Lesson #13

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RETURN TO SYLLABUS
ZECHARIAH 11
LESSON #13
THE REJECTION OF THE SHEPHERD KING

• MEMORY VERSE: MATTHEW 24:2

• ZECHARIAH 11 SPEAKS ABOUT A DEVASTATING JUDGMENT ON THE LAND OF ISRAEL.
• ZECHARIAH’S PEOPLE HAD JUST BEEN THROUGH A DEVASTATING JUDGMENT WHEN THEY SUFFERED THE LOSS OF THE TEMPLE AND THE LOSS OF THEIR LAND UPON ENTERING THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY.
• WHY WILL THEY AGAIN GO THROUGH SEVERE JUDGMENT?
• THE ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION IS IN ZEC 11.

• READ ZEC 11:1-6 JUDGMENT ON THE LAND OF ISRAEL
• THERE ARE SOME WHO SAY THAT ZEC 11 IS NOT PROPHECY BUT AN AFTER-THE-FACT HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE FALL OF JERUSALEM TO THE BABYLONIANS.
• HOWEVER, HISTORICAL ACCOUNTS IN THE BIBLE NEVER CONTAIN SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE.
• THEREFORE, THIS ACCOUNT MUST BE A PROPHECY THAT WAS NOT FULFILLED UNTIL AFTER ZECHARIAH’S DAY.
• WHEN, AFTER ZECHARIAH’S DAY, WAS THIS PROPHECY FULFILLED?
• THE FULFILLMENT WAS IN 70 AD. WHEN THE ROMANS DESTROYED JERUSALEM AND THE TEMPLE, DENUDED THE LAND, AND SCATTERED THE JEWS WORLDWIDE.
• THE SWEEPING DEVASTATION OF THE ROMANS FROM NORTH TO SOUTH:
• HOW DO WE KNOW THIS JUDGMENT RELATES TO THE ROMANS?
• THE TITLE “YOUNG LIONS”(3) HAS AN ILLUSION TO THE ROMANS.
• PSA 22 IS A PICTURE OF JESUS CHRIST ON THE CROSS.
• READ PSA 22:12-13
• THE “BULLS OF BASHAN” WAS A NICKNAME THE JEWS USED FOR THE ROMAN SOLDIERS.
• THE OAKS OF BASHAN AND THE CEDARS OF LEBANON
• BASHAN WAS A TERRITORY IN WHAT IS NOW CALLED THE GOLAN HEIGHTS.
• THE CEDARS WERE LARGE CEDAR TREES THAT GREW IN LEBANON.
• SOLOMON USED THESE TREES FOR BUILDING THE TEMPLE.
• THEREFORE, THE USE OF CEDARS IN THIS PROPHECY BRINGS UP THE STRONGLY REMEMBERED DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE BY THE BABYLONIANS BEFORE THE CAPTIVITY, AS WELL AS THE PREDICTION THAT THE TEMPLE WILL AGAIN BE DESTROYED.
• THE HOWLING OF THE SHEPHERDS (3)
• NOTICE THAT THE WORD, SHEPHERD, IS PLURAL. THESE ARE THE RELIGIOUS AND GOVERNMENTAL LEADERS OVER THE PEOPLE.
• THE PRIDE OF THE JORDAN (3)
• THE JORDAN RIVER HAD DENSE VEGETATION THAT GREW ALONG ITS BANKS.
• THE ROMANS DENUDED THE LAND AND LEFT IT WORTHLESS. IT HAS ONLY BEEN SINCE 1948 THAT THE LAND HAS BEGUN TO RECOVER ITS VEGETATION.
• A NEW SHEPHERD (4)
• IN VERSE 4 ZECHARIAH CHANGES FROM JUDGMENT ON THE LAND TO INCLUDE JUDGMENT ON THE PEOPLE:
• ZECHARIAH REPRESENTS THE SHEPHERD. HE IS TOLD TO FEED THE FLOCK OF THE SLAUGHTER.
