Zechariah 11: 1 – 17
Retirement Package
1 Open your doors, O Lebanon, so that fire may devour your cedars! 2 Wail, O pine tree, for the cedar has fallen; the stately trees are ruined! Wail, oaks of Bashan; the dense forest has been cut down! 3 Listen to the wail of the shepherds; their rich pastures are destroyed! Listen to the roar of the lions; the lush thicket of the Jordan is ruined!4 This is what the LORD my God says: "Pasture the flock marked for slaughter. 5 Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, 'Praise the LORD, I am rich!' Their own shepherds do not spare them. 6 For I will no longer have pity on the people of the land," declares the LORD. "I will hand everyone over to his neighbor and his king. They will oppress the land, and I will not rescue them from their hands." 7 So I pastured the flock marked for slaughter, particularly the oppressed of the flock. Then I took two staffs and called one Favor and the other Union, and I pastured the flock. 8 In one month I got rid of the three shepherds. The flock detested me, and I grew weary of them 9 and 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flesh." 10 Then I took my staff called Favor and broke it, revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations. 11 It was revoked on that day, and so the afflicted of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the LORD. 12 I told them, "If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it." So they paid me thirty pieces of silver. 13 And the LORD said to me, "Throw it to the potter"-the handsome price at which they priced me! 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 called Union, breaking the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. 15 Then the LORD said to me, "Take again the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 16 For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hoofs. 17 "Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May the sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered, his right eye totally blinded!"
In studying this chapter I was moved in realizing how blessed we are of our Holy God. Just think that the moment we step out of bed we are already fighting against three opponents – The world, the flesh, and the devil. We have three strikes against us before we venture forth on our daily activities. To add to this situation I also gave thought towards how hard it is to get ‘saved’. We are so blinded and caught up with self that it is difficult to hear someone share the ‘Good News’ with us. Who desires as a non-believer to all of a sudden want to go to church to find God? Who would, when we were not believers, turn on our televisions and watch some of the Christian programs? Who is going out on the streets and telling people about our Great and Wonderful Savior – our Lord Jesus Christ?
If you are listening to me or reading this message than like me our Holy Father broke through the enemies’ defenses and showed us how filthy we are because of our sins. How doomed we are as a result of not being saved. He then showed us our beautiful Master and King. We have been washed in the blood of the Lord and forgiven of all our sins. We are saved and are going to be forever with our Amazing Holy God forever. However, the fighting is not over while we are still here on earth.. We get misdirected and misled by phony cults, false shepherds, and false prophets.
What happened in the past still occurs in the present. In chapter 11 Zechariah returns to the point on how false shepherds will arise. People will reject the True Shepherd. We see in the first few verses the ultimate result of this happening.
1 Open your doors, O Lebanon, so that fire may devour your cedars! 2 Wail, O pine tree, for the cedar has fallen; the stately trees are ruined! Wail, oaks of Bashan; the dense forest has been cut down! 3 Listen to the wail of the shepherds; their rich pastures are destroyed! Listen to the roar of the lions; the lush thicket of the Jordan is ruined!
To get his point across Zechariah will use illustrations to talk about Israel’s leaders, which are spoken about as trees and shepherds. Most of you are familiar with the country of Lebanon. Some of you might not realize that this land is part of God’s original land assignment to the Israelites. Our Mighty Ruler has given His prophet a vision of the future and that isn’t good. The prophet sees a catastrophe, which is to come. The cedars of Lebanon and the oaks of Bashan were noted for their glory and majestic strength and beauty. Due to pride, ignorance, and blindness the cedars are burned and the oaks are cut down. If hardened wood cannot endure then how can soft pine hack it when the difficulties arise?
Usually, invaders spared the trees. Here our Holy God is showing the total devastation of the land.
The ‘lush thicket of the Jordan’ references the same idea. The jungle thickets provided a home for the lions. They too are ruined. Thus even the lions have cause for complaint.
In an all encompassing sweep covering a total picture Zechariah states that the pine trees will wail for the strong cedar trees are destroyed. The shepherds will wail because the grazing lands will be ruined and the lions will roar at the destruction because of the ruin of their shelter.
