Open your doors, O Lebanon,
that the fire may devour your cedars!
2 Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen,
for the glorious trees are ruined!
Wail, oaks of Bashan,
for the thick forest has been felled!
3 The sound of the wail of the shepherds,
for their glory is ruined!
The sound of the roar of the lions,
for the thicket of the Jordan is ruined!
4 Thus said the Lord my God: “Become shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter. 5 Those who buy them slaughter them and go unpunished, and those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, I have become rich,’ and their own shepherds have no pity on them. 6 For I will no longer have pity on the inhabitants of this land, declares the Lord. Behold, I will cause each of them to fall into the hand of his neighbor, and each into the hand of his king, and they shall crush the land, and I will deliver none from their hand.”
7 So I became the shepherd of the flock doomed to be slaughtered by the sheep traders. And I took two staffs, one I named Favor, the other I named Union. And I tended the sheep. 8 In one month I destroyed the three shepherds. But I became impatient with them, and they also detested me. 9 So I said, “I will not be your shepherd. What is to die, let it die. What is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed. And let those who are left devour the flesh of one another.” 10 And I took my staff Favor, and I broke it, annulling the covenant that I had made with all the peoples. 11 So it was annulled on that day, and the sheep traders, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the Lord. 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 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. 14 Then I broke my second staff Union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
15 Then the Lord said to me, “Take once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 16 For behold, I am raising up in the land a shepherd who does not care for those being destroyed, or seek the young or heal the maimed or nourish the healthy, but devours the flesh of the fat ones, tearing off even their hoofs.
17 “Woe to my worthless shepherd,
who deserts the flock!
May the sword strike his arm
and his right eye!
Let his arm be wholly withered,
his right eye utterly blinded!” Zechariah 11 ESV
Zechariah 11 Worthless Shepherds
Lebanon...Bashan...Jordan - From north to south and everything in between, this is the destruction of Israel. Lebanon was known for it's incredible cedars, and the tree is still the symbol on their flag. Jordan is the southernmost end and Bashan is in the middle, the land of great oaks and grazing pasture, known for it's large, robust cattle.
The glorious trees are ruined - It would be like someone going in and felling all of the great cypress trees of the south, which pretty much happened, or all the great redwoods and sequoias of the west coast.
…11My eyes see the downfall of my enemies; my ears hear the wailing of my wicked foes. 12The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. 13Planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God.… Psalm 92: 11-13
For their glory is ruined - The Jewish state is gone, and let's look at this, I think it best to see it like a movie that starts with a scene of a despondent man, a heart broken man, and then the picture, the movie goes on to tell us what led up to this scene. Why is the man looking out over this devastation, these burning forests? Every time a great enemy came in or laid siege, they cut down the trees to build fires, to make siege ramps, to burn the walls in some instances. They would also take the flocks of sheep and whatever other livestock was there for provisions. So what time are we looking at?
ow...now you understand those three verses? All right, what event is that talking about? What event is that talking about? What destruction does this refer to? And the soundest and most consistent interpretation of this both from Jewish and Christian commentators is that this describes the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A. D. Both Christian commentators and Jewish commentators see it that way. Almost all historic commentators see this as a prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem that resulted in--mark it--the dissolution of the Jewish state, the dissolution of the Jewish state. And this will become clear as to its interpretation as we move through this section. - J Mac
Become shepherd of the flock - This is another time when God has a prophet play out a role, "you become, you play this part", be the shepherd of a flock that is doomed to slaughter. Why are they doomed to slaughter? We will see a very specific reason coming up, but I don't know how many times to say it or any better way to say it, "the wages of sin is death." This is where everyone is headed, rushing head long, thinking that life is slow and time will wait, will allow for them to somehow figure it all out, away from God's divine wisdom. So Zechariah is a sign, him playing out this role is giving them imagery, making a point, and hopefully helping them retain it to memory. Some of us learn more visually.
2 Three years earlier the LORD had spoken to me. He had said, "Take off the black clothes you are wearing. And take your sandals off." So I did. I went around barefoot. I didn't have anything on but my underwear.
3 After Ashdod was captured, the LORD said, "My servant Isaiah has gone around barefoot for three years. He has not worn anything but his underwear. He is a sign and reminder to Egypt and Cush about what will happen to them.
4 "The king of Assyria will lead prisoners away from Egypt and Cush. Young people and old people alike will be taken away. Like Isaiah, they will be barefoot. They will not be wearing anything but their underwear. And their backsides will be bare. So the Egyptians will be put to shame.
5 "People trusted in Cush to help them. They bragged about what Egypt could do for them. But they will be afraid and put to shame. Isaiah 20: 2-5
Those who buy them slaughter them - The nations have beat Israel down for thousands of years now, and when they finally formed a little nation for themselves, just last century, when their neighbors attack them, the super powers tell Israel to stand down. Don't defend yourselves.
