ZECHARIAH 11

OPENS WITH JUDGMENT COMING ON GOD'S FLOCK...Thirty Pieces of Silver

Verses 1-3 tells us EVEN CREATION mourns because of coming judgment.

"Open your doors, O Lebanon, that fire may devour your cedars. Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen, because the mighty trees are ruined. Wail, O oaks of Bashan, for the thick forest has come down. There is the sound of wailing shepherds! For their glory is in ruins. There is the sound of roaring lions! For the pride of the Jordan is in ruins."

Open your doors, O Lebanon, that fire may devour your cedars...

This describes the coming of destructive armies of judgment from the north, through Lebanon. The doors of Lebanon are the mountain passes between Lebanon and Israel.

BOICE, A BIBLE HISTORIAN tells us HOW this prophecy was fulfilled in the Roman campaign against Judea. "These verses might have described the Babylonian invasion if they had been written earlier; but that was past history by Zechariah's time. There is nothing in the history of the people that a comprehensive destruction of the land can refer to prior to the terrible destruction ordered by Vespasian and his successor Titus."

Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen...The cedar trees Illustrate Lebanon's STRENGTH and once they fall the lesser forests of cypress and oak will also be destroyed, so they also wail.

Wailing shepherds … roaring lions...

In addition to the trees, the shepherds and lions also MOURN because of judgment on the land - coming because Israel has REJECTED the Good Shepherd....RIGHT HERE ZECHARIAH TELLS ISRAEL THAT THEY WILL REJECT THE MESSIAH...THEIR GOOD SHEPHERD...AND THEY DID!

Verses 4-7 tells us Zechariah acts out a prophecy of judgment.

Thus says the LORD my God, "Feed the flock for slaughter, whose owners slaughter them and feel no guilt; those who sell them say, 'Blessed be the LORD, for I am rich'; and their shepherds do not pity them. For I will no longer pity the inhabitants of the land," says the LORD. "But indeed I will give everyone into his neighbor's hand and into the hand of his king. They shall attack the land, and I will not deliver them from their hand." So I fed the flock for slaughter, in particular the poor of the flock. I took for myself two staffs: the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bonds; and I fed the flock."

Feed the flock for slaughter...Zechariah acts out this prophecy, feeding a literal flock of sheep that represents the people of God. As the shepherd Zechariah represents the LORD who has appointed this flock for a season of judgment.

I took for myself two staffs...Zechariah's two staffs were named "Beauty" (grace) and "Bonds" (unity). The staff was a common tool for a shepherd (Psalm 23:4).

BOICE EXPLAINS BEAUTY & BONDS..."BEAUTY...Favor symbolizes the favored status of Israel as the chosen people of God. BONDS...Union symbolizes the internal harmony of the people that was lost at the time of the siege of Jerusalem."

Verses 8-11 tells us the covenant symbolically broken.

"I dismissed the three shepherds in one month. My soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me. Then I said, "I will not feed you. Let what is dying die, and what is perishing perish. Let those that are left eat each other's flesh." And I took my staff, Beauty, and cut it in two, that I might break the covenant which I had made with all the peoples. So it was broken on that day. Thus the poor of the flock, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the LORD."

I dismissed the three shepherds in one month...

We know that Zechariah is acting prophetically, FOR THAT TIME AS WELL AS A FUTURE...but YOU NOTICE HE DOES NOT NAME NAMES OF THE PRESENT DAY SHEPHERDS WHO HATED HIM AND HATED ALMIGHTY GOD IN THEIR HEARTS, AS THE LORD SHOWED ZECHARIAH...

WHAT IS IMPORTANT, IS THAT THE LORD KNEW AND READ THESE THREE SHEPHERDS HEARTS PERFECTLY, & HE ORDERED ZECHARIAH TO REMOVE THEM FROM HIS TEMPLE, BECAUSE THEIR HATE OF ZECHARIAH WAS BAD ENOUGH, BUT THEY HATED THE LORD AS WELL...AND THAT WAS MORE DANGEROUS TO THE FLOCK, AMEN?

