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Daily Devotions

Zechariah

Zechariah 
Day 
Day 123

"The implements of a foolish shepherd"

Text: Zechariah 11:15

GRAVE CONSEQUENCES

With the breaking of the Covenant with God, grave consequences were inevitable.

“And the LORD said to me, ‘Next, take for yourself the implements of a foolish shepherd.
For indeed I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for those who are cut off,
nor seek the young, nor heal those that are broken, nor feed those that still stand.
But he will eat the flesh of the fat and tear their hooves in pieces.'”
Zechariah 11:15-16

1. “The implements of a foolish shepherd”

a) The usual implements of a shepherd:
i) Two Staves of appropriate lengths.
ii) A bag to carry some food and water and some small but useful articles.
b) The focus is not so much on the different types of a shepherd.
i) The problem lies with the foolishness and wickedness of the shepherd.
ii) He may not know how to use the implements given to him.

2. A shepherd who will not care

a) For those which have strayed and were cut off.
b) For the young which would be the most vulnerable.
c) For those which were injured (“broken”).
d) For the healthy ones which were still able to stand, but they would not be properly fed and taken care of.

3. The wickedness of the bad shepherds

a) He would feast on the lambs that were fat (succulent).
b) He would not humanely kill the lamb.
c) He would even tear their hooves to pieces.

The wicked shepherds were called “foolish” because they had forsaken the LORD.