Presents
Pamphlet #1111
Zechariah chapter 11
Zechariah chapter 11
There is nothing new under the sun and it all boils down to one thing in this final generation, as it always has from the very beginning, even from the first earth age. Which shepherd are you going to listen to and follow... the real Shepherd, Jesus Christ, or the false shepherd, Satan, when he comes to earth claiming to be Christ? That is correct! There are two Jesus Christs, two shepherds, the real and the fake, and the one you follow is the one you believe in for actions speak louder than words! You can say the "words" to your husband (or wife) "I love you" but after awhile if you never DO anything he or she likes and worse yet you do everything he or she abhors, like commit adultery (the analogy being idolatry), then what do your words mean?
They mean NOTHING... for they are empty words made void by your actions, your works!
You see, there is only ONE TRUE SHEPHERD who speaks NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH and that is Jesus Christ, who IS the Word of God! Oh, you can listen to men, call them under-shepherds if you like, but if you do not document for yourself what they teach then you are in grave danger of being led astray! In fact, if you do not study the Word of God, rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15), whereby you are you able to try the spirits (1 Jn. 4:1), i.e. test the doctrines to see whether or not they are of God (as in contained in His Word), then you will certainly, not maybe, be taken captive by the coming king of Babylon (Satan, the spurious messiah) and be led astray into his land, the land of Babylon (which means confusion, even confusion as to who the true shepherd is.) Always remember that the very first thing Jesus Christ warned us about in Mat. 24 and Mark 13 concerning this final generation, is to "beware of false prophets" who come in His name , i.e. claiming to represent Him as His Christian ministers and leaders, because they shall deceive the multitudes with their unscriptural spirits of iniquity and cause a "great falling away" by "setting-up" our people with their traditions and visions of men to accept the false messiah as the true shepherd when he comes.
And so it is written, and so it shall be!
However, if you recall in chapter 10 we learned it is also written that our loving Father is going to bring His children back to Him by destroying His enemies when He returns as King of kings and Lord of lords. At that time He shall "give a whistle" and gather His children to Him and release them from their captors. We also learned that those who come to Him now, who come to the Word of God now, before the great harvest, and ask of Him for the precious "latter day rain" (Zech. 10:1) to fall upon them, i.e. for Him to reveal the truth of His Word to them, they shall not fall down as trees hewn to the ground nor shall they bow before the false shepherd, the false messiah, Satan, when he comes to this earth claiming to be God.
The reason this is so important to understand is because there is a time of judgment coming soon upon the land when God will send a great false shepherd (the king of Babylon) who shall bring down the cedars of Lebanon and all the trees in the land, just as he did in the first earth age! You can read and understand all about it by reading Ezekiel chapter 31 where the holy spirit uses the simple analogy of trees, which are used throughout God's Word as symbols of men (people), to explain how the Assyrian, Satan, the "te'ashur" in Hebrew which means a plain box-cedar, exalted himself to be like the most high. That would-be-tall tree, Satan, shall return to the forest (wilderness) once again in this final generation and once again he shall exalt himself as the most high, even claiming to be the most high. We are going to read about this "lowly tree", this false shepherd who comes and exalts himself as the Great Shepherd, before we complete this 11th chapter of Zechariah.
Remember that the name "Zechariah" means "Remembered of Yahveh". Thank God, He, remembers us and our people and that His Word is True, for we as a people have surely not remembered Him in that it is becoming increasingly evident day by day that we have strayed from His Word.
Let us now continue in the book of His remembering of His people.
Prepare yourselves, all you who dwell in the land. Our Father's judgment, His fire, is coming "For our God is a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:29)! You might say it is going to be a hot time in the old town tonight when He comes!Zech. 11:1
Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars.
