Zechariah 11:5 – “Those who buy them slaughter them and go unpunished, and those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, I have become rich’ and their own shepherds have no pity on them.’”
Welcome back, readers! In our last post, we began to examine a new word from the Lord through Zechariah. 
In that prophesy, God instructs Zechariah to become a shepherd to a doomed flock. We determined that in this vision/prophesy Zechariah is symbolically representing someone else.
He represents a future leader of Israel who will instruct a particular generation of Jews that will completely reject his teaching. In so doing, that generation will also be rejecting Jehovah, who appointed the shepherd to teach them. Because they reject the word of the Lord (and by extension the Lord himself), they doomed themselves to destruction.
While we could point to a number of different instances in the history of Israel which fulfill this word, we are confining our study to one example – the generation of Jews who rejected Jesus as Messiah during the incarnation.
Now let’s continue on with our study. Verse 5 is often interpreted in a spiritual sense and in a literal sense. Let’s look at the spiritual interpretation first.
Here in verse 5, the prophet speaks of three distinct groups of people:
- Those who ‘sell’ the Jews.
- Those who ‘buy’ and ‘slaughter’ the Jews.
- The shepherds who have no pity on the Jews.
However, as it turns out, all three groups are really the same people!
First, let’s discuss the shepherds who are without pity. This refers to the Scribes, Pharisees, priests, teachers of the law and any other religious leaders of that day. The spiritual welfare of the people was their responsibility. They were to serve out of compassion and love, keeping the flock of God on the paths of righteousness.
But when we examine the scriptures, we find that during the incarnation, this was not the case. In general, the spiritual leaders of Israel showed no compassion to their fellow Jews; they were putting heavy burdens upon the people, which they themselves could not keep (Matthew 23:4)!
In fact, Jesus says that the religious leaders not only refused to enter into the age of grace, they intentionally hindered anyone who was trying to enter in:
Luke 11:52 – Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.
In addition, they chose to enforce or cling to the traditions of their elders even when those traditions were at odds with the commands of God. They rejected the grace of God and continued to seek eternal life/salvation by the works of the law. They were intentionally blind regarding the things of God, and they forced the common people down those same paths.
Mark 7:7-8 - But in vain do they [the religious leaders] worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such things you do.
This is the same group of men who ‘sold’ the Jews. Scripture tells us that the religious leaders of the day were all about financial gain:
Matthew 23:14 - Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayer: therefore you shall receive the greater condemnation.
In short, we can say that these men enriched themselves through collecting a tithe of everything, refusing to take care of their own parents (Mark 7:10-13), and basically using any means at their disposal (moral or immoral) to make money for themselves.
Worse yet, after doing so, they turned around and offered false praise to God for their ill gotten gains! 
They were also the men who spiritually slaughtered the common people. They fed their fellow Jews regular doses of poisonous doctrines, commanding them to reject the salvation and grace offered by Christ. They continued to insist that salvation could be achieved through the works of the law, even though the law could only produce death.
Now let’s take a moment to examine the temporal/physical interpretation of verse 5.
In this scenario, the shepherds who have no pity on the Jews and the people who sold them to their enemies are still the same group of people - the religious leaders of the day.
Again, it was the duty of Israel’s shepherds to protect the nation. They were to feed the Jews with the word of God, govern according to God’s command, seek the lost, heal the sick and protect the weak. But they did none of these things.
Instead, they became like wolves and lions, taking advantage of their own people. Eventually, after rejecting Christ, they led the Jews in a rebellion against Rome, which caused their own death and ruin. Thus, the religious leaders ‘sold’ their own people to destruction.
History confirms that in 71 AD the Roman commander Titus killed large numbers of Jews while desecrating the temple and destroying Jerusalem.
Here is something interesting to consider: Those who hold this view (a temporal fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophesy) believe that the Romans would go unpunished for their slaughter of the Jews. What is the reasoning behind this?
First we need to understand that God considered Israel his own people, so to attack or strike Israel was the same as attacking or striking God himself.
Jeremiah 2:3 – Israel was holy to the Lord, the first-fruits of his harvest. All who ate of it incurred guilt; disaster came upon them, declares the Lord.
Attacking Israel was an offence against God, because Israel was God’s chosen nation; the Jews were his covenant people. Bur the generation destroyed by Rome was the same generation that had rejected Christ as their shepherd.
