Zechariah
11:1-14
The
Logos Will Correct His Wayward Sheep
Zec 11:1 Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the
fire may devour thy cedars.
Zec 11:2 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.
Zec 11:3 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.
Zec 11:4 Thus saith the LORD my God; Feed the
flock of the slaughter;
Zec 11:5 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.
Zec 11:6 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.
Zec 11:7 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.
Zec 11:8 Three shepherds also I cut off in one
month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me.
Zec 11:9 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.
Zec 11:10 And I took my staff, even Beauty, and
cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the
people.
Zec 11:11 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.
Zec 11:12 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.
Zec 11:13 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.
Zec 11:14 Then I cut asunder mine other staff,
even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
1. The
Pride of Israel Is Broken – vs. 1-3
a. Frustrated
by years of rebellion, Rome launches a massive invasion into Israel to deal
with the Jews once for all, in 67 AD. Zechariah uses the imagery of a trees to
symbolize Israel’s power and might. Many Jews had sought refuge in northern
Palestine to escape political unrest. They are the first to be destroyed by
Vespasian and his army.
i. The
trees can also be symbolic of the Temple complex that will be burned with fire.
– vs. 1-2
1.
1 Kings
6:14-16
ii. The
young lions are symbolic of the cities and villages that would be burned. These
are the same areas which had been destroyed in judgement long before by Nebuchadnezzar.
– vs. 3
1. Ezekiel 19:6-7
2. The
Pride of Israel is Consumed – vs. 4-10
a. Israel
will be set aside for slaughter – vs. 4
i. Matthew 23:33-39
b. Rome
will massacre the Jews and claim they had a right to do it – vs. 5
i. Rome
will murder the Jews
ii. Rome
will sell Jews into slavery
iii. Rome
will claim they are doing God a service
iv. Rome
will become fabulously wealthy off the gold they plunder from the Temple
v. Rome
will justify their actions because the leaders of the Jewish revolt didn’t care
about their followers
c. God
will not save Israel from this horror – vs. 6
i. There
will be no mercy for anyone - Hebrews 10:29-31
ii. They
will be delivered into the hand of the king that they claimed was their own –
Ceasar
1.
John
19:14-15
iii. The
Jews will be plagued with constant infighting
d. The
Glory and the Unity of Israel will crumble – vs. 7
i. The
Beautiful Staff represents the pleasant and peaceful glory of Israel
1.
Proverbs
16:24
ii. The
Bands Staff is representative of the bonds of love and union that God has with
Israel
1.
Hosea
11:1-4
e. All
three leaders of the Jewish revolt will be laid low in the time of one month. – vs. 8
i. Simon
bar Giora; John of Gischala; Eleazar ben Simon
f. The
Olive Tree which symbolizes Israel will be cut down and another will take her
place – vs. 9
i. During
the siege of Jerusalem there will be horrible starvation. Because the defenders
will destroy their own food supplies, while fighting among themselves.
ii. The
flower of Jewish leadership will die
1.
Romans
11:7-10
iii. Starvation
will be so bad that many will resort to cannibalism
g. The
Glory of Israel was not broken until the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD, and God’s
covenant with His people was temporarily ended until fulness of the Gentiles has
come. – vs. 10
i. Luke 21:20-24
3. The
Pride of Israel is Blinded – vs. 11-14
a. Only
the humble will see the work of the Logos in those trying times. This is
because Jesus does not come as a warlord but as a suffering Messiah – vs. 11
i. Isaiah 53:3-6
b. The
leaders of Israel paid 30 pieces of silver for the betrayal of their Messiah,
Jesus – vs. 12
i. John 11:49-16; Matthew 26:14-16
c. They
valued Him at the price of a common slave – vs. 13
i. Judas,
who betrayed Jesus, threw the money back at the Jewish leaders in the house of
the Lord
1.
Matthew
27:3-5
ii. The
Jewish leaders used the money to purchase the potter’s field. - Matthew 27:6-10
d. God
broke the unity of Israel when they crucified His Son Jesus – vs. 14
i. Romans 11:17-24
