Shabbat Shalom, everyone. Today, we are going to continue in the teaching that we have gone through the prophet Zechariah in Hebrew, Zechariah in English. And so turn with me to Zechariah chapter 11, and I'd like you to follow me as I'm reading Zechariah chapter 11. For the forest of the vintage is come down. There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds, for their glory is spoiled. A voice of the roaring of young lions, for the pride of Jordan is spoiled. Thus says the Lord, my God, feed the flock of the slaughter, whose possessors slay them and hold themselves not guilty. And they that sell them say, Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich, and their own shepherds pity them not.

For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, sayeth the Lord. But, lo, I will deliver the men, everyone, into his neighbor's hand. And into the hand of his king, and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them. And I will feed a flock of slaughter, even you, all poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves, the one I called beauty and the other I called bands, and I fed the flock. Three shepherds also I cut off in one month, and my soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me. Then said I, I will not feed you.

That that dieth, let it die. And that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off. And let the rest eat every one the flesh of another. And I took my staff, even beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people. And it was broken in that day. And so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the Lord. And I'm going to stop with the reading of Zechariah chapter 11. Now, beloved brothers and sisters, let me tell you that most Bible teachers, when they arrive to Zechariah chapter 11, really have to admit that this is a very difficult chapter to expound upon.

And therefore, they come to maybe different conclusion about this chapter. But we, first of all, realized that Zechariah was raised by God to minister to the Jewish remnant who came back from Babel and was beginning to build the house of the Lord. There was discouragement that we have been learning from these previous chapters. And Zechariah and Haggai and later on Malachi, those three Hebrew prophets were raised by the Lord to present an encouragement to the Jewish remnant. About 520, we read in the previous chapters in our study, we find out that Zechariah presented himself there to the Jewish people. And now a few years pass by, and he continue in the messages of the Lord to those remnant at about 487 BC now he is speaking to them about future event things that will happen in a future day though he's speaking 487 to the remnant of Judah in the land he was talking to them about events that going to happen much much later on after the Messiah will come in this chapter after he will be rejected by the nation of Israel in his first coming and even he takes them all the way to the tribulation period before the kingdom will be established the millennial age the thousand years reign of the Messiah over Israel and over the nations of the world remember that the word Zecharia in Hebrew mean Jehovah remembered zechar past tense God remember his people Israel and he remember their need and he remember his covenant towards them but he also disciplined his people Israel when judgment is due just the same like he does to the body of Messiah the church of our Lord.

Jesus the Messiah he disciplined his people when he's needed the church is not exempt from the discipline of God when there is violation of the word of God and we see it throughout the seven churches of Asia Minor in the letters that were written by the Lord in Revelation chapter 2 and chapter 3 but here we are in Zechariah chapter 11 and you know most Bible teachers look at this chapter some believe that this chapter applied to 586 bc and that it have already happened when Israel the Jewish people were taking down to baveil others believe that this chapter speaks about the tribulation period after the church will be raptured Israel going to go through these seven years of tribulation period and yet others and we might be included in this We believe that much of what's written to us here in this chapter applied to the 70 AD when Titus came and destroyed the city of Jerusalem and burned the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and many of our Jewish people have been killed.

They say that over 1 million Jewish people were killed in 70 AD by Titus, and many of them have been scattered throughout the nations of the world for nearly 2,000 years. And it is only just recently when our forefathers returned to the land, and in 1948 Israel became a nation, a state, and our Jewish people came back to the land and began to re-establish the nation of Israel, but it is always in preparation for the future day when the tribulation will arise. But I would like now to go directly to the text itself. We saw in chapter 10, beloved brothers and sisters, especially I would like to emphasize in chapter 10 the fact that God said that he's going one day to restore Israel.

Remember verse 8, it said, I will hiss for them and I will gather them for I have redeemed them and they shall increase as they have increased. Here in chapter 10, he's speaking about the future day when Israel is going to be restored. But now in chapter 11, he's pausing and he's giving us this chapter to show us that before Israel will be regathered as a nation and restored, there will be a rejection of the Mashiach, of the Messiah. And he began in verses 1 2 and 3 by giving these individuals there the approaching judgment upon the people of Israel that will come later on in 70 ad now i'm putting the number 70 ad because you're going to see how it will apply to 70 ad notice that he's giving them the approaching judgment first of all in verses 1 to 3 and then from verse 4 to the end of the chapter he tells them why the judgment will come.

So let's begin. First of all, notice verse 1. Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedar. Then verse 2. Howl for a tree, for the cedar is fallen because the mighty are spoiled. Howl o'ye ox of Bashan, for the forest of the vintage is come down. Now notice, beloved brothers and sisters, that he's speaking about the cedars that will come out of Lebanon. Now every time when the Bible speaks about the cedar of Lebanon, Erez Arzei Lebanon in Hebrew, It is the cedars of Lebanon that were brought from Lebanon in order to build the temple in the city of Jerusalem. Those trees that Solomon brought from Lebanon, they were used in order to build the temple in the city of Jerusalem.

