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<h2><a onclick="return mV('Zec',11,'all');">Zec 11</a> - Thirty Pieces of Silver</h2>
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<p>A. Judgment coming on God's flock.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('Zec',11,'1-3');">1-3</a>) Creation mourns because of coming judgment.</p>
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<p class="c2">Open your doors, O Lebanon, that fire may devour your cedars. Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen, because the mighty <i>trees </i>are ruined. Wail, O oaks of Bashan, for the thick forest has come down. <i>There is </i>the sound of wailing shepherds! For their glory is in ruins. <i>There is </i>the sound of roaring lions! For the pride of the Jordan is in ruins.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Open your doors, O Lebanon, that fire may devour your cedars</span></b>: This describes the coming of destructive armies of judgment from the north, through Lebanon. The <b><span class="c3">doors</span></b> of Lebanon are the mountain passes between Lebanon and Israel.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. Boice comments on how this prophecy was fulfilled in the Roman campaign against Judea. "These verses might have described the Babylonian invasion if they had been written earlier; but that was past history by Zechariah's time. There is nothing in the history of the people that a comprehensive destruction of the land can refer to prior to the terrible destruction ordered by Vespasian and his successor Titus."</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen</span></b>: The cedar trees Illustrate Lebanon's strength and once they fall the lesser forests of <b><span class="c3">cypress</span></b> and <b><span class="c3">oak</span></b> will also be destroyed, so they also <b><span class="c3">wail</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">Wailing shepherds...roaring lions</span></b>: In addition to the trees, the <b><span class="c3">shepherds</span></b> and <b><span class="c3">lions</span></b> also mourn because of judgment on the land - coming because Israel has rejected the Good Shepherd.</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('Zec',11,'4-7');">4-7</a>) Zechariah acts out a prophecy of judgment.</p>
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<p class="c2">Thus says the <span class="c6">Lord</span> my God, "Feed the flock for slaughter, whose owners slaughter them and feel no guilt; those who sell them say, 'Blessed be the <span class="c6">Lord</span>, for I am rich'; and their shepherds do not pity them. For I will no longer pity the inhabitants of the land," says the <span class="c6">Lord</span>. "But indeed I will give everyone into his neighbor's hand and into the hand of his king. They shall attack the land, and I will not deliver <i>them </i>from their hand." So I fed the flock for slaughter, in particular the poor of the flock. I took for myself two staffs: the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bonds; and I fed the flock.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Feed the flock for slaughter</span></b>: Zechariah acts out this prophecy, feeding a literal flock of sheep that represents the people of God. As the shepherd Zechariah represents the <span class="c6">Lord</span> who has appointed this flock for a season of judgment.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">I took for myself two staffs</span></b>: Zechariah's <b><span class="c3">two staffs</span></b> were named "<b><span class="c3">Beauty</span></b>" (<i>grace</i>) and "<b><span class="c3">Bonds</span></b>" (<i>unity</i>). The staff was a common tool for a shepherd (<a onclick="return mV('Psa',23,4);">Psa 23:4</a>).</p>
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<p class="c5">i. "<i>Favor</i> symbolizes the favored status of Israel as the chosen people of God. <i>Union</i> symbolizes the internal harmony of the people that was lost at the time of the siege of Jerusalem." (Boice)</p>
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<p class="c1">3. (<a onclick="return mV('Zec',11,'8-11');">8-11</a>) The covenant symbolically broken.</p>
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<p class="c2">I dismissed the three shepherds in one month. My soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me. Then I said, "I will not feed you. Let what is dying die, and what is perishing perish. Let those that are left eat each other's flesh." And I took my staff, Beauty, and cut it in two, that I might break the covenant which I had made with all the peoples. So it was broken on that day. Thus the poor of the flock, who were watching me, knew that it <i>was </i>the word of the <span class="c6">Lord</span>.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">I dismissed the three shepherds in one month</span></b>: We know that Zechariah is acting prophetically, but it is hard to identify these <b><span class="c3">three shepherds</span></b> whom Zechariah hated, and they hated him.