My Commentary on Zechariah part 8
Sheep marked for slaughter by www.PDImages.com
             My Commentary
on the Book Of
Zechariah Part Eight
This is my commentary on the book of Zechariah. This book’s prophetic meaning is now revealed to the body of Christ. My comments are not meant to replace the word of God, nor be added to it. They are meant only as a guide for you to compare my interpretation to what the Holy Spirit leads you.
Please comment on areas that you feel are wrong and I will be happy to reconsider it included with the facts you gave. My only intention is to teach on the book of Zechariah and the interpretations God revealed to me, subject at hand.
      Lack of leadership in the body of Christ on prophecy is unending. Those who are pastors and teachers constantly ignore these prophetic books. The rejection of prophecy has let to a great crisis in the church today. To teach the bible without teaching prophecy is just plain wrong. My goal as a teacher is to fill this gap.
      Let us break bread and open the book of Zechariah, chapter 11:1-17. Please read this, [only], side by side when you have your bible with you. I use an NIV so I put those words here so it is easy for you to see what God stated in his holy bible.
      Please be careful and do not place my words equal to those in the bible for they are not. This is just commentary only and I am not adding or taking away from the bible according to Revelation 22:19.
This is only a commentary of a long line of commentaries down through the last 2000 years. But I do believe this interpretation is far superior to any interpretation out there today.
Please pray for God to wake you up by giving proper interpretation of these prophecies so you may warn and wake up your family and the body of Christ.
      For God says to wake up wake up or sleep forever for those [that] live in Babylon the Great, America, Jeremiah 51:57. For the daughter of Babel will not rise to inherit the kingdom to cover the earth with her cities, Isaiah 14:21. I have placed my words in a different color, this color, so that you may differentiate them from God’s words.
For those climbing the mountain of Zion are also told Awake, Awake and put on your garments of splendor, Isaiah 51:17, Isaiah 52:1. So let us not be the five virgins without jars of oil when Jesus Christ, Bridegroom, comes but let us fill our jars with lamp oil, Holy Spirit, being counted worthy to escape these things at the coming Rapture. 
            Zechariah 11:1-3 NIV
      Open your doors O Lebanon, so that fire may devour your cedars! 2 Wail, O pine tree, for the cedar has fallen; the stately trees are ruined! Wail, oaks of Bashan; the dense forest has been cut down! 3 Listen to the wail of the shepherds; their rich pastures are destroyed! Listen to the roar of the lions; the lush thicket of the Jordan is ruined!
Verses 1–This is speaking of a coming future judgment in the country of Lebanon and the world by fire which will occur during the beginning of last part of tribulation, Time of Jacob’s Trouble, between the estimated years of 2011 to 2014 according to the seventy years prophecy, see these sermons: Time Of Jacob’s Trouble,  Seventy Years Prophecy 1,  Seventy Years Prophecy 2,  Seventy Years Prophecy 3,  Seventy Years Prophecy 4,  American Prophecies Part 1,  American Prophecies Part 2,  American Prophecies Part 3. The last part tribulation,  also called spotted and striped brown sheep 6-7 year Thrashing Floor portion of tribulation, kicks off with a worldwide nuclear war in which eventually 2 billion or 1/3 of the world’s population die, Revelation 9:18. Lebanon was famous during Israel’s time for it’s great forest and mighty trees. This is not about a judgment that already occurred by Alexandar the Great in which Tyre was burned. This is about a future time of judgment for Lebanon in which towards the end of a seventy year period of time when God is rebuilding Israel according to the four craftsmen and seventy year prophecy, Zechariah 1:18-21, 1:12; see sermons above also.  The last judgment of mankind was by water and this one of Lebanon and the world will be by fire.
For this is also where the great prophet Ezekiel says Lucifer lives, Ezekiel 28:13. There is more than fire as God’s judgement coming to Lebanon. There is also a great plague of war that will make the blood flow in the streets and the slain will fall from within her on every side. Great blood everywhere, Ezekiel 28:23. This verse seems to indicate at the end or close to the end of these 70 years Lebanon or parts of thereof will be given to God’s people, Isaiah 23:15-18. This last quote in Isaiah also speaks of at or around the end of the seventy years period that the wealth of Lebanon will be given to God’s people, Israel.
