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A Tale of Two Shepherds (Zechariah 10:1-11:17 April 29, 2018)

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A Tale of Two Shepherds (Zechariah 10:1-11:17 April 29, 2018) A Tale Of Two Shepherds (Zechariah 10:1-11:17 April 29, 2018) With many apologies to the great Charles Dickens – the opening lines of his classic work – A Tale Of Two Cities – can with a minor tweak serve to perfectly describe our passage this morning: He was the best of Shepherds, he was the worst of shepherds It was the choice of wisdom, it was the choice of foolishness It was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity It was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness It was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair We had everything before us, we had nothing before us We were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way The best of Shepherds – the worst of shepherds. In a very real sense – the only truly important choice in life can be reduced to which shepherd we entrust our lives to. 1 One Shepherd calls – come to Me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. My path is one of sacrifice and suffering – but I will lay down my life for you – and I will never leave you or forsake you – and I will lead you to the green pasture of heaven. The other shepherd calls – come to Me all who are financially challenged and pleasure deficient and I will give you the desires of your heart. My path is one of hedonistic delight – but you must lay down your life for me – and I will leave you as soon as it gets tough – and I cannot lead you to the green pasture of heaven. As Christians it seems to us that the choice is a no-brainer. We scream – of course you have to choose the Good Shepherd! But too many – willingly and wilfully choose the false shepherd. Even Christians can flirt with the call of the false shepherds and follow them for a time. And the result is utter devastation. This incredibly tragic situation is what we find in our passage this morning. Zechariah laments that: We foolishly keep rejecting the Saving Shepherd in favour of following worthless shepherds. We foolishly keep rejecting the Saving Shepherd in favour of following worthless shepherds. There is no way any of us deserve to have God as our Shepherd – yet God offers to be our Shepherd anyway. 2 As stunning as this is – perhaps more stunning is that most in this world repeatedly choose to reject the Good Shepherd – the One who truly cares for us – the only One who can actually save us – and they follow selfish, cruel, merciless shepherds. I shake my head at the women who choose to stay with and follow men who abuse them and beat them. As bad as that is – and it is despicable – this is worse – trusting your eternal soul to a merciless shepherd. In the final chapters of Zechariah the focus is on The Coming Priest-King – Jesus. If you remember back to the start of this book – we saw a key verse – Zechariah 1:3: Therefore say to them, Thus declares the LORD of hosts: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. Zechariah shows us that the central way God returns – the way He draws near – is in a person – His Son – the Priest-King. So, how does this final section break up? These last six chapters are divided up into two oracles. And these two oracles present this: The Humiliation Of The King 9-11 The Triumph Of The King 12-14 The focus in these concluding chapters is on Jesus in His role as the coming King – in particular in His kingly roles as: 3 The true Warrior King and the true Shepherd King. In chapters 9-11 – Jesus comes as the King – Warrior and Shepherd – but what is stunning is that when He comes – He is humiliated and rejected. We have already looked at: The King Revealed 9 This morning we will look at: The King Rejected 10-11 The question this passage screams from the page is this – how could this King – the Good Shepherd – ever be rejected? Who wouldn’t want an all good God who is willing to do anything for His sheep – even to die – who wouldn’t want to be part of His flock? Yet, chapters 10-11 are clear – most reject this King – because He is not the King – the Shepherd – the Messiah – that they want. 4 Turn with me to Zechariah 10. In the first two verses we have a summary statement of the problem. Have a look at Zechariah 10:1: Ask rain from the LORD in the season of the spring rain, from the LORD who makes the storm clouds, and he will give them showers of rain, to everyone the vegetation in the field. The returnees were asking for rain? If you returned to a barren land in the midst of a drought – probably the number one thing you would pray to God for would be rain. In the days of Zechariah, life and death literally hung on whether the rains came. Although it is not literally life and death – for our country brothers it is close – rain means prosperity and ruin. When I visited Lisa, my daughter in Longreach, many times in the service they prayed for rain. The church had a day set aside to gather and pray for rain. They knew that only God – the true God can send rain. God made water, clouds, rain as well as vegetation. In the Old Testament – God closed the heavens and sent drought – and God opened the heavens and sent relief. The Jews needed this rain that is what they asked for. What is it that is so much on your heart that you repeatedly ask God for? 5 Money, a husband, marital harmony, a child, a promotion, a girlfriend, healing, a job? We ask because we think we need this, it will make us happy, it will complete us. There are three things you need to know about these deep desires of your heart. 1. Only God the Creator of the heavens and the earth can actually give them to you. 2. Even if you got every desire of your heart – but did not have God – they would not satisfy. God made us in such a way that He alone satisfies the desires of our hearts. 3. God is not the good genie. He is the Good Shepherd. He only gives what is best for us. He will not give you something – even if you desperately long for it – unless it is best for you and for the kingdom. This means that many times the answer to our prayers is no. And we don’t like that. Sheep are so fickle. We ask God a couple of times – we don’t get what we want – so we say – fine – I’ll show You – You are not the only shepherd out there. Verse 2: For the household gods – the teraphim – they utter nonsense, and the diviners see lies; they tell false dreams and give empty consolation. Since they got no satisfaction from God, they were turning to ask lumps of wood and stone to make it rain. Here is the analogy. A good parent does not give their child everything their little heart desires. I only want to eat chips and chocolate. I don’t want to go to school. I want to watch anything I want on TV. A good parent says – no! That is not good for you. Kids being kids – what do they do? They try the other parent. They try grandma. They try everyone. Sheep are no different. The Good Shepherd did not immediately give them what they wanted so they turned to other shepherds. Now 21st century westerners might think their choice of alternate shepherd is poor – a bit of wood or stone. But in the days of Zechariah – and in many parts of the world today – men are told – these idols represent powerful spirits and gods who will grant the desires of your heart. 6 Judah should have known better – but the history of the Jews was one of turning to idols when God didn’t act like a genie and give them what they wanted. From the golden calf to the last days before the exile – idolatry was everywhere. Read Ezekiel – it is stunning – they even put idols in the Temple – the place where the true God dwelt – and prayed to them. Or read Isaiah – he was gobsmacked. He chastised the people. Your little idol can do nothing. It can’t speak. It can’t move. You have to pick it up and carry it around. You watched as men made it out of stone and wood – and this is what you want to trust your life to? Fools! It seems that the Jews of Zechariah’s day were repeating the mistakes of the generation that went to destruction. They needed rain – God didn’t make it rain on command, so they were turning to praying to an idol. They were asking diviners if they could foresee rain. Zechariah wants to scream – all they see is lies – they sell you false dreams and hope – all they can provide is empty consolation. What are you thinking? You are the people of the true and living God. The One who created all things and sustains all things. The One who delivered you from Egypt and fed you in the wilderness.
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