The act of throwing these thirty pieces of silver to the potter prophesied an
event in the life of the Lord Jesus. Matthew 27 recounts the story of the
betrayal of the Lord Jesus by Judas. For thirty pieces of silver, Judas
betrayed the Lord Jesus and sold Him to the Jewish leaders. He later felt
remorse for this decision and took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them
to the priests in the temple. Not knowing what to do with this dirty money,
the priests bought the potter’s field.
In verse 14 Zechariah also broke the second staff called Union. He had
already broken the staff of God’s favour. By the breaking of this second
staff, God spoke of what would happen in the land of Israel. There would be
a breaking down of the union of “brotherhood between Judah and Israel.”
The passage is not clear how this disunity would take place.
Zechariah prophesied that the day would come when God’s people would
be handed over to a foolish shepherd (see verse 16). This shepherd would
not care for the lost. He would not seek the young or heal the injured or
even feed the healthy; instead, the sheep would be his meat. They would be
treated cruelly, having their hoofs torn off to satisfy his appetite. It is
uncertain who this shepherd is. It may, however, refer to the Romans who
would rule over and treat the Jews with great contempt in the years to come,
just prior to the coming of the Lord Jesus.
Whoever this evil shepherd was, he would be punished in the end. Because
he did not care for the flock, he would meet his end. His sword would be
struck from his hand and his arm would be withered. His power would be
taken from him. His right eye would be blinded. God would triumph over
this evil shepherd in the end. God’s people would be misled by a false
shepherd because they turned from their true shepherd. In God’s grace,
however, He would not forget them. That day would come when God
would break the arm of this deceiving shepherd and restore His people.
It is a terrible thing to reject the only hope we have. Right here in this Old
Testament passage, we read about how the Jewish people who had been
promised so much would reject the Lord Jesus. What blessing could have
been theirs, but they turned their back on it. While for a time, the rods of
favour and union have been broken, there will yet be a reunion. God will
not forget His people. Maybe like the people of Zechariah’s day, you too