In the book of Judges chapter 9 we read a similar reprimand about false leaders from a man named Jotham, ‘1 Then Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem, to his mother’s brothers, and spoke with them and with all the family of the house of his mother’s father, saying, 2 “Please speak in the hearing of all the men of Shechem: ‘Which is better for you, that all seventy of the sons of Jerubbaal reign over you, or that one reign over you?’ Remember that I am your own flesh and bone.”3 And his mother’s brothers spoke all these words concerning him in the hearing of all the men of Shechem; and their heart was inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, “He is our brother.” 4 So they gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith, with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless men; and they followed him. 5 Then he went to his father’s house at Ophrah and killed his brothers, the seventy sons of Jerubbaal, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, because he hid himself. 6 And all the men of Shechem gathered together, all of Beth Millo, and they went and made Abimelech king beside the terebinth tree at the pillar that was in Shechem. 7 Now when they told Jotham, he went and stood on top of Mount Gerizim, and lifted his voice and cried out. And he said to them: “Listen to me, you men of Shechem, that God may listen to you! 8 “The trees once went forth to anoint a king over them. And they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us!’ 9 But the olive tree said to them, ‘Should I cease giving my oil, with which they honor God and men, and go to sway over trees?’ 10 “Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and reign over us!’ 11 But the fig tree said to them, ‘ Should I cease my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to sway over trees?’ 12 “Then the trees said to the vine, ‘You come and reign over us!’ 13 But the vine said to them, ‘Should I cease my new wine, which cheers both God and men, and go to sway over trees?’ 14 “Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You come and reign over us!’ 15 And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in truth you anoint me as king over you, then come and take shelter in my shade; but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon!’ 16 “Now therefore, if you have acted in truth and sincerity in making Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done to him as he deserves— 17 for my father fought for you, risked his life, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian; 18 but you have risen up against my father’s house this day, and killed his seventy sons on one stone, and made Abimelech, the son of his female servant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother— 19 if then you have acted in truth and sincerity with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. 20 But if not, let fire come from Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem and Beth Millo; and let fire come from the men of Shechem and from Beth Millo and devour Abimelech!” 21 And Jotham ran away and fled; and he went to Beer and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.
There is an interesting contrast between the false shepherds listed here in the book of Zechariah and the ‘True Shepherd’ described in the book of Ezekiel. In chapter 34 we read our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will save the sheep, “1 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD to the shepherds: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? 3 You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. 4 The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them. 5 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd; and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered. 6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill; yes, My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them.”7 ‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: 8 “As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “surely because My flock became a prey, and My flock became food for every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, nor did My shepherds search for My flock, but the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock”— 9 therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the LORD! 10 Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require My flock at their hand; I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall feed themselves no more; for I will deliver My flock from their mouths, that they may no longer be food for them.” 11 ‘For thus says the Lord GOD: “Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. 13 And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14 I will feed them in good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down,” says the Lord GOD. 16 “I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong, and feed them in judgment.”
17 ‘And as for you, O My flock, thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats. 18 Is it too little for you to have eaten up the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture—and to have drunk of the clear waters, that you must foul the residue with your feet? 19 And as for My flock, they eat what you have trampled with your feet, and they drink what you have fouled with your feet.” 20 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord GOD to them: “Behold, I Myself will judge between the fat and the lean sheep. 21 Because you have pushed with side and shoulder, butted all the weak ones with your horns, and scattered them abroad, 22 therefore I will save My flock, and they shall no longer be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. 23 I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them—My servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd. 24 And I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken. 25 “I will make a covenant of peace with them, and cause wild beasts to cease from the land; and they will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. 26 I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing. 27 Then the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase. They shall be safe in their land; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their yoke and delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them. 28 And they shall no longer be a prey for the nations, nor shall beasts of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and no one shall make them afraid. 29 I will raise up for them a garden of renown, and they shall no longer be consumed with hunger in the land, nor bear the shame of the Gentiles anymore. 30 Thus they shall know that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and they, the house of Israel, are My people,” says the Lord GOD.’” 31 “You are My flock, the flock of My pasture; you are men, and I am your God,” says the Lord GOD.”
Our Precious Holy Father promises to raise up a Shepherd who will feed the sheep and is concerned for their welfare..You will note that in the book of Ezekiel our Sovereign Lord will establish a covenant of peace and will pour out great blessings. In Ezekiel a vision of a great future is presented. Two staffs which represent the nation of Judah and Israel are brought together again in one union.
Here in Zechariah we see a picture of doom and desolation. The sheep are handed over to false shepherds. They will not be concerned with the welfare of the sheep. The covenant and union between Israel and Judah are broken.
