Zechariah Chapter 11 Treasures
From The Book of Zechariah
Zech 11: [1]
Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars. [2] Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is
fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest
of the vintage is come down. [3]
There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a
voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled.
1. The Ruin of the Wailing Shepherds (1-3)
Zechariah, writing 500 years before Christ, gives a
prophetical word concerning the future of Israel.
God promised Israel that their nation would be restored
and their people would be re-gathered.
God promised Israel that He would send their Redeemer,
the Messiah.
Zechariah has been a prophet of hope and encouragement.
Yet, in this chapter, Zechariah foretells that Israel
would reject her Messiah.
Here, we learn why
the promises of chapters 9 and 10 never came to pass in the first coming of the
Messiah.
Israel
would reject the first coming of their Messiah.
John 1: [11] He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
In verses 1-3, God
has Zechariah prophesy to three sections of the land; Lebanon, Bashan and
Jordan.
Zechariah prophesies about a coming storm of judgment
upon the people and the land.
Lebanon is well known for its cedar and fir trees, while
Bashan is known for its great oak trees.
God says that a literal fire will burn the great forests
of the land and Israel will again be in devastation.
There is coming a great day of devastation and judgment
to Israel, and there is nothing that can stop it.
God says that the young lions of the forests of fertile
Jordan will roar for their pride is spoiled.
God says the shepherds, which are the priests and
leadership of that day will howl.
The trees, beasts and people are wailing as the nation of
Israel is ruined.
Why will Israel be ruined? God will send His Son and
Israel will reject Him.
Jesus even foretold of the ruin of Jerusalem because
Israel had rejected their Messiah.
Mark13:1-2
[1] And as he went out of the temple,
one of his disciples saith unto him, Master, see what
manner of stones and what
buildings are here! [2] And
Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great
buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon
another, that shall not be thrown down.
Under the authority of Titus, the Romans destroyed the
city of Jerusalem, the Temple and ruined Israel.
Over 1 million Jews were murdered and the city was burnt
by the Romans in 70AD.
Just 40 years after Christs rejection, Jerusalem was
destroyed. Forty is the number of judgment.
Zech 11: [4]
Thus saith the LORD my God; Feed the flock of the
slaughter; [5] Whose possessors
slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say, Blessed be the LORD; for I am rich: and their own shepherds
pity them not. [6] For I will no
more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the
LORD: but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour's
hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall smite the land, and out of
their hand I will not deliver them. [7]
And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. And I
took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands;
and I fed the flock.
Zech 11: [8]
Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed
them, and their soul also abhorred me. [9]
Then said I, I will not feed you: that that dieth,
let it die; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest
eat every one the flesh of another. [10]
And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it assunder,
that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people. [11] And it was broken in that day: and
so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the
LORD. [12] And I said unto them,
If ye think good, give me my price; and if not,
forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. [13] And the LORD said unto me, Cast it
unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at
of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in
the house of the LORD. [14] Then
I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood
between Judah and Israel.
2. The Rejection of the Worthy Shepherd (4-14)
Zechariah is told to act out the part of a shepherd, and
feed
the flock of the slaughter.
The word feed means to tend, care for and
teach. God will give Israel a chance, but
knows their decision.
God knew that the
Jews would reject His Son, but He sent Him anyway to feed the flock.
In verse 5, the scripture says whose possessors slay them.
The word possessors is reference to
foreigners or strangers.
The Romans will slay the Jews and hold themselves not guilty.
The Romans will not feel any sense of guilt in the
slaughter of the Jews.
Zechariah says that the possessors will sell
them and say Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich.
Josephus records how the Romans slaughtered millions of
Jews and took the spoils of the Israel.
The Romans also took many Jews as captives, sold them as
slaves and mocked the God of the Jews.
Zechariah and other prophets foretold that all these
things would happen.
You would think as the priests studied the scriptures
they would teach the people what God foretold.
But
their
own shepherds pitied them not. They
would not declare the message of truth to save a nation.
In
verse 6, as the leadership of the Jews had no pity on the people, God would
have no pity on the nation.
God would have to turn His back on His own people because
they rejected His Son.
God said that He would deliver every man into his neighbors
hand.
History teaches that just before the Romans destroyed
Israel, the Jews had great civil strife.
The Jews were killing each other before the Romans
destroyed them.
God said that He would deliver every man into the hand of his
king.
That is a very interesting statement.
In Luke 19:38,
as Jesus rode into the city the Jews chose and proclaimed Jesus as their King.
Luke 19:38
[38] Saying, Blessed be
the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the
highest.
Yet,
by the end of that same week, the Jews had turned away and rejected their King.
They
mocked Him and spat upon Him and said crucify him.
John 19:15- 21
[15] But they cried out, Away with him,
away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them,
Shall I crucify your King? The chief priest answered, We
have no king but Caesar.
[16] Then delivered he him therefore
unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.
[17] And he bearing his cross
went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the
Hebrew Golgotha:
[18] Where they crucified him,
and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.
[19] And Pilate wrote a title,
and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE
JEWS.
[20] This title then read many
of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and
it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin.
[21] Then said the chief priests
of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am
King of the Jews.
Since
the Jews established that Caesar was their king, then God delivered them into
the hands of Rome.
It
was the Roman Caesar, Titus that destroyed the Jews, their city and their
nation just 40 years later.
I
remember what the chief priests said about Jesus in John 11:48.
John 11:48
[48] If we let him thus alone, all men
will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and
nation.
