Zechariah 10 & 11
This morning we begin our annual celebration of the birth of Jesus and our anticipation that he will soon return as he promised.
Who were the first to hear about the birth of Jesus? The archangel Gabriel spoke to Mary and to Joseph about the coming birth of Jesus. Mary gave birth in the home of one of the families of Bethlehem, probably a relative of Joseph. But outside of that home, who were the first to hear about the birth of Jesus? (Luke 2:8–20)
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
Why did God make this announcement of the birth of Jesus to shepherds? We don’t know for sure, but one of the reasons might have been because shepherds were near the bottom of the social ladder in Palestinian society. As we read the Bible, it is clear that the heart of God is inclined toward the poor, the powerless, those who are pushed to the margins of society.
Perhaps God has a special love for shepherds. David wrote about God being our shepherd. And when Jesus taught about himself, he called himself a good shepherd. Maybe that is why the angels announced the birth of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, to shepherds who were keeping watch over their flocks at night.
A shepherd is a keeper of sheep. Who is the first shepherd mentioned in the Bible? The first of many things are found in Genesis and in Genesis we read that Able, the son of Adam and brother of Cain, was a shepherd. Shepherding was the chief occupation of the Israelites in the early days of the patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Remember that the extended family of Jacob, who came to Egypt when there was a famine, tended sheep.
As civilization developed the cultivation of crops increased and shepherding became a less honorable profession. Shepherding was assigned to younger sons, hired hands, and slaves. The Egyptians despised the Israelites because they tended sheep. David, the youngest of eight sons of Jesse, was sent off to tend sheep while his older brothers worked at more important tasks.
The Bible mentions shepherds and shepherding over 200 times. But in addition to this the Hebrew word for shepherding is often translated “feeding.” Shepherds led sheep to pasture and water and protected them from wild animals. Shepherds guarded their flocks at night and counted the sheep when they entered the sheep pens. They took care of the sheep and even carried weak lambs in their arms.
Because of this very familiar image of a shepherd caring for his sheep, a shepherd came to designate not only those who herded sheep but also kings, other leaders, and God Himself.
We know very well the opening of Psalm 23,
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
Isaiah 40:11describes how God is like a shepherd.
[the Sovereign Lord] tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young.
Prophets referred to Israel’s leaders as shepherds. (Ezekiel 34:1–2)
The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock?
In the New Testament Jesus used the image of a shepherd and his sheep to illustrate his relationship to those who followed him. In John 10 Jesus taught his disciples, calling himself “the good shepherd.” (John 10:1–18)
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.
In between these two verses we see the contrast between the good shepherd and a bad shepherd. (John 10:12–13)
The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
Where did Jesus come up with this image of a good shepherd and a bad shepherd? Jesus is not directly quoting Zechariah, but he is clearly referencing the prophecy of Zechariah in chapter 11.
In Zechariah 10 God spoke through Zechariah to say that bad leaders would be replaced by a good leader.
2 The idols speak deceitfully,
diviners see visions that lie;
they tell dreams that are false,
they give comfort in vain.
Therefore the people wander like sheep
oppressed for lack of a shepherd.
It is painful for God to see the people he loves, the people he created to be in an intimate relationship with himself, drifting away without someone to lead them. It is painful for God to see shepherds who use and abuse their sheep for their own personal gain.
3 “My anger burns against the shepherds,
and I will punish the leaders;
for the Lord Almighty will care
for his flock, the people of Judah,
God declares that he will be the shepherd for his people. “The Lord Almighty will care for his flock.”
How will this happen?
4 From Judah will come the cornerstone,
from him the tent peg,
from him the battle bow,
from him every ruler.
In the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1 we can trace the lineage of Jesus from Judah to David to Joseph who married Mary, the mother of Jesus. Jesus came from the line of Judah.
In his ministry Jesus quoted Psalm 118 in his confrontations with the ruling Jewish leaders and in Peter’s first sermon at Pentecost he also quoted Psalm 118 (Acts 4:11)
Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the cornerstone.’
