#55 ON THE NATURE OF GOD: LEARNING FROM THE PROPHETS: Zechariah: Chapters 9-11

The last six chapters of Zechariah are composed of two oracles or burdens. This writing will cover the first oracle describing the end of the surrounding nations, the future of the restored religion God is establishing and the coming of the Messiah.

Devastation is prescribed for a list of the surrounding enemies of God’s people: Tyre, Sidon, Damascus and its surroundings, and the cities of Philistia. This prophecy was fulfilled by New Testament days.

God’s faithful people should rejoice because of what God would do, Zechariah 9:9:

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

Matthew refers to this prophecy at Jesus’ entry, Matthew 21, verses 4-5:

“This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”

With the coming of the Messiah, God promised to defend and save His people, Zechariah 9:14, 15, 16:

“Then the LORD will appear over them, and his arrow will go forth like lightning…

… The LORD of hosts will protect them…

 … On that day the LORD their God will save them…

God reminds the people of Judah to trust Him and not idols, Zechariah 10:1, 2:

“Ask rain from the LORD in the season of the spring rain, from the LORD who makes the storm clouds, and he will give them showers of rain…

… For the household gods utter nonsense, and the diviners see lies…”

God was angry with the former leaders that had caused the people to worship idols, Zechariah 10:3:

“My anger is hot against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders;”

God would send a proper leader, Zechariah 10:4:

“From him shall come the cornerstone, from him the tent peg,”

The Messiah is that cornerstone that forms the spiritual house of God built on Jesus, Ephesians 2:19-21:

“…built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.”

This spiritual house will contain both Judah and Israel, Zechariah 10:6, 8:

“I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph. I will bring them back because I have compassion on them, and they shall be as though I had not rejected them, for I am the LORD their God and I will answer them…

… “I will whistle for them and gather them in, for I have redeemed them,”

Lebanon, the direction from which both Assyria and Babylon had come, will be destroyed, Zechariah 11:1:

“Open your doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour your cedars!”

Zechariah is told to depict the worthless former shepherds, Zechariah 11:4:

“Thus said the LORD my God: “Become shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter.”

Zechariah then is told to depict what happened as a results of the disastrous leading of the former worthless shepherds, Zechariah 11:7:

“ So I became the shepherd of the flock doomed to be slaughtered by the sheep traders. And I took two staffs, one I named Favor, the other I named Union.”

The staff named Favor was broken signifying that God would no longer honor the covenant that He had made with Israel. Zechariah then asks for his wages, Zechariah 11:

“Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver.”

This was an insult because it was the price of a gored slave. God told him to throw it to the potter as if it had no value. Jesus was also insulted when Judas betrayed Him for thirty pieces of silver. When Judas realized what he had done, he threw the pieces of silver down in the temple, Matthew 27:5-7:

“And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself. But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money.” So they took counsel and bought with them the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers.”

A potter’s field from which clay had been dug would have almost no value.

The staff named Union was also broken signifying the cleavage of the nation when ten tribes rebelled against the house of David and formed their own nation.

God issues His final evaluation of the former shepherds, Zechariah 11:17:

“Woe to my worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock!”

God would send a new shepherd, the Messiah, to properly tend His spiritual flock.

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