Those who sell them say, "Blessed be the Lord, I have become rich" - This is the enemy within, the traitors that sell their own people, and history is filled with so many examples of such. In our country those that cry out "democracy", pretend to be for it, our the most totalitarian, and they spin everything, wanting you to believe the problem is somebody else, but all the while they grabbing power and building up bank accounts. Those who tout "compassion" the most, often have the least of it, it's merely words. The end justifies the means for them.
And on top of that, and this is what’s so remarkable, there will also be those who sell them. The buyers come from the outside. That’s representative of the nations. The seller comes from the inside. This is their own leaders who sell them out for money and show no compassion. Their own shepherds have no pity on them. The nations have no defense. They have no hope. They have been bought by their enemies. They have been sold out by their own leaders who actually are so proud that they say, “Blessed be the Lord for I’ve become rich. I’ve become rich by selling my people.” That’s exactly what the Sadducees did. That’s exactly what the leaders of Israel did in making their alliances with Rome and giving Rome the privileges that Rome had in occupying the land of Israel and the reason they allowed Rome to come and do what they did is because Rome put money in the hands of the Jewish religious, elite leadership. - J Mac
Each into the hand of his king - There is no king in Zechariah's time, no Jewish one, no Judaic king even when Jesus is born, Israel was under Roman rule with Herod there, Herod who tried to kill Jesus when he realized a prophesied king had been born. So, who was their king? We know Jesus is King of kings, but who did the religious elite of Israel see as their king?
…14It was the day of Preparation for the Passover, about the sixth hour. And Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is your King!” 15At this, they shouted, “Away with Him! Away with Him! Crucify Him!” “Shall I crucify your King?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” replied the chief priests. 16Then Pilate handed Jesus over to be crucified, and the soldiers took Him away.… John 19: 14-16
7-17 So I became the shepherd - Zechariah takes on this role, like someone playing Jesus around Easter, in a play at church, a Passion.
Jesus came to Israel a few years before the slaughter and tried to pasture the flock doomed to slaughter. He was able to minister to “the afflicted.” That’s a word that means “the wretched,” “the poor”--singles out those who believed in Him. Who were they? They were not the righteous, right? They were the outcasts, the rejected, the tax collectors, the poor. Mark 12:37 says, “The common people heard Him gladly.” It was the poor of the flock, the despised of the flock, the outcasts, the unsynagogued, the tax collectors, the low-lifes who heard Him.
So here is Zechariah playing this role as if he is Christ, laying down a prophecy. The implication is that Jesus will come to the doomed flock but the afflicted will respond to Him. And then in verse 7 this: “I took for myself two staffs,” literally “two rods,” or “two clubs,” or “two sticks.” “The one I called Favor and the other I called Union; so I pastured the flock.” This is a stick that a shepherd carried. It would be a stout stick, a thick stick to beat off an animal, or to beat off a thief or a robber. This is something that Psalm 23 talks about: “Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort.” It comforts the sheep to...that a shepherd has a stick that he can beat off the enemy with. So he says, “I’m going to have two sticks, two clubs, two rods to beat off any wild beasts that attack the sheep. One is called, essentially “graciousness,” “Favor” or “graciousness.” The other is called “Union” or “unity.” In other words, his ministry was a ministry of grace and a unifying ministry. He was bringing grace, tender, gracious care to His flock. He was offering them that. And He was offering to make of all one flock with one shepherd (John 10:16). - J Mac
I destroyed the three shepherds - Shepherds are leaders, but Israel doesn't have it's own sovereignty, it's own king, yet there were three very active groups during Jesus time, which most older commentators put in these categories: priests, elders and scribes. In 70 A. D. the priesthood ended, anywhere from 400,000 to a million people were slaughtered in Jerusalem. The elders and scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees, who sat in the seats of the ruling religious, the Sanhedrin, all that went away, Rome wiped them out. This was God's punishment on them for refusing God the Son.
1Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no stately form or majesty to attract us, no beauty that we should desire Him. 3He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.… Isaiah 53: 1-3
I will not be your shepherd - Painful, and remember, Pilate gave them a choice even, between Jesus and a criminal, Barabbas, and they chose the criminal. They said Caesar was their king. It is horribly sad, but thanks to Isaiah we knew it was coming. We knew that before He comes as the Lion of Judah, He would be the Lamb of God, rejected by His own.
