Psalm 23 (King James Version)
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil:
for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me
in the presence of mine enemies:
thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
for ever.
Zechariah 11 (NIV)
Creation Mourns because of the Coming Judgment
1 Open your doors, Lebanon,
so that fire may devour your cedars!
2 Wail, you juniper, for the cedar has fallen;
the stately trees are ruined!
Wail, oaks of Bashan;
the dense forest has been cut down!
3 Listen to the wail of the shepherds;
their rich pastures are destroyed!
Listen to the roar of the lions;
the lush thicket of the Jordan is ruined!
This describes the coming of destructive armies of judgment from the north, through Lebanon. The doors of Lebanon are the mountain passes between Lebanon and Israel.
–David Guzik
“These verses might have described the Babylonian invasion if they had been written earlier; but that was past history by Zechariah’s time. There is nothing in the history of the people that a comprehensive destruction of the land can refer to prior to the terrible destruction of the Roman campaign against Judea ordered by Vespasian and his successor Titus.”
–James Montgomery Boice
Two Shepherds
4 This is what the LORD my God says: “Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter. 5 Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, ‘Praise the LORD, I am rich!’ Their own shepherds do not spare them. 6For I will no longer have pity on the people of the land,” declares the LORD. “I will give everyone into the hands of their neighbors and their king. They will devastate the land, and I will not rescue anyone from their hands.”
The flock refers to Israel. This prophecy was partly fulfilled in A.D. 70, when Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed and the people sold as slaves.
7 So I shepherded the flock marked for slaughter, particularly the oppressed of the flock. Then I took two staffs and called one Favor and the other Union, and I shepherded the flock.
“Favor symbolizes the favored status of Israel as the chosen people of God. Union symbolizes the internal harmony of the people that was lost at the time of the siege of Jerusalem.”
–James Montgomery Boice
8 In one month I got rid of the three shepherds.
The offices of prophet, priest, and king were taken away from Israel after the Roman conquest of Judea and have never been restored. Jesus replaces all of these — as He said, “I am the Good Shepherd.”
The flock detested me, and I grew weary of them 9 and said, “I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish. Let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.”
10 Then I took my staff called Favor and broke it, revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations. 11 It was revoked on that day, and so the oppressed of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the LORD.
12 I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.
To pay the shepherd 30 pieces of silver was an insult — this was the price paid to an owner for a slave gored by an ox (Exodus 21:32). This is also the amount Judas received for betraying Jesus (Matthew 27:3-10). The priceless Messiah was sold for the price of a slave.
— The Life Application Bible study notes
13 And the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the house of the LORD.
Curiously, Zechariah said that the thirty pieces of silver were thrown into the house of the LORD but that they were also given to the potter. This is an exact fulfillment of what Judas did with his thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 27:3-10).
The money to betray Jesus – His purchase price – went to buy a potter’s field (Matthew 27:7). A potter’s field was a piece of useless land where the potter threw his broken, damaged, and rejected pots. Jesus really did purchase the potter’s field – the place where broken, rejected, and useless people like us are scattered.
–David Guzik
14 Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the family bond between Judah and Israel.
Not long after Zechariah’s time, the Jews began to divide into numerous factions — Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Herodians, and Zealots. The discord among these groups was a key factor leading to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.
–The Life Application Bible study notes
15 Then the LORD said to me, “Take again the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 16 For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hooves.
17 “Woe to the worthless shepherd,
who deserts the flock!
May the sword strike his arm and his right eye!
May his arm be completely withered,
his right eye totally blinded!”
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Music:
HERE is a peaceful song for you today. “Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us” was written as a children’s hymn; the same man (William Bradbury) who wrote the music for this hymn also wrote the music for “Jesus Loves Me.” People have loved this hymn for almost two centuries now . . .
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New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica
DWELLING in the Word 