A Tale of Four Shepherds
Zechariah 11:1-17
March 5, 2017
For the last 4 chapters everything has been exceptionally rosy for Israel.
God has outlined for them His great plans for their future.
• We’ve seen that He is passionate about them.
• We’ve seen His plans for prosperity and protection
• We’ve seen that He is going to send their King and give them victory over their enemies.
• We’ve seen that His plan is to restore and unite Israel together again and make them once again the envy of the world.
Everything from chapters 7 through 10 has been really positive
And fabulous as God revealed Israel’s future to her.
In fact, God has even used this glorious plan as a sort of bait
To those Jews who had thus far chosen to remain in Babylon.
It’s really just all been good news for the last several weeks.
And then we get to chapter 11
And we wonder what in the world went wrong.
Here we get what I’m referring to as “A Tale of Four Shepherds”
And the first shepherd we see really comes to us out of nowhere.
Let’s look at them for a moment:
#1 THE WEEPING SHEPHERD
Zechariah 11:1-3
The imagery here is of a fire spreading throughout Israel.
• In verse 1 we read of “Lebanon” which was in the north.
• In verse 2, we read of “Bashan” which was in the central part.
• In verse 3, we read of “the Jordan” which is in the southern part.
There is a spreading fire or judgment throughout the land.
And it is apparent that nothing can stop this spreading fire of judgment.
• “Lebanon” is told that “a fire may feed on your cedars”
• This news should cause the “cypress” to wail because if the cedar couldn’t stand then certainly the cypress won’t.
• Wailing should even reach “the oaks of Bashan”
And the really descriptive phrase is that
“the impenetrable forest has come down.”
Which is to say that which no one expected to fall has in fact fallen.
And the result is this:
(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 Jordan is ruined.”
What does this refer to?
Well I can tell you this, if you walk through a pasture
And you hear a young lion roaring and a shepherd wailing,
Then it doesn’t take long to figure out what happened to the sheep.
To put it nicely Zechariah says “their glory is ruined”
Whether that is typified as a fire or a lion attack the point is the same;
Destruction has spread through the land.
The shepherd is wailing.
Now, as we said earlier, this is A STRANGE REALITY TO US
For the last 4 chapters has been so rosy and peachy.
All we can do is look at this picture which seemed to pop up out of nowhere and ask: WHAT HAPPENED?
Well, let’s take a look.
Chronologically this “weeping shepherd” is actually the last of the 4.
We are first given a glimpse of the end
And then we trace back to see what happened to cause it.
And it all began with this second type of shepherd listed here.
#2 THE BRUTAL SHEPHERD
Zechariah 11:4-6
We have actually looked at this chapter many times before
So I’m hoping there is a familiarity with you here.
What we actually have occurring (as you will see in a minute) is
A pre-incarnate conversation between the Father and the Son.
(4) “Thus says the LORD my God, “Pasture the flock doomed to slaughter.”
There is a flock of sheep, who obviously have value to God,
But instead of being cared for
This flock has been scheduled for a trip to the slaughter house.
In other words these sheep have lost their value
To those who are in charge of them.
The shepherds have really turned in to butchers.
And they no longer have concern for this flock,
Their only plan now is to drive the sheep to the slaughter house.
So God, out of His great mercy,
Plans to send a new shepherd to the flock;
And one which will save the sheep from slaughter and pasture them.
Now, this is not the only time such an analogy or prophecy is made.
TURN TO: EZEKIEL 34
This chapter begins with an assessment of the wicked shepherds of Israel.
(Read 1-6)
It is obvious that the shepherds of Israel did not care for the sheep in the least,
And the result was the death of the sheep.
Because of this God pronounces judgment on these wicked shepherds.
(Read 7-10)
Obviously God is not pleased with these brutal shepherds who have harmed His flock.
In response to this tragedy we see the same solution in Ezekiel that we see here in Zechariah, namely that God Himself will care for His flock.
(Read 11-16)
So God promises to come and help the flock.
Now it is also true that it isn’t just the wicked shepherds who have harmed His flock, but also the brutal sheep in the midst of the flock, who like to hurt those who are weak.
(Read 17-19)
And so God promises to also deal with those wicked sheep that are dispersed throughout the flock.
(Read 20-24)
That picture is the same one here.
The shepherds are annihilating the flock,
So God has a plan to send a better shepherd to them
To actually rescue the sheep and send them to pasture.
God gives an account of these brutal shepherds:
(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.”
These are not shepherds who care for the flock, these are shepherds who merely want to use the sheep to make themselves rich.
Furthermore God says:
(6) “For I will no longer have pity on the inhabitants of the land,” declares the LORD; “but behold, I will 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 will not deliver them from their power.”
God is speaking of those brutal sheep dispersed throughout the flock
They are not referred to as “the flock” or “My sheep”
But rather God simply calls them “the inhabitants of the land”
Indicating that although they are present, they are not His.
These are the brutal shepherds and brutal sheep
Who are doing damage to His flock.
We’ve talked about this before so I know several of you may be familiar with this, but for those who are not, we’ll explain how this happened.
