{"id":30014,"date":"2024-02-13T22:00:29","date_gmt":"2024-02-14T05:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/zechariah-10_1-12-copy\/"},"modified":"2024-02-05T18:00:59","modified_gmt":"2024-02-06T01:00:59","slug":"zechariah-11_1-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/zechariah-11_1-17\/","title":{"rendered":"The Good Shepherd"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zechariah 11:1-17 <\/strong>\u00a0(CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today’s passage is\u00a0Zechariah\u00a011:1-17.\u00a0\u00a0It’s arguably the most difficult chapter in the book of\u00a0Zechariah.\u00a0 However, within this passage there are many powerful lessons and insights that the Holy Spirit would want us to learn.<\/p>\n

As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help, then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

Zechariah<\/strong>\u00a011<\/strong>:<\/strong>1<\/strong>-3 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>
\n1<\/sup>\u00a0<\/em>Open your doors, O Lebanon, so that fire may devour your cedars!\u00a0<\/em>
\n2\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>Wail, O pine tree, for the cedar has fallen; the stately trees are ruined! Wail, oaks of Bashan; the dense forest has been cut down!\u00a0<\/em>
\n3\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>Listen to the wail of the shepherds; their rich pastures are destroyed! Listen to the roar of the lions; the lush thicket of the Jordan is ruined!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses\u00a01-3: \u00a0The first three verses of\u00a0Zechariah\u00a011\u00a0may\u00a0be the most difficult in the whole chapter to interpret.\u00a0 Various interpretations for these verses have been suggested.\u00a0 Most likely these verses are describing the grief and suffering that the people would experience after rejecting the Messiah in verses 4-14.<\/p>\n

In verses\u00a01\u00a0and 2, what does\u00a0Zechariah\u00a0mean when he talks about cedars of Lebanon and oaks of Bashan being cut down?\u00a0\u00a0Previously,\u00a0the prophet Isaiah used the term “cedars of Lebanon” and “oaks of Bashan” as metaphors for those who are arrogant and prideful and prophesied that God would cut them down (see Isaiah\u00a02:12-16).\u00a0 Now Zechariah is using that same imagery.\u00a0 In verse 3, the shepherds and lions are probably metaphors for arrogant and prideful people who reject the Lord and who subsequently will be destroyed as a result.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this? \u00a0Don’t let pride and arrogance creep into your heart.\u00a0 Remember that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (Proverbs\u00a03:34;\u00a0<\/strong>1<\/strong>\u00a0Peter 5:5).<\/strong><\/p>\n

Zechariah<\/em><\/strong>\u00a011<\/em><\/strong>:4-6 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n4\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>This is what the LORD my God says: “Pasture the flock marked for slaughter.\u00a0<\/em>
\n5\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>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.\u00a0<\/em>
\n6\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>For I will no longer have pity on the people of the land,” declares the LORD. “I will hand everyone over to his neighbor and his king. They will oppress the land, and I will not rescue them from their hands.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 4-6: \u00a0In verses 4-14, the Lord tells\u00a0Zechariah\u00a0to dress up as a good shepherd who takes care of a flock “marked for slaughter” — in other words, a flock that no one wants, that everyone is out to use and abuse rather than to care for (v5) and a flock that even God Himself has rejected (v6).\u00a0 This flock represents the Israelites, who had been used and abused by those who possessed her, and whom God Himself had rejected because of their ongoing rebellion against Him.<\/p>\n

Zechariah<\/strong>\u00a011<\/strong>:7 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>
\n7\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>So I pastured 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 pastured the flock.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 7:\u00a0 Here Zechariah tells a parable about himself as a shepherd.\u00a0 In this story,\u00a0Zechariah\u00a0takes care of a flock of sheep that are marked for slaughter, caring especially for the weak and oppressed.\u00a0 He then takes two staffs, calling one Favor (or “beauty”, “lovely”, “pleasant”, “grace”) and the other Unity (or literally, “ties”).\u00a0 What does this mean? \u00a0Favor represents a blessed vertical relationship with God and Unity represents blessed horizontal relationships with people.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0God’s plan for His people has always been that they would enjoy “Favor” (a blessed relationship with Him) and “Unity” (blessed relationships with one another).\u00a0 That’s His plan for you and me too.<\/strong><\/p>\n

