◄ Zechariah 11:11 ►
It was revoked on that day, and so the afflicted of the flock who were watching me knew that it was the word of the LORD.
Study Bible
It was revoked on that day
The phrase "It was revoked" refers to the breaking of the covenant, symbolized by the breaking of the staff called "Favor" earlier in the chapter. The Hebrew root for "revoked" is "parar," which means to break, frustrate, or annul. This action signifies a divine judgment and a cessation of God's protective favor over Israel due to their persistent disobedience. The specificity of "on that day" underscores the immediacy and certainty of God's actions in response to Israel's rejection of His shepherding. Historically, this can be seen as a foreshadowing of the events leading to the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the Jewish people.

and so the afflicted of the flock
The "afflicted of the flock" refers to the humble and faithful remnant within Israel who are suffering under the leadership of corrupt shepherds. The Hebrew word for "afflicted" is "ani," which conveys a sense of being poor, humble, or oppressed. This group is often highlighted in Scripture as those who remain faithful to God despite adverse circumstances. They are the ones who are sensitive to God's movements and recognize His voice, contrasting with the unfaithful leaders and people who are blind to God's actions.

who were watching me
The phrase "who were watching me" indicates a group that is attentive and discerning, observing the actions and words of the prophet Zechariah, who acts as a representative of God. The Hebrew root "shamar" means to keep, guard, or observe, suggesting a vigilant and expectant attitude. This remnant is spiritually alert, understanding the significance of the prophetic actions and messages. Their watchfulness is a model for believers to remain spiritually vigilant and discerning of God's work in the world.

knew it was the word of the LORD
The "word of the LORD" is a powerful phrase indicating divine revelation and authority. The Hebrew term "dabar" for "word" implies not just spoken words but also actions and events that convey God's will and purpose. The afflicted remnant's recognition that it was the "word of the LORD" signifies their spiritual insight and faith. They understand that the breaking of the covenant is not merely a human action but a divine pronouncement. This acknowledgment reflects a deep trust in God's sovereignty and a commitment to His truth, even when it involves judgment and hardship.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Zechariah
A prophet of the Old Testament, Zechariah is the author of this book. He is delivering God's message to the people of Israel.

2. The Afflicted of the Flock
This refers to the faithful remnant of Israel who are attentive to God's word and recognize His voice amidst the nation's turmoil.

3. The Covenant
The "it" that was annulled refers to a covenant, symbolizing God's protective relationship with Israel, which is being broken due to their disobedience.

4. The Word of the LORD
This signifies the divine message and authority of God, which is recognized by the faithful.

5. The Day of Annulment
A specific time when the covenant was broken, symbolizing a significant turning point in Israel's history.
Teaching Points
Recognition of God's Voice
Just as the afflicted of the flock recognized the word of the LORD, believers today are called to discern and heed God's voice through Scripture and the Holy Spirit.

The Consequences of Disobedience
The annulment of the covenant serves as a warning of the consequences of turning away from God. It reminds us of the importance of faithfulness and obedience.

The Faithful Remnant
God always preserves a remnant who remain faithful. This encourages believers to stand firm in their faith, even when others fall away.

The Assurance of God's Word
The recognition of God's word by the afflicted assures us of the reliability and truth of Scripture. We can trust God's promises and His ultimate plan for redemption.

The New Covenant in Christ
The broken covenant points forward to the new covenant established through Jesus Christ, offering hope and salvation to all who believe.
Bible Study Questions
1. How can we, like the afflicted of the flock, better recognize and respond to the word of the LORD in our daily lives?

2. In what ways does the annulment of the covenant in Zechariah 11:11 serve as a warning for us today regarding our relationship with God?

3. How does the concept of a faithful remnant encourage you in your personal walk with God, especially in times of widespread unfaithfulness?

4. What are some practical steps you can take to ensure that you are living under the new covenant established by Christ?

5. How do the themes in Zechariah 11:11 connect with Jesus' teachings in John 10 about the Good Shepherd and His sheep? How can this understanding impact your faith journey?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Jeremiah 31
Discusses the new covenant that God promises to establish with His people, contrasting the broken covenant in Zechariah.

John 10
Jesus speaks of Himself as the Good Shepherd, and His sheep know His voice, similar to the "afflicted of the flock" who recognize God's word.

