Passing Through the Sea with Affliction - Zechariah 10:11

In the book of Zechariah, Zechariah shared how Jehovah God said of Israel, “I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and place shall not be found for them”, and in chapter ten and verse eleven of Zechariah, Zechariah said, “he shall pass through the sea with affliction” where we read,

And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up: and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the scepter of Egypt shall depart away.

The verse reads, “And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up:” Zechariah began with the words, “and he shall pass through the sea” or “and he, Jehovah God, will march, overflow and traverse the large body of water such as the Red, Dead and Mediterranean Sea” “with affliction” which means “by the use of straits, distress, trouble and vexation”, “and shall smite the waves” or “and will strike, hit, beat and slay the springs, billows and heaps of waters” “in the sea” which means “within the large body of water such as the Red, Dead and Mediterranean Sea”, “and all the deeps” or “and each, every, the whole and everyone of the depths or bottoms” “of the river” which means “belonging to the flowing stream, watercourse and flood” “shall dry up” or “will wither, be without moisture and become dry”. Zechariah shared how Jehovah God would traverse the large bodies of water by the use of distress and vexation and strike the billows of waters while causing the depths of the large streams or watercourses to become dry.

The verse goes on to say, “and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the scepter of Egypt shall depart away.”Zechariah continued with the words, “and the pride of Assyria” or “and the exaltation, majesty and excellence belonging to Assyria whose name means a step and was the location for the people of Assyria” “shall be brought down”  which means “will descend, decline, march and sink down”, “and the scepter of Egypt” or “and the rod, branch, offshoot and tribe belonging to Egypt whose name means land of the Copts and is a country at the northeastern section of Africa, adjacent to Palestine, and through which the Nile flows” “shall depart away” which means “will turn aside, be removed, disposed of and abolished”. Zechariah shared how Jehovah God would sink the exaltation and majesty of “Assyria” and abolish the rod of power belonging to “Egypt”.

When we consider the words in this verse, we discover through Zechariah how Jehovah God would go before the people of Israel as they returned to their homeland. The billows of the “sea” would be smitten, the depth of the “river” would be without moisture and the majesty of “Assyria” would decline as the rod of power in “Egypt” would be abolished. God loves His people Israel, and when He said they would return home, they would return home. God loves us, and because He wants us to have a personal relationship with us and to live with us forever, He sent His Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind. When we believe and trust in Him as our “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and assure us that He has cleared the path for us to live with Him in Heaven for all eternity.

Next time Zechariah shares how Jehovah God says, “I will strengthen them in the LORD”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".