In one month I got rid of the three shepherds

Zechariah 11:1-17

This is what the Lord my God says: “Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter. 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. For I will no longer have pity on the people of the land,” declares the Lord. “I will give everyone into the hands of their neighbors and their king. They will devastate the land, and I will not rescue anyone from their hands.”

So I shepherded the flock marked for slaughter, particularly the oppressed of the flock. Then I took two staffs and called one Favor and the other Union, and I shepherded the flock. In one month I got rid of the three shepherds.

The flock detested me, and I grew weary of them and said, “I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish. Let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.”

Then I took my staff called Favor and broke it, revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations.

Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the family bond between Judah and Israel.

“Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May the sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered, his right eye totally blinded!”

The poem of verses, 1-3 is an ironic lament for the fallen forests of Lebanon and Bashan. Verse 3 returns to the shepherd and flock images: the nation's leaders and its people. The prophet is sent to shepherd God's flock - but the people prefer exploitation to the genuine care of a good shepherd. So God sends his prophet as the worthless leader they seem to want. The covenant with God is broken and the nation is divided.

Why?

The Lord sends his prophet as two staff called Favor and Union. But the people refuse to listen to them. So God broke his two staff, breaking the family bond between Judah and Israel.

Don't be a worthless shepherd!

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選民為何最後沒有得到恩典，因為離開了神！棄絕了彌賽亞。

v1-6:以色列 在主後70年耶路撒冷被羅馬毀掉，北方的森林很珍貴的，是指生命消失，變成死寂。賣羊群的就是祭司等人，牧養以色列人的文士、祭司、法利賽人賣了羊群，卻富足而感謝神，以為為神大發熱心。撒加利雅伴演牧人，即彌賽亞用慈愛，合一來牧養。三個牧人（文士、祭司、法利賽人）厭煩彌賽亞，彌賽亞先知就任憑牧人所行。棄絕了和平恩慈，合一的杖。牧人要離開，支付他工價30塊錢，這錢丟給窯匠。

今天我們向神要求恩典，求合一，最根本是求彌賽亞作我們的牧者。人與神合一，人與人也才能合一。

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How?

Honest to do the job of the shepherd for this is the mission from the Lord!