888. Bible Study: Zechariah 11 (Past and Future Prophecy?)

0:00Chapter 11 from the book of Zechariah. Dear Lord, please open our eyes as we read this and give us wisdom and understanding of what you're saying here because this is somewhat confusing as far as if it's been fulfilled or if it is yet to come. So we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. So Chapter 11, it says, open your door's Lebanon so that fire may devour your cedars. Whale, you juniper, for the cedar has fallen. The stately trees are ruined. Whale, oaks of Bashan. The dense forest has been cut down. Listen to the whale of the shepherds. Their rich pastors are destroyed. Listen to the roar of the lions. The lush thicket of the Jordan is ruined. So this is interesting because this is Zechariah. He hears from the Lord and he's talking about Lebanon. But then he

1:05talks about Jordan. The lush thicket of Jordan is ruined. So I was again just wondering historically. So when was Lebanon destroyed by fire and history? And what came up was a couple different things. I mean the furthest back is the coastal city of Bible us located in modern day Lebanon was destroyed by fire around 2,150 BCE by the Amorites. That's what shows up as far as history. Well Zechariah was written later than that because the book of Zechariah was written. Let's see. It was around 520 to 480 BC. So if that ancient history of the coastal city being destroyed was 2150 BCE. That was you know thousands of years before Zechariah had spoken this. And then what else came up? I'm not obviously

2:07not well versed in history. So I have to search these things to find out when did this happen. And I'm this is just subject to what came up in that search. But it says that Lebanon the country was not historically destroyed by fire in a single event. But it experienced a devastating fire-related catastrophe on August 4th 2020 when a massive ammonium nitrate explosion at the part of Beirut destroyed huge swaths of the city killing over 220 people and let and left tens of thousands homeless. And then also in October of 2019 Lebanon faced severe widespread wildfires that destroyed hundreds of hectares of forest and damaged buildings. So in a sense I don't know if this is this is past prophecy that's been fulfilled or if this is talking about the future. And

3:09again why would it be Lebanon is that in one direction and Jordan is in another completely different direction. And what was happening at that time and so I wondered when was Jordan destroyed in history because it says listen to the word of the lions the lush ticket of Jordan is ruined. So Jordan was not quote destroyed as a nation but it was severely crippled during the 1967 Six Day War losing the West Bank East Jerusalem and experiencing a ruined economy. Additionally the state narrowly avoided collapse during the 1970 to 71 Black September Civil War when the Army clashed with Palestinian militant factions. So in the 1967 Six Day War Jordan fought Israel losing all territory west of the Jordan River the West Bank and over 300,000 refugees fled into the country. And then the 1970 to 71 Black September civil strife

4:14between the Jordanian armed forces and the Palestinian liberation organizations saw intense fighting and the expulsion of the PLO which threatened the stability of King Hussein's monarchy. So those that was what showed up in the search. And so again I don't know I mean that's not a complete fulfillment of this and we know that like Edom is part of Jordan of modern day Jordan and it says when Jesus returns he goes there to release some captives and there's like a blood bath too because that's why his robe is stained crimson because he was in Basra which is in modern day Jordan and no one was there to help him. It was the battle he fought alone. So obviously that has not happened yet. So based on scripture based on what I found searching it seems like if there have been

5:16some events that are maybe foreshadowing of the final future event that Zach Karaya was given by the Lord. The study Bible also addresses some of this so I will read that as well. So it says why destroy Lebanon? Lebanon, Bashan and Jordan represented the areas along the borders of Israel. Some think this is a figurative language to describe God's punishment of Israel's enemies from far away of Syria and Egypt right up to Israel's borders. Others think this has this had a more literal fulfillment when Israel rejected the Messiah and was subsequently devastated by Rome in AD 70. So that okay that that I don't know. To me that doesn't still it doesn't it doesn't answer the question to me because it says I mean the study Bible saying others think this had a more literal

6:18fulfillment when Israel rejected the Messiah that is true and was subsequently devastated by Rome but we're talking about Lebanon not about Israel so I don't understand how that relates to the Lebanon area. So it just again prophecy is so hard to understand it only in hindsight do we really understand what it meant and then we can see and say oh this is what it was talking about but it does one thing it does tell us is that Israel has had enemies surrounding it all the time all the way back in history I mean we're talking about 500 BC and these were enemies and and then Jordan you have to remember that that area those are that's actually a brother a twin brother of Jacob who was renamed Israel so we're talking about a familial tie they had the same mom they had the same dad

7:23but they're it just there was a difference a difference in choices and and again that comes back to a lot of what we read in scripture about our choices God lets us have free will we could come from the same family but one can choose God one can choose life the other can choose death and it's that's going to be the result of our destination our final destination like Jesus made the way for us if we accept him and and submit to him as Lord over our life in obedience to him we've made that choice that's been our own free will choice or we can choose to reject him and not receive the kingdom of God through that because Jesus is the way the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except through him so Jesus is the only way and and throughout history it even tells us that

8:31it shows us examples over and over again so that maybe we learned something from that what happens when you reject Christ what happens when you pursue in your own way and you don't submit to his lordship Jesus is going to be king over all the earth and so we can either choose to be obedient to him or to rebel against him God gave that free will even the angels in heaven had that free will that they could choose to be obedient to God or they could reject him and do what they wanted and there are some angels who have rejected God it tells us in scripture that they have so going back to scripture verse four this is what the Lord my God says shepherd the flock marked for slaughter their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished those who sell them say praise the Lord I am rich

9:31their own shepherds do not spare them for I will no longer have pity on the people of the land declares the Lord I will give everyone into the hands of their neighbors and their king they will be they will devastate the land and I will not rescue anyone from their hands so when we reject God we do not have his protection and it does say that we were like that we get turned over at a certain point to the enemy and when we are like when we are sinful and reject being obedient to God it's not how we earn salvation but it's a response to what Jesus did do we accept him as Lord over our life are we going to submit to his way of living are we going to actually reflect the image of Christ are we going to just resist it so that we have to humble ourselves

10:33in that way Paul talks about it in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 5 now this is a situation inside of a church and it's let's see I will read I mean I'll read this 1 Corinthians 5 verse 5 and then I'll read the sentence is above and below it so I have decided to turn such a person over to Satan for the destruction of his body so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord so this is dealing with someone in a leadership capacity that is that is in sin unrepentant sin and I guess I could read from the very beginning so so you could get the context of everything in 1 Corinthians 5 1 it is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you and the

11:35sexual immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles namely that someone has his father's wife you have become arrogant and have not mourned instead so that the one who has done this deed would be removed from your mist so Paul is saying you're not you're not dealing with this situation this this man is basically having relationships with his father's wife and and so he's and he's apparently in the church as we read further we'll find out so he's having sex I guess with the his his own father's wife we don't really know much about that it just says his father's wife it doesn't say his mother but it says his father's wife so maybe it was his father married to somebody else I don't know it doesn't give us all that was details but whatever it is it's it's

12:36clearly wrong by God and the people of the church are tolerating it they're just letting it go on and so Paul is saying to them for I on my part though absent in body but present in spirit have already judged him who has so committed this as though I were present now this is interesting because a lot of people say oh we should not judge well judging in one aspect there's there's discernment and there's judging like Paul has not been given the authority over a person's life to say you are going to be in God's kingdom or you are going to be separated eternally from God I guess ultimately in the burning lake of fire so Paul doesn't have that authority he hasn't been given that authority however he does have the discernment and he is in a capacity as a disciple of Christ to have authority in that manner over brothers and sisters just like people who are in Christ do

13:43have that responsibility I would say and you'll see further why it's a responsibility for people to talk to one another in a way it's not to tear them down and and and make and discourage them but to encourage them to get them to wake up to what they're doing and and get away from what they're doing because they are separating themselves from Christ when they are in the midst of that so he's not he's upset Paul is upset with the people of the church that they are not dealing with this man who's in the church and doing these things they're not even mourning it they're just letting it go on and so he's saying I've already judged him who's committed like he knows it's wrong he knows what the guy is doing and he's talking to the rest of the church saying you're not dealing with it then he says in verse 4 in the name of our Lord Jesus when you are assembled and I with you in spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus the power of our Lord Jesus we don't often

