ZECHARIAH 11
Rejecting Christ Seals Your
Doom
5/1/11 SCC
INTRODUCTION
The center of Christianity is
the person and work of the eternal and incarnated Son of God, the Lord Jesus
Christ. This has become the heartbeat of the prophet Zechariah and his
prophetic revelation to us. We can determine whether one is orthodox or not by
what they say about Christ; what they believe about Him; and what they say the
Scriptures declare of Him. Everything stands or falls upon this testimony. The
people of Israel according to chapter 10 would think they would shortly be
returning to the land for good. But chapter 11 says it would not happen because
of their rejection of the Messiah. Actually the people’s rejection of God’s
leadership despite the love and care He had lavished upon them (4-14) as a good
shepherd will result in the rising of an evil, uncaring one. He too will
ultimately be judged and punished for his abandonment of the flock of God
(15-17). This chapter, then, conveys the cause for the delay in Israel’s
realizing the blessing promised to them in the previous chapter.
AN EXPECTATION OF JUDGMENT 1-3
Here we have a lamentation
portraying impending devastation due to Israel’s rejecting the true Shepherd.
1. This section repeats ‘howl’
or ‘wail’ three times. Here this wailing is associated with destruction of the
cedars of Lebanon, the oaks of Bashan, the forests, and the jungles and lush
thicket of the Jordan. These places are the sources of strong, powerful,
majestic, and magnificent resources used for the construction of palaces, homes
and gardens. They thrive with life and nature with many of the most powerful
beasts alive calling this home. But it will be only wailing and howling when
they are completely devastated—similar to the aftereffects of a tsunami or
tornado or hurricane ripping through nature. It should cause you to tremble
just considering this expectation.
2. And it does in vs 3. Shepherds will do just that. For the glory of these grand
forests and majestic landscapes will be ruined by fire and otherwise. Twice it
says ‘ruined’. The shepherds will wail because the pasture is destroyed and
even the lions roar over the destruction of the jungle
by the Jordan River exposed with no place to hide. These areas will become
defaced. The shepherds are the leaders in these areas who will be overrun by
the ruin and devastation to come. The outcome will be utter ruin for everyone.
Some suggest that this is a prophecy including the destruction of Jerusalem by
the Romans in A.D. 70. The land is pillaged by the Romans; fire the means of
destruction, the entire area vulnerable to their devastating hand.
LESSON: The
constant rejection of Jesus Christ, the Word of God, the truth, will bring
devastating consequences into your life. One cannot deny the will of God,
choose to live instead by one’s own wisdom and ingenuity, and expect to
maneuver through life. You can do it but not without anger, fear, and
short-sightedness. And in addition to all of that you await your day of
reckoning before the Holy God you have spurned and ignored throughout your
life. It happened to Israel why not you?
REJECTING CHRIST INVITES ONLY
DEVASTATION 4-14
1. God withholds compassion
and delivers his people to be destroyed 4-6.
God told Zechariah to ‘pasture
the flock marked for slaughter v 4. The ‘flock’ here is Israel, which God has
designated for slaughter. So the prophet is playing a role to make a point
(like Hosea, Ezekiel). The reason this is necessary is that the flock has been
bought and sold by strangers and left unattended or unprotected by their own
shepherds—the kings and prophets v 5. Profiting from this the strangers even have the gall to attribute this profiteering to God Himself.
The people have not been cared for all throughout her history as great nations
squabbled over her in the past on into the future. But even God withdrew His
compassion v 6. God had run out of patience and no longer pities them. This
judgment consists of wholesale subjugation to neighboring powers while God
watches and does nothing to interfere. He causes each man to be found by his
neighbor. Their respective captivities and on into the future are viewed here
as well.
2. God rejects the wicked
Kings and withholds protection of His people 7-11
First,
Zechariah pastured this flock but especially the oppressed or afflicted of this
flock. This remnant had suffered most at hands of persecutors and unpitied by their own kings. So grievously had Israel
sinned against God that only a pitiful little flock was left who kept covenant
with Him and this flock itself was victimized by oppressors form within the
land and without. This is what they had become reduced too v 7. This may have
all that was left in Jesus First Advent. The staffs depict Gods gracious
benefits toward them as well as the internal union of Israel and Judah as a
nation. They still had that hope.
Second, we do
not know who these 3 kings were v 8 but they do represent the spirit of the
wicked kings of Israel—possibly the last three who witnessed the gruesome
judgment of God in their reign and who had grown weary—literally nauseous—of
their God and constantly spurned obedience and compliance and God’s loving
advances and mercy and patience. God then became impatient with them and eradicated
them possibly referring to many of their untimely
demise and deaths. This judgment extends to the people too who accepted this
wicked leadership v 9 the survivors who will die, be annihilated, and resort to
cannibalism as they did in the siege and fall of Jerusalem (Jer
19:9; Lam 4:10).