Just turn with me to 1 Kings chapter 5. I want to just make a note in connection with these trees, the cedar of Lebanon. You notice that it says here in verse 1 and Hiram the king of Tyre Tyre and Sidon is in Lebanon sent his servant unto Solomon and to Shlomo for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father for Hiram was ever a lover of David so Solomon sent to Hiram saying thou knowest how that David my father could not build a house under the name of Jehovah his God for the wars which were about him on every side until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet but listen verses 4 and 5 but now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side So that there is neither adversary nor evil occurring, and behold, I purpose to build a house unto the name of the Lord my God.

As the Lord spake unto David, my father saying, Thy son whom I will set upon my throne in thy room, he shall build a house unto my name. Verse 6 says now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of lebanon and my servants shall be with thy servants and unto thee will i give higher for thy servants according to all that thou shalt appoint for thou knowest that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the tzidonite and so on but you see what it says in verse 10 Sochiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees according to all that he have desired.

Now, brothers and sisters, in order to build the temple Beit Hamikdash, the house of God in Jerusalem, they had to bring cedar from Lebanon. And the cedar of Lebanon is really representing to us in the prophet Zechariah the temple Beit HaMikdash, the house of God in the city of Yerushalayim. So now God is telling Zechariah to tell the remnant of Israel, of Judah, that were right there at about 487 BC, to anticipate a day in which judgment is going to come upon the house of the Lord in the city of Jerusalem. Remember, this remnant is now just finished to build the second temple after they return from Babylon but even this very temple will be destroyed later on when Israel will violate the word of their God and so back to Zechariah chapter 11 and verse 1 and 2 he's saying open the doors all Lebanon that the fire listen to this use this expression fire because the temple was burnt by Titus the fire may devour the cedars really the word cedars would.

Apply to the temple how for a tree for the cedar is fallen the temple will be fallen the house of God is fallen notice this expression we have in verse 1 number one fire number two devour notice in verse 2. Number 3, fallen. Number 4, spoiled. Number 5, come down. Zechariah is speaking to the remnant of Judah about a future day when the temple in Jerusalem is going to be devoured, going to be burned by fire, is going to fall down and ultimately be spoiled by those who are going to come to the city of Jerusalem this is all in anticipation the judgment is going to come and it is interesting it is an approaching judgment he's going to give us the reason immediately after why this approaching judgment will come but he's first giving them the truth concerning the judgment that will be coming notice verse 3 now we find out that the false shepherds of Israel are to howl as well these are the leaders of Israel who did not accept the Messiah and because of the.

Rejection of the Messiah they are going to bear the consequences that's what he's really saying and i'm reading verse three there is a voice of the howling of the shepherds those are the shepherds that should have cared for the nation should have lead the flock should have been an example to the nation and draw them closer to the law to God to the Messiah who is going to come and then notice for their glory is spoiled not that glory again it's the temple that was there situated in the city of Jerusalem where God set his name in this building that the people of Israel have built he set his name there in the temple but their glory is now spoiled a voice of the roaring of the young lions for the pride of Jordan is spoiled this expression here the pride of jordan is again another reason why this is speaking about the jordan valley you know there is a pride that one can have because of all the glory that we have we have the temple.

We have the nation we are in the city of Jerusalem we are Jewish people we are part we are chosen people and pride can be brought up and God gonna say your pride going to be spoiled when your pride is not in me your pride is in yourself exalting yourself above measure and that's what really happened and you know this is the very same danger in the church of our Lord Jesus the Messiah there is a pride that we have we think if we are saved and we belong to Jesus and we are what you call christian Messiah followers and there is an inclination to be proud and arrogant and God said listen humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and he will exalt you in due time God resists the proud but he gives grace unto the humble and so there are lessons that we can learn in the present day dispensation of the church age that we learn from our nation Israel and the history of our people of Israel and so all this written to us at about 487 bc.

Zechariah received from the Lord to give to his Jewish people the remnant to return in view of a coming day which we know to be the 70 AD judgment that fell upon the city of Jerusalem the temple that was there who represented by those cedars of Lebanon that was sent from Hiram back to Solomon to build this great temple in the city of Jerusalem now in Zechariah chapter 11 from verse 4 to verse 11 we have the reason for this judgment you know God does not judge anyone unless one deserves it in fact brothers and sisters think about that he judged his son the Messiah that we will never need to be judged that's how gracious God is but there is a time that God have to judge men his very own people needed to be judged so here in verses 4 to 11 we have the reason that the judgment came upon our nation Israel first of all verses 4 5 and 6 God instructing Zechariah to act as if he was the coming Messiah it's very interesting you know sometimes the Lord.

