Biblical Leadership and Biblical Following

I want to talk for a moment about slavery. Do you know that slavery still exists today? Slavery and Human Trafficking is an industry in our world that is alive and well. Of course, it is illegal in almost every country, yet it goes on, and since it is illegal, we can only estimate how pervasive the problem is, but with what is known by varius government agencies around the world, it may shock you to hear some of the numbers behind the reality that is modern slavery.

One estimate puts the number of slaves in the world at 27-30 million. This includes various kinds of slaves. In less developed countries, slavery is primarily for cheap labor. In more so-called sophisticated countries, the slavery is about pleasure. In the US and other first-world countries, the primary type of slavery is sex slavery, and even in those countries where the slavery is for labor, sexual abuse and forced marriages are part of it.

$5-7 Billion dollars a year is made on slavery, and the number may be much higher. The average cost of a slave is $90. Adjusted for inflation, a slave in 1809 cost $40,000. Thank God we ended legal slavery in this country, but what a shock that the value of human life is so low today that the average slave price is only $90. That’s not even a cartload of groceries. That’s a month of cell phone service.

26% of slaves are children. 70% of slaves are female. And that demonic religion called Islam condones and in many cases, encourages, men to own sex slaves and to abuse them. In 2003 Shaykh Saleh Al-Fawzan, a member at that time of the Senior Council of Clerics, Saudi Arabia’s highest religious body, issued a fatwa stating “Slavery is a part of Islam. Slavery is part of jihad, and jihad will remain as long there is Islam,” and that anyone who says otherwise "is an infidel.”

Slavery is a part of Islam, according to a member of the senior council of clerics. The problem with not valuing life is it spills into every area. Islam doesn't value life. This is clear from what we have seen in recent years, with continuing terrorism and threats from Islamists. And don’t tell me its only the extremists. That is just simply naive. The natural progression of someone who is going to be a devout muslim is that the Koran calls on muslims to force others to convert or else to kill them or enslave them. If the senior clerics are saying this stuff, it isn't just a fringe extremist element. Islam is an evil, demonic, religion.

Ironically, those terrorists attack countries who are not exactly godly, upright countries. Attacks by terrorists are seen by them as being against targets evildoers. A heavy metal concert or a sporting event are seen as idolatry. Attacks on our country have been against the symbols of capitalism. And while we mourn for those who have been victimized by Islam, we bear much responsibility for the lack of respect for life that exists own our world. We have cheapened life to the point where abortion has become mainstream. We have cheapened sex from a sacred activity of marriage to a perversion that has led to pornography and sex trafficking. America, Canada, France, and many nations need to wake up and return to God. The warning signs are clear. And the Church needs to lead the way.

Our passage this morning addresses the cheapening of the value we place on one another. In this passage, we will see a rebuke of leaders who abuse those they lead, and we see the consequences when we do not respect and value the leaders God gives us. Let’s read Zechariah 11:

Zechariah 11:1–17 ESV

Open your doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour your cedars! Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen, for the glorious trees are ruined! Wail, oaks of Bashan, for the thick forest has been felled! The sound of the wail of the shepherds, for their glory is ruined! The sound of the roar of the lions, for the thicket of the Jordan is ruined! Thus said the Lord my God: “Become shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter. 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. 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.” 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 one month I destroyed the three shepherds. But I became impatient with them, and they also detested me. So I said, “I will not be your shepherd. What is to die, let it die. What is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed. And let those who are left devour the flesh of one another.” And I took my staff Favor, and I broke it, annulling the covenant that I had made with all the peoples. So it was annulled on that day, and the sheep traders, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the Lord. Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver. Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter. Then I broke my second staff Union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. Then the Lord said to me, “Take once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd. For behold, I am raising up in the land a shepherd who does not care for those being destroyed, or seek the young or heal the maimed or nourish the healthy, but devours the flesh of the fat ones, tearing off even their hoofs. “Woe to my worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May the sword strike his arm and his right eye! Let his arm be wholly withered, his right eye utterly blinded!”