SINCE THIS REFERS TO JUDGMENT UPON ISRAEL, MOST BIBLICAL SCHOLARS AGREE WITH BOICE, WHO SAYS,

"The best explanation is probably the oldest, which sees the THREE shepherds NOT AS THREE INDIVIDUALS, but as THREE CLASSES of individuals, namely: the prophets, priests, and kings of Israel."

AND INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH, DID YOU KNOW....

The offices of prophet, priest, and king were TAKEN AWAY FROM ISRAEL after the Roman conquest of Judea and have NEVER been restored - because they are now fulfilled in Jesus Christ, EVEN THOUGH THE NATION OF ISRAEL AS A WHOLE, DO NOT ACCEPT THIS NOR YET REALIZE THIS....THANK YOU JESUS, ONE DAY THEY WILL, AMEN?

I will not feed you. Let what is dying die...In bringing judgment by letting the dying die, God merely WITHDRAWS HIS HAND OF PROTECTION. At one time God had a covenant with all the peoples, preventing them from attacking His people Israel. When God decides to break the covenant, His people will be attacked.

IT WAS TRUE THEN, AND CONTINUES TO BE TRUE TO THIS DAY. DANIEL, ISAIAH, NEHEMIAH, ZECHARIAH AND MANY OTHER PROPHETS PROPHESIED THAT THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL WOULD REJECT THEIR MESSIAH, THEIR HUMBLE KING, AND KILL HIM...AND THEY DID.

THEY WILL CONTINUE TO BE A NATION BESIEGED BY THE WORLD AND SATAN UNTIL THEY CRY OUT TO JESUS CHRIST & RECOGNIZE HIM AS THEIR MESSIAH.

AND SADLY, THE BIBLE TELLS US FOR THE JEWISH PEOPLE & THE NATION OF ISRAEL AS A WHOLE, IT WILL NOT BE UNTIL THE END OF THE REIGN OF TERROR OF ANTI CHRIST DURING THE 7 YEAR OF TRIBULATION....

BUT THE PRECIOUS NEWS...IS ONE SWEET DAY...THEY WILL KNOW OUR JESUS WAS/IS/FOREVER SHALL BE THEIR MESSIAH, LORD, SAVIOR, AND FRIEND, AMEN?

AS I READ THIS, MY HEART WAS CONVICTED & BURDENED ONCE AGAIN FOR THE UNITED STATES, WHICH WAS CONCEIVED IN THE LORD, & FOUNDED IN ALMIGHTY GOD AND HIS WORD & BY THE BLOOD OF OUR FOREFATHERS WHO TRUSTED IN JESUS CHRIST.

THIS COUNTRY HAS BROKEN COVENANT WITH JESUS AND HIS WORD.

THIS COUNTRY HAS REJECTED AND THROWN JESUS OUT OF OUR GOVERNMENT, SCHOOLS, COMMUNITIES, AND EVEN IN SOME CHURCHES WHO HAVE BECOME NEW AGE, WITH THEIR MAN-CREATED IDEOLOGIES THAT SPOUT WE ARE ALL GODS CHILDREN, WE ARE ALL GODS, GOD IS IN THE TREES, OR...ALL PATHS LEAD TO GOD LIES...

I HEAR PREACHERS, TEACHERS, AND OTHERS SCREAMING FOR REVIVAL..WHAT THIS COUNTRY NEEDSSSS IS REVIVAL THEY SAY....BUT THE BIBLE TELLS US WE NEED IS NATIONAL REPENTANCE FIRST...THEN JESUS WILL GRANT REVIVAL...AMEN?

Let those who are left eat each other's flesh...

AND DID YOU KNOW, THIS REALLY HAPPENED during the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

The poor of the flock … knew that it was the word of the LORD..: These "POOR" MEANS THEY ARE THE HUMBLE, & THE FAITHFUL REMNANT who know that even the hard words are from God.

Verses 12-14 tells us THE SHEPHERD is paid with contempt.

