Zechariah: God Remembers & Promises the Messiah

“Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of ! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you . . . “ (Zech 9:9) hÎy√rAk◊z

The Rescuing yet Rejected Shepherd (11:1-17)

Chapters 9-14 contain two oracles or burdens that focus on the return of Messiah (9-11) and the reign of Messiah. But amid these glorious restoration-oriented prophecies, chapter 11 continues the imagery of shepherds (’s rulers) and sheep (the nation) to bring a heartbreaking reminder of Israel’s sinful rejection of God’s loving protection and care. The shepherds’ failure to care for the sheep brings suffering to the people as well as God’s wrath upon their leaders.

I. The Coming of Divine Wrath against ’s Wicked Shepherd-kings (11:1-3) “The cedar, cypress, and oak trees are metaphors for kings and their kingdoms. Trees are metaphors for rulers in many passages throughout the . For example: ’s royal house would come out of the stump of Jesse (Isa 11:1); Pharaoh is depicted as a cypress or a cedar tree in Eden (Ezek 31:1-9); and Nebuchadnezzar was likened to a tree (Dan 4; see also Ezek 17:22-24).” —Walter Kaiser, Mastering the Old Testament, Vol. 21, 390.

In the poetic parallel to the Genesis account, the psalmist includes the cedars of as the only location-specific example of Divine creativity. “The trees of the LORD drink their fill, the cedars of Lebanon which He planted” (Ps 104:16). No other toponym is listed in the Psalmist’s creation poem. And when the historian editorializes on Solomon’s wisdom in 1 Kgs 4:29-34, the account includes the fact that “he spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that grows on the wall; he spoke also of animals and birds and creeping things and fish” (1 Kgs 4:33). Elsewhere, Lebanon is idealized on par with Eden in the prophetic oracle of judgment against Pharaoh and Egypt in Ezek 31. In selecting a simile of extraordinary beauty and vastness in order to build up the great expectations about Egypt, the prophet likens the nation and its pharaoh to the loftiest image in stature and grandeur, “a cedar in Lebanon” (31:2-3)—such trees even surpass “the cedars in God’s garden” (31:8). Yet at Egypt’s judgment, the pharaoh/ cedar would be brought low, and Lebanon and Eden would be comforted by its demise (31:15-18).

II. The Cause of Divine Wrath against Judah’s Wicked Shepherd-kings (11:4-14) Zechariah’s Rejected Shepherd Enactment A. The indictment against Judah’s Wicked Shepherd-kings (11:4-6)

Sheep doomed for slaughter (vv. 4, 7) Wise shepherds viewed slaughtering sheep as a pitiful, foolish and tragic waste since the real value was in the renewable harvesting of their wool (see Ps 44:22; Isa 53:7; Rom 8:36).

B. The rejection of Judah’s Shepherd-kings (11:7-11)

I pastured the flock . . . I will not pasture you (v.7, 9) The tools of the shepherd were used as symbols of God’s dealing with the nation (11:7). I took for myself two staffs: “Pleasantness” or “Favor” (11:10-11) and “Bonds” or “Union” (11:12- 14). The messianic/Davidic shepherd-king will reunite these divided staves during the Millennium (Ezek 37:15-28).

Thirty pieces of silver (vv. 12-13) was the compensation price for a slave who had been gored to death by an ox (Ex 21:32); the redemption price for a woman wanted released from a vow to the Lord’s service (Lev 27:4). The Israelite silver shekel weighed approximately 0.41 ounces. Various modern values have been suggested such as the equivalent of a laborer’s minimum wages for 2 ½ years. In Zechariah’s time, this was a dismal payout amount for a good shepherd. In NT times, this price was enough to by a small plot of land such as the “potter's field” associated with Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus for this amount (Mt 26:15; 27:7-10 [citing Jer 18:2-3; see also 32:6-15]; Acts 1:18-19). Like Zechariah, Jesus is the “good” shepherd (Jn 10) but was rejected by His people . . . except for a faithful remnant.

III. The Consequence of Divine Wrath upon Judah’s Wicked Shepherd-kings (11:15-17) Act One: Zechariah acts as a good [rescuing] shepherd (11:4, 7) Act Two: Zechariah acts as a foolish [worthless] shepherd (11:15)

Who became Israel’s worthless, abandoning, harmful, abusive, cruel shepherd-king? Caesar and Rome? (Jn 19:15)

The good shepherd came to rescue them (chs 9-10), but they rejected Him (ch 11). More than anything, it is clear that Israel needs her good shepherd (see Jn 10:11).

Rejecting Messiah Jesus as Lord opens the doors for treacherous substitutes!

© Tim M. Sigler, Ph.D.

Zechariah 11

1 ¶ Open your doors, O Lebanon, That a fire may feed on your cedars. 2 Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen, Because the glorious trees have been destroyed; Wail, O oaks of , For the impenetrable forest has come down. 3 There is a sound of the shepherds’ wail, For their glory is ruined; There is a sound of the young lions’ roar, For the pride of the is ruined. 4 Thus says the LORD my God, “Pasture the flock doomed to slaughter. 5 “Those who buy them slay them and go unpunished, and each of those who sell them says, ‘Blessed be the LORD, for I have become rich!’ And their own shepherds have no pity on them. 6 “For I shall no longer have pity on the inhabitants of the land,” declares the LORD; “but behold, I shall cause the men to fall, each into another’s power and into the power of his king; and they will strike the land, and I shall not deliver them from their power.” 7 So I pastured the flock doomed to slaughter, hence the afflicted of the flock. And I took for myself two staffs: the one I called Favor, and the other I called Union; so I pastured the flock. 8 Then I annihilated the three shepherds in one month, for my soul was impatient with them, and their soul also was weary of me. 9 Then I said, “I will not pasture you. What is to die, let it die, and what is to be annihilated, let it be annihilated; and let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.” 10 And I took my staff, Favor, and cut it in pieces, to break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples. 11 So it was broken on that day, and thus the afflicted of the flock who were watching me realized that it was the word of the LORD. 12 And I said to them, “If it is good in your sight, give me my wages; but if not, never mind!” So they weighed out thirty shekels of silver as my wages. 13 Then the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter, that magnificent price at which I was valued by them.” So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the LORD. 14 Then I cut my second staff, Union, in pieces, to break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. 15 And the LORD said to me, “Take again for yourself the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 16 “For behold, I am going to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for the perishing, seek the scattered, heal the broken, or sustain the one standing, but will devour the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their hoofs. 17 “Woe to the worthless shepherd Who leaves the flock! A sword will be on his arm And on his right eye! His arm will be totally withered, And his right eye will be blind.”