14:51think about that when we are in Christ when we are submitted to Christ when we are humble we've humbled ourselves and we accept Christ as our Lord like he says the power of our Lord Jesus so this is coming from a person who is submitted to Christ like Christ is the authority and Christ gives his authority to whomever he chooses his he gives his authority I did look up authority there's I think like 90 something verses about authority but that's an interesting study I don't know if I'll go over that but Jesus gave his disciples authority over unclean spirits to cast out demons to heal people and how how much are true followers of Christ exercising that authority today and how many people are acknowledging the power through Christ this is God's power like what is

15:53there that God cannot do if you say well I can't do this because I'm a sinner and I can't I have no power you don't know who you are in Christ because Christ clearly says that the Holy Spirit will give us the power to overcome yes we will continually deal with things the enemy is going to keep shooting those arrows trying to get us to fall for something but we overcome it by the power of God we overcome it by scripture what scripture tells us by affirming what who we are in Christ when we have put when we have put death to our sinful past we are no longer defined by that the enemy will constantly bring that to mind but that's not who we are when we have gotten rid of it when we've you know have the intention and rely on Christ to change us the Holy Spirit will change us that's what the church calls sanctification and the in the Bible supports that too it's the

16:54Holy Spirit that changes us the power of God but do we deny the power of God we're not stuck in sin we have the power we have free will we're not stuck in it if we keep doing it we're choosing it we're not helpless we have the power of God to overcome it and I think we need to be reminded of that like who we are in Christ if we are indeed children of God those should those things it's not saying that we're not going to have the struggles with it but it's a decision it's ultimately a decision are you going to be obedient to God or are you going to just take the easy way and just do what you want to do that's what it is are you submitted to Christ so going back to this this account is that then he says I have decided to turn such a person over to Satan for the destruction of the of his body so that his spirit may be saved on the day

17:56of the Lord so and God would God allows this like they're so Paul is basically saying you know turn him over to Satan for the destruction of his body because that's what Satan's going to do nobody realizes that but when you continually rebel against God you're giving the enemy authority over your life when all hell breaks loose in your life and you're like why is all this happening to me well why do you have anything that you're in persistent rebellion to God or is that I mean that's the first place we need to look what are we doing are we doing something are we giving the enemy access to our life by our rejection of what God says and then we look at our lives and we have things falling apart and we're like oh my gosh why is this happening did we ever look at ourselves first to look to see now the other thing is which I've I've experienced both I've experienced

18:58correction or discipline from God for my bad behavior and I've also been shown by God that it wasn't something I did but it was a testing it was very early on in my my faith of actually submitting to Christ when I actually was on that path the enemy did come against me and I didn't understand it because I wasn't being rebellious to God I was really praying to God and and asking him to guide me and then bad things started happening to me and I didn't understand it and I hadn't read the Bible at that time but God so lovingly when I was really desperate and just saying why God why and I for the first time opened the Bible and it was to the book of Job and that's exactly what was happening to Job so it more or less answered what was what I was going through like my intentions were to be to have Jesus be Lord over my life and to be obedient to Him that's

20:02what I desired and I I was doing in that you know that was my mindset and that was my my actions you know I wasn't I hadn't done anything that I was aware of that was in rebellion to him but then bad things were happening and I I was confused by that I was like this isn't the way it should be but then God opened my eyes to the book of Job and showed me how that happened to Job Job was righteous but he was tried by Satan but we have to that's part of I think the way I see in the Bible it's part of being refined by Christ we're going to go through some fire we're going to go through some testing and the purpose of it is to make us stronger in our faith and it doesn't last forever so you can get through it when you rely on Christ so anyway Paul says your boasting is not good do you not know that a little 11 levens the whole lump of dough now that may be like what

21:03are the heck is he talking about but if we find out I mean if we find out if we read the Bible we find out that 11 was what caused the dough to rise 11 is symbolic of sin and then this is like the whole lump of dough like the whole congregation like if you let a little bit of sin in there it's it's going to affect the whole dough it's going to affect the whole community that's basically what Paul is saying is is that you know you allowing this man in the congregation to keep doing what he's doing you're going to basically pollute the whole congregation so then he says in verse 7 clean out the old leven so that you may be a new lump just as you are in fact unleavened so unleavened would be like without sin because leven was representative or symbolic of sin for Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed therefore let's celebrate the feast not with old leven

