The Foolish Idol Shepherd

Chapter ten in Zechariah again confirms God’s plan to restore the nation of Israel to a place of blessing “as though I had not cast them off.”

Zechariah 10:5-6 And they shall be as mighty men, which tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle: and they shall fight, because the LORD is with them, and the riders on horses shall be confounded. And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them; for I have mercy upon them: and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I am the LORD their God, and will hear them.

Since the reestablishment of the nation of Israel in 1948, they eventually grew to the point of at least earning respect for the actions of their military. Though that reputation has suffered in recent years, God intends to empower them supernaturally to defeat their enemies as He did when they first conquered the inhabitants of Canaan in taking possession of the land. Though they rebelled to the point that God chose to shut his ears to their cries, the day is coming when He will once again hear them because they are following Him in faith and obedience. Point is also made that the whole house of Israel—Judah (the Southern Kingdom) and Joseph (the Northern Kingdom)—will be unified in that restoration.

In verses 9-10 God declares that the population of Israel will grow to the point that they will need more land.

Zechariah 10:9-10 And I will sow them among the people: and they shall remember me in far countries; and they shall live with their children, and turn again. I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and place shall not be found for them.

The prophet Isaiah makes this same declaration.

Isaiah 49:19-20 “For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away. The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell.”

Before the Lord establishes His Kingdom, however, He reveals through Zechariah that He will raise to power an idol shepherd that cares nothing about the people of Israel.

Zechariah 11:16 For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces.

This is a hard truth to process. We forget that the Lord often utilizes wicked people to accomplish His purposes. In the last days He will be focused on producing a believing remnant of the nation of Israel with whom He will establish His kingdom to begin a 1000-year reign over His earthly kingdom before allowing Satan one final opportunity to deceive the masses. These purposes are clearly stated in the scripture.

Daniel 9:24 “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.”

Revelation 20:7-10 “And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”

The rise of the “idol shepherd,” better known as the Antichrist, is necessary to this refining process. Note also that this “idol shepherd” is described as foolish.

Zechariah 11:15 And the LORD said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd.

The Hebrew defines this word as “impious,” which Webster defines as “not pious…irreligious; irreverent; ungodly; profane; wanting in reverence for the Supreme Being.”

In direct contrast to the loving shepherd that scripture declares the Lord to be (see Psalm 23), this shepherd will care nothing for the people; in fact, he will do them harm as declared in verse 6, “he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces.”

Verse 17 is interesting; it indicates that the idol shepherd will sustain injury to his arm and his right eye such that his arm will be withered and he will be blind in his right eye.

Zechariah 11:17 Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.

This description of the idol shepherd seems to be connected to John’s prophecy of the Antichrist in Revelation.

Revelation 13:12-14 “And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.”

Verse 17 also states that the shepherd will “leave the flock.” I can’t help but think that this is a reference to a Jewish man who forsakes his own people for personal power and glory. I personally believe that he sells his soul to Satan.