mh_parser/vol_split/38 - Zechariah/Chapter 11.xml

<div2 id="Zech.xii" n="xii" next="Zech.xiii" prev="Zech.xi" progress="96.35%" title="Chapter XI">
<h2 id="Zech.xii-p0.1">Z E C H A R I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Zech.xii-p0.2">CHAP. XI.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Zech.xii-p1" shownumber="no">God's prophet, who, in the chapters before, was an
ambassador sent to promise peace, is here a herald sent to declare
war. The Jewish nation shall recover its prosperity, and shall
flourish for some time and become considerable; it shall be very
happy, at length, in the coming of the long-expected Messiah, in
the preaching of his gospel, and in the setting up of his standard
there. But, when thereby the chosen remnant among them are
effectually called in and united to Christ, the body of the nation,
persisting in unbelief, shall be utterly abandoned and given up to
ruin, for rejecting Christ; and it is this that is foretold here in
this chapter—the Jews rejecting Christ, which was their
measure-filling sin, and the wrath which for that sin came upon
them to the uttermost. Here is, I. A prediction of the destruction
itself that should come upon the Jewish nation, <scripRef id="Zech.xii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11.1-Zech.11.3" parsed="|Zech|11|1|11|3" passage="Zec 11:1-3">ver. 1-3</scripRef>. II. The putting of it into the
hands of the Messiah. 1. He is charged with the custody of that
flock, <scripRef id="Zech.xii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11.4-Zech.11.6" parsed="|Zech|11|4|11|6" passage="Zec 11:4-6">ver. 4-6</scripRef>. 2. He
undertakes it, and bears rule in it, <scripRef id="Zech.xii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11.7-Zech.11.8" parsed="|Zech|11|7|11|8" passage="Zec 11:7,8">ver. 7, 8</scripRef>. 3. Finding it perverse, he gives
it up (<scripRef id="Zech.xii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11.9" parsed="|Zech|11|9|0|0" passage="Zec 11:9">ver. 9</scripRef>), breaks his
shepherd's staff (<scripRef id="Zech.xii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11.10-Zech.11.11" parsed="|Zech|11|10|11|11" passage="Zec 11:10,11">ver. 10,
11</scripRef>), resents the indignities done him and the contempt
put upon him (<scripRef id="Zech.xii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11.12-Zech.11.13" parsed="|Zech|11|12|11|13" passage="Zec 11:12,13">ver. 12,
13</scripRef>), and then breaks his other staff, <scripRef id="Zech.xii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11.14" parsed="|Zech|11|14|0|0" passage="Zec 11:14">ver. 14</scripRef>. 4. He turns them over into the
hands of foolish shepherds, who, instead of preventing, shall
complete their ruin, and both the blind leaders and the blind
followers shall fall together into the ditch, <scripRef id="Zech.xii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11.15-Zech.11.17" parsed="|Zech|11|15|11|17" passage="Zec 11:15-17">ver. 15-17</scripRef>. This is foretold to the poor
of the flock before it comes to pass, that, when it does come to
pass, they may not be offended.</p>
<scripCom id="Zech.xii-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11" parsed="|Zech|11|0|0|0" passage="Zec 11" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Zech.xii-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11.1-Zech.11.3" parsed="|Zech|11|1|11|3" passage="Zec 11:1-3" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Zech.xii-p1.11">
<h4 id="Zech.xii-p1.12">Destruction of the Jewish
State. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Zech.xii-p1.13">b. c.</span> 510.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Zech.xii-p2" shownumber="no">1 Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may
devour thy cedars.   2 Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is
fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan;
for the forest of the vintage is come down.   3 <i>There
is</i> 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xii-p3" shownumber="no">In dark and figurative expressions, as is
usual in the scripture predictions of things at a great distance,
that destruction of Jerusalem and of the Jewish church and nation
is here foretold which our Lord Jesus, when the time was at hand,
prophesied of very plainly and expressly. We have here, 1.
