July 23, 2024
Passage Read: Zechariah 11-14
Meditation Verses: 11:7-10
Thought
There are worthless shepherds and there are flocks doomed to destruction. Some shepherds are called to pasture flocks doomed to destruction. They are flocks with ungodly shepherds who care nothing for the flock but only for themselves, and the flock itself doesn't understand, because they have no hope, they are doomed to destruction. The Lord's shepherd, when appointed over such a flock will come in conflict with those worthless shepherds that have abused the flock, and he will drive them out. They will be weary of him and he will be impatient with them. But then he will see that his efforts are useless and he will quit, and leave them to their doom; he will break his covenant of favor with them, because they have worn him out, and he will give them up to their doom. This of course is a parable about Israel and disobedient Judah, but it is a warning to any group of believers, or so-called believers.
Application
If I am disobedient to the Lord and unwilling to walk in His ways, and He appoints a godly leader over me, who seeks to teach me to walk in God's ways, then I will likely become weary of his efforts to help me, and he will become impatient with my unteachability. I am proving myself to be doomed to destruction; he is not a bad teacher, I am an ungovernable sheep! The problem doesn't lie with the shepherd, but with me. I need to repent, or else be given over to destruction. If I drive out a leader because of my stubbornness, the fault is with me. On the other hand, if I am a faithful servant of God, and I'm placed over an unruly flock, I will become unpleasant to them and their leaders will make me impatient. But if I'm the one who drives out the worthless shepherds, that is a sign that the flock didn't have a problem with them, and are likely also doomed to destruction. If they don't recognize the problem that existed before I came, if they didn't care to correct it before I arrived, and then I come and drive out the troublemakers, that flock is probably not alive to the Lord, but are under His judgment. There is no point in my remaining; they are doomed and I can leave them to their destruction. If the flock takes warning when the foolish shepherds are driven out, and they begin to reform their ways, then there is hope for them.