Jesus is the cornerstone, the stone that holds the rest of the building together. Jesus is also the tent peg. This is a reference to the stake at the corner of a tent that holds the tent upright.
Jesus is the battle bow. This image is a reference to Jesus who will fight for his people. This takes us from the earthly ministry of Jesus all the way into what is still future for us, when Jesus will return as a mighty warrior.
Jesus is the good shepherd promised in the prophecy of Zechariah. This is good news of great joy for all the people.
But what follows in Zechariah 11 is not a joyful chapter. It is a painfully sad chapter. There is great news in chapters 9 & 10. The Messiah is coming! But now in chapter 11 we see the foretelling of the rejection of the Messiah and the bitter consequences for those who reject him.
In chapter 11 God tells Zechariah to act out what will happen in the future.
4 This is what the Lord my God says: “Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter.
The flock, the people of Israel are marked for slaughter. What event is being described? Is it the near future? The far future?
It may be, as with much of the prophecy in the Old Testament that there is a near time fulfillment of the prophecy and a distant fulfillment of the prophecy. Because of all the references in these last chapters of Zechariah that were picked up by Jesus and the writers of the New Testament, I am inclined to take the view that this prophecy is fulfilled with the incarnation of Jesus, God in the flesh.
Zechariah received a word from God.
4 This is what the Lord my God says: “Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter.
The people of Israel are doomed to destruction. Why are they doomed to destruction?
5 Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, ‘Praise the Lord, I am rich!’ Their own shepherds do not spare them. 6 For I will no longer have pity on the people of the land,” declares the Lord. “I will give everyone into the hands of their neighbors and their king. They will devastate the land, and I will not rescue anyone from their hands.”
The Jewish leaders are corrupt, making deals to profit for themselves without regard for the welfare of the people they lead. There is no justice. They make alliances with foreign leaders for their own benefit. In the time of Jesus, the Sanhedrin, the Jewish leaders, worked with the occupying Romans in a political dance. Together, the Jewish leaders and the Roman occupiers worked to get rid of this troublesome Jesus of Nazareth. Because of this, they will be devastated and God will not step in to help them.
7 So I shepherded the flock marked for slaughter, particularly the oppressed of the flock. Then I took two staffs and called one Favor and the other Union, and I shepherded the flock.
In the same way as Ezekiel, Hosea, and other prophets before him, Zechariah began his public, prophetic theater. He went out into the streets and acted out the part God had told him to play. God told Zechariah to take two staffs. A shepherd carried two staffs with him. One was longer than the other with a hook at the end which was used to pull sheep away from danger. The other was a thicker piece of wood used as a weapon to defend the sheep from attackers. One staff he named Favor and the other Union, and he shepherded the flock.
8 In one month I got rid of the three shepherds.
No one really knows what this reference to the three shepherds means. One commentator said there are over forty speculations about who these three shepherds signify. The phrase, “in one month” does mean whatever happened, happened quickly.
One speculation I thought was interesting for the three shepherds is that they signify the prophets, priests, and kings of Israel. “In one month,” in a short time, the prophets, priests, and kings of Israel ceased to exist when Jerusalem was destroyed in 70AD. The prophets, priests, and kings of Israel were replaced with Jesus who is our prophet, our high priest, and our king.
Why were the three shepherds removed?
The flock detested me, and I grew weary of them 9 and said, “I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish. Let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.”
There is a limit to God’s patience. Zechariah is acting out the role of the Good Shepherd who was to come and this verse speaks of Israel’s rejection of the Good Shepherd. The consequence of this rejection was the complete destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. I’ll come back to that in a moment.
Think about this from God’s perspective. After centuries of working with Israel, making a covenant at Mt. Sinai, seeing the covenant violated, seeing the descendants of Abraham turning to the worship of idols rather than to him, God acted in judgment. He allowed Israel and then Judah to be conquered and the people sent away into exile in a foreign land.