Preparation made for that destruction (<scripRef id="Zech.xii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11.1" parsed="|Zech|11|1|0|0" passage="Zec 11:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>): "<i>Open thy doors, O
Lebanon!</i> Thou wouldst not open them to let thy king in—he
<i>came to his own and his own received him not;</i> now thou must
open them to let thy ruin in. Let the gates of the forest, and all
the avenues to it, be thrown open, and let the fire come in and
devour its glory." Some by Lebanon here understand the temple,
which was built of cedars from Lebanon, and the stones of it white
as the snow of Lebanon. It was burnt with fire by the Romans, and
its gates were forced open by the fury of the soldiers. To confirm
this, they tell a story, that forty years before the destruction of
the second temple the gates of it opened of their own accord, upon
which prodigy Rabbi Johanan made this remark (as it is found in one
of the Jewish authors), "Now I know," said he, "that the
destruction of the temple is at hand, according to the prophecy of
Zechariah, <i>Open thy doors, O Lebanon! that the fire may devour
thy cedars.</i>" Others understand it of Jerusalem, or rather of
the whole land of Canaan, to which Lebanon was an inlet on the
north. All shall lie open to the invader, and the cedars, the
mighty and eminent men, shall be devoured, which cannot but alarm
those of an inferior rank, <scripRef id="Zech.xii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11.2" parsed="|Zech|11|2|0|0" passage="Zec 11:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>. If <i>the cedars</i> have <i>fallen</i> (if <i>all
the mighty are spoiled,</i> and brought to ruin), let the
<i>fir-tree howl.</i> How can the slender fir-trees stand if
stately cedars fall? If cedars are devoured by fire, it is time for
the fir-trees to howl; for no wood is so combustible as that of the
fir. And let the <i>oaks of Bashan,</i> that lie exposed to every
injury, <i>howl, for the forest of the vintage</i> (or the
<i>flourishing vineyard,</i> that used to be guarded with a
particular care) has come down, or (as some read it) when the
<i>defenced forests,</i> such as Lebanon was, have come down. Note,
The falls of the wise and good into sin, and the falls of the rich
and great into trouble, are loud alarms to those that are every way
their inferiors not to be secure. 2. Lamentation made for the
destruction (<scripRef id="Zech.xii-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11.3" parsed="|Zech|11|3|0|0" passage="Zec 11:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>):
<i>There is a voice of howling.</i> Those who have fallen howl for
grief and shame, and those who see their own turn coming howl for
fear. But the great men especially receive the alarm with the
utmost confusion. Those who were roaring in the day of their revels
and triumphs are howling in the day of their terrors; <i>for now
they are tormented</i> more than others. Those great men were by
office shepherds, and such should have protected God's flock
committed to their charge; it is the duty both of princes and
priests. But they were as <i>young lions,</i> that made themselves
a terror to the flock with their roaring and the flock a prey to
themselves with their tearing. Note, It is sad with a people when
those who should be as shepherds to them are as young lions to
them. But what is the issue? The shepherds <i>howl,</i> for
<i>their glory is spoiled.</i> Their pastures, and the flocks which
covered them, which were the glory of the swains, are laid waste.
The <i>young lions howl,</i> for <i>the pride of Jordan is
spoiled.</i> The pride of Jordan was the thickets on the banks, in
which the lions reposed themselves; and therefore, when the river
overflowed and spoiled them, the lions came up from them (as we
read <scripRef id="Zech.xii-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.49.19" parsed="|Jer|49|19|0|0" passage="Jer 49:19">Jer. xlix. 19</scripRef>), and
they came up roaring. Note, When those who have power proudly abuse
their power, and, instead of being shepherds, are as young lions,
they may expect that the righteous God will humble their pride and
break their power.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Zech.xii-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11.4-Zech.11.14" parsed="|Zech|11|4|11|14" passage="Zec 11:4-14" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Zech.xii-p3.6">
<h4 id="Zech.xii-p3.7">Judgments Predicted and
Typified. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Zech.xii-p3.8">b. c.</span> 510.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Zech.xii-p4" shownumber="no">4 Thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Zech.xii-p4.1">Lord</span> my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter;
  5 Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not
guilty: and they that sell them say, Blessed <i>be</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Zech.xii-p4.2">Lord</span>; for I am rich: and their own
shepherds pity them not.   6 For I will no more pity the
inhabitants of the land, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Zech.xii-p4.3">Lord</span>: but, lo, I will deliver the men every one
into his neighbour's hand, and into the hand of his king: and they
shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver
<i>them.</i>   7 And I will feed the flock of slaughter,
<i>even</i> 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.   8 Three shepherds also I cut off in one
month; and my soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me.
  9 Then said I, I will not feed you: that that dieth, let it
die; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the
rest eat every one the flesh of another.   10 And I took my
staff, <i>even</i> Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break
my covenant which I had made with all the people.   11 And it
was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited
upon me knew that it <i>was</i> the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Zech.xii-p4.4">Lord</span>.   12 And I said unto them, If ye
think good, give <i>me</i> my price; and if not, forbear. So they
weighed for my price thirty <i>pieces</i> of silver.   13 And
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Zech.xii-p4.5">Lord</span> said unto me, Cast it unto
the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took
the thirty <i>pieces</i> of silver, and cast them to the potter in
the house of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Zech.xii-p4.6">Lord</span>.   14
Then I cut asunder mine other staff, <i>even</i> Bands, that I
might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xii-p5" shownumber="no">The prophet here is made a type of Christ,
as the prophet Isaiah sometimes was; and the scope of these verses
is to show that <i>for judgment Christ came into this world</i>
(<scripRef id="Zech.xii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:John.9.39" parsed="|John|9|39|0|0" passage="Joh 9:39">John ix. 39</scripRef>), for judgment
to the Jewish church and nation, which were, about the time of his
coming, wretchedly corrupted and degenerated by the worldliness and
hypocrisy of their rulers. Christ would have healed them, but they
would not be healed; they are therefore left desolate, and
abandoned to ruin. Observe here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xii-p6" shownumber="no">I. The desperate case of the Jewish church,
under the tyranny of their own governors. Their slavery in their
own country made them as miserable as their captivity in strange
countries had done: <i>Their possessors slay them and sell
them,</i> <scripRef id="Zech.xii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11.5" parsed="|Zech|11|5|0|0" passage="Zec 11:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. In
Zechariah's time we find the rulers and the nobles justly rebuked
for <i>exacting usury of their brethren;</i> and the governors,
even by their servants, oppressive to the people, <scripRef id="Zech.xii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Neh.5.7 Bible:Neh.5.15" parsed="|Neh|5|7|0|0;|Neh|5|15|0|0" passage="Ne 5:7,15">Neh. v. 7, 15</scripRef>. In Christ's time the
<i>chief priests</i> and the <i>elders,</i> who were the possessors
of the flock, by their traditions, the commandments of men, and
their impositions on the consciences of the people, became perfect
tyrants, devoured their houses, engrossed their wealth, and fleeced
the flock instead of feeding it. The Sadducees, who were deists,
corrupted their judgments. The Pharisees, who were bigots for
superstition, corrupted their morals, by making void the
commandments of God, <scripRef id="Zech.xii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.15.16" parsed="|Matt|15|16|0|0" passage="Mt 15:16">Matt. xv.
16</scripRef>. Thus they slew the sheep of the flock, thus they
sold them. They cared not what became of them so they could but
gain their own ends and serve their own interests. And, 1. In this
they justified themselves: They <i>slay them</i> and <i>hold
themselves not guilty.</i> They think that there is no harm in it,
and that they shall never be called to an account for it by the
chief Shepherd; as if their power were given them for destruction,
which was designed only for edification, and as if, because they
sat in Moses's seat, they were not under the obligation of Moses's
law, but might dispense with it, and with themselves in the breach
of it, at their pleasure. Note, Those have their minds woefully
blinded indeed who do ill and justify themselves in doing it; but
God will not hold those guiltless who hold themselves so. 2. In
this they affronted God, by giving him thanks for the gain of their
oppression: They said, <i>Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich,</i>
as if, because they prospered in their wickedness, got money by it,
and raised estates, God had made himself patron of their unjust
practices, and Providence had become <i>particeps criminis—the
associate of their guilt.</i> What is got honestly we ought to give
God thanks for, and to bless him whose blessing <i>makes rich and
adds no sorrow with it.</i> But with what face can we go to God
either to beg a blessing upon the unlawful methods of getting
wealth or to return him thanks for success in them? They should
rather have gone to God to confess the sin, to take shame to
themselves for it, and to vow restitution, than thus to mock him by
making the gains of sin the gift of God, who <i>hates robbery for
burnt-offerings,</i> and reckons not himself praised by the
thanksgiving if he be dishonoured either in the getting or the
using of that which we give him thanks for. 3. In this they put
contempt upon the people of God, as unworthy their regard or
compassionate consideration: <i>Their own shepherds pity them
not;</i> they make them miserable, and then do not commiserate
them. Christ had <i>compassion on the multitude because they
fainted and were scattered abroad, as if they had no shepherd</i>
(as really they had worse than none); but <i>their own shepherds
pitied them not,</i> nor showed any concern for them. Note, It is
ill for a church when its pastors have no tenderness, no compassion
for precious souls, when they can look upon the ignorant, the
foolish, the wicked, the weak, without pity.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xii-p7" shownumber="no">II. The sentence of God's wrath passed upon
them for their senselessness and stupidity in this condition. There
was a general decay, nay, a destruction, of religion among them,
and it was all one to them; they regarded it not. <i>My people love
to have it so,</i> <scripRef id="Zech.xii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.31" parsed="|Jer|5|31|0|0" passage="Jer 5:31">Jer. v.
31</scripRef>. Though they were <i>oppressed and broken in
judgment,</i> yet they <i>willingly walked after the
commandment,</i> <scripRef id="Zech.xii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.11" parsed="|Hos|5|11|0|0" passage="Ho 5:11">Hos. v. 11</scripRef>.
And, as their shepherds pitied them not, so they did not bemoan
themselves; therefore God says (<scripRef id="Zech.xii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11.6" parsed="|Zech|11|6|0|0" passage="Zec 11:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>), "<i>I will no more pity the
inhabitants of the land.</i> They have courted their own
destruction, and so let their doom be." But those are truly
miserable whom the God of mercy himself will no more have
compassion upon. Those who are willing to have their consciences
oppressed by those who <i>teach for doctrines the commandments of
men</i> (as the Jews were, who called those <i>Rabbi, Rabbi,</i>
that did so, <scripRef id="Zech.xii-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Matt.15.9 Bible:Matt.23.7" parsed="|Matt|15|9|0|0;|Matt|23|7|0|0" passage="Mt 15:9,23:7">Matt. xv. 9; xxiii.
