Dividing Shepherd

Zechariah 11 is a metaphorical chapter wherein the prophet is called upon by the Lord to play the Lord's part in Israel's history. 

Zechariah 11:4 (ESV) Thus said the LORD my God: “Become shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter. 

The Lord tells the prophet to become the nation's shepherd. Zechariah 11 continues by reminding the nation that the Lord had bought them from the hands of those who abused and exploited them.
Zechariah 11:5–6 (ESV) Those who buy them slaughter them and go unpunished, and those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the LORD, I have become rich,’ and their own shepherds have no pity on them. 6 For I will no longer have pity on the inhabitants of this land, declares the LORD. Behold, I will cause each of them to fall into the hand of his neighbor, and each into the hand of his king, and they shall crush the land, and I will deliver none from their hand.”

Zechariah is, then a picture of the Lord's saving grace upon Israel. 
Zechariah 11:7 (ESV) So I became the shepherd of the flock doomed to be slaughtered by the sheep traders. And I took two staffs, one I named Favor, the other I named Union. And I tended the sheep.

Now the shepherd holds two staffs symbolizing His history with the people: The staff of favor and the staff of union. Favor signifying all the ways in which God elected, cared for, provided for, protected, and led Israel in history, and Union signifying the one people whom He called. It is a reminder that only the Lord can empower our lives into fruitful abundance and only the Lord can hold us together. 

The metaphor continues in the next verse with God saving Israel from harmful shepherds.
Zechariah 11:8 (ESV) In one month I destroyed the three shepherds. But I became impatient with them, and they also detested me.

This verse represents the time in which God handed Israel over to her own desires, to be like the nations. That desire eventually led them to be consumed by the nations. 

Zechariah 11:9 (ESV) So I said, “I will not be your shepherd. What is to die, let it die. What is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed. And let those who are left devour the flesh of one another.”

Then the prophet breaks the first staff in the midst of the sheep traders.
Zechariah 11:10–11 (ESV) And I took my staff Favor, and I broke it, annulling the covenant that I had made with all the peoples. 11 So it was annulled on that day, and the sheep traders, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the LORD.

No more covenant of promise from the Lord. The favor would be revoked in exile. And into this moment a Messianic prophecy arises:
Zechariah 11:12–13 (ESV) Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver. 13 Then the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD, to the potter.

The metaphor of Zechariah as a shepherd concludes with the breaking of the union staff to symbolize a division among the people of Israel. The Lord then tells Zechariah to take up another role in this play, that of a foolish shepherd who will represent the leader to come for Israel. 

Zechariah 11:15–16 (ESV) Then the LORD said to me, “Take once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 16 For behold, I am raising up in the land a shepherd who does not care for those being destroyed, or seek the young or heal the maimed or nourish the healthy, but devours the flesh of the fat ones, tearing off even their hoofs.

Does this chapter point backward to Israel's terrible kings, divided kingdom, and false prophets or forward to Antiochus Epiphanes and those who demoralize Israel in the intertestamental period? I believe it points to Christ. He is the shepherd to come, and in a shadowy repeat of history, Jesus will bring favor upon the land of Israel and rescue the abused sheep. Yet His work will bring the conclusion of the former covenant, and a new covenant community will be established that will separate (divide) Israel. Some will follow, but many will not. Those who don't are given over to their own blind foolishness. 

It's a lesson for those who follow Christ. He brings favor and division. He separates from among the nation as a shepherd separates His sheep from other flocks. Those who follow Him are given wisdom for living. To abandon Him is to play the fool. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Decreation and New Birth

We come to one of the darkest chapters in Isaiah.  Isaiah 34:1–2 (ESV) Draw near, O nations, to hear, and give attention, O peoples! Let the earth hear, and all that fills it; the world, and all that comes from it. 2 For the LORD is enraged against all the nations, and furious against all their host; he has devoted them to destruction, has given them over for slaughter. By Isaiah 34 the language is total cataclysmic judgment. All the nations, all their host all devoted to destruction. In chapter 24 the language was total destruction. But here it's not just the judgment, it's the anger of God.  I think we fail to think about that properly. God gets angry. The language of this chapter is solemn. Isaiah 34:5–6 (ESV) For my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens; behold, it descends for judgment upon Edom, upon the people I have devoted to destruction. 6 The LORD has a sword; it is sated with blood; it is gorged with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the ki...
Read more

Because He's There, We're Complete

Ezekiel closes with the land as it was meant to be. The measurements of each tribal allotment are much more equal and the outlines drawn are very similar to what Moses described in Numbers 34.  Ezekiel 48:1–2 (ESV) “These are the names of the tribes: Beginning at the northern extreme, beside the way of Hethlon to Lebo-hamath, as far as Hazar-enan (which is on the northern border of Damascus over against Hamath), and extending from the east side to the west, Dan, one portion. 2 Adjoining the territory of Dan, from the east side to the west, Asher, one portion. What we see is that not only is the Temple restored, but the land is finally what it was meant to be. Ezekiel ends by teaching us that things only work as they should when God's house is in order and we make room for Him to rule and reign.  In the middle, a holy portion run by the "prince" which most believe is the Priestly system.  Ezekiel 48:21 (ESV) “What remains on both sides of the holy portion and of the prop...
Read more

The God of the Spirits of all Flesh

Numbers 27:15–17 (ESV)  Moses spoke to the LORD, saying, 16 “Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation 17 who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the LORD may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.” When Moses is reminded that he will not enter the land according to the Lord's word concerning his disobedience to God at the waters of Meribah, his first inclination is not to beg for God to reconsider but for God to find the right man to shepherd the people. At the end of his ministry to God's people and in God's purpose, Moses was a shepherd at heart. He became a shepherd when he chose to identify with his people rather than enjoy the momentary pleasures of Egypt. He lived in Midian for 40 years as a shepherd understanding the tremendous amount of work required to lead flocks properly. Moses may have been raised in the luxury of a palace, but...
Read more