22:08nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth the sinless bread that's Jesus Jesus was the bread of life so with Jesus and sincerity and truth and then he said I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people I did not know this is where um you know people have said to me before but but Jesus went he was here for the sinners and he ate with the sinners and and how can you even you know do that and how could you know Paul addresses that so here's what he said I did not mean at all with the sexually immoral people of this world okay so he's he's not talking about everybody who sexually immoral in the world or with the greedy swindlers or with the adulterers for then you would have to leave the world so Paul's basically saying you know when I wrote to you in the letter not to his associate was sexually immoral people he said I'm not talking about the whole world because

23:09you'd have to leave the world because that's everywhere then he says in verse 11 but actually I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called quote brother if he is a sexually immoral person or a greedy person or an adulter or is verbally abusive or habitually drunk or a swindler not even to eat with such a person for what business of mine is it to judge outsiders do you not judge those who are within the church but those who are outside God judges remove the evil from among yourselves so within a church if we have someone when they say a brother that somebody had a fellow Christian our responsibility we're not supposed to hang out with them if they're calling themselves a Christian they need to act they need to not act live like a Christian if they are a Christian they

24:17should be living like a Christian if they call themselves a Christian they're not living like one they're a liar and and Paul says don't associate with them this is talking about somebody in the church you're talking about a hypocrite you're talking about somebody who gives the impression that they are a Christian but in reality they're not because they're just rebellious to God they're calling themselves a Christian and maybe they're ignorant maybe they're a baby Christian and they don't really understand what it means to be a Christian so that could be but you know if there's correction if somebody says something hey if you call yourself a Christian do you realize this is not the way you live you are supposed to be reflecting the image of Christ and Christ didn't do any of this stuff so you have a choice right now either you're going to get you're going to leave that stuff or if you keep in it you need to get out of here because you're a fake Christian you're a hypocrite and that's essentially what what Paul was saying and throughout history I mean that

25:20applies to all of us but throughout history that's what God even did like in the Old Testament when people were unclean they had to go outside the camp they couldn't participate and that's why they couldn't marry foreign wives because foreign wives as the Bible talks about it it wasn't nationality driven but it was they were worshipping other gods they had idolatry they had multiple gods and God didn't want that to affect them it even happened to the king of Israel Solomon he you know he knew everything he had everything in front of him the law he didn't reflect on it daily that was one of the things the king was supposed to do he wasn't supposed to have a lot of horses what Solomon did he also had a lot of wives which that he wasn't supposed to do that either and then he ended up with wives who were I want to say there were maybe like 600 wives and concubines or 700 I mean the number was astronomical like how could he even spend time with every single

26:23one of them I mean I you know it's I know relationships were a little bit different back then but still when you call it your wives your concubines you know you're responsible for them do you even know one another it's it's just totally different um but these wives turned Solomon into into what I mean he started rebelling against not well he started with idolatry he started building altars for his wives gods that they worshipped so Solomon was really fallen and and there's some weird things about Solomon I don't know what ended up with Solomon how he ended up in terms of his eternity with with God I really don't know because of what he did and I don't know if he had remorse or he has forgiveness but there are just some weird things about Solomon in scripture and so you can see that even someone who has been put into King he built the

27:24temple you know God said to David you can't build the temple because you killed too many people in your past but I'm gonna have your son build this temple and so um well your descendant I wonder if it was really truly meant to be Solomon or if it was really truly meant to be Jesus ultimately because I did read that anyway getting sidetracked way off track here so let's get back to the scripture so anyway there's there is something about being sold into slavery and I it did look that up to and I don't know if I saved that I've I closed that up yeah so there's like um 73 different times so I don't know if that I'll have time to really talk about all of this but um going back to the book of Genesis uh Joseph who had he was the son of Jacob or if you want to call him Israel

28:26and he was one of the one of the twelve and he was kind of his father's favorite and um he his father made a robe for him and his brothers were jealous of him so and he also had these dreams and told his family that everybody was bowing down to him so they they weren't really happy with him so they the brothers came up with a plan to get rid of him and what eventually happened is they sold him so Genesis 37 28 says they sold him for 20 shuckles of silver to the Ishmaelites who took him to Egypt now the Ishmaelites is very interesting because that goes back into history too so they sold Joseph a descendant of Jacob of Isaac now this is the descendant of Isaac's brother remember Abraham had relations with his wife Sarah's concubine and they had a child named Ishmael