When\u00a0<\/strong>Zechariah\u00a0plays a good shepherd holding two staffs, this I believe is a picture of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Jesus, our good shepherd, laid down His life for us the weak and oppressed, so that we could experience favor (a blessed relationship with God) and unity (blessed relationships with people).\u00a0 He did so by carrying two staffs in the form of a cross and dying on it.\u00a0 Jesus died on a cross made of two staffs so that we could have favor with God and unity with one another.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Zechariah<\/strong>\u00a011<\/strong>:8-<\/strong>11\u00a0(NIV)\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>
\n8\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>In one month\u00a0I got rid of the three shepherds. The flock detested me, and I grew weary of them\u00a0<\/em>
\n9\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>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.”\u00a0<\/em>
\n10\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>Then I took my staff called Favor and broke it, revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations.\u00a0<\/em>
\n11<\/sup>\u00a0It was revoked on that day, and so the afflicted of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the LORD.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 8-11: \u00a0In this parable,\u00a0Zechariah\u00a0does his best to take care of the sheep, even getting rid of other shepherds (v8a).\u00a0 Yet the flock did not appreciate what\u00a0Zechariah\u00a0did to shepherd them.\u00a0 In fact, they detested\u00a0Zechariah\u00a0and rejected him (v8b).\u00a0 So\u00a0Zechariah\u00a0in turn chose to leave them alone to fend for themselves (v8b-9).\u00a0 To symbolize\u00a0Zechariah’s choice to leave the flock alone to fend for themselves,\u00a0Zechariah\u00a0breaks the staff called Favor.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0 When we reject Jesus our good shepherd, Jesus will not insist on continuing to lead and shepherd us.\u00a0 He will respect our choice and leave us to our own devices.\u00a0 As 2 Timothy\u00a02:12\u00a0says, “if we disown him, he will also disown us”. \u00a0Jesus will not insist on staying where he is not wanted.\u00a0 And the result of us rejecting Jesus?\u00a0 Favor is broken, and our vertical relationship with God is lost.\u00a0 Rejecting Jesus is rejecting a relationship with God.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Zechariah<\/strong>\u00a011<\/strong>:12-13 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>
\n12\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>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.\u00a0<\/em>
\n13\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>And the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”–the handsome price at which they priced me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD to the potter.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 12-13: \u00a0In the parable,\u00a0Zechariah\u00a0requests that the flock give him his wages for his hard work.\u00a0 He requests it so humbly too: “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it” (v12).\u00a0 Yet to add insult to injury, the flock pays him the lowly price of 30 pieces of silver.\u00a0 This was insulting compensation, for according to the Jewish law, 30 pieces of silver was the price you would pay for a slave that had been killed or gored by a bull (Exodus\u00a021:32).\u00a0 So the Lord tells\u00a0Zechariah\u00a0not to accept that “handsome price” (Zechariah\u00a0says it sarcastically), but to “throw it to the potter” (v13).<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0Verses\u00a0<\/strong>11<\/strong>\u00a0and 12 are prophetic, foretelling specific details of the day approximately five centuries years later when Judas would betray Jesus<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

–\u00a0 just as\u00a0Zechariah\u00a0was paid 30 pieces of silver, Judas sold out Jesus for 30 pieces of silver (Matthew 26:14-16);
\n–\u00a0 later on, the Holy Spirit would convict Judas of his sin, and just as\u00a0Zechariah\u00a0threw the 30 pieces of silver into the house of the Lord (v13), Judas threw the 30 pieces of silver into the temple and hanged himself (Matthew 27:3-5);
\n–\u00a0 just as in\u00a0Zechariah’s case the 30 pieces of silver would end up where the potter was (v13), the religious leaders would take the money Judas had thrown away and use it to buy a potter’s field (Matthew 27:6-10).<\/p>\n

