◄ Zechariah 11:6 ►
For I will no longer have compassion on the people of the land, declares the LORD, but behold, I will cause each man to fall into the hands of his neighbor and his king, who will devastate the land, and I will not deliver it from their hands."
Study Bible
For I will no longer have compassion on the people of the land, declares the LORD
This phrase indicates a divine judgment and a withdrawal of God's protective mercy. Historically, this reflects a period when Israel faced consequences for their disobedience and idolatry. The "people of the land" refers to the inhabitants of Israel, who were often warned by prophets about the repercussions of turning away from God. This echoes earlier warnings found in Deuteronomy 31:17, where God speaks of hiding His face due to the people's sins.

but behold, I will cause each man to fall into the hands of his neighbor and his king
This suggests internal strife and external oppression. The phrase "each man to fall into the hands of his neighbor" implies civil discord and societal breakdown, reminiscent of the chaos described in Judges 21:25, where everyone did what was right in their own eyes. The reference to "his king" points to foreign domination, as seen in the Babylonian and Assyrian captivities, where foreign rulers exerted control over Israel.

who will devastate the land
The devastation of the land signifies both physical destruction and spiritual desolation. Historically, this can be linked to the invasions and exiles that Israel experienced, such as the Babylonian conquest. Theologically, it reflects the consequences of breaking the covenant with God, as outlined in Leviticus 26:32-33, where disobedience leads to the land becoming desolate.

and I will not deliver it from their hands.
This final phrase underscores the severity of the judgment, where God chooses not to intervene. It highlights the seriousness of divine justice when the covenant is broken. This is a sobering reminder of the consequences of persistent rebellion against God, as seen in the exile narratives of 2 Kings 24-25. It also contrasts with the hope of deliverance found in other prophetic texts, such as Isaiah 43:1-2, where God promises redemption to a repentant people.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Zechariah
A prophet in the post-exilic period who conveyed God's messages to the Israelites. His prophecies often contained visions and symbolic actions.

2. The LORD
The sovereign God of Israel, who speaks through Zechariah, expressing His judgment and plans for His people.

3. The People of the Land
Refers to the inhabitants of Israel who are subject to God's judgment due to their disobedience and rejection of His covenant.

4. Neighbor and King
Symbolic representations of societal and political structures that will turn against the people as part of God's judgment.

5. The Shepherds
Leaders or rulers who are supposed to guide and protect the people but fail in their duties, leading to God's judgment.
Teaching Points
Divine Judgment and Sovereignty
God is sovereign and just in His judgments. When leaders fail to fulfill their responsibilities, God may allow consequences to unfold as a form of judgment.

The Role of Leadership
Leaders are accountable to God for their actions. Neglecting their duties can lead to societal breakdown and divine judgment.

Interpersonal Relationships
The breakdown of relationships among neighbors and within communities can be a sign of deeper spiritual issues that need addressing.

God's Faithfulness Amidst Judgment
Even in judgment, God remains faithful to His covenant and promises restoration for those who return to Him.

Personal Responsibility
Each individual is responsible for their actions and must seek to live in accordance with God's will, regardless of the failures of leaders.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does Zechariah 11:6 reflect God's character in terms of justice and mercy, and how can we apply this understanding to our lives today?

2. In what ways can we identify and address failures in leadership within our own communities, drawing from the lessons in Zechariah 11:6?

3. How do the themes of judgment and restoration in Zechariah 11:6 connect with the broader account of Scripture, particularly in the New Testament?

4. What practical steps can we take to ensure that our interpersonal relationships reflect God's love and justice, as highlighted in Zechariah 11:6?

5. How can we remain faithful to God in times of societal or leadership failure, and what Scriptures can we turn to for guidance and encouragement?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Jeremiah 23
This chapter also speaks of shepherds who fail to care for their flock, leading to God's judgment and the promise of a righteous Branch.

Ezekiel 34
Similar to Zechariah 11, this passage condemns the shepherds of Israel for their neglect and promises that God Himself will shepherd His people.

