Slices
Prepare
Recall times when the Lord has strengthened you during trial, temptation, loss or illness. Express to him how you feel about these times.
Bible passage
The Lord will care for Judah
10 Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime;
it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms.
He gives showers of rain to all people,
and plants of the field to everyone.
2 The idols speak deceitfully,
diviners see visions that lie;
they tell dreams that are false,
they give comfort in vain.
Therefore the people wander like sheep
oppressed for lack of a shepherd.
3 ‘My anger burns against the shepherds,
and I will punish the leaders;
for the Lord Almighty will care
for his flock, the people of Judah,
and make them like a proud horse in battle.
4 From Judah will come the cornerstone,
from him the tent peg,
from him the battle-bow,
from him every ruler.
5 Together they will be like warriors in battle
trampling their enemy into the mud of the streets.
They will fight because the Lord is with them,
and they will put the enemy horsemen to shame.
6 ‘I will strengthen Judah
and save the tribes of Joseph.
I will restore them
because I have compassion on them.
They will be as though
I had not rejected them,
for I am the Lord their God
and I will answer them.
7 The Ephraimites will become like warriors,
and their hearts will be glad as with wine.
Their children will see it and be joyful;
their hearts will rejoice in the Lord.
8 I will signal for them
and gather them in.
Surely I will redeem them;
they will be as numerous as before.
9 Though I scatter them among the peoples,
yet in distant lands they will remember me.
They and their children will survive,
and they will return.
10 I will bring them back from Egypt
and gather them from Assyria.
I will bring them to Gilead and Lebanon,
and there will not be room enough for them.
11 They will pass through the sea of trouble;
the surging sea will be subdued
and all the depths of the Nile will dry up.
Assyria’s pride will be brought down
and Egypt’s sceptre will pass away.
12 I will strengthen them in the Lord
and in his name they will live securely,’
declares the Lord.
Explore
The Lord loves his people and desires the very best for us. That’s why he’s grieved when we trust in things that will only lead us into confusion. Like when we look to sources other than him for advice, guidance and truth (v 2). It also explains his anger when ‘the shepherds’ (v 3) fail to encourage prayerful dependence and thankfulness, acknowledging the Lord as the provider of all our needs (v 1).
The Lord is determined that his people triumph in the battles they face (v 5) and overcome their enemies. Ultimately, this finds fulfilment in Jesus’ followers whose major characteristic, according to Revelation, is that they overcome and are victorious (eg Revelation 2:7,11,17,26). The Lord strengthens his people (vs 6,12) so that, despite the onslaught of a ‘hopelessly confused’ world and facing ‘mighty powers’ (Ephesians 4:17; 6:12, NLT), we can stand firm. The Lord’s people may be scattered and living in lands where his name is of little significance (vs 10,11) – these could equally be London, Beijing, Moscow or Riyadh – but he will bring them safely home. We trust the Lord. Like Mr Valiant in Pilgrim’s Progress, ‘there’s no discouragement shall make him [us] once relent’ (John Bunyan, 1684).
Respond
Do you see yourself as engaged in a spiritual battle? What is your biggest struggle? Share that with someone today who might pray with you.
Deeper Bible study
‘Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.’1
Israel had an agricultural economy, dependent on the seasonal rains. Its neighbours worshipped personifications of the forces of nature, which gave fertility. This idolatrous worship did not make the moral demands of Israel’s covenant God. Many of the kings (‘shepherds’; v 3) of Israel and Judah yielded to the temptation to worship these gods, leading their people astray like wandering sheep. This provoked God’s anger, but out of compassion he promises to take care of his flock and to send them a leader or leaders (v 4 may refer to more than one) from the tribe of Judah, who will save them and make them strong again. The image of the ‘cornerstone’ (either a foundation stone or capstone) is used in the Old Testament of the Davidic king and of a future deliverer.2 In the New Testament, this imagery is applied to Jesus.3 When Jesus said ‘I am the good shepherd’ he was claiming to fulfil the promise of this and other passages that God would care for his ‘flock’ and provide them with a true shepherd.4 His ministry was marked by compassion.5
Zechariah’s prophecy envisages God bringing back the exiles from both the former southern kingdom (Judah) and northern kingdom (Joseph/Ephraim) to form once again a united people of God. It uses imagery drawn from the Exodus from Egypt. In the New Testament the united people of God, including both Jews and Gentiles, is depicted as a new temple built on Jesus Christ as the cornerstone and as a single flock with Jesus as its shepherd.6 Jesus’ death on the cross for the sins of the world makes this possible. Both Jew and Gentile can then be brought together in a new people of God by worldwide proclamation of the gospel by Jesus’ followers.
Can you think of practical ways in which you could show Christ-like compassion, either to people you know or by supporting a caring agency in some way?
1 Lam 3:22,23 2 Ps 118:22; Isa 28:16 3 1 Pet 2:6,7 4 John 10:11; Jer 23:1–4; Ezek 34:23 5 Matt 9:36 6 Eph 2:14–22; John 10:16
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Ezekiel 44,45; Psalms 129–131
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray for HR Officer Adelaide Nketsia as she provides support on a range of HR processes to the Movement.
