Zechariah 9-11
Notes
Transcript
Psalm 77
Medidate Upon God’s Past Faithfulness
Introduction to the Oracle
1The oracle of the word of the LORD is against (“in”) the land of Hadrach
and Damascus is its resting place.
For the LORD has an eye on mankind
and on all the tribes of Israel, 2 and on Hamath also, which borders on it
(or “upon the LORD is the eye of mankind, all the tribes of Israel, and Hamath which borders it. ”)
A) The Lord Prepares His Salvation (2b-6a)
Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.
3Tyre has built herself a rampart
and heaped up silver like dust,
and fine gold like the mud of the streets.
4But behold, the Lord will strip her of her possessions
and strike down her power on the sea,
and she shall be devoured by fire.
5Ashkelon shall see it, and be afraid;
Gaza too, and shall writhe in anguish;
Ekron also, because its hopes are confounded.
The king shall perish from Gaza;
Ashkelon shall be uninhabited;
6 mixed people (or “a strange/foreign people”) shall dwell in Ashdod,
and I will cut off the pride of Philistia.
B) The LORD Declairs his Redemption (7-8)
7 I will take away its blood from its mouth,
and its abominations from between its teeth;
it too shall be a remnant for our God;
it shall be like a clan in Judah,
and Ekron shall be like the Jebusites.
8Then I will encamp at my house as a guard,
so that none shall march to and fro;
no oppressor shall again march over them,
for now I see with my own eyes.
C ) The LORD Presents his King
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble (or “afflicted”) and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
and he shall speak peace to the nations; (Mic 5:5)
his rule shall be from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
B’) The LORD Declairs his Redemption (11- 13)
11 As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
12 Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;
today I declare that I will restore to you double.
13 For I have bent Judah as my bow;
I have made Ephraim its arrow.
I will stir up your sons, O Zion,
against your sons, O Greece (or “Javan” see Gen 10:2),
and wield you like a warrior’s sword.
C’) The LORD Protects His Salvation (14-17)
14Then the LORD will appear over them,
and His arrow will go forth like lightning.
The Lord GOD will sound the ram’s horn (Isa 27:13)
and advance in the whirlwinds of the south.
15The LORD of Hosts will shield them.
They will destroy and conquer with slingstones;
they will drink and roar as with wine.
And they will be filled like sprinkling bowls,
drenched like the corners of the altar.
16 On that day the LORD their God will save them
as the flock of His people; (c.f. John 10:27-28)
for like jewels in a crown (c.f. Isa 62)
they will sparkle over His land.
17 How lovely they will be,
and how beautiful!
Grain will make the young men flourish,
and new wine, the young women.
10:1
“Ask rain from the Lord...”
This juxtaposition and the logic of Paul:
What, then, are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He did not even spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. How will he not also with him grant us everything?
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Zechariah 10-11
A) Seek the Lord and His Will
10:1 Ask the LORD for rain in springtime; (c.f. Matt 6:10)
the LORD makes the storm clouds,
and He will give everyone showers of rain
and crops in the field.
2 For idols speak deceit
and diviners see illusions;
they tell false dreams
and offer empty comfort.
Therefore the people wander like sheep,
oppressed for lack of a shepherd.
B) Restoration of Judah
3 “My anger burns against the shepherds,
and I will punish the leaders.
For the LORD of Hosts attends to His flock,
the house of Judah;
He will make them
like His royal steed in battle.
4 The cornerstone (or “king”) will come from Judah,
the tent peg from him, (or “messiah”)
as well as the battle bow
and every ruler together.
5 They will be like mighty men in battle,
trampling the enemy in the mire of the streets.
They will fight because the LORD is with them,
and they will put the horsemen to shame.
6 I will strengthen the house of Judah
C) Restoration of “Joseph” (i.e. the rest of Israel)
and save the house of Joseph.
I will restore them because I have compassion on them,
and they will be as though I had not rejected them.
For I am the LORD their God,
and I will answer them.
7 Ephraim will be like a mighty man,
and their hearts will be glad as with wine.
Their children will see it and be joyful;
their hearts will rejoice in the LORD.
8 I will whistle for them to gather, (Isa 7:18)
for I have redeemed them;
and they will be as numerous
as they once were. (c.f. Gen 15:5, Exod 1:7)
9 Though I sow them among the nations,
they will remember Me in distant lands;
they and their children
will live and return.
10 I will bring them back from Egypt (c.f. 2 Kgs 18:11)
and gather them from Assyria.
I will bring them to Gilead and Lebanon
until no more room is found for them.
11 They will pass through the sea of distress
and strike the waves of the sea;
all the depths of the Nile will dry up.
The pride of Assyria will be brought down,
and the scepter of Egypt will depart.
12 I will strengthen them in the LORD,
and in His name they will walk,”
declares the LORD.
Conlusion: Endure the time of your exile
Shepherds continue the threat to lead us astray disunify us
2 Tim 2:24-25; 4:1-5
God will gather us
1 Thess 4:17
Jesus will Shepherd us
John 10:11-18
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11:1 Open your doors, O Lebanon,
that the fire may consume your cedars!
2Wail, O cypress,a for the cedar has fallen;
the majestic trees are ruined!
Wail, O oaks of Bashan,
for the dense forest has been cut down!
3Listen to the wailing of the shepherds,
for their glory is in ruins.
Listen to the roaring of the young lions,
for the thickets of the Jordan are destroyed.
4This is what the LORD my God says: “Pasture the flock marked for slaughter, 5whose buyers slaughter them without remorse. Those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the LORD, for I am rich!’ Even their own shepherds have no compassion on them.
6For 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.”
7So I pastured the flock marked for slaughter, especially the afflicted of the flock. Then I took for myself two staffs, calling one Favor and the other Union, and I pastured the flock. 8And in one month I dismissed three shepherds.
My soul grew impatient with the flock, and their souls also detested me. 9Then I said, “I will no longer shepherd you. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish; and let those who remain devour one another’s flesh.”
10Next I took my staff called Favor and cut it in two,b revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations. 11It was revoked on that day, and so the afflicted of the flock who were watching me knew that it was the word of the LORD.
12Then I told them, “If it seems right to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” So they weighed out my wages, thirty pieces of silver.
13And the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—this magnificent price at which they valued me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the LORD.
14Then I cut in two my second staff called Union, breaking the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
15And the LORD said to me: “Take up once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 16For behold, I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will neither care for the lost, nor seek the young, nor heal the broken, nor sustain the healthy, but he will devour the flesh of the choice sheep and tear off their hooves.
17Woe to the worthless shepherd,
who deserts the flock!
May a sword strike his arm
and his right eye!
May his arm be completely withered
and his right eye utterly blinded!”
