Zechariah 11

CHAPTER 11THEME: Jesus rejected as King at His first coming; the Good ShepherdChrist; the foolish shepherdAntichristThis chapter concludes the division of “burdens” which hinge on the first coming of Christ. It brings us to the Roman period. This, as the Maccabean period before it, was a very dark period. We have seen that Zechariah is the prophet of hopemany expositors call attention to this. And his name actually means “the Lord remembers.” It is quite interesting that his is one of the last voices to speak for God in the Old Testament. And then the New Testament opens with an angel appearing to another man by the name of Zechariah, the husband of Elisabeth who gave birth to John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ. Again, God remembers His people. Not only is Zechariah the prophet of hope, he is also the prophet of truth. Being a prophet of hope is not enough, because it could be a false hope such as the false prophets were giving the people. Temporarily, there is to be great blessing materially and otherwise, but out of the west are coming other conquerorsfirst Alexander the Great, then the Roman armies. It will mean great suffering for the people of Israel. This chapter also presents the Good Shepherd who will give His life for the sheep. Then another shepherd is presented, the foolish shepherd who will come much later. He pictures the Antichrist, the one who will shear the sheep and kill them for food.

Zechariah 11:1

JUDGMENT RESULTING FROM MESSIAH’S REJECTIONThis doesn’t sound very promising. This reveals that there is to be a scattering of the people of Israel even after the time of Zechariah. This was, I think, performed by the Romans. The Romans used the same method that Alexander the Great usedthey came down from the north. If you go to Lebanon today, you will see above Beirut a river which is known as the Dog River. There, right at the entrance by the sea, on the face of the mountain are inscriptions which have been labeled “The Calling Cards of the Nations of the World.” Every great general of every great nation who went through there carved his name in the rock. I have looked at it, and the translation was given to me. The only one I could read for myself was the one in GreekI finally figured out that one. All the great generals came that route because it is the beginning of what is known as the Great Rift, which moves inland and extends into North Africa.

The Sea of Galilee, the Jordan River, and the Dead Sea are all part of the Great Rift. So Zechariah is describing here the advance of the conqueror who is coming into Palestine. “That the fire may devour thy cedars.” The cedars of Lebanon were famous. Much of Solomon’s temple was built of the cedars of Lebanon, as was his own palace. The cedar trees have largely disappeared today. There are very few of them left. The nicest one I saw was actually in a park right outside Jerusalem. It was a beautiful tree, well cared for.

The one I saw in Beirut was a scrawny sort of tree, but it had grown up very large. The place where they would grow the best is up in the snow country. In fact, Lebanon means “white or snowy,” taking its name from the snow-covered mountains of the area. The Great Rift comes down right beside them. That was a tremendous passageway for the great world conquerors of the pastEgypt, Babylon, Media-Persia, Syria, Greeceand here Zechariah is giving, I think, the description of Rome coming down into Palestine.

Zechariah 11:2

“Howl, O ye oaks of Bashan.” Bashan was an area in the northern part of Israel. There were a lot of oaks in that countryI think we call them live oaks.

Zechariah 11:3

“There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds.” These are the false shepherds who had been giving the people wrong directions and a false security. “A voice of the roaring of your lions” probably refers to the young princes.

Zechariah 11:4

“Feed the flock of the slaughter.” This is almost terrifying! The “flock” refers to those of the remnant who had returned to the land of Israel. But for what had they returned? Although there would be a time of blessing, the conqueror was coming, and untold suffering lay ahead.

Zechariah 11:5

How accurate this prophetic picture is of that which did happen to these people when the Romans came down.

Zechariah 11:6

God says that He will permit this to take place because they had not only turned from Him, but they also rejected the Messiah when He came.

Zechariah 11:7

“And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock.” Expositors differ in their interpretations of this. Did Zechariah actually become a shepherd during this time? Was this a parable he was giving, or did he act it out? I personally think that this is a parable in action. Several of the prophets used that methodEzekiel certainly did. You may recall that Ezekiel locked himself in his house, dug himself out, and came up in the street outside.

Here in Pasadena where I live, digging up streets is nothing new. I think that every street in this city has been dug up sometime during the past yearthey may have missed one or two, but I doubt it. But in Ezekiel’s day it was unusual. In fact, it would be unusual today if someone locked himself in his house and dug himself out! Well, Ezekiel did that, and he had a message when he came up out there in the street. Also he had a crowd.