Of course trees do not "howl", just they have no knowledge of good and evil, which again shows that we are talking symbolically about people. To "Howl" means to WAIL and there shall be much weeping and wailing when Yeshua returns to this earth. That old "te'ashur", that old box cedar, has already fallen and has through his many "false shepherds" spoiled ("shadad" - ravaged, oppressed, desolated) many of the mighty, majestic, honorable trees of Lebanon! Yes, true Israel, the once beautiful and unified forest (garden of trees) of God, has become a desolate wilderness, i.e. has "come down". How sad it is indeed, for as we learned in chapter 10, had there been true shepherds (ministers) in the land instead of "sheep shearers", our people would not have gone astray! Nevertheless, God will soon put an end to ALL false shepherding, both civil and ecclesiastic and there shall be wailing (howling) of the false shepherds and roaring (moaning) of the devouring lions when He returns.[2] Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down.
The "voice of the howling of the shepherds" is the voice of the "false shepherds" whose "garments" are spoiled (stripped) and the voice of the "roaring" of young lions is their "rumbling or moaning" because the "pride" or "swelling" of Jordan is "laid waste". In other words, the "pride (swelling) of Jordan" refers to the fact that the Jordan had thick wooded banks, thick with foliage, which was the "lair of lions" (Jer. 12:5, 45:19). The point we are to understand is that God is going to strip (consume) the thick foliage of Jordan where the "young lions" dwell undercover.[3] 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.
Though this command to Feed the flock "of the slaughter" is given here to Zechariah, one of God's elect, concerning those who are deceived and ready to be slaughtered, the command of the LORD God to "feed His sheep" is a command to ALL shepherds!! Therefore, take special heed if you are a shepherd! Nevertheless, before the desolator (Satan, the great shearer and slaughterer of the souls of His sheep) comes to this earth (Rev. 12:7-9), God will see to it that His flock is fed through His faithful servants, those sons and daughters in this final generation who have seen (understood) the visions of the prophets (Act. 2:17) and who shall teach His people, as in feed them His Word, not the words of traditions. He shall also "save" His own sheep, His elect, from the mouths of the false shepherds, just like David ripped the lamb out of the mouth of the lion and the bear, and He shall see to it that His flock has real food in the trough to eat and lush green pastures in which to graze.[4] Thus saith the LORD my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter;
To that end, Father is becoming very weary of this "feel good churchianity", where the false shepherds just parade around and say "Praise the Lord" and then pass the basket to make themselves rich. Do you think those shepherds really care about the widows or the handicapped or the elderly who live on limited fixed incomes and to whom the shepherds make false promises of "rich blessings" if they "sow big seeds", which is their coded language for "write big checks"? They do slay the souls of our people whom they hold captive in their denominations teaching vanity (emptiness) in the name of Christ and in the house they call by His name! They shall surely pay the price for their iniquitous deeds! Woe unto them! Ezekiel 34:2 "...Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?"
Woe indeed, for the possessors of the flocks are but sellers of sheep, "sheep traffickers", in-it-for-the-money hirelings! There are some good teaching pastors in the land, but we know from their "actions", their fruits (Mat. 7:15-16), that most who call themselves shepherds do NOT pity their flocks, as in have compassion on them, as in be concerned for the welfare of their souls. If they did they would obey the command of Jesus Christ and FEED them His Word chapter by chapter and verse by verse that they might be saved! Instead, they themselves slay the sheep like wolves in sheep's garments in that they set-up their entire flocks to worship, to be led by, the great lying false shepherd when he comes, the wicked shepherd whom we shall read about at the conclusion of this chapter. And though they hold themselves faultless and will plead "not guilty" when the Lord returns (Mat. 7:22), it is written they shall be held accountable for leading His sheep astray, away from the green pastures, the Word of God, whereby the flock shall be scattered having no shepherd to protect them in the day of battle. '[5] 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.
God says to the shepherds, "Feed my sheep... HIS WORD... from His Pasture"! Yet so many, even the majority, do not! They are too busy conducting "praise and worship" services and teaching the traditions of men in His name, and taking up collections or soliciting for volunteers to help with humanitarian or other causes. Jesus Christ has a question for them in Luke 6:46... "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" Therefore when those shepherds come to Him with their "not guilty" plea He will say:Matthew 7:22
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Please do not misunderstand the point of what is being said here. We are not "coming down" on any of our brethren or churches which do teach the Bible, book by book, chapter by chapter, and verse by verse, nor are we attempting to single out denominations or ministries, nor identify personalities, etc. This we have never done nor will we be a part of tearing down, for such is not our intentions which are simply to teach and build up. We love all of our brothers and sisters, but the fact is that sometimes the truth cuts deeps and it hurts. Nevertheless, it is extremely important for us to understand concerning the false shepherds, the hirelings who feed themselves, because when "the big bad wolf" comes they will not be there to protect the sheep! Why? Because as we have already noted, they have not loved the sheep with the love of a true shepherd! For many, it is just a job.Matthew 7:23
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
David was a shepherd who did care for his flock and when the lion came to take one of his lambs David went after him and smote him and saved the lamb! Then... the lion "rose up" against David the shepherd, and David took hold of that sucker's own whiskers and slew him.John 10:11
I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.[12] But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
[13]The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.
Of course David knew it was not the power of his might, but rather the LORD who did the delivering.1 Samuel 17:34-36
And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:[35] And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.
[36] Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.
We will see that the time is soon coming when "time is up"! Because our people would rather believe the idolatrous traditions of their forefather's than study God's Word, God is soon going to raise up a great false shepherd in the land, one who shall not visit the (spiritually) dying nor go after those who have strayed (from God's Word). Nor shall he bind up the (spiritually) wounded nor feed the (spiritually) famished.1 Samuel 17:37
David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.
Sound like a good shepherd to you... or a wolf in a shepherd's (even the shepherd's) garment? Well, he will appear to be wonderful indeed in that he will bring in peace and prosperity (fat upon the land) and he shall show great signs and wonders and perform miracles in the sight of men! In fact, it is written that so powerful will be his "credentials" that the whole world, including the majority of Christianity with the exception of God's elect, will believe him to be the real shepherd, Jesus Christ himself. But this dragon, in a shepherd's garb, who shall appear so loving and gentle will have the "teeth of a great lion" and will spiritually rip and tear in pieces the very souls of our people!Zech. 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.
Study the Word of God and "listen to Him" and come to know the voice of the true Shepherd, the Word of God, and learn to follow Him. Then when the "strange shepherd" comes, you will know with certitude whether he be the true or the false shepherd!
He leads, they follow! He does not stand behind them and drive them like cattle.John 10:4-5
And when He putteth forth His own sheep, He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him: for they know His voice.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.[5] And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
Isn't it amazing how that the Plan of God for this final generation is all right here in the great Book of Zechariah, including the coming of both the false messiah, that false shepherd we shall read about here in chapter 11 (Zech. 11:16) who shall come and appear first unto this generation, and the true Messiah who shall return to usher in the kingdom and "to stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives" (Zech. 14:4)! Of course it should come as no surprise to those who study His Word that the events of today and the events of the future yet to come are contained here in the prophets of old, for Jesus Christ said in Mark 13:23 "But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things". And so He has. All we need to do is read and understand that which is already written.
To that end, it is written in Rev. 9:4 that Christians living in this final generation must have the "seal of God", the true knowledge of His Word, locked in their foreheads, otherwise they will be easily consumed by the great religious deception, the spiritual onslaught of Satan and his locust army (his angelic host) when they are cast out of heaven to this earth (Rev. 12:7-9). To wit, one of the things far too many people have a lack of knowledge of is that Satan is actually a very beautiful, handsome cherub (Ezek. 28:14) with a great charming and witty personality (Ezekiel 28:12 "...Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty"!) In other words, Satan does not have pointy horns on his head nor does he walk to and fro sporting a little red leotard and carrying a pitchfork whereby when he appears people will instantly recognize him and say, "Hey, look... there's Satan!" Nevertheless, it seems most Christians picture him as an ugly looking creature whom any Christian would be able to spot and recognize as the evil and wicked one!
