Desolation of Israel
“Open your doors, O Lebanon, that fire may devour your cedars. Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen, because the mighty trees are ruined. Wail, O oaks of Bashan, for the thick forest has come down. There is the sound of wailing shepherds! For their glory is in ruins. There is the sound of roaring lions! For the pride of the Jordan is in ruins.
Prophecy of the Shepherds
Thus says the Lord my God, “Feed the flock for slaughter, whose owners slaughter them and feel no guilt; those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich’; and their shepherds do not pity them. For I will no longer pity the inhabitants of the land,” says the Lord. “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 them 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. 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 was the word of the Lord. Then I said to them, “If it is agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain.” So they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver.
And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—that princely price they set on me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord for the potter. Then I cut in two my other staff, Bonds, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
And the Lord said to me, “Next, take for yourself the implements of a foolish shepherd. For indeed I will raise up a shepherd in the land who 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.
“Woe to the worthless shepherd, who leaves the flock! A sword shall be against his arm and against his right eye; his arm shall completely wither, and his right eye shall be totally blinded.”
What’s going on here? Why all this talk about trees and worthless shepherds? And what’s the significance of the thirty pieces of silver?
Here Zechariah is foretelling that Lebanon and the entire area around the Jordan will be conquered and devastated. Until now, there have been dense forests close to the Jordan River; however, invaders are about to strip that area of its trees. The lions that once roamed these forests will be roaring in anguish. These lions represent the nations surrounding the Jordan River.
Then Zechariah begins describing worthless shepherds that were herding the flocks, possibly the flocks intended for sacrifice in the temple. The two staffs are symbols of God’s covenant with His people. But those who were to lead God’s people have proven worthless, refusing to keep covenant with God. Now God is about to break off that covenant and allow His people to be killed and carried into exile. First, God breaks the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. Next, God orders Zechariah to behave like a foolish shepherd, a leader who has no concern for his people, as a sign of the woefully inadequate leadership in the two nations. But why the story of the payment of thirty pieces of silver?
Thirty pieces of silver is the accepted price of a slave in the time of Jesus. The Jewish leaders will pay Judas Iscariot thirty pieces of silver to betray Jesus-an indication of how little they think of Judas and how little he also thinks of Jesus. Judas Iscariot will betray Jesus because Jesus will not fulfill Judas’ expectations of an earthly kingship and Judas will be revolted as a result. When Zechariah requests his wages as a shepherd and is paid thirty pieces of silver, it is a prophetic act foretelling what will happen to Jesus. It is ironic that the true Shepherd of Israel will be sold to those who wish his death for the price of a slave. On the way to Calvary, Jesus will endure countless humiliations, and this price will be among them.
APPLICATION: Today, there are many worthless shepherds and very few true ones. Many leaders are bowing to what is politically expedient, rather than maintaining Biblical standards. Recently, one avowedly Christian university has refused to allow a national Christian men’s movement to use their campus as a meeting place because that movement has boldly stated that they continue to honor Biblical standards of sexuality.
Zechariah is an honest man; for God to order Zechariah to behave as a worthless shepherd is a severe test of Zechariah’s ability to obey. As Zechariah is symbolically breaking those staffs, he must feel horrible. Those broken staffs indicate that God’s people have broken their covenant with Him and must now suffer the consequences. As a prophet, Zechariah can already see the bloodshed that is coming and hear the wails of the dying.
What does God want of each of us? God desires us to honor Him, to worship Him, and to follow His tenets. Micah 6:8 tells us, “He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” God has not changed, and neither have His precepts.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, raise up shepherds who will lead faithfully, no matter what. Help us to follow hard after You all the days of our lives. In the mighty and precious Name of Your Son Jesus Christ. Amen.
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