Matthew 9:36
Jesus sees the crowds as sheep without a shepherd, echoing the theme of neglected leadership and the need for divine intervention.
Sermons
Oppressors and OppressedW. Forsyth Zechariah 11:5, 6
A Terrible Doom, and an Invaluable PrivilegeHomilistZechariah 11:6-7
A Terrible Doom, and an Invaluable PrivilegeD. Thomas Zechariah 11:6, 7
AbandonedDr. Macleod.Zechariah 11:6-7
Beauty and Bands the Two Staves of the Divine ShepherdZ. Mather.Zechariah 11:6-7
The Staves of Beauty and Bands BrokenOutlines by London MinisterZechariah 11:6-7
Two Shepherd's StavesGeorge Hutcheson.Zechariah 11:6-7
People
Zechariah
Places
Bashan, Jordan River, Lebanon
Topics
Affirmation, Another's, Beaten, Behold, Cause, Causing, Crush, Declares, Deliver, Fall, Forth, Hands, Inhabitants, Longer, Neighbor, Neighbor's, Neighbour, Neighbour's, None, Oppress, Pity, Power, Rescue, Safe, Says, Shepherd, Smite, Strike, Waste
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Zechariah 11:5-6

     5503   rich, the

Library
Inspiration of Scripture. --Gospel Difficulties. --The Word of God Infallible. --Other Sciences Subordinate to Theological Science.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. BUT that is not exactly what St. Paul says. The Greek for that, would be He graphe--not pasa graphe--theopneustos. St. Paul does not say that the whole of Scripture, collectively, is inspired. More than that: what he says is, that every writing,--every several book of those hiera grammata, or Holy Scriptures, in which Timothy had been instructed from his childhood,--is inspired by God [330] . It comes to very nearly the same thing but it is not quite …
John William Burgon—Inspiration and Interpretation

And Again David Says:...
And again David says: They looked upon me: they parted my garments among them, and upon any vesture they cast lots. For at His crucifixion the soldiers parted His garments as they were wont; and the garments they parted by tearing; but for the vesture, because it was woven from the top and was not sewn, they cast lots, that to whomsoever it should fall he should take it. And again Jeremiah the prophet says: And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was sold, whom they bought …
Irenæus—The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching

In the House of his Heavenly, and in the Home of his Earthly Father - the Temple of Jerusalem - the Retirement at Nazareth.
Once only is the great silence, which lies on the history of Christ's early life, broken. It is to record what took place on His first visit to the Temple. What this meant, even to an ordinary devout Jew, may easily be imagined. Where life and religion were so intertwined, and both in such organic connection with the Temple and the people of Israel, every thoughtful Israelite must have felt as if his real life were not in what was around, but ran up into the grand unity of the people of God, and …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Good Shepherd' and his one Flock' - Last Discourse at the Feast of Tabernacles.
The closing words which Jesus had spoken to those Pharisees who followed HIm breathe the sadness of expected near judgment, rather than the hopefulness of expostulation. And the Discourse which followed, ere He once more left Jerusalem, is of the same character. It seems, as if Jesus could not part from the City in holy anger, but ever, and only, with tears. All the topics of the former Discourses are now resumed and applied. They are not in any way softened or modified, but uttered in accents of …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Discourse on the Good Shepherd.
(Jerusalem, December, a.d. 29.) ^D John X. 1-21. ^d 1 Verily, verily, I say to you [unto the parties whom he was addressing in the last section], He that entereth not by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. [In this section Jesus proceeds to contrast his own care for humanity with that manifested by the Pharisees, who had just cast out the beggar. Old Testament prophecies were full of declarations that false shepherds would arise to …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The First Trumpet.
The first trumpet of the seventh seal begins from the final disturbance and overthrow of the Roman idolarchy at the close of the sixth seal; and as it was to bring the first plague on the empire, now beginning to fall, it lays waste the third part of the earth, with a horrible storm of hail mingled with fire and blood; that is, it depopulates the territory and people of the Roman world, (viz. the basis and ground of its universal polity) with a terrible and bloody irruption of the northern nations, …
Joseph Mede—A Key to the Apocalypse

Remorse and Suicide of Judas.
(in the Temple and Outside the Wall of Jerusalem. Friday Morning.) ^A Matt. XXVII. 3-10; ^E Acts I. 18, 19. ^a 3 Then Judas, who betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned [Judas, having no reason to fear the enemies of Jesus, probably stood in their midst and witnessed the entire trial], repented himself, and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 saying, I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood. [There are two Greek words which are translated "repented," …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Questions.
LESSON I. 1. In what state was the Earth when first created? 2. To what trial was man subjected? 3. What punishment did the Fall bring on man? 4. How alone could his guilt be atoned for? A. By his punishment being borne by one who was innocent. 5. What was the first promise that there should be such an atonement?--Gen. iii. 15. 6. What were the sacrifices to foreshow? 7. Why was Abel's offering the more acceptable? 8. From which son of Adam was the Seed of the woman to spring? 9. How did Seth's …
Charlotte Mary Yonge—The Chosen People

