CHAPTER 11

(487 B.C.)

THE FIRST ADVENT OF THE MESSIAH: THE SHEPHERD KING REJECTED

¹Open your doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour your cedars. (This Chapter proclaims the First Advent of Christ and His rejection, with the last three Verses proclaiming the coming Antichrist. Open your doors, O Lebanon, speaks of the coming destruction of Israel by the Romans. The way the word Lebanon is used here, it does not refer to the country itself, which borders Israel on the north, but instead refers to the houses in Jerusalem, which were largely built of cedar from Lebanon [Hab. 2:17].)

²Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O you oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down. (The trees of this Verse symbolize the cities destroyed by the Romans as they marched through Israel onto Jerusalem. The argument is: some of these cities were strong, and they were still unable to stand; so, how much more sure was the Fall of Jerusalem?!

The phrase, For the forest of the vintage is come down, refers to Jerusalem fortifying itself, but to no avail because the Holy Spirit says, It will come down. And so it did, with over one million Jews being killed, with hundreds of thousands of others being sold as slaves all over the world.)

³There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled. (There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds, refers to the Priests, who were lamenting the destruction of the Temple. A voice of the roaring of young lions, refers to the Nobles of Jerusalem. For the pride of Jordan is spoiled, proclaims Joshua crossing the Jordan about 1,500 years earlier, and his taking of the Land of Israel, with Jerusalem under David ultimately being made its Capital. Now the pride of that conquest, Jerusalem, is spoiled.)

⁴Thus says the LORD my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter (The phrase, Feed the flock of the slaughter, is an admonition given to Zechariah, and yet Israel ultimately will not accept what is fed them; they will, therefore, be slaughtered.

Even though it is addressed to Zechariah and, as stated, to all who are in places of Spiritual leadership, still, it really refers to Christ, Who will feed this flock as they have never before been fed, but yet that which they will not accept!);

⁵Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they who sell them say, Blessed be the LORD; for I am rich: and their own shepherds pity them not. (Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty, refers to the Spiritual leadership of Israel at the time of Christ. The possessors were the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians. They, as most religious professors, were deceived by their own deception; consequently, they did not hold themselves guilty and would, therefore, not repent.

The two words, Slay them, concern the people being killed spiritually by unbelief and the traditions of men [Mk. 7:13]. And they who sell them say, Blessed be the LORD, means that they cloaked their entire ungodly procedure with religion. It further means that they rejected and crucified Christ in the Name of the Lord.

The four words, For I am rich, hold the idea that their wealth, even though ill-gotten, meant, in their minds, that God had blessed them. And their own shepherds pity them not, meant, in effect, that they had no True Shepherds [Mat. 9:36].)

⁶For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, says the LORD: but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbours hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them. (The first phrase pertains to Israel being turned over to slaughter because of their rejection and crucifixion of Gods only Son and their Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. But, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbors hand, refers to the Romans, who ruled Israel during the time of Christ.

And they shall smite the land, refers to Titus and the Roman Tenth Legion laying siege to Jerusalem and totally destroying it in A.D. 70. The phrase, And out of their hand I will not deliver them, means that inasmuch as Israel rejected the True King, now they would have to accept what the false king would do unto them.)

BEAUTY AND BANDS

⁷And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands; and I fed the flock. (And I will feed the flock of slaughter, refers back to Verse 4. He would feed them, i.e., give them Christ, but they would not accept Christ. Hence, they were destined for slaughter. Even you, O poor of the flock, refers to the Disciples and others who received Him, and who consequently formed the nucleus of what would be called the Church [Mat. 16:18].

The one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands, pertains to graciousness [beauty] and union [bands]. These two staves, which were found with all shepherds, intimate the manifold Character of God for His Flock from the earliest times and the two Blessings which He designed to bestow, as the names of the staves proclaim.

First of all, He dealt with them with Grace, which means the Favor of God. Second, He meant for them all to be one, hence the word Bands, or the Union of all the members of the flock, especially that between Israel and Judah. This made one flock under one Shepherd.

And I fed the flock, refers to Gods care all through the history of Israel by giving them Prophets and ultimately the greatest Gift of all, the Lord Jesus Christ.)

⁸Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and My Soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred Me. (These three shepherds are unnamed, but probably refer to the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians. The words, cut off, mean to be destroyed, which they all were with the Fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.)

⁹Then said I, I will not feed you: that who die, let it die; and that who is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another. (Due to the fact that Israel rejected her Messiah, crucifying Him, they were cut off. Consequently, in this one Verse is predicted a horror upon Jerusalem and Judah to such an extent as they had never before known. They wanted Caesar, so they got Caesar! It would prove to be a sorry trade [Jn. 19:15].)

