Introduction
Zechariah 11 is a very sad chapter. It stands out in stark comparison to chapters 9 and 10. It pictures the Messiah (whom we know to be Jesus Christ) as a Shepherd. That’s a familiar concept to us because the Old Testament talks about God as a shepherd. In Psalm 23:1 David says, “The Lord is my shepherd.” The prophet Isaiah said that the Lord God “shall feed his flock like a shepherd; he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young” (Isa. 40:11). In John 10:11 Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” Such passages in the Old and New Testaments have endearing beauty to them. But when you come to Zechariah 11, it is an exception to that rule. Zechariah presents an ugly picture of the rejection of the Messiah, the true Shepherd.
Through Zechariah God has promised salvation to Israel–a regathering and restoration in the land. But suddenly in chapter 11, the prophet of hope turns into a prophet of doom and judgment. He turns from the glories of the Messiah at His Second Coming to the national apostasy and rejection that occurred at His first coming, which is the main theme of the chapter. It helps us understand why the promises of chapters 9 and 10 didn’t come to pass when Jesus came the first time.
Lesson
I. THE RAVAGE OF THE WAILING SHEPHERDS (vv. 1-3)
“Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars. Wail, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen, because the mighty [glorious trees] are spoiled; wail, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down. There is a voice of the wailing of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled; a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of the Jordan is spoiled.”
A. The Land
Those three verses are judgmental. They identify three different locations: Lebanon, Bashan, and Jordan. In the geography of Israel, that list begins in the north and descends to the south. It pictures judgment sweeping down like fire burning the vegetation in Lebanon and Bashan on down to the foliage around the Jordan Valley, where lions dwelt. The Holy Spirit used dramatic imagery to describe the ravaging of the whole land of Israel.
Zechariah was describing a fire of judgment that would consume the ungodly as a conflagration consumes trees. The trees symbolize portions of land. Lebanon was known for its cedars. The wood that was used to build Solomon’s Temple was from the cedars of Lebanon (1 Kings. 5).
Moving down from Lebanon, which is on the northern border of Israel, we come to the area of Bashan, which is east of the sea of Galilee. It was known for its oak trees. Descending further south we come to the Jordan Valley, in which runs the the Jordan River, which extends from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea. At one time there appears to have been dense, jungle-like foliage along both sides of the river.
I believe that the judgment God is speaking about here is an actual devastation. Although a literal fire that burns trees may not be involved, the devastation is not limited to spiritual judgment only. It includes the death of people as the land of Israel is being judged.
There’s an inevitability to this judgment. In verse 1 Lebanon is told to open its doors, as if there’s no sense in resisting. The fir and oak trees might as wail because cause if the mighty cedars, which are relatively inaccessible, go up in flames the other trees aren’t going to be able to stand. When the high and the mighty are fallen, every lesser tree is going to be unable to escape. Some people have likened these trees to the leadership of Israel, assuming this is a spiritual judgment on the hierarchy of Israel, which includes the priests, elders, scribes, and runs all the way down to the common people.
“This article originally appeared here at Bible Bulletin Board.”
