Zechariah 11:8-11 Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me. My soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me. 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. And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people. The subject of these words is Divine rejection. A time comes in the history of incorrigible nations and incorrigible individuals when they are rejected of Heaven. David said to Solomon, "And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind; fur the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts. If thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever" (1 Chronicles 28:9). The text gives us the cause, the result, and the sign of this lamentable event. I. THE CAUSE. "My soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me." A mutual moral antagonism (as we have seen) between man and God. "Can two walk together except they be agreed?" The sinners' character becomes so repugnant to the Almighty that his patience is exhausted, and their rejection is the result. "My Spirit shall not always strive with man;" "Ephraim is joined to his idols: let him alone." There is a limit to the Divine forbearance. "How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" "Depart from me, I never knew you;" "Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;... I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh." II. THE RESULT. The results here are threefold. 1. The cessation of Divine mercy. "I will not feed you." You are no longer my sheep; no longer will I minister to your needs. 2. Abandonment to self-ruin. "That that dieth, let it die; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off." "The wages of sin is death;" "Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." Let the elements of moral destruction do their work. 3. Deliverance to mutual tormentors. "And let the rest eat every one the flesh of another." All these results were realized in a material sense in the rejection of the Jewish nation. Josephus tells us that in the destruction of Jerusalem pestilence, famine, and intestine discord ran riot amongst the God-rejected people. These material evils are but faint emblems of the spiritual evils that must be realized by every God-rejected soul. III. THE SIGN. "And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people." The Divine Shepherd is represented as having two staves, or crooks; ordinary shepherds have only one. Expositors, in their interpretation of these staves, differ here as in many places elsewhere in this book. Some say they indicate the double care that the Divine Shepherd takes of his people; some; the different methods of treatment pursued by the Almighty Shepherd towards his people; some, that they refer to the house of Judah and to the house of Israel, indicating that neither was to be left out in the mission of the work of the good Shepherd; and some that the one called "Beauty" - which means grace - represents the merciful dispensation under which the Hebrew people had been placed; and the other staff, called "Bands," the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. One thing seems clear, that the cutting of the staff called "Beauty" asunder was a symbol of their rejection from all future grace and mercy. It may be stated, as a general truth, that all Heaven-rejected souls have signs of their miserable condition. The sign of Samson was loss of strength; "he wist not that the Lord was departed from him," until his strength was put to the test and he failed. What are the general signs? 1. Practical ignorance of God. 2. Utter subjection to the senses. 3. Complete devotion to selfish aims. 4. Insensibility of conscience. CONCLUSION. Let us not trifle with the patience of God, lest he cast us off forever; but rather let us earnestly and perseveringly cultivate a stronger and more vital sympathy with him, and a closer identification with his loving heart and benevolent aims. - D.T. Parallel Verses KJV: Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me. |
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