The Righteous Shepherd Who Is God's Fellow (Zechariah 13:7-9).
“Awake, Oh sword, against my shepherd, and against the man who is my fellow,” says YHWH of Hosts, “smite the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered and I will turn my hand on the little ones.”
This verse connects with the previous verse and with Zechariah 12:10. From Zechariah 12:10 - Zechariah 13:7 we have the deliberate contrast between God's true Prophet and the cultic false prophets centred in the old Jerusalem. The false prophets were pierced because of their false prophecies. The true Prophet was pierced because He was falsely rejected. The false prophets claim to have been smitten by their friends, the true Shepherd will be smitten by those who should have been His friends. Thus the true Shepherd was also to be pierced and smitten because of the perversity of men.
Here ‘smite' is used, the same verb as is used of false prophets in Zechariah 13:6, to contrast the smiting of the true Shepherd with that of the false. ‘Pierce' was used in the contrast in Zechariah 12:10 and Zechariah 13:3.
The sword of judgment which had smitten the false shepherds (Zechariah 11:17) will also smite the true. This amazing verse then depicts the smiting of God's true shepherd (compare Isaiah 53 which amplifies these words). The old Jerusalem's last act before it is superseded will be to destroy the Shepherd of God.
In the background is God's judgment on sin placed on the Shepherd (Isaiah 53:4-6) but the actual sword is wielded by His enemies, ironically the old dwellers in Jerusalem. The Shepherd is smitten by His supposed ‘friends'. But underlying it is that the One Who is the substitute for sin (Isaiah 53:5) must bear the judgment that is imposed on the enemies of God because He is made sin for us.
‘Awake, Oh sword.” In the end it is God Who controls and sends forth the sword of judgment. All is done under His sovereign hand. But it is wielded by His enemies, those who profess to be His friends, thus unconsciously bringing about the purposes of God..
‘My shepherd.' The shepherd was familiar for his care and concern for his sheep, as feeder, guide and protector. It is a regular picture for God in the Old Testament (Psalms 23; Psalms 80:1; Isaiah 40:11; Jeremiah 31:10) and for those who serve in God's place (Zechariah 11:4; Zechariah 11:7; Numbers 27:16-17; Isaiah 63:11; Jeremiah 23:4) and especially for the Messiah (Ezekiel 34:23; Ezekiel 37:24). But as Zechariah has shown, many of the latter proved to be false shepherds (Zechariah 10:2-3; Zechariah 11:5; Zechariah 11:16-17 compare Isaiah 56:11; Jeremiah 25:33-37; Jeremiah 50:6; Ezekiel 34:2-10).
In the light of Ezekiel 34:23; Ezekiel 37:24 with Zechariah 12:10 and the use of ‘My' we are justified in seeing in this smitten shepherd God's servant, the ‘one shepherd', the ‘David' who was to come, in other words the Messiah.
‘And against the man who is my fellow.' Literally, ‘the man who stands next to Me.' This clearly suggests a God-appointed king and confirms that we have here the coming Promised One. It was always a problem for the Jews to reconcile this coming Promised One who would suffer under God's hand with their expected triumphant Messiah. It is only in the coming of Jesus that we see the two reconciled. Yet the prophets had an awareness, although doubtless mystified, that this must be so.
‘Smite the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered and I will turn my hand on the little ones (on the lambs).' This verse is quoted by Jesus to describe the result on His disciples of His being seized (Matthew 26:31; Mark 14:27). The smiting of the shepherd always results in the scattering of the sheep and the destruction of lambs. And in the sovereignty of God it has often been so with His people, whether it be the Great Shepherd or His under-shepherds. But as the next verses make clear this is because it will have a refining effect which is for the good of His flock. God's purposes are accomplished through suffering, and among the scattered sheep He raises up further under-shepherds.
“And it will happen that in all the land,” says Yahweh, “two parts in it will be cut off and die, but the third part will be left in it. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried. They will call on my name and I will hear them. I will say, ‘It is my people'. And they will say, ‘YHWH is my God'.”
Here we have described the result of the smiting of the Shepherd. God's future promises are not effective for all. The majority will not respond to God's offer of mercy and will come under His judgment. This is depicted here in terms of a large proportion who die and a smaller proportion who go through refining fires and are purified.
