Zechariah (11)

This is what our small group worked through in Zechariah Chapter 11. Maybe there is something here for you. Do you think it matters to people whether what they hear on Sunday is Biblical? While I realize this is a generalization, I have my doubts.

Our passage is Zechariah Chapter 11. Let’s remember that this is a continuation of chapters 9 and 10 – Chapter 11 concludes the “burden of the word of Yahweh” that begins in 9:1.

While Chapter 10 ends on a high note, Chapter 11 begins with judgment on the land and on its shepherds. Lebanon and Bashan are mentioned in verses 1 and 2, with Lebanon representing the northern part of the land west of the Jordan river, and Bashan representing the land east of the Jordan. Both of them together represent the entire land of Israel and Judah. It is like saying, “From Maine to Washington State.”

In the first 6 verses we have a pretty bleak picture of the shepherds and their flocks. This is in keeping with what we’ve read throughout the Minor Prophets and is also a major theme in the books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. The prophets and the priests have departed from the true and living God and have led their people astray.

In 11:7 – 14 we see God and Zechariah attempting to faithfully pasture the flock, and the flock rejects God and Zechariah. This is another Biblical motif – and we find it in all generations.

Note verses 12 and 13 and please compare with Exodus 21:32; Matthew 27:1 – 10.

In 11:15 – 17 the flock is given up to a worthless shepherd once again.

Contrast the worthless shepherds with Psalm 23 and John Chapter 10:1 – 18.

Also, please consider 1 Thessalonians 2:7 – 12, Galatians 4:19, and 3 John 4 – what do we see in these passages about shepherding?

Do the professing-Christians of our day care whether or not what they are taught is grounded in Scripture? What is the basis for your answer?

How do people, as a practical matter, know whether preaching or teaching is Biblical? And again, do people really care one way of the other?

In your experience, are pastors and other church leaders held accountable for the content of their teaching and preaching? Are they held accountable for the way they live? Why or why not? What are the challenges in thinking about this?

Whether Protestant or Roman Catholic or Anglican or Eastern Orthodox; from an historical perspective, pastors were once charged with the care of souls, this meant that they had to actually know the families in their parishes – what do you think about this? Is this something you have experienced? Is this the norm today in congregations? What would be the challenges were a pastor want to function in this way?

Also, just a note, I was with a Catholic priest yesterday, along with some other pastors, and he shared with me that the term “father” is not an official title and that it never was; instead it was a family term applied to the pastor that recognized the pastor’s care for the people God had given him to serve. We certainly see this concept in the Bible, and Paul applied it to himself.

Shepherds are supposed to know their flocks…how are we doing in the USA with this?

Does it matter to you whether the preaching you hear is Scriptural? How do you evaluate what you are taught? Are you investing yourself in the Word of God so that what is on the page is woven into your heart, and so that that which is woven into your heart is lived in you and through you to others? What does this look like?

As we approach a new year…are you forming plans for continuing to learn God’s Word and live it? What might that look like?  Love,  Bob