Asks his people to do something very strange you remember he asked the prophet Isaiah and Ezekiel to do some things to enact something that were really not normal not common and yet it's like a parable enacted and so we begin here first of all in verse 4 the Lord is speaking now to Zechariah and he says Zechariah thus says the Lord my God not that the word here is Elohai mean my God in Hebrew in other words Zechariah is now expressing what his God the Lord my God said unto me what did he say feed the flock of the slaughter this flock of the slaughter is the whole nation of Israel and the Hebrew word for the flock of the slaughter in Hebrew is that means the flock that are going to be taken to the slaughter so he says you feed them is called to act out that which is symbolically of what God was going to do notice now in verse 5.

It says here that the flock are not really cared by no one look at this it says here in verse 5 whose possessors slay them and hold themselves not guilty and they that sell them say blessed be the Lord for i'm rich and their own shepherds pity them not now you see what happened Zechariah was going to enact here as if he is the promised Redeemer the promised Messiah And he's been told by the Lord, look, the flock that are prepared for the slaughter, really their possessors, they really kill them. They don't care about them. The possessors here, prophetically really speaking about the Romans, where the Romans were there possessing, controlling the Jewish people earlier than 70 AD.

They were controlling them, but really they don't care for them. They slay them and they hold themselves not guilty. But not only that, brothers and sisters, it says in verse 5b, they that sell them say, blessed be the Lord, for I am rich, and their own shepherds pity them not. Even their spiritual leadership really didn't pity them, didn't care for them. They say, well, I'm rich, I'm well, I'm fine, and they did not pity their situation, their need that their flocks, the people of Israel have had. They didn't care for them. Notice, and I'm going down now to verse 6, it says here that the flock will not have the end of it, even they will not have the care, the compassion of Jehovah, because a time coming where the Lord will have to discipline the whole flock, the whole nation.

It says in verse 6, for I will have no pity on the inhabitants of the land, sayeth the Lord, but lo, I will deliver the men, everyone into his own neighbor's hand, and into the hand of his king, and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them. In other words, God is saying it's not only that the possessors, the Romans, will behave in such a way they will hold themselves no guilty and they will slay them. It's not only that the leaders, the shepherds of Israel, who should have really cared for the flock, they themselves said, you know, I'm rich and I will not pity them.

I don't care. But even the Lord, there is coming a time where the Lord himself, as he says here in verse 6, I will have no more pity on the inhabitants of the land. Sayeth Jehovah, but lo, I will deliver them, everyone into his neighbor's hand, and into the hand of his king, and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them. And you can see that here we learn something that is very important, that the Lord himself, there is coming a time when the Lord will give over his people in judgment because of the fact that they have rejected the Messiah, the promised Messiah of Israel.

And I want you to notice that it is very interesting that the text here tells us about event that occurred before 70 AD when the Lord Jesus, when Yeshua the Messiah was here. Notice what it says in verse 6 again, that I will deliver every man and everyone into his own neighbor's hand. And notice that it said, and into the hand of his king. Now, do you remember when we read in the previous chapter 9, verse 9 and 10, we read of the promise of the coming of the Messiah in his first coming and in his second coming. Let me read Zechariah 9.9 to you once again. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion.

Shout, O daughter of Yerushalayim. Behold, your king cometh unto thee. He is just and having salvation lowly and riding upon an ass and upon a cold, the fall of an ass. Now, do you remember when Yeshua came in his first coming? He was rejected. He was despised. And yet God says, Behold, your king cometh. But when the Messiah came in his first coming, Israel as a nation, the leadership of our own people, did not accept him as the king, as the Messiah. The many ordinary individuals did accept him and wanted to embrace him. But the leaders of Israel did not accept him as the king, did not acknowledge him as the king of the Jews, the king of Israel, though he was the king of Israel.

The Magi's, the wise men said, where is he that was born, the king of the Jews? On the cross, the superscription was, this is Yeshua, the king of the Jews. But the leaders did not accept the Messiah as the king of Israel, as the king of the Jews. Turn to John chapter 19. It is towards the time of Yeshua's death on the cross, on the tree. John 19 and verse 14 it says and there was the preparation of the Passover pesach and about the six hour he says unto the Jews behold your king that was pilot pilatos he came and presented before the Jewish leaders and he says look this is your king but listen what we read and they cry out away with him away with him crucify him pilot saith unto him shall i crucify your king and the chief priest listen it is the chief priest and they answered we have no king but caesar the leaders of our nation Israel rejected the kingship of Yeshua and have chosen caesar to be the king we have no king but caesar well back to zachariah chapter 11 God is saying now to the leaders of Israel he's speaking of course to the remnant of Israel 487 bc pointing them to the future day when the Messiah rejected he says listen he said to them in verse 6 i will no more have pity on the inhabitants of the land sayeth Jehovah why he said but law I will deliver the man.

