John Calvin Commentary Zechariah 10:2

"For the teraphim have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie; and they have told false dreams, they comfort in vain: therefore they go their way like sheep, they are afflicted, because there is no shepherd." — Zechariah 10:2 (ASV)

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—