Refining fires are also destructive fires. In Ezekiel 22:17-22 God declares that because of His wrath against His people Israel they will undergo the fire of His wrath. There is no suggestion there of its purifying effect although that may possibly be assumed from the process described, the purpose of which is to remove dross from metals. Ezekiel, however, describes Israel as mainly the dross, more in line with Jeremiah 6:29-30. Their concentration is on the judgment of a sinful people. Zechariah here recognises the destruction of a large proportion as dross but adds the thought of the fire as purifying the remnant who undergo it. So the idea is expanded and is not fully the same. For him there is room for mercy.
Malachi 3:1-3 and Isaiah 1:25-28 are more parallel with Zechariah. In Malachi 3:1-3 the concentration is on refining. After the sending of His messenger to prepare the way, YHWH comes to His Temple to purify the priesthood through refining fire, so that they are purified like gold and silver and become a true priesthood. This true priesthood was represented in the early church who became a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:5; 1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6).
Isaiah in Isaiah 1:25-28 cites YHWH as declaring, ‘I will turn my hand on you and will purge away all your dross as with lye, and will take away all your tin.' The result is then that the judges and counsellors are ‘restored' and Jerusalem is called ‘the city of righteousness, the faithful city', while transgressors and sinners are destroyed. This clearly reflects the meaning of Zechariah in respect of the ‘third part'.
Thus the smiting of the Shepherd results in judgment on the majority and the choosing out and refining of a minority. We may see this fulfilled in the consequences that came on the Jews after their rejection of the Messiah. In the war that began in 66 AD huge numbers of Jews were slaughtered, many by the sword, and others by crucifixion or death in the arena, But the true remnant who made up the church of Jesus Christ, although enduring much persecution prior to this, escaped the slaughter by fleeing from Jerusalem as Jesus had said.
‘A third part.' Three was the number of completeness thus this means a proportion of the whole which is complete in itself. It is intended to mean a smallish minority and not to be applied literally. The exactness indicates the precision with which God chooses rather than being a mathematical declaration. This third part is to be purified through ‘fire'. The general idea behind this is suffering of one form or another. The bringing of man into a state acceptable to God is not something to be easily accomplished. In the words of Paul ‘tribulation produces patient endurance' (Romans 5:3).
‘They will call on my name and I will hear them.' The result of the refining will be genuine repentance so that they call on God from a true heart. Then He will hear them and respond.
‘I will say, “It is my people”. And they will say, “YHWH is my God”.' They will be accepted once again by God as His true people and they will respond to Him as truly their God. We can compare Hosea 2:23, and Jeremiah 31:33, the latter specifically demonstrating the effect of the refining as ‘having the law written in their hearts' as a result of the new covenant God makes with His people. This latter is cited in Hebrews 8:8-12 as relating to the better covenant brought by Jesus Christ (compare 2 Corinthians 6:17-18).
Note. There are some who would relate this whole passage in Zechariah 12:1 to Zechariah 13:9 only to the final days of the current age. They would cite ‘in that day' as always meaning such a time. They then see it as relating only to the Jews with a resulting ‘end time' revival among them and late response to the Messiah. And indeed we would not deny that all such might happen, for there are grounds elsewhere for thinking of this as a possibility, but we must not restrict it to that. Nor is that even necessary.
The New Testament makes clear that ‘that day', the ‘last days', began in New Testament times. The Apostles saw themselves as being in the last days, the time of the end, the times of the Messiah (Acts 2:16 in context; 1 Corinthians 10:11; Hebrews 1:2; Hebrews 9:26-28; 1 Peter 1:10-12; 1 Peter 1:20; 1 Peter 4:7). It is true that that time has extended so that we too are in the last days, but their insistence on this means that prophecies related to ‘the end days' apply from their time onwards.
Thus Peter applies the prophecy of Joel 2:28 to Pentecost, and this is in line with the idea in Zechariah 12:10; Jesus Christ cites Himself as the smitten Shepherd (Matthew 26:31), and the fountain for sin and uncleanness was opened as a result of His death and resurrection. To restrict it to the ‘end times' as meant by these interpreters is to limit its significance and to lose the glory of what has come about. And it is to ignore the insistence of the New Testament that the hopes of Israel find themselves fulfilled in Jesus Christ, and in His church, the elect remnant, the Israel of God.