After seventy years he brought them back and now, at the end of Zechariah’s life God sees the people he loves moving away from him once again. With the men and women God loves helpless, unable to obey the law he had given, he acts and enters human history. God makes the ultimate sacrifice, humbles himself, gives up the privileges of heaven, and is born as a baby in Bethlehem. He dies on the cross to take upon himself the penalty for sin for all people so justice could be satisfied. Surely this will be enough to bring his chosen people into an intimate relationship with himself. What more could anyone ask? (John 15:13)
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
Jesus began his public ministry by declaring himself to be the Messiah. Jesus stood up in the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth and read Isaiah 61:1–3
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of his splendor.
Jesus demonstrated who he was with his teaching and his miracles and what was the result? With a few exceptions, he was rejected by the religious leaders of Israel.
Later, after Jesus called Saul/Paul to take the gospel to the Gentiles, Paul wrote in Romans about his grief that so many of his fellow Jews did not accept Jesus as the Messiah. (Romans 9:2–4)
I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, 4 the people of Israel.
God did everything he could do and still was rejected.
The flock detested me, and I grew weary of them 9 and said, “I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish. Let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.”
This rejection of Jesus carried consequences.
In 66 AD Jewish revolutionaries gained control of Jerusalem and massacred the Roman garrison stationed there. In the next year, General Vespasian, sent by Nero, arrived in Antioch and began to subdue the fortified towns of Galilee. In 68 AD Nero died and Vespasian was proclaimed the new emperor. He left his second-in-command Titus to carry on the war.
Jerusalem was surrounded. Food was cut off. People starved. In fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy, some even resorted to cannibalism. Steadily the Romans broke through wall after wall, defense after defense, and the defenders were driven back to the temple. On July 17, 70 AD, the daily sacrifices came to an end because there were not men to offer them. The gates of the temple were burned and then the temple itself. Thousands were crucified.
Judaism ceased to exist politically, and the Jewish people were widely scattered throughout the known world.
10 Then I took my staff called Favor and broke it, revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations. 11 It was revoked on that day, and so the oppressed of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the Lord.
In Zechariah’s public, prophetic theater, he acted out the breaking of the covenant God made with Israel by breaking the staff named Favor. The defeat of Jerusalem was a breaking of the covenant God had made with Israel.
12 I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.
13 And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord.
Zechariah asked the flock to pay him and they paid him thirty pieces of silver. This was the price required to be paid for the death of a slave, the least they could get away with paying him.
This was insulting and God told Zechariah to throw the silver coins away at the house of the potter.
Judas was paid thirty pieces of silver for telling the Jewish leaders where they could arrest Jesus in secret, without the public support for Jesus getting in the way. And, when Judas had remorse for what he had done, he threw the silver coins he had received on the floor of the temple.
14 Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the family bond between Judah and Israel.
15 Then the Lord said to me, “Take again the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 16 For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hooves.
17 “Woe to the worthless shepherd,
who deserts the flock!
May the sword strike his arm and his right eye!
May his arm be completely withered,
his right eye totally blinded!”
Here Zechariah foretells of what the New Testament calls the Antichrist, perhaps one person but more likely a category of leaders who will not acknowledge Jesus to be the Messiah who came to rescue us. These worthless shepherds will be destroyed.
This is a depressing prophecy and Jesus was well aware of what Zechariah had written. When Jesus entered Jerusalem in the triumphal parade, do you remember what he said? (Luke 19:41–44)
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
Jesus saw what had been revealed to Zechariah five hundred years earlier. Jerusalem would be destroyed because they rejected the Messiah God sent to rescue Israel.
Zechariah had written with such hope (Zechariah 9:9)
Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
A Messiah was coming. The Messiah was coming. This is great news. The angels said to the shepherds in the fields outside the little town of Bethlehem,
“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.
The coming of the Messiah is good news of great joy but with his coming there is a choice to be made.
