Zechariah 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.
8 Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In verse 7 God continued to address the people during Jesus’ first coming and the attack by Titus. The poor of the flock would refer to those who trusted in Christ. They would be persecuted for their faith. They would become outcasts in the Jewish community.
The two staves would be representative of Judah and Israel being drawn back into one nation. Beauty comes from the Hebrew word meaning: “kindness, pleasantness, delightfulness, beauty, favour”. Bands comes from the Hebrew word meaning: “a cord, rope, territory, band, company”.
The three shepherds of verse 8 likely refer to the three levels of corrupt religious leadership in Israel at the time of Christ. That would be the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the lawyers. Or it could include the chief priests instead of one of the others. We know they were all false teachers who sought to control the people and keep them in bondage.
Jesus put up with them and exposed their rot while He was on this earth. They continued to be evil and obstructive in the book of Acts. Several of the epistles also addressed the corrupt nature of the Judaizers. God gave them ample opportunity to repent and be saved. However, the majority of them were so hardened that they refused to repent and be saved. He would wipe them out eventually. The sad reality is that even though one group of false teachers may be destroyed, there will continue to be false teachers until the Lord destroys this earth with fire.
In verse 9 we read of the horrible conditions there were in Jerusalem while Titus laid siege against it. God would not help them. He would allow them to suffer hunger to the point where they would resort to cannibalism. This sounds very similar to what happened in the Old Testament during the reign of the king of Israel in II Kings 6. Two women had an argument because they agreed they would give up their sons for food. The one did so and they ate him. But the other woman hid her son and the first woman complained that she was not willing to give her son for food. The king became quite angry at that time. He did not acknowledge that he was the problem. He sought to go after God’s man.
In our text, the LORD said that this would be the condition when Titus would invade and encamp against Jerusalem. In verses 10-11 God talked of how He would break His covenant with the nation of Israel. This was not in reference to the covenant God made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This was in reference to the covenant God made with Israel in the time of Moses. The book of Hebrews addresses this and shows the new covenant that was made in Christ.
We read in verse 11 that the LORD’s actions proved He was the LORD. God does things no man can do. God operates in a way no man does. He is God. He is superior to all. That is important for us to know and truly know. We hear the saying sometimes: “do your part and God will do the rest”. That is actually a false statement. God is involved all the way through. He allows us to make decisions, but He is there all the time. He allows the ungodly to destroy themselves, but He intervenes and gives them opportunity to turn to Him along the way. He allows true Christians to choose to follow Him faithfully or not.
Jesus had warned Peter of his upcoming denial of Him. Peter knew it and yet when the pressure was on, he chose to do exactly what he protested he would never do. Jesus was there and knew all about it. In the midst of the suffering Jesus was taking personally, He knew exactly what Peter was doing. After the third denial, Jesus looked at Peter and Peter knew exactly what he had done. Jesus was there to restore Peter later.
Verse 12 helps us to see what we have been talking about earlier in this chapter. Who is verse 12 speaking of? We have the Scriptures and we know that verses 12-13 are a direct reference to the betrayal and suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ. There should be no doubt that this entire passage is in reference to Jesus’ first coming.
Judas chose to reject all that he knew to be right and he chose to allow the devil to enter into his life. He willfully went to the chief priests and plotted with them to give over the Saviour of mankind to them. What did he get for that heinous act? He received thirty pieces of silver. How long did he have those thirty pieces? Just a few days. He would later throw them back to the chief priests and then go out and hang himself.
This is a very clear picture of what happens at death. Whether a person dies in the Lord or as a wicked person like Judas, we take nothing with us at death. We can willingly relinquish all we have to serve God, or we can squander what we have and serve self. We need to trust in the Lord and live as the apostle Paul talked of in II Timothy 4. Paul had served God with his life and he had confidence that the Lord would give him a crown of righteousness. It was not that he had “earned” that crown. It was God’s reward to anyone who was saved and walking in the fear of the Lord. He offers eternal life to those who will turn to Him in repentance and be saved. He offers true peace to those who are saved.
It is important to listen to what the Lord says. Don’t fight against the Truth. Submit to the Lord and know His peace and forgiveness. Then humbly submit to Him and let Him teach you His way as His child. His way is found in His Word. Follow Him and be blessed.
Pastor Bartel