29:32with that caused problems that wasn't God's intention and so there was some animosity between Ishmael and um his brother Isaac his they were half brothers they had different moms so I think Ishmael's mother was from Egypt I believe she was a slave I think she was from Egypt but so there's this connection and Egypt has all of this idolatry these multiple gods we know the Pharaoh of Egypt and all the plagues that went forth from Moses and Aaron when they were trying to get the Ishmaelites people out of Egypt it's out of slavery so right now in Genesis 37 28 we're seeing how Joseph ended up how he got there in the beginning he was sold by his own brothers and turned over to like a step brothers descendants it took him to Egypt I mean all of these people are all related but there's you know the the verse that we were talking about with Paul like turn him over to Satan

30:36so that he can be you know his he can be destroyed so that his soul may hopefully be saved because what happens when God disciplines is that um things get so bad that eventually when people hit rock bottom hopefully that's God's intent that they will turn to him when they have nothing else and sometimes people can be a little bit hardheaded say oh I'm I'm just gonna go my own way and if God it says God disciplines his children and God disciplines those he loves so if we are being rebellious he needs to shake us up a little bit so that we just like a parent would for the protection of our life and that's what Paul was doing he was like well let's Satan start destroying everything for him and eventually the guy will probably wake up and come back and God think God thankfully God is not like us and God is very merciful and forgiving like if we had the things done to us that we have done to God we may not be as forgiving but God also says

31:43that we must be forgiving because how we forgive others is how we will be forgiven by God so forgiveness is really important anyway I keep getting sidetracked but there's so many different really important things about that the the scripture um that affects our lives today and and how we how we live and our relationship oh I mean ultimately the most important thing is our relationship with God but people have become sold so um let's see this is like Ahab he was an evil king of Israel and he said to Elijah who was a prophet and a godly man and Ahab said to Elijah so you have found me my enemy I have found you he answered because you have sold yourself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord so Ahab Ahab was the one who sold himself to do evil and it says in first kings

32:4821 verse 25 there was never anyone like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord urged on by Jezebel his wife now he was a king of Israel he was from from northern Israel the 10 tribes but this is a king it's showing that you know even the people in the that you would expect would be in either they're in power and God allows them to be in power but it doesn't mean that they are godly people it doesn't mean that their choices are with God they can still be in positions of power and choose against God and I believe that our life here on earth is kind of the testing ground for that like God is seeing our intention he's letting I mean we are we are sealing our destiny by God has given us this gift through Jesus that we can be saved but if we persist in our rebellion we we should know what what judgment is going to be coming from that

33:53so here's another one where it's talking about they sacrifice their sons and daughters in the fire they practice divination and sought omens and sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of the Lord arousing his anger and then and you know it's just like I was Isaiah says for this is what the Lord says you were sold for nothing and without money you will be redeemed this is a really important evidence of God's character you were sold for nothing and without money you will be redeemed the life of Christ is what was sacrificed so it says shake off your dust rise up sit and throne Jerusalem free yourself from the chains on your neck daughters ion now a captive for this is what the Lord says you were sold for nothing and without money you will be redeemed so

34:57Jesus's life and then we also learn a little bit more about that too now here's another thing in Isaiah what he says this is what the Lord says where is your mother's certificate of divorce with which I sent her away or to which of my creditors did I sell you because of your sins you were sold because of your transgressions your mother was sent away I think we learned something from that that's the word of the Lord and then it says when I came why was there no one when I called why was there no one to answer was my arm too short to deliver you do I lack the strength to rescue you by a mere rebuke I dry up the sea I turn rivers into a desert their fish rot for lack of water and die of thirst I clothe the heavens with darkness and make sackcloth

36:03it's covering so this is you know God is we have to we have to realize truly realize we're talking about the creator of the earth the creator of us when we think oh that can't happen that's impossible really really are we relying on God is it really impossible is that too much for God to handle that's where we submit to we submit to Christ and because Christ has been given all authority and and just say Jesus help me that's the shortest prayer but if we really mean it he will the power of God can do the impossible so we should never feel if we think we are if we believe we are children of God we should never have fear of anything if we have any troubles come our way just say Jesus help me and Jesus will provide he will God takes care of his children if we've

