CRITICAL NOTES.
Zechariah 11:15.] Since the Good Shepherd was rejected a very different class would shepherd them. Take] again. Instruments] A crook, bag, pipe, and knife, &c. Foolish] Bad shepherd (Psalms 14:1).
Zechariah 11:16.] Conduct of this ruler described; not mere neglect, but destroys (cf. Ezekiel 34:3-4). Enumeration of particulars complete. Claws] Tearing off hoofs, disabling them from seeking pasture, expressive of ferocious greed. Even extremities rent rather than lose a shred of flesh.
Zechariah 11:17. Woe] These merciless rulers meet with retribution. Leaveth] Instead of guarding the flock. Arm] Instrument of tyranny. Right eye] The organ of vigilance (John 10:12-13). The former withered, and the latter blinded. “The doom imprecated is truly awful—an utter deprivation of power and intelligence” [Henderson].
HOMILETICS
THE CHARGE OF WORTHLESS SHEPHERDS.—Zechariah 11:15-17
Israel rejected the Good Shepherd, and must now be ruled by shepherds of a different class. In one more symbolic act the prophet represents the truth. “Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd.” Notice—
I. The character of the shepherds. These pretended shepherds are described—
1. They were worthless. “Woe to the idol shepherd.” An idol expresses vanity, a thing of nought. “A shepherd of nothingness, one who hath no quality of a shepherd.” Destitute of spiritual life, no care for themselves or their flock, mere forms or images before God.
2. They are foolish. Foolish is synonymous with wicked (Psalms 14:1). Not mere ignorant and unqualified, but unprincipled and ungodly shepherds; vain, passionate, and cruel.
II. The rule of the shepherds. This is described in the figure, not the exact words of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 23:1-2) and Ezekiel (Ezekiel 34:3-4).
1. They are negligent. “Who shall not visit.” The flock is sick, wounded, or lost; and the shepherd is unfaithful and negligent.
2. They are selfish. They think only of gratification and self-indulgence. “He shall eat the flesh of the fat.”
3. They are cruel. They not only neglect, but seriously injure the sheep. They have neither sympathy for the young nor regard for the lost. They seize and devour the flock, and tear in pieces the claws of the sheep.
Attend. “This holy fox
Or wolf, or both,—for he is equal ravenous
As he is subtle, and as prone to mischief
As able to perform ’t [Shakespeare].
III. The punishment of the shepherds. “Woe to the idol shepherd” (Zechariah 11:17).
1. Judicial blindness. “His right eye,” which should have been vigilant, ever looking out to guide the flock, “shall be utterly darkened.” Visited with blindness, “he shall grope in the noon-day as in the night.”
2. Withered strength. “The sword shall be upon his arm,” by which he should have defended the flock. His boasted light shall be obscured, and his might dried, shrivelled up to nothing. He is bereft alike of wisdom and strength. Awful warning to faithless ministers. “If such woe,” says Wardlaw, “hung over negligent, unfaithful, unfeeling, selfish shepherds, under the old economy, how weightily ought they to feel their responsibility, to whom, under the new, Christ says, “Feed my sheep: feed my lambs”!
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Zechariah 11:15. Instruments of a foolish shepherd. Exalted rank and sacred power; the weakness of human nature, and all the means to support their ambitious designs.
1. The condition of the flock. Some are cut off. Having wandered, they are left to perish. Others are “broken, i.e. injured through the fracture of a limb. The opposite of that which stands upon its feet, and is still strong” [Keil]. Some stand still through faintness or weakness. “Better the whole (as the word always means, ‘in its good estate;’ like our prayer, ‘that thou wouldest strengthen those who do stand’). Which was set firm, or set himself firm, as in Psalms 39:6, ‘Every man in his firm estate is all vanity.’ Id quod stat (S. Jer.)” [Pusey]. All require special care. But notice—2 The wickedness of the shepherd. He should sustain and furnish every one with provisions. “If taken as pointing to an individual king, there is none to whom it will more aptly apply than to Herod, who was totally regardless of the real interests of the Jews, and whose reign was marked by the perpetration of the most shameful and barbarous cruelties” [Hends.].
The whole chapter sets forth—
1. The conduct of the Good Shepherd (Zechariah 11:4-14) who laid down his life for the sheep.
2. The conduct of the bad shepherds (Zechariah 11:15-17). The foolish, cruel, and worthless rulers, who devoured the flock and destroyed the nation.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 11
Zechariah 11:15-17. Shepherd. O miserable is that Church wherein are hirelings instead of the Good Shepherd; more miserable where are wolves in place of hirelings, and most miserable where devils in place of wolves [Bishop Jewell]. Eat the flesh. Not keeping but clipping the flock; as if having now got a cure, they might bid adieu to care [Bernard].