God Says, I Have Redeemed Them

Zechariah 10 contrasts the true God with false sources of help. Ask of Yahweh rain in the spring time, Yahweh who makes storm clouds, and he gives rain showers to everyone, for the plants in the field. Rain was life for a farming people, and God alone gives it. By contrast, the teraphim have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie; they have told false dreams and comforted in vain.

The result of trusting false guides is that the people wander like sheep. They are oppressed, because there is no shepherd. God's anger burns against the shepherds who failed the flock, but Yahweh of Armies has visited his flock, the house of Judah. From Judah will come the cornerstone, the tent peg, and every ruler.

The rest of the chapter is full of God's I will promises. God says, I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph. I will bring them back, for I have mercy on them. They will be as though I had not cast them off. He says, I will signal for them and gather them, for I have redeemed them. He says, they will remember me in far countries. He says, I will strengthen them in Yahweh. They will walk up and down in his name. Christians believe Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and in the New Testament, Matthew 9:36 says Jesus had compassion on crowds who were like sheep without a shepherd.