While the vision of Israel’s regathering and rejoicing in their homeland is glorious, it is not the happy end of their national story. The final four chapters (11-14) describe a dramatic and difficult future for Israel, one filled with tragic choices, epic battles, a heart-breaking spiritual awakening, and a lasting national deliverance.
The chapter opens with a foreboding announcement of devastation on the Israel and its northern neighbors (11:1-3). Using the imagery of trees and shrubs, Zechariah describes a fire that consumes the “cedars” of Lebanon, the “oaks of Bashan”, and the “thickets of the Jordan” (11:1-3). The destruction consumes the “glory” of the land, leaving the people and their leaders (“shepherds”) wailing in pain (11:3).
We are not given any time markers for when this happens. However, the positioning of verses 11:1-3 at the start of an extended section detailing the grand climax of Israel’s future, would seem to position these events at the culmination of history. They serve to set the mood for what Zechariah will record in the last four chapters—the events leading up to the fiery finale to the story of Israel and the nations.
Verses 4-17 shift to an extensive discussion of Israel’s leaders using the analogy of good and bad shepherds. Zechariah appears to be commissioned to act out the part of both the faithful and foolish shepherds described in this chapter. At first, Zechariah represent the good shepherd who tries to care for Israel as it heads towards danger and death: “Thus said the Lord my God: ‘Become shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter’” (11:4). Later, he will stand in for the foolish shepherd who cares for himself at the expense of the flock: “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Take once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd’” (11:17).
Once again, Zechariah does not give us clear time indications for when all of this takes place. Therefore, we must deduce from contextual clues when all this happens. Some biblical scholars see these verses as looking back to Israel’s past, when God’s favor was withdrawn (11:10) and the nation was divided (11:14). However, since the flow of the final four chapters seems to focus on the future, it seems preferable to see these verses as predictive. While they echo what happened in Israel’s past, they point to events in Israel’s future.
The faithful shepherd’s ministry is the focus of verses 4-14. Zechariah represents a coming shepherd (leader) who tries to tend the people of Israel as they head for disaster. This shepherd has the difficult job of shepherding a people “doomed to slaughter” (11:4). Their devastation is, at least in part, self-inflicted. They are oppressed and mistreated by their own rulers (shepherds) and by one another, all for the sake of increasing wealth (11:5). As they “devour the flesh of one another” (11:4, 9), they brazenly credit the Lord for blessing their brutal actions: “Blessed be the Lord, I have become rich” (11:5). Their own shepherds (religious and political leaders) “have no pity on them”, allowing and increasing the carnage (11:5). Their king adds to the misery by crushing the land and its inhabitants (11:6). This internal strife and slaughter comes because of God’s judgment. The Lord tells Zechariah, “Behold, I will cause each of them to fall into the hand of his neighbor, and each into the hand of his king” (11:6).
Into this dark situation comes the faithful shepherd: “So I became the shepherd of the flock doomed to be slaughtered” (11:7). The faithful shepherd tries to set thing right. He takes “two staffs”, naming one “Favor” and the other “Union”. These staffs represent the good shepherd’s desire to restore God’s favor and the nation’s unity. The faithful shepherd enters into conflict with three unnamed shepherds who were failing to do their job: “In one month I destroyed the three shepherds” (11:8).
Despite his efforts, things don’t change for the better. As he senses the nation and its leaders “despise” his efforts at reform, the faithful shepherd comes “impatient with them” (11:8). He says, “I will not be your shepherd. What is to die, let it die. What is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed. And let those who are left devour the flesh of one another” (11:9). He breaks the staff called Favor to symbolize he is “annulling the covenant” that he “had made with all the peoples” (11:10). Those watching the shepherd’s action know that this “was the word of the Lord” (11:11).
The faithful shepherd now requests payment for his work in seeking to bring God’s favor and unity to the nation. “Then I said to them, ‘If it seems good to you, give me my wages, but if not, keep them’” (11:12). For his work, he is given “thirty pieces of silver” (11:12). The faithful shepherd’s reaction to this sum indicates he was paid only a pittance (sarcastically called a “lordly price”—11:13). At the Lord’s command, he takes the silver and throws it “into the house of the Lord, to the potter” (11:13). Then, in a final, dramatic act, the faithful shepherd breaks the second staff called “Union” as a way of “annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.” Having rejected the efforts of the faithful shepherd, the nation is indeed “doomed to slaughter” (11:4, 7).
