CRITICAL NOTES.
Zechariah 11:9. Let it] Perish those who are doomed to perish. All kindly control is withdrawn, and the flock is left to the consequences of its fatal rejection of deliverance. The fulfilment in the history of Jerusalem.
Zechariah 11:10. Break] Symbolic action of taking away the good received by the flock in form of covenant. “That is to say, the covenant which God has made with all nations is to be repealed or destroyed” [Keil].
Zechariah 11:11. Broken] The covenant annulled as the staff was broken. This not observed by the flock at large, only by the poor] who recognized the fulfilment of a Divine word (Jeremiah 32:8).
HOMILETICS
GOD WITHDRAWN, AND MAN GIVEN UP TO HIS OWN DESTRUCTION.—Zechariah 11:9-11
The treatment which the Shepherd received leads him to give up feeding the flock, and leave it to its fate. Israel rejected Jehovah, and was in turn rejected. The staves were broken, and the miserable flock have experienced the weight of the words, “Woe unto them when I depart from them!” Learn—
I. That God may withdraw himself from men on account of their sins. “Then said I, I will not feed you.” God woos and awes men; instructs and chastises them; loads them with benefits and corrects them in evil; uses all possible means to keep them in his ways: but they despise his long-suffering, and provoke his wrath. The greatest favours of God often draw forth the worst manifestation of conduct. Men persist in rebellion, refuse when God calls, and are ultimately left to their folly. “My Spirit shall not always strive with man.”
II. That when God withdraws himself from men fearful punishment falls upon them for their sins. How awful the picture given here.
1. Destruction most effectual. “It was broken in that day.” If not suddenly, the Jewish nation suffered eventually. God has power to execute judgments, and nothing escapes his notice.
2. Destruction in manifold ways.
(1) By pestilence. “That that dieth, let it die.”
(2) By the sword. “And that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off.”
(3) By famine. “Let the rest eat every one the flesh of another.”
(4) By intestine feuds. God withdrew, and ceased to be “a wall of fire round about them.” The staff Beauty, the covenant, was broken, and fearful was the fulfilment. When the Romans forced admission into their city, famine and pestilence, feuds and mutual hatred, had done their work. Josephus tells us that every law of nature and humanity was broken; that even the very letter was fulfilled: “The left over shall eat every one of the flesh of his neighbour.”
THE OBSERVANT FEW.—Zechariah 11:11
When the staff was broken, and calamities were threatened, this was not observed by all. Only a small number gave heed to Jehovah, and recognized the fulfilment of the Divine word. Their character, attitude, and experience are described.
I. Their character is described. “The poor of the flock.” Poor in condition and poor in spirit. The nation was gone astray, but God had “a seed to serve him.” The people were doomed, but Jesus had a “little flock.” However low the condition of the world, God has always a “remnant according to the election of grace.”
II. Their attitude is described. They “waited upon me.” They prayed to God for mercy; observed God in the warnings and actions of the prophet. They discerned the hand of God in the signs of the times, just as the disciples saw coming judgments in the siege of Jerusalem, and fled to Pella. “Whoso readeth, let him understand (mark, consider, 2 Timothy 2:7) it” (Matthew 24:15).
III. Their experience is described. They knew that it was “the word of the Lord.” They understood the word of God, however perplexing it was to others; were sensible of God’s displeasure, and cherished a humble spirit. Events which are common occurrences, chances of war to some, are warnings of God to others. Let faithful pastors be encouraged from these words. Prophets before them have shared their lot—ministered to a flock, despised by the world, but distinguished by the mark that they know the Lord. Jesus himself thought it not beneath him to shepherd “a little flock,” whom he will own at the great day.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 11
Zechariah 11:9. I will not. God’s decrees are not the result of deliberation, or the Almighty’s debating matters within himself, reasoning in his own mind about the expediency of things, as creatures do; nor are they merely ideas of things future, but settled determinations founded on his sovereign will and pleasure [Buck].
Zechariah 11:10. Beauty.
“In his favour life is found,
All bliss beside—a shadow or a sound” [Cowper].