7</scripRef>), are often punished by oppression in their civil
interests, and justly, for those forfeit their own rights who
tamely give up God's rights. The Jews did so; the Papists do so;
and who can pity them if they be ruled with rigour? God here
threatens them, 1. That he will deliver them into the hand of
oppressors, <i>every one into his neighbour's hand,</i> so that
they shall use one another barbarously. The several parties in
Jerusalem did so; the <i>zealots,</i> the <i>seditious,</i> as they
were called, committed greater outrages than the common enemy did,
as Josephus relates in his history of the wars of the Jews. They
shall be delivered every one <i>into the hand of his king,</i> that
is, the Roman emperor, whom they chose to submit to rather than to
Christ, saying, <i>We have no king but Cæsar.</i> Thus they thought
to ingratiate themselves with their lords and masters. But for this
God brought the Romans upon them, who <i>took away their place and
nation.</i> 2. That he will not deliver them out of their hands:
<i>They shall smite the land,</i> the whole land, and <i>out of
their hand I will not deliver them;</i> and, if the Lord do not
help them, none else can, nor can they help themselves.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xii-p8" shownumber="no">III. A trial yet made whether their ruin
might be prevented by sending Christ among them as a shepherd; God
had sent his servants to them in vain, <i>but last of all he sent
unto them his Son, saying, They will reverence my Son,</i>
<scripRef id="Zech.xii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Matt.21.37" parsed="|Matt|21|37|0|0" passage="Mt 21:37">Matt. xxi. 37</scripRef>. Divers of
the prophets had spoken of him as the <i>Shepherd of Israel,</i>
<scripRef id="Zech.xii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.40.11 Bible:Ezek.34.23" parsed="|Isa|40|11|0|0;|Ezek|34|23|0|0" passage="Isa 40:11,Eze 34:23">Isa. xl. 11; Ezek. xxxiv.
23</scripRef>. He himself told the Pharisees that he was the
<i>Shepherd of the sheep,</i> and that those who pretended to be
shepherds were <i>thieves and robbers</i> (<scripRef id="Zech.xii-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:John.10.1-John.10.2 Bible:John.10.11" parsed="|John|10|1|10|2;|John|10|11|0|0" passage="Joh 10:1,2,11">John x. 1, 2, 11</scripRef>), apparently referring
to this passage, where we have, 1. The charge he received from his
Father to try what might be done with this flock (<scripRef id="Zech.xii-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11.4" parsed="|Zech|11|4|0|0" passage="Zec 11:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>): <i>Thus saith the Lord
my God</i> (Christ called his Father <i>his God</i> because he
acted in compliance with his will and with an eye to his glory in
his whole undertaking), <i>Feed the flock of the slaughter.</i> The
Jews were God's flock, but they were <i>the flock of slaughter,</i>
for their enemies had killed them all the day long and <i>accounted
them as sheep for the slaughter;</i> their own <i>possessors slew
them,</i> and God himself had doomed them to the slaughter. Yet
"<i>feed them</i> by reproof instruction, and comfort; provide
wholesome food for those who have so long been soured with the
leaven of the scribes and Pharisees." <i>Other sheep he had, which
were not of this fold,</i> and which afterwards must be
<i>brought;</i> but he is first <i>sent to the lost sheep of the
house of Israel,</i> <scripRef id="Zech.xii-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:Matt.15.24" parsed="|Matt|15|24|0|0" passage="Mt 15:24">Matt. xv.
24</scripRef>. 2. His acceptance of this charge, and his
undertaking pursuant to it, <scripRef id="Zech.xii-p8.6" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11.7" parsed="|Zech|11|7|0|0" passage="Zec 11:7"><i>v.</i>
7</scripRef>. He does as it were say, <i>Lo, I come to do thy will,
O my God!</i> and, since this is thy will, it is mine: <i>I will
feed the flock of slaughter.</i> Christ will care for these lost
sheep; he will go about among them, <i>teaching</i> and <i>healing
even you, O poor of the flock!</i> Christ did not neglect the
meanest, nor overlook them for their meanness. The shepherds that
made a prey of them regarded not the poor; they were conversant
with those only that they could get by; but Christ preached his
gospel <i>to the poor,</i> <scripRef id="Zech.xii-p8.7" osisRef="Bible:Matt.11.5" parsed="|Matt|11|5|0|0" passage="Mt 11:5">Matt. xi.