Verse-2–Wikipedia had this to say about ceders in Lebanon:
      “In ancient times, Lebanon housed large forests of the Cedars of Lebanon, which now serve as the country’s national emblem.[38] However, centuries of trading cedar trees, used by ancient mariners for boats, and the absence of any efforts to replant them have depleted Lebanon’s once flourishing cedar forests.[38]“
      To read more about Lebanon go to this link at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanon
The Pine tree wails because all the cedar trees are gone and now the pines will be chopped down and burned down. Today these forests are mostly gone and the ones left are burning down at a rapid deforestation rate. Cedar back then were highly desired lumber as today for their anti-infestation and anti mildew properties. Ceder simply lasts longer then other woods, especially pines. It was these forests that supplied the timbers used for King Solomon when he built the 1st Temple. King David also used the wood from these forests to build his palace at Mount Zion during his conquering of Jerusalem.
Verse-3–The shepherds are all wailing because of the plague of war and blood judgment sent by God, Ezekiel 28:23. After doing research on Lebanon I found a great deal of prophecy fulfillment already on this verse. We have the Lebanon civil war from 1975 to 1990 where it is estimated over 100,000 people died, 100,000 injured, 900,000 displaced, 3700 car bombs, weapon of choice AK-47 & RPG’s, within the borders of Lebanon.Â
       This mess of a civil war started by Arafat in 1970 when he was expelled with his 16,000 member Fatah army being relocated in Lebanon.  This Islamic army started killing Christians here and there in their churches in Lebanon. Naturally the Christians fought back to defend themselves and soon killing on both sides started . With 100,000 dead &100,000 injured in such a small country this means that truly blood did flow in her streets as Ezekiel stated would happen 2575 years earlier, Ezekiel 28:23. This truly was a war & blood plague from God. Also there has been an unusually large amount of forest fires in Lebanon over the last twenty years burning up what few forests she has left since biblical times.  These forest fires like in America are warnings from God of a much harsher judgment of fire coming, nuclear annihilment, from the years 2011 to 2014.
Her farmers are also burning down forest growth to farm that many times burn out of control into forest fires. Another thing is by the end of this horrible 20 year civil war large amounts of mine field were left in south Lebanon that occasionally kill and maim unsuspecting shepherds. It seems to be in the news quite often. Here are just some of the interesting links I found on these subjects: Click Click!
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/792424.html
       Verse-3–So the wailing of the shepherds is truly occurring in Lebanon for these reasons.
            Zechariah 11:4-6 NIV
Two
Shepherds
4 This is what the Lord my God says: “Pasture the flock marked for slaughter.” 5 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. 6  For I will no longer have pity for the people of the land,” declares the Lord.Â
“I will hand everyone over to his neighbor and his king. They will oppress the land, and I will not rescue them from their hands.”
Verses 4-6– The NIV gives a title to this chapter that I think is an incorrect chapter summary. This is not the translation so I am not messing with God’s words. These titles were not put in in the original and are there in these study bibles. These titles are not God’s words anymore then a concordance or bible dictionary are God’s words. So my view on this chapter summary title in which it states “Two Shepherds” is not accurate to what is in the chapter.   When you read it you discover it talks about five shepherds, three foolish ones, Jesus Christ the good shepherd, and one in the distant future called both a foolish and worthless shepherd. This means there are five shepherds, three foolish ones, Jesus Christ the good one and a distant future one called both foolish and worthless by God.
      When looking at Zechariah 11:8 it states at the beginning; In one month I got rid of the three foolish shepherds. This same “I” in verse Zechariah 11:7 states “So I pastured the flock marked for slaughter.”  A more appropriate summary title to help those interested in learning the bible would be this; “The Good Shepherd Jesus Christ gets Rid of Three Foolish Shepherds.”Â
      So what are the three foolish shepherds of? They are foolish shepherds of Jerusalem, Israel & Judah respectively. For God always separates them into these three groups; Israel, Judah, and, of course the politicly rich and affluent upper class, Jerusalem.
        The ten lost tribes, although strong, were swept away by the Assyrians because of their intermingling of marriages and idol worship; their weakness was salvation. Judah’s weakness was strength.  Judah was always trying to be strong by becoming allies with other ungodly nations. You have the three tribes of Judah which are Judah, Benjamin & Levi respectively. This is thirteen tribes. So for you scholars out there how could it be thirteen tribes? The thirteenth tribe is the tribe of Levi, priestly tribe. These were the firstborn taken from each tribe to perform the priestly functions for Israel.
