Day 265 (Zechariah 10-14) - Year 8

Tara-Leigh Cobble (0:01)

Hey Bible Readers, I'm Tara-Leigh Cobble, and I'm your host for The Bible Recap.

Today we finished our 34th book of the Bible. We opened in chapter 10 with God reminding his people that he will restore things. In that process, one of his targets is the wicked leaders of Judah, the people who shepherd his flock. Because of their passivity, the people sought out leadership and guidance from wicked sources, from diviners and gods. Because Judah's leaders have been terrible shepherds, God is going to remove them and punish them. Then, when God's sheep are under his care, they will flourish. They'll grow strong and majestic and they'll have victory over the enemy.

He'll bring them back from the nations where they've been scattered and he'll multiply them in the promised land again. For the people of Judah, we know this definitely has literal implications, but it's likely this also has spiritual implications. For instance, the way God's people can fight against sin and win is because he is with us and grants us victory, like verse 5 says, and he grants us strength, like verse 12 says. In chapter 11, God tells Zach to try his hand at shepherding the flock destined for destruction. There are lots of ways to interpret this passage. Some believe it's a prophetic parable, like a metaphor God told Zach to help him better understand God's perspective on things. Others say it's a sign act, where Zach becomes the literal shepherd of a group of animals known as the flock doomed to slaughter. This unfriendly sounding title probably refers to animals that were kept near the temple to be used as sacrificial offerings. In those days, not everyone raised their own animals for the offering. Some people owned animals and hired shepherds to watch over them, and others would buy the animals from them to use as sacrifices. But because the animal owners and shepherds of Judah were wicked people, these animals only mattered to them because of how they could benefit them financially when they sold them for slaughter. This shepherd-sheep metaphor seems to provide a really good parallel for the leaders got appointed over Judah and the people got appointed them to watch over.

You'd think Zach would take pity on the sheep, and he initially does. In one month, he fires three of their wicked shepherds. He guides the sheep with two staffs, which he names favor and union, or kindness and unity. Representing not only his relationship to the sheep individually, but also the relationship the sheep have as a whole flock. After a while, though, Zach loses patience with them. He's been trying to treat them well, but they hated him. So he snaps his staff in half and quits his job. He gets a payout of 30 pieces of silver. But then God tells him to give it to the person who makes the clay pots that are used in the temple. We're not done talking about this chapter yet. We'll come back to it in a minute. But for now, let's move on to chapter 12

Chapter 12 gives a future prophecy of a day yet to come when the nations will gather to attack Jerusalem and the people of Judah. But God will fight on Judah's behalf and destroy those who have come against them using panic as his weapon of choice. There are a few different interpretations of verse seven, which says God's provision and protection will come to those living in the tents outside Jerusalem first. Some say this is just the logical progression since invading armies would encounter the tent dwellers in the suburbs before they get to the city center. Others say the tent dwellers are the poor people, and this indicates God's care for the poor, especially since the verse says the city dwellers are maybe arrogant. A third interpretation is that the tent dwellers are likely soldiers, so those on the front lines of the battle get to witness God's deliverance in a way others don't. Regardless of which interpretation is accurate, all of Judah will recognize Yahweh as the reason for their victory. Verse 5 says, Then the clans of Judah shall say to themselves, The inhabitants of Jerusalem have strength through the Lord of Hosts, their God. Even the weakest among God's people will have a strength that isn't their own.

God promises to pour out His Spirit on His people, and His Spirit is one of grace and pleas for mercy.

Because of the way God's grace and mercy change people, they will mourn over what they've done to Him. Verse 10 says, They will look on me, on him whom they have pierced. They shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.