37:06truly submitted to Christ we don't have anything to fear so there's a lot actually I don't know if I'm going to keep on going on the subject but about but I think it's an interesting word search to just search soul sold and then read the verses that come up and and just see I mean that you will you will learn a lot and if you don't know the story about that goes along with it then you can read that chapter so here Romans I want to read another thing that Paul wrote we know that the law is spiritual but I am unspiritual sold as a slave to sin and this is this is what you know people have also talked about that that you know sin is really like the whole point of this is that his last statement in Romans 7 25 thanks be to God who delivers me

38:15through Jesus Christ our Lord so then I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin so if we're still in our sinful nature or in our flesh we're a slave to sin but if we know who we are in Christ Christ delivers us so we're good it's you know he's basically saying you know we're going to have these like temptations coming along we're going to have things that come against us but it's nothing more than we can overcome through the power of Christ it's when we see that just like that's what Jesus did when Satan tempted him when he tempted him when he was in the wilderness and Satan threw out scripture and basically said do this do this and Jesus responded he rebuked Satan basically with scripture like you have to know

39:16what's in scripture you have to be able to respond to the enemy with scripture with the truth that's found in scripture because the enemy can use it you know and he can use it in a way that it's not supposed to be used we see that happening today and with people okay I got way too far off track about this but it was about like being put into slavery it's when we sin when we actively choose sin instead of surrendering to Christ instead of submitting to the lordship of Jesus when we choose that we are a slave to sin so anyway this is so I shepherded 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 shepherded the flock in one month I got rid of three shepherds so that was kind of interesting to me that and I did get confused so I shepherded the flock mark for so I shepherded

40:19the flock mark for slaughter I'm assuming that this is Zachariah doing this because that's what God told him to do and he's doing a lot of this in symbolism so that I wondered like in one month it's not documented like who are these three shepherds and I think the study Bible says kind of addresses some of this I'm going to read some of the questions and answers from the study Bible who was marked for slaughter Israel had often been referred to as a flock but for the last number of years God's flock had been singled out for slaughter by its enemies why give names to the staffs these staffs were used by the shepherd to lead the flock the shepherd would lead the people with favor and unity gently with grace to bring them together with God this is most likely a picture of the ministry of the coming Messiah the good shepherd others however think this speaks primarily

41:23of the way God would care for his people in Zachariah's day I think this might be one of those things that could have had a double fulfillment because there is this this past tense that's used a few verses later and again that just no it's it but sometimes history rhymes as Mark Twain says you know instead of history repeats it's not exactly repetition but sometimes it's very similar things happen over and over again so perhaps there was a time where Zachariah actually did this and maybe he enacted these things like Ezekiel did remember God gave him like all of these things to do in front of the people so that they would learn a lesson from it and maybe Zachariah had the same responsibility so it says the flock detested me and I grew weary of them and said I will not be

42:25your shepherd let the dying die and the perishing perish let those who are left eat one another's flesh then I took my staff called favor and broke it revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations so when you read that sentence it no longer you know the sentence before that sounds like it could have been Zachariah saying that but then it makes me question was this God saying this or was this Zachariah because what covenant did Zachariah make with all the nations it was probably the covenant that God made with all the nations it was revoked on that day and so the oppressed the flocked who were watching me knew it was the word of the Lord so this is like this is a past tense too so who were watching me and so there's some people who are watching things and some people who

43:26just don't even it's right in front of their face and they don't even see what's going on and that's like today too so it said I told them if you think it best give me my pay if not keep it so they paid me 30 pieces of silver this I think was really interesting because I think it was almost prophetic about Judas actually because it let's see where's the trying to find the yeah it was Judas who in Matthew 27 verse 3 when Judas who had betrayed him meaning Jesus saw that Jesus was condemned he was seized with remorse and returned the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priest and the elders so Judas is the one who was paid 30 pieces of silver

44:27but then after he realized what he did he says he was seized with remorse so this makes me think that maybe Judas was actually saved because he had remorse and God you know maybe saved him I don't know but then he returned the 30 pieces of silver the money that he was so eager to get he just it was it disgusted him and he gave it back so it seems like that is a true act of remorse and I think the scripture also says that you know he ended up dying on near a field by his own means I the way I understand it so it was either the enemy who you know you can't love God and money the enemy you know speaking to Judas because it said that that Satan left into Judas when they were having the the supper the Passover meal so he was apparently overtaken by Satan and you can't