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. "The best explanation is probably the oldest, which sees the three shepherds not as three individuals but as three classes of individuals, namely: the prophets, priests, and kings of Israel." (Boice) The offices of prophet, priest, and king were taken away from Israel after the Roman conquest of Judea and have never been restored - because they are now fulfilled in Jesus Christ.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">I will not feed you. Let what is dying die</span></b>: In bringing judgment by letting the <i>dying die</i>, God merely withdraws His hand of protection. At one time God had a <b><span class="c3">covenant</span></b> with <b><span class="c3">all the peoples</span></b>, preventing them from attacking His people Israel. When God decides to <b><span class="c3">break the covenant</span></b>, His people will be attacked.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">Let those who are left eat each other's flesh</span></b>: This really happened during the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 <span class="c6">a.d.</span></p>
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<p class="c4">d. <b><span class="c3">The poor of the flock...knew that it was the word of the <span class="c6">Lord</span></span></b>: These are the faithful remnant who know that even the hard words are from God.</p>
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<p class="c1">4. (<a onclick="return mV('Zec',11,'12-14');">12-14</a>) The shepherd is paid with contempt.</p>
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<p class="c2">Then I said to them, "If it is agreeable to you, give <i>me </i>my wages; and if not, refrain." So they weighed out for my wages thirty <i>pieces </i>of silver. And the <span class="c6">Lord</span> said to me, "Throw it to the potter"; that princely price they set on me. So I took the thirty <i>pieces </i>of silver and threw them into the house of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> for the potter. Then I cut in two my other staff, Bonds, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Give me my wages</span></b>: Zechariah is "play-acting" this prophecy, employing himself as a shepherd over a flock. Now he asks his employer for his wages, and <b><span class="c3">they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">That princely price they set on me</span></b>: Zechariah speaks sarcastically here. <b><span class="c3">Thirty pieces of silver</span></b> was not an insignificant amount, but it was the price of a slave (<a onclick="return mV('Exd',21,32);">Exd 21:32</a>). It was the lowest they could pay, and it said to Zechariah "we think of you as a slave."</p>
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<p class="c5">i. This speaks prophetically of Jesus, who was contemptuously betrayed for <b><span class="c3">thirty pieces of silver</span></b> (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',26,15);">Mat 26:15</a> and <a onclick="return mV('Mat',27,3);">27:3</a>) - the price of a slave.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. <a onclick="return mV('Mat',27,'9-10');">Mat 27:9-10</a> says: <i>Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the value of Him who was priced, whom they of the children of Israel priced, and gave them for the potter's field, as the <span class="c6">Lord</span> directed me."</i> This is a problem because clearly Zechariah records the passage mentioned in <a onclick="return mV('Mat',27,'9-10');">Mat 27:9-10</a>. There are generally three solutions offered for this problem:</p><ul class="c6"><li>Some think it is an error but not by Matthew - an early copyist made a mistake. Perhaps Matthew wrote <i>Zec</i>, but an early copyist put <i>Jer</i> instead</li><li>Some think that Jeremiah spoke this prophecy and Zechariah recorded it. This may be the word spoken by Jeremiah, but <i>recorded</i> by Zechariah</li><li>Some think that Matthew refers to <i>scroll</i> of Jeremiah, which included the book of Zechariah</li></ul>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">Threw them into the house of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> for the potter</span></b>: Curiously, Zechariah says that the thirty pieces of silver were thrown <b><span class="c3">into the house of the <span class="c6">Lord</span></span></b> but that they were also given to the <b><span class="c3">potter</span></b>. This is an exact fulfillment of what Judas did with his thirty pieces of silver (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',27,'3-10');">Mat 27:3-10</a>).</p>
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<p class="c5">i. The money to betray Jesus - His purchase price - went to buy a potter's field (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',27,7);">Mat 27:7</a>). A potter's field was a piece of useless land where he threw his broken, damaged, and rejected pots. Jesus really did purchase the potter's field - the place where broken, rejected, and useless people like us are scattered.</p>