             Verse-5–Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished.  The buying of God’s followers by the foolish false shepherds is explained here. If anything should be a wake up call today of what is going on in the church today this should be. This is almost an exact description of the “name it, tithe it & claim it” gospel of the charismatic and nondenominational church movement. God will judge them and their $1,000 suits harshly. It appears the foolish shepherds of biblical history are the same as the foolish Pastors of these last years before the Day of the Lord.
Verse 6–God’s patience has just run out. Too much innocent blood has been spilled on the ground of the land here and there. There will be so much division everywhere that even common law will fail and people’s neighbors will bother each other. The politicians will become ineffective at finding solutions to manage the masses. Everyone will be turned over to his neighbor and his king. Chaos and lawlessness will rule.
             Zechariah 11:7-11 NIV
7 So I pastured 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 pastured the flock. 8 In one month I got rid of the three shepherds.
The flock detested me, and I grew weary of them 9 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.”
10 Then I took my staff called favor and broke it, revoking the covenant I had made with the nations. 11 It was revoked on that day, and so the afflicted of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the Lord.
      Verses 7-11–One month is the passover month. All mankind is marked to go to market and be either slaughtered or to go on to the gift of life. The shepherds each year mark the flock for slaughter. Each year before market they mark the ones that will be slaughtered that year so when market comes it is easier to separate the ones that will be slaughtered from the ones that will not be slaughtered.  For no shepherd slaughters all his flock yearly unless he is preparing for a long journey, but he always marks them before he slaughters them. There would be ones he would consider good and without a desire to slaughter them. There would be other ones , unruly ones impossible to lead away from the beasts. The decisions His. There might be good ones that produce more or what ever. The point being he does not start over. Some might be used in reproduction because they reproduce a lot.
Only certain ones are marked for slaughter and the shepherd chooses himself with no consultation from anyone. It is his decision and he has the right to decide and this authority was given to him by His Father who owns everything, what ever he chooses.
There are always two groups, the group marked for slaughter and the group with no mark  unmarked for life. The two lambs in this post in particular are marked for slaughter. When the Antichrist is making people take the 666 mark on the foreheads or wrists they in a sense being marked for death, marked for slaughter, Revelation 13:16-18. Of course Antichrist doesn’t tell them they are marked for slaughter does he?Â
The “I” is Christ, the good shepherd, a shepherd like David.    The oppressed are the poor, the widowed, fatherless, motherless, brotherless, sisterless, those with poor health, those who are foreigners in the land they live.  Notice God states in one month he got rid of three foolish shepherds. These foolish shepherds were the shepherds of Israel, northern kingdom, Judah, southern kingdom and Jerusalem, the rich and upper class of this nation of kingdoms.
A staff is used by a good shepherd to guide the sheep to where the fields are greener. They are also used to guide the sheep away from their enemies. Sheep are not very smart animals. They just kind of all follow each other.
Then God took two staffs and broke them one at a time, first Favor, second Union. God’s Favor broken means God was going to allow Israel to be scattered throughout the world. Israel’s enemies, many times her own people, would overcome her and God would not help her. Favor must be broke first and God’s Favor was now broken. God’s Union staff broken means there would be bickering in this nation and they would always be divided from here on. This division started When King David, rightly so, Took the Ark of the Covenant from Saul’s territory in northern Israel to southern Israel into Jerusalem at Mount Mariah where they changed the name of this mountain to Mount Zion.
                                          Typecast of Church
       These things that happeded to the nation of Israel are a shadow of what would later happen to the Church. God later also broke two staffs of the church, staff of favor and the staff of union. Favor was broken when God started allowing Islam to conquer the Holy Lands and even many Christian countries. The staff of union for Christian countries was broken when the reformation started. The church has been divided ever since the reformation. This has led to a very large amount of protestant cults, Jahovah Witness, Mormans, Klu Klux Clan, and many many others. Rome was a typecast of Jerusalem. Cathlocism was a typecast of Judah and protestantism was a typecast of the northern kingdom Israel.