45:28love God and money so maybe he lured Judas in by money and Judas was like okay that's a good idea I can get money just turn him in but then of course this is what Satan does is then he accuses you he makes whatever your sin is really attractive and something that is like overpowering like what you desire he'll make it just like give you all the reasons why it's a good thing then when you go for it and you do it then afterwards he will accuse you it says that he's in you know in front of God accusing everyone but that's what he does to people then he'll be like oh look what you did you took you took money look at what you did against Jesus and so Judas was probably at that point you know getting those thoughts in his head from the enemy about look what you've done now and he was filled with remorse and and he was just like I don't want this money anymore because why would he return it to the chief priest and the elders like it no longer had any means you

46:32know it wasn't important to him anymore he got rid of it and then he ultimately died and I do believe that it's the enemy behind suicides I mean I believe it is the enemy who will you know put these things you know make these accusations to people and make them think they are worthless and that the world is better off without them and that's all from the enemy it's not from God and and so some people succumb to that if they only knew that it was the enemy it's not it's not you in your head it's not God saying that to you God is forgiving and merciful and he just wants you to return when you do something stupid he'll clean up he'll help you clean up he'll he'll you come to God in your broken state and God cleans you up God you know puts you through whatever you need to go through so that you can become a reflection of Jesus Christ God doesn't leave you

47:36in that condition and God knows the power that the enemy has over people and he loves his children he doesn't want us to be fearful of the enemy or to think these horrible things that the enemy puts in people's minds that God wants to be known he wants people to know that he is there and he's like he's a good father with his arms wide open saying come back to me and I will you know bind up your wounds and I will restore you because that's what that's what God does throughout history so anyway this like I said this prophecy is a little bit confusing to me because I don't know who's talking or if it's like one in both or if Zachariah kind of does these things as you know if this is a foreshadowing of what happened to Jesus and says and the Lord said to me throw it to the potter the handsome price at which they valued me so they took the 30 pieces of silver and threw them

48:41to the potter at the house of the Lord well isn't that interesting that Judas returned the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priest and the elders so it does seem to me like this was a something like a prophecy that was showing what was going to actually happen someday so then it says then I broke my second staff called union breaking the family bond between Judah and Israel so Judah was the southern two tribes and Israel was the northern ten tribes and they were already broken up which is kind of interesting so I don't know if this is like a lesson in history because they were already separated after Solomon you know before Zachariah wrote this they were already separated into those groups but he said I broke my second staff called union breaking the familial bond between Judah and Israel so they were no longer in union then the Lord said to me take again the

49:46equipment of a foolish shepherd 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 hooves 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 now this has a lot of symbolism in it honestly not honestly but I mean just the way I read it so a shepherd this is somebody who's going to be over Israel and when I read it I was thinking about the Antichrist are the lawless one and again see this for I am going to raise up a shepherd so God is in control of all this but God turns people over just like Paul did in the church where he

50:54said we can't have the sin in our church I'm going to turn this man over to Satan so that Satan can destroy his body with the hopes that his soul may be saved that he may come to repentance that's not spoken but how would he be saved other than to reject the sin that he's in and become repentant you know repent that's what God has always said we have to be repentant so woe to the worthless shepherd who deserts the flock so somebody is going to be in charge of Israel but they're going to desert the flock they're not going to like care for the flock they are instead going to destroy and that's where I think this like this evil one that is you know it's interesting where I do think it it does to me I'll give you reasons why I think this is talking about the Antichrist because of a couple different verses if we go all the way back to Genesis chapter 3 verse 15 this is what God said to Eve and Satan he said and I will put

52:00enmity between you oh this is what he was saying to Satan I will I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring so Satan has offspring and hers he will crush your head and you will strike his heel so this is Jesus Jesus will crush your head and so you know the head wound wounded head that's you know ultimately I think this is that's where I tie it to the Antichrist that it says may the sword strike his arm and his right eye now there's a little bit more that makes me think it is also the Antichrist person because the Antichrist is one of the ten heads of the beast that's talked about in Revelation I guess one of the seven I think he may be the one who uproots three and replaces them so it says in Revelation 133 it says one of the heads of the