It was a good crowd-getter, and I am of the opinion that Zechariah used the same method. “And I took unto me two staves.” One he called Beauty, which means “grace or graciousness.” That was the shepherd’s crook, the one that he used to keep the little sheep in line. If one started to wander into a place of danger, he reached out with that crook and pulled him right back in line. The other stave he called Bands. The English word bands is probably a good translation because it has to do with the making of a covenant. That speaks of another staff which the shepherd carried. It was a heavy stick, not like the shepherd’s crook but a heavy club. He used it to fight off wild animals and even human beings who would try to steal the sheep. So Zechariah speaks of taking two staves: Beauty and Bands, or Grace and Covenants. “And I fed the flock.” I think that Zechariah did this literally.

Zechariah 11:8

“Three shepherds also I cut off in one month” were probably the false prophets.

Zechariah 11:9

I believe here he is speaking against the false prophets, and he is speaking against the kinds of sacrifices the people were bringing to the Lord. We learn from Malachi that some of the people in that day were stingy; they were skinflints who didn’t even like to give a tenth. They didn’t like to bring their animals to sacrifice to the Lord. So if a man had an old sick cow, he would tell his boys to rush the animal up to the temple, to the altar, and get the cow killed for a sacrifice before it died a natural death. Then they would pretend they had given the Lord one of their prize cattle. Malachi’s prophecy really zeroes in on the people for doing that which was phony and false.

God, of course, would not accept such an offering. “That that dieth, let it die.” That is, don’t slaughter it hurriedly and use it. He is calling them back to honesty and to be clear-cut in their dealings.

Zechariah 11:10

“I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder.” Remember that Beauty means “graciousness,” and Zechariah is saying that he is chopping that staff to pieces, signifying that God’s grace would be withdrawn. You see, when God put His people in the Promised Land, He promised to bless them and protect them from their enemies. God was dealing with the returned remnant in grace. Back in Zec_10:6 God had said, “I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them; for I have mercy upon them….” God was going to do this for themnot because they were worthy or because they were obedient. They were disobedient, but God was dealing with them in mercy. However, there would come a time when His mercy would be exhausted, and then He would withdraw His covenant. He would no longer deal with them in mercy; He would no longer be gracious to them. “That I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people.” What does God mean when He says that He will break His covenant? Hasn’t He repeatedly told us that He will never break His covenant? Well, we need to understand the difference between a conditional and an unconditional covenant. God never breaks an unconditional covenant. But a conditional covenant depends upon a response from the human side. The covenant of the verse before us is conditional. God’s promised protection of Israel against their enemies depended upon Israel’s obedience to Him. When they disobeyed Him, He followed through by removing His protection. It is in this sense that He broke His covenant. We have examples of this in the New Testament. For instance, God’s promise, “If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it” (Joh_14:14) is a conditional promise. Dr. Harry Ironside was sitting on a platform with a young pastor during a meeting one night. A young lady entered the meeting, and the pastor told him that she formerly had been an active leader among his members, then began to run with the world, and that this was the first time he had seen her in church in months. Dr.

Ironside preached on this passage of Scripture that night. She was greatly incensed and came to see him after the meeting. “How dare you tell these people that if you ask anything in the name of Jesus, He will do it?” she asked him. Dr. Ironside answered, “Why don’t you sit down and tell me about it.” She told him that her father had been desperately ill some months before, and while the doctor was up in his room, she had knelt in the living room, claimed that promise, and prayed in Jesus’ name for his recovery. When the doctor came down from the room, he told her that her father was dead. “Now,” she said, “don’t tell me that God keeps His promises!” Dr. Ironside said, “Did you read the next verse, ‘If ye love me, keep my commandments’?” Then Dr.

Ironside asked her what would happen if she found a check made out to someone else and tried to cash it by signing that name. She said “I would be a forger.” So he referred her to this verse, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” Then he asked her, “Have you been doing that?” Instead of replying she turned red. Then he explained that what she was trying to do was the same thing as trying to cash a check made out to somebody else. We all need to recognize, friend, that obedience to Him is the evidence of our love for Him, and this promise is given to those who love Him.