GODS GRACIOUSNESS (BEAUTY) CUT OFF: NO MORE MERCY ON ISRAEL UNTIL MESSIAHS SECOND ADVENT

¹⁰And I took My Staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break My Covenant which I had made with all the people. (The first phrase means that the Lord withdrew His Grace from Israel, in effect, leaving them to the mercy of their foes. The last phrase speaks of the breaking or abolishment of the Old Covenant made with Moses and all the people about 1,500 years before.

Scripture is very clear that the Law of Moses was fulfilled by Christ on the Cross [II Cor. 3:6-15; Gal. 3:13-25; Col. 2:14-17]. It literally came to an end and was broken in one day, the day of the Crucifixion of Christ, even as the next Verse proclaims.)

¹¹And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock who waited upon Me knew that it was the Word of the LORD. (And so the poor of the flock..., refers to the few, among them His Disciples, who paid respect to His Words and, therefore, believed Him. However, the bulk of the nation took no heed, learned no lesson and, therefore, suffered the horrible consequence.

Who waited upon Me knew that it was the Word of the LORD, means that only the few who knew their Bibles understood His Mission. However, even these were slow to understand, as is borne out in the Gospels.)

MESSIAH SOLD BY THE PEOPLE (THE FLOCK)

¹²And I said unto them, If you think good, give Me My Price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for My Price thirty pieces of silver. (The first phrase refers to the Lord speaking, even though He uses the Prophet as His Instrument. The Lord is speaking in the Person of the Great Shepherd. He asks His hire of the flock, because the flock represents men.

And if not, forbear, means I leave it to you to decide. The phrase, So they weighed for My Price thirty pieces of silver, proclaims what Israel thought of their Messiah and His Care through all the many centuries. They valued Him at thirty shekels, the price of an injured slave [Ex. 21:32].

It is amazing that the Pharisees, who claimed to be such sticklers for the Law, would read these words, especially after the act had been performed, and still not relate it to themselves. Such is the marvel of unbelief!)

¹³And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the House of the LORD. (And the LORD said unto me, now refers to His Response to their actions. This was all prophesied about 500 years before it would actually take place. The phrase, Cast it unto the potter, implies the contemptuous rejection of the paltry sum; at the same time, it intimates the ultimate destination, i.e., a field in which to bury the penniless [Mat. 27:3-10]. This was fulfilled to the letter by the action of Judas Iscariot.

A goodly price that I was prised at of them, is used as sarcasm. Such was the price that they valued Him. The pronoun them is used strongly by the Holy Spirit, and of contempt; it speaks of the leadership of Israel at that time!

And I took the thirty pieces of silver..., is quoted in Mat. 27:9. The phrase, And cast them to the potter in the House of the LORD, represents that all of this took place in the Temple.)

THE BANDS (UNION) CUT OFF: ISRAEL DISPERSED

¹⁴Then I cut asunder My other Staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. (The first phrase concerns the union of the Twelve Tribes being broken by the destruction of the Romans in A.D. 70. When Grace was taken away [Vs. 10], then the union could not help but be destroyed.

That I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel, pertains to it being so completely broken that most Jews now have no idea to which Tribe they originally belonged. As the breaking of the first staff [Vs. 10] indicated the withdrawing of Gods Care, the breaking of this staff, called Bands, signified the utter dissolution of all the bonds that held the nation together. They rejected Him and now He rejects them.

As He was their total Protection, whenever He rejected them, there was nothing left but anarchy, confusion, and ruin.)

A WORTHLESS SHEPHERD TAKES THE GOOD SHEPHERDS PLACE: AFTER ANTICHRIST, ISRAEL WILL APPRECIATE THE GOOD SHEPHERD

¹⁵And the LORD said unto me, Take unto you yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd. (In this Verse, the foolish shepherd, the future Antichrist, is described.)

¹⁶For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those who be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that stands still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces. (The contrast is given here between the True Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ, Who was rejected by Israel, and the false shepherd, the Antichrist, who will deceive and seek to destroy them. They would not accept Christ, so He would see to it that a false shepherd would be given to them, hence the words, For, lo, I will raise up....)

¹⁷Woe to the idol shepherd who leaves the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened. (Woe to the idol shepherd, has reference to the Antichrist, who will claim to be God and who also will demand worship [II Thess. 2:3-4; Rev. 13:16-18]. Who leaves the flock, pertains to the Antichrist breaking his seven-year covenant with Israel and then attacking her, when she will suffer her first military defeat since becoming a nation in 1948 [Dan. 9:27]. This will happen at the midpoint of the coming Great Tribulation.

The Antichrist will set out with the sword to destroy Israel, but, in turn, will be destroyed. This will be at the Second Coming and will also signal the Restoration of Israel.)