What happens when we don’t receive an answer from God as soon as we like? We turn to false gods and idols. We want to feel comfort, so instead of waiting on God we seek other ways to satisfy that desire. We take shortcuts to cheap imitations like sex, money, food, and addictions. But it should not be this way!
For the idols speak falsehood, and the diviners see illusions; they relate empty dreams and offer empty comfort. Therefore the people wander like sheep; they suffer affliction because there is no shepherd.
Zechariah 10:2 HCSB
The people of Zechariah’s time went to fortune tellers. Probably the most memorable example of this in Scripture is King Saul.
When Saul saw the Philistine camp, he was afraid and trembled violently. 6 He inquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him in dreams or by the Urim or by the prophets. 7 Saul then said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I can go and consult her.” His servants replied, “There is a woman at En-dor who is a medium.”
1 Samuel 28:5-7 HCSB
The crazy thing is, the exile was still fairly fresh in the people’s minds at this point and idolatry was the exact reason they had been sent into exile to begin with!
There were apparently droughts in Judah after the exile (Zec 10:1), and some of the people were turning to diviners and false gods for help rather than the Lord (Zec 10:2). This was utterly foolish in light of the fact that Judah’s exile had been a judgment for exactly these kinds of practices (compare Jer 14:1-10).
Nelson’s Commentary
The interesting detail we can note at the end of verse 2 is that the people suffered because they had no shepherd. This could mean they didn’t have Godly leaders in places of authority, but it can also mean they hadn’t yet experienced the true Shepherd in Jesus Christ. The difference for us is that we have the Holy Spirit which points to Jesus in all areas of life. It is our responsibility to seek Him in times of need!