We’ve come to the concluding part of FIRST oracle, started in Zech 9 and ending Zech 11.
• God executes His judgement upon the nations surrounding Israel. A picture of God as the divine warrior watching over Israel. He said He will defend His house (9:8)
• In the second part we read of the Messiah returning as the Deliverer, re-gathering His people and establishing His Kingdom and rule from Jerusalem.
It’s the prophecy of the end time when God’s people returns to God’s land under God’s rule.
• Last week we read of the good and faithful Shepherd caring for His flock.
He is their blessing and anchor in life, pictured as the cornerstone, the tent peg, the battle bow, and the ruler (10:4).
• By God’s grace and because of His compassion, Israel will be restored and reunited in the end time, back to this God-given land, with their sins forgiven and forgotten – “as though I had not rejected them,” the Lord says (10:6).
But this beautiful outcome will be delayed because Israel will not recognise their “good and faithful Shepherd” when He comes.
• And that’s what we are going to look at today in Zech 11. Chapter 11 begins with a lamentation. Read Zech 11:1-3.
This is a poetic description of the devastation of the land.
• This happens as a result of Israel’s rejection of their true Shepherd, from the context of chapter 11. Hence we have the calls to wail over the impending desolation.
• The references to the cedars of Lebanon, the oaks of Bashan, the lush thicket of Jordan suggest that the destruction will be widespread, from Lebanon (N), Bashan (Central) and Jordan (S).
• All the rich forests are destroyed, leaving shepherds wailing for the loss of pastures and lions roaring for the loss of their habitat.
Historically, most believe this was caused by the Romans who came against this land.
• But we know the true reason, according to this text: Israel rejected their Shepherd and turned to other shepherds.
• Read Zech 11:4-17. This is what the Lord says.
We see three broad themes:
• 11:4-6 The Lord says His flock will be attacked and the true Shepherd will not intervene. They have their own shepherds.
• 11:7-14 Zechariah acts out the prophecy of judgment. The two staffs in his hands which he called “favour” and “union” are broken.
• 11:15-17 A foolish and worthless shepherd will come pretending to be the Shepherd and will deceive them.
We see this imagery through the text, of the shepherd and his flock, which begins in chapter 10.
• Israel has one true Shepherd (pictured for us in Zech 10) but they rejected Him.
• Not only did they reject the good and faithful Shepherd; they would replace Him with other shepherds.
• Ultimately in the end days, they would turn to this “substitute” thinking that he is the good shepherd.
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In the 1st part, the Lord declared His judgement. Israel is doomed for slaughter, under the Romans (according to history), because they have rejected Christ.
In the 2nd part Zechariah acts out the prophecy by portraying the work of a shepherd.
• Zechariah took TWO staffs, just like any shepherd would do – taking the rod and the staff like what we read about in Psalm 23.
• He gave them symbolic names FAVOUR and UNION.
- FAVOUR depicting the God’s gracious favours toward His people
- UNION referring to coming together of divided nation - Israel and Judah - as one.
But they were broken. The FAVOUR was broken, revoking the covenant God made.
• His hand of protection was lifted and His people would suffer.
• Just as Zechariah expressed in 11:8b-9 “The flock detested me, and I grew weary of them 9and said, "I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish. Let those who are left eat one another's flesh."
• Probably referring to the Roman siege of Jerusalem in AD70 when the people were forced to eat one another’s flesh.
Before that he said in 11:8 “In one month I got rid of the three shepherds.”
• He was acting prophetically. It’s hard to identify who these were.
• Some commentaries say there are over 40 interpretations for this.
• In 10:3 the Lord says, “My anger burns against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders…” If we take these shepherds as leaders, then they could refer to the prophets, priests and kings.
• These offices were taken away from Israel after the Roman conquest of Judea and have never been restored. They are now fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
Interestingly, as Zechariah acts out this prophecy, he paused and asked for his pay for being the shepherd of this flock.
• 11:12-13 [ESV] 12 Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver.
13 Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the lordly (NIV handsome) price at which I was priced by them. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter.