NOT SO! Be careful! Take heed! Don't believe cartoons and fairy tales! The fact is that IT IS WRITTEN that most Christians will believe that Satan... that's right... the charming Devil himself... is actually Jesus Christ when he [i.e. Satan] comes to this earth riding on a "white horse"! And because this imposter, called "anti-christos" in Greek, which means "Instead-of-Jesus", comes to earth FIRST at the sound of the 6th Trump BEFORE Jesus Christ returns at the sound of the 7th Trump, and since most Christians are caught up in this "any-moment" pre-trib rapture theory which promotes the big lie that the King of kings is going to return at any moment and "take away" His Christian soldiers so they don't have to stand and face the enemy, the very task for which all the while they should have been putting on the gospel armor (Eph. 6), they are therefore "set-up" to accept and believe that the first supernatural entity who comes to this earth is Jesus Christ.
If you do not understand this then you are as a "dead man", spiritually speaking, because you will bow before Satan and be marked as one of his, i.e. deceived in your forehead that he is Christ! In other words, you will be a part of the great apostasy, the great falling away which the apostle Paul spoke of, which is when our people turn to the wicked one, the false messiah, the false bridegroom, the false shepherd, and follow him and take him for their husband!
Therefore, because of the paramount importance of this matter, let us preface our study by documenting the coming of this false one in the New Testament and then return to the 11th chapter of Zechariah and document the same thing, i.e. the coming of a great false shepherd.
The subject is the return of our Lord Jesus Christ and when it is we gather back to Him!2 Thes. 2:1
Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him,
You have a choice of whether to believe troubled spirits, like the vision of Margaret MacDonald concerning the any-moment rapture, books and movies, or very friendly preachers who blindly follow the traditions and doctrines of their churches which will ultimately lead their also blind congregations to believe a lie... the lie that the son of perdition when he comes is really Jesus Christ. The admonition is "Do NOT let men or women deceive you by any means", including superficial documentation whereby subjects and objects are changed or concocted to fit certain theories, such as is so often done to Paul's first letter in 1 Thes. 4:13-18 where the subject (given in vs. 13) is "where the dead are and what happens to them when Christ returns", not the great escape from the false-christ! Paul simply gives comfort in these verses to the Thessalonians by explaining that their loved ones they were so concerned about, those who had passed away (died in Christ, i.e. died believing in Him), are with the Lord now, in heaven, not lying dead six feet beneath the ground. And when He returns at the LAST TRUMP, the one with the shout which is the 7th and last one, He will bring them with Him. Paul further explains that they will "rise", as in stand up or appear first... in their spiritual bodies which they already have as per 1 Cor. 15 (so we can't precede them in getting ours, vs.15) and then we will (be changed in the twinkling of an eye into our spiritual (aer) bodies - 1 Cor. 15:52) and gather together with them. And so shall we ever be together with Him and together as a family united. There is nothing even remotely hinted at in 1 Thes. 4:13-18 either in the English or the Greek about any "escape" from anything, least of all, Satan, the false-christ![2] That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
Now have the strength and courage to listen to and believe the Word of God regardless of what men might teach...