In rejecting that shepherd, they also rejected God himself. Therefore, at that point (due to their own decision) they were no longer in covenant with God so their enemy (Rome) could attack them without fear of retribution from the Lord.
Proponents of this view point out that God often used foreign powers as the rod of correction for his people (as in the entire book of Judges, the conquest of Judah by Babylon, etc). Unless these foreign nations offended the Lord with their pride or were excessively cruel towards Israel, they were unpunished for their attacks on the Jews.
It is certainly possible for both the spiritual and literal interpretations of this verse to be true.
Zechariah 11:6 – “For I will no longer have pity on the inhabitants of this land, declares the Lord. Behold, I will cause each of them to fall into the hand of his neighbor, and each into the hand of his king, and they shall crush the land, and I will deliver none from their hand.”
The Jews pronounced judgment upon themselves for their rejection of the Messiah. This verse gives an overview of what that destruction would look like, and we can’t help but notice that it seems to mesh with the known circumstances which took place in 71 AD.
History tells us that during the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans, the Jews actually killed one another as various religious factions fought among themselves. Thus, some of the Jews died at the hands of their neighbors.
The word of the Lord predicted that others would be killed by their ‘king’. Did that occur? Yes, it did! When calling for the crucifixion of Christ, the Jews publicly declared that Caesar was their king:
John 19:5-6 – They [the Jews] cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.
By their own request, the Jews rejected Jesus and chose Caesar as their king, and God gave them what they wanted. Unfortunately, their ‘king’ ruled without pity, slaughtering large numbers of people while destroying and burning the city of Jerusalem and the holy temple. 
In the past, God had delivered his people (either wholesale or a remnant) from all their enemies (the Philistines, Midianites, Ammonites, etc), but not this time. Because of their rejection of Jesus, God did not deliver anyone in the city from the hands of the Romans. History records that under Vespasian and Titus, 97 thousand Jews were taken captive and 600 thousand were slain (Josephus lists the number of the slain at 1,100,000). As the Lord declared hundreds of years earlier through Zechariah, the Jews would be destroyed.
Zechariah 11:7 – So I became the shepherd of the flock doomed to be slaughtered by the sheep traders. And I took two staffs, one I named Favor, the other I named Union. And I tended the sheep.
In this particular case, the King James Version of this verse is a bit clearer than the English Standard Version which we normally use:
Zechariah 11:7 - And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staffs; the one I called Grace, and the other I called Unity; and I fed the flock.
As we mentioned last week, the prophet is most likely recounting or describing a vision which the Lord gave him. In this vision, Zechariah himself represents the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. This explains why Zechariah says that he performed certain actions (I will feed the flock, I took two staffs, etc) which we know were ultimately performed by the Messiah. Just to be clear, Zechariah is describing the actions that he saw himself taking in his vision. He did not literally feed the doomed flock, nor did he actually go find two staffs, name them and later break them.
So in this verse we find that God sent Jesus as a shepherd (spiritual leader), who fed (taught) the entire flock (the Jews). As we have already discovered, the majority of that particular generation doomed themselves to destruction by rejecting Jesus as the Messiah.
However, there was a small remnant of that generation who DID believe in Jesus as the Messiah. In this verse, they are referred to as the ‘poor of the flock’. This group included the apostles, some of the priests/religious leaders and a section of the common people.
They are described as being poor because they were poor in the things of this world (financially poor) or because they were poor in spirit:
Matthew 5:3 – Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Being poor in spirit is actually a good thing. Those who are poor in spirit recognize that they are sinners; they acknowledge they live in a state of spiritual poverty which they cannot rise above in their own strength. The realization of their true situation humbles them to the point where they can seek and find true spiritual riches such as grace, mercy and salvation. All Christians were at one time poor in spirit.
Once a person accepts the forgiveness and salvation available in Jesus, they are now the richest people on the planet because they are coheirs with Christ (Galatians 4:7).
Yet, the Jewish Christians of that day could still be described as being poor because they were persecuted, reviled, reproached and cursed by their fellow Jews. Thus, they are described as being the poor of the flock.
Zechariah goes on to say that in his vision he obtained two staffs.
According to Coke’s Commentary on the Holy Bible, in ancient times shepherds commonly carried two staffs.