• Following the days of Zechariah, and the rebuilding of the temple you are aware that Greece entered the scene and really did a number on the area surrounding Israel.
• We even saw prophesied back in chapter 9 how Alexander the Great would conquer the nations all around Israel, but would leave Israel alone.
• Well you are also familiar (thanks to our study of Daniel) about Alexander’s death and the way his kingdom was divided.
• Daniel 11 also gave us great detail about the eventual rise of a Seleucid ruler known as Antiochus Epiphanes and how he took a special hatred toward Israel.
• In fact, he was the one who desecrated the temple by sacrificing a pig on the altar and committed that prophetic event known as “The Abomination of Desolation”.
Now Daniel spoke of what this man would do to the people of Israel
And it is significant for our study here:
Daniel 11:29-35 “At the appointed time he will return and come into the South, but this last time it will not turn out the way it did before. “For ships of Kittim will come against him; therefore he will be disheartened and will return and become enraged at the holy covenant and take action; so he will come back and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant. “Forces from him will arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the abomination of desolation. “By smooth words he will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will display strength and take action. “Those who have insight among the people will give understanding to the many; yet they will fall by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder for many days. “Now when they fall they will be granted a little help, and many will join with them in hypocrisy. “Some of those who have insight will fall, in order to refine, purge and make them pure until the end time; because it is still to come at the appointed time.”
One of the objectives of Antiochus Epiphanes
Was to secularize Israel into a pagan Greek culture.
And this alone caused quite an issue in Israel
Out of this struggle a group arose known as the HASIDIM
(you can still find Hasidic Jews to this day)
Their name meant “Pious Ones” and they were influential
In the beginning of the Maccabean revolt which helped Israel to
Win their independence from Greece.
Out of this group cam a group of men known as Pharisees.
The word most likely comes from the Hebrew word:
PARASH which means “separate” or “detach”
And they were strictly opposed to anyone who did not keep to their strict Jewish roots. They were focused on pietism.
In opposition to this group of men were the HELLENIZERS
These were the Jews who were bent on adopting the Greek Hellenistic culture.
And out of these roots arose the Sadducees
This word comes from the Hebrew word SADAQ which means “righteous ones”
And of course where the Pharisees were the legalists of Jesus’ day,
The Sadducees were the liberals,
Denying things like angels and even the resurrection.
Incidentally, their feud is carried even into the formation of the church.
In Acts 6 we read of this story.
Acts 6:1 “Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food.”
But together these men became the leaders of Israel,
And neither cared for the sheep.
The official leading group was known as the Sanhedrin.
• They were comprised of The Chief Priests, The Scribes, and The Elders.
• The High Priest served as the president.
The Scribes who were the supposed Bible scholars were mostly Pharisees.
Annas and Caiaphas were Sadducees.
And we are well aware of how well they shepherded the flock of Israel.
Jesus confronted both quite sharply.
Matthew 23 is quite a rebuke of the Pharisees, continually calling them hypocrites.
Note especially
Matthew 23:1-7 “Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. “They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. “But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. “They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men.”
Jesus also took the Sadducees to task, both before and during His trial.
Matthew 22:23-33 “On that day some Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to Jesus and questioned Him, asking, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘IF A MAN DIES HAVING NO CHILDREN, HIS BROTHER AS NEXT OF KIN SHALL MARRY HIS WIFE, AND RAISE UP CHILDREN FOR HIS BROTHER.’ “Now there were seven brothers with us; and the first married and died, and having no children left his wife to his brother; so also the second, and the third, down to the seventh. “Last of all, the woman died. “In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had married her.” But Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God. “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. “But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God: ‘I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.” When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.”
But together these men had literally fleeced the flock of Israel.
Of the Pharisees Jesus said:
Matthew 23:14 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.”
And of course the temple charade which Jesus cleansed was actually referred to as “The Bizarre of Annas”. It was his flea market.
Perhaps the best passage revealing the work they had done in Israel
Is found in Matthew 9.
Matthew 9:36 “Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.”
“distressed” translates SKULLO (to skin or to flay)
“dispirited” translates RHIPTO (to cast off or throw off)
This was the problem in Israel.
The flock of God had been “doomed to slaughter”
We all remember the story in Matthew 15
Where we learned how the Pharisees actually refrained from giving financial aid even to their needy parents under the guise that they had devoted their money only to God.
Or how about this well-known story.
Mark 12:38-44 “In His teaching He was saying: “Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, and like respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, 4who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation.” And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.”
I am thankful to John MacArthur for opening my eyes to this passage.
A passage often quoted as an expected standard for giving,
When in reality it was an example of how the scribes had even taken advantage of this woman, literally taking her last cent.
But the flock was suffering under brutal shepherds, and this is why God told Christ to “Pasture the flock doomed to slaughter.”
Now this is not yet the full explanation as to
Why that first shepherd is weeping.
That is only the first leg of the story.
After this brutal shepherd we see:
#3 THE GOOD SHEPHERD
Zechariah 11:7-14
Well we know the Good Shepherd was.
John 10:11-15 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. “He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. “He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.”
“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.”
The two staffs should make sense.
