God’s Response To Our Stubborn Disobedience Series

WHAT IS THIS PROPHECY ABOUT? The destruction of the temple in 70 A.D.

- Zechariah 11:1-17.

- Verses 1-3 tell us that the destruction is coming.

PIECES OF THE PROPHECY:

1. Selfish shepherds.

- Zechariah 11:4-5.

- Matthew 23:4-7; John 11:48.

- Zechariah speaks here as though he is in the place of the Messiah.

2. Guilty “people of the land.”

- Zechariah 11:6.

- Matthew 27:25.

3. Rejected grace.

- Zechariah 11:7-9.

- Luke 7:36-50.

4. Public disgrace.

- Zechariah 11:10-11, 14.

5. Rejected shepherd.

- Zechariah 11:12-13.

- Exodus 21:32; Matthew 27:3, 5, 10.

- Here the speaker Zechariah is still in the place of the Messiah.

- So then what do we do with the thirty pieces of silver, since they ended up being given to Judas.

- One good way to think of it is that these verses answer the question: what do you think the Messiah is worth? For Judas, it was thirty pieces of silver.

- See Matthew 27:3 – thirty pieces of silver; Matthew 27:5 – threw the money into the temple; Matthew 27:10 – potter’s field.

- Also, Exodus 21:32 – thirty pieces of silver is the price of recompense for a slave gored by an ox. You could say they saw Jesus as a worthless servant.

6. Then, later, a “worthless shepherd.”

- Zechariah 11:15-17.

- Revelation 13:11-18.

- Now we have Zechariah standing in for a second person. Up to now he was standing in for the Messiah. Now he stands in for a “worthless shepherd.”

- There are multiple options of who this is. A good guess is that it’s the Antichrist (Revelation 13:11-18). It could also be Rome.

ONE APPLICATION OF THIS CHAPTER: God’s plan proceeds when we obey . . . and when we disobey.

- God knows how we will respond and in His infinite wisdom He allows for that. In fact, He often incorporates our disobedience into what He intends to bring about.

- The most dramatic example of that in the Bible might be Judas. He had total freedom to make his own choices, yet God used his freedom as part of His plan of salvation.