Everyone into his neighbor's hand and into listen the hand of his king and when Israel refused the kingship of Yeshua and chosen the kingship of Caesar God says I'm going to deliver you into the hand of your king and their king was caesar when they rejected Yeshua the Messiah as their king he was the true king of Israel he was the king of Kings and Lord of Lord he was the promised Mashiach the promised Redeemer of Israel who have come in his first coming understanding that he will be rejected but Israel have chosen Caesar to be their king we have no king but Caesar and so God says okay there is going to come a time that I'm going to hand you over to the one that you have chosen to be your king and the Caesar the Kesar was the one that sent the Roman army to destroy Jerusalem to destroy the temple to burn up the cedar which representing the temple in the city.

Of Jerusalem and so in verses 4 5 and 6 God instructed Zechariah to act out as if he was the Messiah and as he acted out as the Messiah who coming the king of the Jews the king of Israel was refused, then God says, okay, I'm going to hand you over to the one that you have chosen, your king, namely Caesar, by choice. And so now in verses 7 to 11, Zechariah is really acting out what God had requested from him. And I want you to notice this, beloved brothers, this is very interesting. God is taking us from 480 BC all the way to the time when the Messiah came, and died about 30 AD, and then taking us further to about 70 AD, and ultimately it takes us to the tribulation period before the kingdom will come.

And so notice now, Zechariah is acting out what God has told him to do, the role of a shepherd Messiah. It says here, notice that verse 7, And I will feed the flock of the slaughter, even you, O poor, of the flock. And I took unto me two staves, and one I called beauty, and to the other I called bands, and I fed the flock. Now Zechariah, acting out as the Messiah, and what does he do? He is feeding the flock of slaughter. The flock is the whole nation of Israel who are being prepared for judgment because they have rejected the Messiah. So he fed them, namely, like the good shepherd, like Yeshua, the Messiah, as we have read in John chapter 10.

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. He fed them. But now look what he does. He even fed the poor of the flock. Every time you read of the poor of the flock, these are the believers from among the rest of the nation of Israel. You know, the Jewish believers always have been a remnant. There is a remnant in every generation. In fact, today in the church age, Romans 11 tells us there is a remnant according to the election. In other words, God has elected a remnant from among our nation, Israel, in this present day dispensation in which we live in.

Romans 11, in verse 5, all of us who are Jewish believers here, we are part of the remnant of believers who are part of the church of Jesus the Messiah. But in every generation, there's always what you call the poor of the flock, those who are the minority, the small group among the many. So Zechariah here is feeding the flock of the slaughter in verse 7. And I want you to notice what he does. Again, he's acting as in the place of the Messiah. And so we find him now, it says in verse 7b, he fed the flock of slaughter, even you, the poor of the flock. And notice that I took unto me, you see, he is acting now as a shepherd.

Two staves, in Hebrew, shnei maklot, two sticks. The one I call beauty, in Hebrew the word is noam, and the other I call benz, in Hebrew it is the word chovlim. And I fed the flock. Here is Zechariah now, being faithful as in type, in picture, in parable, acting out as if he is the Messiah. And he takes two sticks and he gives them names. The one he called it beauty, actually it's better, the word noam means pleasant. Naim, in Hebrew, behold how good and how pleasant. How naim is the same Hebrew word. Beauty should be really pleasant. And chovlim, benz, means it comes from the word rope, chevel, where you tie together everyone.

In other words, here is Zechariah taking care of the nation of Israel in type of the Messiah. And he takes those two sticks and he gives them name. One of them he called them Noam, pleasant. The other one he called them benz, ropes to tie them, to hold them together. You know, God always desired to have his people united together. And his people are pleasant to him that they are a joy to his heart whether it is Israel or whether it is the body of Messiah the church he always liked to see the people of God together and he liked to lead them and to give them all what he is able to provide for his own people and that's what his desire so here we see what Zechariah have done now you know very well that Every shepherd usually has more than one stick.

He has usually two sticks. One of them is the one in which he will lean on, and he will lead the sheep to follow after him, and he will sometimes draw them to himself. The other one is a bit smaller, a bit thicker, is where he will have to give some correction or to chase those that come against his own people. I want to show you this in the Psalms. Turn to Psalm 23, the very famous Psalm. The Lord is my shepherd. I speak about the true shepherd of Israel, namely the God of Israel. And David is singing this Psalm. And David is saying in verse 1, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside still water. He restores my soul. He leadeth me in the path of righteousness for his namesake. And then he says, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. And now notice, beloved brothers and sisters, in verse 4b, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Shivtecha um Mishantecha. Shevet um Mishantecha. Those two Hebrew words, thy rod is to protect and to discipline. Thy staff is for direction. And the word Shivtecha um Mishantecha in Hebrew simply means it is where he is giving defense and he gives discipline.

