John Calvin Commentary Zechariah 10

Zechariah, after having shown that God would be generous toward the Jews, so that nothing necessary to make life happy and blessed would be lacking, now rebukes them for their unbelief, because they did not expect from the Lord what He was ready to fully bestow on them. Since it then depended only on them that they did not enjoy an abundance of all blessings, he accuses them of ingratitude; for although he exhorts them to pray, there is still an implied rebuke.

Someone merely reading the words might think that a new subject is introduced here, that the Jews are directed to ask of the Lord what He had previously promised them. But anyone who considers the whole context more closely will easily find that what I have stated is true—namely, that the Jews are condemned here, and for this reason: because they closed the door to God’s favor. For they were constrained within themselves, as are all the unbelieving who cannot embrace the promises of God.

And it is not at all doubtful that many complained greatly when they found their wishes unfulfilled. They had indeed hoped for a most abundant supply of grain and wine and had also anticipated all kinds of blessings for themselves. Yet the Lord, as we have seen in the book of Haggai, had begun to withdraw His hand, so that they suffered from a lack of provisions. When hunger and thirst oppressed them, they thought that God had, in a way, deceived them. For this reason, the Prophet expostulates with them: by their lack of faith, they pushed away from themselves the favor that had been prepared for them. So now we understand the Prophet’s meaning.

He bids them to ask rain of Jehovah. They certainly should have done this on their own without being reminded. For although Christ has given His Church a form of prayer, it should still be, as it were, a natural instinct to seek our daily bread from God; and it is not without reason that He claims for Himself the name of Father. The Prophet, then, rebukes the Jews here for their sheer stupidity—that they did not ask the Lord for rain. He adds, at the late season, that is, in the spring. For rain at two seasons was necessary for the grain, after sowing and before harvest; and whenever Scripture speaks of fruitfulness or a large harvest, it mentions rain at these two seasons. Zechariah in this passage refers only to the spring rain before harvest, for in that hot country the earth needed fresh moisture. Ask, he says, rain at the beginning of summer.

Jehovah, he adds, will give it; he will make clouds, or storms, or turbulent winds, as some interpret. But it is evident from other passages that חזיזים, chezizim, means clouds, which are, so to speak, preparations for rain.

He then says that a shower would come with the rain. For some take גשם, gesham, for a shower, that is, heavy rain. But the Prophet introduces the two words here as if he had said that the rains would continue until the ground was saturated and the dryness removed. Some translate it as “the rain of a shower,” but this would be too forced. I prefer, then, this rendering: He will give rain, a shower, that is, abundant rain; to every one grass in the field, that is, so that there may be enough moisture for the ground. In short, he promises plentiful irrigation, so that drought might not deprive them of the hope of food and sustenance. What I have stated will become clearer from the following verse, for he adds—

Here the Prophet, as I have said, confirms the truth that the blame justly belonged to the Jews for God not dealing more liberally with them; for he shows that they had fallen into superstitions and had thus turned away the favor of God, which was already certain and near to them.

Zechariah does not here condemn foreign nations given to superstitions; on the contrary, he reproves the Jews themselves for leaving the true God and for resorting to idols, to soothsayers, and diviners. He shows they preferred to feed on their own delusions rather than to open the door to the favor of God, who had freely promised that He would allow them to lack nothing.

Since God had kindly invited the Jews to Himself, as He had shown Himself ready to do them good, was it not the basest ingratitude in them to turn away to idols and to attend to magical delusions? They could have safely relied on God’s word. They would not have been deprived of their hope if they had been firmly persuaded that God had spoken the truth to them.

Since they had done so grievous a wrong to God by running after idols and after the deceits and impostures of Satan, the Prophet here deservedly condemns them for this wickedness.

Images, he says, have spoken vanity, and diviners have seen falsehood, and have told dreams of vanity. He means, in short, that whatever means unbelieving men may try, they can attain nothing, and they will eventually find that they have been miserably deceived by Satan. They resort to various expedients, for unbelief is full of restlessness and fervor: “Oh! This will not succeed; I will try something else.” Thus the unbelieving wander and resort to many varied expedients. But the Prophet teaches this general truth: that when men turn away from God, they resort to vain things, for there is no truth without God.