So the question arises, ‘why the difference’? The answer is that the ‘True Shepherd’ is rejected. Thus, all the good things that God wanted to do for His people is put off. We see the heartbreak of our Wonderful Lord in the Gospel of Luke chapter 19 when He rode into Jerusalem on the exact day promised, “41 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, 44 and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
4 This is what the LORD my God says: "Pasture the flock marked for slaughter. 5 Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, 'Praise the LORD, I am rich!' Their own shepherds do not spare them. 6 For I will no longer have pity on the people of the land," declares the LORD. "I will hand everyone over to his neighbor and his king. They will oppress the land, and I will not rescue them from their hands." 7 So I pastured the flock marked for slaughter, particularly the oppressed of the flock. Then I took two staffs and called one Favor and the other Union, and I pastured the flock.
We see a startling result where the people reverted back to their old sinful ways. The people have forsaken God’s prophet for false prophets. They had listened to Zechariah in the past as we have learned in previous chapters. Now a bunch of ‘ear tickling’ flesh pleasing phonies came along and told the people lies that were pleasing to the people. Our Lord was now using this situation against Zechariah to picture the future, where He will send to the people a Good Shepherd. Here also will the people reject.
The future is now gloomy for the people. God had sent to them His messenger to shepherd His sheep. With the rejection of God’s appointed shepherd the people would be led by false shepherds. These wicked rulers, priests, and prophets will betray the sheep. Their lies will ultimately bring about the peoples’ death and return to slavery. These false shepherds only care about themselves and could care less about the people, yet because of their own greed and evil desires, the people chose them over a loving, caring, and perfect Shepherd.
Sadly, things have not changed. We also as sheep have gone astray from our Precious Master. Oh Lord, we beseech You, please forgive us, remember that we are so vulnerable. Lord please overlook our stupidity and have Mercy on us.
As shepherds carried two staffs Zechariah also had two. Representing God’s Grace and Favor, he called the long staff ‘Beauty’ and the rod, representing the union of the Northern and Southern nations, and by the way also was used for defending against external threats, he called ‘Bonds’.
Do you see the Wonderful loving heart of God. A heartbroken Majestic Holy One. The people had forsaken His guidance in accepting evil lying rulers. Our Great God Who knows the beginning from the end saw the slaughter of these sheep. They were destined for the butchers knife. Yet, while He still had some time, I can’t put it in the right words, He would care for the sheep until their time of slaughter.
I guess the best way I can describe our Loving Holy Father’s reaction is by painting this picture. Let’s say you love dogs. You go to the rescue center and you see this one bleeding and battered abused dog in a cage just lying there. You ask the manager of the shop about that particular dog. ‘Oh’, she says, ‘that one came in today. A very sad story indeed. That poor animal was starved, beaten, and abused for its whole life.’ You respond, ‘I want that dog.’ The pet shop operator says, “Oh, that would not be a good idea. It only has a little time before it dies.” You immediately and passionately speak out, ‘I don’t care. I want to give it the best care and love I can possibly give it before its end..’ Does this seem to get the point of view across to you about the love, care, and mercy our Great God gave to His people who He knew were destined to die because of their incorrect acceptance of the rotten shepherds. Only our Great and Loving Adoni Yahweh was concerned for these sheep. .
We now come to a verse that has scholars puzzled.
8 In one month I got rid of the three shepherds.
Who are these three shepherds that the Lord got rid of in just one month?
Please take a look with me at the last book of Jewish bibles - 2 Chronicles chapter 36. The statement ‘one month’ can also refer to a short period of time. Let us see how bad these three final kings were and how God dealt with them,
5 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD his God. 6 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against him, and bound him in bronze fetters to carry him off to Babylon. 7 Nebuchadnezzar also carried off some of the articles from the house of the LORD to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon. 8 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, the abominations which he did, and what was found against him, indeed they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. Then Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place. 9 Jehoiachin was eight[d] years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD. 10 At the turn of the year King Nebuchadnezzar summoned him and took him to Babylon, with the costly articles from the house of the LORD, and made Zedekiah, Jehoiakim’s brother, king over Judah and Jerusalem. 11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. 12 He did evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the LORD. 13 And he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear an oath by God; but he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD God of Israel. 14 Moreover all the leaders of the priests and the people transgressed more and more, according to all the abominations of the nations, and defiled the house of the LORD which He had consecrated in Jerusalem. 15 And the LORD God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. 16 But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, till there was no remedy. 17 Therefore He brought against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, on the aged or the weak; He gave them all into his hand. 18 And all the articles from the house of God, great and small, the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king and of his leaders, all these he took to Babylon. 19 Then they burned the house of God, broke down the wall of Jerusalem, burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all its precious possessions. 20 And those who escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon, where they became servants to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, 21 to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.