And the staff is where he lean on Mishantecha. These are really giving direction he says they comfort me thy stuff and a rod and thy stuff they comfort me every good shepherd every true shepherd have those two sticks and one of them is called here rod the other one is called staff that is the shepherds would always carry this with them in order to lead the flock after them so back to Zechariah now in chapter 11 Zechariah in acting out as the Messiah the good shepherd and he fed the flock for the slaughter verse seven he also take care of the poor of the flock this is the believers who believe in a Messiah in his first coming yet and then he took unto him two staves i took unto me he said in verse seven the one i call beauty noam the other i call benz hovlim and i fed the flock here you can see the faithfulness of Zechariah to obey what God told him to do in acting it but really in type in a parable we see the faithfulness of Yeshua in his life or how he cared.

For his people think about his brothers and sisters he lived here for 33 years 30 years he was really in obscurity the last three and a half years before he died he was really living public life the four gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke and John tell us the beauty of the life of the Lord how he cared for his people Israel how he fed them whether he was in Galilee or whether it was in the city of Jerusalem wherever he had been people had been taken care of you remember where he fed the 5,000 he took two loaves of bread and five fishes and he fed the multitude and the people had been fed and he met their need he cared for the flock he fed the people our own people Israel when he was in the Galil or even when he was in the city of Jerusalem he always sought to minister to the people of Israel to his own people you remember what John once said he came unto his own but his own receive him not there he loved them.

He wanted to minister to them and that's what the purpose that he came he came unto his own I have to mention some verses here because this is important to see the ministry of Zechariah is enacting what the Messiah was going to do in a future day look at this in Matthew chapter 9 verse 35 we read and Yeshua went about all the cities and the villages he was teaching in their synagogue he was preaching the gospel of the kingdom he was healing every sickness and every disease among the people verse 36 but when he saw the multitude he was moved with compassion on them and we read here in verse 36 because they fainted and they were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd here is the true shepherd of Israel the lover of our nation he taught the people he preached to the nation he healed the sick he ministered to the needs of all the people and his compassion for the people of Israel was so tremendous that in chapter 10 and verse 5 he says these 12 after.

He chosen the 12 apostles he sent forth and he commanded them and he says listen what he said to them before Israel rejected him he says go not into the way of the Gentiles and into the cities of the Samaritan and tell ye not he said to them but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel that's exactly what he came in his first coming to do will Israel accept the Messiah will they acknowledge that he was the Messiah but unfortunately God knows that ahead of time that when he is going to come and the Messiah will come Israel will not accept him at his first coming and so back beloved brothers to Zechariah again to chapter 11 we read verse 7 and these two sticks that Zechariah had prepared one of them he called noam the other one he called hovlim pleasant and bind together unity among the people he sought the unity of the people of Israel and so we read now in verse 8 Zechariah now he cut off three shepherds of Israel why because those three.

Shepherds notice I'm reading now verse 8 three shepherds also I cut off in one month and my soul loathed them and their soul abhorred me now again remember in this chapter Zechariah is acting out the Messiah in what he's going to happen now those three shepherds are a representation of the leaders of Israel and all three shepherds most Bible teachers will tell you this it is representing the leaders of Israel who despise Yeshua who did not accept him who rejected him and challenged him all the time you know when Yeshua came in his first coming his problem was not with the ordinary Jewish individual his problem was always with the leadership it's always the religious leaders and today i can tell you to be the same thing in the present day church age if Yeshua would come today his problem will be with the professing Christians and all the clergy who claim to follow God but they find out that really they're not doing the will of God they.

Will find that there will be conflict with him should he come in the present day of the church age but he will not he will come only the rapture to meet us in the air and in his second coming at the end of the tribulation but notice that he cut off in one month those three shepherds those three shepherds we might very well say that they are representation of the priests the scribes and the elders of the nation when the Messiah was here at his first coming cutting off simply it speaks of judgment that will fall upon them which we're going to see in a moment so these are the leaders of Israel who rejected the Messiah the pharisees the sadducees the herodians or the scribes the priests the elders these are representations of the leaders of Israel turn to Matthew chapter 22 and notice that some call this chapter Yeshua in the lion's den why because there were those who opposed him from among the leaders of our nation in Matthew chapter 22 notice verse.

15 and 16 then when the pharisees and took counsel how that they might entangle him in his talk and they sent out to him their disciples with the Herodians. Here's one sect among the religious Jewish community called the Herodians and they challenged him. They said, Master, we would like to know if you are the true and so on and what you teach you to tell us in verse 17, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give a tribute unto Caesar or not? In other words, they tried to find fault with Yeshua, seeking to entangle him. Those are the Herodians. Now go a little bit further down in verse 23.

