Page:06.CBOT.KD.PropheticalBooks.B.vol.6.LesserProphets.djvu/1439

 of Christ, which commenced in the times of the apostles, and will continue till the remnant of Israel is converted to Christ its Saviour. =Chap. 11=

Israel under the Good Shepherd and the Foolish One - Zechariah 11
In the second half of the “burden” upon the world-power, which is contained in this chapter, the thought indicated in Zec 10:3 - namely, that the wrath of Jehovah is kindled over the shepherds when He visits His flock, the house of Judah - is more elaborately developed, and an announcement is made of the manner in which the Lord visits His people, and rescues it out of the hands of the world-powers who are seeking to destroy it, and then, because it repays His pastoral fidelity with ingratitude, gives it up into the hands of the foolish shepherd, who will destroy it, but who will also fall under judgment himself in consequence. The picture sketched in Zec 9:8-10, Zec 9:12, of the future of Israel is thus completed, and enlarged by the description of the judgment accompanying the salvation; and through this addition an abuse of the proclamation of salvation is prevented. But in order to bring out into greater prominence the obverse side of the salvation, there is appended to the announcement of salvation in Zec 10:1-12 the threat of judgment in Zec 11:1-3, without anything to explain the transition; and only after that is the attitude of the Lord towards His people and the heathen world, out of which the necessity for the judgment sprang, more fully described. Hence this chapter divides itself into three sections: viz., the threat of judgment (Zec 11:1-3); the description of the good shepherd (Zec 11:4-14); and the sketch of the foolish shepherd (Zec 11:15-17). Zec 11:1-3 The Devastation of the Holy Land. - Zec 11:1. “Open thy gates, O Lebanon, and let fire devour thy cedars! Zec 11:2. ''Howl, cypress; for the cedar is fallen, for the glory is laid waste! Howl, ye oaks of Bashan; for the inaccessible forest is laid low!'' Zec 11:3. ''A loud howling of the shepherds; for their glory is laid waste! A loud roaring of the young lions; for the splendour of Jordan is laid waste!” ''That these verses do not form the commencement of a new prophecy, having no