Zec 11:7 | KingComments | STEP | In this verse Zechariah speaks in the I-form and is a type of the Lord Jesus. Here again the sheep are called “the flock [doomed] to slaughter”. The judgment on the sheep is fixed. Yet the shepherd is ordered to pasture them. This is how the Lord Jesus comes to His people, a people about whom the judgment is fixed, to take care of those sheep that are taken away from judgment. Among the flock of the people of Israel are sheep whom He knows by name. “The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out” ( ). He calls them out of the stable of Israel, while the other sheep remain in the fold, that is the people of Israel. The Messiah, although He knows the outcome, carries out God’s command during His life on earth. He pastures the real sheep of the flock. Not all of Israel is automatically His flock, although He has come for all as a Shepherd ( ). The “afflicted of the flock” are the poor in spirit, the penitent ( ). They are deeply bowed down in spirit, contrite by their own sins, without any defense. There is no more spirit power. They are the remnant in the midst of the flock doomed to slaughter. We recognize them in the days of John the baptist in those who come to him to be baptized while confessing of their sins. We also see them in Joseph and Mary, Zechariah and Elisabeth, Simeon and Anna (Luke 1-2). This Shepherd doesn’t have just one staff, He has two staffs. In both staffs one can see the purpose of the pasturing. The first staff expresses what God sees in Israel, the attractiveness of the people to Him. The second relates to the relationships of the people, the unity of the people. Thus He has pastured the flock and provided them with food.

‏ Zechariah 11:7

The LORD Himself Pastures the Sheep

In this verse Zechariah speaks in the I-form and is a type of the Lord Jesus. Here again the sheep are called “the flock [doomed] to slaughter”. The judgment on the sheep is fixed. Yet the shepherd is ordered to pasture them. This is how the Lord Jesus comes to His people, a people about whom the judgment is fixed, to take care of those sheep that are taken away from judgment.

Among the flock of the people of Israel are sheep whom He knows by name. “The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out” (Jn 10:3). He calls them out of the stable of Israel, while the other sheep remain in the fold, that is the people of Israel.

The Messiah, although He knows the outcome, carries out God’s command during His life on earth. He pastures the real sheep of the flock. Not all of Israel is automatically His flock, although He has come for all as a Shepherd (Mt 9:36).

The “afflicted of the flock” are the poor in spirit, the penitent (Zep 3:12). They are deeply bowed down in spirit, contrite by their own sins, without any defense. There is no more spirit power. They are the remnant in the midst of the flock doomed to slaughter. We recognize them in the days of John the baptist in those who come to him to be baptized while confessing of their sins. We also see them in Joseph and Mary, Zechariah and Elisabeth, Simeon and Anna (Luke 1-2).

This Shepherd doesn’t have just one staff, He has two staffs. In both staffs one can see the purpose of the pasturing. The first staff expresses what God sees in Israel, the attractiveness of the people to Him. The second relates to the relationships of the people, the unity of the people. Thus He has pastured the flock and provided them with food.