Restoring the Nation of Israel (Zechariah 10.1-12; 12.1-13.9; 14.1-15)
The judgment of antichrist and the Gentile nations opens the way for the restoration of the nation of Israel. The world’s system will capitulate to the Great King and His millennial kingdom. This is a continuation of part three which considers the revelation in glory of the Messiah.
Prayer is always the means to blessing (10.1). A failure in leadership among God’s people brings just the opposite (10.2). It is the LORD of hosts that will visit the flock, the house of Judah. He will restore, regather, and regenerate this nation (10.3). He will do this because He is mighty to save! Note three images of Messiah in v.4: He is the Cornerstone, the Tent Peg, and the Battle Bow.
The Cornerstone
Ephesians 2 reveals a great mystery. Jews and Gentiles have access to the Father because of Christ’s ministry of reconciliation. “Now, therefore, you [Gentiles] are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (Ephesians 2.19-22). A cornerstone was the most important foundational element of a building during Zechariah’s day. A structure could not last without a good cornerstone.
“The LORD of hosts, Him you shall hallow; let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread. 14 He will be as a sanctuary, but a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, as a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many among them shall stumble; they shall fall and be broken, be snared and taken” (Isaiah 8.13-15). Unbelieving Israel found their Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be a stumbling stone. They find and will find Him to be so because they will not believe.
“Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; whoever believes will not act hastily” (Isaiah 28.16). Jesus Christ is a sure foundation for believers, whether they are Jew or Gentile. He is the very same Stone of Smiting when it comes to the world’s kingdoms (Daniel 2.34-35).
The Tent Peg
“Our Lord Jesus Christ, the dependable Nail, will have entrusted to Him all the glory of His Father’s house in that coming day, and will not fail” (Feinberg, God Remembers: A Study of the Book of Zechariah, 187). As a Tent Peg (Nail, KJV), He is reliable. All of our hope is fastened securely upon Him.
The Battle Bow
This is a militant picture. It speaks of the might of a Great Warrior that will save His people (see 10.5-12). He shall be with them as they fight together (5). He will treat them as thought He had not cast them off (6). “What grace – to wipe out with one stroke all the dismal past! The Lord knows how to restore the years that the locust has eaten” (Pfeiffer, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, 907).
He shall cause them to rejoice (7). He shall whistle for them. They will be regathered from the far corners of the world (8). He will cause them to increase and multiply (8-9). All hindrances and enemies shall be removed (10-11). He will regenerate them so that they walk with Him (12).