He later adds that on account of idols, as well as of diviners and magicians, consolation was given in vain; and this he confirms by the outcome, saying that they had wandered as sheep and that they had been distressed, because there was no shepherd. The Prophet no doubt refers here to the time of exile, so that the Jews might learn to be wise, at least from the teaching of experience. For they had learned to their great cost that without God there is no real and solid comfort.

Nor does he upbraid them without reason with the punishment which their fathers had suffered, for he saw that they were following in their steps. Since the Jews were imitating the corrupt curiosity of their fathers, the Prophet justly charges them that they did not acknowledge what, by the outcome itself, was well known to all. For the common proverb is that experience is the teacher of fools. Since they did not become wise even when punished, their stupidity was more than proven. We now perceive what the Prophet means.

But we must first notice that when he instructs them to ask for rain from the Lord, he speaks of the kingdom of Christ, as all the Prophets are accustomed to do. For since the Redeemer, promised to the Jews, was to be the author of all blessings, whenever the Prophets speak of His coming, they also promise abundance of grain, plentiful provisions, peace, and everything necessary for the well-being of this present life.

And Zechariah now follows the same course when he declares that if God did not kindly supply the Jews with whatever they might have wished, it was not due to anything in God; rather, the fault was with themselves. For they had by their unbelief, as has been said, closed the door to His favor.

However, we must always remember what we stated yesterday: that whatever the Prophets have said concerning a blessed life ought to be judged according to the nature of the kingdom of Christ. It is a strained interpretation to say that rain is heavenly doctrine; and I do not say that Zechariah spoke allegorically, but he describes under this common figure the kingdom of Christ—namely, that God will fill His elect with all good things, so that they shall not thirst nor suffer any lack.

But at the same time we must bear in mind the exhortation of Christ:

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God; other things,” He says,
“shall afterwards be added.” (Matthew 6:33)

He is then strangely wrong who thinks that abundance of food alone was promised to the Jews, for God intended to lead them gradually to higher things. The Prophet then no doubt includes here, under one type, all things necessary for a happy life. For it is not the will of God to fill His faithful people in this world as though they were swine; His design is to give them, by means of earthly things, a taste of the spiritual life. Hence the happiness of which Zechariah now speaks is really spiritual; for as godliness has the promises of the present as well as of the future life (1 Timothy 4:8), so the purpose of God was to consider the weakness of His ancient people and to set forth the felicity of the spiritual life by means of earthly blessings.

It should also be carefully noted that the Jews are here exposed to derision because they wandered after their own devices when God was still near them and ready to aid them. Since God showed Himself inclined to kindness, it was a twofold wickedness in them that they chose to run after idols, magical arts, and the illusions of Satan, rather than to rely on God’s word.

And similar is the upbraiding we find in Jeremiah, when God complains that He was forsaken, while He was still the fountain of living water, and that the people dug out for themselves cisterns, dry and full of holes (Jeremiah 2:13).

But as this evil is very common, let us understand that we are here warned to plant our feet firmly on God’s word, where He promises that He will take care of us, provided we are satisfied with His favor. Let us not thoughtlessly run after our own imaginations.

For however much our own counsels may delight us, and though some success may sometimes appear, yet the end will always show us that what Zechariah teaches us here is most true: that whatever we may attempt will be useless and also harmful, for God will take vengeance on our ingratitude.

We must now also observe that since Zechariah cites an example of God’s vengeance, through which the Jews had found that they had foolishly sought vain consolations, we ought to take care not to forget those punishments with which God may have disciplined us in order to restore us to Himself. Let us remember what we ourselves have experienced and what happened to our fathers, even before we were born. Thus, the faithful ought to apply their minds to recounting God’s judgments, so that they may profit from His scourges. He later adds—

He had said that the Jews had been driven into exile and had been oppressed by their enemies because they had no shepherd; not indeed to lessen their fault, for they were wholly inexcusable, since they had willfully renounced God, who would have otherwise been their perpetual shepherd: but he now turns his discourse to the false teachers, to the false prophets, and to the wicked priests.

