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Zechariah 11:7-11 The flocked doomed to slaughter - Day 358

Good morning friends,

I can't imagine how Zechariah responded to this message from the Lord.  How would I respond to being told to shepherd a flock doomed to slaughter?  As you will see, this is not an easy passage.

Blessings, 

Jeff

I think I have mentioned that the post exile prophets generally have an encouraging message to the people with focus on rebuilding the temple.  So this chapter seems to be an exception.  Looking at a timeline, I found out that that the temple was completed during Zechariah's time.  

From ESV Study Bible note:

Zechariah's focus turns from the flock back to the shepherds. The fable of vv. 1–3 conveys impending destruction, but of what or whom? Interpreters differ on this question and on several details in the rest of this difficult section.

I take comfort in knowing that I am not alone in struggling with this passage.  

It is sad to think that after all Judah and Israel have been through in exile and dispersion, that they would still be a "flock doomed to slaughter".  Yet the two staffs of Favor and Union seem to indicate that they are the subjects of this passage.  Re-unification of the two nations under the Davidic line when temple is rebuilt seems to be God's plan.  But the shepherd described here grows impatient with the sheep and the sheep detest him.  Since the period between completion of the temple and the first advent of Christ is marked by God's silence, I can see how this passage could describe the entire time and not just one human shepherd.

In any case, the people who heard this prophecy were being warned, not encouraged.  As I have been saying about the author of Chronicles using the events from the past to encourage the exiles not to repeat those mistakes, this seems to be a dire warning of what will happen if they do repeat them.

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