Hebrews 8
Explores the concept of the old covenant being replaced by a new and better covenant through Christ.
Sermons
The True ShepherdW. Forsyth Zechariah 11:7-14
Divine RejectionD. Thomas Zechariah 11:8-11
A Model Spiritual TeacherHomilistZechariah 11:10-14
Mean Treatment of an Old Prophet by His PeopleJ. Morlais Jones.Zechariah 11:10-14
The Goodly Price of JesusW. Hay Aitken, M. A.Zechariah 11:10-14
The Price of Our RedemptionJohn Nance, D. D.Zechariah 11:10-14
People
Zechariah
Places
Bashan, Jordan River, Lebanon
Topics
Afflicted, Annulled, Broken, Flock, Heed, Listened, Observing, Poor, Realized, Sheep, Sheep-traders, Thus, Traffickers, Truth, Waited, Watching
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Zechariah 11:7-17

     7130   flock, God's

Zechariah 11:10-14

     4512   staff

Library
Inspiration of Scripture. --Gospel Difficulties. --The Word of God Infallible. --Other Sciences Subordinate to Theological Science.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. BUT that is not exactly what St. Paul says. The Greek for that, would be He graphe--not pasa graphe--theopneustos. St. Paul does not say that the whole of Scripture, collectively, is inspired. More than that: what he says is, that every writing,--every several book of those hiera grammata, or Holy Scriptures, in which Timothy had been instructed from his childhood,--is inspired by God [330] . It comes to very nearly the same thing but it is not quite …
John William Burgon—Inspiration and Interpretation

And Again David Says:...
And again David says: They looked upon me: they parted my garments among them, and upon any vesture they cast lots. For at His crucifixion the soldiers parted His garments as they were wont; and the garments they parted by tearing; but for the vesture, because it was woven from the top and was not sewn, they cast lots, that to whomsoever it should fall he should take it. And again Jeremiah the prophet says: And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was sold, whom they bought …
Irenæus—The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching

In the House of his Heavenly, and in the Home of his Earthly Father - the Temple of Jerusalem - the Retirement at Nazareth.
Once only is the great silence, which lies on the history of Christ's early life, broken. It is to record what took place on His first visit to the Temple. What this meant, even to an ordinary devout Jew, may easily be imagined. Where life and religion were so intertwined, and both in such organic connection with the Temple and the people of Israel, every thoughtful Israelite must have felt as if his real life were not in what was around, but ran up into the grand unity of the people of God, and …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Good Shepherd' and his one Flock' - Last Discourse at the Feast of Tabernacles.
The closing words which Jesus had spoken to those Pharisees who followed HIm breathe the sadness of expected near judgment, rather than the hopefulness of expostulation. And the Discourse which followed, ere He once more left Jerusalem, is of the same character. It seems, as if Jesus could not part from the City in holy anger, but ever, and only, with tears. All the topics of the former Discourses are now resumed and applied. They are not in any way softened or modified, but uttered in accents of …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Discourse on the Good Shepherd.
(Jerusalem, December, a.d. 29.) ^D John X. 1-21. ^d 1 Verily, verily, I say to you [unto the parties whom he was addressing in the last section], He that entereth not by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. [In this section Jesus proceeds to contrast his own care for humanity with that manifested by the Pharisees, who had just cast out the beggar. Old Testament prophecies were full of declarations that false shepherds would arise to …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The First Trumpet.
The first trumpet of the seventh seal begins from the final disturbance and overthrow of the Roman idolarchy at the close of the sixth seal; and as it was to bring the first plague on the empire, now beginning to fall, it lays waste the third part of the earth, with a horrible storm of hail mingled with fire and blood; that is, it depopulates the territory and people of the Roman world, (viz. the basis and ground of its universal polity) with a terrible and bloody irruption of the northern nations, …
Joseph Mede—A Key to the Apocalypse

Remorse and Suicide of Judas.
(in the Temple and Outside the Wall of Jerusalem. Friday Morning.) ^A Matt. XXVII. 3-10; ^E Acts I. 18, 19. ^a 3 Then Judas, who betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned [Judas, having no reason to fear the enemies of Jesus, probably stood in their midst and witnessed the entire trial], repented himself, and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 saying, I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood. [There are two Greek words which are translated "repented," …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Questions.
LESSON I. 1. In what state was the Earth when first created? 2. To what trial was man subjected? 3. What punishment did the Fall bring on man? 4. How alone could his guilt be atoned for? A. By his punishment being borne by one who was innocent. 5. What was the first promise that there should be such an atonement?--Gen. iii. 15. 6. What were the sacrifices to foreshow? 7. Why was Abel's offering the more acceptable? 8. From which son of Adam was the Seed of the woman to spring? 9. How did Seth's …
Charlotte Mary Yonge—The Chosen People