• AS A PROPHET ZECHARIAH IS ACTING OUT HIS MESSAGE THAT GOD WILL FEED HIS PEOPLE.
• THE WORD “FEED” MEANS = TO TEND, TO NURSE, TO TAKE CARE OF, TO LEAD.
• THESE ARE ALL THINGS THAT A SHEPHERD DOES FOR HIS SHEEP, HOWEVER, HERE THE IDEA IS THAT THE SHEEP ARE BEING FATTENED FOR THE SLAUGHTER.
• THE FLOCK OF THE SLAUGHTER ARE THE JEWS.
• THE POSSESSORS WHO SELL THEM (5)
• THERE ARE TWO INTERPRETATIONS FOR THEIR IDENTITY:
• THE POSSESSORS ARE THE ROMANS WHOSE ECONOMY WAS HEAVILY BUILT ON HUMAN SLAVERY, PERSECUTION, AND THE CRUCIFIXION OF CRIMINALS WHO WERE NOT ROMAN CITIZENS.
• THE POSSESSORS ARE THE JEWISH LEADERS, PHARISEES, SADDUCEES, AND THE SANHEDREN, WHO COMPROMISED WITH ROME TO SELL THEIR OWN PEOPLE INTO SLAVERY.
• THE JEWISH PEOPLE IN THE HANDS OF THEIR KING (6)
• THE JEWS HAVE HAD NO KING SINCE THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY.
• THEREFORE, THE KING IS THE ROMAN EMPEROR.
• IN JOH 19:15 THE JEWS SAID, “WE HAVE NO KING BUT CAESAR.”
• GOD’S REACTION TO THE DEVASTATION BY THE ROMANS:
• GOD WILL HAVE NO MERCY ON THE JEWS.
• GOD WILL ALLOW THE ROMAN DEVASTATION.
• GOD WILL NOT DELIVER HIS PEOPLE FROM THE ROMANS.
• WHY WOULD GOD BE SO HARSH TO HIS PEOPLE? DID NOT’T THEY SUFFER ENOUGH IN THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY?

• READ ZEC 11:7-17 ACTIONS OF A SHEPHERD
• ZECHARIAH, ACTING AS A SHEPHERD, FEEDS THE PEOPLE.
• THEN, ZECHARIAH TAKES TWO RODS OF WOOD. ONE IS CALLED “BEAUTY”. THE OTHER IS CALLED “BANDS”(7)
• TO WHAT DO THE TWO RODS, “BEAUTY” AND “BANDS” REFER?
• READ PSA 23:4
• THESE TWO PIECES OF WOOD REFER TO THE ROD AND THE STAFF OF THE SHEPHERD.
• THE ROD WAS A SHORT STICK THAT THE SHEPHERD USED TO BEAT OFF WILD ANIMALS THAT THREATENED THE SHEEP.
• THE STAFF WAS A SHEPHERD’S CROOK THAT WAS USED TO TENDERLY GUIDE THE SHEEP AND RESCUE THEM FROM DANGEROUS TERRAIN.
• THE ROD CALLED “BEAUTY”:
• THIS IS THE SHEPHERDS STAFF, AND INDICATES HOW GOD MADE A PROMISE TO CARE GRACIOUSLY AND BEAUTIFULLY FOR HIS PEOPLE EVEN WHEN THEY TURNED THEIR BACK ON HIM.
• THIS BEAUTIFUL GRACE IS SEEN AT THE FIRST COMING OF CHRIST.
• JESUS CHRIST WAS GOD’S GIFT OF LOVE. (JOH 3:16)
• THE ROD CALLED “BANDS”:
• THE MEANING OR IDEA BEHIND THE WORD, BANDS, IS A TYING TOGETHER TO MAKE ONE. IN OTHER WORDS, UNITY, FELLOWSHIP, AND RELATIONSHIP.
