Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20090726.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Zechariah: Paving The Path Toward A Blessed Future
Part IV: Informing God's People About The Messianic King And His Kingdom, Zechariah 9:1-14:21
E. Predicting God's Use Of Antichrist To Discipline Israel For Rejecting Messiah
(Zechariah 11:15-17)
  1. Introduction
    1. God calls His people to accept and thus heed His true, upright spiritual shepherds or face His discipline that can come by His letting them be subject to cruel and evil leaders, a fact taught in Zechariah 11:15-17.
    2. We view this passage to understand the gravity of this matter and to adjust as needed (as follows):
  2. Predicting God's Use Of Antichrist To Discipline Israel For Rejecting Messiah, Zechariah 11:15-17.
    1. The tools of a foolish shepherd God asked Zechariah to pick up as an object lesson in Zechariah 11:15 is contrasted ("again" NIV; "yet" KJV) with his object lesson as the rejected Messiah in Zechariah 11:4, 7b.
    2. Now, this "foolish" ('ewili in the Hebrew) shepherd is one who is "obtuse and insensitive . . . calloused to the Lord's purposes with His people . . . 'wicked' . . ," Merrill F. Unger, Zechariah, 1974, p. 202.
    3. This "foolish" shepherd, being contrasted with the Good Shepherd Israel would reject, is the Antichrist of the last half of the Daniel 9:27 "seventieth week," a period of 3 1/2 years (Ibid.), and Zech ariah 11:16-17 reveals Antichrist would be allowed to rule Israel in judgment during this time for rejecting her Messiah:
      1. When Israel's leaders rejected Christ to be crucified, her chief priests cried, "We have no king but Caesar," John 19:15. Accordingly, God will let "Caesar," the head of the revived Roman Empire as the Antichrist, rule Israel in judgment for her rejection of Christ, cf. Daniel 9:26-27 with Daniel 2:41-44.
      2. Antichrist will make a seven-year peace treaty with Israel, but break it and pursue Israel to destroy her during the last half, or for 3 1/2 years, of that prophetic week of years, Dan. 9:27; Matt. 24:15-21 with Dan. 12:1. Since Christ presented Himself to Israel in His earthly ministry for 3 1/2 years (Harold Hoehner, Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ, 1979, p. 63), even the length of time Antichrist will plague Israel is justly matched by the length time Christ ministered but failed to win Israel's favor!
      3. Then, Christ's gracious ministry versus the cruelty of Antichrist is made evident in Zechariah 11:16-17:
        1. God claimed He Himself would cause Antichrist, the foolish shepherd, to be raised up, the personal pronoun, "I" in Zechariah 11:16 being emphatic, Ibid., Unger, p. 203. God would not directly do this, for the verb "raise up" is in the causative form ( meqim), meaning God would let him rise, Ibid.
        2. This false shepherd would not minister to sheep isolated from the flock or being attacked by wild animals, picturing oppressed folk whom Antichrist as a leader is supposed to help, Zech. 11:16b.
        3. He would neither seek the young, vulnerable strays nor heal the broken nor nourish the healthy, but horribly devour the healthy, fat sheep, even going so far as to tear their hooves apart in rapaciously trying to eat up the last bit of meat on their bodies, Zech ariah 11:16c; Ibid., p. 203-204.
        4. This description of the astounding persecution that the Antichrist will level against Israel in the last half of the Tribulation Period matches Christ's warning of that era in Matthew 24:15-22.
        5. Accordingly, God would judge this worthless shepherd, the Antichrist, Zechariah 11:17: (1) After pronouncing a "Woe" against him in predicting divine judgment (Zech. 11:17a), the judgment to come on the worthless, evil shepherd, the Antichrist (Zech. 11:17b), (2) Zechariah predicted a sword would be leveled against his right arm (his strength) and his right eye (his intelligence), Zech. 11:17c; Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 1566, a reference to Antichrist being opposed in war that will be fulfilled according to Daniel 11:40-44. (3) Last, his right arm and right eye would be destroyed in the lake of fire (Zech. 11:17d with Revelation 19:19-20) at the Second Coming of Christ.
Lesson: Because Israel rejected Christ's gracious offer of the Kingdom, God would judge her to face Antichrist's horrible reign in judgment before judging the Antichrist himself for his own wickedness.

Application: (1) May we accept Christ as Savior to escape hell, John 3:16. (2) May we then obey Him in life (Deut. 18:18-19) and (3) heed His messengers for blessing, Heb. 13:17. (4) As God's overseers, may we minister righteously and graciously and not selfishly and brutally over God's people, that we not see God ruin our strength (right arm) or intelligence (right eye) by our foes or even by Himself!