These are the "gibborim," translated "mighty men." Remember we studied them last time, I believe, we were together in First Chronicles 11:11. I mean, these were mighty men noted for their physical strength and ability to fight. These were the fierce warriors, the elite soldiers empowered by God, the special operations forces of Israel's armies. "They will be as mighty men, treading down the enemy in the mire of the streets in battle." This implies utter defeat and humiliation. Because if you're treaded down in the mire of the streets in a battle, you are deprived of a proper funeral. So this symbolizes God's curse on all of those that will come against Israel one day.

Some have asked about this, will you allow just another short digression to answer that for those that have asked? I do not believe that the battle of Gog and Magog is the same as the Battle of Armageddon. In Armageddon, you see it described in Zechariah 12, two and three. It says, "All the nations of the earth will be gathered against," Jerusalem. And we know that they will be allied with the Antichrist to try to destroy Jerusalem while the people are in a state of just imminent peril. In Joel three, verse two, "I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat." Jehoshaphat means "Yahweh judges." By the way, that will include the United States. "Then I will enter into judgment with them there on behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel."

But in contrast to that, the battle of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38, you have a specific alliance of nations that meet their fate on the mountains of Israel. So there's a difference here. In Armageddon, the Antichrist is going to assemble his army in the northern part of Israel at Mount Megiddo. You read about this in Revelation 16, 14 and 16, but the actual battle will be in the area of Jerusalem, as we see in Zechariah 12 through 14. But with the battle of Gog and Magog, there is no mention of the Antichrist, and the alliance of the nations are going to be destroyed on the mountains of Israel (Ezekiel 39 verse four). And the battle of Armageddon that's going to occur at the end of the tribulation - when the world will be utterly devastated by the seal and the trumpet and the bowl judgments - Revelation six, beginning in verse 16, "...they said to the mountains..." in other words, the people that have rejected Christ, they, "...said to the mountains and to the rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?'" Obviously, no one. But in the battle of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38:11 it says that Israel will be, quote, "living securely" - "beṭaḥ" - and they're going to be living in safety, they're going to be free from anxiety and fear. And it can refer to peace through military might, and God will cause their enemies to come upon them to take a spoil.

Moreover, when Christ returns at Armageddon, as we see in Zechariah 14 verse three and following, there's going to be a radical change in topography. So how can you reconcile this glorious renovation and cleansing of the Earth with the clean-up that is supposed to happen after the battle of Gog and Magog? In Ezekiel 39 beginning in verse nine through 16, we read how it's going to take Israel seven months in verse 12, to bury the corpses. And according to Jewish law, burial needs to happen immediately because unburied corpses would be a source of ritual contamination. And it says that the destruction of the weapons will take seven years in verse nine. Now, if this battle were to occur during the tribulation, the Jews would be doing this during the horrific seal trumpet and bowl judgments, while they're experiencing not peace and safety, but unprecedented persecution and death. It says that many will flee into the wilderness to survive (Revelation 12:6), others are going to remain in Jerusalem, as we read in Zechariah 12:7-8, 13:1, 14:2.

Moreover, I would submit to you, if this is the battle of Armageddon there would be exposed corpses and military equipment littering the land that the Lord has just renovated, and that would have to happen seven years into the millennium. None of that makes sense to me. Sowhen is this battle of Gog and Magog going to take place? Well, obviously we don't know the exact time, but I think it's at least a good argument to say that it will take place prior to the seven-year tribulation. Can't be dogmatic on that, but I believe that's when it will take place. And this would give Israel time to bury the corpses and dispose of the weaponry, because it's going to take seven years.

So back to Zechariah 10 and verse five. "They will be as mighty men, treading down the enemy in the mire of the streets in battle; and they will fight, for the LORD will be with them; and the riders of horses will be put to shame." In other words, the military might that will come against them will be utterly destroyed. And then in verse six, and we're not going to have time to look at this today, let me just read it to you.

"I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them back, because I have had compassion on them; and they will be as though I had not rejected them, for I am the LORD their God, and I will answer them."

So beloved, this is the source and the substance of Israel's deliverance. And my what a glorious day when all the false shepherds and all of the wicked rulers of the world will be put to shame, and when Israel, and all the Gentiles that God has saved, even during the Tribulation, will no longer wander as sheep without a shepherd, but they will worship the Messiah, the One true shepherd. Practically in closing, let me just challenge you. Knowing the general nature of God's plan of the culmination of human history, and the consummation of his glorious kingdom, shouldn't that cause you to be excited about who you are in Christ. Shouldn't that cause you to want to read your Bible all the more and to rejoice in his sovereign rule. You see, all of these prophecies have clearly been fulfilled, and so we can look at the ones that haven't and say, oh my, Lord, thank you for giving us the end of the story so we know how it's going to turn out. And because of that, shouldn't it cause you to get serious about living for his glory? I mean, most of the stuff that we do in this life is eternally inconsequential unless we are doing things for the Lord of glory. And that's where we find joy, that's where we find peace and happiness. That's where we find power in our life. So folks, I would challenge you as you look at all the crazy stuff going on in the world, all this stuff with Israel and Iran and all of these types of things, which you know it's it's going to get worse, eventually Iran and Russia and Turkey, just like Ezekiel 38 and 39 has promised; there's going to be a Russian and Arab alliance that's going to come down and go against Israel. And God's going to destroy them on the mountains of Israel, just like he promised. And one day, the Lord Jesus is going to return at the end of the tribulation, and he is going to judge the nations of the world, and he is going to establish his kingdom.

And when I look at all of those things, it just causes me to rejoice and to want to praise the Lord all the more for what he has done in saving me. And also it causes me to want to spend more time around God's people so we can enjoy fellowship. So we can enjoy just the riches of what it means to be in relation to Christ through each other, as well a little taste of heaven. And so enjoy the fellowship with him, both privately and corporately as we anticipate his return, amen? Let's pray together.

Father, thank you for the glory of who you are and the fact that you have revealed so much to us. And Lord for those that may be within the sound of my voice that knows nothing of the miracle of regeneration, of what it means to be radically transformed, to be born again, those that know nothing of what it means to truly be in fellowship with you as the living God through faith in Christ, Lord, I pray that you will bring such overwhelming conviction to their heart that they will see the horror of their sin and the majesty, the glory of the person and the work of Christ on the cross, that they would be saved. So Lord, we commit all of these things to you. We rejoice in them to the praise of your glory. Amen.