The three shepherds or rulers were the last three kings of Judah who were all wicked – Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah.
The flock detested me, and I grew weary of them 9 and 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." 10 Then I took my staff called Favor and broke it, revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations. 11 It was revoked on that day, and so the afflicted of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the LORD.
At the first reading of this verse it appears that Zechariah is angry and refuses to shepherd the people. I do not agree with this position. I believe that he is heartbroken and just spent [weary] on caring for the people. He is not refusing to be their shepherd. What he is saying is that they just do not want him as their shepherd. He can’t do anything for them. What they have sown they will reap. The outcome was this. He broke the first staff to show how God’s Gracious Covenant was now broken. He broke the second staff to show the unity and brotherhood of the nation would not happen. The remnant who still clung to following Jehovah Elyon – The Lord Most High would know what Zechariah’s acting out meant.
12 I told them, "If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it." So they paid me thirty pieces of silver. 13 And the LORD said to me, "Throw it to the potter"-the handsome price at which they priced me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD to the potter.
By their rejection of Zechariah as their prophet from the Lord, he was in effect forced into retirement. So, he asks them to give him a retirement package which was his due reward for past service. Being hurt, he adds, that if they are not willing to do so then don’t bother. These are the words of a hurt and rejected worker. If you have ever been dismissed or laid off from work then you can relate to the feeling of Zechariah.
They gave him a total of 30 pieces of silver. If you don’t know by now, this was a great insult. In the book of Exodus chapter 21, we see where these evil rulers came up with their amount to pay him, ‘32 If the bull gores a male or female slave, the owner must pay thirty shekels [f] of silver to the master of the slave, and the bull must be stoned.’ In effect they were saying to Zechariah- ‘you aren’t worth much! You are damaged goods.’
Our Holy Ruler takes the value that the phony ruthless leaders valued Zechariah as applying to Himself. The nation of Israel in effect says that the Holy Adoni Yahweh and His prophet are not worth much to them. So, our Holy Creator tells His prophet sarcastically to reject their money.
Handling the money off to the Temple was a way of rejecting a contract as being unsatisfactory. The Potter is also referred to as the Temple foundry where silver was melted down. It is interesting that
Potters were in the lowest social class. Placing God and His prophet in this lowest possible standing gives more light as to why our Holy King designated the money to go to a like minded social craftsman.
We possibly see the hatred and scorn of the High Priest and leaders taking this insult against the prophet Zechariah and applying it against our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. They did not know that they were fulfilling prophecy by doing this act with Judas. We read about this in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 26, ‘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?" So they counted out for him thirty silver coins. 16From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.’
And Judas without knowing it fulfilled the rest of Zechariah’s prophecy as chapter 27 reveals, 3When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. 4"I have sinned," he said, "for I have betrayed innocent blood." "What is that to us?" they replied. "That's your responsibility." 5So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself. 6The chief priests picked up the coins and said, "It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money." 7So they decided to use the money to buy the potter's field as a burial place for foreigners. 8That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day. 9Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: "They took the thirty silver coins, the price set on him by the people of Israel, 10and they used them to buy the potter's field, as the Lord commanded me.a
14 Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
The insult caps off our Lord’s patience with these rotten leaders. Enough is enough. The result was dissension and division of the nation. The enemy of our souls has not changed his evil plans even today. He still causes dissension and division among believers in order to hurt our Holy King.
15 Then the LORD said to me, "Take again the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 16 For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hoofs. 17 "Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May the sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered, his right eye totally blinded!"
To take the equipment of a foolish shepherd means to behave like one. The false shepherd’s character is opposite that of the Lord. He will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy. In fact he will take the sheep and kill them for his own satisfaction.
This worthless shepherd will not go unpunished. He will be judged. His arm, which should have been used to protect the sheep, will wither. His right eye, which should have watched over the flock, will be blinded.
This future false shepherd is the Antichrist. To honor him his followers will take his mark on their forehead or right hand as we are taught from the book of Revelation chapter 14 verse 16, ‘He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads.’
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