Psalms 23:4 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”
• One staff was a club used to beat off predators; “Favor”
• The other was that curved staff meant to gather in the sheep; “Union”
The Good Shepherd came in to save the sheep.
And without a doubt He declared war on their former shepherds.
(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.”
I think that verse is an understatement to say the least.
Jesus couldn’t talk to them without calling them hypocrites
And all they wanted to do was kill Jesus.
My favorite illustrative story of this mutual animosity is found in Luke 11
TURN TO: LUKE 11:37-54
I think that story just illustrates the point.
He attacked them and they hated Him for it.
And so it seems like this story is going to have a happy ending,
And we are still left wondering
Why is that first shepherd of the chapter weeping?
WELL, HERE IS WHY
The sheep refused to follow this new Good Shepherd.
• They rejected Him in favor of their old shepherds.
• This Good Shepherd became the Rejected Shepherd.
(9-11) “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.” I took my staff Favor and cut it in pieces, to break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples. 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.”
We saw this fulfilled:
Luke 19:41-44 “When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. “For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”
This Shepherd came to save the sheep, and they refused Him.
In fact they cried “Crucify Him!”
Here is more of that familiar story
(12-14) “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. 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. Then I cut in pieces my second staff Union, to break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.”
And of course you see the fulfillment there.
Matthew 26:14-16 “Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?” And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him. From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus.”
If you are curious about the significance of 30 pieces of silver:
Exodus 21:28-32 “If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall surely be stoned and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall go unpunished. “If, however, an ox was previously in the habit of goring and its owner has been warned, yet he does not confine it and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death. “If a ransom is demanded of him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is demanded of him. “Whether it gores a son or a daughter, it shall be done to him according to the same rule. “If the ox gores a male or female slave, the owner shall give his or her master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.”
That was the redemption price of a gored slave.
The point being was that the sheep did not value this Shepherd.
Instead they rejected Him.
And with that betrayal the Good Shepherd broke His two staffs in two.
• In verse 10 “I took my staff Favor and cut it in pieces”
• No more protection for Israel.
• In verse 14 “Then I cut in pieces my second staff Union”
• No more unity in Israel.
And if we had time we could go to Romans 11 and read about
How Israel was broken off and the Gentiles were grafted in.
So the Good Shepherd came to deliver from the Brutal Shepherd
And the sheep rejected Him.
Is that why the first shepherd is weeping?
Not entirely
Here is why that first shepherd is weeping
#4 THE FOOLISH SHEPHERD
Zechariah 11:15-17
Israel rejected her Good shepherd
So the LORD promises to send them another one.
And the next shepherd the LORD will send is called “a foolish shepherd”
Also referred to as “the worthless shepherd”
“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.”
The next shepherd Israel will have
Will be a shepherd who absolutely devours the flock.
If you thought the brutal shepherds were bad,
You haven’t seen anything yet.
And of course this next shepherd will be the Antichrist.
Daniel 8:23-26 “In the latter period of their rule, When the transgressors have run their course, A king will arise, Insolent and skilled in intrigue. “His power will be mighty, but not by his own power, And he will destroy to an extraordinary degree And prosper and perform his will; He will destroy mighty men and the holy people. “And through his shrewdness He will cause deceit to succeed by his influence; And he will magnify himself in his heart, And he will destroy many while they are at ease. He will even oppose the Prince of princes, But he will be broken without human agency. “The vision of the evenings and mornings Which has been told is true; But keep the vision secret, For it pertains to many days in the future.”
And this is why that first shepherd is weeping.
He sees the desecration which will be caused by
This final foolish shepherd.
And the consequences of this are so bad that
It caused those who care about Israel to weep and to wail.
God has been saying all along that He would bless Israel
And that He has great plans for her,
But all of those great plans center around the coming King.
They rejected that King and therefore their prosperity has yet to be seen.
The obvious reminder to us is of
THE ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL NECESSITY OF JESUS.
EVERY GOOD THING GOD HAS FOR HIS PEOPLE
COMES ONLY THROUGH JESUS CHRIST.
There is no good for God’s people apart from Him.
2 Corinthians 1:19-20 “For the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by us — by me and Silvanus and Timothy — was not yes and no, but is yes in Him. For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.”
Every promise God makes to His people comes only through Christ.
Ephesians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,”
Listen to these verses from Romans 5
Romans 5:1-2 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.”
Romans 5:9 “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.”
Romans 5:11 “And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”
Romans 5:17-19 “For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.”
And those aren’t the only ones,
But it is that continual use of the word “through’.
Every good thing only comes to us “through” Christ.
If you don’t have Him, you don’t have anything.
Israel learned that the hard way.
• God spent 3 chapters making promise after promise after promise of the
most remarkable blessings any people could imagine.
• And yet Israel has failed to recognize any of them because they refused
the package through which God delivered those blessings; Jesus Christ.
That is why Peter urged Israel to return to Christ
That all of God’s promises might in fact be realized by them.
Acts 3:19-20 “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you,”
We clearly learn what a difference Christ makes.
He is the conduit, He is the mediator.
If you have Him you have it all.
If you don’t have Him, you don’t have anything.