Now Zechariah is asked to represent a worthless, foolish shepherd: “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Take once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd” (11:15). The Lord announces He is “raising up in the land a shepherd who does not care for those being destroyed, or seek the young or heal the maimed or nourish the healthy, but devours the flesh of the fat ones, even tearing off their hoofs” (11:16). We are not told the identity of this foolish shepherd; he could be a future king or religious ruler (high priest). However, we are told this shepherd will be judged for deserting God’s flock (11:17). A sword will strike his right eye and arm, leaving him withered and blind. This leader diminished and punished by the Lord.
Knowing God: Understanding His Person and Ways
The Lord raises up both faithful and foolish leaders to fulfill His purposes. The Lord commissions a faithful shepherd to care for His people (11:4). He also asserts He is “raising up in the land a shepherd who does not care for those being destroyed” (11:16). For His purposes, the Lord sends both faithful and foolish leaders to govern His people. Faithful shepherds seek to bring His blessing; foolish ones are part of His judgment. As Paul makes clear in Romans 13:1, “For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” As Isaiah proclaims, the Lord “brings princes to nothings, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness. Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows on them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble” (Isa 40:23-24). Zechariah 11 reminds us the Lord sovereignly elevates and eliminates national leaders.
The Lord can assign a faithful shepherd to serve an unruly, unfaithful people. In commissioning Zechariah to represent a faithful shepherd, the Lord explains his assignment will be difficult. He is sent to shepherd “the flock doomed to slaughter” (11:4). The people both oppress one another (11:9) and are mistreated by their leaders (11:6). The faithful shepherd’s service brings him into conflict with other leaders (“I destroyed the three shepherds”—11:8). Sadly, despite his efforts, he is “detested” rather than appreciated (11:8). Here is a reminder that the Lord sometimes gives His faithful shepherds assignments where they will be opposed, undervalued, and despised. He expects His shepherds to stay faithful to fulfill His purposes.
Jesus is the faithful shepherd who was rejected by Israel. The writers of the Gospels cite Zechariah 11 in their telling of Jesus’ life. Judas received “thirty pieces of silver” for betraying Jesus into the hands of the three groups of wicked shepherds (elders, chief priests, and scribes). Feeling remorse for his actions, Judas throws the money into the Temple. The religious leaders use the funds to by “the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers” (Matt 27:7). Jesus is the good and faithful shepherd who sought to tend a flock doomed to slaughter for their rejection of Him and their unfaithfulness to their God.
Joining God: Moving with God on Mission
Faithful shepherds seek the young, heal the hurting, and nourish the healthy. The foolish shepherd raised up by the Lord to rule harshly over the sheep fails to fulfill the duties of a good shepherd. Because this worthless shepherd does not “care for” the flock, he does not “seek the young or heal the maimed or nourish the healthy” (11:16). Instead of taking care of the sheep, he takes advantage of them: he “devours the flesh of the fat ones, tearing off even their hoofs” (11:16). By contrast, good shepherds do the opposite. Because of their concern for those they lead, good shepherds actively go after the vulnerable (“young”), deliberately bring healing to the hurting, and faithfully feed the healthy. These marks of a faithful shepherd are perfectly seen in the Lord Jesus, the Good Shepherd. Jesus seeks the lost who have wandered from Him (Luke 15; John 10). He heals the broken in body and the broken-hearted. He also nourishes and strengthens those who are healthy with His life-giving Word. Faithful human shepherds will follow the example of Jesus in caring for those they lead in similar ways.
Without a faithful shepherd, people mistreat and devour one another. While people don’t always want a faithful shepherd, they need one. Without the oversight and care of a good leader, bad things happen. The powerful take advantage of the weak (11:4-6, 15-16). The sheep “devour the flesh of one another” (11:9). One of the vital roles a good shepherd plays is providing safety and stability from our human tendency to misuse power and mistreat others. Good shepherds can play an important part in keeping bad things from happening.
Faithful shepherds are not always valued by those they lead. One of the harsh realities highlighted in this chapter concerns the treatment of the faithful shepherd by the Lord’s people. Instead of gratitude and delight, they detest him (11:8). Instead of valuing His efforts to care of them, they devalue him, paying him a pittance of what he deserves (11:12-13). Faithful shepherds (pastors, leaders) will sometimes experience a similar response from those they serve. They can be mistreated, despised, and devalued. At times, this will lead them to leave the flock: “So I said, ‘I will not be your shepherd’” (11:9). When that happens, faithful shepherds can find some comfort in knowing they share in the sufferings experienced by the Good Shepherd (Phil 3:10).
Rick and Linda Reed 