Introduction: Zechariah ("Whom the Lord remembers"), in accordance with his name, is strikingly a prophet of hope. His vision, spanning the centuries, gravitates resistlessly to Israel's glad future to be realized in her coming Deliverer and King. Chapters 9 and 10 dwell on this joyous theme, showing how the nations surrounding God's people would be judged, while Israel would be preserved for the coming of her King (Zech. 9:1-8), both in His First Advent (vs.9), as well as in His Second (vs.10) with consequent blessings and victories outlined in (9:11 through 10:12).

But suddenly the prophet of hope, since he is also a prophet of truth and reality, glimpses the fearful episode of the nation's apostasy manifest in the rejection of the good Shepherd (Zech. 11:1-14) and acceptance of the worthless shepherd (Zech. 11:15-17). In doing so he distills the quintessence of Israel's sorrow and woe in the fact of the nation's refusing their true Shepherd-Messiah at His first advent and their taking up with the false shepherd in the time of their greatest woe previous to the second advent of their Deliverer and King. Both events, as tragic as they are, must, however, be catalogued by this prophet of hope, because both events form a necessary prelude to the glorious blessings he sees for the nation and form the dark and dismal storm that clears into the millennial day.

Similarly in the first part of the prophecy (chapter 1-8), "the good and the comfortable words" (1:13) form the grand and glowing theme of the eight night visions (1:7-6:8), eventuating in full kingdom blessing typified by the crowning of Joshua, the high priest (6:8-15). But again the prophet of hope is a prophet of reality and truth, and against the bright promises of grace presents the dark warnings of the active curse going forth against sin in the vision of the flying scroll (5:1-4) and the sure judgment of Babylon in the vision of the woman in the ephah (5:5-11).

I. IMPENDING DEVASTATION OF THE LAND DUE TO THE REJECTION OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD (11:1-3):

[1]. The Devastation Starts in the Lebanon Region (11 :1, 2a)
[2]. The Devastation Sweeps On to Bashan (11:2b,3a) .
[3]. The Devastation Descends to the Lower Jordan Valley (11:3b).

II. PREDICTION OF THE REJECTION OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD (11:4-14):

[1]. The Prophet's Commission to Enact a Prophetic Parable (11:4).
[2]. The Prophesied Punishment of the People (11:5,6).
[3]. The Parabolic Representation of the Lord's Final Endeavors to Reclaim Israel (11:7,8).
[4]. The Parabolic Representation of God's Final Abandonment of Israel (11:9-11).
[5]. The Reason for the Final Abandonment of the Nation - the Rejection of the Messiah (11:12,13).
[6]. The Final Abandonment of the Nation (11:14).

 

III. PREDICTION OF THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE BAD SHEPHERD (11:15-17):

[1]. The Prophet's Commission to Enact a Second Prophetic Parable (11:15).
[2]. The Prophecy of the Character of the False Shepherd (11:16).
[3]. The Prophecy of the Doom of the False Shepherd (11:17).