The Shepherd of Our Souls.
"I am the good Shepherd: the good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep."--John x. 11. Our Lord here appropriates to Himself the title under which He had been foretold by the Prophets. "David My servant shall be king over them," says Almighty God by the mouth of Ezekiel: "and they all shall have one Shepherd." And in the book of Zechariah, "Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, and against the man that is My fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts; smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered." …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

The Fulfilled Prophecies of the Bible Bespeak the Omniscience of Its Author
In Isaiah 41:21-23 we have what is probably the most remarkable challenge to be found in the Bible. "Produce your cause, saith the Lord; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. Let them bring them forth, and show us what shall happen; let them show the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods." This Scripture has both a negative …
Arthur W. Pink—The Divine Inspiration of the Bible

A Discourse of the House and Forest of Lebanon
OF THE HOUSE OF THE FOREST OF LEBANON. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. That part of Palestine in which the celebrated mountains of Lebanon are situated, is the border country adjoining Syria, having Sidon for its seaport, and Land, nearly adjoining the city of Damascus, on the north. This metropolitan city of Syria, and capital of the kingdom of Damascus, was strongly fortified; and during the border conflicts it served as a cover to the Assyrian army. Bunyan, with great reason, supposes that, to keep …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Of the Incapacity of an Unregenerate Person for Relishing the Enjoyments of the Heavenly World.
John iii. 3. John iii. 3. --Except a man be born again, he can not see the kingdom of God. IN order to demonstrate the necessity of regeneration, of which I would fain convince not only your understandings, but your consciences, I am now proving to you, that without it, it is impossible to enter into the kingdom of God; and how weighty a consideration that is I am afterwards to represent. That it is thus impossible, the words in the text do indeed sufficiently prove: but for the further illustration …
Philip Doddridge—Practical Discourses on Regeneration

Fifthly, as this Revelation, to the Judgment of Right and Sober Reason,
appears of itself highly credible and probable, and abundantly recommends itself in its native simplicity, merely by its own intrinsic goodness and excellency, to the practice of the most rational and considering men, who are desirous in all their actions to have satisfaction and comfort and good hope within themselves, from the conscience of what they do: So it is moreover positively and directly proved to be actually and immediately sent to us from God, by the many infallible signs and miracles …
Samuel Clarke—A Discourse Concerning the Being and Attributes of God

The Covenant of Works
Q-12: I proceed to the next question, WHAT SPECIAL ACT OF PROVIDENCE DID GOD EXERCISE TOWARDS MAN IN THE ESTATE WHEREIN HE WAS CREATED? A: When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life with him upon condition of perfect obedience, forbidding him to eat of the tree of knowledge upon pain of death. For this, consult with Gen 2:16, 17: And the Lord commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Seasonable Counsel: Or, Advice to Sufferers.
BY JOHN BUNYAN. London: Printed for Benjamin Alsop, at the Angel and Bible in the Poultry, 1684. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. THIS valuable treatise was first published in a pocket volume in 1684, and has only been reprinted in Whitfield's edition of Bunyan's works, 2 vols. folio, 1767. No man could have been better qualified to give advice to sufferers for righteousness' sake, than John Bunyan: and this work is exclusively devoted to that object. Shut up in a noisome jail, under the iron hand of …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Covenanting Predicted in Prophecy.
The fact of Covenanting, under the Old Testament dispensations, being approved of God, gives a proof that it was proper then, which is accompanied by the voice of prophecy, affording evidence that even in periods then future it should no less be proper. The argument for the service that is afforded by prophecy is peculiar, and, though corresponding with evidence from other sources, is independent. Because that God willed to make known truth through his servants the prophets, we should receive it …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Zechariah
CHAPTERS I-VIII Two months after Haggai had delivered his first address to the people in 520 B.C., and a little over a month after the building of the temple had begun (Hag. i. 15), Zechariah appeared with another message of encouragement. How much it was needed we see from the popular despondency reflected in Hag. ii. 3, Jerusalem is still disconsolate (Zech. i. 17), there has been fasting and mourning, vii. 5, the city is without walls, ii. 5, the population scanty, ii. 4, and most of the people …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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