In Rome, when a general was victorious in battle, he was honored with a parade. First came the captive leaders, allies, and soldiers (and sometimes their families) usually walking in chains; some were destined for execution or further display. Their captured weapons, armor, gold, silver, statuary, and curious or exotic treasures were carted behind them. Next in line, all on foot, came Rome’s senators and magistrates, followed by the general’s civil servants, then the general in his four-horse chariot. His officers and elder sons rode horseback nearby. His unarmed soldiers followed in togas and laurel crowns, All this was done to the accompaniment of music, clouds of incense, and the strewing of flowers.
This is the image Paul used to talk about the different reactions to the victory of Christ. (2 Corinthians 2:14–16)
But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life.
To the captives who were destined for death or slavery, the aroma of the incense was the bitterness of defeat and death. To the victorious general and his army the aroma of the incense reminded them of their great fortune.
The good news of Jesus is good news of great joy for all people, but to unbelievers, it is the bitter smell of death because rejection of the message seals their death for eternity. For those who accept the gospel and follow Jesus, it is a sweet smell because they are becoming spiritually alive and entering into eternal life.
The Bible talks about how people will react to the promised return of Jesus. For some it will be “the great and dreadful day of the Lord.”
Revelation 6:15–17
Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand it?”
It will be a day of great fear and desperation.
For those who have reached out and accepted the hand of salvation Jesus offers, it will be a day of great joy.
1 Peter 5:4
And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.
Jude 24–25
To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
I talk often about how Jesus pursues us and offers us second chance after second chance, always willing to accept us back when we turn to him.
But there is also the judgment of God. We dare not ignore, minimize, or forget his justice. There will come a time when it will be too late and there will be no more second chances.
This is not a minor theme in the Bible. This is not taken from some obscure verse. This is a major theme in the Bible, from Genesis through to Revelation. It is a theme in the prophets, in the teaching of Jesus, in the letters of Paul, and in John’s revelation.
In Genesis and the story of Noah, Genesis 6:5–7
The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 6 The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.”
1 Chronicles 28:9
“And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.
Jesus, the Good Shepherd, said (Matthew 7:21–23)
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
Jesus said, (Luke 9:26)
Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
John wrote (John 3:36)
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
There are a lot of reasons people walk away from Jesus. Some have been deeply hurt by someone they loved. Some have been hurt by a priest or pastor. Some have been deeply disappointed that God did not answer their prayers for someone they loved who died. Some have been presented with an unthinking, black and white view of Christian faith and find it superficial and intellectually unsatisfying. Some find the attraction of the money, wealth, and power the world offers too tempting to resist. Some are simply uninterested in anything to do with whatever comes after we die. Some are drawn into the supernatural world of evil.
Salvation is such a great mystery. I don’t understand why I was drawn to Jesus and other good people I know were not. I remember my years of going to church with my parents and being intensely bored to the point that it was physically painful for me to sit in church while songs I did not like were being sung and while the pastor preached terribly uninteresting sermons. I so desperately did not want to be there.
Fortunately, I had a deep curiosity and longing to know what it meant to live on earth. I searched for meaning in life. When I was in university I met people who talked to me, for the first time in my life, after a childhood spent in churches, about the desire of God to be in an intimate relationship with me.
I was pursued by Jesus and I sought for meaning in life and I am grateful that I finally opened my mind and heart to the love of Jesus.
In my family I have sisters who are followers of Jesus, one who is a Muslim, another who follows an Indian guru.
The angels said the birth of Jesus was good news of great joy for all the people. The gospel is good news of great joy for all my sisters. I pray that they will one day open their hearts to the love of Jesus.
Have you been rescued by Jesus? Are you being rescued by Jesus? This Christmas we celebrate the gift of Jesus who was born in Bethlehem. This is no small gift. This is not a gift to be tossed aside, thrown away. This is a gift that carries with it eternal consequences.
Jesus is not just one more religious choice among many religious choices. Jesus humbled himself, suffered, and died – and he did this because of his great love for you.
Don’t let this gift slip away. Choose this day whom you will follow. There is no bigger choice in life. Choosing Jesus will lead to life. Rejecting Jesus will lead to death.
The birth of Jesus is good news of great joy for all the people. His birth is good news for you. Choose well and be filled with great joy.