Big Idea: Leaders must value their followers; Followers must value their leaders

Zechariah 11:1–3 ESV

Here we see a warning from God. He is telling the people where they are headed. Remember the message of the prophet is always one of warning and for action. God says through the prophets again and again, over and over, using many illustrations and warnings: “return to me, and I will return to you”. God sent the prophets, not to scare us and make us despair, but so that we would turn again to Him, for His blessing, protection, and eternal hope.

Here is the language of devastation: The cedars, the glorious trees, ruined. This represents health of a nation, strength, and money as well. The trees spoken of here are strong trees that would be destroyed. These trees were not only beautiful landscape, they were a crop. They were valuable for trade.

This would be so devastating that the shepherds would wail and the lions would roar because of the loss of their habitat. Think of Simba roaring from pride rock after the pride lands had been devastated.

Zechariah 11:4–5 ESV

Thus said the Lord my God: “Become shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter. 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.

God tells the prophet to go and be the shepherd to the people. The flock is doomed to slaughter. Their end is coming, yet God appoints them a Shepherd, one who will feed and protect them. The destruction coming is of their own making, and also among the guilty are previous shepherds. Shepherd here is a metaphor for a leader or protector. Shepherds are stewards. They usually don’t own the sheep they care for. They are entrusted to take care, and these shepherds had not.

Not only had the shepherds been uncaring, there are those who were buying and selling the sheep for slaughter. Remember that this is all a metaphor. Of course sheep in reality are bought and sold at market for prophet. But people are not to be bought and sold, whether for slaves or for indulgences or anything else.

These shepherds are in cahoots with the powerful who but and sell. They have no concern for what they destroy, they are in it for the money. These are the ones to whom success is financial gain. They don't care about the sheep! They mistreat them, do not feed them, do not protect them. This is what a shepherd is hired to do! And for the prophet, preacher, or teacher, they are called to feed and protect the sheep in their care. In the church, we feed by the Word of God and we protect by the Word of God. The protection is from the many lies of the world, and the feeding is to bring growth and maturity.

These shepherds didn't care if the sheep were fed in order to grow and be healthy. They didn't care to protect the flock from false doctrines and the wolves of the world. Instead, they allowed the false teachings and failed to give the strength to the sheep that was needed, the strength that comes from learning truth from the Word. When the wolves came near with their false doctrines, rather than chase them off in defense of the flock, they let them stay among the flock, never challenging them and never driving them off. Instead, they said, come among the sheep, and keep your bad doctrine, imagining that the sheep would be fine.

Zechariah 11:6 ESV

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.”

God appoints the prophet to be shepherd to the people, because God himself is not going to show pity to people. If they live in a sinful manner, he will not have pity on them. But He loves them enough to assign them a shepherd. Even though they are going to suffer consequences for their life, he still gives them a shepherd. Even though times will be very difficult, they will have a guide to teach them.

Zechariah 11:7 ESV

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.

To staffs, Favor and Union. Favor represents the favor or grace of God, and the Union between Judah and Israel. God is showing His favor to the people, even though they have not served him well.

Zechariah 11:8–11 ESV

In one month I destroyed the three shepherds. But I became impatient with them, and they also detested me. So I said, “I will not be your shepherd. What is to die, let it die. What is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed. And let those who are left devour the flesh of one another.” And I took my staff Favor, and I broke it, annulling the covenant that I had made with all the peoples. So it was annulled on that day, and the sheep traders, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the Lord.

So the prophet becomes shepherd. He destroys the three shepherds, who had been doing their work only for personal gain, instead of doing it for the Lord and with a love for the people. He destroys them. And out of gratefulness for his services, the people love him, right? Not exactly. It says in verse 8 that he was impatient with them, and that they despised him. The reasons for his impatience are not given here, but based on the entire passage, we can understand that they were not interested in being shepherded. He was impatient and they despised him.

Why did they despise him? Had he not destroyed the bad shepherds, and shown them the Favor and Union of God? It seems that sometimes people have gone so far down the road of following bad leadership that when they see good leadership, they reject it, perhaps having rose colored glasses as they look back at the way things were. This prophet was not self appointed. God had given him the charge to shepherd these people. He destroyed the bad shepherds. He did the good work needed to feed and defend them, and they despised him for it. It reminds me a little of our Good Shepherd, who came for the same reasons, and who was also despised and rejected by those He came to save.