"Then I said to them, "If it is agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain." So they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver. And the LORD said to me, "Throw it to the potter"; that princely price they set on me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD for the potter. Then I cut in two my other staff, Bonds, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel."

Give me my wages: Zechariah is "play-acting" this prophecy, employing himself as a shepherd over a flock. Now he asks his employer for his wages, and they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver.

That princely price they set on me...Zechariah speaks sarcastically here. Thirty pieces of silver was not an insignificant amount, but it was the price of a slave (Exodus 21:32). It was the lowest they could pay, and it said to Zechariah "we think of you as a slave."

AND THIS ALSO SPEAKS PROPHETICALLY OF JESUS, who was contemptuously betrayed for thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 26:15 and 27:3) - the price of a slave.

Matthew 27:9-10 says: Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the value of Him who was priced, whom they of the children of Israel priced, and gave them for the potter's field, as the LORD directed me."

DEBATE/SPECULATION CAN RAGE ALL IT WISHES, BUT WHAT WE DOOOO KNOW, IS THAT ALMIGHTY GOD GAVE THIS PROPHESY & THAT PROPHESY WAS CONFIRMED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT...IF IT WERE NOT SO....THEN MATTHEW WOULD NEVER HAVE MENTIONED IT, AMEN?

AND REMEMBER SOMETHING EVEN MORE AMAZING, ZECHARIAH WAS GIVEN THIS BY ALMIGHTY GOD ALMOST 750 YEARS BEFORE THE BIRTH OF JESUS IN BETHELEHEM.

Threw them into the house of the LORD for the potter...

Curiously, Zechariah says that the thirty pieces of silver were thrown into the house of the LORD but that they were also given to the potter. This is an exact fulfillment of what Judas did with his thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 27:3-10).

The money to betray Jesus - His purchase price - went to buy a potter's field (Matthew 27:7).

SO WHAT IS A POTTER'S FIELD?

A potter's field was a piece of useless land where he threw his broken, damaged, and rejected pots. Jesus really did purchase the potter's field - the place where broken, rejected, and useless people like us are scattered.

Then I cut in two my other staff, Bonds, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel...After the exchange of the thirty pieces of silver the staff of Bonds (unity) is broken. This was fulfilled when Israel was scattered by the Romans after their rejection of their Shepherd Jesus.

ZECHARIAH IS GIVEN THE PROPHESY OF A FALSE SHEPHERD TO COME....

Verses 15-16 tells us God WILL ALLOW FOOLISH shepherds to come to His people.

"And the LORD said to me, "Next, take for yourself the implements of a foolish shepherd. For indeed I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for those who are cut off, nor seek the young, nor heal those that are broken, nor feed those that still stand. But he will eat the flesh of the fat and tear their hooves in pieces."

Take for yourself the implements of a foolish shepherd...Now Zechariah play-acts as a foolish shepherd who does not care for the sheep the way that a shepherd should.

SO WHAT IS ZECHARIAH & ALMIGHTY GOD TELLING US WHAT CONSTITUTES A FOOLISH SHEPHERD IN HIS EYES?

IN MODERN DAY TERMS...

THE FOOLISH SHEPHERD IS EGOMANICAL, SELF-CENTERED, SELFISH, BLIND, DEAF, AND DUMB TO THE NEEDS, WORRIES, HURTS, FEARS, & CARES OF HIS FLOCK...
AND DISMISSES & RE-CREATES OR ALTERS THE BIBLE, INSTEAD OF ALWAYS SPEAKING WORD FOR WORD VERBATIM TRUTH OF GOD'S WORD, PROMISES, COMMANDS AND WARNING...

HE TALKS TO HEAR HIMSELF TALK.

HE PREACHES LEAVING JESUS AND ALMIGHTY GOD OUT OF IT...AND IS FULL OF IIIIIII, MEEEEEEE, MYYYYY, AND ANECDOTAL STORIES ABOUT HIS LIFE, HIS ACCOMPLISHMENTS, ...ETC ETC ETC...