Zechariah 11:11

“So the poor of the flock that waited upon me” refers to those of the remnant who actually obeyed God and believed the Word of God. My friend, the fundamental, primary thing for us as believers is to believe the Word of God. If you don’t believe that the Bible is the Word of God, you are not ready for any growth in the Christian life. Belief in the Word of God has to be settled. And God will establish you in that belief as you study His Word. You may start out a little skeptical and find certain things in the Bible difficult to believe. That is the way I started, but I have now reached the place where I don’t just believe the Bible is the Word of God; I know it is the Word of God.

This is the reason I don’t waste my time preaching apologetic sermons. I recognize that most such sermons are needed, and I thank the Lord for young preachers because they generally get into the apologetic field. I spent the first two or three years of my ministry proving that the Bible was true. Now I consider it a waste of time. I like the illustration used by the late Dr. Bob Shuler, who was the great Methodist preacher in downtown Los Angeles years ago.

One day he said to me, “If you had a lion in a cage in your backyard, you wouldn’t employ a guard to stay at the door of the cage to protect the lion from pussycats in the neighborhood. All you would need to do would be to open the door of the cage, and the lion would take care of himself.” That is a great illustration, and I have attempted to follow it in my ministry. I just attempt to open the door of the Word of God and let it prove itself. It can take care of itself. I don’t have to try to protect it from the pussycats in the neighborhood. I just give out the Word of God as it is. Zechariah is saying that “the poor of the flock,” the remnant of the remnant, believed it was the Word of the Lord.

Zechariah 11:12

THE GOOD SHEPHERDCHRISTThere would be coming in their line one who would be their Messiah, and the majority of the nation would reject Him. Only a very small remnant would receive Him at that time. For their rejection, the nation would be judged and scattered throughout the world. Now notice this next verse This is a very remarkable prophecy that has been literally fulfilled in a most remarkable way. Notice Matthew’s record: “Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, and said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver” (Mat_26:14-15). This is exactly the price that Zechariah mentions. It is quite interesting that the chief priests didn’t want to pay very much. I wonder if Judas had a little difficulty agreeing on the price"So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver." Over in Mat_27:9-10, we find something else that is quite interesting: “Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value; and gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord appointed me.” You will find this prophecy alluded to in Jer_18:1-4 and evidently quoted from Zec_11:12-13. It is credited to Jeremiah simply because in Jesus’ day Jeremiah was the first of the books of the prophets, and that section was identified by the name of the first book.

Zechariah 11:13

“A goodly price” is sometimes translated a “lordly” price. I think an even better word would be a fancy price. You have heard the expression, “Well, that’s a fancy price for such and such an article.” “That I was prised at of them.” Thirty pieces of silverimagine that! They paid very little for Jesus. They weren’t willing to pay a high ransom price of several million dollars to have Him delivered to them. No, they would give only thirty pieces of silver. How cheap that was. What did Judas do with the thirty pieces of silver? “And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.” There has been some disagreement on what was meant by this. Some expositors even think that “cast …to the potter” should be translated “cast …to the treasury.” Well, Judas came into the temple and threw the money down there, but the record says, “And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in” (Mat_27:6-7). Zechariah had already said, “And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.” That was no accident. This is one of the most remarkable passages of Scripture that we have. What is the potter’s field? The potter’s field was property belonging to the potter. When he had clay on his wheel, attempting to make a pot, a vessel, a vase, but it didn’t yield to his fingers or it wouldn’t bend where he wanted or a piece came off, he would take it off the wheel and throw it into the field. The clay wasn’t the right texture to be molded. It was discarded as useless. In Jeremiah’s prophecy, God likens Himself to the potter. God puts the clay, mankind, on the potter’s wheel and attempts to fashion it into the vessel He has in mind. But the clay has to yield to Him. The clay that won’t yield to Him is thrown out into the potter’s field. He can’t use it. It is interesting that the price of Christ was thirty pieces of silver, and the priests took the coinsthey were very pious about not using the price of blood for religious purposesand bought the potter’s field as a burial place for the poor. My friend, the Lord Jesus has been working in the potter’s field for a long, long time. He purchased it. But He didn’t purchase it for thirty pieces of silver. He paid the full pricefar more than any amount of silver or goldHis own precious blood. He paid the price so that He might buy this old world in which you and I live, a world filled with the broken lives of mankindbroken physically, broken mentally, broken morally, broken spiritually. The great Potter, the Lord Jesus, takes the clay that was thrown away, puts it on the wheel of circumstance, and shapes it into a vessel of honor. We are the clay. He is the Potter. And even in these days of His rejection, He is working in the potter’s field.

