వ్యాఖ్యానం ప్రస్తుతం ఆంగ్లంలో మాత్రమే అందుబాటులో ఉంది. తెలుగు అనువాదం పురోగతిలో ఉంది.
Zechariah 10 — Ask Ye of the LORD Rain in the Time of the Latter Rain
Ask ye of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain — for the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie; therefore they went their way as a flock, troubled because there was no shepherd. Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats: for the LORD of hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle. Out of him came forth the corner, out of him the nail, out of him the battle bow. They shall be as mighty men which tread down their enemies — and they shall fight, because the LORD is with them. I will hiss for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them: and they shall increase as they have increased. I will sow them among the people, and they shall remember me in far countries. I will strengthen them in the LORD; and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith the LORD.
“Ask ye of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain; so the LORD shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.”
— Zechariah 10:1
- v.1-2 Ask rain of the LORD, not of idols
- v.3-5 The visited flock; the corner, nail, and bow
- v.6-12 Hissed for, gathered, redeemed, strengthened
The alternative market in guidance — idols, diviners, dreams — produces one commodity: vain comfort. Consolation that is false is not neutral; it sends the flock wandering, troubled, shepherdless.
People scatter toward whatever speaks. Where the true word is not sought (v. 1), the lying word is consumed — and the sheep pay the bill. Jesus saw the same crowds, as sheep having no shepherd, and was moved.
From Judah (out of him) comes everything the people need: the corner — the cornerstone of government; the nail — the tent-peg bearing the household's weight (Isaiah 22:23-24); the battle bow — its warfare; every ruler. All offices issue from one tribe, and converge on one Person.
Cornerstone, nail, bow: stability, support, victory — a three-word Christology. He upholds what hangs on Him, squares what is built on Him, and wins what is fought through Him.
Hiss — the keeper's whistle that bees and flocks know. No army fetches the scattered; a signal does. The Redeemer's call carries across every distance to those who are His, and they come (John 10:16 — they shall hear my voice).
The order of the verbs: redeemed, therefore gathered. Redemption is accomplished before the regathering begins; the price paid is the guarantee that the whistle will be answered.
The chapter's last word: strength located in the LORD and a life conducted in his name — walking up and down, everyday movement, all of it inside Him. Not occasional visits to grace but residency.
The promise reverses verse 2's troubled wandering: the same flock that strayed shepherdless now walks far countries in His name (v. 9), remembered and remembering. Strengthened wandering becomes commissioned walking.
Check where you go for comfort and direction when the sky is dry: verse 1 says ask the LORD; verse 2 lists the alternatives and their product — vain comfort and troubled wandering. Pray season-shaped prayers: ask for the rain God has promised, in the time He has appointed for it. And live verse 12 deliberately — strength drawn in the LORD, the daily walking up and down done in His name.
Out of Judah came forth the corner — Christ the cornerstone; the nail — bearing on Himself all the weight of His Father's house; the battle bow — conqueror of every oppressor. He is the Shepherd whose absence is the trouble of verse 2 and whose whistle is the hope of verse 8: redeemed by His blood, the flock hears His voice and is gathered.
Ask... in the time of the latter rain — pray for the very thing that is due in season. God's appointed times do not cancel asking; they direct it. The promise is the warrant for the petition, not its substitute.
The latter rain ripened the harvest. Spiritually the verse has fed every prayer for revival: where God has promised outpouring (Joel 2:23, 28), the church's task is to ask — every one grass in the field, supply down to each individual blade.