Although they were all unworthy of pardon, yet God here justly summons the shepherds first before His tribunal, who had been the cause of leading others astray: just as when a blind man leads the blind into a ditch, so ungodly pastors become the cause of ruin to others.

We have elsewhere observed similar passages in which God threatened priests and prophets with special punishment because they had unfaithfully discharged their office; yet He did not absolve the common people, for from the least to the greatest they were guilty. It is also certain that men are punished for their obstinacy and wickedness whenever God gives free rein to the devil and deceives them by ungodly teachers.

We now see the order observed by the Prophet. At the beginning of the chapter, he declares that the Jews were without excuse because they had again turned aside to their own superstitions, though God had severely punished the sins of their fathers, and thus they had profited nothing. He also shows that they were acting perversely if they clamored against God that He supported them scantily or badly, for they did not look for anything from Him, nor did they solicit by prayer what He was prepared willingly to grant them.

Having thus generally reproved the wickedness of the whole people, the Prophet now assails the ungodly priests and says that judgment was near both the shepherd and the he-goats.

He gives the name of pastors to wolves, which is a common thing. And here the Papists betray their folly, laying hold of words only and claiming to themselves all power because they are called pastors in the Church, and as though Antichrist were not to reign in the temple of God. Does not Zechariah give an honorable name to these wicked men who destroyed the Church of God? Indeed, he brings a very heavy charge against them, that they scattered and trampled under their feet the whole kingdom of God, and yet he calls them pastors, simply because they held the office of pastors, though they were very far from being faithful and in no way attended to their duties.

He then concedes the name of pastors to those who had been called to rule the people and to whom this office had been divinely committed; yet God declares that He would visit them because they had aroused His just displeasure.

The same is said of the he-goats, by which metaphorical name He means all those who were governors or were in rank above the common people. Those who injured and cruelly treated the sheep had been called he-goats by other Prophets, and especially by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 34:17). So then, He adds the he-goats to the pastors because the poor and the lower orders had been led to ruin through their misconduct.

And hence it appears how dear to God is the salvation of men, for He denounces vengeance on pastors, though they had not exercised tyranny except on men worthy of such punishment. For it was the just wages of their sins that the Lord gave them wolves instead of shepherds. But though the Jews had merited such a judgment, yet God was angry with the pastors on account of His constant solicitude for His Church.

And the reason is also added, For visit will God His flock, the house of Judah; as though He had said that He would not regard what the Jews were, but would regard His own election. For greatly valued by God is His own adoption; and as He had been pleased to choose that people, He could not have allowed them to be destroyed.

When therefore He saw that His Church had been so much exposed to destruction through the fault of the pastors, He alleges here as a reason for His future vengeance that He could not endure His favor to be brought to nothing. Nor is it to be doubted that He mentions here the house of Judah because He had restored and consecrated that people to Himself, that He might be served by them.

He then takes away from the false pastors every pretense for an excuse when He brings forward His own election, as though He had said, “Though this people had provoked Me a hundred times and deserved a hundred deaths, yet I intended you to be pastors, because the house of Judah has been made sacred to Me.”

But the visitation of the flock is different from that of the shepherds; for God visits the reprobate, being armed with vengeance, and He visits His own people by aiding them. Now the visitation of the flock refers to the whole house of Judah, and this was owing, as we have said, to their gratuitous adoption; yet the Lord suffered many to rush headlong into ruin because He delivered only His own elect. It is indeed a mode of speaking that often occurs in the Prophets—that God would help the children of Abraham when He means only those who were Israelites indeed, and not the degenerate.

He adds that they would be as a splendid horse in war. A contrast is here no doubt implied between splendid horses and asses or oxen; for these shepherds who had tyrannically oppressed God’s people are said to be like violent riders who ride on asses and shamefully abuse them, or like herdsmen who treat their own oxen inhumanely.