Zechariah 11:14

The chopping up of this second staff indicates the complete severance of all relationships between the Shepherd and Israel, His flock. It is as if God is saying, “When you sold Me, when you turned Me over into the hands of the Gentiles to be crucified, I broke My covenant. Titus the Roman will soon be here, and you will be scattered throughout the world.” Their Messiah came, the nation rejected Him, and the Jewish people are still scattered throughout the world.

Zechariah 11:15

THE FOOLISH SHEPHERDANTICHRISTThis, I think, is another parable that Zechariah is to act out. He is to take again the instruments of a shepherd.

Zechariah 11:16

Zechariah has presented the Good Shepherd, sold for thirty pieces of silver, delivered to His enemies, then crucified on a Roman cross. But that cross became a brazen altar where the Lamb of God was offered to take away the sin of the world. He was the Good Shepherd who gave His life for the sheep. Now Zechariah presents the foolish shepherd, who will appear much later in history. There is an interval of time between the coming of Christ and the coming of Antichrist that does not concern Zechariah at all. He is prophesying to the remnant of Israel who had returned to Palestine after the Babylonian captivity. If you think he has in mind the church age, you are entirely wrong. The “foolish shepherd” will be coming after God completes His purpose with the church and turns again to Israel as a nation. Notice how Antichrist will deal with the people of Israel: he “shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces.” He will shear the sheep and kill them for food. What a contrast to the Good Shepherd who gave His life for the sheep! The Lord Jesus said, “I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive” (Joh_5:43). Frankly, when I began my ministry, I thought we must be very far away from the appearance of the Antichrist because there was not the world climate nor psychological background for the appearance of a man like he will be. However, we have come a long way since I was a young minister. Today, as I look about me, I think that the world is ripe for Antichrist. I don’t mean that I think he is coming shortly because I do not know that; only God has that information. But I am confident that if a man appeared on the scene who had the right credentials (and Antichrist will have them), a man who could bring peace in the world and bring order out of the chaos we are in and bring prosperity, the world would receive him with open arms.

Do you think that the world would ask if he came from heaven or hell? I don’t think that people would care where he comes from. In our day every country seems to be accepting almost any kind of leadership. The world is not blessed with great leaderscertainly our country is not. We are ready for the Antichrist when he comes. His coming may be a long way off, but we have the right climate for it today which we did not have when I first began in the ministry.

Zechariah 11:17

He is called here “the idol shepherd,” meaning the worthless shepherd. He is no good, he is of no value, he is the great deceiver. Dr. Merrill Unger is quite a Hebrew scholar, and I like his translation of this verse: “Woe! Worthless shepherd, forsaker of the flock! Let the sword be against his arm and against his right eye! His arm shall be completely dried up and his right eye shall be completely blind.” This “foolish” shepherd is of no benefit, but the world will go after him. When Israel rejected the Good Shepherd who was promised, they were scattered worldwide. And the gospel, which the Lord Jesus said would begin at Jerusalem and go to the ends of the earth, is being preached today. It is my personal conviction that through the medium of radio we will be enabled to get the gospel to the ends of the earth. The interval in which the gospel has been going out has already been a long oneover nineteen hundred years. Then this false shepherd will appear. He is worthless, but he is going to promise everything. He will be the supreme politician, promising everything in the book and out of the book. “Woe to the idol [worthless] shepherd that leaveth the flock!” The word woe is the Hebrew hoy, and the very sound of it denotes trouble that is coming"Hoy, hoy, hoy!““The sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.” What does this mean? Well, he used his eye, not to protect the sheep, but he kept his eye on them to see which was the fattest that he could use. His arm should have been wielding the crook and the club to protect the sheep from harm. But he didn’t do that. He exposed them instead of watching over them. God says that judgment will come upon him.

His right eye shall be blinded and his arm shriveled or atrophied. In the Book of Revelation we find that God is going to judge the false shepherd, Antichristin fact, he will make it to the lake of fire even before the Devil gets there! The false shepherd, the Antichrist, will actually be the one who brings in the Great Tribulation in all its fury. In the first part of the Tribulation Israel will be deceived into thinking that Antichrist is their Good Shepherd, but by the time they discover his real character, he will be the world dictator, and the armies of the world will come against Jerusalem.