"That day" is our gathering back to Christ which is at the 7th Trump when He brings our loved ones back. "That day", the 7th and last Trump follows the 6th Trump, the 6th Seal, and the 6th Vial, when the son of perdition is cast out of heaven to this earth, i.e. when the wicked one is revealed. God's Word declares that we are simply NOT going to gather back to Jesus Christ until the false-christ, the false Messiah, appears and draws everyone to him... by claiming and showing great signs that he is God![3] Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
You know what is keeping him from being here right now, don't you? Michael is holding him at bay "in the gulf" until Father says it is time to step aside and "let him go", i.e. "cast him out"! (Dan. 12:1 and Rev. 12:7-9)[4] Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.[5] Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
[6] And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
Here is a quote from another translation so you don't get the idea this is speaking of the holy spirit or the church or something else required to support the great escape theory:[7] For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
Again, the one who is holding him back is Michael (see notes in the Companion Bible, pg. 1796, for further documentation).2 Thes. 2:7 "As for the work this man of rebellion and hell will do when he comes, it is already going on, but he himself will not come until the one who is holding him back steps out of the way." (Living Bible)
And THEN, when Michael casts that Wicked one out of heaven (Rev. 12:7-9) he will be revealed, meaning he will appear standing in the holy place where he ought not and claiming that he is God.[8]And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
By the way, notice that when Christ does return, Satan is destroyed by His brightness!
Why will there be such a great apostasy, such a great falling away to this Wicked one who appears as an angel of light? It is because Christians do not study the Word of God, have not the love of His Word, but would rather listen to false shepherds who deceive them with bizarre and unscriptural fairy tales beginning with snakes and apples and ending up with tales of flying away into the clouds![9] Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,[10] And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
Therefore God says, "Hey, if they want to believe a lie, I'll give them what they want."
The "strong delusion" that He will send them is the false shepherd whom we shall read about as we conclude this 11th chapter of Zechariah![11] And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
Unrighteousness is following the traditions of men which will lead you to follow Satan, instead of following the Word of God and doing as the Lord commands. Nevertheless, it is part of God's plan to allow His people to have their way and make their own choice concerning who they will follow in this final generation.[12] That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Yes, the time is coming when even "brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death" (Mark 13:12). In other words, they will deliver each other and their loved ones up to the one they believe to be Jesus Christ sitting in the temple and thus they shall cause their (spiritual) death! Remember Zech. 8:20-23? If not, go back and study it again!Zech. 11:6
For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD: but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour'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.
Also, it is written in Rom. 11 that only God's elect will not bow a knee to Baal, i.e. bow to Satan when he appears standing in the holy place claiming to be the Messiah. ALL others are blinded, having followed the "blind shepherds" who sheared them rather than lead them to the green pastures of His Word that they might eat of the manna from heaven and have the strength to make it through the dark hour of the great famine of the end time. Yes, the time is coming when God shall pity them no more and send them their strong delusion.
This verse is easy to understand once you know that in Hebrew the two words translated "poor of the flock" mean "sheep traffickers" when they are read together. The "sellers of the sheep", the "sheep traffickers" , the "sheep shearers" are those possessors, those wolves in sheep's clothing who eat the fat and lead their flocks to the spiritual slaughter.[7] And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O 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.
But don't worry! God is quite able to feed everyone, even the multitudes as He showed by example in the New Testament. He is even going to feed the "sheep traffickers" too, and give them to drink... only the cup He has for them contains His wrath. Remember, He is quite angry with them for slaying His sheep and shearing their wool.
Nevertheless, God shall deliver His sheep from the "sheep traffickers" and feed His own, even with the two staves of Beauty, which means His Grace, and Bands, which means Union.
As for the false shepherds and those kenites whose "leaven" has so infiltrated the teachings of Christianity to the point that most Christians will "grab the skirt of one who calls himself a Jew (Zech. 8:23)" and go to the holy place and worship the kenite messiah, Christ shall cut them off speedily. Watch what you eat, Christian! The green pasture, the true Bread of Life, is in His Word! That is why Christ said to beware of the leaven (false doctrine) of the Sadducees, the Pharisees and even Herod (Mat. 16:6, Mark 8:15).Ezekiel 34:11
For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.[12] As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
[13] And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.
[14] I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.
The three shepherds to be "cut off" represent the whole religiousZech. 11:8
Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me.