SO ALMIGHTY GOD IS SAYING...I CREATED YOU AND ALL YOU HAVE BECAUSE I LOVE YOU AND WANT YOU TO HAVE THE BEST, BE THE BEST, BE SAFE, HEALTHY, & WHOLE AND CLOSE TO ME....I HAVE GIVEN YOU MY WILL, MY PROMISES, MY PROTECTIONS, MY COMMANDS...

AND YOU HAVE NOW REJECTED ME...YOU WILL REJECT MY SON...AND YOU WILL SPEW LIES, FILTH, & BLASPHEME AND KILL MY PRECIOUS GIFT TO YOU TOO....SO I WILL GIVE YOU FOOLISH PEOPLE...WHAT YOU PREFER....FOOLISH SHEPHERDS.

The FOOLISH shepherd will NOT care for those who are cut off but a wise and godly shepherd will seek the lost

The FOOLISH shepherd will NOT seek the young but a wise and godly shepherd knows that the young need to come to the LORD as much as older people do.

The FOOLISH shepherd will NOT heal those that are broken but a wise and godly shepherd looks for broken hearts and lives and mends them with God's love and word.

The FOOLISH shepherd will NOT feed those that still stand but a wise and godly shepherd will faithfully feed the sheep.

The FOOLISH shepherd WILL eat the flesh of the fat and tear their hooves in pieces but a wise and godly shepherd will lay down his life for the sheep (John 10:11)

I will raise up a shepherd in the land...

This foolish shepherd is ALLOWED AND APPOINTED BY GOD as judgment because His people forsook the true shepherd. This was fulfilled in Israel's rejection of Jesus. They rejected the Good Shepherd (John 10:1-18) but received another shepherd (John 5:43).

We often assume all that people need is the RIGHT LEADER TO TURN THINGS AROUND.

THAT IS WORLDLY SELF EGO DRIVEN THOUGHT.

Here we see that even the ultimate leader may be rejected and a worthless leader chosen. Democracy's value is that it respects man's fallen nature and spreads out power - yet the majority may be very, very wrong and prefer a foolish shepherd instead of the Good Shepherd.

The foolish shepherd embraced by Israel was PARTIALLY fulfilled in their choice of Barabbas, told to us in Matthew 27:20-22.

The foolish shepherd will be ULTIMATELY fulfilled in their embrace of Antichrist and their covenant with him told to us in Daniel 9:27.

Verse 17 tells us Judgment on the worthless shepherd.

"Woe to the worthless shepherd, who leaves the flock! A sword shall be against his arm and against his right eye; his arm shall completely wither, and his right eye shall be totally blinded."

WOE TO THE WORTHLESS SHEPHERD...Though God appointed the foolish shepherd in light of Israel's rejection of the Good Shepherd, it does not mean that God approves of the foolish shepherd. God will judge that worthless shepherd who injured His flock.

A sword shall be against his arm and against his right eye...

The worthless shepherd feels the sword of God's judgment against his arm and his right eye. The arm expresses strength and the eye expresses intelligence, so this will be a harsh blow against the worthless shepherd.

AND Revelation 13:3 and 13:12-14 tell us the Antichrist CONFIRM THIS, & TELL US HE WILL suffer a SEVERE MORTAL mortal wounds yet be revived. It also tells us that his RIGHT EYE will be gone and his arm will be withered. This confirms that the worthless shepherd is ultimately fulfilled in the Antichrist.

AND ALL WHO HAVE ATTENDED THE REVELATION AND DANIEL STUDIES KNOW...

AT THE 3.5 YEAR POINT OF THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION & PEACE TREATY ISRAEL HAS WITH THE ANTICHRIST WILL BE EXACTLY AT ITS 3.5 YEAR POINT, THE ANTICHRIST WILL BE MORTALLY WOUNDED, THE FALSE PROPHET WILL MIRACULOUSLY REVIVE HIM, & THEN WILL THE TRUE EVIL OF THE ANTICHRIST BE REVEALED. HE WILL WALK INTO THE TEMPLE HE HELPS MIRACULOUSLY REBUILD IN THAT TIME, STAND BEFORE THE MERCY SEAT WITHIN THE TEMPLE, HIS RIGHT EYE GONE AND HIS ARM WITHERED, AND PROCLAIM TO ALL JEWS AND THE WORLD GATHERED THERE TO CELEBRATE THE TEMPLES REBUILDING, AND HE WILL ANNOUNCE THAT HE IS GOD...AND FOR THEM TO WORSHIP HIM...AND THE SCALES WILL AT THAT MOMENT FALL FROM THEIR EYES AND THEY WILL REALIZE WHO HE IS AND FLEE...