• “That’s the handsome price they gave me,” Zechariah said sarcastically. 30 pieces of silver was the price they pay for a slave (Exo 21:32) gored by an ox.
• The Lord say, “Throw it to the potter” likely as a mockery, potters being lowest class among labourers.
This was prophetically fulfilled in Jesus, who was betrayed for 30 pieces of silver (price of a slave).
• And when Judas returned the money, the chief priests refused to take it back, saying it was blood money. So they used it to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners (Matt 27:7).
• A potter’s field is a piece of useless land where the potter threw his broken, damaged and unwanted pots.
The other stick UNION was also broken. The harmony among God’s people would be broken.
• This could refer to the time when Jerusalem was under siege, when there was discord within that eventually led to the city being destroyed by the Romans.
• What followed was a wave of dispersion of the Jews throughout the regions.
The breaking of both sticks expresses God’s displeasure, which happened prior to the Messiah’s coming to re-gather His people.
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Finally, the 3rd part we have the prophetic word that a foolish shepherd will appear.
• Zechariah play-acted as a foolish shepherd who did not care for the sheep the way that a good shepherd would.
• He doesn’t care for the lost, seek the young, heal the injured, nourish the healthy (qualities of a good shepherd), but cares only for himself, eating the meat of choice sheep.
• Jesus says a good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. This “shepherd” will eat the flesh of the best sheep. He is not Christ; he is Anti-Christ.
Many would be misled by this foolish and worthless shepherd thinking he is ‘Christ’.
• But the truth is, he is everything that Christ is not.
• And God will ultimately judge him. 11:17 "Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May the sword strike his arm (strength) and his right eye (sight, intelligence)! May his arm be completely withered, his right eye totally blinded!"
CONCLUSION
We see this unchanging imagery of the shepherd and his flock throughout Zech 10-11.
• The oracle portrays, not so much a prophetic account of what will happen to Israel in the future, but their relationship with this ONE Shepherd, the Messiah.
• We see Israel rejecting Christ and facing its consequences. Without the Shepherd, they lost the favours of God and the unity as God’s people under one Lord.
• It’s a picture of Israel’s spiritual condition before God. They rejected their one and only true Shepherd who cares for them and blesses them (pictured in Zech 10)…
• And replaced Him with other “shepherds” who cannot save them; the foolish and worthless shepherd who is not shepherd at all (pictured in Zech 11).
It’s a warning to them, and a reminder to us today as we read of their sin.
• There is only ONE true Shepherd, for Israel and for us, one Messiah and one Saviour. And His Name is JESUS.
• There is no other. We don’t have to look elsewhere. Jesus: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11)
This is the only definitive characteristic of the good Shepherd! He died for you.
• It’s a good reminder for us as we start this New Year. Turn to no one else but to the only true Shepherd of our lives.
• Listen to Him because He is determined to guide us. His sheep LISTENS to Him.
• John 10:2-5 2The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. 3The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice."
This is the definitive characteristic of the true sheep – they listens and follow Him.
• John 10:27 “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
How can we not have a blessed New Year when we have Him as our good Shepherd?
• Know your Shepherd. Read His Word and seek to know His voice.
• Don't wander around and take on a needless, tiring and long detour, only to find out at the end, that you should have listened to Him.
A shepherd in Scotland shared this experience. A sheep would often wander off into the rocks and get into places that they couldn't get out of. The grass on some places is sweet and the sheep like it. They will jump down 2 or 3 metres and then they can't jump back out again. The shepherd hears them bleating in distress. They may be there for days, until they have eaten all the grass. The shepherd will wait until they are so faint they cannot stand, and then they will put a rope around him, and he will go over and pull that sheep up out of the edge.
Most people asked, "Why don't the shepherd go down there when the sheep first gets stuck?" He said, "They are so very foolish, they would dash right over the cliff and be killed!" Thinking that, that’s freedom.
Most would not want to come back to God or to the Shepherd of our life until we have lost everything and nowhere to go. Don’t do that. We trust Jesus and let Him leads us.
COMMUNION
1 Peter 2:24-25
24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