Here's the second group. And they are the Sadducees. That's Dukim. And it says in verse 23, The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him, saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up a seed unto his brother. And they began to ask him some question that was really ridiculous. And the Lord Yeshua told them in verse 29, He answered and He said to them, Ye do err because ye do not know the Scripture nor the power of God. This is the Sadducees who sought to find fault in Yeshua the Messiah.

Now go a little bit further down to verse 34. And here's the third group. And the third group is the Pharisees. It says in verse 34, And when the Pharisees, the Prushim, had heard that He had put the Sadducees to silence, They were gathered together, then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? And trying to find fault in Yeshua, and Yeshua gave him an answer, and really put this person and the Pharisees in their place. And so, beloved brothers and sisters, what we learn from these verses in verse 8, That the three shepherds are representation of those who oppose the Messiah in the leadership of Israel at his first coming.

And he said here in verse 8, My soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me. They didn't love him at all. Because they knew that he would be the one that would put them in their place, being the true Messiah. He was teaching the word of God. They were teaching religion. He was teaching the truth. They were teaching fallacy. And I want to apply this to the church today. If the Lord will come today in this present day, there is so much fallacy that exists in the professing church of Jesus the Messiah. And we have to be discerning what is from the Lord and what is man-made.

And that's what we read here in verse 8 about the three shepherds that he will cut them off. Now, look at this now. Verse 9. We are moving down. It says in verse 9, Zechariah now stopped to feed the flock. Here is when God is going to come to a time when he will stop to feed the flock because he is ready to allow them to be judged. It says in verse 9, Then said I, I will not feed you. That that dieth, let it die. And that it is to be cut off, let it be cut off. And let the rest eat every one the flesh of another.

So what we learn here that at some point of time, Zechariah stopped to feed the flock. At some point of time in the history of our people Israel, God removed himself from the protection of the nation. And he stopped to feed them, stopped to provide for them, because he prepared them for a coming judgment that will come upon the nation of Israel. So this is very important. There was a time in which Israel had rejected their Messiah, And they came to a point where, do you remember in Matthew chapter 12, when the leaders of Israel said that he speak in the power of Baal Zvuv. And they were accusing the Messiah Yeshua that his miracle that he does, he does it in the power of Satan.

Baal Zvuv, the Lord of the flies, is one of the expressions that we gave to Satan because he is the Lord of these flies which we don't like at all this is one of the expression that is given to Satan and they accuse Yeshua's miracles and activity as if he does it not in the power of God but in the power of Satan and that's where the expression the blasphemy of the holy Spirit in Matthew chapter 12 and verse 24 when the pharisees heard that they said this fellow does not cast out demons but by baal zvuv the prince of the demons and Yeshua said Yeshua knew their thought and he said unto him every kingdom is divided against itself is brought unto desolation and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand and if Satan cast out Satan he is divided against itself how shall then his kingdom stand and if i by bazvuv cast out demons by whom do your children cast them out therefore they shall be your Judges and now going down to.

Verse 31 therefore i say unto you all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men but the blasphemy against the holy Spirit shall not be forgiven unto men and whosoever speak as a word against the son of man it shall be forgiven unto him but whosoever speaking against the holy Spirit it shall not be forgiven unto him neither in this world neither in the world to come in In other words, what he is saying to them, that they have blasphemed the Holy Spirit of God who testified to the fact that he was the true Messiah. By rejecting him and saying that he spoke and did miracles in the power of Satan, they really blasphemed the Holy Spirit, Ruach HaKodesh, which testified to the Messiahship of Yeshua.

And so, beloved brothers and sisters, Back to Zechariah, chapter 11, and now in verse 10, we read now God coming in judgment upon the nation of Israel, and that had been fulfilled in 70 AD. It says in verse 10, Zechariah broke the stuff that is called beauty. And I took, notice, I, Zechariah, Messiah in typology, He took my stuff, even beauty, Noam, and cut it asunder that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people. Now, pause with me. Every verse here is rich. It seemed to be to us very hard to understand, but if we understood things behind it, it's so full of riches here in these verses.

In other words, the word beauty, noam, pleasant, God in the person of the Messiah, through Zechariah, parable acting, he took one of those stuffs and he broke it. And then he says, That I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people. Now, we never read of any covenant that God made with all the amim, the Hebrew word, I mean people, all the nations, we know that God made a covenant with Abraham. We know that God made a covenant with the house of Judah and with Israel. We know that God made a covenant with Noah, but we never read of such a covenant that God had made with all the people.