Zechariah 11:12–14 ESV

Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver. Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter. Then I broke my second staff Union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

Thirty pieces of silver. Do you recognize that number? Why, its the value of a human life, cheapened by ungodly people. What is the value of a human life today? A slave can be bought in some parts of the world for only $90. An abortion can be secured at a very small price. The value of life to us is cheapened compared to what God intended for us to understand as the value of life.

In the book of Exodus, there is a passage that talks about the penalty to the owner of an ox that gores someone. If the person gored is someone’s son or daughter, the cost of the life would be calculated, most likely a very high price. But if the person gored were only a slave, what do you suppose the cost was?

Exodus 21:32 ESV

If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.

How much is a slave worth? About $90. If your ox gores a free person, be prepared to pay a very high price, but if the ox only gores a mere slave? Well, in today’s valuation of silver, the old testament slave was worth about $150. So even an old testament slave had more value than human life today. Life has become that cheap to many.

The 30 pieces of silver given to the prophet is an insult. You can just hear the sarcasm when he calls it a lordly sum. It really wasn’t. Here the prophet sees how little the people value him. He was sent by God, he chased off and destroyed the bad shepherds, yet the people put their heads together and come up with the measly price of a slave.

I’ve known people who have experienced what they considered less than good service at a restaurant, and to show their dissatisfaction, will leave a quarter or nickel or something on the table. I also know many people who have worked table service jobs, and how insulting that is. Here is a man of God, who comes and does the difficult job God gave him, and receives no gratitude, but only an insult.

So He throws it to the potter, which is a term that scholars argue over a bit. It probably refers to workers at the temple, who would melt down metals given in offering to the temple for easier storage. Sometimes the molten metal would be put in a clay pot, which would have to be broken to get the metal out when it was needed. Jars of Clay.

You may also remember that this same insulting price was paid for the betrayal of Jesus by Judas. 30 pieces of silver. Jesus also had come to be a Good Shepherd, and was insulted by the same price as the prophet. Judas took his 30 pieces back to the temple treasury as well. Over and over in the Bible, and still today, the true prophets were treated with scorn and derision, and the false prophets, very often, became rich and powerful. There is nothing new under the sun. Our sinful nature tends to cause us to scorn the truth and embrace the lie.

Zechariah 11:14 ESV

Then I broke my second staff Union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

He had already broke the staff Favor, signaling God’s removal of favor from them because they rejected his prophet. Now he breaks the staff union, which means that Judah and Israel will again be at odds.

Zechariah 11:15–16 ESV

Then the Lord said to me, “Take once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd. For behold, I am raising up in the land a shepherd who does not care for those being destroyed, or seek the young or heal the maimed or nourish the healthy, but devours the flesh of the fat ones, tearing off even their hoofs.

Finally, to illustrate what happens when we want our way and not God’s way, God is going to show them what will happen: They are going to get what they want. They chose to ignore God’s shepherd, and preferred the bad shepherds, so once again, God is sending a foolish, or in one translation, stupid, shepherd.

This shepherd, like the earlier ones, will not be interested in the well-being of the sheep. He will be in it for the glory, the money, and the power. He doesn't care that the sheep are being destroyed, he doesn't provide for the young or maimed by going after them to rescue them from the danger they are in. And the foolish shepherd will not nourish the ones who are healthy. When the healthy are not nourished, what happens? When we have a poor diet, we have poor health. And the diet these healthy sheep were going to get was inadequate.

Instead of looking after the weak and wounded, and nourishing the healthy, the shepherd they got would devour the flesh of the fat ones, tearing off even their hooves. Ministry is a calling from God. One who does it for money or gain or to control people is called a foolish shepherd, and we will see in the last verse, a worthless shepherd.