5</scripRef>. It was an instance of his humiliation that his
converse was mostly with the inferior sort of people; his
disciples, who were his constant attendants, were of the poor of
the flock. 3. His furnishing himself with tools proper for the
charge he had undertaken: I <i>took unto me two staves,</i>
pastoral staves; other shepherds have but one crook, but Christ had
two, denoting the double care he took of his flock, and what he did
both for the souls and for the bodies of men. David speaks of God's
<i>rod</i> and his <i>staff</i> (<scripRef id="Zech.xii-p8.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.23.4" parsed="|Ps|23|4|0|0" passage="Ps 23:4">Ps.
xxiii. 4</scripRef>), a correcting rod and a supporting staff. One
of these staves was called <i>Beauty,</i> denoting the temple,
which is called <i>the beauty of holiness</i> and one of its gates
<i>beautiful,</i> which Christ called his Father's house, and for
which he showed a great zeal when he cleared it of the <i>buyers
and sellers;</i> the other he called <i>Bands,</i> denoting their
civil state, and the incorporate society of that nation, which
Christ also took care of by preaching love and peace among them.
Christ, in his gospel, and in all he did among them, consulted the
advancement both of their civil and of their sacred interests. 4.
His execution of his office, as the chief Shepherd. <i>He fed the
flock</i> (<scripRef id="Zech.xii-p8.9" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11.7" parsed="|Zech|11|7|0|0" passage="Zec 11:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>),
and he displaced those under-shepherds that were false to their
trust (<scripRef id="Zech.xii-p8.10" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11.8" parsed="|Zech|11|8|0|0" passage="Zec 11:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>):
<i>Three shepherds I cut off in one month.</i> Through the
deficiency and uncertainty of the history of the Jewish church, in
its latter ages, we know not what particular event this had its
accomplishment in; in general, it seems to be an act of power and
justice for the punishment of the sinful shepherds and the redress
of the grievances of the abused flock. Some understand it of the
three orders of princes, priests, and scribes or prophets, who,
when Christ had finished his work, were laid aside for their
unfaithfulness. Others understand it of the three sects among the
Jews, of Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians, all whom Christ
silenced in dispute (<scripRef id="Zech.xii-p8.11" osisRef="Bible:Matt.22.1-Matt.22.46" parsed="|Matt|22|1|22|46" passage="Mt 22:1-46">Matt.
xxii.</scripRef>) and soon after <i>cut off,</i> all in a little
time.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xii-p9" shownumber="no">IV. Their enmity to Christ, and making
themselves odious to him. He came to his own, the sheep of his own
pasture; it might have been expected that between them and him
there would be an entire affection, as between the shepherd and his
sheep; but they conducted themselves so ill that <i>his soul
loathed them,</i> was <i>straitened</i> towards them (so it may be
read); he intended them kindness, but could not do them the
kindness he intended them, <i>because of their unbelief,</i>
<scripRef id="Zech.xii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Matt.13.58" parsed="|Matt|13|58|0|0" passage="Mt 13:58">Matt. xiii. 58</scripRef>. He was
disappointed in them, discouraged concerning them, <i>grieved</i>
for them, not only for the shepherds, whom he cut off, but for the
people, whom Christ often looked upon with grief in his heart and
tears in his eyes. Their provocations even wore out his patience,
and he was weary of that <i>faithless and perverse generation.
Their soul also it abhorred me;</i> and therefore it was that his
soul loathed them; for, whatever estrangement there is between God
and man, it begins on man's side. The Jewish shepherds rejected
this chief Shepherd, as the Jewish builders rejected this chief
corner stone. They <i>had indignation</i> at Christ's doctrine and
miracles, and his interest in the people, to whom they did all they
could to render him odious, as they had made themselves odious to
him. Note, There is a mutual enmity between God and wicked people;
they are hateful to God and haters of God. Nothing speaks more the
sinfulness and misery of an unregenerate state than this does. The
carnal mind, the friendship of the world, are enmity to God, and
God hates all the workers of iniquity; and it is easy to foresee
what this will end in, if the quarrel be not taken up in time,
<scripRef id="Zech.xii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.27.4-Isa.27.5" parsed="|Isa|27|4|27|5" passage="Isa 27:4,5">Isa. xxvii. 4, 5</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xii-p10" shownumber="no">V. Christ's rejecting them as incurable,
and leaving them their house desolate, <scripRef id="Zech.xii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Matt.23.38" parsed="|Matt|23|38|0|0" passage="Mt 23:38">Matt. xxiii. 38</scripRef>. The things of their peace
are now hidden from their eyes, because they knew not the day of