It is no different today in the religious community. The shepherds/pastors of our people have dealt treacherously against the LORD and so it is that the majority of our people are lost and wandering sheep, not knowing their way back home or even who their true shepherd really is. Few actually know that many, many, of our people are of the true House of Israel, of those ten lost tribes. It is not a popular thing to teach, but the sad truth of the matter is that too many Christian preachers in this nation are leading their flocks to commit adultery/idolatry with another "man", with another Lord, the false Lord, the anti-christos (Satan)! They are teaching them through traditions and "theories" to accept the first messiah who returns and that they should desire to be the first woman taken in the field. Go ahead! Be taken by the first bridegroom and attend the first wedding, the wedding of the spurious messiah! One day you will wake up and find you have committed adultery and attended the WRONG wedding and now the door to the wedding of the true Bridegroom has been slammed in your face! Yes, the preachers have dealt "treacherously", deceitfully, against the Lord Jesus Christ and have produced a generation of strange children (so called Christians) who do not belong to the Lord! They really belong to someone else... the false messiah, the great false shepherd, which they shall testify to by the act of their apostasy when he is revealed!
Here it is, written in the book whose very title means "salvation"... even Hosea, concerning the priests who lead their flocks astray!
God said the time is coming soon when "I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land" (Zech. 11:6)!Hosea 5:6
They [the priests and preachers] shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the LORD; but they shall not find him; He hath withdrawn himself from them.
Here are Strong's definition of "treacherously" and "strange":[7] They [the priests and preachers] have dealt treacherously against the LORD: for they have begotten strange children: now shall a month devour them with their portions.
treacherously = bagad, baw-gad', Hebrew 898; a primitive root; to cover (with a garment); figurative to act covertly; by implication to pillage :- deal deceitfully (treacherously, unfaithfully), offend, transgress (-or), (depart), treacherous (dealer, -ly, man), unfaithful (-ly, man), × very.
Again, the "strange children" that have been produced as a result of adultery/idolatry do not belong to God. They belong to another "man" (see Rev. 13:18)! Therefore, it is written that God will quickly take away their "portions", which means their inheritance, even their land. He did it before (physically) and He shall do it again (spiritually) in these last days.strange = zuwr, zoor, Hebrew 2114; a primitive root; to turn aside (especially for lodging); hence to be a foreigner, strange, profane; specifically (active particaple) to commit adultery :- (come from) another (man, place), fanner, go away, (e-) strange (-r, thing, woman).
Which will it be for you? There is no famine nor lack of food for those who seek Him and ask Him for their "daily bread". All others will die spiritually from viper poisoning and leavened junk foods. And so left to their own devices they will eventually spiritually destroy one another!Zech. 11:9
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.
We are now going to read an analogy of the "cutting asunder" of "Grace" and "Union" in these next few verses (11-14), which pretty much says it all concerning the reason and justification for the raising up of the great false shepherd (vs. 15-17).
Zech. 11:10
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.
The Old Covenant was broken and made into the New Covenant when Jesus Christ came to this earth as a lowly Lamb to shed His blood to pay the price for the sins of the world, for any and all who will come to Him and believe in Him, even His Word. The "poor of the flock", those "sheep traffickers", even the kenites, knew "that it was the word of the LORD", for no man could do the things that He had done. Nevertheless, they rejected Him and scorned Him and for thirty pieces of silver, the price paid for a slave, they had Him betrayed and delivered up and crucified. At that time, the sun was darkened and the veil to the holy of holies was rent from top to bottom and later the resurrection of those local folks who came forth out of their graves, gave witness and testimony to all, including the head kenite Caiaphas, that He was the Word of God.[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 the LORD.
Again, thirty pieces of silver is the price paid for the damage done to a servant, a slave. Obviously this paltry amount shows what the kenites, even the "sheep traffickers", think of the true Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ, for thirty pieces of silver was "the price they put on head"! By the way, if you are one of God's elect and you teach His Word straight on, you can be assured they do not think much of you either![12] And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.