2. Especially if you have committed your working life to serving God and His people, remember this: \u00a0the way God values you is not the same as the way some people will value you<\/strong>. \u00a0When others do not value or appreciate your hard work, do not let their view of you determine your view of you.\u00a0 Remember this: people treated Jesus the same way.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0People valued Jesus and His work at the low price of 30 pieces of silver, when in fact there is no price that can be placed on Jesus and His work on our behalf.\u00a0 Similarly, servant of God, remember that you are of indescribable worth to God and your labor for Him is worth much in His sight.<\/p>\n

Zechariah<\/strong>\u00a011<\/strong>:14\u00a0(NIV)\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>
\n14\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 14:\u00a0Zechariah\u00a0takes the second staff called Unity that he used to shepherd the flock and breaks it.\u00a0 What can we learn from this? \u00a0The second thing that happens when we reject Jesus as our shepherd is that our horizontal relationships — and especially our relationships with people in the body of Christ — become broken.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Zechariah 11:15-17 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then the\u00a0LORD\u00a0said to me, “Take again the equipment of a foolish shepherd.
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For 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 hoofs.
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“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!”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 15-17: \u00a0After playing the part of a good shepherd,\u00a0Zechariah\u00a0is then instructed by the LORD to play the part of a foolish shepherd (v15).\u00a0 It was meant as a sign and a warning to the people: because they rejected the good shepherd, another shepherd will come who will not care for the lost, seek the young, heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will simply devour the sheep (v16).\u00a0 God then pronounces a curse on that “worthless shepherd”.\u00a0 In verse 17b God curses the things in which that worthless shepherd places his hope: his strength (represented by his arm) and his intellect (represented by his eye).<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0 Some scholars have tried to identify this worthless shepherd with a specific individual in history, such as Herod, Ptolemy IV or the anti-christ of the end times.\u00a0 Support for this interpretation is not entirely clear.\u00a0 In any event, there are at least two lessons we can learn from these verses:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0If you don’t appreciate the shepherds who work hard on your behalf, one day God will take them away and replace them with lazy, selfish, uncaring shepherds<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0If you are a shepherd yourself (whether you’re a parent, a small group leader, a pastor, or a manager of people), take your role seriously.\u00a0 God will call every shepherd to account for the way they led the sheep in their care.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lord Jesus, for being our Good Shepherd.\u00a0 Thank You for laying down Your life for us, even to the point of letting Yourself be devalued, rejected, and stepped on.\u00a0 You are worth more than all the silver and gold in this world.\u00a0 Help me to appreciate You and the hard working shepherds You have placed in my life.\u00a0 In Jesus’ name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today’s passage is\u00a0Zechariah\u00a011:1-17.\u00a0\u00a0It’s arguably the most difficult chapter in the book of\u00a0Zechariah.\u00a0 However, within this passage there are many powerful lessons and insights that the Holy Spirit would want us to learn.<\/p>\n

As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help, then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

Zechariah\u00a011:1-3 (NIV)\u00a0
\n1\u00a0Open your doors, O Lebanon, so that fire may devour your cedars!\u00a0
\n2\u00a0Wail, O pine tree, for the cedar has fallen; the stately trees are ruined! Wail, oaks of Bashan; the dense forest has been cut down!\u00a0
\n3\u00a0Listen to the wail of the shepherds; their rich pastures are destroyed! Listen to the roar of the lions; the lush thicket of the Jordan is ruined!\u00a0<\/p>\n

On verses\u00a01-3: \u00a0The first three verses of\u00a0Zechariah\u00a011\u00a0may\u00a0be the most difficult in the whole chapter to interpret.\u00a0 Various interpretations for these verses have been suggested.\u00a0 Most likely these verses are describing the grief and suffering that the people would experience after rejecting the Messiah in verses 4-14. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30017,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30014"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30018,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30014\/revisions\/30018"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}