their visitation. Here we have,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xii-p11" shownumber="no">1. The sentence of their rejection passed
(<scripRef id="Zech.xii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11.9" parsed="|Zech|11|9|0|0" passage="Zec 11:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>): "<i>Then
said I, I will not feed you.</i> I will take no further care of
you; <i>you shall not see me again;</i> take your own course. As I
will not feed you, so I will not cure you; <i>that that dieth, let
it die</i> (the Shepherd will do nothing to save its forfeited
life); <i>that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off;</i> that
which will make itself a prey to the wolf, let it be a prey, and
let the rest so far forget their own mild and gentle nature as to
<i>eat the flesh of one another;</i> let these sheep fight like
dogs." Those that reject Christ will be certainly and justly
rejected by him, and then are miserable of course.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xii-p12" shownumber="no">2. A sign of it given (<scripRef id="Zech.xii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11.10" parsed="|Zech|11|10|0|0" passage="Zec 11:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>): <i>I took my staff, even
Beauty, and cut it asunder,</i> in token of this, that he would be
no longer a shepherd to them, as the lord high steward determines
his commission by breaking his white staff, and as Moses's breaking
the tables of the law put a stop, for the present, to the treaty
between God and Israel. The breaking of this staff signified the
breaking of God's covenant which he had <i>made with all the
people,</i> the covenant of peculiarity made with all the tribes of
<i>Israel,</i> and all other people who, by being proselyted to
their religion, were incorporated into their nation. The Jewish
church was now stripped of all its glory; its crown was profaned
and cast to the ground, and all its honour laid in the dust; for
God departed from it, and would no more own it for his. When Christ
told them plainly that the <i>kingdom of God</i> should be <i>taken
from them,</i> and <i>given to another people,</i> then be broke
the <i>staff of Beauty,</i> <scripRef id="Zech.xii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.21.43" parsed="|Matt|21|43|0|0" passage="Mt 21:43">Matt. xxi.
43</scripRef>. And <i>it was broken in that day,</i> though
Jerusalem and the Jewish nation held up forty years longer, yet
from that day we may reckon the staff of Beauty broken, <scripRef id="Zech.xii-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11.11" parsed="|Zech|11|11|0|0" passage="Zec 11:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. And though the great
men did not, or would not, understand it as a divine sentence, but
thought to put it by with a cold <i>God forbid</i> (<scripRef id="Zech.xii-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Luke.20.16" parsed="|Luke|20|16|0|0" passage="Lu 20:16">Luke xx. 16</scripRef>), yet the <i>poor of the
flock,</i> the disciples of Christ, that <i>waited on him,</i> and
understood with what authority he spoke, and could distinguish the
voice of their Shepherd from that of a stranger, <i>knew that it
was the word of the Lord,</i> and trembled at it, and were
confident that it should not fall to the ground. Note, Christ is
waited on by the poor of the flock; he chose them to be with him,
to be his pupils, to be his witnesses; the poor received him and
his gospel, when those that had great possessions turned their
backs upon him. And those that wait upon Christ, that sit at his
feet, to hear and receive his words, shall <i>know of the doctrine
whether it be of God,</i> <scripRef id="Zech.xii-p12.5" osisRef="Bible:John.7.17" parsed="|John|7|17|0|0" passage="Joh 7:17">John vii.
17</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xii-p13" shownumber="no">3. A further reason given for their
rejection. It was said before, <i>Their souls abhorred him;</i> and
here we have an instance of it, their buying and selling him for
thirty pieces of silver, either thirty Roman pence, or rather
thirty Jewish shekels; this is here foretold in somewhat obscure
expressions, as it is fit that such particular prophecies should be
delivered, lest otherwise the plainness of the prophecy might
prevent the accomplishment of it. Here, (1.) The Shepherd comes to
them for his wages (<scripRef id="Zech.xii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11.12" parsed="|Zech|11|12|0|0" passage="Zec 11:12"><i>v.</i>
12</scripRef>): "<i>If you think good, give me my price;</i> you
are weary of me, pay me off and discharge me; <i>and, if not,
forbear;</i> if you be willing to continue me longer in your
service, I will continue, or, if to turn me off without wages, I am
content." Christ was no hireling, and yet the labourer is worthy of
his hire. Compare with this what Christ said to Judas when he was
going to sell him, "<i>What thou doest do quickly;</i> be at a word
with the chief priests; let them either take the bargain or leave
it," <scripRef id="Zech.xii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:John.13.27" parsed="|John|13|27|0|0" passage="Joh 13:27">John xiii. 27</scripRef>. Those
that betray Christ are not forced to it; they might have chosen.