Well what do you know? No matter how you look at it, for a mere thirty pieces of silver, the price of the redemption of a damaged slave, the precious blood of Christ was shed and the potter's field was purchased! Of course it is written that Judas carried that 30 pieces of silver back to the temple and threw it on the floor in protest of their murder of Christ. That wasn't the deal he made with them! Then too, if you take the time to understand the Greek in Acts 1:18 you will discover that Judas did not hang himself but rather he was hanged, as in murdered by the kenites. (See notes in Companion Bible, pg. 1577).[13] And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.
Remember, "Bands" means "Union" and so it was that because of His love for His children, the union of Israel was cut asunder and the branch was split into two sticks (Ezek. 37:20), the southern House of Judah along with Benjamin being the one stick, and the northern House of Israel (the so-called 10 "lost" tribes) the other. This was done according to His will, as it was written, that the Plan of God might be fulfilled when one day His lost sheep would hear His voice when He calls.[14] Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
But you see, it would seem at this point rather than going directly to Him and hear His Voice, directly from His Mouth, i.e. from His Word, most Christians would rather listen to the false shepherds, many preachers, tell them comforting fanciful stories about how "fat they are", i.e. what great spiritual shape they are in just because they acknowledge Christ is Lord (so do the demons), and that soon they will be "raptured away"! Hey, they have no need to don the full Gospel Armor (Eph. 6) to be ready to take a stand with God's elect against the fiery darts of the wicked one, do they? The sad result will be though, as we have already read in this study, that they will be spiritually slain in the great battle. Rather than being caught up in the clouds, they shall be caught up in the great apostasy and be led to worship a shepherd who could really care less about them, much less lay down his life for them.
God knows exactly what He is doing and He says He is going to raise up a "foolish" shepherd, meaning one who is "perverse". In other words, when He gives the command to Michael (the one who is holding Satan in his place - Rev. 12) to turn Satan and his angels loose, then the son of perdition will be revealed and come and stand in the holy place and claim to be the real shepherd, Jesus Christ. And let us see if He will feed and care for God's sheep as a true loving shepherd does:[15] And the LORD said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd.
Well, now you know exactly what this great religious one who shall come really thinks of God's sheep. As we noted earlier, the great false shepherd will appear to be wonderful indeed in that he will bring in peace and prosperity (fat upon the land) and as it is written (2 Thes. 2:9) he shall show great signs and wonders and perform miracles in the sight of men! In fact, it is written that the whole world, including the majority of Christianity with the exception of God's elect, will believe him to be the real shepherd, Jesus Christ.[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.
But this false, perverse shepherd claiming to be the messiah will not visit "those that be cut off", i.e. the perishing, nor seek the young ones who have gone astray, nor heal the spiritually wounded, nor strengthen the spiritually weak with the Word of God. No, this great red dragon in a shepherd's garb who shall appear on the surface to be so loving and gentle will have the spiritual "teeth of a great lion" and he will "eat the flesh of the fat" (those fat cats who think they are in such great spiritual shape) and he will spiritually rip and tear in pieces the very souls of our people!
The great foolish shepherd himself has already been sentenced to perish in the lake of fire, which is why he is called the "son of perdition", i.e. the "son who will perish". One's "arm" is symbolic of his work and the phrase simply means that he shall do no more evil works but shall remain in the darkness of the pit. But let this verse also be a warning to the "his arm shall be dried up""idol shepherds" of our people.[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.
An "idol" shepherd is one who takes the name of the Lord in vain, as in claims to be one of His representatives but who speaks not with His Voice, from the mouth of His Word in the manner of "Thus saith the Lord God, but rather teaches for doctrine the vain tradition and commandments of men thereby making void the Word of God. We now leave this study with the words of our Lord:idol = 'eliyl, el-eel', Hebrew 457; apparently from Hebrew 408 ('al); good for nothing, by analogy vain or vanity; specifically an idol :- idol, no value, thing of nought.
And so it is today that many are deceived. Take heed!Matthew 24:4-5
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.[5] For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
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