God then says that He would ride His people in another manner, even as the horseman who sits splendidly on his horse when going to battle. For even kings, after having ridden a horse in battle, afterwards wish it to be well taken care of; they show much solicitude for their horses and even go to the stable that they may see, if possible, with their own eyes, that they are properly attended to.

God then thus intimates that He indeed required obedience from His people and intended to retain His own right, to ride as it were on His own people; yet He would not oppress them, and on the contrary, He would make them like a splendid horse. We now perceive why the Prophet turns his discourse here especially to the false shepherds, not indeed to extenuate the fault of the whole people, for none among them was worthy of pardon.

This is a confirmation of the last verse, but the metaphors are different. For he says that the Jews would be fortified by every defense necessary for their security, nor is he inconsistent with himself. In the last chapter, he indeed taught us that, though exposed to all kinds of wrongs, they would yet be safe through aid from heaven. But now he promises that from them would come the corner-stone, the nail, the bow, and the exactor. This might seem a different doctrine, but it is the same as if he had promised that, though they stood in need of many helps, they would yet be sufficiently furnished, as God would be ready to aid them whenever there was need.

By the corner-stone he means the firmness of the building. From the Jews then will come the corner-stone; that is, there will always be among that people those capable of carrying on the public government.

Then, from you the nail; beams, we know, and other parts of the building are fastened by nails, and we also know that the ceiling is thereby made secure. Zechariah then mentions here all the supports that sustain a building from its very foundation.

He afterwards adds the bow of war—that is, what is necessary to overcome enemies—and, lastly, the exactor—one who has power over bordering nations and demands tribute or tax from them, as conquerors are accustomed to do from their subjects.

We now see what the Prophet means: that when God would manifest his care for his people and openly show his favor, the Jews would be fortified by all kinds of help, so as to be well established, and that they would possess so much public authority as to have strength enough to resist all enemies; in short, that they would gain the fruit of conquest and constrain all nations to be tributaries to them.

If anyone asks when this has been fulfilled, my answer is that some preludes of this were given when God raised up the Maccabees and made the Jews live again according to their own laws and enjoy their own rights. But no doubt the Prophet includes the whole course of redemption.

Since God then redeemed his people only to a small extent until Christ appeared, it is no wonder that Zechariah, in speaking of full and complete redemption, extends his words to the kingdom of Christ. This was necessary.

We therefore learn that the Church stands abundantly firm and is also furnished with all needful things while it continues under the protection of God, and that it is endowed with sufficient power to resist all its enemies.

He confirms what I have already said — that the Jews would be victorious over all nations. Though the Church is fighting under the cross, she yet triumphs over all the wicked, partly by hope and partly by present success. For God wonderfully sustains her and enables the faithful to possess their souls in patience; and he also protects them by his own power and renders them safe amidst all the roarings and insatiable rage of their enemies. Since God thus strengthens the minds of his people, cherishes in them the hope of salvation, and also defends them against raging assaults, it is no wonder that the Prophet testifies that the Church would be victorious, treading down her enemies in the mire like a giant or a strong man.

He gives the reason: For Jehovah will be with them. He said this so that they might know that in this situation, nothing would be of their own doing, but that they might, on the contrary, learn to depend on God’s aid alone. And he explains this still more clearly at the end of the verse by saying: Ashamed shall be the riders on horses. That is, their strength and valor, their use of arms, and their skill in handling them will be of no avail to them. For the Lord will lay prostrate — notwithstanding their arrogance and pride — all those wicked men who in their cruelty devour the faithful and think that they have strength more than enough to destroy the Church; indeed, the Lord will cause all these things to pass away like mist.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that since constant struggles await us here, and our infirmities are so great that without Your power supporting us we cannot help but fall every moment — O grant, that we may learn to rely on that help which You have promised, which You have also offered to us, and which You daily offer through the Gospel in Your only-begotten Son; and may we distrust our own strength; indeed, may we be overwhelmed with despair concerning ourselves — not that we should lose hope, but rather that we should look upward and seek the aid of Your Spirit — so that we may not doubt that we shall be a match for our enemies and even be victorious over them, until, having at length finished our warfare, we shall reach that blessed rest which has been obtained for us by the blood of Your only Son. Amen.