Zechariah 11:1-9

Zechariah 11:1

Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars.

 

Zechariah 11 is a chapter which speaks about the coming destruction of Jerusalem which will happen under the Romans in 70 A.D.  It will be destroyed for two reasons; First, their rejection of the Messiah and secondly, signaling the complete end of the Mosaic system.  Here is a metaphor for the temple of God in Jerusalem.  It was made of the cedars of Lebanon which were very high quality lumber.  Lebanon was north of Judah and here the gates were to be opened which would have allowed the Roman army to descend upon Judah from the north.  The fire that devoured the cedars would be the time when the Romans set fire to the temple in Jerusalem and burned it to the ground along with all the records and genealogies.  It has been written that General Titus himself wanted to preserve the temple but one of his men threw in a torch and started the fire which Titus had helped to try and put out but was unable to since the fire had engulfed the entire complex.

 

Zechariah 11:2

Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down.

 

Then the fir trees which would be understood as those homes which were not built of the best trees but the cedar has fallen, that is, the temple is destroyed in a blaze of fire.  This destruction was also prophesied by Daniel.  And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.  (Daniel 9:26)  The city has been sacked and that means not only the poor people but the rich and influential plus those who were rulers are spoiled.  The word “spoiled” may also be understood as dead or devastated.  The oaks of Bashan were used to build palaces and rich people’s homes or may here be used figuratively as the great men of that country.  The forest of the vintage were the fortified places which guarded the vineyards and Jerusalem itself. The phrase “is come down” means it has become desolate.

 

Zechariah 11:3

There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled.

 

The howling of the shepherds may be referring to the actual shepherds themselves who were tending the sheep as the land was being destroyed, the sheep were used for food for the invading troops.  It could also carry the meaning of the priests which worked in the temple and were to be the shepherds of Israel who were now lamenting over the fact that the people have been spoiled or devastated.  Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.  (Jeremiah 23:1) It was now their turn to weep for they had failed to recognize the Messiah and now they are paying the price for that.  They had honor among the people but now their glory is no more because they too have been ravaged.  The roaring was the leaders who had authority over the people and had ravaged the people of their material goods for their own gain are now distressed.  The pride of Jordan is spoiled, that is, the great homes and beautiful buildings which were built from the cedars of Lebanon are no longer beautiful as they are being destroyed by the Romans.

 

Zechariah 11:4

Thus saith the LORD my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter;

 

Then the LORD gives a command to Zechariah that he is to feed the flock of the slaughter, that is, to the believers in Judah.  He is to feed them the truth and teach them the truth.  The flock of the slaughter was the Israelites who were oppressed by Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Greece, Edom and others until the final slaughter in 70 A.D. when the Romans come in and lay waste the city.

 

Zechariah 11:5

Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say, Blessed be the LORD; for I am rich: and their own shepherds pity them not.

 

The possessors are the conquering nations which took them in the past and had killed many of them in the different sieges.  These conquering kingdoms like Assyria and Babylon saw themselves as victors deserving of the spoil and felt no guilt in doing what they did even when they committed atrocities among the people.  They would sell the people as slaves and boast in their wealth from someone else’s suffering that they were rich and they were thanking the LORD for their wealth.  The ones who had rule over them at the time took no pity upon their own people and remained unconcerned as they only cared about their own possessions.  It is like in the church today.  Many church leaders do not care about the sheep or their eternal destinies, they just care about their six and seven figure incomes.

 

Zechariah 11:6

For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD: but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour's hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.

 

The patience of God wore out after they rejected the Messiah and had him put to death out of their hatred for them having no pity on him and likewise God will now have no pity upon them.  There will be tremendous strife among them.  In fact during the siege of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. the Jews were fighting among themselves as is prophesied in this verse because the LORD pitted them against each other and it was easier for Titus to defeat them.  In fact Titus even stated that if the Jews did not fight against each other and stuck together and fought the Romans, he never would have been able to defeat them.  God promised them that the land would be smitten and it was laid waste and flat as the temple was completely destroyed and over a million Jews were killed.  And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.  (Luke 21:20)  The Romans even took down all the trees within a mile of the city walls so no one could escape under cover of the trees.  God promises here that they will not be delivered and they were not delivered but removed from the land permanently. 

 

Zechariah 11:7

And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands; and I fed the flock.

 

Even though Judah would be called the flock of slaughter, the LORD promised that he will feed them and that would mean the truth of the Word of God.  Even those who are not the influential in the country would learn about the LORD.  These would be speaking about those who are the saved within the nation of Israel.  Then the LORD speaks about two staves which would represent the divided kingdom of Israel after the reign of Solomon.  There was king Rehoboam in the south and Jeroboam in the north.  The two staves were called Beauty which refers to God who would refine and purify his people and Bands which refers to the binding together.  This is in reference to the true gospel where the people of God would be refined and purified when they receive Christ as Savior. Then they would be bound together for eternity as the single body of Christ. Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.  (Hebrews 13:3) 

 

Beauty

And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.  (Zechariah 13:9)

 

Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.  (Titus 2:14)

 

Bands

And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:  (Ezekiel 37:22)

 

And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.  (Ezekiel 37:24)

 

Zechariah 11:8

Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me.

 

These three shepherds are unidentified because they may represent all the unsaved and unqualified leaders who do not bring the truth and that is why the soul of the LORD loathed them.  These unsaved shepherds also hated the LORD so they were definitely unsaved and antagonistic to the truth which the LORD wanted to give his people.  They have dealt treacherously against the LORD: for they have begotten strange children: now shall a month devour them with their portions.  (Hosea 5:7)  Hosea had prophesied something similar in the way of judgment in a month and may also be a symbolic number intimating that the rule of these false shepherds will be limited in time.

 

Zechariah 11:9

Then said I, I will not feed you: that that dieth, let it die; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another.

 

After the good treatment the LORD gave he is treated with evil and disrespect by the unsaved element within Israel, another destruction is pronounced upon them.  He will not feed them and that may refer to both physical food and spiritual food whereas the person without the first one will die physically and the second one will die eternally.  Judah was to be cut off permanently in 70 A.D. and that signaled the end of the Mosaic law system.  Then when things get so bad and there is no more physical food, the people will resort to cannibalism as was prophesied by Moses.  And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee:  (Deuteronomy 28:53) It will be a time of great turmoil and judgment which will be the terminus of the state of ancient Israel.

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