AND ALMIGHTY GOD SHOWED THIS TO ZECHARIAH OVER 2600 YEARS AGO.

AND WE NEED TO REMEMBER ALL OF MANKIND'S HISTORY WAS FOREKNOWN, GOD'S PLANS, REDEMPTION, AND PLAN OF SALVATION WAS FOREORDAINED FROM THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE WORLD.

WE MIGHT BE AMAZED AT WHAT ALMIGHTY GOD TELLS AND SHOWS THOSE HE CALLED IN THE BIBLE, BUT WE SHOULD NEVER BE SURPRISED THAT OUR GOD IS SO DETAILED, SO PIN-POINT ACCURATE, THAT IF HE SAID IT WOULD BE SO IN THE BEGINNING IN GENESIS, AND HAS PROVEN TO BE PURE TRUTH DOWN THROUGH TIME, THAT THE END WILL BE JUST AS PINPOINT ACCURATE AS THE BEGINNING, AMEN?

IF YOU LEARN NOTHING FROM THESE BIBLE STUDIES, LEARN AND KNOW THIS, OUR ALMIGHTY GOD DOES NOT LIE OR CHANGE. HIS LOVE FOR WICKED LOST MANKIND, FOR YOU AND ME, WAS FOREORDAINED IN THE BEGINNING.

ALMIGHTY GOD KNEW LOST MANKIND NEEDED A SAVIOR.

AND HE GAVE HIS VERY BEST AND MOST PRECIOUS GIFT, HIS SON TO INSURE THAT NONE SHOULD PERISH, IF THEY CALL UPON THE NAME HIS SON JESUS CHRIST, REPENT THEIR SINS, INVITE JESUS INTO THEIR HEARTS AND LIVES TO BE THEIR LORD AND SAVIOR...THEN GOD CALLS US HIS CHILDREN. THEN JESUS CALLS US FAMILY.

DO YOU HAVE HEART FAITH AND HEAD FAITH?

SATAN HAS HEAD FAITH...
BECAUSE HE KNOWS AND HAS BEEN FACE TO FACE WITH ALMIGHTY GOD, JESUS CHRIST, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT. HE KNOWS THEY ARE REAL. HE KNOWS THEY ARE CREATOR GOD.

BUT SATAN DOES NOT HAVE AND REJECTS HEART FAITH.

HE REJECTS THEM AS CREATOR GOD, AS THE GREAT I AM, AND THE BEGINNING AND THE END, AS MESSIAH JESUS.

HEART FAITH IS BELIEVING WITHOUT SEEING, BUT BELIEVING AND TRUSTING AND HOPING IN THE PROMISES OF JESUS CHRIST AND THE PROMISES AND ASSURANCES WRITTEN IN HIS HOLY WORD.

IN ALL THE WORLD, AND DOWN THROUGH YOUR LIFE, OF ALL THE QUESTIONS YOU ARE ASKED AND ANSWER, OF ALL THE DECISIONS AND CHOICES WE MAKE, THERE IS ONLY ONE....JUST ONE....THAT REALLY MATTERS...

DO YOU KNOW JESUS CHRIST & CALL HIM LORD SAVIOR AND FRIEND?

IF NOT, CALL ON JESUS WHILE YOU MAY. BECAUSE TOMORROW IS PROMISED TO NONE OF US. TODAY, RIGHT THIS MINUTE, RIGHT NOW...IS THE ONLY TIME ANY OF US ARE GUARANTEED A CHANCE TO CHOOSE JESUS CHRIST.