The
chief priests thought to get rid of Jesus so they could preside over the Jews
under Roman authority.
The
rejection of their Messiah was and is a huge mistake that cost them a
measureless price.
In
verse 7, God says that the poor of the flock of slaughter will serve Him.
God
has a remnant that will believe and accept Jesus as Savior.
In
verse 7, God says that He will take unto Him two staves which are sticks.
I am
reminded that the cross was made of two sticks. Psalm 23 says thy
rod and thy staff.
One
of those staves was called Beauty.
Beauty
is a word that is descriptive of grace.
We
are saved by His beautiful grace. Praise God for forgiveness, grace and mercy.
Thank
God, that Jesus came meek and lowly and extended to the sinners His beautiful
grace.
One
of those staves was called Bands.
Bands
is a word that is descriptive of binding together and unity.
Jesus
came as the Good Shepherd in order to make the flock become as one.
With
these two staves in hand, God fed the flock, knowing what they would do.
In
verse 8, God says that in the period of one month, He will cut off three
shepherds.
These
three shepherds abhorred God and Gods soul lothed them.
The
word lothed is a word that means
to grow weary, to be vexed and to become grieved.
Who
are these three shepherds? I believe it is the Priests, the Elders and the
Scribes.
In
verse 9, God says of Israel, that they are sick and dying and He will just give
them up to die.
The
result of the Roman ruin of Jerusalem was sheer cannibalism.
The
Historian Joshepus recorded these very things, thus
confirming Gods Word some 500 years before.
In
verse 10, God said I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder.
This
was a sign that because the Jews rejected Gods Son, God had rejected them.
God
had promised His protection, but for their rejection they were turned over to
destruction.
In
verse 11, the believing remnant knew this destruction was the confirmation of
Gods Word.
History
records these events in occurred in 70AD.
In
verse 12 and 13, God prophetically asks what is the Messiah worth to you?
The
Messiah is He that healed the sick, saved the lost, raised the dead and could
redeem the nation.
God
prophetically states that the Messiah was worth 30 pieces of silver to Israel.
That
is the amount that Judas Iscariot betrayed and sold Jesus for; 30 pieces of
silver.
According
to Exodus 21:32, the amount of
compensation for a slave gored by an ox is 30 pc of silver.
Jesus
was sold for the price of a slave.
In
verse 13, God prophetically declares this amount of silver will be cast to the
potter in Gods House.
Judas,
in Matthew 27:3-10, cast the money
down in the Temple and went and hung himself.
The
elders scooped up the money and bought the potters field with the blood money.
In
verse 14, God then cut asunder mine other staff, Bonds.
The
rejection of Gods Son caused the unity of a nation to dissolve and the people
were scattered abroad.
It
has been this way until 1948, when Israel was once again recognized as a
nation.
Many
Jews are regathering in their homeland, yet millions
remain dispersed across the world today.
Zech 11: [15]
And the LORD said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish
shepherd.
[16] For, lo, I will raise up a
shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that be cut off, neither
shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and
tear their claws in pieces. [17]
Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his
arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.
3. The Reception of the Wrong Shepherd (15-17)
Because the Jews rejected their Messiah, Jesus, God
turned to the Gentiles.
Many of the Gentiles believed and received Jesus as their
Savior.
The church became the Bride of Christ.
One day the rapture will take place and the Savior will
receive home the Redeemed.
The Groom, the Lord Jesus, will come for His Bride, the
church.
On earth, the unbelievers will remain. The world will be
in a great chaos.
God will allow a false shepherd to rise up and
deceive the world.
God calls this one a foolish shepherd.
The word foolish means wicked.
This foolish shepherd, being wicked is the wrong
shepherd. Yet, the world will embrace him.
This foolish shepherd in none other than the anti-Christ
and will be energized by Satan.
The anti-Christ will be an intellectual genius, an
outstanding speaker and a master politician.
The anti-Christ will be an economical whiz, a military
master mind and a religious leader.
It is noted that in verse 16, God points the true
character of the wrong shepherd.
The wicked shepherd is negligent of the endangered, those
that be cut off.
The wicked shepherd will not nurture the young ones of
the flock.
The wicked shepherd will not nurse the wounded.,
that
that is broken.
The wicked shepherd will not nurture the hungry, he
that standeth still.
The wicked shepherd will devour the flock and destroy
them to pieces.
In
verse 17, God pronounces woe to the idol shepherd.
The
anti-Christ will erect an idol of himself in the Temple of God and force the world
to worship him.
The
image is called the abomination of desolation, Matthew 24:14-15.
When
this is done the Jews will recognize that they have been deceived.
Israel will realize their mistake and turn to the Lord.
Zech 12:10
[10]
and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced,
and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his
only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for
his firstborn.
They
will flee to the mountains under the protection of almighty God to escape the
anti-Christ.
The
anti-Christ will do everything in his power to destroy the Jews and turn the
world against them.
God
will cut off the right arm of the anti-Christ and destroy his strength.
God
will put out the right eye of the anti-Christ and destroy his intelligence.
He
will be turned into a raving madman who cannot defeat God!
God
will send Jesus in the second coming and Jesus will cast the anti-Christ away
into the lake of fire.
Revelation 19:20
[20]
And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles
before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the
beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a
lake of fire burning with brimstone.
Concl: In conclusion, I just want to thank God for my
Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ.
He
is the Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd and the Chief Shepherd.
1Peter 5:4
[4] And when the chief Shepherd shall
appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth
not away.