Zechariah 10:1 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.
A Usurper
Before light this morning I was brushing my teeth when, all of a sudden, I felt a pair of eyes looking up at me. I looked down, and there was my little dog, Bromley. She just looked at me with those big, adoring eyes. I bent down, patted her, and said, “Hey, Bromley. Good to see you.” And that was good enough for her. She turned around and went on to the next person. That’s what she does every morning. She wants to be with us, and though she does not know English very well, she picks up on attitudes very quickly.
Everyone, including you, is an influencer either for good or for bad, and most of us are leaders of some sort. People may not know your ideology, philosophy of life, or theology, but anyone and everyone, even a dog, picks up on attitudes. So it is mighty important that each of us lead with the right attitude and understanding.
It is a cliché to say that you are not leading if you are not serving, but I think it is true. Having said that, any leader among God’s people who neither receives guidance from God nor points followers to God is a usurper. He is cutting people off from the God Who can guide and provide.
That is exactly what had happened in Zechariah’s day. God had commanded His people to look to Him for guidance and provision. Zechariah 10:1 says, “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.” In verse 6 He says, “For I am the LORD their God, and will hear them.” While God wanted to guide and provide for His people, they had been cut off from Him by those who were their “shepherds,” the people who were their leaders.
These leaders among God’s people were leading them astray instead of giving God’s Words to God’s people. They had “seen a lie” and “told false dreams.” These leaders were giving “comfort in vain” because they had not given God’s truth to God’s people. You can never genuinely comfort or help anyone if you are not doing so with the truth.
Zechariah continues, “Therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd.” Verse 3 says, “Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds.” God’s anger was kindled by these leaders who were leading His people astray.
God is the Good Shepherd. He said, “Because the LORD is with them… I will strengthen the house of Judah, and save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them: for I have mercy upon them: and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I am the LORD their God, and will hear them.” But, Israel had been cut off from God and His blessings because the shepherds had led them astray.
Are you receiving your guidance from God? Are the people who follow you wrapped up in you, or are they in love with the God Who gives you what you have and made you who you are? Any leader of God’s people who does not get his guidance from God and point his followers to God is a usurper. Our job as leaders is to connect people to the God Who can provide for them.