Now, what is this covenant? We don't have anything written in a sense about this covenant, but this is a covenant that God had made with all the nations of the world in what they don't even know it but he know it that this covenant means that he will shelter his people Israel throughout the generation no one will ever be able to destroy the people of Israel because God have had his hands of protection over the nation of Israel that in every generation they try to destroy the Jewish people our own nation they never can totally destroy the nation of is though persecution come from generation to generation from time to time but Israel as a nation have always been protected by God and preserved until the messianic age that is going to come.

But here, in anticipation of the 70 AD judgment, God said that he, the Messiah, the prophet Zechariah, he broke this stick, this makel, pleasant, this first one, and he cut it asunder that he might also break his covenant which he made with all the nations of the world. In other words, he will remove his hands of protection over the Jewish people, specifically at the time that is coming, 70 AD, that the anticipation of the judgment was coming. Now, I was thinking how to illustrate this truth the best. I was thinking of a verse or two to illustrate this truth. And the best way is to go all the way back to Genesis chapter 4.

And if you will, please again turn back to Genesis chapter 4 with me. And I want to illustrate this through the two men, the two sons of Adam and Eve, Cain and Havel, Cain and Abel. Remember, both of them approached God. Abel brought of the animal blood, Cain brought of the fruit of the ground. He may have brought vegetables and fruit. God had accepted the blood sacrifice of Abel and he rejected the offering of Cain because there was no blood atonement at all in that. So Cain was very angry. You know what Cain did? The first murder in human history happened right there in Genesis chapter 4.

The first murder was a man who killed his own brother out of jealousy. So Genesis 4 verse 10. And he said, this is the Lord said to Cain, what hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood crying unto me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened her mouth to receive your brother's blood from thine hand. And when you till the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength. A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in this earth. In other words, God said to Cain, what have you done? The blood of your brother Abel is crying from the ground.

And he says, because you have done it, you're going to be a fugitive and a vagabond. In Hebrew, na'vanad. You're never going to have a rest here in this world. You're going to run from place to place. You're never going to find rest because you have killed your brother. And so Cain answered the Lord in verse 13. My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, you have driven me out this day from the face of this earth and from thy face, and I shall be hid, and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth, and it shall come to pass that everyone that finds me, he shall slay me.

In other words, Cain said to God, God, you have made me now a fugitive, running from place to place, And if anyone will see me, he will kill me. So you know what God did? And again, it's a beautiful typology. What God said, I'm going to protect you, Cain. It says in verse 15, And the Lord said unto him, Therefore, whosoever slays Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him. Sevenfold. And the Lord set a Mark upon Cain, lest anyone find him should kill him. Now look at the grace of God. Cain deserved to be judged. But God put a Mark on him. And he said anyone who touches Cain, he will be judged sevenfold.

Now Cain rejected his brother. Cain became a type of the nation who rejected their brother, Yeshua, the Messiah. And Cain became a vagabond. You know, our Jewish people have no rest in this world. From generation to generation, you find the Jewish community is struggling. You know, look at the history of our people. Everywhere we have gone, we had Hitlers, we had Hamans, we had Nebuchadnezzars, we had Russian czars, the Spanish Inquisition. And on and on and on, the Jewish people have no rest here in this world. Why? Because Israel had rejected Yeshua, the Messiah, at his first coming. And until Israel will acknowledge the Messiah, they will be like na'vanad, like a vagabond running from place to place.

Look at the Jewish persecution upon the face of this world. Even today, when we are in the land, there is no rest. Bombs are falling every time. Whether it is from Hamas, from Gaza, or whether it is from Hezbollah, from Lebanon, or whether it is coming from elsewhere all around. The Jewish community have no rest here in this world. God put a Mark upon them that whoever is going to touch Cain, they will be judged seven times. In other words, Cain received that Mark of protection by God that he will preserve him and nobody will be able to kill him. But what we learn here from Zechariah in this context of the chapter in which we read, God will remove for a season this protection i might break my covenant this is Zechariah 11 verse 10 i will break my covenant which i had made with all the people and God opened the door beloved brothers and sisters for the Romans to come and to destroy the city of Jerusalem and to totally devastate the Jewish people at that time, and over 1,100,000 Jewish people died, and many of them have been taken to slavery.

Now, I got to read for you something from history about 70 AD. Listen to these beloved brothers and sisters. In the year 66 AD, the Jewish people of Judah or Judea rebelled against the Romans' masters. In response, the emperor Nero dispatched an army under the generalship of Vespasian to restore order. By the year 68 AD, resistance in the northern part of the province had been eradicated, and the Romans turned their full attention to deal with Jerusalem. That same year, 68 AD, the emperor Nero died by his own hand. Creating a vacuum or power vacuum in Rome, resulting in chaos. Vespasian was declared an emperor and he returned to the imperial city, this is to Rome.

