God’s Word for You
Zechariah 11:17 a worthless shepherd
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Monday, August 29, 2022
17 “Woe to the worthless shepherd,
who deserts the flock!
May the sword strike his arm and his right eye!
Let his arm be completely withered,
his right eye utterly blinded!”
This chapter has been about Christ’s separation of the former Israel, the physical nation, from the true Israel, the spiritual nation. Here in the final verse, the prophet breaks once again into poetry: a curse on those who have led anyone astray, away from God’s forgiveness through Christ. More than that, a special curse is given to those who desert the flock, who do not teach anything useful or good. “They are detestable,” Paul said, “disobedient and unfit for doing anything good” (Titus 1:16).
Zechariah calls every such man or woman “a worthless shepherd,” using the same term Job used when he called his companions “worthless physicians” (Job 13:4). Of such wicked men and women, the Lord will cut off their chief power, their right arm (Isaiah 63:11), and their means of seeing the world clearly, their right eye. Without that eye (that is, the wisdom to see the world as God has made it and understand his word and his holy will), they are nothing but a disgrace (1 Samuel 11:2).
Why would such a lying, useless teacher be permitted to survive, since God does not destroy him but only cuts off much of his power and wisdom? When such a one is left in a position of leadership, people can be led through the gospel to see his errors, and are drawn back to Christ (chastisement), but for the most part his continued work will be a punishment on those who would prefer to follow human reason and good works rather than the pure doctrine of the holy Scriptures.
The difference between a chastisement and a punishment is that a chastisement is meant to draw a believer closer to Christ. “The Lord disciplines those he loves. Endure hardships as discipline; God is treating you as sons” (Hebrews 12:6,7). So God’s love is always at work, yearning for our ultimate good: our salvation. Even when God disciplines us, it is not simply anger at work, but love, a love that wants us to be with him forever. Only when a person’s heart has become hardened is there a break in that relationship, and humans can’t judge when this has taken place in someone else’s heart. So we shouldn’t consider someone else to be hardened. An unbeliever can be converted. An immature faith can grow. A confused faith, led astray by false teaching, can be corrected. An unrepentant sinner can still be warned, and while there is life, there is still hope for that soul.
Still hope! This is the truth that drives us to share God’s grace with the world. There may be madmen and misinformed women these days who demand a nation run by the church or a church regulated by the nation, but these are not things commanded by the precious Word of God. What we do is to share the gospel of the forgiveness of sins with ears that need to hear it, and fill God’s invisible church with the precious souls that are so beloved by the Lord. “O you who hear prayer, to you all men will come. When we were overwhelmed by sins, you forgave our transgressions” (Psalm 65:2-3). We love because he first loved us.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.