(2.) They value him at <i>thirty pieces of silver.</i> Many years'
service he had done them as a Shepherd, yet this is all they will
now turn him off with—"<i>A goodly price that I</i> with all my
care and pains <i>was valued at by them.</i>" If Judas fixed this
sum in his demand, it is observable that his name was <i>Judah,</i>
the same name with that of the body of the people, for it was a
national act; or, if (as it rather seems) the chief priests pitched
upon this sum in their proffers, they were the representatives of
the people; it was part of the priest's office to <i>put a
value</i> upon the <i>devoted things</i> (<scripRef id="Zech.xii-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Lev.27.8" parsed="|Lev|27|8|0|0" passage="Le 27:8">Lev. xxvii. 8</scripRef>), and thus they valued the Lord
Jesus. It was the ordinary price of a slave, <scripRef id="Zech.xii-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Exod.21.32" parsed="|Exod|21|32|0|0" passage="Ex 21:32">Exod. xxi. 32</scripRef>. Making light of Christ, and
undervaluing the love of that great and good Shepherd, are the ruin
of multitudes, and justly so. (3.) The silver being no way
proportionable to his worth, it is <i>thrown to the potter</i> with
disdain: "Let him take it to buy clay with, or for any use that a
little money will serve to, for it is not worth hoarding; it may be
enough for a potter's stock, but not for the pay of such a
shepherd, much less for his purchase." So the prophet <i>cast the
thirty pieces of silver to the potter in the house of the Lord:</i>
"Let him take them, and do what he will with them." Now we find a
particular accomplishment of this in the history of Christ's
sufferings, and reference is had to this prophecy, <scripRef id="Zech.xii-p13.5" osisRef="Bible:Matt.27.9-Matt.27.10" parsed="|Matt|27|9|27|10" passage="Mt 27:9,10">Matt. xxvii. 9, 10</scripRef>. <i>Thirty
pieces of silver</i> was the very sum for which Christ was sold to
the chief priests; the money, when Judas would not keep it, and the
chief priests would not take it back was laid out in the purchase
of <i>the potter's field.</i> Even that sudden resolve of the chief
priests was according to an ancient prophecy and the more ancient
counsel and foreknowledge of God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xii-p14" shownumber="no">4. The completing of their rejection in the
cutting asunder of the other staff, <scripRef id="Zech.xii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11.14" parsed="|Zech|11|14|0|0" passage="Zec 11:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. The former denoted the ruin of
their church, by breaking the covenant between God and them—that
defaced their <i>beauty;</i> this denotes the ruin of their state,
by breaking the brotherhood between Judah and Israel, by reviving
animosities and contention among them, such as were of old between
Judah and Israel, the writing of whom as <i>one stick in the hand
of the Lord</i> was one of the blessings promised after their
return out of captivity, <scripRef id="Zech.xii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.37.19" parsed="|Ezek|37|19|0|0" passage="Eze 37:19">Ezek.
xxxvii. 19</scripRef>. But that union shall now be dissolved; they
shall be crumbled into parties and factions, exasperated one
against another; and their kingdom, being thus divided, shall be
<i>brought to desolation.</i> (1.) Nothing ruins a people so
certainly, so inevitably, as the breaking of <i>the staff of
Bands,</i> and the weakening of the brotherhood among them; for
hereby they become an easy prey to the common enemy. (2.) This
follows upon the dissolving of the covenant between God and them,
and the decay of religion among them. When iniquity abounds love
waxes cold. No wonder if those fall out among themselves that have
provoked God to fall out with them. When the staff of Beauty is
broken the staff of Bands will not hold long. An unchurched people
will soon be an undone people.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Zech.xii-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11.15-Zech.11.17" parsed="|Zech|11|15|11|17" passage="Zec 11:15-17" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Zech.xii-p14.4">
<h4 id="Zech.xii-p14.5">Judgments Predicted and
Typified. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Zech.xii-p14.6">b. c.</span> 510.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Zech.xii-p15" shownumber="no">15 And the <span class="smallcaps" id="Zech.xii-p15.1">Lord</span>
said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish
shepherd.   16 For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the
land, <i>which</i> shall not visit those that be cut off, neither
shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed
that that standeth still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat,
and tear their claws in pieces.   17 Woe to the idol shepherd
that leaveth the flock! the sword <i>shall be</i> upon his arm, and
upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right
eye shall be utterly darkened.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xii-p16" shownumber="no">God, having shown the misery of this people
in their being justly abandoned by the good Shepherd, here shows
their further misery in being shamefully abused by a foolish
shepherd. The prophet is himself to personate and represent this
pretended shepherd (<scripRef id="Zech.xii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11.15" parsed="|Zech|11|15|0|0" passage="Zec 11:15"><i>v.</i>
15</scripRef>): <i>Take unto thee the instruments</i> or
accoutrements <i>of a foolish shepherd,</i> that are no way fit for
the business, such a shepherd's coat, and bag, and staff, as a
foolish shepherd would appear in; for such a shepherd shall be set
over them (<scripRef id="Zech.xii-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11.16" parsed="|Zech|11|16|0|0" passage="Zec 11:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>),
who, instead of protecting them, shall oppress them and do them
mischief. 1. They shall be under the inspection of unfaithful
ministers. Their scribes, and priests, and doctors of their law,
shall bind heavy burdens upon them, and grievous to be borne, and,
with their traditions imposed, shall make the ceremonial law much
more a yoke than God had made it. The description here given of the
foolish shepherd suits very well with the character Christ gives of
the scribes and Pharisees, <scripRef id="Zech.xii-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.23.2" parsed="|Matt|23|2|0|0" passage="Mt 23:2">Matt. xxiii.