It fell upon his son, his son's name was Titus, or Titus, to lead the remaining army in assault on Jerusalem. The Roman legions surrounded the city and began to slowly squeeze the life out of the Jewish stronghold. By the year 70 AD, attackers had breached Jerusalem's outer walls and began a systematic ransacking of the city. The assault culminated in the burning and destruction of the temple that served as the center of our Jewish people. In victory, the Romans slaughtered thousands, and of those that were spurred from death, it was thousands or more of them, they were enslaved and sent to toil in the mines of Egypt.

Others were dispersed to arenas, throughout the empire, to be butchered for the amusement of the public. Can you imagine, many of these Jewish people have gone to those arenas where they have been butchered publicly by the thousands. The temple's sacred treasures were taken to Rome, where they were displayed in celebration of the victory. The rebellion sputtered on for another three years, and it was finally extinguished in 73 AD with the fall of the various pockets of resistance, including the stronghold of Metsada. If you know, Metsada is right there by the Dead Sea, where rebels have. Gander Jewish people of gander and took metzada in 73 a.d the Romans took those metzada and those about 900 and something Jewish people committed suicide just not to fall by the hands of the Romans listen our only first-hand account of the Romans assault on Jerusalem temple comes from the Jewish historian by the name of Josephus Flavius.

Josephus was a former leader of the Jewish revolt who had surrendered to the Romans and had won favor with Vespasian. In gratitude, Josephus took on Vespasian's family name, Flavius, as his own. Josephus was Jewish, called in Hebrew Yosef ben Matitya. He was born into the Hashmonaim lineage. Yosef, Josephus, became a Pharisee at the age of 19. He went to Rome and he returned back to Jerusalem in 66 AD. Josephus, Yosef, became a leader at the time of the revolt of the Jews against the Romans during the reign of Nero who reigned from 54 to 68 AD. Josephus was appointed the commander of the most northerly regions of Galilee in 66 and 67 AD.

He was captured by the Romans in 67 at Yotfat. And while a prisoner, he became a go-between in negotiation with the local Jewish population regarding the war. In 69 AD, Vespasian gave Josephus his freedom. And after the war, which lasted from 66 to 73 AD, Josephus, Yosef, he retired to the Roman exile as a Roman citizen during the reign of Vespasian. Now, I want to read the final remarks. Josephus was a Jewish historian. He wrote the history of the event that happened in 70 AD in the city of Jerusalem. And look what he wrote. The rebel Jewish people shortly after they attacked the Romans and a clash followed between the guards of the sanctuary and the troops who were putting out the fire inside the inner court.

Then the latter, this is the troops, they routed the Jews and followed in hot pursuit right up to the temple itself. Then one of the soldiers, without awaiting any orders and with no dread of so momentous a deed, he urged one by some supernatural force, he snatched a blazing piece from a wood, of the wood, he climbed upon another soldier's back and he threw the flaming brand through a low golden window that gave an access on the north side to the rooms that surrounded the sanctuary. And as the flame shut up, the Jewish people let out the shout of dismay that matched the tragedy that we have here in chapter 11.

They flocked to the rescue with no thought of sparing their lives or with all their strengths for the sacred structure this is the temple that they had so much loved it came up in flame and before their very own eyes the Roman soldier took a piece of wood and so on and threw it into the temple and the whole temple had burned and can you imagine this is the temple where God set his name and it was totally destroyed in 70 AD as we read in Zechariah 11 and verse 1 open thy doors all Lebanon that the fire may devour thy cedars your temple the temple in Jerusalem now let me conclude here in verse 11 go now back to Zechariah 11 and then verse 11 notice after he broke this stuff that is called beauty in verse 10 and he says I might break my covenant which I made with all the people then it says in verse 11 Messiah's covenant was broken in that day it says in verse 11 and it was broken in that day.

And so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of God in other words beloved brothers and sisters the poor of the flock those are the believers who have acknowledged the Messiah they saw when the time came they saw indeed that this is what the Lord have already prophesied in a previous time when the Lord Yeshua was here on earth when he said to Israel that this is going to happen when there will be a rejection of the Messiah, Israel itself will ultimately will experience the judgment of God of 70 AD. I'm concluding with Luke 21 verse 20, when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that a desolation thereof is nigh.

Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains, and let them which be in the midst of it depart out, and let not them that are in the countries enter therein too. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But war unto them which are with the child, and so on, this verse 23, and it says in verse 24, And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, And they shall be led away, captive into all the nations. And Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. Here is the Lord Jesus at about 30 or so A.D.

Before his death. He mentioned what's going to happen in 70 A.D. When the Jewish people will experience the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. And it is only the believers who understood that he was the promised Messiah. They knew that it was indeed the word of the Lord. And apparently the Jewish believers have fled Jerusalem before 70 A.D. Came and they were spared from the judgment that came upon the rest of the nation.