…43For the days will come upon you when your enemies will barricade you and surround you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will level you to the ground— you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.” 45Then Jesus entered the temple courts and began to drive out those who were selling there.… Luke 19: 43-45
Let those who are left devour the flesh of one another - This happened during sieges, people reverted to cannibalism. It happened in the OT as well, and so Zechariah knew what this meant. The historian, Josephus, writes about this occurring during the siege of Jerusalem.
…27He answered, “If the LORD does not help you, where can I find help for you? From the threshing floor or the winepress?” 28Then the king asked her, “What is the matter?” And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son, that we may eat him, and tomorrow we will eat my son.’ 29So we boiled my son and ate him, and the next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son, that we may eat him.’ But she had hidden her son.”… 2 Kings 6: 27-29
Staff favor, broke it, annulling the covenant - What are the staffs? The tool of the shepherd to pull back the strays, and to beat off the wolves and lions. This is how the shepherd kept the peace, protected the sheep. He is turning them back over to the gentiles and in a bad way. They are going to lose the temple, their peace and their own shepherds. Many lost their lives.
Here’s the idea that God has agreed to restrain the nations for a time from decimating Israel and made an agreement. That’s what that covenant is. I had agreed to protect Israel, be Israel’s protector, and He had been--He had been since the time of Zechariah. Five hundred years before He had been the protector of Israel. But He breaks the staff of protection, shatters the staff of protection. You remember, I just read you, Jesus pronounced desolation on Jerusalem. And that desolation was about to come. - J Mac
Give me my wages - So Zechariah is acting all this out, he has broken the staff, and now he is asking for the wages.
Zechariah then brings out even further the depth of the sin of rejection of Christ, the Good Shepherd, the True Shepherd in verse 12. “I said to them, ‘If it is good in your sight, give me my wages”--give me my wages, pay me, pay me for my ministry.” Not money, show me some fruit such as salvation, holiness, godly fear, devotion, love. We’ll give you your wages. We’ll give them to you. He says, “Give me my wages...if not, never mind!” In other words, if you don’t really want to do it, don’t do it. Oh, we want to do it, “so they weighed out thirty pieces of silver as my wages.” Humph, how interesting. Thirty pieces of silver? You know what that says? The population of Jerusalem said to their Messiah, “Your value is equivalent to a common, ordinary slave and nothing more, nothing more.
Jesus made that point in a parable that He told about how the vineyard owner sent his son and they killed the son the way they had killed all the others. You have no more value to us than a common slave. By the way, thirty pieces of silver, according to Exodus 21:32, was also the required compensation to pay for a slave that had been gored by an ox. We’ll pay your wages. This is what we think of you. Fascinating, right? Because that is exactly what the Jews paid Judas for Jesus, right?--thirty pieces of silver. - J Mac
Thirty pieces of silver - This is exactly what the religious rulers in Jesus day paid Judas.
14Then one of the Twelve, the one called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I hand Him over to you?” And they set out for him thirty pieces of silver. 16So from then on Judas looked for an opportunity to betray Jesus.… Matthew 26: 14-16
Throw it to the potter - So God tells Zechariah to act this out, and he throws the pieces of silver, or whatever he had to represent this, to the potter. After Judas betrayed Jesus, the money wasn't enough, it didn't satisfy, and so many have allowed Satan in their lives for such worthless gain. How much of eternity can you buy with silver? Judas threw the money on the floor and priests bought the potter's field where Judas hung himself. The guilt was overwhelming, and he had walked with the Lord of all the earth for three years, but like everyone else, this was not the Messiah that he wanted. When Jesus talked about laying down His life, and saying that anyone who would be His disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross, Judas care little for such repentance; he wanted to be on the winning side, he wanted a prosperity gospel. He, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the people of that day, loved when Jesus passed out the fish and the bread, when He healed, and they knew there was something special about Him, but they wanted a different Christ.
…9Then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on Him by the people of Israel, 10and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord had commanded me.” 11Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, who questioned Him: “Are You the King of the Jews?” “You have said so,” Jesus replied.… Matthew 27: 9-11
Threw them into the house of the Lord - Wow! It so clearly gives the direction in which it went, first to the priests, then to the potter. All these things that now have to be fulfilled by Messiah or surrounding Him. He was sold out by one of His own disciples, for the price of a slave, and this is the highest betrayal, Lord, save us from such, let us not be so infatuated with the things of this world.
…8“A vile disease has been poured into him; he will never get up from where he lies!” 9Even my close friend whom I trusted, the one who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me. 10But You, O LORD, be gracious to me and raise me up, that I may repay them.… Psalm 41: 8-10
I broke the second staff, Union - So the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom would again be at odds. In Jesus time there were those that still held to a hybrid form of Judaism, apostasy, and they were referred to as Samaritans. There was a lot of superstition involved with this, and the people in Jerusalem saw themselves as superior to them, though they were all related in Jacob, but rather than witness to their brothers, they just looked down on them, and formed their own apostasy by adding to the law in one way and removing from it in another. Now some still made the journey from the north to Jerusalem for festivals, but after 70 A. D. there would be no temple to come to, and no priests for the temple that was not there. God was seeking a different sort of worshiper, those who worshiped in spirit and truth.