2</scripRef>. They shall be under the tyranny of unmerciful
princes, that shall rule them with rigour, and make their own land
as much a house of bondage to them as ever Egypt or Babylon was.
When they had rejected him <i>by whom princes decree justice</i> it
was just that they should be turned over to those who <i>decree
unrighteous decrees.</i> 3. They shall be imposed upon and deluded
by false Christs and false prophets, as our Saviour foretold,
<scripRef id="Zech.xii-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:Matt.24.5" parsed="|Matt|24|5|0|0" passage="Mt 24:5">Matt. xxiv. 5</scripRef>. Many such
there were, who by their seditious practices provoked the Romans,
and hastened the ruin of the Jewish nation; but it is observable
that they were never cheated by a counterfeit Messiah till they had
refused and rejected the true Messiah. Now observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xii-p17" shownumber="no">I. What a curse this foolish shepherd
should be to the people, <scripRef id="Zech.xii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11.16" parsed="|Zech|11|16|0|0" passage="Zec 11:16"><i>v.</i>
16</scripRef>. God will, for their punishment, <i>raise up a</i>
foolish <i>shepherd,</i> who will not do the duty of a shepherd; he
will not <i>visit those that are cut off,</i> nor go after those
that go astray, nor seek those that are missing, to find them out
and bring them home, as the good shepherd does, <scripRef id="Zech.xii-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.18.12-Matt.18.13" parsed="|Matt|18|12|18|13" passage="Mt 18:12,13">Matt. xviii. 12, 13</scripRef>. Their shepherds take
no care of the <i>young ones,</i> that need their care and are well
worthy of it, as Christ does, <scripRef id="Zech.xii-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.40.11" parsed="|Isa|40|11|0|0" passage="Isa 40:11">Isa.
xl. 11</scripRef>. They do not <i>heal that</i> which was
<i>broken,</i> which was worried and torn, but let it die of its
bruises, when a little thing, in time, would have saved it. They do
not <i>feed</i> those who, through weakness, <i>stand still,</i>
and are ready to faint, and cannot get forward, but leave them
behind, let who will take them up; they do not <i>carry</i> that
which <i>stands still</i> (so some read it); they never do any
thing to <i>support the weak</i> and comfort the
<i>feeble-minded;</i> but, on the contrary, 1. They are luxurious
themselves: They <i>eat of the flesh of the fat;</i> they will have
of the best for themselves; and, like that <i>wicked servant</i>
that said, <i>My lord delays his coming,</i> they <i>eat and drink
with the drunken,</i> and <i>serve their own bellies.</i> 2. They
are barbarous to the flock. Their passions are as ill-governed as
their appetites, for, when they are in a rage against any of the
flock, they <i>tear their</i> very <i>claws in pieces</i> by
over-driving them; they beat their hoofs; they <i>smite their
fellow servants. Woe unto thee, O land! when thy king is</i> such
<i>a child!</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xii-p18" shownumber="no">II. What a curse this foolish shepherd
should bring upon himself (<scripRef id="Zech.xii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11.17" parsed="|Zech|11|17|0|0" passage="Zec 11:17"><i>v.</i>
17</scripRef>): <i>Woe to the idol-shepherd,</i> who, like an idol,
has eyes and sees not, who, like an idol, receives abundance of
respect and homage from the people and the chief of their
offerings, but neither can nor will do them any kindness. He
<i>leaves the flock</i> when they most need his care, leaves them
destitute, and flees, <i>because he is a hireling;</i> his doom is
that <i>the sword</i> of God's justice shall be <i>upon his arm</i>
and <i>his right eye,</i> so that he shall quite lose the use of
both. <i>His arm shall</i> wither and <i>be dried up,</i> so that
he who would not help his friends when it was required shall not
know how to help himself; <i>his right eye shall be utterly
darkened,</i> that he shall not discern the danger that his flock
is in, nor know which way to look for relief. This was fulfilled
when Christ said to the Pharisees, <i>I have come that those who
see may be made blind,</i> <scripRef id="Zech.xii-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:John.9.39" parsed="|John|9|39|0|0" passage="Joh 9:39">John ix.
39</scripRef>. Those that have gifts which qualify them to do good,
if they do not do good with them, shall be deprived of them; those
that should have been workmen, but were slothful and would do
nothing, will justly have their arm dried up; and those that should
have been watchmen, but were sleepy and would never look about
them, will justly have their eye blinded.</p>
</div></div2>