So many false prophets in the bible, so many cult leaders and false teachers throughout the history of the church, have gained influence over sheep, not as a calling from God but a personal ambition for various reasons brought on by servitude to the sin nature. This is a strong warning to those who are given charge over sheep. May we take seriously the warning. May we submit to Christ and the Word over all else, serving, as Paul said, not out compulsion, but willingly.

For if we do not, then we will ultimately answer for our ministerial malpractice:

Zechariah 11:17 ESV

“Woe to my worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May the sword strike his arm and his right eye! Let his arm be wholly withered, his right eye utterly blinded!”

The passage concludes with a curse on the worthless shepherd.

Big Idea: Leaders must value their followers; Followers must value their leaders

This passage includes a message for everyone. For the leader, it is a sobering reminder of the call to serve, and the consequences of serving the flesh and not God. For all of us, who follow the leaders God gives us, we are also being warned. God will provide good leadership to us. But if we squander it by refusing to listen to those He puts over us, and if we reject the leadership He ordained for us, then He may just send us the leaders we deserve.

In grace He has given us good leaders at times. Yet when we reject the godly leaders He has provided, He will replace them with the leaders we deserve. I believe this to be true on all levels of leadership, from your job, to your family, to church, and to all levels of our government. We don’t deserve the grace of God that He gives when we have godly leadership. But when we reject the godly leadership, He will give us over to what our sin nature wants.

Leaders must value their followers. A leader is given a special charge to keep. Whether the leader is a manager at work, an employer, a military person, a ministry leader, or a political leader, God calls each one to live up to the calling of leadership and to leave with love and concern for those in their charge.

Followers must value their leaders. Followers are commanded by scripture, in various passages, to come under the authority of those in proper leadership, so long as coming under that authority does not violate God’s law. We are to value our leaders at all levels. Imagine how saddened God must be when we deride our leaders, and treat them as worthless when we don't agree. Saying we would like danger to befall them or that they deserve some kind of wickedness because we don't like their leadership is not honoring to God.

In fact, it insulting to God when we treat any human in a cheap way, whether hurling insults towards our leaders, whether devaluing human life when we murder infants in the womb and sell humans for the value few bags of groceries, or whether those in leadership treat those under their leadership as people to trample on as they themselves are given power, prestige, or wealth.

I urge you, as the application of this sermon today, to think very hard, and to pray very hard, about how you and I can do a better job valuing life. How can we defend the value of each person? Who in our neighborhoods is seen by others as a cheap commodity, or even as worthless. How can we show that person their value as one made in the image of God almighty and one who He died to save?

When will we take our proper place of leadership as the church in proclaiming the value of life and not only with our words, but with our deeds, declaring that God’s way is the only way? When will we start sticking up for the poor and disadvantaged. Our immediate world around us is filled with people who see themselves as being with no value, so they numb the pain of life with sex, and with drugs, and with alcohol. Many of these have attempted or thought about suicide because they have no hope. Give them hope. We come closer to the Christmas season. Even non believers celebrate. How will you give hope to someone who is dying from despair?

How will you teach about the kindness of God that leads to repentance to a neighbor? When will we stop seeing people by the labels of our addictions or race, or financial prowess, and start seeing each other as God sees us, as children of the Most High God? Take this message from the prophet today and be warned. But don’t just be warned. Take action. God is calling His church once again to storm the gates of Hell and to transform the world.

We get in a lot of conversations about how close we are to the end when Christ returns. If that gets you fired us, great, but here’s something you need to remember. We do not need to sit idly by and wait for God’s Kingdom to come. God’s Kingdom is here!

Matthew 10:7–8 ESV

And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay.

Go, church! Go, and proclaim the kingdom to heaven is at hand! We dare not sit around waiting for Him to come while we twiddle our fingers. He has given us a mission and we are to Go. The world is in desperate need of hope. The terrorism and slavery and debauchery may make you want to give up, but it makes me want to press on!

So love God, Love His Church, Love His people, and love the world by living the Word of God, by praying the Word of God, and by preaching the Word of God!

1 John 5:1–5 ESV

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

So love God, Love His Church, Love His people, and love the world by living the Word of God, by praying the Word of God, and by preaching the Word of God!

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