The Lord's Grief

Read Zechariah 11
 
Zechariah 11:1 Open your doors, O Lebanon, so that fire may devour your cedars!
 
TWO years after the first visions of restoration and promise, the Lord revealed to Zechariah that he will judge Israel. We are to continually know how precious is God’s grace to promise us tender mercies and eternal life. Salvation and promise from God’s throne is his pleasure. Our pleasure is to respond in love and obedience. Let’s examine our lives in view of Israel’s continuing struggles amid God’s loving promises.
 
Zechariah 11:1-3 Open your doors, O Lebanon, so that fire may devour your cedars! 2 Wail, O pine tree, for the cedar has fallen; the stately trees are ruined! Wail, oaks of Bashan; the dense forest has been cut down! 3 Listen to the wail of the shepherds; their rich pastures are destroyed! Listen to the roar of the lions; the lush thicket of the Jordan is ruined!
 
What reads as a judgment is more of God’s grief that he will devastate Israel one day when they reject the Messiah. The description of trees, animals and pasture represent the Jordan Valley, a place of diverse agriculture and natural environments. It is very similar to other judgments throughout Scripture prophesying dramatic physical destruction.
 
Zechariah 11:4-6 This is what the Lord my God says: “Pasture the flock marked for slaughter. 5 Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, “Praise the Lord, I am rich!” Their own shepherds do not spare them. 6 For I will no longer have pity on the people of the land,” declares the Lord. “I will hand everyone over to his neighbor and his king. They will oppress the land, and I will not rescue them from their hands.”
 
These very difficult verses point to the severe grief that was certainly on God’s heart. His will for Israel was redemption, righteousness and rest in his blessings. But his wrath has marked Israel for slaughter – a very difficult truth to receive. He condemns evil leaders – shepherds who lead his people astray. Assuredly, this is the unbeliever’s destiny. But God is gracious to redeem the faithful. To lead some people out of this deadly pasture, God directs Zechariah to be Israel’s shepherd. He must replace the corrupt leaders who afflicted the people’s minds. Christian, you are called into the condemned “pastures” of your world to lead people to safety. Zechariah obeys because it is the Lord’s command.
 
Psalms 23:1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters.