UBF Daily Bread

WORTHLESS SHEPHERDS

Passage: Zechariah 11:1~17

Key verse: 7

11 Open your doors, Lebanon,^(A)
    so that fire^(B) may devour your cedars!
²Wail, you juniper, for the cedar has fallen;
    the stately trees are ruined!
Wail, oaks^(C) of Bashan;
    the dense forest^(D) has been cut down!^(E)
³Listen to the wail of the shepherds;
    their rich pastures are destroyed!
Listen to the roar of the lions;^(F)
    the lush thicket of the Jordan is ruined!^(G)

Two Shepherds

⁴This is what the Lord my God says: “Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter.^(H) ⁵Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, ‘Praise the Lord, I am rich!’ Their own shepherds do not spare them.^(I) 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^(J) and their king. They will devastate the land, and I will not rescue anyone from their hands.”^(K)

⁷So I shepherded the flock marked for slaughter,^(L) particularly the oppressed of the flock. Then I took two staffs and called one Favor and the other Union, and I shepherded the flock. ⁸In one month I got rid of the three shepherds.

The flock detested^(M) me, and I grew weary of them ⁹and said, “I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish.^(N) Let those who are left eat^(O) one another’s flesh.”

¹⁰Then I took my staff called Favor^(P) and broke it, revoking^(Q) the covenant I had made with all the nations. ¹¹It was revoked on that day, and so the oppressed of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the Lord.

¹²I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.^(R)

¹³And 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^(S) and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord.^(T)

¹⁴Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the family bond between Judah and Israel.

¹⁵Then the Lord said to me, “Take again the equipment of a foolish shepherd. ¹⁶For 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,^(U)
    who deserts the flock!
May the sword strike his arm^(V) and his right eye!
    May his arm be completely withered,
    his right eye totally blinded!”^(W)

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1. Sheep marked for slaughter (1-9)

When people reject God their true shepherd and the under-shepherds whom he sends, exploiters become their shepherds. The Lord told Zechariah to demonstrate this in a parable. The sheep he pastured were marked for slaughter. He fired three false shepherds, and tried to help the sick and oppressed sheep. The sheep, however, did not like him, so they paid him and sent him away. The thirty pieces of silver thrown to the potter remind us of the rejection of the true Good Shepherd (Mt 26:15).

2. Favor and Union, broken staffs (10-17)

He had two staffs, one called Favor (or Grace) and the other, Union. Favor represented the Lord's covenant and protection. When he broke this, powerful neighbors invaded and oppressed God's people. The second staff represented the united kingdom. When the union was broken between Judah and Israel, the brothers became enemies.

Prayer: Lord, help us not to be foolish sheep. Help us to hear the voice of our Shepherd and obey him.

One Word: Obedient sheep and a good shepherd