By Jeremy Writebol
Somewhere along the line, this statement was made: “People always elect the government they deserve.” It certainly rings a bell of truth. If left to ourselves, we will always put leaders in place who match and affirm our own values. Even under the authority of God, there comes a point where He turns people over to their own desires and allows them their destructive autonomy.
The shepherds of Israel, her leaders, were taking advantage of the people for their own power and profit (Zechariah 11:5). Instead of leading the people to God, they exploited them to achieve their own wicked ends. So God invokes Zechariah to act the part of their shepherd with two staffs in hand—one to represent the covenant, and the other, the union between Judah and Israel (v.7).
In a display of stubbornness, the flock reveals that the problem wasn’t simply with their leadership. The people refused to be led by anyone or anything but their own wickedness. Bad shepherds were removed, and faithful shepherds labored, but the people wouldn’t have it. They wouldn’t have the Lord lead them. Zechariah shows God’s own frustration by breaking the staffs representing God’s favor and their unity as a people (vv.10,14). Even the wages that were given to Zechariah for pastoring the people were an insult; they paid him what they would have paid a slave. The leadership of God was cheap to His people. The result was clear: God would give Israel over to “a foolish shepherd… who will not care for those who are perishing, and he will not seek the lost or heal the broken. He will not sustain the healthy, but he will devour the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their hooves” (vv.15–16).
This message should awaken us today; either we will humble ourselves to the voice of Jesus, the “Good Shepherd,” and follow Him, or we will refuse God’s mercy toward us and choose to follow whatever leader we want—one that will affirm and compound our waywardness. Make no mistake, there is no third way. It’s either embracing God’s grace for us in Christ and following Jesus, or rejecting God’s provision and facing the reality of being handed over to our destructive desires.
While it may ring true that people always elect the government they deserve, it is the sheer grace and mercy of God that He provides a better “government” for us in Christ. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, grants eternal life to all those who humble themselves and place their trust in Him. He gives the deepest security to those who rest in His hand (John 10:28). We certainly do not deserve the gracious leadership and care of Jesus, but by God’s mercy, we don’t have to experience the curse of abusive shepherds. We are free to enjoy the delightful leadership of the only Shepherd who will lead us to green pastures of eternal life.
Written by Jeremy Writebol
616 thoughts on "Israel’s Shepherds"
-
Yeast infections are often found in women the truth is almost
70 percent with the entire female population will get
a candidiasis once of their lives. Therefore, it can be advisable for a guy to read the instructions which might be stated n the label with the product which he’s using.
With pills and creams, you may increase
the size of your penis, but only for around 20 min, then it
is going to go back to its normal size. -
May I just say what a relief to find a person that truly understands what they’re talking about on the web. You definitely realize how to bring a problem to light and make it important. More people really need to check this out and understand this side of your story. I can’t believe you’re not more popular because you surely have the gift.
-
I do not even understand how I finished up right here, however I assumed this post was great. I do not know who you are however definitely you are going to a famous blogger in the event you are not already. Cheers!
-
What’s up to all, the contents present at this web page are really awesome
for people experience, well, keep up the good work fellows. -
Hey, I think your website might be having browser compatibility issues. When I look at your blog site in Ie, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other then that, amazing blog!
-
Saved as a favorite, I like your web site!
-
Wow, this paragraph is nice, my sister is analyzing such things, thus I am going to inform her.
-
sildenafil produce adiccion
viagra generic
sildenafil citrate pakistan
[url=http://viarowbuy.com]http://viarowbuy.com[/url] -
Its like you read my mind! You appear to know so much
about this, like you wrote the book in it
or something. I think that you could do with a few pics to
drive the message home a little bit, but other than that, this is excellent blog.
An excellent read. I’ll certainly be back. -
Hey there I am so delighted I found your webpage, I really found you by
error, while I was looking on Digg for something else, Regardless I am here now and would just like to
say cheers for a tremendous post and a all round exciting
blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to go through it
all at the minute but I have bookmarked it and also added your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be
back to read more, Please do keep up the great work. -
I have been browsing on-line greater than 3 hours these days, but I never found any attention-grabbing article like yours. It’s pretty value sufficient for me. In my view, if all web owners and bloggers made excellent content as you did, the net will probably be much more helpful than ever before.
-
I know this if off topic but I’m looking into starting my own weblog and was wondering what
all is required to get set up? I’m assuming having a
blog like yours would cost a pretty penny?
I’m not very web smart so I’m not 100% positive. Any recommendations
or advice would be greatly appreciated. Appreciate it -
Excellent post. I was checking constantly this blog and I’m impressed! Very helpful info specially the last part 🙂 I care for such information much. I was seeking this certain information for a very long time. Thank you and best of luck.
-
You have made some decent points there. I looked on the internet to learn more
about the issue and found most individuals will go along with your
views on this web site. -
Can you tell us more about this? I’d love to find out some additional information.
-
Hello would you mind letting me know which webhost you’re working with? I’ve loaded your blog in 3 completely different internet browsers and I must say this blog loads a lot faster then most. Can you recommend a good hosting provider at a honest price? Thank you, I appreciate it!
-
It’s very effortless to find out any matter on net as compared to textbooks, as I found this piece of writing at this website.
-
Spot on with this write-up, I truly think this amazing site needs a
lot more attention. I’ll probably be back again to see more, thanks for the information! -
It is best which you register this website name for no less than a couple of years that way Google thinks that you are devoted to that site. Moreover you’ll be able to customize the beauty and sense of the Page Navigation according to your needs. Performing a search in Google will yield many results that could walk you through the task step-by-step.
-
What’s Happening i am new to this, I stumbled upon this I’ve discovered It absolutely helpful and it has aided me out loads. I’m hoping to contribute & assist different customers like its helped me. Great job.
Comments are closed.
Post Comments (616)