Zechariah 11
COMMENTARY:
: 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. (6238 “rich” [ashar] means enrich, to make rich, to gain riches, get abundance, or pretend to be rich.)
DEVOTION: Money is not the root of all evil, it is the LOVE of money that is the root of all evil. Money is important in all of our lives. Some have it and some don’t. Some are trained when they were young to use money wisely while others were not trained at all. Some were never taught not to spend more than they earn. They had to find out the hard way.
In the pass banks would send out credit cards without any application. Also now we find that banks have given mortgages to people who could not afford them. Some even gave loans with balloon payments due after a number of years that they probably knew the people who were applying for a loan couldn’t pay. Housing has lost many people their financial freedom. They are singing: “I owe, I owe, so off to work I go.”
In this passage we find people getting wealthy off the poor of the community. It is wrong. The ones who are getting wealthy are the leaders of the nation that were there to help the poor people but decided to help themselves more.
God is going to judge them for their actions. However, they think that it is God who helped them get wealthy and blessed HIM for all their wealth. They were wrong. HE didn’t condone their actions. HE is declaring them guilty through the prophet. They will pay the consequences for their actions.
Leaders are held to a higher standard. God is the judge. HIS timing is always perfect. Don’t take advantage of those you are called to lead. Shepherd those under your care wisely.
CHALLENGE: Understand the difference between making money wisely and using people to make money for you. Employers are to be fair to their employees. Employees are to give their employers a good day’s work.
: 7 And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. And I took to me two staves; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands, and I fed the flock. (7462 “feed” [ra’ah] means shepherd, pastor, herdsmen, keep, companion, graze, or protect.)
DEVOTION: Zechariah was given the role of being a shepherd to a people who were going to go into captivity. Some of them were going to be killed. So, he was taking care of people who were doomed from the beginning. They were unwilling to repent and so the LORD had to send judgment.
He also took two shepherd’s staffs and named them Beauty and Bands. Beauty signified that the people where favored by the LORD because HE made a covenant with them that if they were obedient, HE would rescue them. If they were disobedient, HE would chasten or judge them and punish them. Later Zechariah cut the staff in half signifying that they had broken the covenant.
The second staff was called Bands which meant that the twelve tribes were originally together and God still considered them HIS people but there would be a division because of the disobedience. They would be divided instead of united. God has a desire for HIS people to work together to bring glory to HIS name. They were not doing this.
So God wants shepherds who will lead HIS people to a closer walk with HIM. HE wants a people who will follow only good shepherds. Neither was happening here. It should be happening in our life. Make sure you are following the right shepherds today.
CHALLENGE: The key is the obedience of those who claim to be followers of the LORD. If they are not genuine the LORD knows their heart and so anything, they say has to match what their heart is saying. If not match then no deliverance.
: 12 And I said to them, If you think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. (2308 “forbear” [chadal] means cease, refrain, desist, to leave unchanged, or come to an end.)
DEVOTION: This is the price of a bond servant. This is also the price that was to be paid to a servant who was gored by an ox.
Zechariah was asking for this amount of money as severance pay as he was quitting as the shepherd of the unrepentant people. He was quitting because they were not listening which he knew at the beginning that they were a people doomed to slaughter. He acted the part to prove a point that they were not going to listen to his message.
The same was true with the LORD Jesus Christ came to earth. HE gave a message of repentance but the religious leaders wanted nothing to do with HIM and so paid Judas this price (Matthew 26: 15) to become a traitor. Judas took this money and kissed Jesus outside the garden. Then when he realized what he had done tried to return the money but they had Jesus and were not going to give Jesus back HIS freedom. Judas threw the money down and they took it to buy a field to bury strangers in (Matthew 27:7)
How much will it take to cause us to deny the LORD? Will it be more or less than thirty pieces of silver?
CHALLENGE: Our words and actions can betray Christ in us to those who are watching.
: 17 Woe to the idle shepherd that leaves the flock! The sword shall be on his arm, and on his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened. (457 “idle” [‘eliyl] means good for nothing, idol, worthless, of nought, or no value.)
DEVOTION: The arm gives us the idea of strength. The right eye gives us the idea of intelligence. Here we find that this shepherd was not using his strength to help the flock. Also, they were not using their intellect to help the flock. This individual is the Antichrist of the last days. He will seem like he has the interests of Israel at heart but he does not. He is a liar. He is a servant of the devil.
This chapter has Zechariah playing the role of Jesus Christ the “good shepherd” that is rejected by the leadership of Israel. The two staffs represent the favor and union that they had under God but lost when the rejected Christ at HIS first coming. They were going to suffer under the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 A. D. This was a picture of the destruction during the Tribulation period in the future.
The thirty pieces of silver paid to the potter was used of the price that Judas received from the leadership or shepherds of Israel for betraying Christ. It was the price for a slave that had been gored or slain by an ox. It was a “goodly price” for a slave [Exodus 21:32]. It was used by the priests to buy a potters field. Potters were the lowest on the laborer scale as far as wages were concerned.
So again the LORD is getting the point across that these leaders were not giving their energy or intellect to help the flock of God. So they were not getting fed intellectually or given food to gain strength in themselves. The three shepherds are thought to be the prophets, priests and kings who led the children of Israel away from the LORD. It was the leadership that told the people to say “Crucify HIM.”
We know that our political leaders are getting us farther away from the LORD’S laws. We know that there are many pastors who are not following the Bible but what is politically correct and therefore leading their people astray. We have many false prophets telling us not to worry. Our time is one that needs to have more food presented to the children of God each Sunday. Our time needs theologians that teach the truth of the Word of God. Our time needs not to follow the fads of the church but the Word of God. Please pray for all our leaders. We do have some who are “worthless or good for nothing.” Let us not follow those leaders. There is a remnant that is following the LORD faithfully. Our prayer is that we are part of that remnant. And that you are part of that remnant. Remember all those who say they are Christians are not true followers because they have been deceived by their leaders.
CHALLENGE: In the future there is going to be a leader whose total loyalty is to the devil. He will act like he cares but in reality he is a deceiver. Be warned!!! Even some Christians can be deceived by false leaders.
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