Third, God
withholds His protection of His people v 10. A covenant God had made with all
the nations apparently to protect His own nation is revoked. As a shepherd of a
flock destined to destruction God takes protection as a basic responsibility of
a shepherd and removes it. Eventually we can read in Romans 11:25 that this
results in spiritual blindness and national destruction and dispersion even to
this day. It was only a small group who recognized Christ as the Messiah from
God. It was the oppressed afflicted remnant that understood behind all of the
devastation and destruction was God keeping His Word He proclaimed from the
very beginning (Lev 26:14-33; Deut 28:15-68) v 11. Only those with eyes to see
and ears to hear could interpret the catastrophic events overthrowing the
nation, Jerusalem, and the Temple. And yet even obedient though it they could
not escape judgment because of the larger flock who had rejected God and its
evil shepherds who had led in the charade!
3. God requires a fee as the
Shepherd of the people 12-14
Zechariah, standing in for
God, had contrary to the evil shepherds been a good one to the flock of Israel
and Judah. He had provided true shepherding, so what did such loving and
sacrificial care deserve? The answer was 30 pieces of silver
v 12.
God breaks in with an indignant description of this payment v 13 as a pittance
and cast the shekels by which the people had valued God to the potter in the
house of the Lord possibly to be melted down in the scrap heap and recast in
some other form. God sees these shekels like so much refuse because of the
insulting attitude they represent. God’s service was worth nothing more than
compensation to be paid a slave owner were his slave
to be gored to death (Ex 21:32). Matthew reports that Judas was paid 30 shekels
of silver to betray Christ and convicted of the wrong he did, returned these to
the Temple (Matt 27:5). It was not fit for the temple treasury being ‘blood
money’ and it was used to purchase a ‘potters field’,
a place not unlike the potter’s scrap heap, as a place for strangers to be
buried (Mt 27:7-10). Both signify rejection and disdain for God and then for
Christ. With this accomplished Zechariah takes the 2nd staff naked ‘binders’ cutting it in two. This pictures the dissolving of
the national solidarity of Judah and Israel. The unbinding of the binders is
the rupture of the brotherhood of the 2 kingdoms, which had begun with the
deportations and has been a fact for 2000 years and only with the establishment
of the nation in our lifetime has that restoration of brotherhood
began to take shape v 14.
LESSON: Imagine
being guilty of such a cavalier attitude toward God. Especially when one has
His revelation, His Spirit, His church, prayer, witness, promises, and
testimony. God takes our dismissive attitudes personally. We dismiss God when
we refuse to obey His commands. We are cavalier when we try to change what He
has said. We are scornful when we quench or grieve the Holy Spirit. God may
choose to be very patient with us whenever we dismiss Him but that does not
mean we are not accountable to Him for this. Choose this day whom you will
serve Joshua says. Christ says you cannot serve God and money. Paul says I have
no greater ambition than that I do what is pleasing to Him.
THE TRUE SHEPHERD WILL REPLACE
A WORTHLESS SHEPHERD 15-17
First, the only hope is for s
shepherd who will come with tender love to reunite and restore the nation. That
is what it will need. But not until a final sinful rebellion of the nation run
its course. Before they can accept the good and true shepherd they must have
one last fling with a ruler who will utterly disappoint them. So once more God commands Zechariah to dramatize this message v 15
by taking on the garments of a foolish shepherd. Zechariah does not act
out this role since it is yet a future one to take place.
Second, the figure Zechariah
represents is the collective leadership of Israel from Zechariah’s time forward
culminating at last in the very archetype of godless oppressive power in the
Anti-Christ (1 Jn 2:18, 22: 2 Thess
2:3-4). This shepherd will have no concern for the flock. Poor defenseless
sheep will be left to their tormentor’s v 16. They will have no oversight form
this foolish shepherd tho they seek it from him.
These ones ‘perishing’ will have no hope of survival unless they receive proper
oversight (Rev 13:7). He will take advantage of the healthy sheep and use their
fatness for slaughter for his own appetite. So thorough and cruel his rule that
defenseless ones will have their hoofs ripped from them possibly referring to
their utter ruin not even to run or escape from His oppression.
Third, God is not going to be
oblivious to the shepherd who abuses and exploits His people. God testifies
that this shepherd is worthless leaving the flock v 17 as the ancient kings and
prophets had done to the people for generations. The Anti-Christ will be judged
with a sword wound in his arm and his right eye resulting in both being
incapacitated. Without these he will be hindered in collecting more sheep or
searching and finding them. This will serve as protection for the people. For
all practical purposes he ceases to be a problem for the sheep of God’s
pasture.
LESSON: The
point is that those who rule over the people of God and who abuse that
privilege can expect the awesome judgment of God that results in their
replacement by shepherds who more lovingly and faithfully discharge their
responsibilities. People can find leaders that reflect their prejudices, their
preferences, and their opinions. They may not be led well because they have
chosen not to be. Like Israel you can also expect the consequences of this
attitude to catch up with you. In the last day it will be for Israel in the
person of this Anti-Christ.