The Shepherd of Our Souls.
"I am the good Shepherd: the good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep."--John x. 11. Our Lord here appropriates to Himself the title under which He had been foretold by the Prophets. "David My servant shall be king over them," says Almighty God by the mouth of Ezekiel: "and they all shall have one Shepherd." And in the book of Zechariah, "Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, and against the man that is My fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts; smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered." …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

The Fulfilled Prophecies of the Bible Bespeak the Omniscience of Its Author
In Isaiah 41:21-23 we have what is probably the most remarkable challenge to be found in the Bible. "Produce your cause, saith the Lord; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. Let them bring them forth, and show us what shall happen; let them show the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods." This Scripture has both a negative …
Arthur W. Pink—The Divine Inspiration of the Bible

A Discourse of the House and Forest of Lebanon
OF THE HOUSE OF THE FOREST OF LEBANON. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. That part of Palestine in which the celebrated mountains of Lebanon are situated, is the border country adjoining Syria, having Sidon for its seaport, and Land, nearly adjoining the city of Damascus, on the north. This metropolitan city of Syria, and capital of the kingdom of Damascus, was strongly fortified; and during the border conflicts it served as a cover to the Assyrian army. Bunyan, with great reason, supposes that, to keep …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Of the Incapacity of an Unregenerate Person for Relishing the Enjoyments of the Heavenly World.
John iii. 3. John iii. 3. --Except a man be born again, he can not see the kingdom of God. IN order to demonstrate the necessity of regeneration, of which I would fain convince not only your understandings, but your consciences, I am now proving to you, that without it, it is impossible to enter into the kingdom of God; and how weighty a consideration that is I am afterwards to represent. That it is thus impossible, the words in the text do indeed sufficiently prove: but for the further illustration …
Philip Doddridge—Practical Discourses on Regeneration

Fifthly, as this Revelation, to the Judgment of Right and Sober Reason,
appears of itself highly credible and probable, and abundantly recommends itself in its native simplicity, merely by its own intrinsic goodness and excellency, to the practice of the most rational and considering men, who are desirous in all their actions to have satisfaction and comfort and good hope within themselves, from the conscience of what they do: So it is moreover positively and directly proved to be actually and immediately sent to us from God, by the many infallible signs and miracles …
Samuel Clarke—A Discourse Concerning the Being and Attributes of God

The Covenant of Works
Q-12: I proceed to the next question, WHAT SPECIAL ACT OF PROVIDENCE DID GOD EXERCISE TOWARDS MAN IN THE ESTATE WHEREIN HE WAS CREATED? A: When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life with him upon condition of perfect obedience, forbidding him to eat of the tree of knowledge upon pain of death. For this, consult with Gen 2:16, 17: And the Lord commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Seasonable Counsel: Or, Advice to Sufferers.
BY JOHN BUNYAN. London: Printed for Benjamin Alsop, at the Angel and Bible in the Poultry, 1684. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. THIS valuable treatise was first published in a pocket volume in 1684, and has only been reprinted in Whitfield's edition of Bunyan's works, 2 vols. folio, 1767. No man could have been better qualified to give advice to sufferers for righteousness' sake, than John Bunyan: and this work is exclusively devoted to that object. Shut up in a noisome jail, under the iron hand of …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Covenanting Predicted in Prophecy.
The fact of Covenanting, under the Old Testament dispensations, being approved of God, gives a proof that it was proper then, which is accompanied by the voice of prophecy, affording evidence that even in periods then future it should no less be proper. The argument for the service that is afforded by prophecy is peculiar, and, though corresponding with evidence from other sources, is independent. Because that God willed to make known truth through his servants the prophets, we should receive it …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Zechariah
CHAPTERS I-VIII Two months after Haggai had delivered his first address to the people in 520 B.C., and a little over a month after the building of the temple had begun (Hag. i. 15), Zechariah appeared with another message of encouragement. How much it was needed we see from the popular despondency reflected in Hag. ii. 3, Jerusalem is still disconsolate (Zech. i. 17), there has been fasting and mourning, vii. 5, the city is without walls, ii. 5, the population scanty, ii. 4, and most of the people …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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