In the Lord’s recovery there are three ministries: the priesthood, the kingship, and the prophethood. We have seen that in the prophethood there are two kinds of prophets. One is represented by Haggai, and the other by Zechariah. Haggai helped the people to be strong to work, while mentioning a little about Christ as the Desire of all nations. Zechariah followed to tell the people the mystery of Christ. The ministry of the prophet Zechariah is a ministry concerning Christ, showing that in God’s recovery, Christ must have the first place. In the books of the recovery-Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, and Zechariah- eventually there is nothing but Christ. The recovery is the recovery of the building of God’s house, but it is for Christ.
The first section of Zechariah shows us quite clearly that Christ is everything in God’s recovery. But Zechariah not only prophesies concerning Christ in the present, but also about Christ in the future. The last six chapters are occupied with this. These six chapters may be divided into two subsections, chapters nine through eleven and chapters twelve through fourteen. In the first subsection, Zechariah prophesied concerning Christ as the anointed King, Who was rejected by the people. Of course, this relates to the Lord’s first coming. He came first as God’s anointed, yet He was rejected. In the last subsection, the rejected King is welcomed as the King. This is the second coming of Christ. So Zechariah prophesied something concerning the first and second coming of Christ.
The church today in the recovery of the Lord must stand for these two comings of Christ. We must tell others how Christ came the first time and how Christ will come the second time. We must not only tell that Christ has first place in God’s recovery, but that He has two comings, the first and the second.
How did Christ come the first time, and how will He come the second time? This is shown clearly in the last section of Zechariah. Zechariah is a short, but deep book. It is easier to understand Isaiah than Zechariah. It is easy to understand Isaiah 53, but not so easy to understand Zechariah 9-11. “And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock” (Zech. 11:7). Who is this? Of course, at that time it was Zechariah; but if we read on, we will see that it is Christ. Christ was sold for thirty pieces of silver-this is mentioned in Matthew 26:14-16; 27:3-10. So it is Christ Who feeds the flock. This is why He said that He was the good Shepherd in the tenth chapter of John.
Then Zechariah 11:7 continues: “And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands; and I fed the flock.” It is better to translate the word “Beauty” into “grace.” “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us... full of grace” (John 1:14). Also, the word “Bands” should be translated into “unity.” Christ came with grace and unity. These are His two staves as our divine Shepherd. When He feeds us, we enjoy the grace; then we have the unity; we are just one.
“Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me” (Zech. 11:8). If we read Matthew 16:21, we see that these three shepherds are the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes. These were the three kinds of shepherds among the people of God when the Lord Jesus came to the earth the first time. He came as the Shepherd to feed God’s flock with grace so that they might have unity. But these three shepherds opposed Him; so the Lord cut them off. “And my soul loathed them, and their soul abhorred me.” All the elders, chief priests, and scribes abhorred the Lord because He cut them off. They were not the shepherds, but the thieves! And the people followed them to abhor the Lord; so He says, “I will not feed you: that that dieth, let it die; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another” (Zech. 11:9). This was really fulfilled after the death and resurrection of Christ. The Jewish race began to destroy one another.
“And I took my staff, even Beauty [grace], and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people. And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the Lord. And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prized at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord” (Zech. 11:10-13). According to Exodus 21:32, a slave was priced at thirty pieces of silver. Christ was priced as a slave, and Judas betrayed Him for this price. The Lord came as the Shepherd, but He was rejected, betrayed, and sold as a slave for thirty pieces of silver.
Home | First | Prev | Next