• GOD WANTED HIS PEOPLE TO BE UNITED AS A PEOPLE AND UNITED WITH HIM.
• INSTEAD THEY REBELLED AGAINST GOD AND SPLIT INTO TWO NATIONS.
• JESUS’ PRAYER IN JOH 17 FOLLOWS THE SAME IDEA.
• READ JOH 17:11, 21-23
• THE THREE SHEPHERDS CUT OFF IN ONE MONTH: (8)
• “CUT OFF”
• THE WORDS SEEM TO MEAN = DISOWNING.
• THERE ARE VARIOUS INTERPRETATIONS FOR THE IDENTITY OF THESE THREE. IN FACT, JUST BY THIS SHORT STATEMENT, IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO MAKE ANY POSITIVE IDENTIFICATION BY NAME.
• WHAT WE DO KNOW IS THAT THESE ARE JEWISH LEADERS THAT FAILED TO BE TRUE SHEPHERDS OF GOD’S PEOPLE.
• PERHAPS THE THREE REFERS TO TYPES OF SHEPHERDS RATHER THAN INDIVIDUALS.
• THE THREE TYPES OF SHEPHERDS ARE:
• THE ELDERS
• THE PRIESTS
• THE SCRIBES
• IN 70 AD THE ROMANS DESTROYED THE NATION, THE TEMPLE, AND A UNIFIED SOCIETY. BECAUSE THE PEOPLE WERE SCATTERED, THERE WAS NO SELF-GOVERNMENT, NO PRIESTHOOD, AND NO SCRIBES.
• “I WILL NOT FEED YOU” (9)
• ZECHARIAH, ACTING OUT THE PART OF THE SHEPHERD, SHOWS GOD’S IMPATIENCE WITH HIS PEOPLE.
• UP TO THIS POINT IN THE PROPHECY ZECHARIAH IS ACTING OUT THE PART OF THE SHEPHERD. NEW TESTAMENT BELIEVERS KNOW THAT THE SHEPHERD IS JESUS CHRIST.
• READ JOH 10:11
• THEREFORE, CHRIST, THE SHEPHERD, BECOMES ANGRY WITH THE JEWS FOR CONTINUALLY TURNING THEIR BACK ON GOD.
• THEY REJECTED CHRIST DURING HIS EARTHLY MINISTRY AND REFUSED HIS TEACHINGS.
• CHRIST, THEREFORE, GAVE UP ON THEM .
• THE SPIRITUAL CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE LEADS TO JUDGMENT (9)
• “THAT THAT DIETH, LET IT DIE” =
• THE RELIGIOUS SYSTEM OF JUDAISM WITHOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL DIE.
• “THAT THAT IS TO BE CUT OFF, LET IT BE CUT OFF”
• AFTER 70 AD, THERE WAS NO MORE TEMPLE, NO MORE PRIESTHOOD, AND NO MORE ANIMAL SACRIFICE.
• “LET THE REST EAT EVERY ONE THE FLESH OF ANOTHER.”
• THIS WAS LITERALLY FULFILLED AT THE FALL OF JERUSALEM IN 70 AD.
• THE BROKEN ROD OF BEAUTY: (10)
• JUDGMENT COMES UPON ISRAEL IN 70 AD BECAUSE THE SHEPHERD BROKE THE ROD OF BEAUTY.
• GOD WILL NOT RESCUE HIS PEOPLE BECAUSE HIS ROD OF GRACE IS BROKEN.
• IN OTHER WORDS, GOD IS BREAKING HIS PROMISE TO PROTECT HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR ENEMIES.
• IS NOT THIS THE SAME AS WHEN THE BABYLONIANS INVADED JERUSALEM?
• NO. WHEN THE BABYLONIANS INVADED, GOD PUT RESTRAINTS ON ISRAEL’S ENEMIES. WITH THE BREAKING OF THE ROD OF BEAUTY, GOD IS TAKING OFF THE RESTRAINTS.
