In this message we will consider the prophecy of encouragement in Zechariah 10.
The prophecy in chapter ten of Zechariah concerns the Lord's loving visitation to Israel. As we will see, this loving visitation is actually Christ's coming to Israel.
"Ask rain of Jehovah / At the time of spring rain, / Of Jehovah who makes the lightning, / And He will give them showers of rain, / To everyone herbage in the field" (v. 1). The word rain here signifies blessing. To ask for more rain is to seek more blessing. Thus, in this verse the Lord is encouraging the children of Israel to seek more blessings while He would be favorable to them. While the Lord is so favorable to us, we should ask Him to send us even more favor. Since God is giving us showers of rain, we should ask Him for more rain. This indicates that we all need to pray for the Lord's abundant blessing.
Verses 2 and 3a say, "The teraphim have spoken vanity, / And the diviners have seen a lie / And have spoken false dreams; they comforted in vain. / Therefore the people have wandered like sheep; / They are afflicted because there is no shepherd. / My anger is kindled against the shepherds, / And I will punish the male goats." Among the Jews in the ancient time, many possessed teraphim, which were images or false gods kept in their homes. All those false gods and all the diviners spoke vanity and false dreams; they comforted in vain. Therefore, the people wandered like sheep. They were afflicted because there was no shepherd. Verse 3 tells us that the Lord's anger was kindled against the shepherds and that He would punish the male goats. The shepherds here are the male goats. The proper shepherds are the prophets, the proper ones who speak for God.
Today we have a wonderful practice in the church life. We encourage every saint to prophesy; we make every saint a prophet. In the Lord's move among His people today, the most important thing is to speak for Him. Paul encouraged all the saints to prophesy (1 Cor. 14:1, 24, 31, 39a).