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"There is the sound of wailing shepherds"

Text: Zechariah 11:3

THE SHEPHERDS OF ISRAEL

The word “shepherds” was used frequently to describe the rulers of Israel.

1. Kings/princes/ Judges

2. Priests and prophets

Often, they would begin well. In the process of time, corruption would seep in and then the whole country would become weak. Israel ended up being conquered and ruled by the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks. The latest enemy was Rome.

“There is the sound of wailing shepherds!
For their glory is in ruins.
There is the sound of roaring lions!
For the pride of the Jordan is in ruins.”
Zechariah 11:3

1. The pride of Jordan

a) It is to be understood in the same vein as Lebanon and Bashan.

b) Jordan’s pride was also in the stately forests it had.

2. The shepherds

a) These were the rulers.

b) They may have been able to defeat the Seleucids.

c) But they were helpless against the might of Rome.

3. “The sound of wailing shepherds”

a) The Maccabean priests cried out to God, the Lord answered them and they were victorious.

b) The shepherds mentioned they only wailed because they were unable to resist Rome.

4. “Their glory is in ruins”

a) Their glory should have been the LORD.

b) Instead they gloried in their wealth and the country’s resources.

c) The glory of Lebanon, Bashan and Jordan lay in ruins.