• ZECHARIAH TELLS HIS PEOPLE WHAT WILL COME BEFORE THIS JUDGMENT OF 70 AD:
• THE MESSIAH WILL COME AND ATTEMPT TO FEED HIS PEOPLE BUT THEY WILL REJECT HIM.
• THE SHEPHERD’S PRICE: (12-13)
• IT IS AS THOUGH THE MESSIAH SAYS TO THE PEOPLE, “YOU DON’T WANT TO FOLLOW ME. YOU DON’T WANT MY FOOD, THEN GIVE ME THE PAYMENT THAT YOU THINK I DESERVE AND I WILL GO ELSEWHERE.”
• THIS IS THE PRICE OF A USELESS SLAVE. (EXO 21:32)
• OF COURSE, THE MESSIAH DID NOT WANT TO GO ELSEWHERE, NOR DID HE WANT ANY PAYMENT. HE WANTED HIS PEOPLE TO ACCEPT HIM.
• OF COURSE, WE, OF THIS NEW TESTAMENT AGE, RECOGNIZE THE BETRAYAL OF CHRIST FOR 30 PIECES OF SILVER.
• THIS WAS THE PRICE THE JEWISH RELIGIOUS LEADERS PAID TO JUDAS TO BETRAY JESUS.
• CASTING THE MONEY TO THE POTTER (13)
• THIS WAS AN IDIOM SIMILAR TO, “THROW IT TO THE DOGS”.
• AFTER THE BETRAYAL, JUDAS RETURN ED TO THE TEMPLE AND THREW THE 30 PIECES OF SILVER AT THE FEET OF THE PRIESTS.
• THIS MONEY WAS USED TO BURY JUDAS IN THE POTTER’S FIELD.
• THE BREAKING OF THE ROD CALLED “BANDS”: (14)
• AFTER THE REJECTION OF THE MESSIAH, THE OTHER ROD IS BROKEN.
• REMEMBER THIS ROD STANDS FOR UNITY, FELLOWSHIP, AND RELATIONSHIP.
• BECAUSE OF THE REJECTION OF THE MESSIAH, THE JUDGMENT IN 70 AD WOULD BRING AN END TO A UNIFIED NATION. THE JEWS WERE SCATTERED OVER THE WORLD.
• BECAUSE OF THE REJECTION OF THE MESSIAH, GOD WOULD CUT THE JEWS OFF FROM FELLOWSHIP AND A RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM. INSTEAD GOD WOULD TEMPORARILY WORK WITH THE GENTILES.
• THE COMING OF A FOOLISH IDOL SHEPHERD: (15-17)
• ZECHARIAH SHIFTS IN TIME FROM 70 AD TO THE TRIBULATION PERIOD.
• READ JOH 5:43
• WHO IS THE FOOLISH IDOL SHEPHERD?
• THE ANTI-CHRIST OF THE TRIBULATION PERIOD IS THE ONE THE JEWS WILL BELIEVE IS THEIR MESSIAH.
• THE INSTRUMENTS OF A FOOLISH AND WICKED SHEPHERD:
• THE INSTRUMENTS OF A REAL SHEPHERD ARE A ROD AND A STAFF, TO PROTECT, RESCUE, AND GUIDE HIS PEOPLE.
• THE INSTRUMENTS OF THE ANTICHRIST WILL BE THE INSTRUMENTS OF WAR, PERSECUTION, AND DEATH BY BEHEADING.
• NOTICE IN VERSE 16, IT SAYS THAT GOD RAISES UP THIS FALSE SHEPHERD.
• GOD WILL RAISE UP THE ANTI-CHRIST, WHO WILL BE INDWELT BY SATAN, FOR THE PURPOSES OF REVEALING EVIL AND TO PRESSURE THE JEWS TO RETURN TO THEIR GOD BY RECEIVING THEIR TRUE MESSIAH.