              Zechariah 11:12-14 NIV
12 I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it. “So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.
       13 And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they priced me! So I took the thirty pieces and threw them into the house of the potter.
       14 Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
      Verses 12-14–So what is a fair price to pay to get into heaven?  God says as if to cause us to pause and think. Our pay is the same thing he gave us, his life, Romans 12:1. God wants our life, our heart is the price to pay. He wants us, our hearts and nothing less. This is our pay.
Verse-13–This was also part of the prophecy that was fulfilled when the Son of Perdition, Matthew 26:15,  Judas, betrayed our Lord Jesus Christ for a paltry sum, only thirty pieces of silver. And Judas the betrayer did just that, threw it on the floor of the 2nd Temple, Matthew 27:3-5. Judas wanted no part of betraying innocent blood so he stated. And he threw it at the Pharisees and Sadducees who plotted to kill J-sus Chr-st who was guilty of no crime.
       Verse-14–God broke the second staff called Union. This was Union and God’s people would no longer have union in the country. Union is the cohesion of society. Without union society fails as did Israel when it became three kingdoms, the northern part, Israel, and the Southern part Judah and the third one Jerusalem. All three of these gradually became separated from each other because there no longer was union.
             Zechariah 11:15-17 NIV
15 Then the Lord said to me, “Take again the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 16 For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hoofs.
      17″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!”
      Verse-15-16–The foolish shepherd as defined by God is used by God as a form of judgment on mankind. Since most all of Zechariah is about and fulfilled during tribulation that is the case here also.
Another name for foolish shepherd would be antichrist and or false prophet. Both of these would be the foolish shepherd. This foolish shepherd slaughters the good sheep devoring the sheep like a beast that is tearing off the hoofs and eating them also. This sounds like the same thing a lion does when it catches a stray sheep that is away from the group and the shepherd. A foolish shepherd deserts his flock, walks away while they are in the wild,  so the wild beasts can devour the sheep! A foolish shepherd doesn’t protect the part of his flock on the right side of things because he cannot see them. Also a foolish shepherd cannot carry his sheep because he has a withered arm!
Verse-17–A specific description here of a particular worthless shepherd. This is a different description then a foolish shepherd. Could this be the coming Antichrist or False Prophet? Someone with a withered arm and totaly blind in his right eye. God seems to state here that this happened from battle, from war, from sword. It seems the word sword God is stating here is a general term like anything from war. Maybe a bomb caused this, or an assassination attempt.
There is a very interesting Islamic prophecy. I am not saying this because I believe islamic prophecy is correct, nothing like that. I only quote it here because there is some truth to it.
      For example, when Christ was born there were many that knew and believed in the prophecy of the coming King of Kings. Even though they were not followers of God they knew and believed in parts of the prophecy. They had some of the truth but not all of it. Because hey, who can pull the wool over God’s eyes? Actually we see this in more then one place in the bible. Herod wanted to kill all boys under the age of 2 years old, Matthew 2:14. Although Chr-st was not a king of this world Herod wanted to kill him to protect the Herod dynasty. Other examples would be Moses and Joseph and his brothers.
Islamic prophecy on Antichrist, [Dajjal]
Islamic prophecy states that there will be an Antichrist they call the Dajjal that will rise in between  Syria and Iraq. He will have a bulging blind right eye. He will be Jewish and the Jewish people will accept him as their Messiah. Their prophecy didn’t say anything on a withered right arm like Christian prophecy states here. You might wish to check this link out :
http://www.inter-islam.org/faith/dajjal.htm
My take on this is that Since the bible talks of a blind right eyed false shepherd, this will be a real person, blind with a withered right arm. But this will not be who we call the Antichrist because the Antichrist will rise through Islam, and Scripture is clear about this all over the bible.  But this will be a foolish worthless shepherd for Israel at the same time the Antichrist does rise up just east of the Euphrates river.
      We should see this person rise up in Israel over the next ten years. He may never even become the president of Israel but he should at least be a little famous. He will have health problems from some type of war injury with a blind right eye and a withered arm. He might be their president, or a general or political leader. It will be interesting to watch for the fulfillment of this prophecy. So the reason we know this will not be the Antichrist or the False Prophet is because we know Islam would never accept and follow this person.
But that does not mean this person will not be a leader in Israel which is what Islamic prophecy teaches.Â
