Zechariah 10:2
For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd. For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd.
The idols have spoken emptiness, the diviners have seen falsehood and told lying dreams, and their comfort comes to nothing. These idols are images and instruments of divination to which men turn for oracles and the meaning of dreams, and without a true shepherd the people wander and suffer like a scattered flock. Such lying divination and false dreaming give only empty hopes that cannot truly comfort, in contrast to the life and help found in Christ. Dreams can come from Satan to mislead, and to take them as the rule of duty brings deception and ruin, marking false prophets and false teachings as a sign of the closing scenes of this world's history. The failure of these vain comforters shows why rain must be sought from the Lord, even the latter rain of the Holy Spirit to ripen the gospel harvest, while in that same time counterfeit gifts comfort in vain until God punishes the false shepherds and makes His people strong in battle.
Words and Setting
The idols have uttered emptiness, and those who practice divination have perceived falsehood and recounted deceptive dreams. Their words and visions are lies, and the consolation they offer is useless and without effect. These idols were images and other objects employed for divining, to which people resorted for oracles and for interpretations of dreams, yet all such direction proved false and vain.
Left without a true shepherd, the people set off on their own way like a flock and fell into trouble. Lacking rightful guidance, they wander as a distressed and scattered flock. The saying stands within the prophecy of chapters 9 through 14, which foretells the kingdom of Christ, the great day of the Lord, and the punishment of the wicked.
False Guidance Exposed
False prophets and false teachings mark the closing scenes of this world's history, when idols and diviners speak lies and false dreams and give a comfort that cannot help, so that the people wander like a troubled flock without a shepherd. Deceptive spiritual sources, including false diviners and their dreams, offer empty comfort and leave people as a scattered, troubled flock without a shepherd. False dreams and divination deceive rather than guide, giving vain comfort instead of direction. Dreams can come from satanic deception rather than from God, misleading those who trust them and providing no true guidance. To take dreams as marking out personal duty can come from Satan and lead to deception and ruin.
False worship and divination offer lies and false hopes that cannot truly comfort, leaving their followers distressed and without guidance, in contrast to the life and help found in Christ, and thereby exposing counterfeit religious promises. In the time of the latter rain, while the true gifts of the Spirit are manifested among the remnant, idols, diviners, and tellers of false dreams bring forth counterfeit manifestations that comfort in vain and leave the people going their own way as a flock troubled because there is no shepherd. God will punish the false ones and make His people like a goodly horse in battle.
Prophecy and Latter Rain
The emptiness of idols and diviners explains why rain must be sought from the Lord, for their speaking is vanity, their visions are false, their dreams deceive, and their comfort cannot help. Left without a true shepherd, the people wander like a flock and are distressed, which by contrast presses the call to seek the Lord for rain. That latter rain is the work of the Holy Ghost to complete the gospel harvest.
The verse stands within a section that looks forward to the final restoration. That section holds hopeful promises for God's people who truly seek Him and trust the promises of the Spirit. It also holds judgments upon those who reject Him.
The same prophecy concerns the removal of papal dominion in 1798 and the gathering of Israel's remnant from captivity. The remnant's westward journey is a crossing of the Atlantic to America. That sea crossing is marked by affliction.