Through his prophecies Zechariah imparts encouragement and hope to the exiles returning to Jerusalem. The revival that started among the returnees from the time of Haggai, is to be kept burning. We see very powerful imageries used in this book to convey the message of God to His people. Today’s reading is about the Lord’s redemption of His people. Verse 11 says: "He will strike the waves of the sea, so that all the depths of the Nile will dry up; And the pride of Assyria will be brought down and the scepter of Egypt will depart.”  Then verse 12 says: “And I will strengthen them in the LORD, and in His name they will walk,” declares the LORD.

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The four imageries in verse 11 are- Sea (Red Sea) , River Nile, Assyria and Egypt – all have significance to Israel and they speak volumes to us even today. For you as a child of God, God speaks through this message that He will deal with every hindrance that prevents the progress in your divine purpose.

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All the depths of the Nile will dry up: The River Nile played an important role in stopping the deliverance of God’s people. In the Book of Exodus, when Pharaoh ordered all Hebrew born boys to be thrown into the river Nile, it included the baby Moses who was a promised redeemer for the Israelites. So River Nile represents that plan of the devil which is opposed to the implementation of God’s promises in your life. The Word of God says that the Nile will dry up or the plans to thwart God’s plans will become ineffective!

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He will strike the waves of the sea: When the children of God were finally making their journey to freedom, the first obstacle they faced was the Red Sea. Waves of the sea is typical of rage. The enemy would take out all his angry ways to prevent your progress – but God says He will strike the waves!! In fact, God had hidden a path in that sea – the difficulty that you may face in your advancement in God’s promises, believe that there is a way hidden by God. He did not take His people to another route because of the sea – He instead led them through it!

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And the pride of Assyria will be brought down: In 2 Kings 19:4 we can see the King of Assyria coming against the People of God in proud abuses. The tactics used by the enemy there, was to question their faith and trust in Almighty God. Even today the enemy’s tactics is to question your faith, question the trust that you have developed in God. The Word of God says that pride will be brought down – the enemy will lose its power to challenge you!!

 

 

The scepter of Egypt will depart: Egypt was the nation that stood against God’s people. The scepter shows rule – authority. They were ruling the children of God, they were controlling the lives of God’s children!! But that scepter, that authority will be destroyed!! Through the cross of Calvary, Jesus Christ destroyed the power of the one who was holding mankind under his power through the fear of death (Heb.2:14).

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Trust God today to work in your life by staying on the promises of His Word. 

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Prayer:

"Dear LORD, I commit my life to You- may you destroy every plan of the enemy in my life that stands against Your purposes in my life. In Jesus name, Amen.