53:04beast seemed to have a fatal wound but the fatal wound had been healed the whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast so this is that head wound again and says may this I don't know may the sword strike his arm and his right eye and may his arm be completely withered just something to remember about this prophecy I don't know anyone whose arm is completely withered and his right eye so it sounds like he's wounded but surviving his right eye totally blinded now that could also be symbolic because the right was always like the power are you know the place of authority and it could just be like symbolic of his vision like his vision is not it's blinded like he doesn't he doesn't see with his right eye with his strong eye that it's totally

54:06blinded and it could be literal and it could be both so we don't know but that's the end of chapter 11 and I'm going to read the the questions and answers from the study Bible on these things so I think I don't think I well I can't remember where I left off so why give names to the staff these staffs were used by the shepherd to lead the flock the shepherd would lead the people with favor and unity I think I read this gently with grace to bring them together with God this is most likely a picture of the ministry of the coming Messiah the good shepherd others however think this speaks primarily of the way God would care for his people in Zacharias day so which three shepherds lost their jobs we don't know at least 40 different interpretive options have been suggested concerning the identity of these shepherds it's possible that they represented the prophets priest and kings who were the leaders are the shepherds of Israel it's kind of interesting when

55:07you think about history repeating itself because just out of curiosity I was like when did Israel lose three leaders in one month like when did that happen and this is interesting what I found says based on recent events regarding October 7th 2023 Hamas attack the Israeli military announced in November 2025 the firing of three senior divisional commanders or generals including the intelligence chief for the southern command these leaders were dismissed for their failure to prevent the attack having already resigned from their post so it's you know maybe symbolic I mean this is this is this this land of Gaza and Hamas these are prophetic entities that are talked about in the Bible and this was attack against the flock God's elect Israel and the people who

56:13didn't protect the flock were removed so I just think you know it could be history repeating maybe I'm reading too much into this but it's very interesting because you know it that one key verse in verse 8 in one month I got rid of the three shepherds like these people who are supposed to be taking care of Israel they weren't doing their jobs and look at what happened so I don't know it's you know it could just be a coincidence but oftentimes things that seem like their coincidences are more than that so then does this describe cannibalism that's in verse 9 and let's see oh it says and said I will not be your shepherd let the dying die and the perishing let those who are left eat one another's flesh some think this language is figurative disputes and fighting characterized as as backbiting similar to Paul's later warning to believers to stop

57:14fighting and devouring each other in Galatians 515 others think this language is literal Josephus an ancient historian said this actually happened during the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 8070 so what covenant had been made with all the nations perhaps a covenant designed to protect Israel from attack if the staff favor was designed to protect the flock from external attack breaking it would have signaled that there were now that they were now left vulnerable again this is another thing that will that Daniel dreamt about that in the middle of the seven the sacrifices will stack the covenant will be broken so again history repeating itself and then let's see what else we have a couple more questions same answers when was the family bond between Judah and Israel broken after the death of Solomon in 930 BC so this is again before Zachariah was written because

58:16he was in the 500s BC the kingdom of Israel was divided into Judah the southern kingdom and the and Israel the northern kingdom Zachariah was writing long after this division but used Judah and Israel almost interchangeably probably referring to the geographic sections of Israel Zachariah's prophecy foretells the coming of a Messiah who would redeem Israel and return her to the days of glory when David ruled a united kingdom who is this worthless shepherd this person has been variously identified as Herod Agrippa or the Antichrist others see this as a false Messiah one who promises for God's people for God's people amount to not one who's promises for God's people amount to nothing so again not even the study Bible fully understands us we're only going to understand this in after it's already happened there's also an interesting prophecy in Ezekiel chapter

59:2137 it talks about the two sticks being joined together so this is like God's promise of restoration so even though all of these things are these are all a result of people's willful sinful choices in rebellion to God that they are not surrendered to God or they are going to other God's idolatry and these are the consequences these are consequences and and Zachariah is is is warning people about this and we should pay attention to the same thing because it it God doesn't change and he doesn't have favoritism if this is what he does with his chosen elect is it going to be any different for the rest of the world just something to think about so if you're not subscribed please do so if you found this beneficial please share this with others the point is ultimately that we all repent and turn to God and reconcile with God so that we are not an enemy of God