• THE TWO GROUPS OF SHEEP (THE JEWS): (16)
• THE ANTI-CHRIST WILL NOT MEET THE NEEDS OF THE SCATTERED JEWS OR THE POOR AND NEEDY ONES.
• INSTEAD THE ANTI-CHRIST WILL DEVOUR THE WEALTHY ONES.
• WOE TO THE IDOL SHEPHERD: (17)
• “WOE” MEANS = THE PRONOUNCEMENT OF JUDGMENT.
• “THE SWORD SHALL BE UPON HIS ARM AND UPON HIS RIGHT EYE” (17)
• GOD WILL PERMIT THE ANTI-CHRIST TO SUFFER A WITHERED USELESS ARM AND BLINDNESS IN ONE EYE AS A RESULT OF AN ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION.
• WILL THIS BE THE SAME ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT IN REV 13:3 (THE HEAD WOUND)? IT MAY BE THE SAME OR IT COULD BE A SECOND ATTEMPT.
• SYMBOLICALLY THE RIGHT ARM REFERS TO THE STRENGTH OF A MAN, WHILE THE RIGHT EYE REFERS TO WISDOM.
• GOD WILL JUDGE THE ANTI-CHRIST BY WITHERING HIS STRENGTH AND POWER AND BLINDING HIS WISDOM. THEN, ACCORDING TO REVELATION, HE WILL BE DESTROYED AT THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST. (REV 19:20)
• SUMMARY:
• WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED IN THIS CHAPTER?
• ZECHARIAH GIVES US A GENERAL TIME LINE OF EVENTS SURROUNDING THE MESSIAH:
• IN ZEC 9, THE PEOPLE ARE TO LOOK FOR ALEXANDER THE GREAT BEFORE THE MESSIAH WILL COME.
• IN ZEC 10, IS GOD’S ANGER AGAINST THE NATION’S SHEPHERDS.
• JESUS REBUKED THE ELDERS, THE PHARISEES, AND THE SCRIBES FOR THEIR EMPTY JUDAISM.
• IN ZEC 11, THE REJECTION OF THE MESSIAH FOR 30 PIECES OF SILVER.
• IN ZEC 11, THE DESTRUCTION OF THE NATION AND THE SCATTERING OF THE PEOPLE IN 70 AD AS A RESULT OF THEIR REJECTION.
• IN ZEC 11, THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE IDOL SHEPHERD OF THE TRIBULATION PERIOD.

HOMEWORK
ZECHARIAH 12
THIS IS A SELF-STUDY. PLEASE DO NOT SEND HOMEWORK ANSWERS TO THE TEACHER FORCORRECTION.

• APPLICATION OF ZEC 11
• HAVE YOU FULLY PUT YOUR TRUST IN JESUS CHRIST, THE MESSIAH, OR HAVE YOU HESITATED TO TRUST HIM FULLY?
• IF YOU HAVE HESITATED TO TRUST HIM FULLY LIKE THE OLD TESTAMENT JEWS DID, CONSIDER THE PROPHECIES IN THIS CHAPTER THAT HAVE BEEN FULFILLED. HE IS WHO HE SAID HE WAS, AND HE DID WHAT HE SAID HE WOULD DO. ALSO, CONSIDER THE SUFFERING THE JEWISH PEOPLE HAVE ENDURED FOR THEIR REJECTION.
• THROUGH PRAYER, GET CLOSE TO CHRIST AND LET HIM HELP YOU TRUST HIM MORE FULLY.
• PREPARATION FOR ZEC 12
• READ ZEC 12:1-14
• WHY DO YOU THINK THIS CHAPTER BEGINS WITH THE EMPHASIS ON THE ALL-POWERFUL OMNIPOTENT GOD?
• WHEN IS THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHECY THAT ALL NATIONS WILL BE GATHERED TOGETHER AGAINST JERUSALEM? (3)
• WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF THE GREAT NATIONAL MOURNING? (11-14)
• MEMORY VERSE: EZEKIEL 39:29