John Calvin Commentary Zechariah 10:1

"Ask ye of Jehovah rain in the time of the latter rain, [even of] Jehovah that maketh lightnings; and he will give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field." — Zechariah 10:1 (ASV)

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—