Zechariah 11:7-14 says,...Bible reading week 38, day 5

Today's verses are Zechariah 11:7-14, which read,

v.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.

Zechariah has been told by God to shepherd the flock.  There are other shepherds who are using the flock for their own benefit.  Zechariah is given instruction on how to lead even in times when the flock is being abused or following after the direction of the bad shepherds.  Zechariah has two staffs and many shepherds had two staffs.  One was to ward off anything that would hinder the flock and the other was to guide the flock where you wanted it to go.  You could look at these two staffs named Favor and Union as one for beating off untruth and the other to guide in the way of grace.  One keeps us in God's favor by following the truth and one keeps us in God's union by being in a place to experience His grace.  As a leader over others, these two things are necessary.  Apply this to the church and to your home.

v.8 - Then I annihilated the three shepherds in one month, for my soul was impatient with them, and their soul also was weary to me.

One interpretation of this verse is that the three shepherds represent the priests, elders, and scribes.  Jesus gave His harshest instruction against these three groups.  These are shepherds who had lost their love for the flock and looked on them for their own profit.  Jesus was impatient and weary with these groups.  Zechariah is also dealing with these kind of shepherds that are present.

v.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."

Zechariah is not going to pasture the flock that is not following after God.  They will die.  They will be annihilated.  They will resort to eating one another's flesh to survive.  They are given over to their desires like what is described in Romans chapter 1.  Evil will come upon them because they are living in evil ways.

v.10 - I took my staff Favor and cut it in pieces, to break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples.

The staff that represented protection was cut into pieces.  God was removing His protection from other nations because they were not following after Him.  The staff named Union will be broken which represents His guidance over the flock but it will be described in a particular way that protection is gone but His guidance is not.  I can envision this as God's tough love to the flock who won't learn to follow unless some consequences are felt.

v.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.

This great visual was to shock them into what was really going on.  Have you had a "staff" broken in front of you?  Have you had an event that shook you to realize that something bigger was going on and it needed your attention?  God brought something into your life, before your eyes, but it only represented the deeper concern that was being neglected.  Maybe a child says something that is like a staff breaking and you realize that there is a bigger message for you to hear than what was just said by the child.

v.12 - 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.

Does the 30 shekels of silver ring a bell in your mind?  It was 30 pieces of silver that Jesus was betrayed for by Judas Iscariot.  Jesus was worth 30 pieces of silver to the unbelieving community around Him.  If you weave Jesus into this passage who is the Great Shepherd, then you see the One who was broken and the afflicted, those who believe, saw Him as the Word from God.  As Zechariah is shepherding this flock that has many resistant to God's commands, he is also giving us a future picture of another Shepherd to come who would do the same but in a greater way.

v.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.

Okay, now we see how much this passage is a passage about prophecy of Jesus.  Judas is given the 30 pieces of silver, the value they set on Jesus.  After some remorse he tries to give it back to the religious leaders.  They won't take it.  So he throws it at them in the house of the Lord, the temple.  They take the money and invest it in the potter's field where clay is dug up for pottery and a cheap field to bury the poor because the holes are already there.  Zechariah is giving us a picture of what is to happen to our Lord to the finest detail about 1000 years before it ever happened.

v.14 - Then I cut in pieces my second staff Union, to break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

The nation was divided by the north and the south, Israel and Judah.  The division led to exiles of the brotherhood from the Assyrians to the north and the Babylonians to the east.  The unity was gone in the nation of Israel.  In Jesus' time, the Romans divided the people of Israel.  Some used the Romans for their profit and prestige while others warred against them with weapons to kill them.  The nation was divided in unity because they did not follow after God and did not accept Jesus as the Messiah sent by Him.  God's guidance is not completely gone but because they are not moving to His staff of direction, they are experiencing disunity among themselves.  Their strength is diminished because they are relying on themselves rather than on the guidance of God.  

This is a very heavy passage of Scripture including prophecy about Jesus who was to come.  Today, we need to follow the Shepherd who has the two staffs of truth and grace.  Our God is a God of love but also and at the same time a God of truth or justice.  We need to be under both staffs.  We need to abide in His truth and His beating off of untruth and we need to abide in His direction of grace and love in a very ungraceful and unloving world.  When we see the staffs being broken, we need to realize that we have devalued Jesus back down to 30 pieces of silver.  How valuable is Jesus to you this day?  Let us pray.

"Lord, thank You for the prophecies about You that have come to pass just as they were written.  Help us to see that our great Shepherd has two staffs that we need to have in our lives.  Thank You that You come with truth and grace.  May we live under Your protection and experience the unity of Your family.  Amen."

Pastor Adam