…21“Believe Me, woman,” Jesus replied, “a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23But a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such as these to worship Him.… John 4: 21-23
Take once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd - Now it is odd to me after going through the old testament, and reading the new testament, that people do not believe there will be a final man of perdition in the end, the final antichrist. So in this play, this theatrical performance that God has asked Zechariah to act out, he now has to switch and play the part of a foolish shepherd. And this is all too perfect, right? We have seen the Son of the land owner, the true Messiah, betrayed for 30 pieces of silver. We know from John 19: 14-16, copied above, that the heir of the throne of David came, that God's Son stood before them, and they would not have Him, they chose Caesar instead, "we have no king but Caesar". So we know also from scripture that many false Christs will come, and the biggest example of this right now is the office of Pope, one who claims to be Christ here on earth, and that when he sits ex cathedra , meaning from the chair, the office, he is infallible. Well, that is about as antichrist as one can get, but in the end there will be an antichrist that also appeals to Israel.
A shepherd who does not care for those being destroyed - Now, this is never what they say to win you outwardly, but in his heart he is full of holocaust. No one has experienced more of these than the Jews, wicked Haman during the Persian rule, Antiochus, who is an amazing picture of what antichrist will be like, Rome, the Arab nations, Hitler, and that is not listing all of their persecutors. It has been a long, hard road, and they want peace bad, so what do you think the antichrist will offer? But he doesn't love the sheep.
…24His power will be great, but it will not be his own. He will cause terrible destruction and succeed in whatever he does. He will destroy the mighty men along with the holy people. 25Through his craft and by his hand, he will cause deceit to prosper, and in his own mind he will make himself great. In a time of peace he will destroy many, and he will even stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be broken off, but not by human hands. 26The vision of the evenings and the mornings that has been spoken is true. Now you must seal up the vision, for it concerns the distant future.”… Daniel 8: 24-26
Young or maimed - He is not a family guy, and though Jesus said, "suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not, for such is the kingdom of heaven", this man doesn't care for them. He is the epitome of atheism, survival of the fittest, yet I don't think it's because he doesn't believe there is a God, but that he hates God, refuses the God of the Bible. He, in fact, puts himself up as god. He is without natural affection, lacking compassion for the handicapped.
Let his arm be wholly withered and his right eye utterly blind - This is the curse upon him, a man of strength, a man of genius. The right arm is symbolic of strength, power, and the eye of wisdom, sight.
So we see his character and his work, and then his punishment in verse 17. This is what the Hebrew says, “Woe worthless shepherd, forsaker of the flock.” Woe worthless shepherd, forsaker of the flock. Woe? Now there’s that term. That has to do with a curse again. Curse you. Woe to you worthless shepherd, forsaker of the flock. God will judge you. And look how it happens. “The sword shall be upon his arm and on his right eye. His arm shall be completely dried up and his right eye utterly darkened.” Now this is interesting. The arm refers to strength. The right arm is always the symbol of strength. God is going to come with a sword of judgment and is going to cut off his right arm. And it’s going to wither and shrivel. It’s going to be severed and it’s going to shrivel into nothing which means his power will be torn away. And his eye – what did I say the eye refers to? Intelligence. His intelligence will be turned into idiocy, as it were, utterly darkened. He won’t know right from wrong, up from down, in from out. The sword of God’s vengeance will fall.
Now this indication is also prophesied, this judgment, in many other passages. Back in Daniel again, look with me at chapter 7. And in Daniel 7 we find again a reference to the coming judgment on this individual. This is most interesting. The Antichrist is going to get this great power. He’s going to start to tear and shred the people of God. And then the Lord is going to come in judgment on him. We find this judgment indicated in many places, really, but I think Daniel 7:9 will give you a little bit of picture to start with. “And I beheld till the thrones were places and the Ancient of Days did sit whose garment was white as snow and the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was like the fiery flame and His wheels as burning fire. Fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him.” Now here is the idea of God and he’s just seeing all of His majesty and His wonder and His glory and he sees it like pure wool and flames and wheels burning and fire coming out and all this majesty of God’s holiness. “A thousand thousands ministered to Him and ten thousand times ten thousands stood before Him.” This is the angelic host. “The judgment was set and the books were opened. And I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spoke” – the horn being the Antichrist – “I beheld even till the beast was slain and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame. And as for the rest of the beast, they had their dominion taken away. Yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.” - J Mac