One was a long rod which was sometimes used as an aid or support in climbing hills. This staff was for counting the sheep, marking every 10th sheep as a tithe and separating any diseased animals from the healthy ones.
The second staff or crook was rounded at the top. This was used to grab any stray sheep by the leg or horn and hold them while the shepherd corrected them.
In the physical sense, when a man picked up the staff(s), he was assuming the role of authority as the shepherd of the flock. 
Likewise, when Zechariah picks up the staffs in his vision, it is symbolic of assuming an office of spiritual authority. Because Zechariah is symbolic of Christ, this signifies Jesus taking on the role of head spiritual shepherd for all of mankind.
The two staffs mentioned in this verse are given names. One was called Grace (or Beauty) and the other Unity (or Bands).
Dozens and dozens (and dozens) of possible meanings have been ascribed to these two staffs. Here are just a few:
- Beauty represents the Jews as being God’s chosen people. Unity represents the brotherhood between Israel and Judah. Or, the two staffs represent Judah and Israel.
- The two staffs represent leaders of the Jews, specifically Zerubbabel and Nehemiah.
- Beauty represents good things of God, which Israel enjoyed when she was faithful to him. These benefits include righteous kings and judges, a land flowing with milk and honey, and revelations of himself which other nations did not have, etc. Unity or Bands (also rendered destroyers) represents the judgments that fell upon all the people when they broke covenant with God. This may include the destruction caused by the Babylonians or the Romans.
- Beauty refers to salvation through the gospel, which is the best thing that ever happened to mankind while Unity refers to the specific ordinances of the gospel which keep unity within the body of Christ.
- The two staffs represent leniency and severity; Christ uses both in governing his people.
- Beauty represents the staff of protection and provision which Christ provides his sheep, while Unity/Bands represents the violence and judgment he uses against the enemies of his people.
- Beauty represents the temple or spiritual life of mankind, while Unity represents the civil government or society of the nations.
- The two represent the double care that Jesus has for his flock – care for their souls and care for their bodies.
Perhaps bible commentator Matthew Poole said it best: “…thus Christ enters on the actual exercise of his office, and takes two staves to himself, at the meaning whereof, we can but guess.”
(After reading through lengthy lists of possible meanings for Beauty and Unity, I tend to agree with Poole!)
Although the definite meaning/significance of these staffs remains a mystery, there are some things we know for certain:
- At some point the Father, Son and Spirit were in agreement that Jesus would be the Redeemer of mankind. In accordance with that decision, Jesus humbled himself and took on a body of flesh. Through his death and resurrection, he became the spiritual Shepherd of all who would come to him:
John 10:11 – I [Jesus] and the good shepherd: the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep.
- ‘All’ includes both Jews and Gentiles:
John 10:16 – And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
- Jesus possesses everything that is needed for the office he has undertaken. We might say he has ‘the right tools for the job’. In Psalms 23:4, David speaks of God’s ‘rod and his staff’ which represent both correction and support.
The bottom line is that Jesus is all we need!
Let me offer you some encouragement and relief:
Jesus is the Good Shepherd. As David tells us in Psalm 23, the Lord leads us into green pastures and beside still waters. In other words, as long as we follow after him, he leads, provides and protects us. 
However, this does not mean that we will never face trials or storms in life. What it does mean is that whatever situation we are facing, the Good Shepherd has seen it and allowed it to touch our lives.
Since that is the case, we know the trial we face will be for our good. It will draw us closer to the Shepherd, it will teach us his ways, it will prune us so we produce more fruit and it will increase our faith.
That trial will also result in God’s glory. As sinners witness the peace you have during your ordeal, they will want to know how they can have it too. They will want to know where you are getting the strength to stand in the storm.
This will be your opportunity to glorify your Shepherd by bringing him a lost sheep. That alone makes your trial worthwhile! But wait… there’s more!
Let me offer you some strength:
If you’ve been a Christian for any length of time, you have no doubt realized that the end result of every test is a testimony.
Every storm and every trial ultimately gives us another opportunity to speak about the goodness, favor, protection and grace of our God. It also gives us another reason/opportunity to worship our God and give him praise.
Are you facing a storm right now? If so, do not despair or lose hope! Stand strong in your faith, and you will soon have yet another testimony to share with the world.