Ask rain from the LORD in the season of the spring rain, from the LORD who makes the storm clouds, who gives showers of rain to you, the vegetation in the field to everyone. For the terraphim utter nonsense, and the diviners see lies; the dreamers tell false dreams, and give empty consolation. Therefore the people wander like sheep; they suffer for lack of a shepherd. My anger is hot against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the LORD of hosts cares for his flock, the house of Judah, and will make them like his proud war-horse. Out of them shall come the cornerstone, out of them the tent peg, out of them the battle bow, out of them every commander. Zechariah 10: 1-4, NRSV.
Dear God, here we are in Your presence once more. Please send us Your Holy Spirit to be our teacher; and give us hearts that are willing to listen to Your message of love, and learn. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
We live in an age when preachers and leaders, are expected to preach the kind of sermons, and give the kind of speeches, that appeal to the audience. If we are in a war, the message should be: we are going to win the war. If we are in a financial crisis, the message, should be: we are going to be prosperous. If people are sick, the message should be, you are already healed. There is nothing wrong with messages like these – if that is the message God gives them for His people. However, in our text for today, the Word of the LORD informs us, that we should ask rain from the LORD in the season of the spring rain. Does that mean that God cannot give us rain in the time of drought? No, that is not the message at all. For we know that God can do anything, but fail!
So wherein lies the problem? The problem is to be found in the fact that people are going to the wrong sources to receive their messages; people have their own gods who tell them what they want to hear. “For the terraphim utter nonsense, and the diviners see lies; the dreamers tell false dreams, and give empty consolation.” Terraphims were little household gods. Now we know that gods of stone and wood cannot talk. Therefore, who do you believe did the talking for these “gods?’ The false prophets of course! Or, perhaps, the priests of the households, the heads of the households. Perhaps they were asking, and answering, themselves. Whoever it was, and, whatever they were doing, and however they were doing it, God described it as nonsense, lies, false dreams, and empty consolations!
There is a real danger in this kind of preaching. If someone has a fatal disease, and goes to a doctor seeking help, if the doctor tells the person what the person wants to hear; that he or she is well, and does not prescribe the proper medication, that person most likely will die! But, if the doctor tells the person the truth, and assures him or her, that with proper treatment that person can be healed, the doctor has given the person the tools they need to regain their health. More often than not, the children of Israel did not want to hear what the prophets of the LORD had to say, so having a household god was both convenient and comforting. They did not have to go up to the temple to worship, and they could put any message they wanted to hear, in the mouth of the terraphim, or get a false prophet to tell them what they wanted to hear!
What was the result? The people were wandering like sheep who had no shepherd; and God’s anger was kindled against these shepherds who were not doing their duty! He would punish them! You see my friends, God loves His flock! He had plans to prosper them! “[He would] make them like his proud war-horse. Out of them shall come the cornerstone, out of them the tent peg, out of them the battle bow, out of them every commander.” If we take the time to analyze each of these symbols, they all carry a positive connotation. They all speak of stability, and victory, for all of God’s people! The cornerstone, was a symbol of Jesus, the Messiah. God had a bright future planned for His people. But if that future should be realized, they were to go to Him, not to idols, or diviners, but to God, who was the Source of all their needs, both physical and spiritual!
We will continue this conversation.