(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)
(Zechariah 11:1-17)1 Open your doors, Lebanon,
So that a fire may feed on your cedars.
2 Wail, juniper, because the cedar has fallen,
For the magnificent trees have been destroyed;
Wail, oaks of Bashan,
Because the impenetrable forest has come down.
3 There is a sound of the shepherds’ wail,
For their splendor is ruined;
There is a sound of the young lions’ roar,
For the pride of the Jordan is ruined.
4 This is what the Lord my God says: “Pasture the flock doomed to slaughter. 5 Those who buy them slaughter them and go unpunished, and each of those who sell them says, ‘Blessed be the Lord, for I have become rich!’ And their own shepherds have no compassion for them. 6 For I will no longer have compassion for the inhabitants of the land,” declares the Lord; “but behold, I will let the people fall, each into another’s power and into the power of his king; and they will crush the land, and I will not rescue them from their power.”
7 So I pastured the flock doomed to slaughter, therefore also the afflicted of the flock. And I took for myself two staffs: the one I called Favor, and the other I called Union; so I pastured the flock. 8 Then I did away with the three shepherds in one month, for my soul was impatient with them, and their soul also was tired of me. 9 Then I said, “I will not pasture you. What is to die, let it die, and what is to perish, let it perish; and let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.” 10 And I took my staff Favor and cut it in pieces, to break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples. 11 So it was broken on that day, and so the afflicted of the flock who were watching me realized that it was the word of the Lord. 12 And I said to them, “If it is good in your sight, give me my wages; but if not, never mind!” So they weighed out thirty shekels of silver as my wages. 13 Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter, that magnificent price at which I was valued by them.” So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the Lord. 14 Then I cut in pieces my second staff Union, to break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
15 And the Lord said to me, “Take again for yourself the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 16 For behold, I am going to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for the perishing, seek the scattered, heal the broken, or provide for the one who is exhausted, but will devour the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their hoofs.
17 Woe to the worthless shepherd
Who abandons the flock!
A sword will be on his arm
And on his right eye!
His arm will be totally withered,
And his right eye will be blind.”
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
The two staffs were called "Favor" and "Union". These nicely represent what God desires for us. The Lord really does want the very best for us! He wants us to have a favorable and fulfilling life with reconciled, loving relationships - with Himself - as well as with others.
The spiritual leaders of Israel failed the people. And when Zechariah tried to shepherd the people in the way they should be, the people didn't appreciate him. As an insult, they paid him the salary of a slave. This parallels how the Israelites treated Jesus when He came to earth in flesh. And the Pharisees paid Judas Iscariot the exact same amount for the betrayal of Jesus, because they didn't appreciate Him.
Jesus is the perfect Shepherd as well as the spotless Lamb of God who, in His death, paid the price for all sin, and in His resurrection, He had victory over death. In this way, He can offer the free gift of salvation to anyone who chooses to believe in Him. So easy, yet people's pride causes them to not want to follow Him. They would prefer to make it up as they go - whatever and however - which leads to eternal death, rather than trusting in the Lord's way which leads to favor, union and eternal life.
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