Zechariah 11:10-17
Zechariah
11:10
And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder,
that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people.
Here God gives his people over to judgment which will be
the final earthly judgment of the nation of Israel.
What was once Beauty in the eyes of God as his covenant people will no
longer be the covenant people. He
will take the band Beauty and cut it asunder which basically means to destroy as
one fells a tree, the tree is no longer alive after it is cut down.
Then God speaks about the covenant he made with them at Sinai and that he
will break it. If you remember that
the terms of the covenant were simple.
They would be allowed to keep the land if they were obedient to the LORD
which they were not. The word break
in the Hebrew carries with it the meaning of “invalidate or annul.”
They had completely rejected the
covenant of Sinai and now they will lose the land permanently.
1948 was not a rebirth of the ancient nation of Israel because God dealt
with them permanently. The Jews in
Israel are not descendants of the ancient Israelites but are members of 4
different groups of Jews: Mizrachi, Ashkenazi, Sephardic, and Khazar.
These do not qualify as Semitic individuals because they hail from Europe
and Russia.
Zechariah
11:11
And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the
flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the LORD.
In the day of judgment those who were the true believers
in Israel knew that they had broken the covenant.
Normally it is the poor people who are much more desirous of the things
of the LORD than those with much possessions.
Blessed are the poor in spirit:
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
(Matthew 5:3) The poor
in spirit are those who are akin to beggars seeking alms at the door of the rich
man and the poor of the flock were those who waited upon the LORD for their
daily living.
Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel
no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment.
(Ecclesiastes 8:5) It is
like today in Christianity, those multi-millionaire media ministers, both
charismatic and non-charismatic, have no discernment of the times we are in at
present, it is the poor people who study their Bibles and do not concern
themselves with wealth building as the media ministers do.
If you ever want to find out the times we live in, don’t ask a famous
media minister because you won’t get an answer but you will get another envelope
to send in your donation.
Zechariah
11:12
And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price;
and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.
Here God addresses the unbelieving Jews in Jerusalem and
says to them what price will you give me?
The price God had asked of Israel was obedience and worship instead they
turned to the monetary aspect and gave him thirty pieces of silver which was the
price of a slain slave.
If the ox shall push a manservant or a
maidservant; he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the
ox shall be stoned. (Exodus 21:32)
However when we look closely at the price we know that it was the
Pharisees who paid Judas thirty pieces of silver.
Instead of recognizing the Messiah and giving him due worship and
obedience, they doled out thirty pieces of silver for his betrayal.
And said unto them, What will ye
give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for
thirty pieces of silver. (Matthew
26:15) Literally they sold
their entire nation to Satan for thirty pieces of silver and thirty seven years
later, it was completely destroyed by God himself who dispatched the Romans to
do it just like he dispatched Babylon and Assyria to take Israel into captivity.
This is an aside but I want to dispel any belief that the
King James Bible contains error.
Then was fulfilled that which was spoken
by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the
price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value;
(Matthew 27:9) I am
placing this commentary between verses 12 and 13 because they apply.
Many commentaries claim that the word “Jeremy” is an error and was added
by mistake in the text. There is no
such thing as a perfect God making a mistake.
When we read Matthew 27:9, we read that this portion of Jeremiah was
spoken and not written down. Zechariah
wrote it and Jeremiah quoted it. Is
this the only place that a spoken word was requoted?
The answer is no.
I have shewed you all things, how that so
labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord
Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
(Acts 20:35) The Apostle
Paul quoted the Lord’s words on giving but these words are not written anywhere
in the gospels. Always look at the
wording because it will save you much trouble.
In Matthew 27:9, we read “spoken by” and in Acts 20:35 we read “how he
said.”
Zechariah
11:13
And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a
goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of
silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.
The fact that they doled out the price of a slain slave
shows that they had very little regard and respect for the Lord Jesus Christ.
{6} And the chief priests took the
silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury,
because it is the price of blood.
{7} And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field, to bury
strangers in. (Matthew 27:6-7)
The thirty pieces of silver were given to the potter who would make
pottery for the temple. Then the
potter’s field was also a place where the poor people and strangers were buried
since they could not afford to have a hewn sepulchre.
When Judas betrayed the Lord, he then took the thirty pieces of silver
back to the temple but they would not accept it because it was the price of
blood so they gave the money to the potter for the use in the potter’s field for
burial. The Jews probably thought
that once Christ was crucified and pronounced dead, that he would be buried in
the potter’s field and forgotten but they did not know that Joseph of Arimathaea
had offered his tomb for the temporary burial of Christ.
Zechariah
11:14
Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I
might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
Not only would Israel suffer total devastation, they
would also now see their brotherhood broken.
Bands was the unifying aspect that God gave them under Saul, David, and
Solomon but now that unity will forever be broken because they will once again
and finally be destroyed and the real Semitic Israelites would be assimilated
into the nations of the world and many would be killed.
Now that God has annulled the covenant of Sinai and they have rejected
the Messiah, they would now be a people under the severe judgment of God.
This judgment would come to pass in 70 A.D. when they fought among
themselves instead of banding together to fight the Romans, their own disunity
had defeated them.
And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said
unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and
every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:
(Matthew 12:25) Jesus
knew full well what was about to happen in 70 A.D. and how the nation of Judah
would implode.
Zechariah
11:15
And the LORD said unto me, Take unto thee yet the
instruments of a foolish shepherd.
Then the LORD said to Zechariah that he should take the
instruments of a foolish shepherd.
Since the people had rejected the true shepherd, they would now be subject to
the foolish shepherds who would not bring any truth and cause them to stray
further.
For both prophet and priest are profane;
yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.
(Jeremiah 23:11) In the
modern church today some of the instruments of the foolish shepherd are false
Bible versions, theology books, prophecy books, irreverent music, removal of the
pulpit and sermon, etc. One can
easily see the instruments of the foolish shepherd.
Zechariah
11:16
For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which
shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor
heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still: but he shall eat
the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces.
Then the LORD will raise up a shepherd in the land which
will be a false shepherd. That
shepherd will be Satan as we saw him standing by Joshua the High Priest in
Chapter 3. This false shepherd will
manifest his false teachings through the false teachers who are in his kingdom
and they will basically teach what is total deception.
These false ministers or priests will not even visit those who are
outside the church to bring them in, they will have no regard for the young
people especially those that are saved as they will not help them grow in the
LORD. They will not help heal those
who
are broken in spirit and need the help of the Lord and
his teachings to help prevent them from dying in their sins.
Then those who are standing still would be those who do not move forward
in their Christian walk they are not encouraged by the false pastors but allow
these people to remain stagnant in their walk.
These false teachers will do nothing to help the flock yet will
themselves eat of the best of the flock and partake in building their own
wealth. It is like many pastors in
churches today that do not feed the flock spiritual food yet they themselves
make millions of dollars for their own pockets.
They are, in essence, eating from the best of the flesh of the fat.
Then they tear the claws means they are taking all the power and
privileges from the people increasing their own power and authority.
Zechariah
11:17
Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the
sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean
dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.