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<p class="c4">d. <b><span class="c3">Then I cut in two my other staff, Bonds, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel</span></b>: After the exchange of the thirty pieces of silver the staff of <b><span class="c3">Bonds</span></b> (unity) is broken. This was fulfilled when Israel was scattered by the Romans after their rejection of their Shepherd Jesus.</p>
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<p>B. A false shepherd to come.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('Zec',11,'15-16');">15-16</a>) God will allow foolish shepherds to come to His people.</p>
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<p class="c2">And the <span class="c6">Lord</span> said to me, "Next, take for yourself the implements of a foolish shepherd. For indeed I will raise up a shepherd in the land <i>who </i>will not care for those who are cut off, nor seek the young, nor heal those that are broken, nor feed those that still stand. But he will eat the flesh of the fat and tear their hooves in pieces."</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Take for yourself the implements of a foolish shepherd</span></b>: Now Zechariah play-acts as a <b><span class="c3">foolish shepherd</span></b> who does not care for the sheep the way that a shepherd should.</p><ul class="c6"><li>The foolish shepherd <b><span class="c3">will not care for those who are cut off</span></b> but a wise and godly shepherd will seek the lost</li><li>The foolish shepherd will not <b><span class="c3">seek the young</span></b> but a wise and godly shepherd knows that <b><span class="c3">the young</span></b> need to come to the <span class="c6">Lord</span> as much as older people do</li><li>The foolish shepherd will not <b><span class="c3">heal those that are broken</span></b> but a wise and godly shepherd looks for broken hearts and lives and mends them with God's love and word</li><li>The foolish shepherd will not <b><span class="c3">feed those that still stand</span></b> but a wise and godly shepherd will faithfully feed the sheep</li><li>The foolish shepherd will <b><span class="c3">eat the flesh of the fat and tear their hooves in pieces</span></b> but a wise and godly shepherd will lay down his life for the sheep (<a onclick="return mV('Jhn',10,11);">Jhn 10:11</a>)</li></ul>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">I will raise up a shepherd in the land</span></b>: This foolish shepherd is allowed and appointed by God as judgment because His people forsook the true shepherd. This was fulfilled in Israel's rejection of Jesus. They rejected the Good Shepherd (<a onclick="return mV('Jhn',10,'1-18');">Jhn 10:1-18</a>) but received another shepherd (<a onclick="return mV('Jhn',5,43);">Jhn 5:43</a>).</p>
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<p class="c5">i. We often assume all that people need is the right leader. Here we see that even the ultimate leader may be rejected and a worthless leader chosen. Democracy's value is that it respects man's fallen nature and spreads out power - yet the majority <i>may be</i> very, very wrong and prefer a <b><span class="c3">foolish shepherd</span></b> instead of the Good Shepherd.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. The <b><span class="c3">foolish shepherd</span></b> embraced by Israel was partially fulfilled in their choice of Barabbas (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',27,'20-22');">Mat 27:20-22</a>) but will be ultimately fulfilled in their embrace of Antichrist and their covenant with him (<a onclick="return mV('Dan',9,27);">Dan 9:27</a>).</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('Zec',11,17);">17</a>) Judgment on the worthless shepherd.</p>
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<p class="c2">"Woe to the worthless shepherd, who leaves the flock! A sword <i>shall be </i>against his arm and against his right eye; his arm shall completely wither, and his right eye shall be totally blinded."</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Woe to the worthless shepherd</span></b>: Though God appointed the foolish shepherd in light of Israel's rejection of the Good Shepherd, it does not mean that God approves of the foolish shepherd. God will judge that <b><span class="c3">worthless shepherd</span></b> who injured His <b><span class="c3">flock</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">A sword shall be against his arm and against his right eye</span></b>: The worthless shepherd feels the sword of God's judgment against <b><span class="c3">his arm</span></b> and <b><span class="c3">his right eye</span></b>. The <b><span class="c3">arm</span></b> expresses strength and the <b><span class="c3">eye</span></b> expresses intelligence, so this will be a harsh blow against the worthless shepherd.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. <a onclick="return mV('Rev',13,3);">Rev 13:3</a> and <a onclick="return mV('Rev',13,'12-14');">13:12-14</a> tell us the Antichrist will suffer a severe wound yet survive. This confirms that the <b><span class="c3">worthless shepherd</span></b> is ultimately fulfilled in the Antichrist.</p>
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